Marriott- ridiculous customer service

[Bodie]

I rarely need to call Marriott customer service, and I don’t keep up with all the Marriott threads, so maybe my customer service experience is old hat on TUG. But does it feel to anyone else like Marriott has stopped trying?

First, I had a crazy time of if trying to pay my MF this year. I waited until about a week before they were due (as I did with my Hyatt and Disney MFs, no problemo getting those paid), went online to pay them and then got an error message that they couldn’t take payment from an Apple product. What? I found the time to call them the following day and wait times were over an hour. I was calling from a cell phone in a semi-public place (at work) and was reluctant to use the automated payment system. I selected the phone menu option to have Marriott call me, but it was two hours later when they called, and I was seeing an appointment and missed the call. Eventually after multiple attempts, I was able to log in and pay my MF but wow I had to work pretty hard to give them money. All of that was stupid and a waste of time, but whatever. Next year I’ll just mail my MF payment.

Then I decided to list my Barony week for rent on Redweek, and it rented super quickly. We are on a cross country road trip and I got notification by Redweek that the week had rented and now I needed to put the rental into my renter’s name. Not something MVCI website allows you to do (although I have since learned that I can go onto the Bonvoy site and change the name? Is this correct?). I called Marriott to make the change, wait times were over an hour and the call got dropped before Marriott even answered, as we lost cell reception in the middle of nowhere New Mexico.

No worries, I sent Marriott a request for the name change via chat 4 days ago. When I did so, I got a message that it would take up to six days. Really? Redweek gives me 5 days to get the name change done. I decide to wait and see. Maybe Marriott will exceed expectations.

No dice, so this morning I called Marriott at exactly 9am on the dot. After a 10 minute hold (yay!), I get a rep. Tell him I need the reservation name change and he takes all the information and then at the conclusion of the call, tells me it will be another 2-3 days for Marriott to make the change. I tell him I really need this today, and why. That I’ve called, and chatted, and already jumped through several Marriott hoops.

He just keeps giving me grief. My expectations are unrealistic, this is not how it works with Marriott. He can’t see my chat request (implying I guess that I never actually made one). No concern about excessive wait times- they have “500 calls” what did I expect? (Maybe make it easier to not have to call? But not really my problem to solve.) The need for multiple contact attempts to get a trivial matter taken care of (paying MF, changing a name on a reservation)- completely of zero concern to this rep. He really gave me the vibe that customers are the biggest annoyance in his life.

I wasn’t even particularly angry, just pretty firm that I needed a little more customer service than I was getting. Finally he relented and put me on hold to see if he could get the name change accomplished today. While I was on hold, I got an email confirmation of the reservation name change and when the rep came back on, I thanked him for getting this done and thought we might have a happy ending. Nope, he scolded me further and told me he wanted me to know that he was making a note in my record that I have been warned not to ask for such a thing in the future. Oh noes, now I have this blight on my permanent record! So close, Marriott. It was “almost good” customer service.

Jeez. I totally got the impression that they are not even trying anymore. I would love nothing more than take care of my own needs online- booking, cancelling, changing names on reservations, and paying my MF. Seems like four pretty straightforward functions that if flawlessly available via website would reduce Marriott’s “500 calls” by a good margin.

I have my issues with Hyatt and Disney, but I will say that they actually are always pleasant and helpful on the phone. Marriott- ugh.

I’m finding that the CSRs - while being pleasant and willing - just don’t know as much as one’s with whom I have spoken to in the past. They really do try, though. It may be MVC just isn’t doing a good job training them. Suspect Covid necessitated a lot of layoffs that included more senior staff who were paid more than the newbies. Follow the money.

 

[Dean]

It shouldn't be, it is only one membership in Abound for owners that own both Vistana and Marriott. It could be a deeding issue where the different ownerships deeded differently (names, middle name, order of names, etc). As a Vistana and Marriott owner, the Club Dues was not billed to us in our Marriott Vacation Club account but rather billed as part of our Vistana VSN mandatory ownership. Owners who own only Mandatory VSN pay the Club Fee as part of their Vistana maintenance fees. Owners with just Voluntary VSN ownership pay their Club Dues directly to Marriott Vacation Club. Someone with both Vistana VSN mandatory and Vistana VSN and/or Marriott would always pay their Club Dues to Vistana as part of their mandatory maintenance fees. Since @MICROZE owns a mandatory VSN VOI (Westin Kierland Villas [WKV]), the Club Dues would have been billed with the WKV maintenance fee and they should never have received a separate Club Dues bill from MVC.

Thanks for the information.

 

[aka Julie]

Let me add my experience today trying to book 2 consecutive weeks for 2024 (I’m somewhere between the 13 and 12 month mark).

First off we’ve owned these 2 weeks for more than 20 years and I find it astounding that we still can’t book on line at the 13 month mark.

Two days ago I filled out the information online for booking consecutive weeks. Got a reply back that I would hear back within 1 business day. That was yesterday. No word on the reservations. So today I decided to call. Apparently I got a new person. He said he could not see my request and that he would have to check availability with the property. What??? I told him this was for 2024 and that he hadn’t even asked what dates I wanted to reserve. He put me on hold and after a short wait I was connected with the Barony Beach front desk. Of course they couldn’t help me.

So I call back Owner Services and get a different person. Once again explain why I’m calling. She puts me on hold and then I get a recorded message for the Interval Desk that I was apparently transferred to. Strike 2.

I call back for the 3rd time and this time I got someone who knew what he was doing. Mission accomplished. However he turned the call into a sales pitch for their insurance and wanted to sign me up for a virtual owner update.

MVCI really needs to get their act together. Since December I’ve experienced problems paying MF online, locking off and booking a single week online (had to call in because of error message for days), and now the situation described above.

I hope this is not the new “normal”. I just feel sorry for new owners that have to experience this kind of service after shelling out big bucks for their ownership.

 

[Steve Fatula]

So true! I have only done it once, about 5 years ago, by calling MVC and the agent suggested to remove my Bonvoy number from the reservation as well. Up to this day, I have email, welcome letter on my bed and phone calls addressing me as my guest from 5 years ago. Most recently, at Marriott's Desert Springs, I called front desk, and I was address as Ms XXX, which is the name of my guest from 5 years before. I insisted that they update their records, but who knows if my guest name will continue to show up. Marriott is scary. I have since only change names on marriott.com.

Yep, exactly why I also change it online

 

[LEMONLEE]

So I call back Owner Services and get a different person. Once again explain why I’m calling. She puts me on hold and then I get a recorded message for the Interval Desk that I was apparently transferred to. Strike 2.

Omg, this happened to me too a few weeks ago! I called MVC, explained what I needed help with, was put on hold, and after quite a bit of time listening to hold music, it rolled over and Interval picked up the line. I was so confused, I thought I was dreaming!! I know that Marriott owns Interval now, but they ARE still two separate companies. How could this have possibly happened?

 

[aland0524]

Let me add my experience today trying to book 2 consecutive weeks for 2024 (I’m somewhere between the 13 and 12 month mark).

First off we’ve owned these 2 weeks for more than 20 years and I find it astounding that we still can’t book on line at the 13 month mark.

Two days ago I filled out the information online for booking consecutive weeks. Got a reply back that I would hear back within 1 business day. That was yesterday. No word on the reservations. So today I decided to call. Apparently I got a new person. He said he could not see my request and that he would have to check availability with the property. What??? I told him this was for 2024 and that he hadn’t even asked what dates I wanted to reserve. He put me on hold and after a short wait I was connected with the Barony Beach front desk. Of course they couldn’t help me.

So I call back Owner Services and get a different person. Once again explain why I’m calling. She puts me on hold and then I get a recorded message for the Interval Desk that I was apparently transferred to. Strike 2.

I call back for the 3rd time and this time I got someone who knew what he was doing. Mission accomplished. However he turned the call into a sales pitch for their insurance and wanted to sign me up for a virtual owner update.

MVCI really needs to get their act together. Since December I’ve experienced problems paying MF online, locking off and booking a single week online (had to call in because of error message for days), and now the situation described above.

I hope this is not the new “normal”. I just feel sorry for new owners that have to experience this kind of service after shelling out big bucks for their ownership.

@aka Julie - After 20 years of ownership and probably knowing how to get in the calling queue when the 13th month window opens, why would you continue to try to go on-line when it's clearly a broken system? I've never done any booking online at MVC for the over 25 years we've owned and always get the weeks in Kauai and Maui that we own (it probably helps to be Chairman's Club but sometimes, the phones are answered by non-Chairman's Club reps). (I just booked 4 consecutive weeks for 2024 last January without any problems.) I agree that MVC's IT system - including their M/F and Loan payment system is awful - and I've had to resort to calling to pay M/Fs also. On the other hand, the Vistana online system (we own Westin Nanea) is slick and one can "easily" book if one gets in quickly and early - just like when calling 15 seconds before the phone lines officially open! Hopefully, as Marriott absorbs the Vistana system, they won't screw this up! Anyway...as they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...I'd go back to good old Ma Bell's technology!

 

[Ken555]

Hopefully, as Marriott absorbs the Vistana system, they won't screw this up!

They already have. I am at a Westin resort today and tried searching while at the front desk to show them other availability, and it constantly failed to complete a search. Out of the 15 attempts I made with various search requests, three returned results… the rest showed an error. This didn’t happen pre-Marriott.


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[winger]

They already have. I am at a Westin resort today and tried searching while at the front desk to show them other availability, and it constantly failed to complete a search. Out of the 15 attempts I made with various search requests, three returned results… the rest showed an error. This didn’t happen pre-Marriott.


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AT least Marriott believes in leveling the playing field

 

[Dean]

They already have. I am at a Westin resort today and tried searching while at the front desk to show them other availability, and it constantly failed to complete a search. Out of the 15 attempts I made with various search requests, three returned results… the rest showed an error. This didn’t happen pre-Marriott.


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I'm curious as to why one would be searching for availability while at the front desk.

 

[Mroze]

It shouldn't be, it is only one membership in Abound for owners that own both Vistana and Marriott. It could be a deeding issue where the different ownerships deeded differently (names, middle name, order of names, etc). As a Vistana and Marriott owner, the Club Dues was not billed to us in our Marriott Vacation Club account but rather billed as part of our Vistana VSN mandatory ownership. Owners who own only Mandatory VSN pay the Club Fee as part of their Vistana maintenance fees. Owners with just Voluntary VSN ownership pay their Club Dues directly to Marriott Vacation Club. Someone with both Vistana VSN mandatory and Vistana VSN and/or Marriott would always pay their Club Dues to Vistana as part of their mandatory maintenance fees. Since @MICROZE owns a mandatory VSN VOI (Westin Kierland Villas [WKV]), the Club Dues would have been billed with the WKV maintenance fee and they should never have received a separate Club Dues bill from MVC.

Heard today [over 1 hour on the phone] that since my wife is VSN-Primary while I am MVCI-Primary that counts as 2 separate accounts.
Thus, we will have to pay 2 x $295 Club-Dues.

Alternate option offered was to have a SINGLE-Primary-Account [same owner for VSN + MVCI] and lose 1 x Bonvoy-Elite membership.
He informed me that LINKING the accounts helped with consolidated fees [which in our case is $590: $295 x 2] avoiding a-la-carte which is a benefit.
I informed him that as 5-Star Elite we did not have to pay Guest-Cert-Fees or Banking-Fees and he highlighted that we could avail of exchanging VSN to MVCI-Resorts.
When I informed him that we could always do that in the past, he informed me that we could benefit from Interval-Benefits.

Another option is to UN-LINK VSN from Abound and STILL pay 2 x Club-Dues [MVCI: $295 + VSN: $235].
Oh Well! The benefits of Linking VSN into MVCI are shrinking.

 

[dioxide45]

Heard today [over 1 hour on the phone] that since my wife is VSN-Primary while I am MVCI-Primary that counts as 2 separate accounts.
Thus we will have to pay 2 x $295 Club-Dues.

It has been reported that deeds do need to be titled the same in order for just one fee to apply. THis is mentioned in the FAQs.

 

[Dean]

Heard today [over 1 hour on the phone] that since my wife is VSN-Primary while I am MVCI-Primary that counts as 2 separate accounts.
Thus, we will have to pay 2 x $295 Club-Dues.

Alternate option offered was to have a SINGLE-Primary-Account [same owner for VSN + MVCI] and lose 1 x Bonvoy-Elite membership.
He informed me that LINKING the accounts helped with consolidated fees [which in our case is $590: $295 x 2] avoiding a-la-carte which is a benefit.
I informed him that as 5-Star Elite we did not have to pay Guest-Cert-Fees or Banking-Fees and he highlighted that we could avail of exchanging VSN to MVCI-Resorts.
When I informed him that we could always do that in the past, he informed me that we could benefit from Interval-Benefits.

Another option is to UN-LINK VSN from Abound and STILL pay 2 x Club-Dues [MVCI: $295 + VSN: $235].
Oh Well! The benefits of Linking VSN into MVCI are shrinking.

If I understanding correctly, they are seeing it as 2 separate accounts which they can correct but in doing so, you'll only have one Bonvoy number and one status based on membership. That makes sense. You could unenroll the VSN account as well and avoid the fee also couldn't you. I realize you might not want to but it would be an option I assume.

 

[Mroze]

If I understanding correctly, they are seeing it as 2 separate accounts which they can correct but in doing so, you'll only have one Bonvoy number and one status based on membership. That makes sense. You could unenroll the VSN account as well and avoid the fee also couldn't you. I realize you might not want to but it would be an option I assume.

The names on both accounts are identical.
The criteria being used is "Who is Primary" has to match on both MVCI + VSN.

We don't [possibly never] plan to transfer any of our +1.2M-Star-Options [35K-DCP] accrued annually from VSN to MVCI [where we already accrue 25K-DCP annually].
Yes. I can Un-Enroll / Un-Unlink VSN from MVCI and then pay 2 x separate fees [VSN: $235] + MVCI: $295].
This would not make sense as I wouldn't be saving much. This would result in a-la-carte VSN-Fees + Interval-Fees.

BTW: Unsure if its my browser [Edge] or TUGG, however, my page has crashed about 5 times so far [have retyped the last 2 posts about 5 times].

 

[Ken555]

I'm curious as to why one would be searching for availability while at the front desk.

They insisted there was no availability, and I was able to prove them wrong.


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[bazzap]

It has been reported that deeds do need to be titled the same in order for just one fee to apply. THis is mentioned in the FAQs.

Definitely not in our case.
As multi week, multi titled (not in the same order) MVC weeks owners we only pay one fee.

 

[dioxide45]

Definitely not in our case.
As multi week, multi titled (not in the same order) MVC weeks owners we only pay one fee.

I think the issue is with people who own both Vistana and Marriott. Do you have Vistana deeds?

 

[bazzap]

I think the issue is with people who own both Vistana and Marriott. Do you have Vistana deeds?

No, that is probably the issue, we only own MVC.

 

[Cruiser Too]

Marriott USED-TO have excellent customer service.
Those days are over.

I had a issue and tried:
online, phone-call and email.
NO RESPONSE !

I had to write a letter and CC one of their dept. mangers
before I received an email response !!!

 

[Blackhawk]

Yes, Marriott people and their servers have all changed a lot since 1989. I guess a lot has changed since that time as well. In today’s world, I sensed a gradual change since 2018, when they went big time and bought Westin and Sheraton. Most of the time, I do get some better service because I am a Chairman owner. Where the breakdown happens is at the sales department. Marriott used to have sales executives that would care for a person‘s needs. Now, the only thing they care about is collecting the money on to the next person. They do not take care of updating a person with new details or suggestions.

My wife and I also own with Wyndham and they are making big strides at improving their customer service. The same with (for) Hilton. Marriott should care more like they use too, even just for “good will” and courtesy.

 

[Mr. Vker]

Dealing with a similar claim you received. I'm lifetime Titanium, so last fall we asked my wife's Bonvoy be associated with MVC so she can get Plat status. No problem--they even gave her a unique login. It wouldn't change until Jan though. They only update once a year. Bizarre, but OK. Didn't update in January. Called and they had an error on her Bonvoy number-told us it would update by Feb 15th. Didn't. Called back. They said "We see no request or chat from 2022, just in Jan 2023 when you called to have it done therefore it wont update until Jan 2024." They would not budge. It was twilight zone.

 

[shoeie]

I agree that MVCI customer service has been pretty subpar in our approximately 13 years of ownership. Additionally, their IT has always been clunky, and has only gotten worse with the Vistana merger. Funny that I stumbled on this thread though because I definitely saw the bad IT and customer service combo just yesterday.

I received, via certified mail, a collections letter from MVCI threatening me with all manner of horribles if I didn't pay up the listed past due balance. I have always paid my (ever rising/accelerating) maintenance fees, so this letter certainly confused me. Until I looked at the "past due" balance which helpfully listed $0.00 (WTF?!). I would have simply chuckled and filed the letter in my MVCI file, but given that they took the effort to send it Certified Mail, I thought I should call. Of course the only number listed on the letter was the main customer service number. Busy signals for approximately 4 hours before I even got a ringing phone, and after a 10-15 minute wait I got a clueless customer service representative who confirmed I had no past due balance on my account, but could not explain why I received such a threatening letter. After multiple holds, and purported conversations with a "back office" he finally said that the letter appeared to have been sent in error (really, no kidding). Unfortunately, because I hold absolutely no trust in MVCI, I will obviously need to keep an eye on my credit reports in case they report my "past due" balance ...

However, while I rarely attend presentations (bought resale, don't have any desire to own more), moments and stories like these are usually helpful in quickly shutting down sales presentations with a quick query that asks, "why would I ever buy more of this nonsense?"

 

[mvmess]

Wow! Such discourse. We have owned for eighteen years. Both legacy weeks and Destination points. We pay maintenance fees online using our Marriott Bonvoy VISA card (Why wouldn’t you!) and have never had a problem. Sure we‘ve managed to reach the rep who is new or disinterested. I simply hang up and call another rep. Have never waited more than five minutes. I am Chairman’s Club so maybe that makes a difference.

 

[mvmess]

Wow! Such discourse. We have owned for eighteen years. Both legacy weeks and Destination points. We pay maintenance fees online using our Marriott Bonvoy VISA card (Why wouldn’t you!) and have never had a problem. Sure we‘ve managed to reach the rep who is new or disinterested. I simply hang up and call another rep. Have never waited more than five minutes. I am Chairman’s Club so maybe that makes a difference.

…BTW, COVID is not just an excuse, it’s a sad reality! Hiring quality employees has become a nightmare In any sector.

 

[Bodie]

I would welcome not having to go through unending prompts to get to a CSR. Can MVC make it any more clear now that they have our “investment” our value is diminished?