Vistana and Marriott are a disaster and this email proves that it's a disaster. Over 7 months for Westin Ka'anapali transfer + other resales

[rickandcindy23]

Good morning,



Thank you for your email. Please note that as of 07/01/2022 accounts for the ownerships are no longer linked automatically as we are continuing to align Vistana processes with that of Marriott. Please also note that even if the automatic process was still in process, the accounts also would not have linked due to minor errors possibly on both sides when information was being provided. Please see below.



On account 41___, Sheraton Broadway Plantation, under Richard’s ownership profile:

1. Middle Initial is included in name.
2. In the Street address there is a period after the E for East
3. The Home and the cell number is listed as the same.
4. SSN is on the account

On account 71--- The Westin Desert Willow Villa, under Richard’s ownership profile:

1. Middle initial is not included in name.
2. There is no period in street address
3. The home and cell numbers are different.
4. No SSN on the account.

These differences will cause the accounts not to join under the same Ownership ID. The same things are true for Cynthia. We have been advised that our Programmers are working on a Master Program to assist with linking between both Vistana and Marriott ownerships.



Please advise if you have further concerns or questions.

 

[dioxide45]

Name and address issues have long been a problem with merging the VOIs into a single account. We had an issue where one of our deeds had our home county name on it and the other didn't and it prevented them from merging automatically.

 

[jcassab]

I had a similar experience about 4 years ago with Vistana. Took me about 8 months to have my two contracts linked in their website. Same nitpicking about my wife's name and a telephone number.

 

[SteelerGal]

Omg. This is soo Marriott. Vistana starts w/ my name and then Dh. For Marriott, only Dh and I’m listed as an afterthought. I always provide our account and it indicates my name first and then Dh. It’s extremely frustrating.
Btw I have a SVR to link to our account. I just can’t deal w/ the madness to escalate.

 

[chris1278]

Please note that as of 07/01/2022 accounts for the ownerships are no longer linked automatically...

Are they saying the system doesn't link automatically? Or that accounts just aren't going to link at all? I'd assume the former but just want to make sure as we keep going back & forth on whether or not to add to our current ownership.

 

[timsi]

Even if they do not link them automatically, it is unacceptable they cannot do it when the owner contacts Vistana/Marriott. I bet if you had a loan and defaulted, they would not need more than 5 minutes to match the ownership to the person/address/telephone number etc even if there were minor differences.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Are they saying the system doesn't link automatically? Or that accounts just aren't going to link at all? I'd assume the former but just want to make sure as we keep going back & forth on whether or not to add to our current ownership.

You know as much as I know. I copied and pasted the exact email I received after inquiring as to why my weeks are not showing up under our login we have had since 2008.

The thing with this that is new: there is no willingness on Vistana's part to link the ownerships anyway, after realizing they are slightly different in name/address/SS#, or whatever the minor difference is. Vistana always allowed me to have all of our weeks in our one log-in account. I even have one deed that is an oddball for sure because it has our daughter-in-law's name on it, and I didn't deed anything else that way. Some of the weeks have just Rick's and my name, some of them have our kids' names with ours. Only that one has a daughter-in-law, and that one is unique in that if our daughter doesn't rent it, I cannot use it in II because I am not going to start a new II account for that one week.

As it is, I have two II accounts. One account has all of our Marriott weeks and many of our SBP and SDO; our old account we have had for 40 years has most of our SBP weeks (the kids are on those deeds) and our Foxrun week 52.

I am feeling a little crazy right now with Vistana and Marriott. I think Vistana owners are victims in this takeover. I don't want Chairman's level of ownership, I don't care about that status. I want my weeks all in one place to see all at once, when I log into Vistana. That is what I want. Leave me out of your Marriott program. I have no intention of using the points for anything less than what I own. If I cannot use our Westin weeks on any given year, I will be renting them for a profit.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I should have said that I have three II accounts because I also have my account that goes with Westin Ka'anapali. I am never using that account and never set up a log-in for it. I received paperwork from II with an account #.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Name and address issues have long been a problem with merging the VOIs into a single account. We had an issue where one of our deeds had our home county name on it and the other didn't and it prevented them from merging automatically.

But they let you link them without a new system.

It makes me wonder what will happen when they realize how really messed up all of our other deeds are.

I am sorry, but closing companies may do things slightly different, and owners shouldn't have to go back to the closing company and say things like, "If you could re-deed that and leave the L off of Richard's name and make sure there is no dot after the E that stands for east. Make sure you don't write out East because it should be written as E and not a small E."

TUG's favorite reseller, Syed Sarmad of advantagevacation.com sold us our two weeks at Westin Ka'anapali, same date, same closing company, sent to Ownership Title Changes at Vistana at the same time, 6/4/2023, and only one is in our account. The other has some minor issue with it that keeps it from linking to the other one. How stupid is that? It's been 7 months.

 

[djohn06]

I have been fighting with Vistana/ Marriott for weeks to link my resale Nanea contract with my existing account.

All docs were sent to Vistana the first week in Aug. Just before Christmas I received my welcome email from Vistana. However, It is going on a month and they haven't linked the contract to my existing profile and they have not sent me confirmation of my transferred reservation for 2023. They provided a confirmation number, but when I ask them to send me the confirmation of the 2023 reservation, they never send it.

Just strange business practices.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have been fighting with Vistana/ Marriott for weeks to link my resale Nanea contract with my existing account.

All docs were sent to Vistana the first week in Aug. Just before Christmas I received my welcome email from Vistana. However, It is going on a month and they haven't linked the contract to my existing profile and they have not sent me confirmation of my transferred reservation for 2023. They provided a confirmation number, but when I ask them to send me the confirmation of the 2023 reservation, they never send it.

Just strange business practices.

I am glad I am not the only one. The only way to get this fixed is to write letters to the Florida AG and the BBB and maybe the RE commission in FL. But I have already done that with another company based in FL, so I am unsure if I want to take on Vistana as well. I am not even sure if this is Vistana.

The ARDA fees are yet another issue I have. I am really not wanting to complain this much, even though I complain on TUG. I feel like I need to choose one issue to concentrate my efforts toward and not two.

Used to be that Vistana saw the minor differences in title and linked accounts anyway. Now they are using Marriott-Vistana merge as an excuse to not link the weeks.

I am just frustrated with it, and I am trying not to be angry. I just keep trying to get this linking of our ownerships accomplished, and I am not doing well at it through emails or phone calls. After all, the people who answer the phones don't even have the power to override a $5.00 charge before they will allow me to book my deeded SBP weeks that I paid in advance to book ahead of others (week 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, etc.)

 

[CaliJoe]

Call Vistana. I buy a week or two every year (for myself and extended family) and even if I put the customer ID on the Vistana docs (there’s a field that asks the buyer if they have an existing customer ID) it doesn’t come through after the title change.

It takes about an hour or so on the phone with a Vistana rep and IT to get the contracts linked to the customer ID and about a week for them to show up in the Vistana dashboard.

 

[SteelerGal]

Call Vistana. I buy a week or two every year (for myself and extended family) and even if I put the customer ID on the Vistana docs (there’s a field that asks the buyer if they have an existing customer ID) it doesn’t come through after the title change.

It takes about an hour or so on the phone with a Vistana rep and IT to get the contracts linked to the customer ID and about a week for them to show up in the Vistana dashboard.

Where do you find your customer id? I have 3 going through the process and it’s crickets.

 

[CaliJoe]

Vistana can give you the owner/Customer ID when you call them (that’s how I’ve gotten mine). It’s a 13 digit number. Once you have it you can use your for future purchases.

 

[sponger76]

Call Vistana. I buy a week or two every year (for myself and extended family) and even if I put the customer ID on the Vistana docs (there’s a field that asks the buyer if they have an existing customer ID) it doesn’t come through after the title change.

It takes about an hour or so on the phone with a Vistana rep and IT to get the contracts linked to the customer ID and about a week for them to show up in the Vistana dashboard.

Is there a specific number you call or just the general customer service line?

 

[CaliJoe]

Just the general customer service line.

 

[dioxide45]

Vistana can give you the owner/Customer ID when you call them (that’s how I’ve gotten mine). It’s a 13 digit number. Once you have it you can use your for future purchases.

Have you done this since mid 2022? Times seem to have changed...

 

[CaliJoe]

Yes, I did this 2 weeks ago to merge a new week I bought.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Called Vistana, talked to a knowledgeable person named Eddie. Rick and I had him on speaker so we could both listen to what he was saying.

It's not just about the minor differences in deeds, it's about nothing merging at all since 7/1/2022. There is no reason for us to believe this is going to be fixed in the near future.

We had to create new accounts for our Westin Desert Willow and our Westin Ka'anapali weeks in order to book ourselves and to be able to pay our fees. We have so many log-ins now with Vistana that it's become ridiculous, but whatever it takes.

All is "fixed" for now, I can see the weeks when I log into each account. The entire process of moving over to a new Marriott system has me worried for our SBP weeks because those do all have minor differences, some even have all of the kids' names, some have just our names, and of course there are discrepancies because we have always had to call and align our weeks into one account, each and every time we bought a new resale.

I have one, just one, first one we bought, and it's an EOY lockoff at SBP that has our daughter-in-law's name on it. Big mistake with that one. I have never been able to deposit that week into II. This was about 15 years ago. I was told I need a new II account because it's deeded differently. I see that one as something I should get deeded without our daughter-in-law. I can do the paperwork myself. She doesn't care one bit. Vistana never has agreed to deposit that week into our II account as a generic week. They just won't work with us or II on that.

Anyway, a temporary fix is better than no fix at all.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Vistana can give you the owner/Customer ID when you call them (that’s how I’ve gotten mine). It’s a 13 digit number. Once you have it you can use your for future purchases.

We did get that number from Eddie for our one big account, but new deeds don't seem to work with any discrepancies, nor do they want to combine anything into older accounts. It's still a mess, but workable for now.