Seaside Resort Ongoing Exchange Check-in Mess

[barco13]

What a confirmation mess I am going through on an Interval Exchange right now with this resort. If anybody has stayed here on an exchange and has any advice, please chime in. I booked a II exchange on Sunday morning, 10/14 checking in 10/20. As is always my practice, especially on tight timeframes, I called the resort to confirm my reservation on Monday 10/15. Here is the string of conversations I've had abbreviated:
Resort: We have no record of your confirmation, we cannot see timeshares.
Me: Ok, how do you know when somebody using a timeshare is staying at your resort?
Resort: Capital Resort books it and then tells us. Call Capital Resorts
I found out there are 10 units here that are "timeshare exchanges"; otherwise it seems like nightly rentals or possibly full time owners.
So I called Capital Resorts:
Capital Resorts: Please give me your owner number.
Me: I'm not an owner, I'm just looking to confirm a reservation. I booked an exchange through interval and the resort doesn't have my confirm and they told me to call you.
Capital Resorts: I can't help you if you aren't an owner. Contact who you booked this with.
So I hang up and call Interval
Me: I booked an exchange...etc... resort doesn't have record of it, management company won't give me time of day..
Interval: We faxed it to the right place. We can fax it again.
Me: Ok
Which brings me to today, 10/15. I call the resort again, different person working same story. We can't see timeshare reservations in our system. I again asked how they see them and they indicated they receive a fax from Capital Resorts...Person working desk "did not see" any faxes, but I got the impression they didn't look hard.
What a mess, I feel better after venting, but let me know if anybody has exchanged here. I'm ready to call Interval and cancel and bill all parties for my time.

 

[tschwa2]

It's a difficult relationship between the timeshare owners (both deeded fixed weeks and Capital) The onsite management group works for the full time condo owners which make up 90% of the units. When I book through Capital they get the information from Capital about 3 days prior to check in. If it is capital inventory it is usually Sunday-Sunday check in. If it is a Saturday-Saturday check in, I think that indicates it is one of the fixed week timeshare owners -which is also managed by Capital (they were able to vote Trading Places out) but they are horrible managers IMO for the fixed week owners.

I would ask II, if they are faxing directly to Seaside or if they are faxing to Capital? In either case if you are checking in on Saturday, I think tomorrow would be the earliest Capital would fax over that information so I would try again sometime after 12 noon tomorrow.

 

[barco13]

Thank you for your response. I will try again tomorrow - I just have never ran across this much trouble confirming that the reservation actually exists. Just really gives me a nervous vibe to start out with, but the resort location seemed fine and it is warmer there than here. Lack of customer service just leaves me speechless sometimes. Interval said they fax Capital it sounds like. I may offer my process improvement/efficiency skill for free during my stay.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Last year I was planning on going to Marriott's Newport Coast Villas in a week and I realized that I was never contacted regarding my preferences. I called NCV and they said that they didn't have a reservation in my name. I called ii, and they said that (1) they don't send faxes until 6 days until check-in. (my thought: BS or she was misinformed). I told them that I didn't believe it because I've received about 30 pre-arrival inquiries. They said that I was misinformed. BS. They faxed the confirm, I called Marriott...no confirm. Wash-rinse-dry-repeat. Etc. Etc. Etc. I then found out that the original owner res was still in the owner's name but I had his Marriott res number on my confirm. One final ii fax #3) and then it finally worked. They recognized my res.

My guess is that there were multiple breaks in communications and systems. When the Marriott owner deposited the unit nearly a year earlier, ii would have confirmed it with Marriott and Marriott would have taken it out of the owner's name. It might have been on Marriott's end or it might have been on ii's end.

So then I called Marriott and requested my preferred location - - to have some sort of ocean view and be on a higher floor. Then Marriott said (drum roll.......) "location requests are handled on a first-come first-in basis and you're requesting two days before check-in... sorry..." Luckily I convinced the Marriott person to have sympathy. She worked everything out.

 

[mdurette]

Thank you for your response. I will try again tomorrow - I just have never ran across this much trouble confirming that the reservation actually exists. Just really gives me a nervous vibe to start out with, but the resort location seemed fine and it is warmer there than here. Lack of customer service just leaves me speechless sometimes. Interval said they fax Capital it sounds like. I may offer my process improvement/efficiency skill for free during my stay.

I had a similar experience recently with II on a getaway for a resort that II typically doesn't get weeks for. After a week of back and forth I finally reached out to the II rep here on TUG, his name is Mark and it was all fixed within a day. The end result - the resort was not getting II faxes because the fax number was wrong. I will search for his contact email for you.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I had a similar experience recently with II on a getaway for a resort that II typically doesn't get weeks for. After a week of back and forth I finally reached out to the II rep here on TUG, his name is Mark and it was all fixed within a day. The end result - the resort was not getting II faxes because the fax number was wrong. I will search for his contact email for you.

I bought a getaway for next December, so since it’s an independent I should probably call a few weeks before hand to ensure they have my reservation. Dang that sucks that you have to jump through hoops.

 

[barco13]

For anybody following, the saga is over. I was able to confirm the reservation today - 1 day before check-in. What I learned from this experience is (1) Capital Resorts and the actual resort only communicate through a "daily report", but neither party could tell me how this report is delivered: email, fax, courier, pigeon, etc... and (2) I will go out of my way to never stay at a Capital Resorts managed property. I asked the Capital Resorts "Owner Services Rep" if they found it odd I had to be a broker between the resort they manage and them, and she found it completely normal. She indicated they have no contact with the resort and the resort indicated the same; so odd. I can only hope the resort is average and since it is right on the beach it will make for a good vacation. In my opinion the II rating should be dropped from a "Select Resort" if you are checking in, in under 15 days from reservation due to absurd customer service. Thank you all for letting me vent and the suggestions. Timeshare on!