COVID-19 Related Cancellations

Please check with Marriott again re banking of points. I have banked points into the next year and then borrowed the points back for use in the current year. So, I'm not sure you are disadvantaged by banking the points before the expiration of this option on July 1st.

michael3092 wrote:

I can “bank” my points but if I don’t do it by July 1, 2020 I lose out the chance to “bank” The lose it or use it case.

That’s ridiculous when if you have a reservation affected by Covid-19 the 6 month necessary advance period is waived.

I do have the points reservation now on a very demand time and I will rent it out as not my cup of tea anymore.

I havent seen any updates on the position Redweek is taking for August rentals in Maui. The resorts will be open, and there is a mechanism to avoid a quarantine if the visitors are tested. I would like to know the Redweek position on this to mitigate losses so I can cancel and bank the points, or wait until the check in date, lose the points, and maybe keep the rental funds because my renter did not get insurance. I offered to re-book with alternate dates. Thoughts?

I rented 2 1/2 weeks at Grande Villas fro February 2021 through Vacatia. The Canada-US border is closed now (July) and Florida is a hotbed of Covid. I did not take insurance when I booked in february 2020 as I knew that if I could not go, one of the family would. But now nobody can go. I asked Vacatia about Diamond refunding the prepaid booking and they said at present no refund due to no cancellation insurance. Going forward, does anyone have any idea what will happen if the border remains closed or id Florida resorts are closed due to pandemic...will Diamond have to refund?

As an update I can cancel the Marriott Points reservation if the reservation is within 60 days of the requested cancellation . Then I must use the points within 120 days into 2021. Fat chance not being a “gold” week member .The Covid expiring date for the cancellation changes is August 31, 2020. I hope they extend that date . Otherwise I can bank into Interval which I never used nor care to use.

michael3092 wrote:

As an update I can cancel the Marriott Points reservation if the reservation is within 60 days of the requested cancellation . Then I must use the points within 120 days into 2021. Fat chance not being a “gold” week member .The Covid expiring date for the cancellation changes is August 31, 2020. I hope they extend that date . Otherwise I can bank into Interval which I never used nor care to use.

I'm not sure what a "gold" member is as it relates to points and whether it would matter in getting a reservation. The only impacts of member status for points (chairman's club, etc. status) that I know of is that you get some advance time to book reservations. So, if you get the points back and they have a 120 day restriction, it probably means that you just need to book closer in to the start of the reservation.

Of interest - I went on a wait list for two 5 day points reservations last weekend for Timber Lodge in Tahoe to start this weekend. Both were filled within 3 days. There wasn't even a 1 day reservation available on line. There must have been cancellations. I was surprised it worked.

So Redweek is telling me the following:

Because the travel ban from the U.S. to Aruba was still in place on the check-in date, we closed the dispute in the renter's favor and refunded her in full. Per the rental agreement, the renter must have a habitable unit on the check-in date, and a travel ban means the renter cannot legally inhabit the unit.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

My response was the following:

Please carefully read section 12. of our rental agreement. You are incorrect. The definition of not habitable that is pointed out in the agreement says “due to flood, fire or storm.” Not travel. Even the word uninhabitable in the dictionary defines it as “unsuitable for living”. Nothing to do with travel. At the time the Marriott was not unsuitable for living. Furthermore also in section 12. Of the rental agreement that is signed by the tenant and I states that the: “Renter's inability to complete their travel for any other reason beyond the Owner's control (including, but not limited to: illness, airline interruptions, job loss) are the sole responsibility of the Renter, and Payment is nonrefundable.” It clearly states that if the renter cannot complete their travel for any other reason beyond the owner’s control it is the sole responsibility of the renter and it is nonrefundable. Covid was beyond my control and it’s on them, they should have purchased travel insurance. Please show me where in the rental agreement it says that due to travel restrictions it is uninhabitable? Nowhere does it say that. I will not accept this.

The rental agreement is very clear on this, I just don’t understand how redweek can break my rental agreement and is telling me that travel restrictions makes a unit uninhabitable.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?

Has anyone taken legal action against redweek for what happened to me above? They clearly had no right to refund the renter based on our rental agreement. If someone has taken action against them please respond so we can all file together and get some results. The rental agreement i s a legal binding document. Redweek did not abide by it.

all of the above appear sensitive and reasonable.

TMC (the manhattan club MANAGEMENT) has no sensibility. the uncaring management doesn't appear to give a s*** about owners' need to extend reservation time due to the deathly corona-19 virus. making a reservation now or in the near future is close to suicide. any further ideas on how to work this out? TMC MANAGAGEMENT WILL LISTEN TO NOTHING REASONABLE. personally i will lose 7 nights because of this...with paid-up maintenance. TMC IS BEYOND DISGUSTING.

they should drive off the planet with their ferraris and other luxurious transportation vehicles along with their BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

Again I asked Marriott Vacation Club with email as what is the importance of the August 31, 2020 in a cancellation more than 60 days in advance. Their quick answer is since I didn’t bank the points by June 30, 2020 I am SOL, Now I ask if the cancellation is on a reservation less than 60 days from August 31, 2020 the point can be placed in a holding account to use in 2021 depending on a notification period and availability. So 61 days out from August 31, 2020 for cancellation use points in 2020 or lose them or use Interval, whatever that is . Using 59 days out you can place in a “holding account”. I will anxiously awaiting an extension of that August 31, 2020 Covid deal.

Michael - I suggest you call Owner Services and ask to speak to a manager. In a nice way, tell them you are new to the program, layout the specifics of your situation, and ask them what your best options are. These personnel have always offered good suggestions to me and have always tried to help. Don't do this using email and try not to get angry.

Problem with suing RedWeek for illegal cancellation is collectability. RedWeek does not have our money. It's been returned to the renters. You can win a class action suit but the individuals won't see much return; especially if RedWeek goes under. I believe RedWeek now realizes it made a huge mistake. Renters should have purchased insurance for events such as this. If their insurance had refused to pay out it would have been their fight, not ours. I'm totally in your corner if anyone comes up with something. And on a separate note, I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing with my 2 weeks worth of Star Options--or whatever the hell Vistana calls them these days. I only know that I will have lost a total of $2,300 in taxes and maintenance for 2020 and Vistana has no good solutions for its owners. They are not even willing to cancel the hefty fees required for sending the options to 2021 or for converting them to points. Everyone has their sob story 1~~~~~

So let me see if I have this straight. If an owner and renter agreed to a transaction and they both used RedWeek's full service and escrow services, and the renter cancelled because of COVID-19 considerations, then RedWeek returned the money to the renter, is that what happened?

If so, what was RedWeek's rationale on this?

Redweek told me the following:

Because the travel ban from the U.S. to Aruba was still in place on the check-in date, we closed the dispute in the renter's favor and refunded her in full. Per the rental agreement, the renter must have a habitable unit on the check-in date, and a travel ban means the renter cannot legally inhabit the unit.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

My response was the following:

Please carefully read section 12. of our rental agreement. You are incorrect. The definition of not habitable that is pointed out in the agreement says “due to flood, fire or storm.” Not travel. Even the word uninhabitable in the dictionary defines it as “unsuitable for living”. Nothing to do with travel. At the time the Marriott was not unsuitable for living. Furthermore also in section 12. Of the rental agreement that is signed by the tenant and I states that the: “Renter's inability to complete their travel for any other reason beyond the Owner's control (including, but not limited to: illness, airline interruptions, job loss) are the sole responsibility of the Renter, and Payment is nonrefundable.” It clearly states that if the renter cannot complete their travel for any other reason beyond the owner’s control it is the sole responsibility of the renter and it is nonrefundable. Covid was beyond my control and it’s on them, they should have purchased travel insurance. Please show me where in the rental agreement it says that due to travel restrictions it is uninhabitable? Nowhere does it say that.

They used the "uninhabitability" clause in section 12 of the rental agreement. It was the only word they could find because there wasn't anything else. Yes, they'd lose a lawsuit but see my note re collectability earlier in this forum.

Say resort use becomes questionable due to travel restrictions well ahead of the use date. Why don't owners avail themselves of the options to mitigate the loss?

Why is it that renters do not reach out to owners at the first sign of trouble?

Why is it that renters do not acquire travel insurance?

Must Redweek make a "too quick" decision while others stand looking on?

This subject is going to be disputed for some time to come . There are obviously more than one opinion on the matter . Just like the politics we are watching daily each side puts their own spin on the issue . These are the facts we a dealing with :

1 This is a once in a lifetime event that nobody could have planned for .

2. It only gave us a short window to realize the affects of the virus on the travel industry and unfortunately we book our timeshares many months to years in advance .

3 People interpret clauses differently depending on which side of the issue they are on .

4 We all want to be right .

5 Redweek is between a rock and a hard place . No matter which side they decide in favor of the other side is going to be unhappy .

I am sure the Redweek staff researched the issue for quite a while before deciding . No matter which way they decide there is going to be bad feelings .

I am going to forfeit my week this year . It's a personal decision and I feel comfortable with staying home until this virus is under control . I have offered my week to anyone I know that is brave or dumb enough to travel before the end of the year . I can only imagine how backed up our courts are going to be if everyone who suffered any loss due to the virus decides to sue over it .

Yes I will contact the Marriott Vacation Club via telephone. Right now I have a two week up for rent at the Marriott Crystal Shores at a prime time. It should rent easily but who knows what Covid May bring in the fall.

I have to comment.... All property owners, worldwide, are responsible for the taxes and overall maintenance of their properties. This applies to ones home as well as ones recreational property. Many owners of recreational property opt to rent out. Timeshare is no different. When you buy one or more units, you sign a contract that makes you responsible for its yearly dues. Whether you use your week(s) personally, or rent it out, the obligation is yours. When owners sets their rental price, many are seeking to recover cost, while others charge a premium and that too is acceptable. My point is this, the burden of a unit's expenses does not fall on the renter. This is clear when you signed the purchase agreement for your property. Penalizing a renter who entered a contract in good faith expect the same. A worldwide declared pandemic (covid 19), issued by WHO with strict instructions to self-islolate for all nations, is not a standard insurance clause. You fail to realize that we are all still dealing with this catastrophic world crisis!!!! Renters had no choice but to cancel. Travelling anywhere locally or worse a foreign country, made no sense. It still doesn't. While owners are understandably upset with their Resort Management's inflexibility to rebook weeks, renters should not be forced to pay for a stay they can not travel to. While your resort "claimed" to be open, the reality was they were closing facilities bit by bit, with plans to shutter as soon as they could get their existing guests out. This meant that those who were already vacationing were asked to check out sooner, and reschedule flights. Think about this for a minute. Many who departed for their March break vacation, were forced to cut their trip short because their Gov'ts told them to come home. They lost out, yet they were grateful to be back home safe from the spread of Covid 19. We all understood this was happening, as we were all glued to our TV sets, listening to the same news. Many of you brought up travel insurance. Well, what about owner's opting for their own insurance coverage against lost of use. Surely you could have bought this type of protection yourself, but you didn't. WHY? The option to buy insurance is not exclusive to the renter. Have a heart people. A world pandemic changes everything!! Final comment.... do unto others as you would have done unto you.

So basically you're saying that RedWeek was correct to refund the renter rather than the owner?

First of all, Redweek understood there was a world wide pandemic and business as usually was no longer applicable. Everything and everyone had to pivot to a new reality. The tourism industry was shuttering down. Let me repeat that. The tourism industry was shuttering down. There was no other choice than the one Redweek made. Resorts were not accepting new reservations, they were cancelling, as were airlines. National borders were shuttering down, and nations were calling their citizens home. This was not a one day or one week event. This was and is, an on going, life threating pandemic and today the world is not yet back to normal. Five months in (for North America), we are still in our limited bubble with restricted travel in place. So YES, Redweek made the only decision it could. Renters who had booked prior to the lockdown in mid March, were and are entitled to a full refund. Prepaying for a product or service before it is accquired is rare. Most businesses provide their service at time of payment or before hand. The tourism industry is a rare exception. A contract becomes "null and void" when one of the parties are unable to fulfill their obligation, as was the case of the resorts. The fact that certain resort chains "official avoided" announcing their immediate closure had more to do with servicing their "in resort" clients than it was to staying open to accept new visitors. The wave of cancellations were not unexpected and certainly not unreasonable. Withholding refunds reflects negatively on the owners and is in poor taste. Renters seeking refunds for vacation spots they could not travel to or gain access to, very reasonable. Lets not make this about money.