New Website discussion

[1Kflyerguy]

I have been playing around with the new site and actually used it for my last reservation, a quick single night at W57. Everything seemed to work for that, I am planning a more complicated trip for next May, and will be booking that next month at the club season mark. I plan to start with the new site, then fall back to the old one if needed.

I think i am actually getting used to the new site, though it still feels kind of clunky in places... But to be honest the old site is awkward at times as well.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Good Luck with more Complicated Trip

I have been playing around with the new site and actually used it for my last reservation, a quick single night at W57. Everything seemed to work for that, I am planning a more complicated trip for next May, and will be booking that next month at the club season mark. I plan to start with the new site, then fall back to the old one if needed.

I think i am actually getting used to the new site, though it still feels kind of clunky in places... But to be honest the old site is awkward at times as well.

Good luck with your reservations for your more complicated trip with the new web site. I was able to make a reservation with the new web site but when I wanted to change the reservation I got stuck. Also, keep in mind that if the comments on Tug are indicative of the experience and reaction that others in the HGVC are experiencing then there is very little traffic on the new web site. If and when they make everyone use the new website it may slow down and crash very frequently like the Revolution system did when they made that the only system that member could use.

 

[Maverick1963]

This is another disaster. I sent email to Owner Service. I do not quite understand why HGVC cannot make a reservations website/system to handle a dozen of resorts and the definite number of owners. I requested them to:

- Do professional work
- Announce what is wrong and what they will do to correct the situation
- Pay back the system development cost by reducing the member fee
- Not increase member fee for a few years
- Keep running the classic and Revolution system

We, captive customers, cannot go anywhere else to make reservation. If this is a free market place, HGVC would have to correct their mistakes immediately, to have IT executive resigned and to offer something attractive to get customers back. An extremely serious situation.

Every owner should send his/her message (with anger) to HGVC.

 

[rfc0001]

A pretty major bug

I reported this 2.5 months ago, and still not fix. Right now, your previously deposited (Deposited or Rescued) points don't shop up in the current year points available to deposit to RCI, event though they should be eligible (it even clearly states "previously deposited or Saved points"):

E.g.:

This is pretty bad, since this is the only thing you can do with previously deposited points that are about to expire, so it is obviously critical functionality to have in the new site before sunsetting the old one. Please send HGVC an email to request they fix this, as apparently they see it as a "nice to have".

Russ

 

[rfc0001]

Over 5 months later and we are still unable to perform core functionality on the new website? Then, they send out an email saying they are turning off the old website, so we will be forced to call and pay higher fees to do these transactions over the phone (which is a waste of not only time but money)? This is mass hysteria. Why is there not more outrage? Personally, I've contacted HGVC now a third time and told them forcing people to pay more fees to perform transactions over the phone is a violation of their membership agreement which promises these services will be available online. I've told them this is basis for class action lawsuit (along with the services provided by RCI which are not available online for the past 2 months), and to escalate both the issues to the office of their CEO and/or executive response team. Going 2-3 months without core services available online is unacceptable. Please join me in contacting HGVC to get both of these issues addressed.

 

[presley]

Over 5 months later and we are still unable to perform core functionality on the new website? Then, they send out an email saying they are turning off the old website, so we will be forced to call and pay higher fees to do these transactions over the phone (which is a waste of not only time but money)? This is mass hysteria. Why is there not more outrage? Personally, I've contacted HGVC now a third time and told them forcing people to pay more fees to perform transactions over the phone is a violation of their membership agreement which promises these services will be available online. I've told them this is basis for class action lawsuit (along with the services provided by RCI which are not available online for the past 2 months), and to escalate both the issues to the office of their CEO and/or executive response team. Going 2-3 months without core services available online is unacceptable. Please join me in contacting HGVC to get both of these issues addressed.

It's annoying (and I've been reading/hearing about the great upcoming website for as long as I've owned), but if you can't do the transaction online and you call and tell them that, they will charge you the online fee and not the call in fee. I would be very surprised if they started charging people the call in fee for those who cannot get the website to work.

Meanwhile, I'm still using the old website. When it is completely gone is when I'll start using the new one.

 

[Talent312]

... I've told them this is basis for class action lawsuit ...

Threats of lawsuits are ignored, if not smirked at. As another poster said, just tell 'em you tried doing it online and they'll give you the online rate.

I advise waiting to start your tirade until after they've done what you wanted. First, thank them for their help. Then say, "BTW, I'm sure you know this, but the new website is a pile of crap. Have nice day."
.

 

[SmithOp]

I've told them this is basis for class action lawsuit (along with the services provided by RCI which are not available online for the past 2 months)

I think this is RCI issue, nothing to do with new HGVC web site.



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[rfc0001]

Threats of lawsuits are ignored, if not smirked at. As another poster said, just tell 'em you tried doing it online and they'll give you the online rate.

I advise waiting to start your tirade until after they've done what you wanted. First, thank them for their help. Then say, "BTW, I'm sure you know this, but the new website is a pile of crap. Have nice day."
.

It's not a threat, it's a statement of fact. If you don't provide the service, then charge extra because of that, you open yourself up for a class action lawsuit. It's pretty cut and dry. I'm not sure the argument that they won't charge you extra holds water. I've regularly been charged extra for RCI transactions I can't do online (e.g. using Bonus Points to confirm an exchange) despite telling them the reason I'm calling is because I can't do it online. I've also been charged extra when I was unable to confirm an exchange online and had to call - again explicitly telling them I was getting an error online. I didn't push it hard, since those were one offs, but if the RCI website is going to consistently not work (as it hasn't for at least 2 months for me and several others on 2-3 threads here on TUG - one referenced above), and HGVC and RCI refuse to do anything about it (RCI flat out hasn't responded to my emails and HGVC said they had not heard of the issue and would look into it and never got back), then I'm going to be motivated enough to raise a stink. Suffice it to say, you are doing something horribly wrong if any customer is so frustrated by the customer experience they feel their only resolution is to sue you for breach of contract.

I think this is RCI issue, nothing to do with new HGVC web site.

RCI Exchanges are a service provided by my HGVC Membership. It matters not that they subcontract this service, if my HGVC membership pays for it and my HGVC fees pay for it. If HGVC customers aren't being provided the service they are paying for, HGVC should be raising a stink on their behalf. The "contact us" page on RCI just provides HGVC contact numbers. HGVC provides all the customer service and support for their RCI account AFAICT. I provided the link above -- there have been several threads for 2+ months where you cannot confirm or release ongoing search matches and cannot modify or delete ongoing searches. It just says "please contact customer service" next to any match or any ongoing search. I'm not going to waste time calling customer service to manually adjust my searches to exclude a certain date or resort (plus I don't trust them to do it right) or to manually confirm a OGS over the phone (which per above they have charged extra for many times when I've told them I can't do it online in the past). The service has been completely degraded to the point of being unusable. I can't edit or delete OGS searches, I can't confirm or release matches, and if I do, they immediately rematch, resulting in holding the match indefinitely, creating a logjam in the system. I'd be happy to hear it was just me, in which case I would call - although I've already contacted RCI and HGVC at least 3 times with no response if that's the case. However, the fact there were at least 3 threads on this subject on TUG tells me it's not just me.

 

[Tamaradarann]

New Website is NOT a Reservation System

Over 5 months later and we are still unable to perform core functionality on the new website? Then, they send out an email saying they are turning off the old website, so we will be forced to call and pay higher fees to do these transactions over the phone (which is a waste of not only time but money)? This is mass hysteria. Why is there not more outrage? Personally, I've contacted HGVC now a third time and told them forcing people to pay more fees to perform transactions over the phone is a violation of their membership agreement which promises these services will be available online. I've told them this is basis for class action lawsuit (along with the services provided by RCI which are not available online for the past 2 months), and to escalate both the issues to the office of their CEO and/or executive response team. Going 2-3 months without core services available online is unacceptable. Please join me in contacting HGVC to get both of these issues addressed.

I have stressed to HGVC a number of times that the new website, that they tout as being the greatest thing since the moon landings, doesn't do as effective job in making and changing reservations speedily as the old site. I got an e-mail from them the other day which indicated the following: They have never, before a few days ago, suggested that the new website wasn't made primarily as a reservation system which I was under the impression it was since that is why I go to the website which is hundreds of times a year. The revelation that a better reservation system than the new system could be had was refreshing. While I feel the old website is sufficient, if they can create one which is better but not burdened with all the graphics and other extraneous information that the new website has then more power to them.

 

[hurnik]

It's annoying (and I've been reading/hearing about the great upcoming website for as long as I've owned), but if you can't do the transaction online and you call and tell them that, they will charge you the online fee and not the call in fee. I would be very surprised if they started charging people the call in fee for those who cannot get the website to work.

Meanwhile, I'm still using the old website. When it is completely gone is when I'll start using the new one.

I've had it happen twice with the "old" site and both times it's been a complete hassle to get the phone rep to actually charge the online fee. Have to argue back and forth for several minutes or get a supervisor on the line. Royal PITA.

 

[newportbeach]

I recommend everyone closely examines the Contract #'s of ownership.
In my account at least one one week does not appear on the new website. I
called and Hilton has it showing on their computers, but not on the website.
It is being investigated. I have no idea what will turn up. I also have
in my records a K# for a unit, it is not on the new site, and Hilton is investigating.

Not exactly feeling confident with this new website, and I will report the results.

 

[presley]

I recommend everyone closely examines the Contract #'s of ownership.

Dang. I didn't even think about that. I actually have 3 different accounts because 2 are affiliates and I have to move points from those accounts to my main account. I only made the one account on the new website. It didn't occur to me that I need to make 2 more. Hopefully, they all still exist.

 

[Talent312]

... RCI Exchanges are a service provided by my HGVC Membership. It matters not that they subcontract this service, if my HGVC membership pays for it and my HGVC fees pay for it...

Some of us remember when there was no online access to RCI at all.
Access to RCI online began ~August 2009. But fees were also lower.

.

 

[buzglyd]

Dang. I didn't even think about that. I actually have 3 different accounts because 2 are affiliates and I have to move points from those accounts to my main account. I only made the one account on the new website. It didn't occur to me that I need to make 2 more. Hopefully, they all still exist.

I show two accounts when I log in:

My WBR account where all my points and my Seapointe which has no photo and is only listed as Project No. 104

 

[brp]

I have stressed to HGVC a number of times that the new website, that they tout as being the greatest thing since the moon landings, doesn't do as effective job in making and changing reservations speedily as the old site. I got an e-mail from them the other day which indicated the following: They have never, before a few days ago, suggested that the new website wasn't made primarily as a reservation system which I was under the impression it was since that is why I go to the website which is hundreds of times a year. The revelation that a better reservation system than the new system could be had was refreshing. While I feel the old website is sufficient, if they can create one which is better but not burdened with all the graphics and other extraneous information that the new website has then more power to them.

Well, I certainly hope that they will not retire the old website until the new site is fully functional for reservations. The old site is perfectly workable (even if not perfect) and they should provide at least that level of functionality on the new site before retiring the old site.

Cheers.

 

[presley]

I show two accounts when I log in:

My WBR account where all my points and my Seapointe which has no photo and is only listed as Project No. 104

Where do you see that? When I look under ownership, it only shows Marbrisa.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Both my resorts show up ok, but looking for inventory is awful. I have to go back to the old system.

I looked up Oahu resorts. I put in Lagoon tower only and it showed all kinds of availability on the calendar view, but NO units types show availability. So what the heck is the calendar inventory showing, all of Oahu or ???/

I like Revolutions slide bar mechanism to search across multiple months.

I think Management thinks this website is great because it is pretty and has big pictures. Which looks great to market this to new owners who know nothing about the resorts that are available. When you are an experienced owner, there is NO way to see just a summary of reservations with out all the pretty picture crap, and just the resort name. That is frustrating.

The website is NOT designed for experienced users, which we are all.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I just signed up and logged in today. First impression is that it is reasonably intuitive for simple tasks.

However, tried to book a home resort reservation for W 57th to test and I received a 404 error message. I guess I must use the old system or call these in.

Also it showed availability for Grand Islander beyond the 6 month mark and when I tried to book it it gave me a 404 error message rather than saying I was beyond the 6 month booking window.

Looks like system does not do well with home resort and reservations beyond the club booking window.

Have there been any issues with changing a club reservation? I am going to attempt it tonight since revolution has not been working for this.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Club reservation change EPIC FAIL

Tonight I tried to change my club reservation in the new system to add a new day at midnight to a club booking 9 months out at the booking window.

Forty minutes past midnight and the new system still said the booking window was not open for the additional day (checkout 6/17). Revolution also showed it as not open but Classic had it available (as it should be.)

Rather than staying up all night I re-booked a new reservation on Classic (where the additional night was available) and then cancelled my old reservation to free up points. Glad that with W57th ownership I have unlimited reservations without a fee. Others that must pay a reservation fee every time they re-book will have to call to get this fee waived unless HGVC fixes this major issue.

Hard to believe that HGVC IT cannot get such a fundamental transaction working correctly.

Epic FAIL.

 

[alwysonvac]

Tonight I tried to change my club reservation in the new system to add a new day at midnight to a club booking 9 months out at the booking window.

Sadly, I reported the out of sync clock issue to input@hgvc.com on August 11.
I noticed that I couldn't add a night at midnight but it was available when I tried later (sometime before 8am Eastern).

Here's the email response I received on August 11th
"I apologize for this inconvenience. I was actually in conversation about this with our web team today. They are opening a ticket with our IT team to research and have it fixed. It does not seem to be refreshing at midnight as it should, it is delayed for some reason. Thank you for your patience."

I thought this would have been fixed by now

Have there been any issues with changing a club reservation? I am going to attempt it tonight since revolution has not been working for this.

Last month I noticed that they partially fixed the changeable reservation option in Revolution.
They corrected the system to include your existing reservation nights but forgot to include the points associated with your existing reservation.
So if your remaining point balance can't cover the entire reservation, your changeable reservation request will fail. I reported it to input@hgvc.com on the August 11th as well.

Here's the email response I received on August 15th
"We are aware of this issue with changing reservations online. It has been an issue for a while. Unfortunately, our new website encounters the same problem and our IT team is trying to figure out how to fix it. "

However the changeable reservation option seemed to work for me using the new reservation system, I just had to make the change after midnight :annoyed:

 

[Tamaradarann]

New Website is NOT a Reservation System

Sadly, I reported the out of sync clock issue to input@hgvc.com on August 11.
I noticed that I couldn't add a night at midnight but it was available when I tried later (sometime before 8am Eastern).

Here's the email response I received on August 11th
"I apologize for this inconvenience. I was actually in conversation about this with our web team today. They are opening a ticket with our IT team to research and have it fixed. It does not seem to be refreshing at midnight as it should, it is delayed for some reason. Thank you for your patience."

I thought this would have been fixed by now

Last month I noticed that they partially fixed the changeable reservation option in Revolution.
They corrected the system to include your existing reservation nights but forgot to include the points associated with your existing reservation.
So if your remaining point balance can't cover the entire reservation, your changeable reservation request will fail. I reported it to input@hgvc.com on the August 11th as well.

Here's the email response I received on August 15th
"We are aware of this issue with changing reservations online. It has been an issue for a while. Unfortunately, our new website encounters the same problem and our IT team is trying to figure out how to fix it. "

However the changeable reservation option seemed to work for me using the new reservation system, I just had to make the change after midnight :annoyed:

I have complained about the new website also. I agree with the comments that the new website has been made fancy and pretty with nice pictures but doesn't do the job of reservations efficiently. I have conveyed this to HGVC many times.
However, the following was the latest response:

Our Web/IT team will be looking to fix our booking parameters and the way you will be able to view and confirm room accommodations. We have received many feedback regarding the booking system and we will soon have a more user friendly booking system implemented.


I guess they developed a new website with the booking system being an afterthought, not the primary purpose which is what we all were assuming they were doing.

 

[SmithOp]

I guess they developed a new website with the booking system being an afterthought, not the primary purpose which is what we all were assuming they were doing.

I think they just slapped in the booking engine from hilton dot com, it works the same way showing availibility by room type for one hotel only. When they fired the developer of Revolution it was turned over to the in house IT team and thats all they knew, hotel bookings.



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[1Kflyerguy]

Sadly, I reported the out of sync clock issue to input@hgvc.com on August 11.
I noticed that I couldn't add a night at midnight but it was available when I tried later (sometime before 8am Eastern).

Here's the email response I received on August 11th
"I apologize for this inconvenience. I was actually in conversation about this with our web team today. They are opening a ticket with our IT team to research and have it fixed. It does not seem to be refreshing at midnight as it should, it is delayed for some reason. Thank you for your patience."

I thought this would have been fixed by now

I have successfully changed reservations a few times with the new website and its always worked for me... but i think i must have been only doing that in the morning, as i was not too concerned about the availability.

They must be using a server or cloud service in a different location.. or just sloppy... In any event this would seem like a pretty easy fix and should not take a month...

 

[alwysonvac]

I just find the whole situation absolutely frustrating

I have complained about the new website also. I agree with the comments that the new website has been made fancy and pretty with nice pictures but doesn't do the job of reservations efficiently. I have conveyed this to HGVC many times.
However, the following was the latest response:

Our Web/IT team will be looking to fix our booking parameters and the way you will be able to view and confirm room accommodations. We have received many feedback regarding the booking system and we will soon have a more user friendly booking system implemented.


I guess they developed a new website with the booking system being an afterthought, not the primary purpose which is what we all were assuming they were doing.

I'm wondering if this is just more HGVC lip service :annoyed:
When did you receive this email response (before or after the "tick tock" notice)?

It's just frustrating. We've been complaining about Revolution since 2008
- Anyone see the NEW HGVC website? (2008) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77181
- Are you using "Revolution" for booking? (2010) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126636

Later HGVC added some key functionality that was missing in Revolution's initial launch in 2008 (but existed in "Classic") such as
- displaying availability across multiple dates (2009) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102364
- adding support of the changeable reservation option (2012) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/show thread.php?t=167965
- adding an Open Season Summary (2012) http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173857

In 2012, they seemed to be aware of their missteps and promised us a new reservation engine
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1322567&postcount=28

This just popped up when I logged into HGVC:

"Dear Club Members,

In today’s technology-driven world, there are more ways than ever to stay connected to the people and products of our preference. On behalf of Hilton Grand Vacations, I want to acknowledge that our Club Member website is not currently delivering the efficiency or effectiveness we had envisioned. I apologize for the frustration expressed by many Club Members, and I want to share some relevant information about the online experience:

For several years, we offered two online reservation systems, Classic and Revolution. Club Member usage was divided very equally between the two booking engines. Both systems were developed internally at no external cost to the company or Club Members.

This year, a new federal mandate required us to enable Members to book ADA rooms online by April 1, 2012. This complex process required us to focus on enhancing a single reservations system, and the revision of Revolution offered the best functionality. Accordingly, the Classic reservation has been phased out.

The launch of the system revealed a shortcoming in data capacity – which we have addressed by recalibrating our data format to greatly reduce processing time. This is an interim step as we build a redesigned reservation system.

We’re taking a more traditional approach, and will keep you posted on our progress to launch a reservations engine that is more intuitive and comparable to leading travel websites.

I want to assure you that I hear and appreciate the feedback from our Club membership. This is a vital priority and I am committed to developing more efficient, effective online resources. Thank you for your patience as we evolve our technology and please be in touch if we may offer assistance with reservations or other Club services

Sincerely,

Kim Kreiger
Senior Vice President, Club & Resort Operations"
.

Fast forward to 2016, it seems like we're starting all over again with a new reservation system that still doesn't provide all of the functionality (including functionality that was added to Revolution )

For locations or time periods where availability is not an issue, the website is fine. However for those of us who book at high demand resorts and/or high demands travel periods where availability can be an issue, this is a major pain in the ass without an availability calendar similar to Classic where you can quickly see availability across multiple room types at multiple resorts in a specific area. They should provide high level room descriptions like you see at their hotel website which indicates the room size, bedding type and view such as One bedroom two double beds oceanview instead of a room code.

This is just another good reason why folks shouldn't own multiple weeks in one timeshare system.

Thankfully, I completed my 2017 HGVC reservations using all of my 2017 and 2018 HGVC points. I don't need to make another HGVC reservation until sometime in 2008 or later.