Very Disappointed with SFX service

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

HI Mark. As a relatively new SFX client, I would like to share my experiences with you, as I suspect that I am a fairly good representative of an average customer. I am very familiar with both II and RCI , having dealt with both for many years. Like others, I have turned to SFX , not only to restrict to better quality properties, but also to get away from the large corporate mentality of the big two. I looked forward to the personal touch of your boutique firm. As a result of my years with the other two, as well as the excellent opportunities provided by sightings on this board, I tend to plan my holidays around what great opportunities are available. I don't always know where I want to go, just that I would like an excellent vacation. Booking this way requires one of two things - either the opportunity for me to look through what is available via an on-line search OR a helpful vacation counsellor. This is where I naively expected SFX to excel. Having read the accolades of the personal touch provided by DAE ,and experienced it with TPI, I expected similar . Even with the big guys, on the few occasions where I have spoken with a counsellor, it has been reassuring to hear their personal recommendations on a resort or destination.
I have now called SFX a total of 3 times. Each time I have hung up the phone feeling that I have interrupted the employees day. The service has been rude, bordering on belligerent, unhelpful and annoying. Todays experience was the most insulting. Your automatic voice-answering system tells me that I should place my request on-line. Because I had requests for two seperate accounts, I preferred not to do that. When an employee did take the call , and I explained what I wanted to do, she asked why I hadn't done it on-line, in a most unfriendly manner, then proceeded to transfer me to a voice-recording system. The hypocrisy of not offering on-line access yourself, but insisting that I use it, seems absurd. If SFX markets itself as an upscale, high quality service, this certainly does not seem to be the way to go about portraying that image. I would like to think that my experiences have been anomalies, but sadly that does not appear to be so.

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

HI Mark. As a relatively new SFX client, I would like to share my experiences with you.........

Happymum - thank you for your post. If you could pm me your name and account number, I can look into this for you.

Thanks,

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

Mark, as always, has been very helpful in attempting to resolve my situation.
I have asked him to share with us what service expectations are realistic when dealing with SFX. If the rest of the company was as responsive and helpful, I would be delighted to withdraw my complaint.

[zdxlc9p6 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zdxlc9p6]

My several (~6) phone contacts have been the exact opposite. I don't know your circumstances, so not questioning your statements at all. On two occasions, the counselor put me on hold while they checked with a supervisor to get approval to go outside the rules. This was initiated on their own; not a request on my part. They just noted an opportunity, and took it upon themselves to take the extra step. Hopefully Mark resolves your situation, and your future dealings are more in line with my experience. I give SFX a very high mark on customer service.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

I also have had nothing but good experiences with SFX reps. And they have always exceeded my expectations. I hope you find this experience to be an outlier and SFX will prove to be an excellent service for you in the futute..

Sue

[eal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eal]

Hi happymum,
I certainly hope you get your complaint resolved. I have had exceptional service from SFX. I was once working on an exchange in Napa Valley which turned out to be fabulous. It was very complicated for the VC to arrange. When she told me about the dates I was fretting about getting a hotel room in SF for the first night of our vacation and she said sweetly "you can stay with me and my kids..." and I knew she was only half-joking.

[happymum Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close happymum]

I appreciate everyone's comments. It sounds as if my experiences and perceptions have been anomalies. It is great to have a chance to hear the positives as well as the negatives!

Thanks.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

In my past 10 years of using SFX exclusively, I have had many telephone conversations with several different SFX employees. I have never had a bad experience. Everybody has always been very pleasant and helpful.

[missiletoe Member Find all posts View Profile Close missiletoe]

On two occasions, the counselor put me on hold while they checked with a supervisor to get approval to go outside the rules.

zdxlc9p6, Would you please elaborate a little on this statement? I'm not sure that I consider bending the rules a positive endorsement. The way I understand it, the rules are designed to ensure that all members of the exchange company have the same access to everything in the exchange pool. It's hard to see how breaking the rules for one member would not negatively impact the other members. Hopefully I'm missing something obvious here. Thanks

[Ann-Marie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ann-Marie]

It is with interest that I read this post, because I am becoming somewhat unhappy with SFX. I banked 5 weeks with SFX. My first exchange to Hawaii was fantastic. I have since put in 2 requests, one for HHI Feb. 2008, and the second for HHI, July 2008. I also requested the same with my weeks banked with RCI. I was able to secure the Feb. week immediately at a 2 BR GC resort with RCI. My search with SFX for the same period has yet to pull anything. I did call SFX, and the representative was very abrupt with me. I was told that my request has been assigned to a representative with SFX, and when there is a resort available, I will be called. I was not given the opportunity to discuss these requests at all. As much as people complain about RCI, you can always talk to a guide, even if they have nothing to offer you. Also, it is so much nicer to be able to do my own search for availability and have instant satisfaction with RCI.

[Arline Member Find all posts View Profile Close Arline]

It has been years since we dealt with SFX, because we had difficulty getting a VC on the phone and were only able to communicate online. With months of waiting, we would change (broaden) our request in frustration. We were later informed that each change put us at the back of the line. We switched to TPI and have not turned back! TPI's bonus weeks are also less expensive and we can search online for what we need! We are still able to get high quality resorts.

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

It has been years since we dealt with SFX, because we had difficulty getting a VC on the phone and were only able to communicate online. With months of waiting, we would change (broaden) our request in frustration. We were later informed that each change put us at the back of the line. We switched to TPI and have not turned back! TPI's bonus weeks are also less expensive and we can search online for what we need! We are still able to get high quality resorts.

You failed to mention we permanently terminated your account a long time ago. I wonder what your motivation could be for posting here? I just can't imagine...

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

I'm sorry to hear that some have been disappointed with SFX.....Happymum, I'm glad that Mark is on the case, and hope that you can get this resolved.

As for myself, I have only had positive experiences with SFX. I have found them to be very accommodating, helpful, knowledgeable, and courteous.

I have also had my request filled within a matter of weeks. I got exactly what I requested, both date and location. I couldn't have been happier.

[bigeyes1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigeyes1]

I'm going to chime in here. First of all, I have never deposited a week nor used SFX, but I AM a member. The major concern I have is they NEVER respond to any of my emails. Now... If I email Mark directly, he responds quickly. But for some reason, I can't get a response through their website. And yes. I check my bulk/spam folder.

Because I strongly believe in communication, I'm hesitant to do business with SFX.

JMHO

[Mark @SFX Industry Representative Find all posts View Profile Close Mark @SFX]

HI Mark. As a relatively new SFX client, I would like to share my experiences with you, as I suspect that I am a fairly good representative of an average customer. I am very familiar with both II and RCI , having dealt with both for many years. Like others, I have turned to SFX , not only to restrict to better quality properties, but also to get away from the large corporate mentality of the big two. I looked forward to the personal touch of your boutique firm. As a result of my years with the other two, as well as the excellent opportunities provided by sightings on this board, I tend to plan my holidays around what great opportunities are available. I don't always know where I want to go, just that I would like an excellent vacation. Booking this way requires one of two things - either the opportunity for me to look through what is available via an on-line search OR a helpful vacation counsellor. This is where I naively expected SFX to excel. Having read the accolades of the personal touch provided by DAE ,and experienced it with TPI, I expected similar . Even with the big guys, on the few occasions where I have spoken with a counsellor, it has been reassuring to hear their personal recommendations on a resort or destination.
I have now called SFX a total of 3 times. Each time I have hung up the phone feeling that I have interrupted the employees day. The service has been rude, bordering on belligerent, unhelpful and annoying. Todays experience was the most insulting. Your automatic voice-answering system tells me that I should place my request on-line. Because I had requests for two seperate accounts, I preferred not to do that. When an employee did take the call , and I explained what I wanted to do, she asked why I hadn't done it on-line, in a most unfriendly manner, then proceeded to transfer me to a voice-recording system. The hypocrisy of not offering on-line access yourself, but insisting that I use it, seems absurd. If SFX markets itself as an upscale, high quality service, this certainly does not seem to be the way to go about portraying that image. I would like to think that my experiences have been anomalies, but sadly that does not appear to be so.

As with any company, if a customer has issues about service, the reasonable course of action is for the customer to speak with, or communicate in writing to the company, allowing the company a reasonable opportunity to examine the situation and respond accordingly to the customer and their needs. Rather than go through this rationale, in this situation the customer has chosen to publicly vent their issues in a public forum, and although this isn't an appropriate place to discuss details of customer's transactions (it is a forum to ask about our services), we are in a position to where we have to publicly respond.

The poster didn't have issue with exchanges, but rather their perception of customer service.

.........."I have now called SFX a total of 3 times. Each time I have hung up the phone feeling that I have interrupted the employees day. The service has been rude, bordering on belligerent, unhelpful and annoying".............

To clarify, the member didn't call on 3 different days, or speak with 3 different agents... These were 3 calls one after the other. Here is the sequence of events. (This is all recorded and verifiable). Please note, the calls came in at the busiest time of the day.

First call: 9:59 am. Listens to the greetings, on hold listening to tips.... Hangs-up after 1 min. 13 secs.

Second call: 10:01am. Speaks with receptionist. The receptionists job is to re-direct calls to an agent. Receptionist transfers call to agent working on member's request, so they can "discuss" options. Agent is on the phone helping another member. Instead of leaving a message, member "Hangs-up". Call lasts 2 min. 22 secs.

Third call: 10:04am listens to greeting and options for 32 secs. and hangs-up again.


3 calls one immediately after the other, 3 hang-ups, no message left for an agent to return the call. ... Is this reasonable? Is it lack of patience? If you were calling to discuss various options with an agent, why didn't you leave them a message to return your call instead of just hanging up?


........."Todays experience was the most insulting. Your automatic voice-answering system tells me that I should place my request on-line"..........

Our greeting clearly states.... "Did you know you can place requests, deposit your week online". It doesn't state you have to. I believe this is standard practice with all business with medium to large customer bases, and has been for a number of years.

..........."Because I had requests for two seperate accounts, I preferred not to do that. When an employee did take the call , and I explained what I wanted to do, she asked why I hadn't done it on-line, in a most unfriendly manner, then proceeded to transfer me to a voice-recording system".......

When reviewing the recording, the agent asked "did you know you can place your requests online? She actually didn't send you to a voice-recording, she directed you to the agent that was managing your Xmas and New Year requests that happened to be on the line helping another Member... Unfortunately you didn't leave a message for the agent to call you back.


........."The hypocrisy of not offering on-line access yourself, but insisting that I use it, seems absurd"......

There is no real relevence in this example. Let me put this into perspective. For most people who have taken the time to read our forum, on several occassions we have discussed why you cannot see or book our inventory online as you can with some other companies. Briefly again the reason is, (analogy) you may have 80% of all timeshare owners requesting about 20% of the best space. What you see online with other exchange companies is not the 20% but the 80%, which is inventory they have NO Requests for from their members. Their top 20% always has a queue for it, and as soon as it comes in, it gets booked and you don't see it.

SFX Specializes in the "20%", and that is the same reason you do not see it just sitting around waiting for someone to book it. As soon as it comes in, it gets booked.

The reason we suggest you to go online to manage your requests, is because it allows you the convenience of transacting 24/7, time-zone indifferent at your convenience, and also allows a business to process thousands of more transactions more efficiently from both an operations and financial perspective. This is not rocket science and every transactional business with a large database operates this way.

We would like to say we live in a perfect world, but you all know the answer to that. It doesn't matter what company you work for, or own... from time to time there will be complaints about your service. Sometimes they may be accurate, or partially accurate. Sometimes it's perception, maybe the customer is having a bad day and is hostile towards an employee, and sometimes it may be the other way around, and if you are hostile to anyone, they are not going to be too friendly back.

Never the less, you want to do all possible to try and satisfy the customer. Unfortunately we were not given that opportunity as no message was left for us to respond to.

We could have provided you with service, had you not hung up 3 times and left a message, we could have offered you an alernative Gold Crown Resort for your Christmas and New Year week request, and you could have been booked .

Hope this perspective helps...