Just attended Ko Olina presentation regarding points ("Encore Membership Agreement")

[dbbk94404]

I agree that timeshare sales reps tend to stretch the truth but to me, there is a huge difference in "grey areas" and what is in black and white. IMO, in the past, Marriott did not cross the line. The lies that were told to me and to others are not grey issues. Welcome to the dark side

 

[DanCali]

Our sales rep and the "exit interview" rep both incorrectly told us that buying new points put us in a pool of being able to access both exchange and trust buckets. When I pushed a little on this, he exit guy insisted, nicely, I was wrong, stating this issue had come up before, but we could check with the manager. We did, and the manager told me the correct info -- that using any legacy points we could NOT access trust bucket, as has been confirmed on other posts here. Exit guy apologized.

You have to wonder how many non-Tuggers who don't know the truth are getting conned by Marriott in this manner. These are highly deceptive sales practices and the fact the the written docs may nullify stuff said orally doesn't make it any better...

The presentation opened with "this is an enhancement option, nothing is being taken from you" and later being told they expect high end owners such as Ko Olina to convert to points if they are not using their weeks, drying up weeks to trade in the old way. When I pointed out that was something being taken away from me, the rep told me "I see your point."

More scare tactics (just in case I'm ever accused again of making "wild baseless accusations" against Marriott)

 

[SueDonJ]

Has anyone yet answered the question if a resale week purchased through Marriott or an authorized broker is considered purchased internally or externally?

Here's a recent thread with the new website for Resale Operations. BocaBoy has been told, "... buyers of resale weeks through Marriott's resale group ARE able to enroll in the new program with all the rights, even including the right to exchange for MR points," but I don't know if that website contains that official statement. They always have considered weeks re-sold through Marriott the same as any other direct purchases, for whatever that's worth.

 

[foreverloves]

My thought and worry has always been that Marriott is lying about "external" resale week purchases. They're saying that - NOW - so that people don't snap up cheap Ebay deals and then try to convert to points. So they put an artificial "end" date where no future external resales are permitted.

But is Marriott going to REALLY operate two pools forever? Once the points system is up and running (maybe 6 months? A year? 2 years?) why wouldn't Marriott approach the "external" purchasers again and offer them a "second chance" to get into points (perhaps with a higher buy-in?). If all they really want is points, they are either going to start snapping up external resale purchases with ROFR or make another offer. I would think the latter, because there are far too many points available and unsold weeks, for that matter. Maybe in a while, they will just start taking weeks on ROFR. I need to check the ROFR thread to see if Marriott has exercised it recently.

Marriott wants points. They don't want weeks. I don't think they want weeks owners, frankly. I'm wanting to take my MIL's Barony Silver week because we love Barony and the MFs are cheaper in most cases than the nightly rental. We want to buy where we like. But I'm envisioning a time in the not-too-distant future where we are trying to book and they tell us, "No availability, but there's a special deal for you to convert to points..."

 

[pipet]

they expect high end owners such as Ko Olina to convert to points if they are not using their weeks, drying up weeks to trade in the old way. When I pointed out that was something being taken away from me, the rep told me "I see your point."

On the other hand, the reality is that to get into high end properties, the system is changed and the best way to now do this is to become part of the new system. .

Like others have said, look at who told you this. A salesperson. From a place with a great reputation for honesty and pure motives and never an ounce of misinformation: Not!

While Ko Olina owners may get more points than many other weeks in the system & can spend several weeks in Hilton Head in January or Palm Desert in summer, if they want equitable trades, points aren't going to make them happy, so I doubt all these high conversion numbers.

Also going to agree with other posters that Marriott reps have always stretched the truth on the "value" of your timeshare, but at least when I bought, they were a slight step above the used-car salesman. Now I think they are a step below...

 

[Quilter]

We are on day 2 of our Ko Olina trip and just finished our owners presentation.

Before I get to it, we own a Platinum DSV II week and a Silver Willow Ridge week (Branson). On the points system, these would net 2300 and 850, respectively.

Our first presenter had read our profile ahead of time. He saw that we had resale weeks (he referred to them as "non Marriott", if you can believe that). His "presentation" consisted of asking us if we had questions about the new system. In my very first question, I mentioned TUG, and his face went pretty much flat. He became disinterested immediately, and went so far as to tell us that we would probably not benefit from the point system. He then went to get a supervisor that would be able to answer all of our questions (seriously - this was 5 minutes into the meeting).

The supervisor tried moderately to push points. I was adamant that 3150 points would get us nowhere in the Marriott system. We had split and traded our two weeks for three adjacent Hawaii weeks and our trades would have cost over 15,000 points under the system. She agreed, but still said that it would be the "best of both worlds" if we just purchased 3,000 points. We suggested there was no way we were about to drop $28000 after we spent only $7000 between our two resales that together are worth more than 3000 points.

Here were my questions (and Marriott's answers). My comments in brackets:

What happens with week resales going forward? Will they be required to be enrolled in the point program?
Yes. All future week resales will be required to be enrolled in the point system. If a seller sells a week that is already enrolled, the week will be continued to be enrolled at zero cost to the new owner. [enrollment is therefore attached to the WEEK, not to the OWNER.] If a seller sells a "legacy" week, the new owner will be required to enroll the week in the point program at whatever the enrollment fee is.

I currently have an un-enrolled week. If I purchase an unenrolled resale week this year, can I enroll BOTH under the $1999 cost for multiple weeks?
Yes. She said we could enroll our current week(s) along with any weeks we purchase for the combined price. [I have no idea as to the mechanics of this, as I have yet to see any Ebay listing mention any point system enrollment fee].

There is great speculation and concern on the TUG boards that we will not be able to perform searches (or even Flexchange searches) from our "new II" account that we will have for Marriott weeks enrolled under the Point program.
We were told that the II account we will be given will allow us to do exactly the same things our old II account does. We only need to contact our advisor once a year to decide whether to take points for the year or not. If we choose to keep weeks, then the II interface will be identical to the one we currently use.

We have a DSV II week that will nab a reasonable number of points, but also have a worthless Willow Ridge week. If we choose to NOT enroll Willow Ridge, will we then have two II accounts?
NO. The Willow Ridge would be seen in your new II account, but you would not have the option to take points for it.

But I can still keep the Willow Ridge week in a separate II account if I want to, right?
"No.....there is no real reason I see to do that". Why do you want to pay for 2 accounts?

Because I am afraid Marriott will take my ability to do my own searches away from me. The Willow Ridge is great for splitting and doing Flexchanges
"Marriott has no intention of limiting your searches."

Purchasing points means you are "owning" interest in a group of resorts, and not just one. What happens when there is a Special Assessment?
"Points owners only see the benefits of the resort collection - not any liabilities. Therefore, Point owners will never be subject to a Special Assessment.".

But the Weeks owners will be subject to SA now and then. Going forward, what happens when Marriott excercises their ROFR, slowly removing weeks owners from the system? Taking an extreme example, what if a resort eventually only had one Weeks owner, all the rest being Points owners? Along comes a $1M SA. That one owner is on the hook?
"I understand where you are going, and nothing like that would happen at Marriott. That's why there is a reserve that your MF goes toward." [Clearly, she was not following me, or had no good answer. If the reserves covered everything, there would never be an SA.]

We left the discussion with no intention to buy anything.

That is when she pulled out an interesting offer....

They called it an "Encore Membership Agreement", and it works as follows:
* Purchase a 7-night stay at Ko Olina (1BR or 2BR), good for the next 2 years.
* You will get whatever week you want, as long as you book at least 2 months in advance.
* Purchasing the stay will lock in the Points cost for the next 2 years at the current offer value [no value to me, since I am not interested in buying points]
* Purchasing the stay will lock in the Enrollment cost of my resale weeks for the next two years at the current price [potentially no value to me, since I believe they are not going to raise the enrollment price anytime soon].
* When you arrive for your stay, you will receive a $200 AMEX gift card.
* Once you take the trip your are purchasing, your full purchase price will apply toward any Point purchase OR resale week enrollment

That last one makes it really interesting....Here are the week prices (before any AMEX gift card offset):

1 BR (Mountain View) - $1999
1 BR (Ocean View) - $2299
2 BR (Ocean View) - $2999

Payment options:
* Pay full price now and immediately get a $100 AMEX gift card (you still get $200 when you take your trip)
* Pay $495 now and pay the rest over 10 monthly payments (0% interest) - no $100 AMEX bonus

So let's break this down:
Assuming you are NOT interested in buying points, but ARE interested in enrolling your week(s)...

Cost of trip $2000
AMEX gift card $100 - for buying today
AMEX gidt card $200 - when you take your stay
Enrollment fee $1500 - that you were going to pay anyhow for enrolling your week.
Real cost of trip - $200 for a 1BR Ko Olina Mountain View.

This is not bad, in my opinion. Of course, it assumes we will enroll our week when we return. For those who want to buy points, this is basically a fully free week. Of course, they only tell you about this when you are ready to walk out the door of the presentation, not intending to buy.

A couple of extra things -
* They will "reasonably" extend the 2 year deadline for free if you let them know ahead of time (2 months).
* There is NO refund if you change your mind
* The week is transferrable to a family member if you cannot use it
* You must attend another 90 minute presentation when you return
* You can buy the 1BR now and upgrade with 2 months notice - they actually push this option. Upgrade to an OV for $300, or a 2BR OV for $1000.
* There is NO option for a 2BR Mountain View. They only offer the three choices.
* You will NOT need to pay for parking when you come - you will be considered to be a Marriott Owner.

We took the bait and purchased the $1999 week. I wonder what they would have offered if we turned it down... Be aware that you will be signing a purchase agreement contract (for the week stay - not to purchase any points). So we walked away with a $100 AMEX and a guaranted 1BR in the next 2 years.

We still have no intention of buying points at this time. I am crossing my fingers that Marriott will allow us to keep doing all the things we currently do with our II accounts - in fact, I am now officially betting on it.

We may very well purchase a second resale week in the next two years and enroll our current DSV II week along with the one we purchase - after all, they are claiming we can do both for $2000 and have 2 years to keep that offer. I don't see any reason to ever enroll our Branson week.

If the II situation turns sour before we return, then we purchased a week for essentially $1700 - about what a private rental would cost.

I did not ask how the current offer of 800 bonus points works with the Encore Membership Agreement. My guess is you'd get it if you wavered enough when the time came to enroll...

Any thoughts on this offer? If you think it is a bad deal, please try to make me not feel like too much of a moron.

Brian,

would you please look at the paperwork you got with the week and see if it says your full purchase price will apply towards a purchase of points AND enrollment? This would be a big difference because it would be contingent on the purchase of the new points.

Thank you,
Suzzanne

 

[dioxide45]

We will be in Ko'Olina in October, still weighing if we should attend a presentation. The offer of 20K in points sounds great, but it means giving up 2+ hours of our first vacation to HI in 10 years. Add on top of that the aggravation of dealing with the sales people.

 

[SueDonJ]

We usually meet with our sales rep for info sessions when we go to SW (although we learned the last time that it's better to schedule directly with her than to rely on the "concierge" to let her know that we only want info.) The presentation at Waiohai was painless, and at Marco Island no one ever asked. Depending on what else we have scheduled I'd consider a presentation anywhere BUT Ko 'Olina - that sales office has a terrible reputation based on TUG posts over the last 6 months or so. That's a whole lot of aggravation waiting to happen.

 

[dioxide45]

Depending on what else we have scheduled I'd consider a presentation anywhere BUT Ko 'Olina - that sales office has a terrible reputation based on TUG posts over the last 6 months or so. That's a whole lot of aggravation waiting to happen.

Thanks for that info. We may wait till our second week in Maui

 

[brianfox]

Follow up from OP

Another 30 minutes of my life and vacation wasted, but I have rescinded the Encore agreement.

After having read through my Encore contract, I could find nowhere where any mention of the purchase price going toward Enrollment. The contract only mentioned the purchase price being usable toward the purchase of at least six (6) Benificial Interests in the DC. A Benificial Unit is 250 points. Clearly, this was completely different from what the sales lady told me a day earlier.

Rather than calling, I showed up at the Sales Gallery at 9:30 AM. I had my laptop in-hand and my contract. My sales-person from the previous day showed up to help me. Her title was "Encore Executive", so one would think she knew what she was selling...

I put the contract before her and politely asked her to show me where it said my purchase of the Encore stay could be used for enrolling a week. She pointed to a line on the summary page...where it stated specifically that the purchase price was only usable toward point purchase.

She seemed surprised! I suggested we bring her supervisor into the room, and she said she would see what she could do. After about 10 minutes with her supervisor, she came back to me and said that her understanding of the system was not correct.

Here is the way the program actually works:
You pay for the week ($1999-$2999, depending on room type/size).
You get the $200 in AMEX during your stay ($100 more if you pay in full now).
Your purchase price will ONLY be applied toward the purchase of at least 2500 points (6 beneficial interests). The price will be about $23,500, less your purchase price of the Encore week.
She told me that because of the misunderstanding, they were willing to "do me a special favor". If I kept the Encore week, they were "willing" to let me apply $695 toward the enrollment of the Legacy weeks I own. So, rather than me paying $1995 to enroll my two weeks, I could instead only pay $1300 (on top of my $1999 for my Encore week).

Such a deal! NOT!

I politely asked to rescind my Encore week purchase, and they complied.

I then once again politely brought up the question of how future resales will be treated. Having lost her commission on the Encore week, she was less enthusiastic to answer me. In fact, she directed me to the Owner Services number, saying they know much more than the people in the trenches.

Of course, from what I have read here, they all know pretty much zilch.

Thanks to everyone who jumped on this thread with the advice. As much as I have read on TUG, you'd think I would have known better than to sign the Encore agreement -- or to believe a salesperson. My wife and I love the Ko Olina property more than any other. We WANT to believe that the people here are good people. Three weeks in Hawaii will make you believe the world outside the islands is where all the bad people live.

We have our money back, and are even less trusting of Marriott than we were. If a product is truly good and worth the money, then sales people should not have to lie to sell it. This experience speaks volumes about Marriott.

Anyhow, we still have 4 more days left to put this behind us. Aloha.

 

[scrapngen]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for taking the time to report back after what must have been a disappointing visit to the sales office.

Glad you are not out the money.
As you say, you are in beautiful Hawaii. :whoopie: Take a deep breath and forget about all this as you enjoy the rest of your stay.

 

[LAX Mom]

She seemed surprised! I suggested we bring her supervisor into the room, and she said she would see what she could do. After about 10 minutes with her supervisor, she came back to me and said that her understanding of the system was not correct.

I then once again politely brought up the question of how future resales will be treated. Having lost her commission on the Encore week, she was less enthusiastic to answer me. In fact, she directed me to the Owner Services number, saying they know much more than the people in the trenches.

We have our money back, and are even less trusting of Marriott than we were. If a product is truly good and worth the money, then sales people should not have to lie to sell it. This experience speaks volumes about Marriott.

Brian,

Thanks for the update and I'm glad you were able to cancel. The way you explained it in your first post was a tempting offer, almost too good to be true. Unfortunately, it wasn't accurate and you were given bad information by an inadequately trained sales rep.

I continue to be amazed at the lack of training the Marriott reps have received for this new points program. They are selling points worth a lot of $$$$, and yet they don't know the terms and conditions. Her explanation about the enrolled resale weeks staying in the points program when sold is wrong. I would be furious if I purchased points based on the things she represented about the program and later found out they weren't true. Imagine how many have done exactly that!!

I can understand a lack of training at other retail establishments. If I stop for a yogurt and the clerk can't give me the nutritional info I can deal with that. But if I'm making a purchase of points costing $10,000 (or more) and expecting those points to provide family vacations for many years to come, I want the seller to fully explain what I'm buying. Sadly the Marriott reps can't do that.

Brian, enjoy the rest of your week! Aloha!

 

[brianfox]

Oh, I forgot to add that when I asked about future resale enrollments, she stood firm in the belief that future resales would be REQUIRED to enroll in the points system (I guess she felt the enrollment fee would scare people away from buying a resale).

I then used my laptop to POINT to the line in the Marriott documents that states that resales that close after June XX are not eligible to be enrolled. She claimed they WERE eligible - but not necessarily at the price of $1495/$1995. She said they WOULD be eligible - but at a higher enrollment cost. I recall there being an ongoing TUG battle over the meaning of ineligible in the Marriott wording...

Still believing she didn't get it, I brought up the great example in this thread - why would anyone buy 3,000 points for $28000 when they could buy a resale Palm Desert week for $6000, enroll it for $2000 and then get the same 3000 points?

Her answer was interesting - she said that "external points" were not the same as "internal points", and the points you buy would "get you farther" than the points you get from enrolled weeks. She started talking about only internal points being able to access ALL of the Marriott properties, then she kind of talked herself into a corner, and promptly froze up.

Now, on the surface, it sounds like she was simply making everything up. But what I believe is that her training session covered that sort of question briefly, but she didn't fully understand the answer. In other words, I have a feeling there was some degree of truth in her answer and a whole lot of fluff. The question is - which part of it is sort of true?

When I pressed her for an example of how the points were different, she referred me to Owner Services. I even asked if a supervisor would know the answer and she did not want to take it any further.

I have a feeling that future sales presentation questionaires will include the question "Are you now or have you ever been a member of TUG?"

 

[5infam]

Brian - Sorry you had to go through all of that on your vacation; but at least you can sleep peacefully at night now with that worry off your back.

Enjoy the rest of your stay!!!

 

[5infam]

Oh, I forgot to add that when I asked about future resale enrollments, she stood firm in the belief that future resales would be REQUIRED to enroll in the points system (I guess she felt the enrollment fe would scare people away from buying a resale).

I then used my laptop to POINT to the line in the Marriott documents that states that resales that close after June XX are not eligible to be enrolled. She claimed they WERE eligible - but not necessarily at the price of $1495/$1995. She said they WOULD be eligible - but at a higher enrollment cost.

Still believing she didn't get it, I brought up the great example in this thread - why would anyone buy 3,000 points for $28000 when they could buy a resale Palm Desert week for $6000, enroll it for $2000 and then get the same 3000 points?

Her answer was interesting - she said that "external points" were not the same as "internal points", and the points you buy would "get you farther" than the points you get from enrolled weeks.

Now, on the surface, it sounds like she was simply making that all up. But what I believe is that her training session covered that sort of question briefly, but she didn't fully understand the answer. In other words, I have a feeling there is a tiny bit of truth in her answer and a whole lot of hot air. The question is - which part of it is sort of true?

When I pressed her for an example of how the points were different, she referred me to Owner Services. I even asked if a supervisor knew the answer and she did not want to take it any further.

The part that seems to be true is that if you buy Trust Points directly from Marriott, and only use those points to make a reservation (not combining them with a week you traded for points), then you have full reservation access to all of the Trust Inventory. Otherwise, if you use the points you traded in for, you just have access to the Trust Inventory if a Trust owner makes an exchange in the exchange company.

 

[LAX Mom]

Her answer was interesting - she said that "external points" were not the same as "internal points", and the points you buy would "get you farther" than the points you get from enrolled weeks.

She might be referring to the buckets of inventory we've discussed at length on TUG. Perhaps she was trying to say that if you purchase points from Marriott "internal points" you have access to the trust inventory and the exchange inventory. But instead if you purchase a resale week and enroll it then you have "external points" or legacy week points and can only access the exchange inventory, not the trust inventory.

It still doesn't answer your question of why someone would spend $28,000 on points when they could just buy the Palm Desert week for $6,000 and enroll it for $2,000. Either way they have your example of 3,000 points.

Obviously this rep doesn't understand the difference in the inventory buckets.

 

[dbbk94404]

Thanks to everyone who jumped on this thread with the advice. As much as I have read on TUG, you'd think I would have known better than to sign the Encore agreement -- or to believe a salesperson. My wife and I love the Ko Olina property more than any other. We WANT to believe that the people here are good people. Three weeks in Hawaii will make you believe the world outside the islands is where all the bad people live.

We have our money back, and are even less trusting of Marriott than we were. If a product is truly good and worth the money, then sales people should not have to lie to sell it. This experience speaks volumes about Marriott.

Brian,

That is exactly how we feel. Glad you were able to rescind. We were lucky the incompetent staff forgot to include a doc we needed to sign which gave us another 10 days to rescind since we were past the recision date by the time I found TUG and all its helpful members. We also like Ko Olina best (even better than our Maui Ocean Club) just stay away from the 14th floor Aloha

 

[BocaBoy]

Weeks purchased through Marriott Resales or an approved broker (if any exist, which I do not think they do) count as Internal purchases and are eligible for everything, including points and MR points. I have two weeks listed with Marriott Resales and know this to be true. Also, the Marriott resales website states at least some of this.

 

[LAX Mom]

Weeks purchased through Marriott Resales or an approved broker (if any exist, which I do not think they do) count as Internal purchases and are eligible for everything, including points and MR points. I have two weeks listed with Marriott Resales and know this to be true. Also, the Marriott resales website states at least some of this.

That is the accurate for weeks purchased through Marriott resales or an approved official broker (I've been told by a couple of reps there will be approved official brokers in the future).

However Brian was told;

All future week resales will be required to be enrolled in the point system. If a seller sells a week that is already enrolled, the week will be continued to be enrolled at zero cost to the new owner. [enrollment is therefore attached to the WEEK, not to the OWNER.] If a seller sells a "legacy" week, the new owner will be required to enroll the week in the point program at whatever the enrollment fee is

This information is not accurate.

 

[DanCali]

I continue to be amazed at the lack of training the Marriott reps have received for this new points program. They are selling points worth a lot of $$$$, and yet they don't know the terms and conditions. Her explanation about the enrolled resale weeks staying in the points program when sold is wrong. I would be furious if I purchased points based on the things she represented about the program and later found out they weren't true. Imagine how many have done exactly that!!

Lisa, this cannot be lack of training. Do you really believe that?

It is simply blatant lies. In particular the lie about the package covering the enrollment fee is appaling. And this particular sales office keeps coming up on TUG with these types of issues over and over.

If they resort to these types of methods to sell their product, this just strengthens my belief that buying anything from Marriott is a ripoff. This includes enrolling in the points "enhancment"...

I was a happy owner mostly praising Marriott on the TUG boards prior to June 20... What happened to this company?

 

[LAX Mom]

Lisa, this cannot be lack of training. Do you really believe that?

It is simply blatant lies.

Dan,
I honestly think it's a combination of factors. I think these Marriott reps are very poorly trained and confused by this new points program. Maybe they are lying intentionally but I prefer to think they do not have an in-depth understanding of how this new program works. I would guess that most reps never get the questions we've been discussing here on TUG since June 20. Many prospective buyers don't have enough knowledge to adequately ask intelligent questions. Some of the provisions in the terms and conditions are very vague and it's difficult to understand exactly how they will be applied. At this point I'll give the Marriott reps the benefit of the doubt. I think it's lack of knowledge, training and understanding of the new points program. Maybe they're just lazy and haven't taken the time to read the information they've been given.

If (or when) they keep making these gross misrepresentations several months from now, then I'll concede they are either not very smart, lazy or lying.

 

[gblotter]

I think it's lack of knowledge, training and understanding of the new points program. Maybe they're just lazy and haven't taken the time to read the information they've been given.

Likely true. Many of these folks are coin-operated and only care about their next commission. I am always amazed that some salespeople (regardless of what they are selling) do not make the effort to become experts in their product. They hurt so much their own chances for success by bumbling around like clueless idiots spouting buzzwords. On the other hand, it is energizing to talk with a salesperson who is knowledgeable and passionate about his product and knows it inside and out.

 

[DanCali]

Maybe they are lying intentionally but I prefer to think they do not have an in-depth understanding of how this new program works.

That's very chivalrous of you.

With these stories coming up over and over again I've lost faith in their salespeople and it's starting to reflect poorly on the entire organization. I completely agree that 2-3 days of training were insufficient but we are now over 5 weeks after the launch. These people live and breath MVCI all day - it's their full time job and their livelihood depends on knowing how to respond to every possible objection from a prospective customer. If someone can know this program quite well in 5 weeks by spending an hour on TUG each day I believe that the salespeople know the program much better than we do by now... they would sell it on its merits if they could. Otherwise, they will sell it any way that gets the customer to sign the dotted line.

I actually wish I was wrong on his one and we stop seeing these stories. I feel terrible for the uninformed who are misled by these salespeople.

 

[LAX Mom]

I was a happy owner mostly praising Marriott on the TUG boards prior to June 20... What happened to this company?

Dan,
I definitely agree with your comment. I've been a happy Marriott owner since 2003 and have stayed at many of the MVCI properties. Marriott was very proud of the idea that they brought respectability to the timeshare industry. Well, that has changed and their sales reps are just like all the others now. I am very disappointed in the way they have handled this new points program.

 

[brianfox]

I, like Lisa, want to give the sales reps the benefit of the doubt, but these are the same people who routinely gave false information long before points became a reality. It will be very interesting to see if anyone else reports what I went through in the next few weeks.

By the way, another poster in this thread went to the Ko Olina presentation a day before me, and did not follow up. I left him a PM and we spoke on the phone.

His situation is a little different than mine. He owns a couple of Marriott purchased Shadow Ridge weeks. The rep offered him a slightly different Encore package. They did not offer to have his Encore purchase go toward enrollment. They told him he could use the purchase price toward points.

So, in his case, the sales rep was either knowledgeable, honest, or too lazy to lie.