Cancel & Rebook problems?

DeeDibble · Oct 19, 2014

Due to the introduction of Wyndham Pass; the new "internal exchange" between Wyndham and Worldmark is anyone having trouble getting back a reservation while canceling and rebooking existing reservations for their VIP discounts?

ronparise · Oct 19, 2014

DeeDibble said:
Due to the introduction of Wyndham Pass; the new "internal exchange" between Wyndham and Worldmark is anyone having trouble getting back a reservation while canceling and rebooking existing reservations for their VIP discounts?

I just cancelled and rebooked several reservations.no problem. Except that they came back faster this time than the last time we discussed this

I never considered that Club Pass might have an impact on this>

I think its important to remember that cancelling and rebooking to save some credits is not a benefit we are entitled to. There are no guarantees. If you do this regularly you will lose some, There are no guarantees. Its a loophole that we take advantage of... I wouldnt do it for a time thats important to you unless you have a back up

chapjim · Oct 20, 2014

Cancel & Rebook Problems

Yes, I have had problems in the last few weeks and at places I never had problems before (Bonnet Creek, where I've rebooked dozens of reservations in the last couple of years).

I can't attribute it to anything in particular. I still maintain lost reservations are mostly due to the resort having overbooked one way or another (e.g., had to take units out of service). I don't know if Wyndham's reservation system will allow a resort to be purposefully overbooked. I'd think not.

I've never found a lost week on Extra Holidays so I tend to discount that as a cause of lost reservations.

On one occasion, the canceled reservation showed up after less than a minute but when I clicked on it, it said it was no longer available. Mostly, they have just not showed up at all.

I just lost one at Sea Gardens but I have very little experience there.

I'm thinking about changing my business model and not listing units until I've rebooked. It's too hard and too expensive to recover from a lost reservation when you've already rented it!

Bigrob · Oct 21, 2014

chapjim said:
Yes, I have had problems in the last few weeks and at places I never had problems before (Bonnet Creek, where I've rebooked dozens of reservations in the last couple of years).

I can't attribute it to anything in particular. I still maintain lost reservations are mostly due to the resort having overbooked one way or another (e.g., had to take units out of service). I don't know if Wyndham's reservation system will allow a resort to be purposefully overbooked. I'd think not.

I've never found a lost week on Extra Holidays so I tend to discount that as a cause of lost reservations.

On one occasion, the canceled reservation showed up after less than a minute but when I clicked on it, it said it was no longer available. Mostly, they have just not showed up at all.

I just lost one at Sea Gardens but I have very little experience there.

I'm thinking about changing my business model and not listing units until I've rebooked. It's too hard and too expensive to recover from a lost reservation when you've already rented it!

VERY VERY TRUE. Not to mention, frightening to the person to whom you're renting. The answer of course is more points so you can double up the reservation you need. then if it doesn't come back, you still have one. That becomes your low-margin deal but at least you aren't jeopardizing someone's vacation or scrambling to find a reservation.

The system DOES allow overbooking, by the way. When I talked to the resort at Skyline they indicated they are usually 10% overbooked but generally still around 90% occupancy due to no-shows. Seems like a lot of no-shows... I guess I'm more protective of my points than most. I don't know if the allowed over-booking is basically because the resort knows there are units out of service that get "booked", or whether there are actually more units loaded as inventory than actually exist.

FYI, I am not surprised at losing a reservation at BC during a cancel/rebook. There are 127 listings on redweek for BC and a lot of those are floating. Since it sells out frequently, I think there are a lot of folks searching for things to pop open.

I too have felt the frustrating of being "second in line" when the unit pops open, but then is gone by the time I click it. And it was at Bonnet Creek where it happened.

Sandi Bo · Oct 22, 2014

I suspect that someone has figured out how to programmatically grab up some rooms. I have experienced the same issues others have noted here. I see stuff come back (so I do think they are coming back into the system), but I can't complete the reservation. I'm pretty sure someone's figured out how to program to grab a reservation.

I've noticed it more so with larger units (3 and 4 BR) and presidential units. No way right now I will rent someone anything larger than a 2 BR (as I do hold 2 rooms so I can guarantee the rental and I don't want to eat the cost of giving away a larger unit).

It's been frustrating, that's for sure.

tschwa2 · Oct 22, 2014

It would make sense that one of those companies that manage several million VIP accounts would design a program to catch the cancelled units rather than pay someone to be on the lookout all day and all night to try to manually catch the weeks.

jebloomquist · Oct 22, 2014

tschwa2 said:
It would make sense that one of those companies that manage several million VIP accounts would design a program to catch the cancelled units rather than pay someone to be on the lookout all day and all night to try to manually catch the weeks.

I have thought about writing a program to do some things with the Wyndham web site. In a previous incarnation I was a computer programmer. I was good enough that I kept getting promoted. Finally, I wasn't programming anymore and lost all of my technical skills. But, I still can analyze a situation for its difficulty.

What any program would have as input is what the Wyndham site reports based upon any request. Then it has to be parced the screen output to acquire information. The output varies considerably which makes this very difficult. Any company trying to do this might find it as difficult as getting Obama Care up and running.

It is not impossible, but I would bet that any person or company that tried it, gave up on getting anything that was really effective.

If I ever really spend some time trying, I would never let anybody else know. But, if anyone is interested in throwing ideas around, I would enjoy the conversation.

Jim

DeeDibble · Oct 26, 2014

ronparise said:
I just cancelled and rebooked several reservations.no problem. Except that they came back faster this time than the last time we discussed this

I never considered that Club Pass might have an impact on this>

I think its important to remember that cancelling and rebooking to save some credits is not a benefit we are entitled to. There are no guarantees. If you do this regularly you will lose some, There are no guarantees. Its a loophole that we take advantage of... I wouldnt do it for a time thats important to you unless you have a back up

Thanks Ron, I had to ask again since its been awhile since I was asking about it . I hope you are correct about the internal exchange system probably not impacting the system in a negative way for owners. My largest fear was the new exchange system would automatically "grab" cancellations. We use our points to go to Florida for 8-10 weeks in the winter and try to utilize the cancel/rebook to secure another 2 to 4 weeks to get away here and there the rest of the year.

DeeDibble · Oct 26, 2014

Sandi Bo said:
I suspect that someone has figured out how to programmatically grab up some rooms. I have experienced the same issues others have noted here. I see stuff come back (so I do think they are coming back into the system), but I can't complete the reservation. I'm pretty sure someone's figured out how to program to grab a reservation.

I've noticed it more so with larger units (3 and 4 BR) and presidential units. No way right now I will rent someone anything larger than a 2 BR (as I do hold 2 rooms so I can guarantee the rental and I don't want to eat the cost of giving away a larger unit).

It's been frustrating, that's for sure.

I hope and pray that know one can create a system that automatically grabs the inventory, especially for people like me and my husband that have invested in Wyndham to use for personal use.

DeeDibble · Oct 26, 2014

Cancel & Rebook

Is it safe to assume that most of us aren't really competing for the reservations with each other since most of us are canceling and rebooking what we already have reserved? In other words: while I may have a week booked, another owner has same week booked at same resort. We both go in and cancel and rebook about the same time (within 1-3 minutes if one another) wouldn't our only risk be if at the same time someone searching for a "new" reservation at the exact same time can grab it? I also think I will call Wyndham and see if the Resort is "overbooked" before I start canceling and rebooking. I have to admit when I cancelled and rebooked my Jan-Feb 2014 weeks I had absolutely no problem getting it done but I was totally freaked out while I was doing it.

vacationhopeful · Oct 26, 2014

DeeDibble said:
... I have to admit when I cancelled and rebooked my Jan-Feb 2014 weeks I had absolutely no problem getting it done but I was totally freaked out while I was doing it.

And I have LOST those very same reservations ... but I make sure my need for cheaper vacations does not cause me to freak and be homeless.

And I HAVE been surfing and happened upon those "just released" units - which I book. Sorry ... I have lost some and I have sometimes given a home to an orphan reservation. But I have lost way more than I ever have found over the years.

I once had a new client who was upset on the price of a March week 2 bedroom unit - asking if I could reduce my price. I explained to her the RISK and right now, she could get her week and resort and unit size --- getting a cheaper price was a 50/50 chance she would have nothing. Her mother was on speaker phone helping her decide - Mom decided saving a few dollars was NOT worth the risk (who I agreed with). I would have made the same profit either way - if I recaptured the reservation. And as it was early in the year, I would have used the points elsewhere.

jebloomquist · Oct 26, 2014

Bonnet Creek cancellations

Sandi Bo and I have discussed the issue privately.

We have concluded that, at least for Bonnet Creek, something is going on. It might relate to Tower 6 not being in service, such that there has been some overbooking. The thought is that the moment there is a cancellation, the reservation is removed. It is not reassigned, just taken out of the pool of available rentals simply because there aren't enough usable units.

Currently, 2BR reservations have been disappearing at an almost 100% rate, and others may also be disappearing. So, my advise is to be very careful.

Jim

Rent_Share · Oct 26, 2014

DeeDibble said:
I hope and pray that know one can create a system that automatically grabs the inventory, especially for people like me and my husband that have invested in Wyndham to use for personal use.

Someone did it for Bonus time (1) Worldmark, but they made it available for any owner, Wyndham/Worldmark shut it down, since the bylaws prohibit such activity.

Essentially it was a program that constantly refreshed an inquiry for a requested time and location an booked it on the owner's behalf.

(1) Last Minute Cancellations that can be booked for a substantial reduction, however severely limited in use by someone other than an owner and number of reservations per account.

chapjim · Oct 26, 2014

jebloomquist said:
Sandi Bo and I have discussed the issue privately.

We have concluded that, at least for Bonnet Creek, something is going on. It might relate to Tower 6 not being in service, such that there has been some overbooking. The thought is that the moment there is a cancellation, the reservation is removed. It is not reassigned, just taken out of the pool of available rentals simply because there aren't enough usable units.

Currently, 2BR reservations have been disappearing at an almost 100% rate, and others may also be disappearing. So, my advise is to be very careful.

Jim

This fits exactly with my situation. I had two 2BR Deluxe units at BC, lost them both. (I know, fool me once . . . .) By way of mitigation, after I lost the first one, I did some checking and found out I could get a replacement for a few bucks less than my listing price. So, this was more a case of lost profit, not lost money.

vacationhopeful · Oct 26, 2014

This was also the situation at Sea Gardens a couple of years ago. Wyndham CAN and DOES have the COMPUTER ability to SNAG any unit at any resort --- when they want to. The Sea Gardens' issue was a longer than planned renovation (Waterfalls section, I believe) -- several months longer.

And another time was all the Pompano area resorts - Palm Aire buildings had a maintenance problem.

ronparise · Oct 26, 2014

DeeDibble said:
I hope and pray that know one can create a system that automatically grabs the inventory, especially for people like me and my husband that have invested in Wyndham to use for personal use.

Theres no need to worry. even if something like that its created, It wont affect the regular owner that just makes reservations for their own use. and who doesnt try to cancel and rebook

vacationhopeful · Oct 26, 2014

ronparise said:
Theres no need to worry. even if something like that its created, It wont affect the regular owner that just makes reservations for their own use. and who doesnt try to cancel and rebook

Ron, DeeDibble is cancelling and rebooking her Winter reservations.

DeeDibble said:
Is it safe to assume that most of us aren't really competing for the reservations with each other since most of us are canceling and rebooking what we already have reserved? In other words: while I may have a week booked, another owner has same week booked at same resort. We both go in and cancel and rebook about the same time (within 1-3 minutes if one another) wouldn't our only risk be if at the same time someone searching for a "new" reservation at the exact same time can grab it? I also think I will call Wyndham and see if the Resort is "overbooked" before I start canceling and rebooking. I have to admit when I cancelled and rebooked my Jan-Feb 2014 weeks I had absolutely no problem getting it done but I was totally freaked out while I was doing it.

DeeDibble ... Wyndham reservations 1-800 line does NOT know what the computer system is doing or if there is a problem at the resort. And you have been very lucky to not have lost anything. YET!

It was a VERY BAD winter last year --- no one wants to stay north for 2015.

am1 · Oct 26, 2014

ronparise said:
Theres no need to worry. even if something like that its created, It wont affect the regular owner that just makes reservations for their own use. and who doesnt try to cancel and rebook

Last minute availability will be affected.

ronparise · Oct 26, 2014

vacationhopeful said:
Ron, DeeDibble is cancelling and rebooking her Winter reservations.

I understand that Linda. Im making the point that she should (we all should) act like the customer you talked about. Dont play the game unless you can afford to lose.

If you dont try to beat the system for a couple of bucks you wont get hurt.

vacationhopeful · Oct 26, 2014

And I still gamble ... only when the unit is not yet committed to a flight or other people's vacation days.

cotraveller · Oct 26, 2014

jebloomquist said:
I have thought about writing a program to do some things with the Wyndham web site. In a previous incarnation I was a computer programmer. I was good enough that I kept getting promoted. Finally, I wasn't programming anymore and lost all of my technical skills. But, I still can analyze a situation for its difficulty.

What any program would have as input is what the Wyndham site reports based upon any request. Then it has to be parced the screen output to acquire information. The output varies considerably which makes this very difficult. Any company trying to do this might find it as difficult as getting Obama Care up and running.

It is not impossible, but I would bet that any person or company that tried it, gave up on getting anything that was really effective.

If I ever really spend some time trying, I would never let anybody else know. But, if anyone is interested in throwing ideas around, I would enjoy the conversation.

Jim

DeeDibble said:
I hope and pray that know one can create a system that automatically grabs the inventory, especially for people like me and my husband that have invested in Wyndham to use for personal use.

I don't know how Wyndham handles it, but on WorldMark (same computer system I believe) a few folks have tried robot programs like that to grab Bonus Time. One was offering to use their tool to grab Bonus Time for others. The robots were soon discovered and shut down. I don't know if they did anything more drastic to the person or persons running the robots, but under the rules they could suspend or terminate their account.

ilenekm · Oct 26, 2014

jebloomquist said:
Sandi Bo and I have discussed the issue privately.

We have concluded that, at least for Bonnet Creek, something is going on. It might relate to Tower 6 not being in service, such that there has been some overbooking. The thought is that the moment there is a cancellation, the reservation is removed. It is not reassigned, just taken out of the pool of available rentals simply because there aren't enough usable units.

Currently, 2BR reservations have been disappearing at an almost 100% rate, and others may also be disappearing. So, my advise is to be very careful.

Jim

I have been trying to book a couple of nights for my parents at BC in early December. Aside from a couple of scattered single nights, there has been nothing available all week. In past years, I have not had any problems with early-mid December bookings

ronparise · Oct 26, 2014

ilenekm said:
I have been trying to book a couple of nights for my parents at BC in early December. Aside from a couple of scattered single nights, there has been nothing available all week. In past years, I have not had any problems with early-mid December bookings

Cancelling a reservation i made 9 or more months ago, and trying to rebook it, has nothing to do with whether there is any last minute availability

am1 · Oct 27, 2014

ronparise said:
Cancelling a reservation i made 9 or more months ago, and trying to rebook it, has nothing to do with whether there is any last minute availability

If you are able to get it for half the points or less you are more likely to keep it and book it in the first place.

Also more points to book new last minute reservations before the points expire.

Cdn Gal · Oct 28, 2014

jebloomquist said:
Sandi Bo and I have discussed the issue privately.

We have concluded that, at least for Bonnet Creek, something is going on. It might relate to Tower 6 not being in service, such that there has been some overbooking. The thought is that the moment there is a cancellation, the reservation is removed. It is not reassigned, just taken out of the pool of available rentals simply because there aren't enough usable units.

Currently, 2BR reservations have been disappearing at an almost 100% rate, and others may also be disappearing. So, my advise is to be very careful.

Jim

Why is Tower 6 not in service?

Cancel & Rebook problems?

DeeDibble

ronparise

chapjim

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Bigrob

Sandi Bo

tschwa2

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jebloomquist

DeeDibble

DeeDibble

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vacationhopeful

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jebloomquist

Rent_Share

chapjim

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vacationhopeful

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ronparise

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am1

ronparise

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ilenekm

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Cdn Gal

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