res/pt xch. Sunterra->Inter.=OldKey West !HELP

[idofabric]

Never posted befor, but really in a mess. Don't think any one or thing can help...but don't ask, don't know.
We own at Sunterra Res.( did not know about DVC!) and have 3 weeks. On Aug 3 I (tried) booked a stay at Old Key West for Oct 14 to the 21 using a point exchange with Interval International. Or so I thought!
I looked on the In.INt. web site and saw a stay avail at OKW for exacatly what we need/wanted. Payed my $ to exchange. Never heard from Interval. Sunterra reps could not get info. I"nter. refused to talk to me. Finally last night about 8:30 I found a cust.# for Interval. They told me Sun. was at fault. I know that is not true,cause I checked there every 2-3 days since Aug.3. Dorell at Interval said to be patient, that it took 10 days from the request to get a confirmation. I told her it had been over 33 days- and why the delay. She gave me a number to call that was not any good, I called her back. She said Interval closed in 7 min and to call back.
I did this morning and an now being told that when I "booked" the stay it was only a request and not really avail. but they took my $129 any way. And that there had been 2 hurricanes so the res. might have been messed up. I said ,Yes I know , but I made the res. 2 weeks BEFORE any storm, and we got storm bands where we live also.
At this point I am so upset I could cry or scream, even choclate is sicking sounding! Sunterra has me booked at the EVR Grand Beach, which is close. It will be ok, but not DISNEY ! I have an PPA and go 1-3 X's a year and have never stayed on site. Any idea if the res might come through? Or are we tough out of luck? There is 8 of us going and orginall we had a Grand Villa at OKW. I don't care wher at Disney we stay, as long as we all fit! Thanks for lisening and hope for us!

 

[Merilyn]

I would go to the rent/trade board and see if anyone has a reservation that they aren't using then. It is really late to get one now, but good luck with your request.

 

[spiceycat]

so sorry you are having these problems - the only times I exchange with II - I do it myself online.

then I know I get what I want.

 

[idofabric]

Thanks! At this point I am so new at all this I can't even figure out how to read views and get a trip counter!.? So trying to exchange on line is prob. a bit over my head. We can allways stay off site as per our backup plan. I tried to start all this in July and Interval was not any help! At least we will get to go to MNSSHP again.

 

[idofabric]

I booked the orginal Res. for OKW online at Interval's web site. That is why I wonder what went so wrong! I was also a "Gold Member" ,whoope, for Intreval at the time I did all this. I guess it means I need to buy DVC ... who will volunteer to tell my DH?

 

[LoveToDisney]

Originally posted by idofabric
...orginall we had a Grand Villa at OKW.

Did you find the Grand Villa under "Instant Confirmations" on the II website and that's how you reserved it or did you go just into their request area?

 

[idofabric]

I really only remember that I was on the web site and submited a search per there web instrus. I was shocked to see this available and when the icon said "Book It" I did so. I called Inveral to ck. on it and they would not talk to me since we own Sunterra. I emailed them (5 times now) and have not gotten a reply. I was not nice the last 2 times.... but not a total witch. I have a confirmation request code number. I was told by Inter that they were waiting for Sun. to get back to them, however I know this is not true. I had tried to call Inver. to make the res. but no luck so I did the web thing. It will all be good.... someday. And we do have an off site back up. And I have emailed every corp. person at both Sunterra and Interval I can find address for. But we will see....
Thanks to everyone who is helping. I guess I should have started this in Jan. But with Sunterra I call 2-3 weeks befor we go down to Orlando and have allways got a res. at one of the resorts. So I started the Interval 9-10 weeks befor we want to go.....
Oh, well, crumbs!

 

[LoveToDisney]

Sorry to hear your trouble. I know that resorts some times have a restricted membership and you have to go through your resort rather than directly with II. It's a little frustrating at the beginning to understand it all, but believe me it gets easier as you get more experience. We bought DVC after already owning another timeshare and I must say that DVC holds your hand through the entire process of getting your first reservation. I was very impressed. With our other timeshare I was always asking questions of the II people because it was so hard to understand. When I reserve online with II, I usually call II within a day or two and ask them to check that my confirmation went through. Be forewarned, you have to have all your dues prepaid for the year in which you wish to travel. So, for a 2005 reservation, you would have to already have your 2005 dues paid at your home resort (or at least that's how ours works).

 

[Dean]

Regardless of this outcome, you need to learn the ins and outs of the system. It sounds like you are in a similar situation to DVC members other than you have direct access to II and DVC members do not. First, let me make sure I understand the process you went through. You were looking online at II searching with your Sunterra points. You saw an OKW unit you wanted and clicked book it. You went through the screens putting in your credit card info to pay the fee. At the end of several screens you should have gotten a pop up that said something like click here if you want to continue. It should have also given you the choice of confirmation type including email or snail mail.

Possible issues are that you did get the reservation, if so, it should be listed under "view exchange history" near the top of the home page for II after you sign in. It may be you didn't complete the full process. The other likely explanation is it is Sunterra's fault. Likely that they didn't confirm your "deposit" of points. I'm not sure how Sunterra works but it's likely you need to pay any dues on points you are using PRIOR to exchanging them. It's also possible the unit you were booking was a ghost unit and not really there. II does take the money up front for an exchange, they will refund it if the exchange does not match.

Assuming you don't have the unit, which is likely, you should do two things. One is to call II and ask to speak to a supervisor. They can research this and get an idea of what truly happened. You should also call and talk with Sunterra and ask for a supervisor or similar person who usually deals with II regarding the resort you own.

And finally, make sure you figure out what happened so you can avoid this issue next time. Go to tug2.net and get educated on timeshares, exchanging, II, etc.

 

[idofabric]

All fees for this year at paid, we own over 17000 points = to 3 high weeks at most resorts. Sunterra fee is not a problem, we are Elite Members. We had all fees paid at II also. Sunterra is very good at making res. with every company except II. Now I know. The Sunterra folks have been great. II won't talk to Sunterra members.
Per your post, I did as you said in the first paragraph. I checked with II and they dropped the ball. I was on the phone with Sunterra as I found the unit I booked.A Sunterra rep was also checking for a res. I found it and talked to them about it for the first few steps- all the way till I paid.
I called Sunterra and they took out the points to hold. II messed up because they never put in a request for the exchange. I got a call from Sunterra a few hours ago and they had an II person visiting them and they could not find any history of the action, however they found the exchange history,money transfer and II confirmation number on Sunterra site and II site.
So it sounds as if I got the ghost res you mention.
Am still waiting for the II people to get back to me.
At this point we know: I booked online, made an exchange with II, Sunterra has a record of everything, II does not. II has a conf. # for me and my money. I have alt.res at a Sunterra resort. II still has not answered any emails or provided info- even the rep this morning at Sunterra HQ said they had no idea what went wrong. II did not offer to help fix the problem, Sunterra is trying.
It will all work out some way.
Thanks for the info . As I said never have a problem with Sun. only II. I must have bad ponints swaps pixies or something!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by idofabric
All fees for this year at paid, we own over 17000 points = to 3 high weeks at most resorts. Sunterra fee is not a problem, we are Elite Members. We had all fees paid at II also. Sunterra is very good at making res. with every company except II. Now I know. The Sunterra folks have been great. II won't talk to Sunterra members.
Per your post, I did as you said in the first paragraph. I checked with II and they dropped the ball. I was on the phone with Sunterra as I found the unit I booked.A Sunterra rep was also checking for a res. I found it and talked to them about it for the first few steps- all the way till I paid.
I called Sunterra and they took out the points to hold. II messed up because they never put in a request for the exchange. I got a call from Sunterra a few hours ago and they had an II person visiting them and they could not find any history of the action, however they found the exchange history,money transfer and II confirmation number on Sunterra site and II site.
So it sounds as if I got the ghost res you mention.
Am still waiting for the II people to get back to me.
At this point we know: I booked online, made an exchange with II, Sunterra has a record of everything, II does not. II has a conf. # for me and my money. I have alt.res at a Sunterra resort. II still has not answered any emails or provided info- even the rep this morning at Sunterra HQ said they had no idea what went wrong. II did not offer to help fix the problem, Sunterra is trying.
It will all work out some way.
Thanks for the info . As I said never have a problem with Sun. only II. I must have bad ponints swaps pixies or something!

In spite of your confidence, I still suspect the problem is with Sunterra. Do you need to pay next years dues to use the points?

I am confused. If you can't use Sunterra with II, how is it that you were searching II, do you have another account with II? It sounds like you were searching and started the process on line then called Sunterra to have them do it through them instead of your online account. If this is the case, that is likely the problem. When you start the process online, it ties up the unit which would not technically be available to exchange. So if you had it hooked online and Sunterra were looking, they would not have been able to get that unit. So they put their request through but the week you had hooked online were not available. Then when you released it, it went back to the general pool and someone else took it. If I'm searching online and hit "book it" then call II, I have to release it before the II VC can get that week for me using the phone.

Always make a screen shot when you do things online like deposits or matches. If you do things by phone, always double and triple check that the right dates and resorts are listed. I'd say 80% of the requests I've done by phone with II have some type of error of either dates or resorts or both. But the bottom line is you're likely out of luck for the DVC unit.

It's also possible that DVC took the unit back for some reason or that it was never supposed to be there to start with. If so, getting II to admit it can be quite a chore. I'd love to hear more to piece more of the puzzle together if possible.

 

[idofabric]

We do not need to pay next year fees to use the points,we had more then enought this year, and with our account we can borrow as next year is paid. for At the time I tried to make the res. we had over 5 weeks of points in the Sunterra account ( 270000) and a 9 day stay in May/June this year for a 3 bedroom stay in Orlando cost us 4200 points.So points & fees were/are fine.
We had a Gold Member account with IIwhen the process was started, it is paid for by Sunterra for us cause of our level of ownership wiht Sunterra. It is now a reg. membership.
When I first called II they transfered me to a number that ended up being Sunterra, and when I have recalled the always transfer the call. I tried Cust.Ser with II and got someone that is looking in to it now.
I was on the phone to Sun as I was online with II in the "Gold" web res section, and followed the directions online, asking if it was correct on the phone. Every thing was the same online/phone all the way through. Sunterra res. 8000 points to cover the II res.
The II cust rep supervisor, Claudett, said that it appers that someone must have booked it at the same time and they, II,don't show when that happens. They just contin. the process and then look for a unit for you. But they do not tell you when that happens, it is rare, she said. They do look for another unit. Usually it comes through. II thinks it might have been over booked. They are now looking for something, since they messed up. The problem is a company policy of II , the web site does not show when that happens. Claudett had me go to the II site and log on, search and do the process as I did orginall. She was on the phone with me as I did this and I followed all the web inst. as I did orginall. It was done correctly and I even found a shorter res avail for the same time at OKW that she had to search for. It "disapearred" from the II site just as she found it. It was only for 2 persons, not 8 as we need, so neithe she or I booked it. But it was there and she saw it!
Sunterra's arangement with II is set up so that all of the Sun members are handled by Sunterra reps and never my II reps. Or Sun members can use the web site. Haven't found out why, no supervisor I have talked to knows.
I keep a paper record of who and when I talked to them since Aug. I just need to find it!
Since I paid with Visa I can turn this all over to their fraud legal dept. for payment made for non rendered services. Sounds a little harsh to me, I just want the problem fixed, and res. or at least the money back. The $ back is not a problem if I cancle 7 days befor I go down, however that will miss the 7 day release window that II told me was the most likely to come through. So it would be a gamble if they res did not come in and I did not cancle I would lose the $ and the res.

 

[stacieps]

I own a "regular" timeshare, not point based, at an II gold crown resort. I recently exchanged my 2005 week for a week (1/05) at OKW. I had deposited my "week" several months ago and had to have my '05 dues paid at the time of deposit. When I saw a week available at OKW (though not one in my "request"), I booked it through the II website. At the end of the booking there was a message about it not being confirmed until I heard from II. I requested to be notified by e-mail and was very soon after. I can now view the exchange as "confirmed" in my exchange history. To me it sounds like something happened between when you asked to "book it" and it getting confirmed - It could be that more than 1 request to book it went through at the same time or that the time it took II to get confirmation that your dues are paid, points available, took too long and messed things up.

 

[laceemouse]

We own a Sunterra resort, one week at Powhatan Plantation in Williamsburg, Va. We trade through RCI. I have never had much luck exchanging online, something always gets screwed up. We generally have to call and wait to talk to a live person to get things straightened out. But then, it does show up on our account as being booked. Hope things get worked out for you. We also bought some DVC points, and are planning an add-on, so we KNOW that we can stay onsite at WDW. We use our other, just one week, for the Smokies, Branson, ect.... Good Luck..Lacee

 

[Dean]

idofabric, things do happen but the explanations you've to seem bogus to me. One thing that happens is if Sunterra (in this case) don't do the deposit correctly, II will cancel the exchange. That is why I still suspect the problem was with Sunterra, not II. The VC will not be able to see that when they look at your account from what I've seen previously. Getting a 2 BR coming up will be nearly impossible but at least with a backup, you can wait until the last minute.

If you dispute the charge, II will likely freeze your account. All you have to do is cancel the request to get a refund. It is routine for II to get payment with the exchange request and not wait until they have a match. You could also ask II to call DVC, sometimes this plan works wonders in this type of situation. I hope it works out.

 

[Lisa P.]

Originally posted by idofabric
There is 8 of us going and orginall we had a Grand Villa at OKW.

Do you really mean a 3BR Grand Villa? I didn't think Disney ever deposited those with II...

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Lisa P.
Do you really mean a 3BR Grand Villa? I didn't think Disney ever deposited those with II...

Lisa, I missed that wording. I know II had some problems with showing a couple of 3 BR units that were not really there. Lisa is right, I have never know DVC to deposit 3 BR units though under the new exchange format is is a possibility if and only if a DVC member exchanges for a 3 BR unit.

 

[DrTomorrow]

I do hope that you get everything resolved to your satisfaction, idofabric (and listen to Dean - one of the DVC forum's timeshare experts).

And a little "thank you" to DVC MS - it's situations like these (or actually, not having situations like these) that make DVC a friendlier timeshare to deal with.

 

[idofabric]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this.
Found out a few things...
Sunterra Corp, office had an II rep there when I last called them on Thur. The II rep thinks I booked a "ghost", and it did go through, but since it was a ghost of course it was not a real option. So II is looking into that.
Sunterra got a req. for points conf/ex. several days after I booked the ghost stay, but II did not send an amount or any other info to Sun. since it was a ghost. Sun. res.my pts to send them to II when more info came in.
Major sorries from both companies.
And yes, it WAS for a 3 bedroom Villa at OKW. I was shocked to see it avai. That was what ended up being the clincher for II that it was a mistake, on their site.
We have a 3 bedroom stay booked at EVC Grand Beach for about the same time so we will all get to go down. God willing( and IVAN the terrible heading away!) and if all the hurricanes miss....
At this point I don't really care where we stay, onsite would be nice, but EVC is ok. As long as all the poor folks in Florida are OK. it really is not that big a deal. The storms that keep hitting II's offices have made it hard for them and I to get this straighten out. On a life scale of a trip down their for us verse all of the Fl. people being ok I really feel that it is more important for them to take care of home an family for all of II, Dis, and others.
We can always go down someother time.
A really big thanks to all of you that have repl. to this.

Last note.... I now plan on buying trip insur on all trips I can- it is so cheap in comparision.

 

[Pixie_Dust]

I am surprised anyone could trade for a Grand Villa when all we ever hear is that they are always booked up and we basically can't get them on points. I would not believe they would make Grand Villas unavailable to DVC Members but available for Interval International trade.