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Watch out for Surfwatch Free Vacation Offer

ramsfan

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We stayed at Barony Beach over July 4th and attended the Welcome Breakfast. We were told that if owners went to a presentation for Surfwatch they would not only have the normal offer of $$$ or points, but also get a 4-day/3 night free trip to Surfwatch. The trip would have to be given to a friend/family member who does not currently own and they would be required to attend a sales presentation within the next calendar year. We did it. We went to the presentation and received the certificate in addition to the $$$.

I have other family members who own Marriotts, but my dad does not. We offered the trip to him and he decided to book it for last week. When he booked the trip he was told there was no availability at Surfwatch, but he could stay at the Marriott Beach Resort for $100 upcharge. He went ahead and booked it along with airfare. When I received notification of his booking in the mail, I was very upset!!! The accomodations ($2XX/night hotel room) were not comparable to SW ($4XX/night villa) so I called the person responsible for the booking and complained. I felt that she should have explained that the accomodations were not comparable. That they charged him $100 upcharge for this was even more upsetting. The trip coordinator was unprofessional with me on the phone, but said she would try to get him a villa if she could.

My dad returned from the trip. The hotel was nice enough, but they gave him a room with no view despite the fact that it was 1/2 empty. All the hotel staff were nice and they were happy anyway. When he went to the presentation, he did not bring his girlfriend because she was feeling ill. She is a girlfriend who does not live with him or share any financial decisions with him. He did like the salesman and the property. He chose not to purchase. When he returned to the hotel, there was a frantic call from the trip coordinator that she was in trouble because his girlfriend did not attend the presentation and that he may be charged an extra $196/night for his stay at the Marriott Beach Resort. He explained his girlfriend was feeling ill (throwing up) and could not have attended, but that she would not be part of the financial decision anyway. The trip coordinator argued with him and was very unprofessional. She ended the call with a threat that his MasterCard may have the rest of the hotel charges on it. My dad can afford and will pay this if required to, but was shocked at how he was being treated. I am embarassed that this so-called gift visit was handled in this manner.

If anyone has recommendations on who I should call to talk to about the situation, I would appreciate it. WARNING: Do not trust Marriott to treat your friend/family member as a valued customer. I certainly feel that both my dad and I were treated poorly.
 

bobcat

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We stayed at Barony Beach over July 4th and attended the Welcome Breakfast. We were told that if owners went to a presentation for Surfwatch they would not only have the normal offer of $$$ or points, but also get a 4-day/3 night free trip to Surfwatch. The trip would have to be given to a friend/family member who does not currently own and they would be required to attend a sales presentation within the next calendar year. We did it. We went to the presentation and received the certificate in addition to the $$$.

I have other family members who own Marriotts, but my dad does not. We offered the trip to him and he decided to book it for last week. When he booked the trip he was told there was no availability at Surfwatch, but he could stay at the Marriott Beach Resort for $100 upcharge. He went ahead and booked it along with airfare. When I received notification of his booking in the mail, I was very upset!!! The accomodations ($2XX/night hotel room) were not comparable to SW ($4XX/night villa) so I called the person responsible for the booking and complained. I felt that she should have explained that the accomodations were not comparable. That they charged him $100 upcharge for this was even more upsetting. The trip coordinator was unprofessional with me on the phone, but said she would try to get him a villa if she could.

My dad returned from the trip. The hotel was nice enough, but they gave him a room with no view despite the fact that it was 1/2 empty. All the hotel staff were nice and they were happy anyway. When he went to the presentation, he did not bring his girlfriend because she was feeling ill. She is a girlfriend who does not live with him or share any financial decisions with him. He did like the salesman and the property. He chose not to purchase. When he returned to the hotel, there was a frantic call from the trip coordinator that she was in trouble because his girlfriend did not attend the presentation and that he may be charged an extra $196/night for his stay at the Marriott Beach Resort. He explained his girlfriend was feeling ill (throwing up) and could not have attended, but that she would not be part of the financial decision anyway. The trip coordinator argued with him and was very unprofessional. She ended the call with a threat that his MasterCard may have the rest of the hotel charges on it. My dad can afford and will pay this if required to, but was shocked at how he was being treated. I am embarassed that this so-called gift visit was handled in this manner.

If anyone has recommendations on who I should call to talk to about the situation, I would appreciate it. WARNING: Do not trust Marriott to treat your friend/family member as a valued customer. I certainly feel that both my dad and I were treated poorly.

I would write a letter to Marriott. Also ,I would call the BBB and the office of consumer affaires. If you have names I would include that in my letter. Be polite.
 

tlwmkw

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This sounds ridiculous. I would definitely complain. Did he pay the up-charge? If so I would complain about that too. Sounds very embarassing for you- lucky it was a family member who will probably understand the situation.
 

ramsfan

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When I received the original letter confirming my dad's trip, I complained to the trip coordinator about the switch from hotel to condo and the upcharge. I was upset, but I wasn't yelling or using any bad language. I told her I felt that we weren't getting what was promised. She was very defensive and kept telling me what a nice hotel it was and that she could do nothing about the upcharge. She also said my dad was fine with the arrangement. Even if it was fine with him, I was upset because it wasn't what we were promised. That is when she said she would try to get them moved to a villa. I never heard from her again so I assumed the villa was out. If my dad had been treated well, I would have let it go. The offer included $200 to us if anyone used the free offer in the next year. (We found this out when we were in our presentation). When I heard about the ridiculous upcharge, I decided to just give $100 back to my dad. The "free" trip was becoming not so "free" I suppose we will not be getting the $200 either.
 

dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Resorts Owned
Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
If your dad get's billed, tell him to challange the charge with his CC company. Marriott will likely be on thin ice since most of the offers I've seen say, "if you're married, your spouse must attend." Your father has no spouse and a GF does not qualify for this purpose.
 

ira g

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Pretty sleazy treatment by Marriott representatives. I wonder if their Corporate office is aware of such nonsense and lack of good faith and honesty.
 

mlfrancis

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Customer Service Rep

I recently had a big issue with a Marriott T/S sales rep - I wrote to the Customer Service person on the vacationclub.com website - I couldn't believe how quickly it was resolved ... and I'm getting a free II week to use within a year (like an AC I guess) whenever I ask them to deposit it.

Doesn't hurt to tell your story to the corporate office. On the website, go to "contact us", then "your chief customer officer" - send an e-mail. At a minimum, you'll feel like you did all you could to get it resolved.

Good luck.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
I recently had a big issue with a Marriott T/S sales rep - I wrote to the Customer Service person on the vacationclub.com website - I couldn't believe how quickly it was resolved ... and I'm getting a free II week to use within a year (like an AC I guess) whenever I ask them to deposit it.


Probably better than an AC. An AC carries a higher fee than a free week where you only have to pay the exchange fee.
 

pcgirl54

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Marriott Barony Beach
I would recommend writing to the CEO which is on the Marriott Vacation Club website after reading how to write a "letter of disappoinment in Marriott" and to whom on the consumerist website.

http://consumerist.com

We just had an incident with a well known company and this site not only helped DH find the names of the corporate CEO ,District manager etc but advised what to say and what to never say. The 5 month issue was resolved within 24hrs in our favor.

Good luck with this.
 

GrayFal

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Marriott Bluegreen SVV Morritt's Seaside Former WSJx5
I would recommend writing to the CEO which is on the Marriott Vacation Club website after reading how to write a "letter of disappoinment in Marriott" and to whom on the consumerist website.

http://consumerist.com

We just had an incident with a well known company and this site not only helped DH find the names of the corporate CEO ,District manager etc but advised what to say and what to never say. The 5 month issue was resolved within 24hrs in our favor.

Good luck with this.

OT but - Thanks....DD has a 'problem' with a large company - i will hopefully be able to help her thru this link
 
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