Lee Cunningham
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club
Member.inquiry@ritzcarltonclub.com
Dear Lee, the recent communications from the Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. are both insulting and disingenuous. I encourage you and your team to communicate with the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club members in an earnest and forthright manner.
First, let's start how you sign your letter. You are the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation. I assume you sign your August 20th letter under the "The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club" to provide us the RCDC members comfort that you have our best interests at heart. I would encourage you to be upfront that you work for the Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corp., of which only a small fraction of its members belong/bought into the RCDC brand. Such honesty will suggest you understand that there are competing interests at play.
Second, you start your August 20th letter with an absurd and patently false statement: "We would like to assure you that nothing that you originally purchased has changed or will change as a result of the announcement mentioned above." Sir, in one fell swoop RCDC members lost access to the Ritz Carlton Clubs in Abaco and Kapalua Bay. We also lost access to the upscale Abercrombie and Kent properties. And "Based on The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club Member feedback," (ha-ha) RCDC members will see their properties being marketed to and being made available to MVW timeshare/points members who have a much lower cost of entry. We, the RCDC members, are not idiots. Please do not treat us as if we were.
Third, beyond the obvious spin you try to put on the Marriot Vacation Club efforts to "expand its luxury experience options", the reality is that Marriot Vacations Club properties cater to a consumer with a different price point with different expectations. To be clear, if any RCDC member wanted to be part of the the Marriot Vacation Club, he or she would have saved one hundred or two hundred thousand dollars and bought into the Marriot Vacation Club.
Lastly, your recent communications fail to acknowlege the underlying issue which all RCDC members need to understand. The Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corp. has a huge incentive to dilute the RCDC brand to further its greater interest of selling more Marriot Vacation Club memberships. The growth of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. as a public company it tied with growth of the sales of more and more Marriot Vacation Club memberships. The sale of more RCDC memberships is not currently relevant for this public company. Thus the value of the investment made by each RCDC members is at jeopardy.
The recent communications by you and your team have undermined your credibility with the RCDC membership. Unless the Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corp. changes its attitude and begins to address the clear conflict of interest that will destroy the value of our investment, I continue to encourage the RCDC Aspen Highlands board to explore exiting from the Marriot relationship and cancel all management contracts.
Best regards,