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TravelTime

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BTW, in spite of my venting, if it weren’t for TUG, things would be much worse. I would not have discovered the resale market and rescinded on some really bad purchases. And my Marriott purchases would have been a disaster and I probably would have lost a lot of money or at least experienced a lot more stress because I would not know what questions to ask or how to monitor that things are going right. I am sure once Marriott gets their act together, I will settle in and be content.
 

VacationForever

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The Marbella purchase is showing up as: VSMC Sales USD Marbella. How did it show up on other people’s credit card statement? How do Marriott coded expenses normally show up on cc statements?
My first purchase 6 years or so ago for 2 DSV I weeks, Marriott Resales used First American Title and refused to accept credit card, so I had to write a check and not get the benefit of Marriott rewards points. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I received bonus points in addition to credit card spending for my 2017 purchase. I looked at my Marriott rewards activity and there are so many entries there that I really don't know.

My hybrid purchase showed up as:
MVC DEST AMX MVC Dest AMX - LAKELAND, FL
MVCI USD MFWEB MVCI MF Web AMX - LAKELAND, FL
BROKERS TRUST MVCI - LAKELAND, FL
 

TravelTime

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My first purchase 6 years or so ago for 2 DSV I weeks, Marriott Resales used First American Title and refused to accept credit card, so I had to write a check and not get the benefit of Marriott rewards points. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I received bonus points in addition to credit card spending for my 2017 purchase. I looked at my Marriott rewards activity and there are so many entries there that I really don't know.

My hybrid purchase showed up as:
MVC DEST AMX MVC Dest AMX - LAKELAND, FL
MVCI USD MFWEB MVCI MF Web AMX - LAKELAND, FL
BROKERS TRUST MVCI - LAKELAND, FL

That becomes my problem. I can’t keep up with the credit card entries. However since this was a big charge, it is one I am able to track.
 

bazzap

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It may well be different with our UK Creation Marriott Rewards Mastercard, but they rarely seem to give us the correct multiplier of Points without chasing them up.
Even when the line on the statement clearly identifies Marriott in the payee name and € or $ or whatever foreign currency, I regularly have to chase them up to get the Points due allocated.
 
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MOXJO7282

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TravelTime, sorry to hear of your experiences and disappointment.

Overall, we have been very happy with our Marriott timeshare and hotel experiences. Hopefully you can get past these experiences and enjoy your ownership and vacations. If not, it probably would be best to sell your Marriott timeshares, as you mentioned, and vacation another way that would enable you to enjoy your time away from day to day life. Vacation time is too valuable to be annoyed or disappointed.

I wish you the best.

Mike
I am surprised when I see a thread like this because I too have always been impressed with Marriott and after 17 years in the program we love the program more than ever. I think it really depends on what resort you own or how well you can manage your points. I'm in the DC points program but from my perspective they are way too expensive to use for the flexibilty they offer so if I some how just had points I'd most likely be a unhappy owner but with the Marriott weeks I have and the way I manage ownership it truly was the best thing I ever did for my family.
 

bogey21

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I don't hate Marriott. At one time I was Marriott all the way (TimeShares and Rewards Credit Card) but over time I got frustrated with the way they were relentlessly devaluing their product, changing the rules to my detriment and allowing Customer Service to deteoriate. My answer was to vote with my feet and terminate the relationship. I figured that way it wouldn't continue to bug me...

George
 

TravelTime

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I like the Marriott Vacation Club product. Frankly, I think it is the best suited timeshare product for me and my DH. I do not even have any issues with the cost to buy in (assuming resale prices) or the MFs. I like the flexibility of the points system and I am willing to pay for it. I love having access to the Ritz Carlton timeshares with my MVC points. I have many great trips booked for next year at Lake Tahoe, Hawaii and St Thomas.

My problem is I think their staff is poorly trained and the administration is terrible especially when you are first purchasing. I have had problems with both resales and direct purchases. I feel like I need to chase them down. The training of CSRs is also very inconsistent and this was a problem before the merger. The merger has just made it worse because there have been so many changes.

The way Marriott rolls out changes seems whimsical and not well planned out. For example, they raised the activation fees for DC resale points without a real announcement so MVC reps and the resale agents did not even know what was going on. My purchase almost became $7000 more expensive if I had not been reading TUG and keeping on top of the resale agent and escrow agent.

I know the Rewards bonus is a Chase issue but that just adds another layer of frustration since Marriott must be sending them cryptic codes so Chase does not know which charges are Marriott.

To me, the worst part is Marriott and Marriott Vacation Club do not seem to treat Presidential and Platinum Premier customers all that better in terms of customer service. For example, sometimes when I call the Platinum line, they transfer me to the wrong department, and then I get transferred around. Sometimes the CSRs get disconnected after I have been waiting for a long time...and they do not even call me back. They have my phone number and could call back if the call gets disconnected.

Another example...when I was having problems, the MVC CSR claimed it was because I bought my DC Trust Points resale. She did not know there was a big activation fee to enroll the points. I had to educate her and she still did not believe me.

I know I have very high standards and expect excellent customer service. I guess I need to lower my standards with Marriott so I can be more satisfied. Or maybe I should not expect to get what I paid for and let the ball drop on the small mistakes and eat the cost since it is not worth my time to chase down everything. Maybe I need to follow the expression and not be so “penny wise and pound foolish” anymore. Let the pennies go and focus on the pounds.

I have been very happy with Vistana and Disney Vacation Club’s customer service so far so I think I can be satisfied. Vistana and Disney also have good websites where you can book and cancel online, making it very easy to plan. Also I have been very pleased with the availability with Vistana and Disney. I have not had any problems with the administration of those timeshare products. I also own Four Seasons and so far, so good with customer service. The Four Seasons problem is you can’t book reservations at all on their website and you must book by calling.
 
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TravelTime

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All companies treat resale buyers like second-class citizens. It's been our way of getting out of some sales presentations. Vistana (was at Westin Mission Hills) told us it would be over $1 million to convert our SBP weeks to Staroptions. We LOOK like we don't have that kind of money, and we don't, so they characterized us correctly, but do you think they would have said that, if we owned 10 weeks with Vistana that we bought retail? No way. They treated us like resale buyers.

We recently stayed via RCI Points at Kahana Beach, managed by Soleil Management, and I love Hono Koa, also managed by Soleil, and we only bought resale. When they ask us on a sales presentation, we know they don't want us, so Rick says, "We bought our Hono Koa resale." They don't even try. Soleil is actually the worst. When they found out in 2005 that we bought Gardens at West Maui resale, after inviting us to a timeshare presentation at Sands of Kahana, we were ignored. Rick went up to the counter at SOK to tell them our name hadn't been called, we found out they intentionally didn't call our name. They gave us the gift and told us to leave. A salesperson finally took us up to see a unit at SOK because we insisted on at least seeing a 2 bedroom. Then I bought one of them for less than $1,000 on ebay with useage included.

Ironically people who look the poorest are often the richest. Remember the book The Millionaire Next Door? So these companies and timeshare agents should be careful about categorizing people. I tend to wear cheap clothing and no makeup these days. The older I get, the less appearance matters to me. Except my weight. That is where I draw the line. I must keep in good physical condition. However, it is nice to use my cheap appearance to get out of stuff I do not want to do! LOL
 

taterhed

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SVV Bella 81k
Mmm.

Ok. I'm going to open the can of worms here. No offense, just reflection.

I've owned expensive cars (new and used) and in-expensive cars (new and used).
I've had variable and mixed levels of service from all of the above. Some good, some bad.
My Infiniti is a blast to drive...but the selling dealer didn't have 10% of the customer service ability that the Hyundai dealer did. Really.
My current Infiniti dealer is a delight to work with. Go figure.

Ditto for airlines, hotels, grocery stores etc.... Some good, some bad. The price of the purchase has not always had a correlation to satisfaction or service rendered. On that, I'm 1000% sure. I do, however, sometimes raise holy hell when I pay more.... but I tend to shrug my shoulders when I pay less.

I too, have found that negative energy (or negative expectations) tends to send most customer relations south from the get-go. Unfortunately, I don't always learn from my mistakes.

I've had mostly good to excellent dealings with all my timeshares. Sales, resale, transfers, title etc.... I've been surprised at how well things usually go. My Marriott resales? Very good. Worldmark? Fantastic. Westin? So far, so good. And, I've never had to 'deal' with pushy presentation efforts other to say 'Sorry, I already said no, we're too busy...' You'll never win an 'energy battle' with the timeshare sales team...

I've had a few less than happy moments with room assignments at Marriott....but they have ALWAYS been resolved in my favor without harsh words....in fact, we typically call the manager when we check out to congratulate them on the fine service provided by the desk folks or room assignments. Example: I used an owned week and an exchanged week at Waiohai this year (not a Marriott exchange). They spoke courteously with me concerning my room requests and assigned us adjoining rooms in a very nice island view location. This was well-above and beyond. I told them so.

I'm sorry you're burdened with these white-collar problems....but maybe you're having a run of bad luck or perhaps your frustration will ease once the merger issues conclude. Life is too short to channel that much negativity when dealing with something (vacation) that should be reducing your stress and providing relaxation and enjoyment. IMO.

I'd strongly recommend meditation, a read on some Zen philosophy and a calming cup of caffeine-free tea.

Perhaps this short quote might illustrate better than I:
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
 

Steve Fatula

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The Marbella purchase is showing up as: VSMC Sales USD Marbella. How did it show up on other people’s credit card statement? How do Marriott coded expenses normally show up on cc statements?

Mine, which earned me 5x on old Marriott CC, showed up as VSMC Playa USD. I am sure Chase can fix it. I know, another thing to do. I have learned to be more patient when it comes to things instead of stressing out. Of all the errors and problems, never contacted Marriott once, and all of them have resolved on their own. But, I know sometimes, one can't help it! Sometimes I find myself on a witch hunt when something goes wrong with a bill of some sort somewhere.
 
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TravelTime

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Mmm.

Ok. I'm going to open the can of worms here. No offense, just reflection.

I've owned expensive cars (new and used) and in-expensive cars (new and used).
I've had variable and mixed levels of service from all of the above. Some good, some bad.
My Infiniti is a blast to drive...but the selling dealer didn't have 10% of the customer service ability that the Hyundai dealer did. Really.
My current Infiniti dealer is a delight to work with. Go figure.

Ditto for airlines, hotels, grocery stores etc.... Some good, some bad. The price of the purchase has not always had a correlation to satisfaction or service rendered. On that, I'm 1000% sure. I do, however, sometimes raise holy hell when I pay more.... but I tend to shrug my shoulders when I pay less.

I too, have found that negative energy (or negative expectations) tends to send most customer relations south from the get-go. Unfortunately, I don't always learn from my mistakes.

I've had mostly good to excellent dealings with all my timeshares. Sales, resale, transfers, title etc.... I've been surprised at how well things usually go. My Marriott resales? Very good. Worldmark? Fantastic. Westin? So far, so good. And, I've never had to 'deal' with pushy presentation efforts other to say 'Sorry, I already said no, we're too busy...' You'll never win an 'energy battle' with the timeshare sales team...

I've had a few less than happy moments with room assignments at Marriott....but they have ALWAYS been resolved in my favor without harsh words....in fact, we typically call the manager when we check out to congratulate them on the fine service provided by the desk folks or room assignments. Example: I used an owned week and an exchanged week at Waiohai this year (not a Marriott exchange). They spoke courteously with me concerning my room requests and assigned us adjoining rooms in a very nice island view location. This was well-above and beyond. I told them so.

I'm sorry you're burdened with these white-collar problems....but maybe you're having a run of bad luck or perhaps your frustration will ease once the merger issues conclude. Life is too short to channel that much negativity when dealing with something (vacation) that should be reducing your stress and providing relaxation and enjoyment. IMO.

I'd strongly recommend meditation, a read on some Zen philosophy and a calming cup of caffeine-free tea.

Perhaps this short quote might illustrate better than I:
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

Good points. I agree. I think the problem is timeshares, by their nature, create a lot of tracking issues. I need to start a spreadsheet to keep track of all my stuff now. It is overwhelming. I am glad I ran into a couple of Marriott problems because it made me realize I am in over my head and will not be making any new purchases. I think it is important for newbies to realize that timeshare ownership can be very complicated and time consuming.

P.S. Is there a Meditation for Timeshare Owners class? LOL
 
Last edited:

Dean

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Mmm.

Ok. I'm going to open the can of worms here. No offense, just reflection.

I've owned expensive cars (new and used) and in-expensive cars (new and used).
I've had variable and mixed levels of service from all of the above. Some good, some bad.
My Infiniti is a blast to drive...but the selling dealer didn't have 10% of the customer service ability that the Hyundai dealer did. Really.
My current Infiniti dealer is a delight to work with. Go figure.

Ditto for airlines, hotels, grocery stores etc.... Some good, some bad. The price of the purchase has not always had a correlation to satisfaction or service rendered. On that, I'm 1000% sure. I do, however, sometimes raise holy hell when I pay more.... but I tend to shrug my shoulders when I pay less.

I too, have found that negative energy (or negative expectations) tends to send most customer relations south from the get-go. Unfortunately, I don't always learn from my mistakes.

I've had mostly good to excellent dealings with all my timeshares. Sales, resale, transfers, title etc.... I've been surprised at how well things usually go. My Marriott resales? Very good. Worldmark? Fantastic. Westin? So far, so good. And, I've never had to 'deal' with pushy presentation efforts other to say 'Sorry, I already said no, we're too busy...' You'll never win an 'energy battle' with the timeshare sales team...

I've had a few less than happy moments with room assignments at Marriott....but they have ALWAYS been resolved in my favor without harsh words....in fact, we typically call the manager when we check out to congratulate them on the fine service provided by the desk folks or room assignments. Example: I used an owned week and an exchanged week at Waiohai this year (not a Marriott exchange). They spoke courteously with me concerning my room requests and assigned us adjoining rooms in a very nice island view location. This was well-above and beyond. I told them so.

I'm sorry you're burdened with these white-collar problems....but maybe you're having a run of bad luck or perhaps your frustration will ease once the merger issues conclude. Life is too short to channel that much negativity when dealing with something (vacation) that should be reducing your stress and providing relaxation and enjoyment. IMO.

I'd strongly recommend meditation, a read on some Zen philosophy and a calming cup of caffeine-free tea.

Perhaps this short quote might illustrate better than I:
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
This is the issue that makes me cringe when I hear people who prefer a given resort because of the people or service specific to that resort that's out of the norm for the system (good or bad). Things change over time and resorts that are out of the norm for their system usually come back to the middle esp when there is a management change at the resort.
 

taterhed

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SVV Bella 81k
Good points. I agree. I think the problem is timeshares, by their nature, create a lot of tracking issues. I need to start a spreadsheet to keep track of all my stuff now. It is overwhelming. I am glad I ran into a couple of Marriott problems because it made me realize I am in over my head and will not be making any new purchases. I think it is important for newbies to realize that timeshare ownership can be very complicated and time consuming.

P.S. Is there a Meditation for Timeshare Owners class? LOL

I think you hit the nail on the head.

It takes a bit of planning and strategic thinking to plan ahead. If you can make a reservation or exchange and then be flexible enough to upgrade or eplus....it can be very satisfying.... for me. Not for everyone of course.
Good luck!

Serenity now...
bulle-zen-300x238.png
 
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