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HELP! Advice Needed!!

NYBrit

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My DH and I just came back from a TS presentation, in which we thought we were only going to politely say 'no thank you' and carry on with our $100 Marriott/Disney gift cards. (We are now at the Grand Vista in Orlando.)

But nooo, we both got 'suckered' into converting into the DC points AND we purchased 1,000 points. (The rep was very nice and claimed he was doing us a favor by allowing us to purchase 1,000 pts instead of 1,500 and he waived the $595 fee and he is giving us 800 DC points to use next yr. )

We own EOY at Harbour Lakes and we have been able to go away every year since 2008 (when we used the 90,000 MR points given to us for purchasing to go to Salt Lake City & then 2009 to Las Vegas & now to Orlando AND we still have 2 weeks left in our II bank.)

Now that we have come back to our villa, we jumped online and was reading about the pros and cons of this DC program. Now we are wondering what the heck did we do? I know we have 10 days to cancel if we decide to do that.

We are still paying off the first TS and today they took $500 and will take another $900 in 2 weeks. (This is the 10% and a portion of the closing costs.) And we would have a new payment of $164 starting in March. And the additional maintenance fees every year.

The Marriott rep made it seem like we wouldn't still have the Marriott inventory (or nearly as much) in II if we didn't join the DC program. Is this true?? Never mind the saving of fees, but for someone like us, who appreciate going away to a nice vacation at least once a yr, did we do the right thing?? And what about the value of what we already own?? I noticed that it is more points to stay a full week than the points that they will give us every other yr.

They say we can still use them as if it was II, but would that still mean I can lock off and 'deposit' the one bedroom and guest room and use 2 full weeks AND get the 1,000 points a yr?

I am sorry for the long post but are heads are still spinning.

ANY advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Christine and Dave
 
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dioxide45

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When you enroll your current week you can still use that week as you have in the past. You can make your regular reservation every other year and deposit it in to II for exchange. You can still lock off and deposit both sides. You will save the lockoff, exchange and II fees by being enrolled.

General advice on TUG has been that buying new trust points isn't a wise option. They are very expensive and with only 1000 points, you won't have a lot to make a reservation. You can combine them with legacy points from converting your week to make a reservation. However, it must be noted that the two types of points don't pull inventory from the same places. You may not always be able to combine the points to get your reservation requests and you may end up with orphan points in each type each year because you can't make reservations that will use all of each type of points.
 

Michigan Czar

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Please rescind your purchase. Take time to research TUG and the new points option, pros and cons, etc. Then in a month or two from now if you decide to enroll your property and buy more points you will still get the same deal you were offered now without the stress of wondering if you did what is best for you and your family.
 

m61376

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A couple of things to consider: while you will save on lock-off and exchange fees by enrolling in the DC, even though you own an every other year unit you will still pay $165 annually for DC dues. Of course, that also includes II membership, so you may still come out ahead, so it may pay for you to join to save on fees.

However, you are right about the point allotment, both wrt being given less points than it would take to make a corresponding reservation, and that Harbour Lakes doesn't receive a whole lot of points, so that you will be unlikely to book what you've been trading in II for using points. 1000 points isn't a whole lot of additional points, and you'll be paying about 10K + financing charges for them.

IMHO you'd be MUCH better off buying a week on Ebay for a lot less money if you wanted to enhance your ownership. In today's economic climate encumbering yourselves with a loan for a timeshare just doesn't seem like a sound financial decision. Since there is no way at the present time for a buyer of resale points to enroll them in the DC, you need to realize that once you buy you will be paying for something that you really can't sell should you need to.

If you do join the DC, you can always rent points from others if you do decide to exchange for points on rare occasion for a special trip and want to supplement what you own. By and large, though, I think you will fare better continuing to do what you've been happily doing.

Since you have doubts, RESCIND TODAY, and think about it over the next few weeks or months. You can buy later, but must rescind now.
 

puckmanfl

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good evening....

gang ..

we just did this....

please see Flyer Bobcat and post #3...

Enrolling is reasonable, purchasing 1K points, not so much. Call your salesperson and ask about restrictions on the resale of these points!!! The points are almost of no value to any subsequent purchaser. You have to pay a fee for waiver of ROFR and they can only snagtrust inventory within 60 days, yet come with a $0.41/pt MF for LIFE....

I love my Legacy points from Enrollment of my Legacy weeks, but I have not purchased new ones!!!

Just today, I picked up a 2 bedroom at GV 1 nite 12/22 for a nice getaway for the better half and I. This consumed the 200 of my last 225 points. Just 25 left!!!!
 

NYBrit

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Thanks for your responses everyone. We've decided to cancel the whole thing and stay as we are. The system has worked well for us so far. We don't need the extra expense and from what we've been reading on here, we won't be any better off. The main reason we jumped at this is because they made it sound as if the majority of timeshare owners were jumping on this and trading through II would be more difficult as there would be far less options open to us. Judging from what we've been reading on this site, that was highly misleading. We're composing a rescinding letter right now and will drop off it off tomorrow. The annoying thing is we were with the rep for five whole hours and we wasted a days vacation. Oh well, live and learn.
 

puckmanfl

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good morning....

Of course they did, they are SALES PEOPLE...
 

dioxide45

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Thanks for your responses everyone. We've decided to cancel the whole thing and stay as we are. The system has worked well for us so far. We don't need the extra expense and from what we've been reading on here, we won't be any better off. The main reason we jumped at this is because they made it sound as if the majority of timeshare owners were jumping on this and trading through II would be more difficult as there would be far less options open to us. Judging from what we've been reading on this site, that was highly misleading. We're composing a rescinding letter right now and will drop off it off tomorrow. The annoying thing is we were with the rep for five whole hours and we wasted a days vacation. Oh well, live and learn.

Don't drop the rescission letter off. MAIL IT per the instructions in your contract. Dropping it off only gives them another chance to talk you in to not rescinding. Follow the rescission instructions carefully, dropping it off may not protect your rights.
 

m61376

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Make sure to mail it certified, return receipt. IF you do drop it off, get a receipt.

Since you bought direct from Marriott, your week will always be welcome to join if you decide you want to at a later date. I think the only people who have to decide now whether or not to join are those of us with resale weeks purchased before June of 2010, since the welcome sign may disappear for those weeks. Developer purchasers will always be welcome to join, even if the fees go up slightly.
 

4Reliefnow

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I am having great luck exchanging and I am here to say don't let the Marriott sales rep bully you into buying points.

look at this post from TUG classifieds to warn you how much developer price is inflated:

"I paid $30,00 for each platinum week at Lakeshore. I am selling both of my platinum weeks.

I am selling two platinum weeks for $17,000 each. That's almost 1/2 price in less than 2 years since I bought them.

The reason I am selling is my husband died and I am getting rid of all my timeshares." And at half price this ad has been around for six months. The real market price might be $10,000 per week.

It is important for Tuggers to keep explaining: "buy in the secondary market for 60-80% off retail"
 

NYBrit

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Update!

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses! We did go yesterday and surprisingly we were NOT hassled into staying on. We received a copy of our letter signed, name printed and dated. I also checked online today and I do not see the 1,000 points listed, as I had yesterday morning. It just says we own an EOY week.

My husband and I think we should mail a copy of the signed letter certified, receipt returned to make sure there is no funny business. The salesperson said the $500.00 we put down will be refunded back and he promised that they will not take out the additional $919.00 on Nov. 28th. I think we should have the bank put a stop payment on that to make sure.

It seems the best way to go would be to buy a resale week and then just put it up in II like we have been doing.

Quick question to those who have bought resale Marriott weeks, you are able to still do the reservations like someone who bought developer weeks and then just deposit it into II? Marriott still recognizes you as a rightful owner just like the 'originals'?

Christine
 

MALC9990

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Thank you everyone for your helpful responses! We did go yesterday and surprisingly we were NOT hassled into staying on. We received a copy of our letter signed, name printed and dated. I also checked online today and I do not see the 1,000 points listed, as I had yesterday morning. It just says we own an EOY week.

My husband and I think we should mail a copy of the signed letter certified, receipt returned to make sure there is no funny business. The salesperson said the $500.00 we put down will be refunded back and he promised that they will not take out the additional $919.00 on Nov. 28th. I think we should have the bank put a stop payment on that to make sure.

It seems the best way to go would be to buy a resale week and then just put it up in II like we have been doing.

Quick question to those who have bought resale Marriott weeks, you are able to still do the reservations like someone who bought developer weeks and then just deposit it into II? Marriott still recognizes you as a rightful owner just like the 'originals'?

Christine

There is no difference in booking a resale week compared to a developer week. Once you have it in your name and registered it will appear in you MVCI account online and you can book like anyone else.
 

bazzap

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There is only thing to consider if you want to deposit it with II rather than reserve and use it.
II will probably charge you a fee to add the resale week to your account with them, unless for example you renew/extend your II subscription when you may well be able to "encourage" them to add it for free.
 
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