posted 04-03-2005 16:36               

A timeshare breaking away from all of the major exchange companies and only allowing internal exchanges? Oh boy would I want to buy into THAT system. Just eliminate over 1,000 exchange possibilties for me as an owner. I bet they'd get more than my complaint letter if the did that.

The only thing I'm aware of that you don't get when buying resale is the ability to exchange for Marriott Rewards points. IMO, that's not that big of a loss.

posted 04-03-2005 17:29               

quote:

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Originally posted by Kilby5924:
With all good lies they have a measure of truth in them. I have been waiting for other shoe to fall. When II saw sold and marriott sold it's protion in II, I have thought it was only matter of time before marriott would take back the job trading marriott to marriott.It only make sense. marriott would not have to share the exchange fee with II. That training by II reps might be just what marriott wants to help build ablity for marriott to do marriott trades.This might also less the problem reservation of all of those floating weeks. I don't that marriott would make a distiction between developer and resale
Sheldon

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posted 04-03-2005 18:30            

Hoc bought this up in a previous thread and I tend to agree with him. I think that Marriott at this time is much more interested in the development and sales of new timeshares as that's where the real profit margin is. I think the VOA's exist to promote new sales as a relatively new benefit for buying from the developer as I think points are starting to lose their value over time. I don't think the VOA's exist to take over the II's role as I think Marriott is perfectly happy having this trading stuff outsourced to II as it probably doesn't have a huge profit margin like the new development side of the equation does.

posted 04-04-2005 06:33               

quote:

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Originally posted by thetangs:
Call me dense, but I'm not following you.

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I believe what he is saying is that rather than Marriiott allowing I.I. to handle their internal exhcanges, that Marriott would do it themselves. In other words, cut out the middle man for internal exhcange only and keep the $75 exhcange fee rahter then give all or a portion of it to I.I.

posted 04-04-2005 07:28               

Dear Member,

Thank you for your e-mail message.
Interval International does not assign exchange priority or value based on the method or manner in which a member acquired his or her week,instead it is based on a number of factors. Please note that availability for any given date or destination is subject to the forces of supply & demand for exchange space. The level of supply & demand varies directly with the season of the year a member chooses to travel,in addition to the destination, color code, unit size and other particular requirements of the request. Time-periods such as summer
season or winter season usually carry the highest demand with a greater number of people traveling than in other seasons, increasing the competition for exchange space. It is important to consider that in the event that the resorts selected has inventory available, does not mean that Interval International or any other exchange company has access or control over such units. Many resorts rent out space, which may belong
to either, the developer of the property or the management company and it is not available for Interval international to use. Interval International recommends that a request be placed in our system preferably one year or more in advance of your travel date. This however does not grantee that space will be available for your request. Nevertheless, placing your request early will optimize your opportunities of obtaining the exchange. In addition note that the vacation dates and resort destinations you have requested must be
relinquished by other members to be available for you. As weeks are received by the Interval system, they are provided to those members with pending requests, whose traded weeks are most similar in demand.

posted 04-04-2005 08:42            

quote:

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Originally posted by vanfam:
I own a Harbor Pointe week that I bought resale. I know what I own and don't expect miracles. What I did expect is that it will continue to have a 24 day Marriott priority window just as if I'd bought it from the developer.
I went to the presentation at Legends Edge last week and was told that my Harbor point has some sort of letter designation that I bought it not from Marriott and will not have ANY priority with II. I was also told that Marriott is in the future breaking off from II and will exchange their own and that mine could never be part of that. Basically, because I bought resale I have just a II resort and not a Marriott.
Does anyone know if that is going to be true or if someone at II or Marriott could answer it truthfully

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Get that in writing and send it to MVCI. I'm sure they'll take care of it internally. Tell them that your confusion over the matter has now soured you on buying further Marriott intervals. That should be good for a getaway or two

Pat

posted 04-04-2005 08:46            

On top of that, after you acquire a resale week, Marriott will automatically assign you an owner number. You can then contact Marriott and they will send you a welcome packet with your own MVCI Owner Card. MVCI is a very honorable entity that has worked hard to create their reputation. While they would like you to buy your week directly from them and they give certain incentives to do so (points, hand holding with VOA's, etc.), in the end they treat all of their owners with the same respect and privileges except being able to turn your week in for points.

I honestly believe that Marriott isn't interested in nickeling and diming resale owners as they don't want to develop that kind of reputation or environment. I think they would rather have overall very happy owners in order to get you hooked on their product as their big profit margins lies in developing and building new resorts. Current owners or referrals from current owners are usually the people who buy units in their new developments before construction even begins. Just look at the St. Thomas property.

This business model would ultimately be negatively impacted if they treated resale owners as second class citizens. There are many wise TUGgers who choose to buy a lot of these pre-construction units sight unseen directly from Marriott because they are familiar with Marriott's consistently high quality. As such, Marriott has a very strongly built up customer base with an already established infrastructure that almost assuredly greatly reduces their marketing costs on these new and profitable developments. I don’t think they want to mess with that.

posted 04-04-2005 11:18               

Most new owners who buy from Marriott are assigned a VOA, who can provide assistance and answer questions about ownership, reservations, etc. Those who bought from a third party or owned prior to the set-up of the VOA can ask to have one assigned.

However, many of us, recognizing that all reps at Owner Services work from the same database of our info as the VOAs access, have been satisfied with the service provided by taking pot luck when we call. That also gets an answer more quickly if the assigned VOA is busy or out of the office when we call.

posted 04-04-2005 15:55               

Brian

posted 04-05-2005 05:58               

I think that the real point here is that at the very least, you have been misled by a Marriott sales rep and IMO you have been lied to by this individual who was more interested in a sale than the integrity of the product.

You would do all of us who have invested our hard-earned $$ in the MVCI brand a big favor by contacting Marriott directly to let them know what this individual is telling folks at sales presentations. There's a subtle, but important distinction between a sales pitch and sales fraud.

This individual does not serve the interest of MVCI owners or potential purchasers and needs either additional training or a pink slip.

If you decide to purchase, don't be mislead by lies. Let the product and how you might utilize it guide your decision.

Barry

posted 04-05-2005 13:32            

Can you please report this to the Chief Customer Officer of MVCI. His name is Mr. Peter Watzka. Please include the names of these Marriott reps from Legends Edge that treated you this way. If possible, please include this thread. Below are instructions on how to write him:

If you prefer to contact the CCO directly, you can do that by signing onto www.vacationclub.com - you must sign on using your owner information...then follow these directions:

From the "home" page select "contact us", then select "general information", then under the heading of "Marriott Vacation Club International Corporate Offices" select "send an e-mail to the chief customer officer".

Your Mercedes analogy was an excellent one. All used Mercedes as well as all Marriott TS weeks were originally sold through the dealer/developer. Once they're out there in the market, then they need to be serviced. If Mercedes provided only good service to people who bought from them and then bad service from people who bought their Mercedes elsewhere, then the consumer would recognize that and the overall value of the product would diminish significantly. Just like a Mercedes, one of the reasons I bought a Marriott week was the good "resale" value in case I needed to sell it. In the TS industry, a resale value of 60% of the developer’s price is actually pretty darn good.

Marriott now sells out a good portion of their new developments sight unseen before construction even begins. Most of these buyers come from current owners and referrals from current owners. I think the upper management at Marriott realizes this and it's my impression that they aren't interested in diminishing the overall value of their product.

posted 04-05-2005 13:33            

quote:

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Originally posted by PerryM:
There are only 3 items that a resale Marriott owner does NOT have access to versus a sale direct from Marriott; the Marriott Reward Program is one of them.

Perry

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posted 04-05-2005 13:34               

quote:

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Originally posted by PerryM:
There are only 3 items that a resale Marriott owner does NOT have access to versus a sale direct from Marriott; the Marriott Reward Program is one of them.

Perry

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What are the other two?

Edit : Guess ACCfan beat me to it (great minds think alike) but for a while there, I thought I double posted.

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Marina

posted 04-05-2005 13:47               

There are a number of differences that a resale does not have versus buying direct from Marriott:
1) MRP capability is NOT included
2) Marriott resale program NOT available
3) Marriott repurchase program NOT available

posted 04-05-2005 17:17            

FYI, here's the direct e-mail to Mr. Watzka. I would contact him and express your concerns about your experience. Please let us know what he eventually says. Thank-you!

chiefcustomer.officer@vacationclub.com

Peter J. Watzka
Chief Customer Officer
Marriott Vacation Club Int.

posted 04-06-2005 04:04               

Every time a Marriott owner sells privately to someone else that’s a fat commission check that the salesrep will never see. And we’re talking big bucks not peanuts.

Just think of that – our Marriott salesrep is up against 280,000 Marriott owners and knows that timeshare owners are very savvy of the internet and eBay. I guess I would feel threatened also and probably break down and spread false rumors so I could make my monthly BMW payment. (Well, hell would freeze over before I became a timeshare salesrep).

The honest salesreps, that don’t spread lies and misinformation are far and few between, – at least that's my experience of attending 30+ sales presentations. (Went to 5 last week) Typically the smaller the timeshare developer the more lies and misinformation spews from the salesreps mouth. But I’ve caught even Disney salesreps stretching the truth – and they are probably the most honest and informed out there.

Timeshare resellers are the heroes of the timeshare industry. They make their living thru this fog of misinformation and lies and don’t have the fat 40% - 80% overhead to wheel and deal with. They typically don’t get into financing a timeshare that in essence doubles the purchase price.

Perry

posted 04-06-2005 05:05               

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