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I HATE Interval International ......

tahoeJoe

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I just found out my freebie, 3 bedroom AC week I "traded" a few days ago for a studio at the Marriott Fisherman's Wharf was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shut down. That cost me nearly $300. I call II and they refuse to give me my money back for the exchange. That's bad, but it gets worse. They issue me a no fee replacement certificate BUT it has tons of restrictions AND it must be used by December 2020 AND it can not be used for an on-going search AND even though the original AC was for a 3 bedroom, they want to charge me a $99/$198 unit upgrade fee, WTF? I hate, hate, hate Interval International. This is total bait and switch.

The annoying thing is I can see similar studio weeks at Marriott San Francisco later in this summer/fall with my 2021 Marriott week but II refuses to give me the exchange with the certificate they control. Should I speak to supervisor and try for a similar week later this summer/fall or just contact my credit card and contest the charge? Any advice is appreciated?
 
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A lot of us have experienced similar events.
However, the "freebie" AC you initially reserved with almost certainly had more restrictions than the replacement.
Also, the only rooms that should have an upgrade fee are for a four bedroom. That's what I'm seeing and I did the exact same thing as you. (Freebie 3BR AC booked for end of May in Orlando)
The replacement AC will let me book 3BR for no cost.
The availability issues are with everyone's travel plans changing and what inventory resorts are putting into II.

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tahoeJoe

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I think one thing that might be difference from other members experience is that THEY (Interval) cancelled on ME. I was ready, willing, and able to travel. The replacement AC is an appeasement or mitigation on Intervals part that I didn't agree to and is unsatisfactory. Interval could easily refund my exchange fee but they are choosing not to.
 
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I think one thing that might be difference from other members experience is that THEY (Interval) cancelled on ME. I was ready, willing, and able to travel. The replacement AC is an appeasement or mitigation on Intervals part that I didn't agree to and is unsatisfactory. Interval could easily refund my exchange fee but they are choosing not to.
I think it was California that cancelled on you. I highly doubt interval would hand out the "free" replacement AC just as an appeasement without being required to. I know they didn't give it to me without my cancelling but Florida hadn't shut down all of its resorts when I cancelled mine.

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sue1947

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I just found out my freebie, 3 bedroom AC week I "traded" a few days ago for a studio at the Marriott Fisherman's Wharf was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shut down.

If you made the trade a few days ago, you clearly knew you were taking a risk that the state closure's would be extended. In fact, it was a pretty good bet so you made a very risky trade. The AC trade is usually a done deal so replacing your AC with one that can be used out to Dec, instead of the original Sept is an improvement, and, in my opinion, shows II going above and beyond what they need to do. It's one thing to replace trades made before this whole mess started, but trades made during for short term trips is another thing. In addition, the freebie AC's can't do an ongoing search either. So your outrage should be pointed at yourself and not II. You took a risk and lost.
Sue
 

Grammarhero

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I like II over RCI, particularly cheaper fees and shortstay exchange. Just my preference.
 

dioxide45

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I like II over RCI, particularly cheaper fees and shortstay exchange. Just my preference.
II actually has cheaper annual membership fees and exchange fees. The OP used something called an Accommodations Certificate. The fees are higher than regular exchange fees. They are kind of like getaways or extra vacations, but they pull inventory directly from exchange availability. They have more restrictions, but you don't have to give up your timeshare week to use it.
 

TravelTime

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I can see the OP's point that II canceled on him. He did not cancel. I guess none of us should expect refunds from airlines, cruises, timeshares, etc. If so, this is good to know because I will not book anything until this crisis is over or make sure it is refundable before booking or cancel before the deadline if booking with points. This is really a bad time to own timeshares. I am glad I am selling a bunch timeshares. I sort of wish I had sold more before this started.
 

Panina

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It is a bad situation all around for how any business deals with the financials due to loss.

Overall I am ok with how II is handling it.

Yesterday I realized I had a trade that started today. No more eplus was available and they gave me a no fee certificate good until December. Whereas I might not use it I appreciate no additional fee will be charged.

Another week I had in a few weeks had eplus available. They made an exception for a week that was available in March. Maybe I will use maybe not but they went above and beyond my expectations.

I have a third week in a few weeks that also has no eplus left that I offered to another tugger. I was told I can get a certificate no fee just like my first week.

I expected nothing as when I trade, buy or own I understand the risks.

Any transactions anyone does now is in jeopardy as the states are constantly changing the rules.

Whereas a refund would be optimal I can understand the financials of not wanting to make exceptions and give refunds. What if they refunded everyone? They would probably go bankrupt and we would be left with just rci and lose any weeks deposited.

As with any business Buyer Beware, do you due diligence.
 

davidvel

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I just found out my freebie, 3 bedroom AC week I "traded" a few days ago for a studio at the Marriott Fisherman's Wharf was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shut down. That cost me nearly $300. I call II and they refuse to give me my money back for the exchange. That's bad, but it gets worse. They issue me a no fee replacement certificate BUT it has tons of restrictions AND it must be used by December 2020 AND it can not be used for an on-going search AND even though the original AC was for a 3 bedroom, they want to charge me a $99/$198 unit upgrade fee, WTF? I hate, hate, hate Interval International. This is total bait and switch.

The annoying thing is I can see similar studio weeks at Marriott San Francisco later in this summer/fall with my 2021 Marriott week but II refuses to give me the exchange with the certificate they control. Should I speak to supervisor and try for a similar week later this summer/fall or just contact my credit card and contest the charge? Any advice is appreciated?
Something is amiss. I've never heard of Marriott Fishermans Wharf timeshare, and it's not in the interval directory. What resort did you actually trade into, and when did you trade?
 

dioxide45

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Something is amiss. I've never heard of Marriott Fishermans Wharf timeshare, and it's not in the interval directory. What resort did you actually trade into, and when did you trade?
A few hotel properties dump inventory in to II to fill rooms, most often in getaways but sometimes we see them show up in exchange inventory.
 

davidvel

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A few hotel properties dump inventory in to II to fill rooms, most often in getaways but sometimes we see them show up in exchange inventory.
That's interesting. I've never seen a Marriott hotel in II. Still would be surprised if a SF Marriott would have been an exchange and then pulled.
 

dioxide45

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My biggest issues with the no fee and other ACs they are giving out as compensation is that the customer service reps don't know what restrictions there are and thus don't communicate the restrictions that are on them. Even after asking pointed questions about the restrictions. So you can't make an informed decision on what option to choose when cancelling an exchange. We cancelled an exchange and the AC given was very poor. We had traded a Marriott in to another Marriott, but the AC we got could not see any Marriott properties. Not even the one we cancelled our exchange for. Had I known the restrictions, I probably would have chosen a different option.

That said, I reached out to the TUG II Members mailbox and got a satisfactory result from the no fee AC.
 

Miss Marty

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tahoeJoe said:
I just found out my freebie, 3 bedroom AC week I "traded" a few days ago for a studio at the Marriott Fisherman's Wharf was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shut down. That cost me nearly $300. I call II and they refuse to give me my money back for the exchange.

Contact your credit card company and dispute the charge!
 

sue1947

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Something is amiss. I've never heard of Marriott Fishermans Wharf timeshare, and it's not in the interval directory. What resort did you actually trade into, and when did you trade?

There's a fairly new Marriott Pulse: from the II description: Conveniently located in the historic Fisherman's Wharf district, Marriott Vacation Club Pulse®, San Francisco welcomes you to the heart of the City by the Bay.
 

Grammarhero

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II actually has cheaper annual membership fees and exchange fees. The OP used something called an Accommodations Certificate. The fees are higher than regular exchange fees. They are kind of like getaways or extra vacations, but they pull inventory directly from exchange availability. They have more restrictions, but you don't have to give up your timeshare week to use it.
I find that the AC or even RCI free weeks only save $40-80.
 

dioxide45

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I find that the AC or even RCI free weeks only save $40-80.
Yeah, in the end they don't really save much over a getaway. But $80 is still $80. With II you need to check both the AC and getaways. There are times that getaways are cheaper than using an AC.
 

davidvel

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There's a fairly new Marriott Pulse: from the II description: Conveniently located in the historic Fisherman's Wharf district, Marriott Vacation Club Pulse®, San Francisco welcomes you to the heart of the City by the Bay.
The OP said it was the "Marriott Fisherman's Wharf" which is the actual name of a Marriott Hotel, different from the Pulse. But as the Pulse timeshare is in the Fisherman's wharf district, that may be what OP was referring to.
 

VacationForever

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As others have posted, II did not cancel on you. Marriott was closed because of COVID-19. ACs always have restrictions and sometimes open up more desirable resorts when the check-in date is within a couple of weeks. I suspect that was how you were able to buy the Marriott week because check-in date was close. I don't feel that II has been unfair. The whole COVID-19 situation has impacted many people, including travellers.
 

montygz

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I just found out my freebie, 3 bedroom AC week I "traded" a few days ago for a studio at the Marriott Fisherman's Wharf was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shut down. That cost me nearly $300. I call II and they refuse to give me my money back for the exchange. That's bad, but it gets worse. They issue me a no fee replacement certificate BUT it has tons of restrictions AND it must be used by December 2020 AND it can not be used for an on-going search AND even though the original AC was for a 3 bedroom, they want to charge me a $99/$198 unit upgrade fee, WTF? I hate, hate, hate Interval International. This is total bait and switch.

The annoying thing is I can see similar studio weeks at Marriott San Francisco later in this summer/fall with my 2021 Marriott week but II refuses to give me the exchange with the certificate they control. Should I speak to supervisor and try for a similar week later this summer/fall or just contact my credit card and contest the charge? Any advice is appreciated?
Why would you trade for a room during the COVID-19 shutdown? Had you done a few months ago I would understand, but a few days ago?
 

geerlijd

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You took a big chance using an AC right now. In normal times you likely would never see Marriott Fisherman's Wharf this time if year with an AC.

I did the same thing a couple weeks ago and booked Mariott Ocean Watch in late May with an AC. My logic was that if it is open I got a 2BR Mariott for a week for $258! If it ends up closed, I expected some type of replacement cert to use later this year which might have to be used for a mud week somewhere this fall. I took a chance just like you did, and am prepared to accept the consequences.
 
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pedro47

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You took a big chance using an AC right now. In normal times you likely would never see Marriott Fisherman's Wharf this time if year with an AC.

I did the same thing a couple weeks ago and booked Mariott Ocean Watch in late May with an AC. My logic was that if it is open I got a 2BR Mariott for a week for $258! If it ends up closed, I expected some type of replacement cert to use later this year which might have to be used for a mud week somewhere this fall. I took a chance just like you did, and am prepared to accept the consequences.
May is great time to be at Ocean Watch , the weather sure be nice and most children are in school.
 
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tshd

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My biggest issues with the no fee and other ACs they are giving out as compensation is that the customer service reps don't know what restrictions there are and thus don't communicate the restrictions that are on them. Even after asking pointed questions about the restrictions. So you can't make an informed decision on what option to choose when cancelling an exchange. We cancelled an exchange and the AC given was very poor. We had traded a Marriott in to another Marriott, but the AC we got could not see any Marriott properties. Not even the one we cancelled our exchange for. Had I known the restrictions, I probably would have chosen a different option.

That said, I reached out to the TUG II Members mailbox and got a satisfactory result from the no fee AC.

I agree completely. When I asked the II rep what kind of certificate they were giving, I was told it was a "replacement week". If you've gotten a replacement week from II, you know that it is not quite the same as your original week, but is a whole lot better than most other ACs that II issues.

When I originally received it a few weeks ago, it had very few restrictions, mainly just blocking out So Cal, a bit annoying since my resort is in So Cal, but not a big deal overall because it did show other parts of CA and HI. I was able to see a lot of locations and quality resorts through December, but because no one knows how things are going to play out, I didn't rush to book anything. I was generally pleased with the AC initially as it seemed to be like the "replacement week", I had received in the past and not like the fairly restrictive "freebies" they deposit in user accounts, so I believed that the rep had been honest with me. Also, the replacement was based on the size of the unit traded into, not the size of the deposit, which was also a bit disappointing, but I was trying to remain positive.

But a few days ago, I noticed that I wasn't seeing any Hawaii weeks in May, which I have seen regularly for the past month. I thought perhaps II had pulled them since many resorts are not available and its kind of unfair that II still has them available to book only to find out that the resort isn't really open. But after starting a searching with my "freebie" AC that most II members got last year, I saw the Hawaii resorts were still available with it. So I went back and looked at the restrictions on the replacement AC and sure enough a bunch of new restrictions had been placed on it and then today even more restrictions were implemented.

It's one thing to offer a time limited "replacement week" as compensation instead of a refund, because no one involved was at fault for the situation, but I think it's not reputable to continually make changes to the terms of that certificate, that weren't disclosed and especially after it's been issued. The only terms the replacement policy stated for the "fee free" certificate was that it needed to be used by 12/31 (but in reality 12/24, because Christmas week is excluded) and that II might limit the search to 30 days, as needed. But it does not say that II can severely restrict locations and/or specific resorts/vendors as II sees fit even after the AC is deposited into your account. II was responsible for training it's reps to honestly disclose restrictions on these ACs and II stated and revised its written policy regarding these ACs, but was not transparent about the fact that they could change the terms even after the ACs were issued. Also, there was someone on the II community board who repeatedly told others that he had an AC booked and II gave him a replacement AC which he used to book a 2bd Marriott in Hawaii in December. The person does not own a Marriott but boasted that the replacement AC pulled a better unit than what was available with what he owned!! Well it worked great for him, but not so much for others, especially anyone who relied on his advice and then had the terms of the certificate changed. Since II can modify posts in its community, and does so regularly, perhaps they should consider deleting his misleading posts, now that they have blocked Hawaii from these ACs. Then again, maybe it's just me that they are manipulating and they are manipulating others differently, depending on where they live or typically travel. I don't really know since I can only see my certificates and know what I search regularly.

Has anyone else noticed changes in their replacement AC recently?

What is the Tug II Member mailbox?

And yes, it was the Marriott Pulse the OP booked in the Fisherman's Wharf area of SF. I'm figuring he knew we would realize that he has talking about the Pulse timeshare since it was an exchange through II.
 
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