# Recent Marriott Sales Presentation



## shoeie (Aug 5, 2015)

Enjoying a great week at Surfwatch (absolutely love this place).

We have never, I mean NEVER, taken a Marriott sales presentation.  We bought resale about 5 years ago for absolute peanuts (thanks TUG) and immediately converted/enrolled in the DC program just under the wire.  We've never been interested in the incentives for taking a tour.  Our 90 minutes of vacation were too precious.

Well, our "concierge" (read: person who's sole job is to get you take a tour) convinced us that we should take the tour to understand our points better, etc.  Long story short-wife and I decide to do the tour hoping that we'll be able to wade through the sales mumbo/jumbo to get some additional information.  Offered 20K MRP, $150 resort credit, or 250 DC points.  We took DC points.

Should have realized I may be in for a somewhat hard sell when I saw the plaque in the sales guys office noting he was the top Surfwatch sales guy for 2014-apparently he did over $1.3M in sales in 2014.  Got very little info about our present ownership-just a constant mantra that without purchasing trust points my enrolled weeks points would soon be worthless, and we were kept there for over 2 hours.  Wanted to leave at minute 91, but my lovely wife is too polite.

Sales guys claimed similar "timeshare within a hotel" properties, similar to the new Mayflower in Washington, DC, are planned for many major cities in the US, including Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.  Also claimed that MVC is going to start purchasing or building actual vacation homes.  A lot of fuzzy sales speak without many details.  Slippery guy, refused to answer any question directly and kept writing different numbers on a white board very quickly that made absolutely no sense, mathematically or logically (I'm a litigator, but since I was never going to buy, I didn't really push the guy, I just wanted to get out of there).  I guess we'll see.

Eventually offered 3500 points at $10.12 pp or 2500 points at $10.76 pp, with a 3500 or 2500 one time bonus.  A second 3500 or 2500 bonus is you took Marriott financing and kept it for at least 18 months.  Of course, both my credit cards have better interest rates if I ever carried a balance (but you can deduct this interest from your taxes!!!  People must fall off the turnip truck every day, I swear).

No idea if the deals got better because I almost laughed out loud at those prices.  So for us-the tour confirmed to us that we'll never do a "tour" again and just keep enjoying our present ownership.  

Interestingly, we are interested in purchasing trust points in the future to add to what our two enrolled weeks get us-but of course-we'll never be silly enough to go through Marriott.  Its just tough to stomach even the resale prices on the trust points (particularly when adding in the Marriott "junk" fees), when compared to how little I paid for my enrolled weeks and how many DC points they get me.

Not sure how the Tuggers who go to the presentation on every vacation do it!  I would go postal!


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## GregT (Aug 6, 2015)

shoeie said:


> Sales guys claimed similar "timeshare within a hotel" properties, similar to the new Mayflower in Washington, DC, are planned for many major cities in the US, including Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.  Also claimed that MVC is going to start purchasing or building actual vacation homes.



Shoeie, thank you for the report, and pretty consistent comments with other posters who have taken presentations recently.

I do believe what the sales guy is claiming here -- that we will see more timeshare within a hotel concepts, as well as luxury vacation homes that blend DClub with a true Destination Club.  I will further speculate that these luxury homes will be accessible only to Trust Point owners because of the scarcity.  Will be interesting to see.

Thanks for the report!

Best,

Greg


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## StevenTing (Aug 6, 2015)

They did send out that TOP survey that asked about the luxury homes.  Also, at Kauai lagoons, there were supposed to be some RCC homes on the property that were never built.  My guess is they're going to use that model if they do homes.


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## puckmanfl (Aug 6, 2015)

good morning....

I will have grand kids before luxury homes are on line!!!  Tere wont be enough pure Trust owners that can afford them.  These weeks will be in the 10K-15K points range.  Very few owners have that # of pure Trust points...

vrbo  does luxury homes too...

just like the OP, love my combo legacy weeks, enrolled points...but just don't see value in Trust Points, when you can get one time points on VPE.  I thinks Gregs 6206 experiment dispels the myth of access to Trust inventory...


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## jimf41 (Aug 6, 2015)

Sounds like you had a smooth talking sales rep. Long on the dream, short on the reality. As far as presentations, I call it the show, we are selective about them. We stay multiple weeks in STT so we take in a show during Pres week when they offer more points. We only go to Ocean Pointe EOY now and only for a week so we skip it there although I do stop in and chat with my initial sales rep who is selling at Oceana Palms now. No points because the better half won't give up 90 minutes with the grandkids but there's no sales pitch either.

A few times we've taken it together with one of the kids or a friend traveling with us. That's neat because both couples get the points.


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## davidvel (Aug 6, 2015)

jimf41 said:


> Sounds like you had a smooth talking sales rep. Long on the dream, short on the reality. As far as presentations, I call it the show, we are selective about them. We stay multiple weeks in STT so we take in a show during Pres week when they offer more points. We only go to Ocean Pointe EOY now and only for a week so we skip it there although I do stop in and chat with my initial sales rep who is selling at Oceana Palms now. No points because the better half won't give up 90 minutes with the grandkids but there's no sales pitch either.
> 
> A few times we've taken it together with one of the kids or a friend traveling with us. That's neat because both couples get the points.


"The show", I love it. It truly is a comedy show. If only they had a 2 drink minimum!


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## kds4 (Aug 6, 2015)

We were told today to expect more city destination hotel conversions with studio and 1 bedroom units, but only limited kitchens (think Custom House). Not investing to install stoves/ovens/dishwashers. Only for construction/purchase of an entire building will they do full kitchens.

Highlights included Marco expansion moving along, DC announced, San Diego announced, big island of Hawaii, Surfers Paradise, and a 2nd property in Miami that will be beachfront mentioned. Still working on NYC. Got close a few times but deal kept falling through. Unsure about pursuing timeshare next to Atlantis.

Thing I found most interesting concerned bundling. Seems that is on its way out. Clairmed was only a limited promo for 30th anniversary (initially for employees only but later offered to existing owners too) last year with a pre-defined inventory. Once those designated weeks are gone, supposedly no more bundling of a Marriott purchased resale week with a matching number of points to have the week enrolled. We were shown emails with a list of available weeks for bundling and there were only about a half dozen to pick from.

True or no? Interesting stuff


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## mj2vacation (Aug 6, 2015)

I love the, "sorry you trusted us in the past, but we screwed you... Now, to fix that, give us more cash and all of your problems will be solved" slant to the "you have to have points" spin.  

As a sales trainer for a respected company and now a company owner, we advised our people to NEVER devalue a competitor, much less what Marriott is doing and devaluing themselves.  I cannot believe it is allowed to go on consistently.  

Reminds me of the Sneechs by Dr Seuss.  

JW McMonkey McBean....


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## SueDonJ (Aug 6, 2015)

kds4 said:


> ... Thing I found most interesting concerned bundling. Seems that is on its way out. Clairmed was only a limited promo for 30th anniversary (initially for employees only but later offered to existing owners too) last year with a pre-defined inventory. Once those designated weeks are gone, supposedly no more bundling of a Marriott purchased resale week with a matching number of points to have the week enrolled. We were shown emails with a list of available weeks for bundling and there were only about a half dozen to pick from.
> 
> True or no? Interesting stuff



According to the "Buy Weeks" page at Marriott Resales Operations there are at least 49 Weeks available just at the Hilton Head resorts, didn't check any of the others.  The page still says a Weeks purchase is eligible for, "Ability to participate in the Marriott Vacation Club DestinationsTM Exchange Program (requires purchase of Vacation Club Points.)"  There's no way to tell if any of the listed Weeks aren't eligible for bundling but it would surprise me.

Maybe eventually they'll get rid of bundling but it seems to be a pretty good money-maker for them so why would they?  It's attractive to buyers who in many instances wouldn't buy DC Points alone, and they can give themselves a constant source by continuing to ROFR and broker buybacks.

{ETA}  For what it's worth, onsite sales personnel have always been more likely to downplay Marriott Resales Operations inventory in favor of what they're selling at the time.  Even when Weeks were the only game in town they'd rather have sold you the latest and greatest, because the newest inventory was/is usually the most-expensive inventory.  When we bought our Barony Week it was clear that our sales rep would have rather sold us another SurfWatch Week, but eventually she found a Barony Week through Resales after we said it was that or nothing.


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## kds4 (Aug 6, 2015)

No disagreement. We were asked if we were looking at the public MVCI resale site or if we were working with the resale manager, his name was given to us, as there is another list that only the MVCI reps see. The emails we were shown pertained to this internal list. I said I was just seeing the website list, but we were told that not all of those website weeks would be allowed to enroll. Seems contradictory to me.

Perhaps they can require a higher number of points be purchased for those publicly listed weeks, like 2500, regardless of what the week will convert to while the handful we were shown you only had to buy a matching number of points. Some only required buying 1500 points. The cheapest bundle was $6.50/PP.


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## JIMinNC (Aug 6, 2015)

kds4 said:


> No disagreement. We were asked if we were looking at the public MVCI resale site or if we were working with the resale manager, his name was given to us, as there is another list that only the MVCI reps see. The emails we were shown pertained to this internal list. I said I was just seeing the website list, but we were told that not all of those website weeks would be allowed to enroll. Seems contradictory to me.
> 
> Perhaps they can require a higher number of points be purchased for those publicly listed weeks, like 2500, regardless of what the week will convert to while the handful we were shown you only had to buy a matching number of points. Some only required buying 1500 points. The cheapest bundle was $6.50/PP.



Hopefully another TUGger will read this and will raise the question on bundles at a future presentation at a different Marriott resort and see if the same line is used. This could just be a sales tactic being used at this resort. But if other resorts start using the same pitch, there could be some truth to it.

If they do discontinue the bundled approach, I see little reason to maintain an internal weeks resales operation at all, as the only compelling reason to pay the higher prices charged by Marriott's internal resales department would be to take advantage of the enrollment option. Otherwise, they are not competitive with third party brokers.

Also, if the bundle is eliminated it would virtually eliminate any chance we would ever buy any more DC points from Marriott.


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## kds4 (Aug 6, 2015)

It sounds to me like they want to get out of the resale business altogether and stick to either ROFR or offering direct buyback only (at rock bottom prices). Making resale weeks unenrollable no matter what would be a big step in making that happen. 

The representative was very clear that selling bundles was not in Marriott's best interest as weeks are more valuable being dropped into the trust and resold as points at $12+ per point than bundled and sold as low as $6.50 per point.


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## piper_chuck (Aug 7, 2015)

shoeie said:


> Not sure how the Tuggers who go to the presentation on every vacation do it!  I would go postal!


We go fairly often, but our experience seems quite different from yours. I can't say I've ever experienced hard sell from a Marriott timeshare rep. Most of our presentations end up at or under the allotted 90 minutes. There was one time that went over because I was seriously considering points but wife was on the fence and we had the salesman leave several times so we could talk about it. In the end, I didn't buy. Other than that one time, once I clearly state that we're not buying, the salesman disengages and sends in the closer to offer the encore package.


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## shoeie (Aug 7, 2015)

piper_chuck said:


> We go fairly often, but our experience seems quite different from yours. I can't say I've ever experienced hard sell from a Marriott timeshare rep. Most of our presentations end up at or under the allotted 90 minutes. There was one time that went over because I was seriously considering points but wife was on the fence and we had the salesman leave several times so we could talk about it. In the end, I didn't buy. Other than that one time, once I clearly state that we're not buying, the salesman disengages and sends in the closer to offer the encore package.



We did not announce from the get go that we had no intention of purchasing. We actually started out asking a host of various question, because we were curious to get Marriott's position on various items.  I do think that may have been part of the problem.  All of our questions probably made him think he had a "live one" in the box, when, under no circumstances would we buy direct.

Still don't think we'd ever go again, but if we are really bored (or drunk) we'll definitely make a similar announcement right up front.

While in character of course :rofl:


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## piper_chuck (Aug 8, 2015)

shoeie said:


> We did not announce from the get go that we had no intention of purchasing. We actually started out asking a host of various question, because we were curious to get Marriott's position on various items.  I do think that may have been part of the problem.  All of our questions probably made him think he had a "live one" in the box, when, under no circumstances would we buy direct.



I don't declare my intentions up front, I want to hear what they say. Once I've heard the latest sales information, I let them know I'm not interested. Over the years I must have developed a tone that makes it clear their not going to get a sale from me.


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## aberlin (Aug 8, 2015)

No offense intended, but a lot of acronyms have been used in this entire thread. Since I don't come to this site much, I am not familiar with the various abbreviations. Does a list of these exist somewhere on the site. It would help my understanding of the threads. 

We have experienced the sales pitch at Marriott Mountainside, which we endure mostly to get a pair of complementary ski tickets to Deer Valley. The last pitch about buying more points we turned down and the salesperson actually expressed an opinion that we had made the right choice, given our use of Mountainside.


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## Fasttr (Aug 8, 2015)

aberlin said:


> No offense intended, but a lot of acronyms have been used in this entire thread. Since I don't come to this site much, I am not familiar with the various abbreviations. Does a list of these exist somewhere on the site. It would help my understanding of the threads.
> 
> We have experienced the sales pitch at Marriott Mountainside, which we endure mostly to get a pair of complementary ski tickets to Deer Valley. The last pitch about buying more points we turned down and the salesperson actually expressed an opinion that we had made the right choice, given our use of Mountainside.



This sort of became the thread about nothing at about post #16.    Sorry for the hijack shoeie.

Were you talking about acronyms prior to that?  Such as???


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## taterhed (Aug 8, 2015)

Helloooo.....

 Which acronyms?



http://www.tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_glossary.htm


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## SueDonJ (Aug 8, 2015)

Fasttr said:


> This sort of became the thread about nothing at about post #16.    Sorry for the hijack shoeie.
> 
> Were you talking about acronyms prior to that?  Such as???



I moved the Seinfeld-related stuff to another thread with silly ideas for timeshare presentations, here.


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## jont (Aug 8, 2015)

SueDonJ said:


> I moved the Seinfeld-related stuff to another thread with silly ideas for timeshare presentations, here.



thank you Sue


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## jpd88 (Aug 8, 2015)

*my experience, too*



piper_chuck said:


> We go fairly often, but our experience seems quite different from yours. I can't say I've ever experienced hard sell from a Marriott timeshare rep. Most of our presentations end up at or under the allotted 90 minutes. There was one time that went over because I was seriously considering points but wife was on the fence and we had the salesman leave several times so we could talk about it. In the end, I didn't buy. Other than that one time, once I clearly state that we're not buying, the salesman disengages and sends in the closer to offer the encore package.



About every other time in Maui, we attend a presentation just to see what's different and get some credits.  Marriott sales people do their best.  [I'm still under the old system of 100,000 pts if we don't use one week.  And I'm profoundly disappointed in the steady devaluation of those points over the years.  In 2001 200,000 points would literally get two people around the world with a week in London or on the Champs de Elysee in Paris!  In the same time frame maintenance fees have gone from $800 to $1800 --what a business!]


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## Larry M (Aug 8, 2015)

*Grim look*



piper_chuck said:


> I don't declare my intentions up front, I want to hear what they say. Once I've heard the latest sales information, I let them know I'm not interested. Over the years I must have developed a tone that makes it clear their not going to get a sale from me.



My late wife and I used to just sit there and never crack a smile or give a response. Just sat there looking grim. After 15-20 minutes they would say "You're not buying, are you?" and get our premiums.


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## mac5u (Aug 10, 2015)

taterhed said:


> Helloooo.....
> 
> *Which acronyms*?
> 
> ...



Well, aberlin, by her/his own admission doesn't drop in much and has even fewer posts than moi.  Besides TUG and MVC, which the poster probably knows, for an infrequent visitor, ROFR, EOY?  And for someone not versed in Marriott-speak, perhaps the following:  MRP, DC?  Only ROFR and EOY appear in the Glossary you linked to. 

My first time in the MVC forum so I wasn't sure what MRP and DC stood for either when I read the OP. Still not sure about MRP - so Googled it and came up with Marriott Royal Palms (?) and, after reading through the thread, DC = Destination Club.

Just my POV. YMMV.


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## JIMinNC (Aug 10, 2015)

mac5u said:


> Well, aberlin, by her/his own admission doesn't drop in much and has even fewer posts than moi.  Besides TUG and MVC, which the poster probably knows, for an infrequent visitor, ROFR, EOY?  And for someone not versed in Marriott-speak, perhaps the following:  MRP, DC?  Only ROFR and EOY appear in the Glossary you linked to.
> 
> My first time in the MVC forum so I wasn't sure what MRP and DC stood for either when I read the OP. Still not sure about MRP - so Googled it and came up with Marriott Royal Palms (?) and, after reading through the thread, DC = Destination Club.
> 
> Just my POV. YMMV.



In this case MRP = Marriott Rewards Points, the loyalty program for Marriott hotels


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## mac5u (Aug 10, 2015)

Thanks, Jim.  Makes more sense.


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## l0410z (Aug 11, 2015)

I am going to the Monarch next week and got the expected call from the concierge looking to make my stay more enjoyable. This time I actually asked him to help set up some tee times and he was helpful.  Of course,  I was solicited to attend the sales presentation.  

I wasn't surprised he knew I attended 11 sales presentations in 20 years nor   my MVCI stuff like I  haven't traded the Monarch in 7 years (i rent it when not using but he would not know that).  It appeared he knew about my Marriott stays from  my non Marriott trades to Marriott using  II.     I was very surprised he had my MRP balance.     This came up when discussing the offers of 175 spend dollars, 250 DC points or 20K MRP.  

 I normally do not like to attend when I am with my adult kids because that time is too valuable but they gave me 8:45 on Sunday and my kids can be counted to be sleeping until 10 anyway.   I have mixed feeling about if the presentation time that is wasted is worth the gift but it is suppose to rain Sunday.  I sometimes wonder who is less accurate, the weather persons forecast or a salespersons knowledge of the program.  They offered something called pre-gift where you can get the gift even before going.  They do take an imprint of the CC to ensure you show up but that's okay.  The pre-gift makes it easier to have a 90 minutes hard stop. 
Before I had him confirm, I let him know that my chance of buying any thing is less than that of  my spayed dog of having puppies.  I let him know that I would be saying the same thing to the sales guy upon my meeting him/her.  If Marriott has a problem, do not confirm.


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