my-vacationclub.com again cannot handle the load!

[wvacations]

Logged on this morning at 5:55am PDT. Clicked on "Check Availability" at exactly 6:00am. RIght now at 6:17am I am still looking a t a screen that with litle spining ball that says "processing your request". The entire I time I have also tried calling and cannot even get put on hold. All I get is a message that they are too busy to take my call.

At 6:21am the screen finally updates but only shows my point total and the ability to book DC reservations. My 5 weeks don;t even appear for me to click on which one I want to use.

Obviously my week will be gone by this time.

Hitting "Check Avaiablity" again, put back into the spinning ball.

 

[Dewnay]

I had the same problem. I was trying to reserve my 3BR at Ko Olina. By the time I got in, all Friday and Saturday check-ins were gone. I tried searching using my MV week and stuck on the spinning ball for 10 minutes. When the screen refreshed, only the top half of the page appeared. It doesn't even show my weeks now.

D.

 

[aka Julie]

Pathetic wesbiste and call center

I'm in the same boat. Still sitting here on the computer at the phone at 9:30 am EST. I hit the "check availability" to get to select to book my week, after several minutes I get a screen that says "we're sorry, we're unable to retrieve your point values." I am a legacy multi-week owner and have not enrolled my weeks. What the heck is going on? Finally am in the que on the phone. In the 11 years we have owned have I ever had this kind of trouble.

I am so disappointed in Marriott and have vowed to never give them another dime for their pathetic promises or services.

 

[skifast]

I agree. Went on-line and was able to pull up calendar, and reserved what i wanted right at 9:00. The spinning ball is still processing my request - 30 minutes later.
Fortunately, I had called and was told a 24 minute hold, which turned out to be about 15 minutes. Was able to get second choice with a live operator. She told me there were over 100 calls on hold.

 

[aka Julie]

I finally got the website to work at 9:40 and got my 2nd date.

Marriott needs to seriously invest some of their $ both in their website functionality and more customer service reps on the heavy call-in dates.

They are so willing to take our money, but the service level in the booking process has degraded to an unacceptable level. When you finally get thru over the phone they tell you that they are experiencing heavy call volume and to call back later or go on-line. That wold be great if the website worked!

They are adding more and more people with small amount of DC points which only increases the potential # of people either calling in or on-line.:annoyed:

 

[jpc763]

I am booking a Spring Break week next year In Orlando, trying for week 13 and thought I would do a quick check today to make sure that next Thursday is the right log in day. I waited until 7:45 MDT to give the people who are actually trying to book early access.

Well I had the same issues. Spining thing, no screen, no dates. It finally came up after several retries. Last year I had none of these problems. What is the difference?

 

[spottie]

It is horrible. I experience the same thing on the website and by the time I finally got in, there is nothing available. I wonder if it's the same thing for points owner? I have not converted my week since I am planning use them every year.

 

[siesta]

pathetic, all they have to do is boost up the bandwidth so the server can handle the traffic. Apparently they'd rather have it run like a snail, then get everyone to flood the call lines since it is not working properly, then guess what? Not enough staff to handle call volume. Its cyclical.

 

[Kokonut]

Got in online exactly at 6:00 PDT. Pulled up the Spring Break week I wanted (March 23-30) and hit the button to reserve. Waited 15 minutes with the spinning ball and then got:

Please review and correct the errors noted below in red.

Credit card payment: We are sorry; however, the dates you have requested no longer are available. Please select an alternate date and try your reservation again. Thank you.


What the heck is that? Started all over again and after another 10 mintes saw that all the weeks were gone.

 

[sea&ski]

This all sounds too familiar and it must be due to the lack of bandwidth as another poster says. As long as it is not a spring break week that you are trying to book, the system can easily handle the load, but as soon as you double? triple? more? the number of online booking attempts, it goes to molasses. For over ten years, we were in the spring break mode as we had children in school. I would never have tried booking at any other time. Sometimes I got lucky and right in, others I had the issue you are all reporting. Now that I have no constraints, I have found the website works as it should. Not bragging here, just telling you that there are times that it accomplishes what it is supposed to do.

Last week the spinning item was less than a minute before the confirmation appeared. Still, one might expect it to be almost instantaneous, it is not.

There was a year that I was unable to get anything at booking time during the spring weeks we could use, I waited and checked the site periodically, as I was counseled to do by the Rep. Lo and behold, IN THE FALL, weeks suddenly appeared and I actually had choices of check in days during my usage week. I was willing to wait it out, and it paid off. We have always found a use for the MR pts, so I was determined to get a week or turn in for points at the last minute if need be. Maybe I was just lucky...

Be sure to give negative review when you get your Marriott survey concerning "ease of booking your week". It shouldn't be that hard to find some competent tech to improve their system.

 

[wvacations]

I finally got the website to display my weeks at 6:47 PDT. I actually was able to get my week. I guess I was lucky that I was only trying to get a lock off. Since I don't have any 1br left to hook for spring break I was not able to see if they were available. I was booking Shadow Ridgw for spring break.

I should be happy I got my week, but that was do frustrating to watch that spinning ball so long!!!

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I think what most everyone here is complaining about is normal usage (supply/demand) scenarios.

Same exact thing that is being discussed here happens at:

1. Airlines trying to book reward travel 1 year out.
2. Ticket Master trying to book an event.
3. In line at the Apple store 2 days before the release of a new iPhone/iPad
4. Black Friday in the USA
5. Trying to get a class at a local college as a freshman for Fall Semester

Yes, I know we paid as owners for the right to reserve, but not the guarantee of a reservation.

What we don't hear from all too often here are all the reservations at were successfully made.

I agree its fustrating and time consuming but I don't think it can ALL be neccessarily blamed on a website.

 

[NboroGirl]

One nice thing about owning at Grande Vista, that because it is so large, we never have this problem. I just reserved Spring Break week for next year (Mar. 17-23). I didn't call at 9 a.m., I waited until later in the day, and had no problems with the web site OR with getting the week I wanted with the check-in date I wanted.

 

[aka Julie]

I think what most everyone here is complaining about is normal usage (supply/demand) scenarios.

Same exact thing that is being discussed here happens at:

1. Airlines trying to book reward travel 1 year out.
2. Ticket Master trying to book an event.
3. In line at the Apple store 2 days before the release of a new iPhone/iPad
4. Black Friday in the USA
5. Trying to get a class at a local college as a freshman for Fall Semester

Yes, I know we paid as owners for the right to reserve, but not the guarantee of a reservation.

What we don't hear from all too often here are all the reservations at were successfully made.

I agree its fustrating and time consuming but I don't think it can ALL be neccessarily blamed on a website.

Why is it now becoming so much of a problem. In our 11+ years of ownership I have always booked the same weeks and have never experienced this kind of problem. To have the website just sit there and to be told over the phone that they are experiencing heavy call volume and make you hang up is to me unacceptable. The really sad thing is that when you can't get thru on the phone they advise you to go onto their website. It's pathetic.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

Why is it now becoming so much of a problem. In our 11+ years of ownership I have always booked the same weeks and have never experienced this kind of problem. To have the website just sit there and to be told over the phone that they are experiencing heavy call volume and make you hang up is to me unacceptable. The really sad thing is that when you can't get thru on the phone they advise you to go onto their website. It's pathetic.

I agree its very disappointing.