Are any of you referring friends to Marriott?

[pwrshift]

In my early days with buying directly from Marriott (with 65 cent Canadian dollars) and getting incredible trips by turning in my weeks for MR points, I couldn't have been happier. So much so, in fact, I referred a lot of my friends to Marriott and got 40,000 points when any of them bought a week. Actually quite a few of my referrals bought into the dream too...and surprisingly they still talk to me.

However, with maintenance going up every year a lot more than the rate of inflation, and then how the DC Plan slapped all owners in the face, i haven't referred anyone to Marriott since.

I'm curious if anyone is referring their friends to buy into the Marriott timeshare dream these days?

 

[billymach4]

I had a couple on a getaway staying at Ocean Pointe last month. I warned them about the tour and advised not to take the bait. This was about 3 months before their trip.

So while on their vacation I get a call while they are in the Timeshare tour. I could sense the stress in her voice, I said whatever you do don't buy, but if you did you can rescind.

Turns out they were trapped from 3:00 pm to 8:00pm and agreed to buy. They fell for the bait and bought those new points for $25k. I said don't worry we have all been down this path.

They rescinded!

I will recommend anyone to rent and visit any MVCI resort. If you want to buy, buy resale. Amen!

 

[GregT]

I'm curious if anyone is referring their friends to buy into the Marriott timeshare dream these days?

Generally, no.

I do encourage people to buy where they want to visit and if that's is specifically where Marriott is strong, then it makes sense to do so. For people who want broader travel, I am promoting other systems, most specifically HGVC and Worldmark. HGVC has a fabulous internal system (that is structural, not an overlay) and Worldmark has great trading capabilities in both II and RCI.

I still don't know if Marriott is going to be good owner, like HGVC, or a bad one, like Wyndham, and it makes it difficult to recommend either DC or buying a Marriott for trading purposes.

Best,

Greg

 

[BocaBoy]

I'm curious if anyone is referring their friends to buy into the Marriott timeshare dream these days?

I won't refer anyone to buy trust points. The biggest of the several issues with buying trust points is the lack of a resale market. Until Marriott rolls out a points buy back program, it would be foolhardy to consider buying trust points.

 

[gblotter]

I would never refer nor encourage my friends to purchase DC points (they are my friends after all).

I did recently encouraged a friend to consider purchasing a traditional Marriott week on the resale market - especially given the current low prices that can be found.

I have another friend who purchased some DC points while visiting Ko Olina on a promotional trip (I learned about it after the fact). He even did Marriott financing for the points purchase. He enjoys using his points to visit Shadow Ridge. I was tempted to tell him about the incredibly cheap prices for resale weeks at Shadow Ridge, but I don't want to make him feel bad about his points purchase so I have kept my mouth shut on that one.

 

[vacationtime1]

A good friend is on Kauai right now; he signed up for the preview at the Waiohai. After explaining the issues surrounding retail purchases (including the small problem that there is no secondary market for DC points), I have actually calendared a phone call to him upon his return in case I need to persuade him to rescind.

I still think that the Marriott properties I have visited are excellent and would recommend them for a resale purchase, but only on a "buy to use" basis.

 

[jjluhman]

I had a friend visit Phuket last week. He was really interested in buying, and asked my opinion. I told him to check out E-bay for resale weeks if he really wanted a Marriott property. I also told him to check out TUG. He joined TUG, thanked me, and said for $15 he learned enough to avoid making a bad decision!

Thanks TUG!!

 

[SueDonJ]

We've never given Marriott names of friends or acquaintances, don't anticipate that we ever will. And we love our Marriotts! I'll happily talk about Marriott timeshares for hours with anyone who wants to listen, and won't hesitate to recommend the resorts to anyone who's looking for a good vacation spot. But I'm not comfortable with giving friends' and family's names to Marriott for cold-calling, not at all.

Timesharing is a great way to vacation IF you're willing to put in the time and effort necessary to get the best value, but it's definitely not for everyone. I'd hate to be responsible for someone getting involved with timesharing when maybe their travel habits won't be compatible with it. Plus, I can count on one hand the number of friends/family about whom I'm familiar enough with their financial situation to know whether it would work for their budget, and I don't want to add any more folks to that list.

 

[Swice]

No

We have LOVED our vacations and have raved about them... until this past year.

I no longer feel Marriott respects me as a customer and certainly doesn't value my contributions to the bottom line any longer.

We had friends on a promotional vacation and told them not to buy. They ended up buying a beach condo instead. In addition, relatives decided against buying Marriott -- and bought a Ritz fractional instead (I know, it's the same company!).

 

[dioxide45]

We had friends on a promotional vacation and told them not to buy. They ended up buying a beach condo instead. In addition, relatives decided against buying Marriott -- and bought a Ritz fractional instead (I know, it's the same company!).

And they probably paid a lot more for it.

 

[winger]

No, not any longer.

I cannot with good conscience recommend something to someone which I myself would not buy into.

There are some exceptions, however. Like, IF I had a friend or family who frequently likes to visit resort X during peak season (e.g. when kids are out of school), I may recommend they buy that resort, but resale. There is no need buying direct from Marriott.

 

[dougp26364]

No, we stopped a few years ago when the presentations were begining to turn into the same style presentations we'd seen with other developers. This was even before the DC.

 

[davewasbaloo]

Sadly not any more. I love the Marriott resorts, but when you an rent for a little bit more than a week's maintenance, I cannot in good conscience recommend them. The only exception, as others have said, is if there is one location they like to return to time and time again, it is still a better deal with less hastle and risk than buying your own second property.

What does worry me, is that if we are the happy MVCI's, what does the future hold? If they pull out altogether, what then?

 

[bogey21]

My five Marriott Weeks have been gone for years but if I were younger I would seriously consider buying a Fixed Summer Week at Monarch on HHI. Monarch was the last of my Marriott Week to be sold. I particularly liked that it traded with both II and RCI.

George

 

[Pens_Fan]

No, I recommend renting weeks at this point.

 

[GregT]

What does worry me, is that if we are the happy MVCI's, what does the future hold? If they pull out altogether, what then?

I continue to believe that they will find new buyers of points and will continue to sustain their business with sales to those new buyers.

It is ironic that Marriott spent 25 years building a strong brand with 400,000+ owners -- and for different reasons, many of those owners are no longer brand loyal. TUG owners don't always represent the majority, but I believe in this instance we do. I've talked to too many owners at BBQs who are recently disillusioned with Marriott. There are certainly some who are still loyal, but many more who are not.

The dream is a powerful sell and Marriott has many many new prospective buyers to pursue in the future -- but they can no longer count on the positive feedback from existing owners.

I can't tell if pure points purchasers will be strongly supportive of the product 5 years down the road (as we were 5 years after our purchase) -- by then they'll realize that what they bought is worthless on resale and that their MFs are high. Will they keep buying points like they do with Disney? Or will they be like we are, and be surprised with the structural components of the system that depress resale value and make it expensive to use for routine travel?

We will see....

Best to all,

Greg

 

[kjd]

No, I couldn't in good conscience recommend Marriott timeshares to anyone at this stage of the game. Worthless (almost) resale values, point skimming, empty promises about new resorts, failed completions of existing resorts, reduced II inventory selection, bogus claims by sales personnel, and anything else you can name. I don't think anyone would keep their friends very long recommending that mess.

On the other hand if someone just wanted to get into timesharing to use the unit that they own and was going to buy a timeshare anyway, then I think that a Marriott purchased on the resale market would be ok. There are a lot of bargins there. Purchasing directly from Marriott given the present state of the resale market would be foolish.

It's ironic that many a salesperson's dream was to kill "external resales" but by doing that they have killed off the new buyers. The result is that many of them lost their jobs or just moved on.

 

[Lawlar]

Stepdaughter

I have an evil stepdaughter. I would tell her Marriott is a great buy.

But I would never recommend that anyone else - friend or foe - have anything to do with Marriott's TS business.

 

[EKniager]

I recommend Marriott all the time, but... I direct them towards the resale market and educate them about rental versus MFs, lockoffs, and the internet information trail of TUG and Redweek.

As long as they focus on high demand properties with good values, I don't see the risk.

Heck, during the peak, developer pricing for Gold and Silver never made much sense to me.

 

[jpc763]

In my early days with buying directly from Marriott (with 65 cent Canadian dollars) and getting incredible trips by turning in my weeks for MR points, I couldn't have been happier. So much so, in fact, I referred a lot of my friends to Marriott and got 40,000 points when any of them bought a week. Actually quite a few of my referrals bought into the dream too...and surprisingly they still talk to me.

However, with maintenance going up every year a lot more than the rate of inflation, and then how the DC Plan slapped all owners in the face, i haven't referred anyone to Marriott since.

I'm curious if anyone is referring their friends to buy into the Marriott timeshare dream these days?

I only recommend people buy Marriott if they are buying resale and they are buying in a place that they want to go to year after year.

I let them know of the extra costs involved and how every January, you hate your timeshare!

 

[Michigan Czar]

Not anymore, how can I recommend a point system that I wouldn't buy into?

If someone really wanted a Marriott I would recommend buying resale where they want to vacation.

 

[lancejr]

I'm curious if anyone is referring their friends to buy into the Marriott timeshare dream these days?

We go to HHI every summer and love Grande Ocean. If someone wanted a week at a home resort that they were willing to go to most of the time, I would recommend they buy a Marriott week ..... on the resale market. Their customer service at all of the properties has always been excellent, and the resorts are always nice.

That being said, I would NOT recommend they buy from Marriott direct, as Marriott now only sells DC points, and I do not see the value.

First, the points they sell are way too expensive.

Second, the inventory in many of the legacy resorts that have mostly weeks owners (i.e. Hilton Head Island resorts) has limited availability for DC Trust Points owners.

Third, there is no guarantee of a "home resort" since the DC program doesn't offer a home resort. With our week at Grande Ocean, at least we have a home resort we can rely on each year.

Fourth, there is no guarantee that the points they buy today will have the same value in a few years, which means they may eventually need to buy (or rent) more points to get the same thing they can get now with their current points (and, more points owned = a higher maintenance fee). At least with our week at Grande Ocean, we know we are going to get a full week each year, and the only variable cost is the annual maintenance fee.

 

[Clark]

I stopped referring friends long before the Destination Points program, actually at about the same time I came to understand the resale market.

I just couldn't see putting my friends in a position of paying thousands of dollars more than the resale market value, just to get myself points. It would have been taking advantage of their ignorance about resales.

That's not what friends are for ---