How come i could not pick my week to trade?

[maryk]

I went to reserve my week that I knew i wanted to trade, and the CS rep said that I did not need to do that. They would pick the best week and put up for trade.

So is this not good? What if they picked a lousy week to trade?

The last time i did this i had to pick my week with Marriott myself, then they transfered me to II and I talked to them about trading.

What did i do wrong?

Mary

 

[KathyPet]

I have not deposited any of my weeks to trade for several years now and I always do it on line. However I did get badly burned the first time I did the process on line because I did not know that if you indicate on line that you are reserving a week to deposit to II to trade the computer program does not give you a choice of weeks. The system picks a week for you and that is what you are stuck with.
Since that fiasco when I go on line I always indicate that I am reserving a week FOR MY OWN USE. That way the calender comes up and allows me to select from the available weeks. After I finish the on line process and get my reservation # via E Mail I call II and give them the reservation # and deposit it with them myself.

 

[BocaBoy]

I firmly believe that it is rare that the trading success with II is negatively impacted by the varying strength of weeks WITHIN THE SAME SEASON at a particular resort. There may be exceptions where there is an exceptionally long Platinum season at a somewhat seasonal resort (e.g., Newport Coast), but in most cases that does not seem to me to be the case. I normally pick one of the latest weeks I can so I have longer to use it, even though the strength of an earlier week is supposedly a little bit better. I have had great success doing this, including trading an early December Las Vegas Grand Chateau 2BR for a 2BR January week at a top resort in Hawaii. If I am sure I am not going to use the week myself, I would rather leave the best week for another owner at my resort than get greedy and put it in II for at best a very marginal advantage.

 

[KathyPet]

Some resorts such as MMC have really long platinum seasons and there is a significant difference in trading power between a week in March and a week in the summer. I have always booked weeks in the summer at MMC except for the stinker that the Marriott system automatically assigned me when I indicated I was going to deposit for a trade. My Summer weeks at MMC have always gotten me excellent trades (summer weeks at Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach and winter weeks in Fl and the Carribean ). I have never failed to get the trade I requested using MMC EXCEPT the time I attempted to trade the stinker Marriott assigned me. Could there have been other reasons why that trade did not happen? Of course but no one will ever convince me that the week I was trying to trade with did not have something to do with that failure.

 

[aka Julie]

The silver season in Hilton Head is another example. I always book the last week in the season (end of March). Trades much better with II than the early part of silver season (beginning of February). I too learned my lesson when I let Marriott pick the week. It was a stinker and II told me so when I wasn't getting my trade.

It's always better to pick your own week. I do it online and then deposit with II later.

 

[dougp26364]

I went to reserve my week that I knew i wanted to trade, and the CS rep said that I did not need to do that. They would pick the best week and put up for trade.

So is this not good? What if they picked a lousy week to trade?

The last time i did this i had to pick my week with Marriott myself, then they transfered me to II and I talked to them about trading.

What did i do wrong?

Mary

You did nothing wrong except for insisting that you wanted a particular week. CS reps don't own timeshare and don't understand that some weeks have higher demand than others. For instance, Memorial Day week tends to be the stongest week in May for demand even though the entire month of May is covered by my season.

I don't bother to call reps who don't typically own timeshare nor understand the details involved. I prefer to go online, make my reservation and then deposit that reservation with Interval. Thus, I get no discussion from a CS rep about what I want to do with my timeshare week.

 

[dougp26364]

I firmly believe that it is rare that the trading success with II is negatively impacted by the varying strength of weeks WITHIN THE SAME SEASON at a particular resort. There may be exceptions where there is an exceptionally long Platinum season at a somewhat seasonal resort (e.g., Newport Coast), but in most cases that does not seem to me to be the case. I normally pick one of the latest weeks I can so I have longer to use it, even though the strength of an earlier week is supposedly a little bit better. I have had great success doing this, including trading an early December Las Vegas Grand Chateau 2BR for a 2BR January week at a top resort in Hawaii. If I am sure I am not going to use the week myself, I would rather leave the best week for another owner at my resort than get greedy and put it in II for at best a very marginal advantage.

This is definately NOT the case at Grand Chateau, where every week is Platinum. There is definately a difference in demand for the various weeks. Some weeks are very low demand while others are higher demand.

 

[BocaBoy]

This is definately NOT the case at Grand Chateau, where every week is Platinum. There is definately a difference in demand for the various weeks. Some weeks are very low demand while others are higher demand.

Actually, Las Vegas is a lot like Hawaii--relatively little difference in demand over the course of the year (according to II), which is why both places are legitimately year-round Platinum. My experience is a lot difference than yours. I locked off my 2009 Grand Chateau 3BR into a 2BR and a 1 BR and reserved the second week of December for both. The first half of December is the absolute lowest two weeks of demand time for Vegas, according to the II grid. I got a Westin Kaanapali 2BR in January 2011 with the 2 BR and a 2010 February Maui Ocean Club 1 BR (Lahaina/Napili Villas) with the 1 BR.

You apparently always pick a "strong" Las Vegas week and have success, but I suspect your success may have been comparable had you used the first half of December.

 

[NKN]

I'm new at this....please bear with me. Are you "reserving a week" at Marriott, prior to exchanging at II, because you own a float week?

Is the "reserving step" necessary if you own a fixed week and want to exchange that week at II?

Thanks.
Nancy

 

[m61376]

I'm new at this....please bear with me. Are you "reserving a week" at Marriott, prior to exchanging at II, because you own a float week?

Is the "reserving step" necessary if you own a fixed week and want to exchange that week at II?

Thanks.
Nancy

It may depend there on the resort. For resorts with 4 and 5 days of possible check-ins, a Thursday check-in may be viewed as a different week by II, so that your deposit is not valued the same as the holiday week, if that is your fixed week.

 

[maryk]

But now I am stuck with the week that they choose for me right?

We own at Harbor Lakes and we can catch the tail end of May which gets us Memorial Day or we can pick Thanksgiving week. Our season is split.

I have used both these week before and got nice trades. Now i see they booked me in Week 40 which is mid-Oct. Am I screwed for getting a good trade?

I have been looking and nothing hardly comes up at all :-(

Is there anything else I can do other than chalk this up to a really really bad experience?

Can I cancel and start over?

Please help.......


Thanks - Mary

 

[KathyPet]

I think you can cancel. Don't know if there is a fee or not. If you do cancel and start again do your reservation on line and indicate that you are choosing a week for YOUR OWN USE. Do not check the box that indicates you are going to use it to trade.,

 

[dioxide45]

But now I am stuck with the week that they choose for me right?

We own at Harbor Lakes and we can catch the tail end of May which gets us Memorial Day or we can pick Thanksgiving week. Our season is split.

I have used both these week before and got nice trades. Now i see they booked me in Week 40 which is mid-Oct. Am I screwed for getting a good trade?

I have been looking and nothing hardly comes up at all :-(

Is there anything else I can do other than chalk this up to a really really bad experience?

Can I cancel and start over?

Please help.......


Thanks - Mary

I think once the deposit is confirmed, you are out of luck. You can't cancel a deposit. I would chalk this up to a learning experience. However, as noted I think you should still be able to get good trades even with a non prime deposit. I think people put too much importance in booking the highest week possible. In most cases they don't need the extra trade power they got.

 

[dougp26364]

I think once the deposit is confirmed, you are out of luck. You can't cancel a deposit. I would chalk this up to a learning experience. However, as noted I think you should still be able to get good trades even with a non prime deposit. I think people put too much importance in booking the highest week possible. In most cases they don't need the extra trade power they got.

It is that unknown that causes us to want to book the highest week. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't. Personally I don't feel like taking the chance if I don't have too.

 

[flyboy0681]

So is this not good? What if they picked a lousy week to trade?

My personal experience is that this is a true statement. When I was new at this I had them select the week and the one selected was always during the summer at Desert Springs I. This gave me little or no trading power. Now that I'm older and wiser, I carefully select the weeks that are more in demand and it's worked out better for me.

 

[ScubaKat]

I did that once too! I didn't know the difference of clicking the "reserve a week for deposit" on the web-site. I own fix week 52 and cannot book anything except that on-line.. I have to call in to get a platinum week if I wanted any other weeks.. I thought clicking the "reserve a week for deposit" would only book my week 52 but that gave me a random week instead and deposited it! I had Marriott call Interval and they got my week back and canceled the deposit.. they said it only worked cause Interval still had that week and no one booked it yet...

 

[BocaBoy]

I think you should still be able to get good trades even with a non prime deposit. I think people put too much importance in booking the highest week possible. In most cases they don't need the extra trade power they got.

We agree on that, dioxide.