I always book what I want under Points Advance and then call to have the certificate applied. The only time an agent struggled was when an old certificate required converting to new. Otherwise it's pretty simple for most agents.

The more steps I ask an agent to do, the more likely something is misunderstood...

I was able to do this as well. Downgraded two certificates from 6 to 5 and got 120K points back! Certificate dates extended for 1 yr.

Thanks but I was quoting your original post asking for other DPs.. lol

How about not accusing someone of Fraud w/o knowing the facts (or you didn't bother to read)? If you read my post, 5N cert was mentioned and awarded by the agent (so def MAR bears some responsibility) No? plus I was already told last year about audit and I agreed to it and happily let them convert unused certs back to where they belong (???) but supervisor let me go by saying, "he was letting me keep it this time " which I fully abide by and now one year later they are trying to pull the same crap.

You are balking at the wrong tree. I did not accuse you of Fraud. I just said for those who KNOWINGLY ordered such just because they were able to order that due to incompetent agents who most likely received reprimands from the higher up for unwittingly let callers violate the program rules, should also bear responsibility on the subsequent potential consequences.

The post that called such behavior being Fraud is this one, made by DFWsakp, and at least the second paragraph should be heeded by those on their ill-gotten instruments,

Not sure who has pulled crap to begin with...

Remember the old cliche? You went in with whole hog and that obviously would bring many eyes on your account - someone just has more authority than the supervisor you dealt with, decided to not letting it go, most likely due to the number of certs involved, with a clear demonstration of blatant abuse.

If you feel Marriott ate its words not to let you keep those that a supervisor was letting you to keep, then sue BonVoy that they have breached the agreement if there is even any. Bring them to Small Claim Court or to Arbitration. Very logical and simple solution.

To avoid disappointment (and useless expectation), some Ambassador (like mine) seem to ignore even the rules with point advance honored at the previous rate, I guess it will not be better about certificates conversion.
When I send some link about the actual rules, the answer is "this is not official Marriott information"... :D

Did you do the reservation online? I thought the TP reservations could only be done over the phone. If you did it via phone, how did you get the category upgrade?

Fair enough.

Another twist in my ongoing saga with these damn certs. I used one these 5FN cert back in early Oct (I am not supposed to get these certs as I wasn't marriott Vacation owner), read my response earlier in this thread about the back story. Anyway, Marriott has now deducted 100k points (almost six weeks after the stay) and basically telling me, the ALREADY USED cert is cancelled. Well this is truly BonVoyed in the back side. I am escalating this to supervisor level and she actually found a call record about me calling last year and how I went through an Audit and were told by then supervisor that he was letting me use the certs this time but don't purchase these 5N certs again (which I fully complied). Funny thing, I used this cert back in Oct cuz I was worried, I won't be be able to use it before it expires in Nov and basically use it just for the sake of it.
So damn frustrating!

It seems TP are back and running well in order. I'll call in to attach my 2 remaining 7N certs for next year. Will report back when the certs attach to the reservation properly.

I ordered a few TP certs just before the changes last Aug, and then in Aug of this year called to have them converted to new which has reset the expiry. Would it be greedy of me to expect and ask for my one time extension in Aug of next year if unable to use by then, or are there any tricks to reset the expiry?

My DP - I had booked a 7 night stay in a Cat 4 prior to the March category changes and did not attach my 7 Night Cat 1 - 4 certificate. It eventually became a Cat 5.

I just attempted to attach said cert, but Bonvoy would/could not honor the original Cat 4 reservation designation for me to use my certificate.

HOWEVER, the rep volunteered to eat the 90K point difference between my initial flat Cat 4 booking rate of 25K/night and the current peak Cat 5 rate of 40K/night, and claimed that this is their standard procedure(?).
I'll call it a half-win, as I am now 150K points "poorer" but still have a 7 Night Cat 1-4 cert to use somewhere.

Time to figure out where to burn said "spare" cert.

it is the standard procedure IF the reservation was made BEFORE the category went up. The existing reservation got the old rate at the time booked, but the hotel got the new rate with the difference made up by the BonVoy program.

However if no existing reservation, you would not get the same treatment.

Makes sense. If I reserve and the room rate changes after I make the reservation, the hotel will honor the original reservation (so long as I don't change it) at the original rate.

Yes, same principle. Though in the case of award night booking, you have to call to have it manually processed while the revenue stay does not need any further intervention once you booked the room. Because of the human intervention is needed, even in the best time, there could be human error in the process, so it is always an "adventure" to me, that I try to eliminate the need by attaching cert / points before the category changes.