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Additional Florida Club info

dlpearson

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Hi Dave,

Thanks for the succinct thread on the Florida Club (and all your other helpful Marriott stickies!). I have some additional info that others might find helpful on the Florida Club.

For years I have taken the opportunity to complain about the mandatory $29 (now $30 as of this year) "club dues" I've had to pay every year for the past 8 years (while never once using the club benefits). My line of thinking was "it's a rip-off, why doesn't Marriott charge me only if I use the club, etc." I actually had a Marriott employee call me back after apparently reading one of my complaints on a recent customer sat survey (I guess they actually read them!). The woman said she's seen this complaint more than once, and before calling me back she says she did a thorough investigation as to the whys and hows of the Florida Club.

I don't remember the exact terminology used in our conversation, but in a nutshell the explanation was this:

1. Marriott had to have special reservation software created (which was outsourced) to handle cross reservations between the various Florida Club resorts. Apparently it's a fairly complex challenge to tie the individual reservation availabilities, etc. together since it has to take into consideration multiple activities (i.e., home resort owners reserving their weeks through the corporate reservation system, and also II exchange activity).
2. They pay a royalty/usage fee for the use of this additional reservation software. (I think she said something about legal--maybe state?--reasons for having to charge all club owners this fee whether they physically used it or not....)
3. Of the $30 club fee, only $3 or $4 actually goes towards the Club-specific reservation software usage. The remainder of the fee is actually allocated to headquarters for the Marriott-wide central reservation system that all owners use, and that all MVCI owners pay. She explained that Florida Club resort owners have this fee broken out into a separate maintenance fee line item (for whatever reason, I don't recall), whereas other MVCI owners have this allocation built into another line item in their maintenance fee (and is not called out separately per se).

It made decent sense at the time, and somewhat softened my negative views of the Club. I still don't like it overall, and perhaps her explanation should be taken with a grain of salt, but that's the gist of what I was told. She did indicate that the complexity of a cross-reservation system is one of the main challenges to having a Marriott-wide internal exchange program (although other developers have obviously figured it out!). Apparently the Florida Club concept is their attempt to try on a small scale the idea of an internal exchange program. FWIW.

-David
 

KenK

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dlpearson said:
"... She explained that Florida Club resort owners have this fee broken out into a separate maintenance fee line item (for whatever reason, I don't recall), whereas other MVCI owners have this allocation built into another line item in their maintenance fee (and is not called out separately per se).


-David

Then the Florida Club is really costing the members $3.00 as the rest of the $$ go to maint fees? I recall some owners of Fl Club resorts were not offered the 'Club" Are the Fl Club owners paying more maint fees than the other owners of the same resort? (Not counting the $3.00)

Or does the "other owners" mean all of the owners of MVCI resorts...who can't use the Fl Club (I don't think?).

Anyway, thanks Dave....At least Marriott has shared some info....(can we quit the "club?".....
 

jerseyfinn

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Time to rethink Florida Club

David,

Thanks for the information on Florida Club.

Like yourself and others, I am not an advocate of the Florida Club. This especially so since I own multiple weeks and this now $30 charge is more of a wallet biopsy than it is a benefit of ownership. I am an owner who buys at Ocean Pointe and all I want is a beach vacation at a quiet location. Initially, I don't give the Florida Club much thought, but the multiple weeks have me rethinking Florida Club as a dubious benefit that I have yet to utilize.

Admittedly, it allows one a seamless way to slide into another Florida destination -- assuming that you will want to do so. But in truth, accomodations in Orlando are most usually easy to come by without Florida Club, and if Marriott wants to create an additional perk for Florida TS owners, then they should make it a pay-as-you-go arrangement.

. . . She explained that Florida Club resort owners have this fee broken out into a separate maintenance fee line item . . .

I check my 2005 approved budget for Ocean Pointe and to be honest, I can't identify a line item which would address the Florida Club break out that your Marriott source describes. Possible categories include "administration" & "management fee", but nothing adds up to match that approximately $3 break out she describes & "other expenses" is blank. My Florida Club fee is brokoen out seperately at the bottom of my statement, but one can only guess where they bury it in itemized expenses.

I for one am going to start raising the Florida Club issue with my HOA as well as noting it on every survey that I fill out. I think I recall hearing that the average owner at OP owns something in excess of 4 weeks. Perhaps some owners do avail themselves of Florida Club, but I suspect that many of us are paying what is essentially an assessment for something that we do not use.

To their creidt, Marriott at least tries to offer an explanation about Florida Club. But I think that it's time for a change in how they implement it.

Barry
 

Dave M

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I check my 2005 approved budget for Ocean Pointe and to be honest, I can't identify a line item which would address the Florida Club break out that your Marriott source describes. Possible categories include "administration" & "management fee", but nothing adds up to match that approximately $3 break out she describes & "other expenses" is blank. My Florida Club fee is broken out separately at the bottom of my statement, but one can only guess where they bury it in itemized expenses.

There may be a bit of confusion here. Florida Club members pay $30 in addition to the maintenance fees. Thus, there is no amount within the maintenance fee budget for any part of the Florida Club fee.

If you own at a Florida Club resort, you can prove it. Check your copy of the 2005 budget. Compare the maintenance fees per unit as shown on the budget to your billing. You'll note that they are the same, except for the additional separately stated $30 charge on your bill for the Florida Club.

All of the Florida Club resorts except for Ocean Pointe have an online 2005 maintenance fee schedule. Every such schedule shows the Florida Club fee separately and unrelated to the resort's maintenance fees.

If the Marriott rep's statements are accurate, no part of the Florida Club fee goes to subsidize or otherwise pay for any of the specific expenses for the resort. That's why you can't find anything related to it on any of the individual MF statement lines.
 

JimC

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Marriott should have the scale and the resources to offer a first rate internal exchange program that bypasses II completely. I don't understand why they have not gone in that direction.

I understand the logic of paying a transaction fee to use such a system, although it seems like more of a nuisance than it would be worth. Just build the cost into the overall management fee structure of MVC. With such a large system of resorts, the per week per resort cost could not be that significant.

Am I missing something?
 

Dave M

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Being in a business where we outsource some functions, I can understand why Marriott doesn't have its own internal exchange program.

Managing exchanges is not Marriott's strength. Managing hospitality properties (hotels and resorts) is its strength. Apparently, Marriott has decided it should focus on its strength and hire others to perform selected other functions.

Exchanging is one of those functions. There are other functions, such as parking at some hotels, that Marriott also farms out to other companies.

So why give it to II?

Probably most important is that II has the expertise and the critical mass. It can allocate people to Marriott internal exchanges or to other II activities, based on need. There is no need for Marriott to develop the expertise or develop and maintain a separate management and overhead structure to manage the function. Thus, my guess is that Marriott has determined that II can provide the service less expensively than Marriott could if it built its own exchange department.

Less importantly, some Marriott owners request exchanges that include Marriott and non-Marriott resorts, especially when seeking a trade to a specific location. II can easily handle this for an owner, probably more easily than Marriott on its own could do.

Yes, some other developers have their own internal exchange programs. Just because it works for them doesn't mean that Marriott should do it.
 

dougp26364

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Personally, the FL club is a charged benefit I could live without. So far I've paid $116 and never used the benefit. Furthermore, I don't plan on using the benefit next year, the year after or more than once or twice in my lifetime. Only when I have grandchildren old enough to go to Disney will I possibly derive any benefit from this forced extra expense benefit.

For me, it would be far more economical to just pay the $79 internal exchange fee when I wanted to exchange into any other FL resort. This would save us considerable $4 in our lifetime assuming Marriott doesn't build something else in FL that we would want to exchange into.
 

ironweed

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now I am mad.......

:mad: Yeah, I too didn't really care about the 30 bucks a year Marriott was taking from me for something I will never use. But this year, when I bought my second TS unit from Marriott, and realized I was going to get soaked for 60 bucks, I started to resent them putting their hand in my pocket.

....anybody who wants to start a petition on the florida club, count me in.......... :)
 
Last edited:

Scott_Ru

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The dreaded Florida Club

Ah, the dreaded Florida Club. I've complained in every survey Marriott has sent out (as well as at Grande Vista each time I've stayed). I have emailed Peter W. at Marriott. But I've gotten no replies.

I would certainly sign any petition to rid ourselves of that added burden. Since I own 3 weeks at GV, I have a substantial penalty in Florida Club dues.
 

Scott_Ru

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Florida Club - more

I wrote to Peter Watzka, Chief Customer Officer for Marriott Vacation Club about the Florida Club fee and he responded:

"Please understand that all Marriott Vacation Club International owners pay a yearly reservation fee. The fee for a non-Florida Club owner/member is $26.00, whereas a Florida Club member fee is submitted as $30.00. Please note, the difference is an additional $4.00 for Florida Club members, which is used to fund appropriate club.

All Marriott Vacation Club owners pay a yearly reservations fee. For owners of non-Club resorts, the fee is listed as an Owner Services fee. As a Florida Club owner, you are not charged the Owner Services fee. Instead, you are charged the Club fee of $30.00."

So when all the bookkeeping is done, it would appear we are not really being charged for the Florida Club "benefit" (other than $4.00).

Hope this clarifies things.

Scott
 

JimC

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There is one way to prove that. Look at a GV non-Florida club maintenance fee invoice and an identical unit in the club -- there should be $4 difference between the two.
 

pwrshift

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Thanks Scott...that was news to me.
Brian
 

Dean

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Scott_Ru said:
I wrote to Peter Watzka, Chief Customer Officer for Marriott Vacation Club about the Florida Club fee and he responded:

"Please understand that all Marriott Vacation Club International owners pay a yearly reservation fee. The fee for a non-Florida Club owner/member is $26.00, whereas a Florida Club member fee is submitted as $30.00. Please note, the difference is an additional $4.00 for Florida Club members, which is used to fund appropriate club.

All Marriott Vacation Club owners pay a yearly reservations fee. For owners of non-Club resorts, the fee is listed as an Owner Services fee. As a Florida Club owner, you are not charged the Owner Services fee. Instead, you are charged the Club fee of $30.00."

So when all the bookkeeping is done, it would appear we are not really being charged for the Florida Club "benefit" (other than $4.00).

Hope this clarifies things.

Scott
Who gets charged the $26 fee? I don't think any Marriott owners of floating weeks are paying a fee to reserve their weeks above their maint fee (same for club and no club owners). I believe this is wrong information but await the chance to be educated on this subject. Remember than only a small portion of the members use this fee thus the charge per FL club reservation is likely in the four digit range. Considering this is usually only available at reduced demand times, this is a VERY expensive venture. My guess is the royalty and extra fees essentially go into Marriott's pocket one way or another. If I owned a FL club resort, I'd be on the phone to Tallahassee and have them investigate it.
 

dioxide45

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Yes, some other developers have their own internal exchange programs. Just because it works for them doesn't mean that Marriott should do it.

I bet some people wish Marriott had have followed this advice from 2005!
 
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