Vacation Candy Renter -- Marriott's Desert Springs Villas (4/10 - 4/17)

[ca_renter]

Hello -- this is a long shot, but my group has been looking for closure on a time share reservation booked via Vacation Candy for a Marriott Desert Springs Villa for mid-April. We are hoping to get in touch directly with the owner of the time share in question so that we can come to an arrangement concerning our rental.

Our reservation was booked in late-January for April 10 to April 17. The total amount cost our group $4,030, of which I'm assuming over $3,500 went to the owner of the destination and the remainder to Vacation Candy (it's unclear from our confirmation what the breakdown actually was). We booked this property for the purpose of attending Coachella 2020. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you all know, Coachella was moved and the whole rental situation was turned upside-down in a matter of weeks during March 2020.

We proactively communicated with Vacation Candy weeks before the official announcements (from the city and from Coachella) to better understand what options we as renters have in this situation. We have been in on-and-off contact with them for over three months now, and disappointingly we cannot find a path towards ameliorating this situation through Vacation Candy.

Our side of the story:

• we booked this time share with the intention of utilizing it
• we booked with knowledge that the contract was non-refundable, except in the case of force majeure
• everyone was hit with a curve ball on COVID-19
• we were told by Vacation Candy that we could not receive a refund unless the Marriott Desert Springs was closed for reservations at the time of the rental, which would trigger the force majeure; however, Vacation Candy also mentioned that they were in contact with the owner to discuss any and all options that they could offer to us (we never heard back on any potential alternative options)
• as early as mid-to-late March, several weeks before our rental was to take place, we spoke with the clerk for the City of Palm Desert, who very clearly indicated to us the following (quoted):

Thank you for contacting the City of Palm Desert. The City is currently following State and County orders with regard to short term lodging which affirms that all short-term lodging facilities (including short-term rentals, vacation rentals, timeshares, hotels, motels, and other short-term lodgings) are to only be used for COVID-19 mitigation and containment measures. This means that all short-term lodging is only available to the following until further notice:

1. Lodging to protect the homeless population;
2. Lodging for persons who have been displaced and cannot return to their residence because there is a person residing at the residence that must isolate or quarantine, or is at a higher risk of severe illness;
3. Lodging for person who need to isolate of quarantine; and
4. Housing essential workers performing functions that are essential to maintain the continuity of operations for critical infrastructure.

• we were additionally told that even traveling to the county during this time for non-essential purposes would be deemed an infraction against public health ordinances
• these public health ordinances caused the Marriott Desert Springs Villas resort to ultimately close off reservations for the week of the rental in late-March
• we are under the impression that the Marriott resort provided compensation for timeshare owners during the impacted week(s) because they were not utilizable
• we were told by Vacation Candy that the company was working with the owner to provide a refund; given they had already remitted the money to the timeshare owner, Vacation Candy could not directly refund us on the spot
• we have been waiting for coming on two months with no resolution to the matter and no contact information for the owner

Given the horrid experience trying to arbitrate this through a broker that we believe is financially tangled, we'd like to make this last ditch attempt to reach out directly to the owner. So if you are this individual(s) and you are open to speaking with us, we would really appreciate that gesture of good faith. Unfortunately, this is not a situation where your typical travel insurance policy provides coverage, and my group has been incredibly disappointed in the lack of transparency and timeliness (from Vacation Candy) over a large sum of money. For the sake of transparency, we have opened a dispute with our card company over the funds in question because we were told that a refund would be coming and we have received no proactive movement in two months, but we are not expecting much luck in this avenue.

This account was created for the sole purpose of reaching out to the owner. If that person(s) could direct message us, that'd be phenomenal. Otherwise, I would appreciate if anyone else here has a perspective on how we can best address this between a renter and a timeshare owner.

 

[VacationForever]

I am not the owner whom you are trying to reach. But as a timeshare owner, I can tell you that unless the reservation was cancelled altogether, the owner received no compensation or alternative arrangement from Marriott resort or HOA. The week is gone when not occupied. I have not followed closely as to the situation at Desert Springs for the said period of stay but during COVID-19 shutdown, most if not all Marriott timeshare properties had remained opened for owner stays which also extended to their renters. Only direct cash rentals through Marriott were cancelled.

As long as a resort remained open for owner/renter stays and reservation was not cancelled, I don't see how an owner could do anything for the renter who decided not to show up for the stay.

 

[oneohana]

Sorry this has happened to you.
We were there until 3/26 and the villa next to us was there till the next week. As long as you had a reservation, you could check in. I'm not sure what day they closed completely, but it was towards the end of April.

 

[ca_renter]

I am not the owner whom you are trying to reach. But as a timeshare owner, I can tell you that unless the reservation was cancelled altogether, the owner received no compensation or alternative arrangement from Marriott resort or HOA. The week is gone when not occupied. I have not followed closely as to the situation at Desert Springs for the said period of stay but during COVID-19 shutdown, most if not all Marriott timeshare properties had remained opened for owner stays which also extended to their renters. Only direct cash rentals through Marriott were cancelled.

As long as a resort remained open for owner/renter stays and reservation was not cancelled, I don't see how an owner could do anything for the renter who decided not to show up for the stay.

Thank you, VacationForever, for your information here. Could you please educate me on how this workflow may look from the timeshare owners' perspective?

Specifically,

• Do you reserve weeks at a time via a Marriott branded resort or HOA portal?
• If the reservation is cancelled by the resort or HOA, does the owner receive compensation in the form of cash or otherwise? (I understand it may be different across properties/circumstances, but curious if you've seen a common thread on how this has been handled)

I can just speak from the information we learned in contact with the city and the resort itself that reservations were no longer accepted and according to local ordinances, short-term rentals were banned except for essential use. We were told specifically by the resort itself not to come to the property over the phone a couple of weeks ahead of the trip. And our impression from all of this research was that it would have been illegal to consume/render a rental service during the impacted period. I can see both sides of the coin here quite clearly, so I'm hoping to keep the conversation here open with the ultimate goal of coming to an amicable resolution (fingers crossed!). I think, in this case, Vacation Candy's approach towards communication as a broker completely failed the relationship between the renter and the owner.

 

[VacationForever]

Thank you, VacationForever, for your information here. Could you please educate me on how this workflow may look from the timeshare owners' perspective?

Specifically,

• Do you reserve weeks at a time via a Marriott branded resort or HOA portal?
• If the reservation is cancelled by the resort or HOA, does the owner receive compensation in the form of cash or otherwise? (I understand it may be different across properties/circumstances, but curious if you've seen a common thread on how this has been handled)

I can just speak from the information we learned in contact with the city and the resort itself that reservations were no longer accepted and according to local ordinances, short-term rentals were banned except for essential use. We were told specifically by the resort itself not to come to the property over the phone a couple of weeks ahead of the trip. And our impression from all of this research was that it would have been illegal to consume/render a rental service during the impacted period. I can see both sides of the coin here quite clearly, so I'm hoping to keep the conversation here open with the ultimate goal of coming to an amicable resolution (fingers crossed!). I think, in this case, Vacation Candy's approach towards communication as a broker completely failed the relationship between the renter and the owner.

1. As a timeshare owner, we have an owner portal to reserve a week based on the season which we have purchased.
2. For the 26 years which I have owned and I own many, my reservations have never been cancelled by the resort or HOA. The only situation that has occurred with cancellations has been with hurricanes where the affected resorts have been closed entirely. There is no $ compensation back to the owner because an owner is exactly what it says... you own the place and when you cannot inhabit it due to no fault of anyone, you really get nothing. Some timeshare systems have given owners some restricted usage of points and that's it.

 

[jabberwocky]

I don't own Marriott, but we do have several timeshares in the related Vistana system and have had two trips cancelled as a result of this.

You're likely going to find your best bet is with the chargeback via your credit card to Vacation Candy. Your contract is with them and not the individual owner. If the lodging could not be provided then it would be up to Vacation Candy to seek a resolution with the owner.

There are many permutations here; but there is no cash that would go back to the owner from the resort. At best they would get very limited options to rebook given the late cancellation. I think it would be fair for them to offer you the ability to use these rebooking options; however, a cash refund is likely not on the table given the contract.

When did you cancel with VC?

 

[stevio99]

Just chargeback. Vacation candy deserves this, as all megarenters do. Its one thing to rent your unused condo to pay your maintenence fee, its quite another to own more than you'll ever possibly use, with the intention of making it a business. It really contravenes the spirit of timesharing, and makes it harder for everyone to book more desirable times/locations.

 

[djyamyam]

There are many permutations here; but there is no cash that would go back to the owner from the resort. At best they would get very limited options to rebook given the late cancellation. I think it would be fair for them to offer you the ability to use these rebooking options; however, a cash refund is likely not on the table given the contract.

When did you cancel with VC?

Some timeshare systems have given owners some restricted usage of points and that's it.

That also assumes that the owner is a Points owner. You also have many legacy weeks owners and they would have received nothing, not even restricted points. I had a mid-March reservation where the renter cancelled so late that I was not able to cancel or do anything with the reservation.

 

[echino]

The week is lost. If it was a weeks owner, and cancelled less than 60 days before check in, then the week is lost and cannot be rescheduled. Marriott may have given the owner a $99 restricted Interval International certificate, but those are useless.

 

[VacationForever]

That also assumes that the owner is a Points owner. You also have many legacy weeks owners and they would have received nothing, not even restricted points. I had a mid-March reservation where the renter cancelled so late that I was not able to cancel or do anything with the reservation.

I was referring to the hurricane event which affected St. Thomas.

 

[jabberwocky]

The week is lost. If it was a weeks owner, and cancelled less than 60 days before check in, then the week is lost and cannot be rescheduled. Marriott may have given the owner a $99 restricted Interval International certificate, but those are useless.

This is one of the permutations I was talking about. Here I think it would be fair to work with the renter to use the II certificate - realizing that it is very limited.

 

[VacationForever]

I don't think this week was cancelled at all, which makes it a moot point. There is no recourse for a lost week.

 

[jabberwocky]

Just chargeback. Vacation candy deserves this, as all megarenters do. Its one thing to rent your unused condo to pay your maintenence fee, its quite another to own more than you'll ever possibly use, with the intention of making it a business. It really contravenes the spirit of timesharing, and makes it harder for everyone to book more desirable times/locations.

I don't think anyone really deserves this. It's an unfortunate situation that many people have found themselves in. I have no beef with megarenters. In most systems they play pretty much by the same set of rules as everyone else. That said, if you are going to go into the business of renting you should be aware of the risks and be able to deal with the financial fallout if things go sideways.

 

[chapjim]

Just chargeback. Vacation candy deserves this, as all megarenters do. Its one thing to rent your unused condo to pay your maintenence fee, its quite another to own more than you'll ever possibly use, with the intention of making it a business. It really contravenes the spirit of timesharing, and makes it harder for everyone to book more desirable times/locations.

Having had dealings with Vacation Candy, I'm no fan of theirs but I don't see the leap from Vacation Candy, a broker, to megarenters. Whatever a megarenter is, Vacation Candy isn't one. Vacation Candy's business model is familiar to attorneys -- find out where money changes hands and get in the middle.

Since the number of points (intervals, etc.) is fixed, I don't see how an unequal distribution of points (intervals, etc.) makes it more difficult to book desirable times. If I have fifty weeks at a resort and you have two, how are you worse off than if ten people each have five weeks and you have two, or fifty people each have one week and you have two. It's all the same unless the resort system has some sort of additional perquisites for owners who have higher levels of ownership.

If you don't like the concept of different levels of ownership, then you're not complaining about the spirit of timesharing, you are complaining about the letter of timesharing (at least in that system).
Two choices: 1) outwit the scoundrels by becoming one -- buying more deeply into the system or, 2) suck it up. Better yet, spend some time learning about the systems you criticize.

 

[seagila]

To the OP, Marriott's Desert Springs Villas has been closed to new arrivals since at least March 28th and not scheduled to reopen until June 16th (tentatively). I know because I had a reservation checking in on March 28th that Marriott cancelled and I'm an owner at MDS.

I personally think you are owed a refund because you were unable to get the accommodations for which you paid due to the resort being effectively closed. Look at your contract and see what remedy you have in case the accommodations you are owed cannot be provided by the broker or renter. All you probably need to show your credit card company is a notice from Marriott Vacation Club that the resort was closed to new arrivals during the period of your stay.

I regret this has happened to you and wish you luck in finding a fair resolution.

 

[ca_renter]

Wow, I'm very thankful for everyone's replies... I'm going to try to address each one relevant for us one-by-one.

1. As a timeshare owner, we have an owner portal to reserve a week based on the season which we have purchased.
2. For the 26 years which I have owned and I own many, my reservations have never been cancelled by the resort or HOA. The only situation that has occurred with cancellations has been with hurricanes where the affected resorts have been closed entirely. There is no $ compensation back to the owner because an owner is exactly what it says... you own the place and when you cannot inhabit it due to no fault of anyone, you really get nothing. Some timeshare systems have given owners some restricted usage of points and that's it.

Thank you for this background information. It helps us better understand the other side at a time where the brokers have insisted on continuing to be a middleman despite playing an awful game of telephone.

~~~

I don't own Marriott, but we do have several timeshares in the related Vistana system and have had two trips cancelled as a result of this.

You're likely going to find your best bet is with the chargeback via your credit card to Vacation Candy. Your contract is with them and not the individual owner. If the lodging could not be provided then it would be up to Vacation Candy to seek a resolution with the owner.

There are many permutations here; but there is no cash that would go back to the owner from the resort. At best they would get very limited options to rebook given the late cancellation. I think it would be fair for them to offer you the ability to use these rebooking options; however, a cash refund is likely not on the table given the contract.

When did you cancel with VC?

I'm not sure if there's a semantic importance to the verbiage of "cancelled" with respect to VC. I'll answer in a somewhat roundabout way. We were asking them to refund us for our reservation in early-to-mid-March when local ordinances were starting to take hold and we were under the impression that it would be impossible to perform against the rental agreement. We e-mailed VC after speaking with the Marriott on March 10, when the Marriott indicated to us that they were cancelling reservations. VC indicated that they were working to get in touch with owners around possible arrangements, including a refund. We shared an e-mail with them indicating that the Marriott website stopped accepting new guests on March 24th, as VC insisted that the force majeure could only take place when the resort stopped accepting guests (despite the resort telling us that they would not accept new guests). As someone mentioned later in this thread (and I indicated in my original post), the City of Palm Desert and the Marriott had shut down short-term rentals towards the end of March. By that time, VC confirmed via e-mail that Marriott reservations were not being accepted through April, and they indicated they were "working on refunds with owner and guests." So for the full month of March, we were consistently updating VC of the various new ordinances in the counties around the area and the restrictions being put in place, including the one directly impacting the City of Palm Desert.

~~~

Having had dealings with Vacation Candy, I'm no fan of theirs but I don't see the leap from Vacation Candy, a broker, to megarenters. Whatever a megarenter is, Vacation Candy isn't one. Vacation Candy's business model is familiar to attorneys -- find out where money changes hands and get in the middle.

At this time, our beef with Vacation Candy is that they strung us along with respect to sharing an update and communications with the owner. They effectively wasted the time of their customers and prevented a resolution from happening. For the full month of March and April we were under the predisposition that they had been in close communication with the owners and were coming up with real solutions, but the outcome suggests otherwise. I cannot for the life of me imagine what it must be like operating that business in this environment, but I also don't understand why they have insisted on continuing to insert themselves over and over rather than allowing a renter to speak with an owner. Perhaps I'm being naive.

~~~

To the OP, Marriott's Desert Springs Villas has been closed to new arrivals since at least March 28th and not scheduled to reopen until June 16th (tentatively). I know because I had a reservation checking in on March 28th that Marriott cancelled and I'm an owner at MDS.

I personally think you are owed a refund because you were unable to get the accommodations for which you paid due to the resort being effectively closed. Look at your contract and see what remedy you have in case the accommodations you are owed cannot be provided by the broker or renter. All you probably need to show your credit card company is a notice from Marriott Vacation Club that the resort was closed to new arrivals during the period of your stay.

I regret this has happened to you and wish you luck in finding a fair resolution.

Seagila, is there any chance you might be comfortable sharing the official notice you may have received from Marriott Vacation Club? Or perhaps you could point us to where we can find it online? We would really appreciate it.

 

[seagila]

Seagila, is there any chance you might be comfortable sharing the official notice you may have received from Marriott Vacation Club? Or perhaps you could point us to where we can find it online? We would really appreciate it.

The resort did not give me notice that they were going to cancel my reservation. They just canceled it and posted on the MVC website that they were closed to new arrivals during my scheduled stay. A week later MVC did send me an email giving me the $99 II accommodation certificate without me requesting for it.

On this website - https://hub.vacationclub.com/resort-updates - it used to say the actual date (Mar 26th?) MDS closed to new arrivals and will remain closed until further notice. But now the website just says, Resort Status: Temporarily closed to new arrivals (tentatively reopening Tuesday, June 16 – subject to change).

You should have received a Marriott Confirmation letter in your name for your stay at MDS from Vacation Candy once the rental was finalized. Maybe you can call Marriott using the confirmation number and ask them to send you an email on the status of that reservation. Then they'll have to say it was cancelled. But ask them to email you their response to your inquiry, so you have a written statement from Marriott that you can perhaps submit to your credit card company as documentation for your claim.