[2/10/17 UPDATE] VSE charging for 3rd party reservation changes! [+Contact Info. for complaints]

[dsmrp]

But it's not going to prevent people renting their villas. Or anyone really.

It is going to add another fee to the against-the-rules activity of renting SO

There really is no incentive now for Vistana to prevent StarOption rentals. For every one, they get $59. There is even an ad in the TUG Marketplace right now where someone is talking about all the great StarOptions reservations they made and rented.

Agree, I think the people renting out SO reservation will just try to pass the name change fee on to the renter, in the form of slightly higher rental fee. Cynically speaking, I wonder if VSE will be selective on which rentals, e.g. from certain resorts like WKORV/N, they want to crack down on. Especially if owners are undercutting what VSE would charge.

I predict end of 2017 or 2018 will have an announcement of a reboot of VSN program. Hope I'm wrong

 

[djyamyam]

Has anyone received a refund yet on the guest cert fee and was that automatically done or did you have to call up and request it?

I received my refund on Feb 16, prior to me asking for it.

 

[BLUE AYES]

I received mine about a week after I requested it.

 

[tschwa2]

I saw that my refund posted on February 17.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

I have not gotten my refund yet. I just called and they said that it would take 15 - 20 business days and we are on business day 14 according to my file. Seriously... these people are a joke.

 

[triangulum33]

Our fee was waived due to us booking the SO at Lagunamar before the fee was implemented. The rep actually did it without me prompting her.

This fee is such BS.

 

[lorenmd]

well i am going viral on them. they will have a huge amount of negative publicity and if it keeps one person from buying a timeshare then they have lost money. they require a guest certificate for my daughter to check in. same name same address, but they want $50. marriott said, no not for families. but vistana wants to take on this social media tirade i am throwing their way, so be it.

 

[cubigbird]

well i am going viral on them. they will have a huge amount of negative publicity and if it keeps one person from buying a timeshare then they have lost money. they require a guest certificate for my daughter to check in. same name same address, but they want $50. marriott said, no not for families. but vistana wants to take on this social media tirade i am throwing their way, so be it.

If it's a home resort reservation, not SO reservation, not a rental, then the fee should not apply.

 

[DeniseM]

Whether it is a rental or not has no bearing on the Guest Confirmation fee:

Staroption Reservation - there will be a fee.

Home Resort Reservation - there will NOT be a fee.

However, the Reps are making a lot of mistakes implementing the fee. If you have a Home Resort Reservation, and they try to charge you, ask to speak to a supervisor, or call back and talk to someone else.

Please note that if your confirmation states the number of Staroptions used for the reservation, it is a Staroption Reservation. If you make a late reservation at your home resort (8-0 mos. before check-in) you will get a Staroption reservation - EVEN AT YOUR HOME RESORT.

If the confirmation says "Home Resort Reservation," it is a home resort reservation.

 

[triangulum33]

What if I make a Home Resort Res and rent the unit to a 3rd party. Is there a fee?

This is #$&%U%^!!!

 

[DeniseM]

No.... The fee has nothing to do with rentals - the fee is on Staroption reservations - period.

 

[tschwa2]

They really have no way to know what is a rental or not. Of course everyone would say it is not a rental if they had to pay for a guest cert.

 

[pacman777]

I think they should waive the guest cert fee if the last name on the reservation matches the owner for staroptions reservations. Vistana is turning into a money grabbing whore and starting to piss off a lot of current owners... this could be the start of a downslide in terms of reputation for Starwood branded timeshares.

 

[DavidnRobin]

What if I make a Home Resort Res and rent the unit to a 3rd party. Is there a fee?

This is #$&%U%^!!!

No.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tschwa2]

I think they should waive the guest cert fee if the last name on the reservation matches the owner for staroptions reservations. Vistana is turning into a money grabbing whore and starting to piss off a lot of current owners... this could be the start of a downslide in terms of reputation for Starwood branded timeshares.

Problem with this is many people these days (myself included) have different last names than my spouse and children and parents, brothers, sisters, etc. That would mean people with traditional last names and unmarried girl children and married boy children get free gift certs while others gifting to those with the same relationship but different last names do not.

Unfortunately family members not on the deed, do not have deeded rights to use the timeshare and gifting a week is no longer assumed as a deeded right. Luckily the original documents for the timeshares explicitly gave owners the right to gift the home week without fee. Without that clause in those documents we would probably be paying the fee for the home week too. Wyndham for example (and is the only one I know of) charges for gift certs even for the deeded usage and they charge a whopping $99 and you have to have a cert if you book multiple rooms even if you are there to check into those rooms.

 

[lds337]

Sorry I'm so late to this conversation, but I really appreciate all the information and hard work that went into this thread