Deed Marked Differently on a Resale?

[skisnow&water]

I'm new to timeshares (2 year owner) and I just found out about this site. We were on a traded week this past week in Tahoe and thought we'd check out the Marriott Timberlodge while we were there. We own Marriott Horizons (Platinum) in Orlando and were not succcessful in trading for it (Timberlodge)this year but stayed at The Ridge which worked out great.
I actually fell prey to a great salesman in Orlando and bought my first even year direct from Marriott. After the 1'st use we were convinced that this was the way we wanted to vacation so I purchased my odd year from a reseller for about 40% of what I paid for the 1'st one.
We were hosted at the Timberlodge by an extremely arrogant salesman and I was wondering if any of you more senior members could substantiate or refute a couple of his statements.
1. I made a comment about if having the chance I would probably purchase on the resale market. He came back with a statement about my deed being marked in some way that Marriott Customer Service would not give me the same level of support as if I had purchased direct from them. Any truth here? (I know about not getting the points but aside from that?)
2. He really slammed the "Horizons" brand going so far as to insinuate that is was not really part of Marriott's Vacation Club. In his words "There's no way you could get into a real MVCI property for what you paid for that". When I purchased, my salesman pitched Horizons as a family oriented brand that Marriott was targetting towards family travellers, not some inferior product.
He also made it a point to mention 2 or three times that they "Aren't even selling Branson any longer" because it just is not up to par with other MVCI properties.
3. He said Orlando "Would Never" trade for the Timberlodge because of the disparity in the quality of the weeks. Any truth here?

Any feedback posting is appreciated and if I've really bought a crummy TS then so be it. I'm just trying to figure out how to best work the purchase I made and this guy definitely did not help. He hurt Marriott in my opinion as well because badmouthing another resort in their own network just really struck a sour note. Thanks.

 

[johnmfaeth]

I'll leave the particulars to those here who are MUCH more knowledgable about Marriott details.

But it is important to know that the great majority (all?) timeshare sales types seem to resort to lies and distortions at the mere mention of the word "resale".

When confronted with "questionable" statements. It is best to ask, on the spot, for that statement in writing. Then you will see some truly amusing backpedalling....

 

[Dave M]

1) The deed would definitely be worded differently. That's because it would show the grantor as being the previous owner rather than Marriott. That's a distinction of no relevance.

The Marriott support is the same for resale weeks and developer weeks. As a resale buyer, you have to ask for a Vacation Ownership Advisor to be assigned, but all you have to do is ask. There has been some speculation on this forum about possible future differentiation, but so far that's all it is (other than the points issue, which you mentioned).

2) There is no question that Horizons was designed as a lower level - and generally less expensive - product than Marriott Vacation Club properties. Marriott initially marketed it that way. However, there have been some great Horizons trades reported here.

3) See #2.

 

[eal]

Q: How can you tell when a timeshare salesman is lying?

A: His lips are moving!

 

[timeos2]

Badge of honor

We can only hope that resale deeds are "marked" to show that the buyer is savvy enough to recognize the value that resale purchase represents and that they won't fall prey to the 1/4 truths spewed out by most retail sellers.

 

[skisnow&water]

Thanks for the insight

You guys (and gals) are great. I am no longer a guest here as I have joined and gladly paid the $15.l look forward to chatting in the future.

 

[littlestar]

Don't pay any attention to that sales rep's lies. Marriott's Horizon property in Orlando actually beats out every other Marriott and even Disney properties on Trip Advisor for high ratings with the general public for Orlando, FL.

We always stayed on our DVC (Disney points) when staying in Orlando. But last year we stayed at your home resort, Horizons in Orlando, and we loved it so much that we made a point of trying to buy a Marriott week because of our stay and experience at Horizons. The pools and outdoor facilities were amazing for kids.

The last time we traveled to Orlando we talked to a family at the airport that owned a huge amount of Disney points and they also owned at Horizons Orlando. They talked about the great trades they have gotten through II with their Horizons Orlando week. I think the demand for the property must be pretty good. It really reminds me of a Disney Vacation Club resort - great themed pools with slides (outstanding for families with kids).

Another thing, if Horizons Orlando is such an inferior product, you sure can't find anything larger than a studio for all summer long sitting out on II right now. All the other Marriotts in Orlando have some 1 and 2 bedroom availability, EXCEPT for Horizons. Here's a thread from about a week ago from someone on tug trying to get a June 2 bedroom at Horizons and having a hard time getting it:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44445

The same goes for Horizons Branson - there is not one 2 bedroom for all summer long sitting out in II right now for trade. It's slim pickens.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I would write a letter, if it were me that occasioned this particular sales spiel. I would write a very descriptive letter and send it to the sales department at Orlando and at Timberlodge. I would also send it to the headquarters for Marriott timeshare sales and give them the date, the salesperson who lied and every bit of information I could remember. Disparaging their own product would not be part of the sales training.

After doing our sales tour, we received an email to a questionaire. I would slam the salesperson there as well.

Marriott is a really great product and you should be congratulated on your second purchase of the resale odd week. We paid another developer for our second week and did not learn our lesson the first time. Now we are making up for it. You are way ahead of the game.

 

[pwrshift]

Generally I think Marriott salespeople are a much more professional sales group than I've met at non-Marriott pitches over the years. You ran into a bad one who obviously lost his cool when you confronted him with his biggest competitor - resale. These days, it's a tougher sale for these guys - the prices are getting way up there and the point program was recently devalued. I bought 5 of my 6 Marriott weeks directly from Marriott, back when they were giving 500,000 points for a $18000 Platinum purchase...and my family has had wonderful trips because of it, and still plan to.

If you want to vent where it might do some good at Marriott, you might give the head guy's blog a try - http://www.blogs.marriott.com/default.asp?item=435095 - outline what happened just like you did in the OP, but names, places and times. It might not make it to the blog, but it will be seen...and perhaps by Bill himself.

Brian

 

[wuv pooh]

Regarding 2 & 3

2. Horizons did start out separate, but it was folded into MVCI years ago. Supposed to be some announcement coming up that my salesman told me about - stay tuned. It is true that they are selling their extra land at Branson, the demand was not as strong as initially thought. In Orlando they have built 240 out of 900 units, so the buildout is going longer than expected.

Good news for owners is that low supply and high demand = good trading power. Last year I traded my Horizons Gold week for Grande Ocean Platinum. Our friends have traded their Gold week for Platinum Ocean Pointe, Barony Beach and Surfwatch. I think these count as MVCI resorts Actually, with time and flexibility you can probably get anything that you want. For ex. I will request all HHI beachfront resorts for July 1 - Aug 15 and will get a match. If you need a specific week then that is substantially harder.

3. Orlando probably trades marginally worse than some others because of the higher supply. I am not complaining because I get every trade I've wanted with my Williamsburg and Horizons week and I saved $20k vs. Hawaii or Aruba with lower MF. I am always trading up in value which suits me fine.

 

[winger]

...
We were hosted at the Timberlodge by an extremely arrogant salesman and I was wondering if any of you more senior members could substantiate or refute a couple of his statements.
...

2. He really slammed the "Horizons" brand going so far as to insinuate that is was not really part of Marriott's Vacation Club. In his words "There's no way you could get into a real MVCI property for what you paid for that". When I purchased, my salesman pitched Horizons as a family oriented brand that Marriott was targetting towards family travellers, not some inferior product.
He also made it a point to mention 2 or three times that they "Aren't even selling Branson any longer" because it just is not up to par with other MVCI properties.
3. He said Orlando "Would Never" trade for the Timberlodge because of the disparity in the quality of the weeks. Any truth here?

...

First, who is the bad mouthing rep. I have a couple of 'friends' in the sales dept there at Timberlodge. I would sufffice to say they will take care of this 'bad' seed if I were to give them a call tomorrow.

#2. I believe one of the heads of sales at TL is from Horizons...So Marriott promotes within from some place deemed 'not real' Marriott, interesting.

#3. Well, if Orlando Marriott cannlot trade into TL, why can I trade about 5 times (one and two BD's ) into TL with my 1BD Polo Towers (not summer, just 'shoulder' season) ??? LOL, oh yeh, my TL bud calls me a 'virus'.

 

[skisnow&water]

Thanks for the insight. I can tell you for sure it was 4/14 (Saturday) at 11:30 a.m. We were wrapping up some souvenier shopping before leaving and since we were right there at the Gondola, thought it would be nice to just see the place as "Open House" signs were all over . I'm kicking myself for not grabbing his card but it was a very french first name that started with the letter "A". Should be easy to figure out if someone really wants to confront him.
I think the real deal was he knew we were "Tire Kickers" and didn't want to be bothered. There are better ways to handle a non-buying prospect especially when you never know... I may be in the market for a platinum ski week.

 

[swing4thefence]

Thanks for the insight. I can tell you for sure it was 4/14 (Saturday) at 11:30 a.m. We were wrapping up some souvenier shopping before leaving and since we were right there at the Gondola, thought it would be nice to just see the place as "Open House" signs were all over . I'm kicking myself for not grabbing his card but it was a very french first name that started with the letter "A". Should be easy to figure out if someone really wants to confront him.
I think the real deal was he knew we were "Tire Kickers" and didn't want to be bothered. There are better ways to handle a non-buying prospect especially when you never know... I may be in the market for a platinum ski week.

I bet Marriott could tell you who you toured with. What a J@ck@$$. I say let's get him fired!!