. . . Since then, we've attended some other Marriott presentations and there is no question that the opportunity to exchange your week for points is a big part of the sales pitch; at one presentation we attended at Summit Watch, the entire pitch was built on buying a discounted deal they were offering at one of the Orlando properties in order to use it as points trader. We never really considered it (by then, I knew about TUG and resale). I will say, though, that the salespeople never suggested that the points cost of the hotel and other awards were set in stone, and I think that anyone who believes that they are entitled to have the point cost of hotel stays frozen at the going rate when they purchased their unit expects entirely too much.
In my experience with Marriott presentations this is true. However, it is misleading to only tout one side of the coin, and omit the facts which are inopposite.
As anyone who has been in a sales presentation knows, the focal point often becomes a whiteboard presentation showing an example of what you would spend on your world trip and vacations over the next ten years. On the other side they show you cost of your TS purchase over that span, and the benefits of your points, etc.
Of course, they alway include an inflation factor on "your" side for increases in room rates (and spend more than few minutes on this topic.) However, I have never seen the saleperson put on the Marriott side:
* Your maintenance fees will go up 5% a year; Special assessments may arise over this 10 year span; you can't freely sell your property due to ROFR; Marriott reserves the right to discontinue 90% of the perks and programs described here...
And send me a PM the next time you hear this out of a salesperson's mouth, and I'll buy drinks:
...Marriott has had significant point devaluations at least five times since Marriott first started offering points as sales incentives and for trading the use of weeks. Every time there is a point devaluation, owners complain. So far, Marriott has not made any points adjustment for existing owners after any of the devaluations. . .
In other words, while they may not affirmatively claim "these points will always have the same value," the salesperson conveniently omits material facts which would shed light on the facts that
are touted. Simply put this is fraud, and despite
buyer beware, there are many less sophistaicated people who don't know what they are getting into as a result.