Skyauction experts - do I have a leg to stand on?

[snoopy]

I bid on and won a Ready Set Go auction over the Christmas holiday. Before I bid, I reserved a room, and got confirmation back that it was available, it came back as an "offer" so I assumed that meant it was mine for the taking. I then proceeded to bid and win the auction.

A few days passed and I had heard nothing from skyauction, so called them today. They said that my "hold" on that villa was lost in the system, since they at skyauction were gone over the holidays the hold automatically falls off if not confirmed within 24 hours. I was told I had one of three choices, one would be to book the same villa but for one day later, meaning I would have to pay for one night in a hotel, and one night in the villa that I wouldn't be using; two I could choose another resort from the available inventory. There are no other resorts at this point I am interested in staying, the pickings are real slim. The third option is they will refund my credit card. I made my plane ressies around this reservation so I need to go during this time. I do have a little time to play with (3 weeks) but I am getting nervous and want to book the resort now.

Does this seem fair? It spells out very clearly that you need to hold the villa before booking, or you run the chance of not getting the resort of your choice, but nowhere does it say that if they are gone for the holidays you lose out if they don't get to work on your reservation. I've not had good luck with the people I have talked to, who have pretty much said "too bad".

Anyone with the skyauction process that can advise me? Thanks in advance.

 

[spiceycat]

I don't know - the only bids I won was for the timeshare I wanted - I have bid on the multiply choice one but never won one.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

They said that my "hold" on that villa was lost in the system, since they at skyauction were gone over the holidays the hold automatically falls off if not confirmed within 24 hours.
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I think that would be your answer.... they are going to say that you didn't confirm within 24 hours (or did you and they lost it??)..... I know I bid on & won where I got to choose my resort & dates..... well the dates they had advertised for the resort that I wanted were no longer available (and I contacted them within minutes of my win)...even though the site stated they were..... They never charged my credit card..... we ended up not picking another resort and I couldn't change my dates.... I had to cancel totally...but I was driving so I had no air to deal with.... Another time I used them, I ended up staying at a resort that wasn't even on the list at the time of the bid, they offered all the available resorts (listed as well as not listed) for the dates I needed..Everytime you use Skyauction you are taking a gamble....some you win & some you don't.... just like priceline..... they cannot give you a room where there aren't any available.... I hate to say it...but you will not have a leg to stand on with them. They are only obligated to give you a resort for the dates you pick (they usually don't gurarantee which resort unless it is the only one on the bid and then they cannot guarantee dates, you have to give alternate dates).... if you cannot come to a compromise....then they refund you your money. At least they are willing to give a refund.... if it were Priceline & you didn't like what you won..... you cannot get a refund. If I were you, I would just take my refund & book somewhere else since you only have 3 weeks left, or pick from what they have to offer. I wouldn't chance waiting to see if something else came up thru them....not with only 3 weeks to go.... I know this isn't what you wanted to hear....but that is how they operate.... you need to read all of the fine print with them.....

 

[snoopy]

Thanks Sharon. I guess I wasn't clear - everything that I was supposed to do, I did. What happened is they lost the hold in the system because there was no one there to move the held resort to confirmed status. And I did read the fine print, but of course there was nothing in there about them going on Christmas vacation and not having anyone to do this while they were not conducting business for the holiday.

I finally got someone who was halfway nice (so far my experience has not been that great!) and he said he was going to see about contacting the resort to see if they will release the dates again. I'm not counting on it. If it doesn't happen, I'll take the refund and I'll book through hotelkingdom, who I know to be reputable.

Thanks again for your response.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Now I understand why you are sooo upset. I would be too. There should be something that they can do since you DID confirm within the time frame stated. They should have something posted as to being closed during a holiday etc.... that is very unfair of them. Let me know how you make out with it... Good Luck... and don't let this ruin your trip

 

[hawt1]

I would ask to speak to a supervisor and tell them that they need to deal with their inventory provider (RCI) and find you the resort that you had booked.

RCI can usually find some availability when it screws up and I would stand firm on this.

Good luck....

By the way, where were you going and when...maybe they can recommend a better resort...not just a replacement resort.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by hawt1
I would ask to speak to a supervisor and tell them that they need to deal with their inventory provider (RCI) and find you the resort that you had booked.

RCI can usually find some availability when it screws up and I would stand firm on this.

Good luck....

By the way, where were you going and when...maybe they can recommend a better resort...not just a replacement resort.

I agree with your suggestion BUT in this case RCI didn't screw up, Sky Auction did (or does RCI own Sky Acution?). It appears sky auction wasn't staffed over the holiday and was therefore unable to book the resort.

 

[hawt1]

If it is not a direct ownership, then it may as well be as virtually all of skyauctions inventory comes from RCI.

I would push them on this one even though they will say that they only use best efforts to fulfill requests, in this case the OP did everything right and it is skyauction that is at fault.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

In this case, probably you are going to get stomach acid with no relief from Skyauction. Get the refund, if you can.

Then you have options. You could book through Hotelkingdom or Hotelmartusa, whichever is best. You have 3 weeks to go, so a credit card refund from Skyauction would be the first order of business. Forget what happened, it won't be resolved soon.

Which resorts would be preferred? BTW, there is a 2BR at Vistana now on Skyauction but it closes soon.

 

[snoopy]

I just spoke with SkyAuction, thank you for the suggestion of asking to speak to a supervisor.

This is what is now being proposed. Since Skyauction dropped the ball with my ressie, they now are going to actually give me two arrival dates at the same resort. We were supposed to arrive on 1/24, but since that arrival date has fallen from the inventory (probably reserved by someone else when it fell from the hold status), they now are proposing to give me a 1/23 arrival date with a 2/1 checkout. So essentially they are giving me both a 1/23 and 1/25 arrival date. I could actually arrive on 1/23 and stay until 2/1 if my plane reservations weren't already set in stone, which kind of upsets me - I hate to see 2 nights go to waste, but hey, that isn't my problem, right?

I told them to send it all to me in writing - this was about an hour ago, so I'm giving them to the end of the day. If I don't get it in writing by COB today, I'll ask for a refund and go through Hotel Kingdom, at a higher premium but with better peace of mind.

Thanks to all for your replies!

 

[hawt1]

Great that it appears to be working out.

No thanks required on the supervisor thing.

I would not sweat it if things ae not to you by end of day especially if you have the supers name...

One small issue is that you will have to move out of one unit and into the other at some point along the way...

Now that you have the extra unit...do you have friends/family that would want to do a short trip with you??? You have two units for 5 days and one is not going to get used at all...

Congrats...persistence pays off!

 

[hawt1]

Oh, make sure you call the resort and tell them you will be checking in one day late...and also check into the second unit on the appropriate day even if you do not actually move into it.

Some resorts will cancel your reservation if you do nto chow up on check in day.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Are the airplane reservations actually "set in stone" ? Can you change them for an extra fee to 1/23?

Also, are you sure the resort will let you have 10 days (1/23 to 2/1) on the Skyauction Ready, Set Go? Maybe I am wrong, but isn't the RSG usually for a maximum of 7 days?

I would think it would be better to check directly with the resort to find out if they will go along with what is esentially an early check in (1/23). As you know, many of the resorts have Saturday and Sunday check-ins and check-outs. So, the possibility of checking in on Friday brings up the question that hawt1 brought out. That is, perhaps you would have to change units?

Please also consider looking at the Vistana resorts bid on Skyauction. It may help you, if the supervisor does not come through with a resolution of the current bid.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

In one of your posts, you said, "Now that you have the extra unit...do you have friends/family that would want to do a short trip with you??? You have two units for 5 days and one is not going to get used at all... "

I would believe that there is only one unit involved. Snoopy now has the option to either check-in on 1/23 (Friday) or 1/25(Sunday), if I understand what the supervisor at Skyauction is trying to get accomplished.

It is confusing though, since normally check-in and check-out on Skyauction's Ready Set Go (RSG) is a max. of 7 days.

 

[hawt1]

I think what snoopy said they agreed to was two separate units rather than an early check in or a ten day stay.

Should be fine to do this just be careful on late check in issues and having to move units.

As long as you understand skyauctions rules and you know that there may not always be availability if you are bidding on anything other than RSG, then they are usually the most cost effective way of going places.