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Newport Coast Try Failed For 3rd Time

Cathyb

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Another 5:30AM awake call and Marriott failed us again for the 3rd week in a row. :( This time both my husband on the phone got in to talk to an agent in two minutes only to be told 'no availability' and I on the computer got in and hit the 'Confirm' button only to have Error Detail show up and went back again and again -- no luck.

Marriott Newport Coast owners -- do we have any recourse? Can we gather as a TUG group and get answers? Are they putting new owners in before us? Are the units already booked with 13 month owners? Surely we can get some answers to this.

This sure looks like an oversold situation to us -- how about you??? :mad:
 

Dave M

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Cathyb said:
Are the units already booked with 13-month owners? Surely we can get some answers to this.

A maximum of 50% of available units for any particular week can be reserved 13 months in advance. Thus, at least half of the August 11-13, 2006 check-in weeks should have been available this morning.

However, there is significant competition for the prime weeks you seek. Platinum season covers 28 weeks at your resort. Almost all of the owners are seeking one of about seven summer peak weeks.

For simplicity, assume there are only two units in the resort and, thus, 56 (2 X 28 weeks) Platinum owners for those two units. Assume that multiple-week owners reserve one of the two units 13 months in advance. Also, to assume the worst, assume that all of the multiple-week owners own only a single Platinum week at the resort. If there are seven top-demand summer weeks, that means that 49 owners (56, less seven weeks reserved 13 months in advance) are competing for the remaining seven (one per week for seven weeks) units for the entire peak summer period.

Thus, in theory, that means your chances are only 1 in 7 (i.e., 7 in 49) of getting that peak summer week you want. The odds are actually a bit different, primarily because not every single owner would have been calling this morning, but the theory of how difficult your task is remains the same.

That's not over-selling by Marriott. It's a philosophy Marriott faced when setting up the seasons at the resort. Should Marriott have an extended Platinum season to spur sales? Or should it have a short summer-only Platinum season to have happy Platinum owners. Unfortunately for Platinum owners, Marriott chose the former.
 

Dave M

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What would I do?

Continue trying to reserve the very best week you can. If the week you eventually reserve won't work for you, use that week to request an internal exchange back into your resort during the timeframe that works for you. Chances are you'll get it.
 

pwrshift

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Naturally, you increase your odds by having 2 weeks at the resort and booking them for the same week or following weeks. That was probably in the sales&marketing plan for Marriott to sell more weeks.

I have one resort where I own one week, and to tell the truth it was a real pain to get a decent week for 2006. For 3 weeks I called on the right day, as soon as they opened, before I struck gold - the rep answering said I was the first call that day! So it's kind of a lottery. Up until then, I had not seen the problem first hand, and can feel your disappointment in the system. As Dave indicates it is a situation of too few availabilities for too much demand for some weeks...but they surely don't tell you that when you buy!

The system needs another 'look see' at Marriott to find ways of improving it. They did a nice improve with the Week 53 deal this year, and hopefully they'll be looking at the chaos they created this year by allowing everyone to call on one day for all days of the desired weekend.

Brian
 

DavidW

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I started calling at 8 am (central time) while online at the same time. Trying to get check-in for Saturday, August 12 next year at MNCV. I got to a CS rep at 8:02 (before the response was returned from my online request) only to be told all the Saturday check-ins were booked. Hard to believe it could happen so fast. I settled for Sunday check-in. I've been lucky to get within a day of what I wanted 3 years in a row now.
 

KDD

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Have you tried to get help from your Newport Coast Sales person or QC?

I've heard that your salesperson can help you get the week. Also I've heard that quality assurance would put you on the waiting list. Let me know if that helps :)
 

CaliDave

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They definately screwed up with the seasons. They should have had Summer as Platinum plus or even Sold as fixed weeks.
Also, June is not that great at the beach and 4th of July is a fixed week. Many kids are back in school mid Aug.
IMO the prime So Cal summer weeks at MNCV are the 2nd week of July to the 2nd or 3rd week of Aug. Thats 5 or 6 weeks maximum.

I would love to own MNCV, but I'm going to wait until its sold out.. and see how the summer reservations go. Maybe by them we'll be in the $10K range for a Platinum week, that would be sweet.
I own Marriott Summitt Watch Gold and I'd be able to do the 13 month rule when the time came.
 

Werner Weiss

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Once a NCV owner with children in school has been "burned" -- unable to get a July or August week -- they become part of the group that is online and calling in during the first minute that reservations for such a week become available. So, chances are, it will continue to get even harder over the next few years.

I'm sure there's sufficient inventory for all Platinum Season weeks at NCV. Marriott hasn't done anything illegal. But if 75% of the Platinum owners are trying to get the same 25% of Platimum weeks, two out of three will be unsuccessful.

There are a couple of things NCV management should do:

  • Publicize the advantages of choosing September and later weeks to those who don't have children in school. The weather in September and October is essentially the same as in July and August (and usually much better than in June). The crowds are gone at the beach, at Disneyland, and at popular restaurants. For those who want a quiet stay, there are likely to be far fewer children at the resort.
  • Publicize the great trading power of NCV through II. NCV is way up there on the II food chain. I've had great success getting top notch trades, with ongoing requests usually clearing right at 12 months -- such as 2BR in Ko Olina in the summer; 2BR at Village d'ile-de-France at Easter; 2BR Villas at Doral at New Years; 2BR Desert Springs Villas I at spring break. And I've used the accompanying AC to trade in Orlando, including 2BR at three different Marriott resorts and a 1BR at Disney's Old Key West.
 

toxicesq

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Thankfully, I am 3 for 3 in getting my chosen week and check in date at NCV, most recently last week. For the past two years, I've been been able to make the reservation on-line, while still waiting for a human being to pick up.

But take heart, because it seems to me that a fair number of people reserve the prime summer weeks only to increase the value of their II deposits so if you miss out on one week, try again the next and deposit it with a request for the week you really want. I did an internal trade two years ago, when I had a change in plans, and the trade came through within weeks of the request.
 

Cathyb

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Thanks for all the insight everyone. I definitely will try the ideas given.
 

cwtkm3

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Try European Owner Services

I booked my first SurfWatch vacation for Aug 5th 06 at 2.10pmGMT (6.10am Californian time) on 4th Aug this year through Owner Services in Cork, Ireland. I was concerned we wouldn't get it as on-line inventory for preceding weeks all booked out. Tried on-line at same time but got the error message hence a mad dash to the phone and 2 mins to get to speak to an advisor (most of whom are Spanish for some strange reason!)

Said wanted to book my platinum SurfWatch week. Response was "you own gold holiday in Marbella". So I explained look into my other account.

Anyway, just a suggestion that you may find Cork less busy. Perhaps worth a try.
 
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