Marriott Rewards member trying to get Vistana ownership credit? It's tricky now.
Heads up that if you're a Vistana (formerly Starwood Vacation Ownership) timeshare owner trying to get promised stay night credits to your Marriott Rewards (formerly SPG) account, you may have a few hoops to go through now that SPG has been merged into Marriott Rewards. I did, and a Vistana customer service rep tells me I'm not alone.
In November, I spent seven nights at the Westin Mission Hills Villas in Rancho Mirage. We are long-time SVO/Vistana owners, and had a linked SPG account.
After there was no credit by mid-December, I submitted the folio on the Marriott Rewards site for a missing stay credit. Nothing. A few days later, submitted it a second time. There were several emails back and forth with the "Stay Add Marriott" rep, first stating the name on the reservation didn't match (the timeshare is in both my and my wife's name; had never been an issue with the linked account), then that there were no "eligible charges" or room revenue and therefore no credit allowed (not true; also never an issue before).
I elevated it to the "Internet Customer Care" email address. The first time I was told I'd get points for the stay, and they showed up, for incidentals, but no night stay credits. The second time I pointed out the missing stay credit, I finally got the night stay credits.
It took a half-dozen emails, and five times re-sending the folio, which had the stay dates clearly marked on it, over a week.
A Vistana rep told me problems are not unusual since the programs were combined.
I have also re-confirmed with Vistana that they now have my correct and current combined Marriott Rewards number; Apparently, Vistana was directly given my assigned "new" SPG-conversion number by Marriott prior to our stay-- a new SPG number I chose not to keep when merging my accounts in August.
I suggest any Vistana-formerly-SVO owners expecting Marriott Rewards credits to double-check that Vistana has their current and correct Marriott Rewards account number, that the name on the reservation matches the name on the Marriott Rewards account (especially if a joint Vistana ownership), and to follow up if the stay night credits don't appear -- like hotel stays using point redemptions, owner timeshare use doesn't require room revenue for stay night credits in Marriott Rewards.