Just bought into abound...should i cancel?

[ssva1313]

Hi all,

We just purchased a abound package at ownership interest level 51,700. We paid 19k including closing costs. We did some digging and couldn't find clear arguments to buy or not other than complaints about yearly fees. Ours are only taxes (which is not raised or adjusted by Marriott) and 250 bucks annually for dues. Trying to connect with current program owners to see if we should cancel or if its worth it for what we paid. We are within our window to cancel for the next week and greatly appreciate any guidance from you all!
Thanks!

 

[mjm1]

Hi all,

We just purchased a abound package at ownership interest level 51,700. We paid 19k including closing costs. We did some digging and couldn't find clear arguments to buy or not other than complaints about yearly fees. Ours are only taxes (which is not raised or adjusted by Marriott) and 250 bucks annually for dues. Trying to connect with current program owners to see if we should cancel or if its worth it for what we paid. We are within our window to cancel for the next week and greatly appreciate any guidance from you all!
Thanks!

You should rescind immediately and do more research to make sure what you want to buy and how much. You can buy Abound points on the resale market and pay a fee toMarriott to make them whole. And save a lot of money. Follow the rescission instructions they provided.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Of course you should rescind!

Buy resale for as little as $3 per points plus activation fees.

Don't think twice about rescinding, Do it now before it's too late. Do your homework, study up and buy resale!








.

 

[WorldT]

Hi all,

We just purchased a abound package at ownership interest level 51,700. We paid 19k including closing costs. We did some digging and couldn't find clear arguments to buy or not other than complaints about yearly fees. Ours are only taxes (which is not raised or adjusted by Marriott) and 250 bucks annually for dues. Trying to connect with current program owners to see if we should cancel or if its worth it for what we paid. We are within our window to cancel for the next week and greatly appreciate any guidance from you all!
Thanks!

What exactly did you buy? I am pretty sure Marriott doesn't sell 51700 Abound points for only $19k
I am also pretty sure the "dues" you are referring to is just the club dues. You still have yearly maintenance which is set by Marriott.
Glad you know about rescission because that is exactly what you should be doing right now.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I have the same question as @WorldT .

Marriott Vacation club points (resale) sell for $3 to $5 pp plus Marriott's $3K junk fee. Marriott sells them retail for roughly $15 to 17 per point.

The Vacation club points have an annual Maintenance Fee of roughly around $ 0.75 pp. So, if that is what you bought, expect to spend ~ $30-40K per year.

If you bought Bonvoy (credit card) points, they are worth less than a penny a point. So, with 51,700 points, that would be worth less than $500.

So, what the OP (first time poster) say that they bought just doesn't make any sense.

 

[ssva1313]

Of course you should rescind!

Buy resale for as little as $3 per points plus activation fees.

Don't think twice about rescinding, Do it now before it's too late. Do your homework, study up and buy resale!








.

Thanks for the advice! The 3 per point is considerably lower! I assume there's links 9n here to guide us through the purchase/activation process? Thanks again!

 

[rickandcindy23]

What is the 51,700 number? That number makes no sense for $19K.

 

[ssva1313]

What exactly did you buy? I am pretty sure Marriott doesn't sell 51700 Abound points for only $19k
I am also pretty sure the "dues" you are referring to is just the club dues. You still have yearly maintenance which is set by Marriott.
Glad you know about rescission because that is exactly what you should be doing right now.

They gave us 4 tiers to pick from. We took second up. It consists of 51700 abound points for 19k. The only other costs are yearly fees of 1132 they said were taxes and 250 listed as dues. The original cost was roughly 27k but we had lock in from last year's cost and also got 3k discount for being bonvoy platinum for life. Those discounts were what made it a better deal for us and we bit.

 

[vacationtime1]

They gave us 4 tiers to pick from. We took second up. It consists of 51700 abound points for 19k. The only other costs are yearly fees of 1132 they said were taxes and 250 listed as dues. The original cost was roughly 27k but we had lock in from last year's cost and also got 3k discount for being bonvoy platinum for life. Those discounts were what made it a better deal for us and we bit.

You did not buy 51700 Abound points; you bought that many Westin Flex or Sheraton Flex points that will convert into a couple thousand Abound points. Your $1132 annual maintenance fees are based on your Flex package, not Abound.

That said, it was a lousy deal and you should definitely rescind -- if for no other reason, because you don't really understand what you bought.

 

[rickandcindy23]

These aren't Abound points at that number. Where was the presentation? Are you sure they weren't selling some sort of Flex Options?

We own 16,600 Abound points and were told it would cost us $225K to buy what we own. That was 2 years ago.

 

[ssva1313]

I have the same question as @WorldT .

Marriott Vacation club points (resale) sell for $3 to $5 pp plus Marriott's $3K junk fee. Marriott sells them retail for roughly $15 to 17 per point.

The Vacation club points have an annual Maintenance Fee of roughly around $ 0.75 pp. So, if that is what you bought, expect to spend ~ $30-40K per year.

If you bought Bonvoy (credit card) points, they are worth less than a penny a point. So, with 51,700 points, that would be worth less than $500.

So, what the OP (first time poster) say that they bought just doesn't make any sense.

Its a "vacation ownership interest". They sold us "abound" points which apparently convert from 51k to about 1500k in actual booking points..convoluted on purpose, I'm sure. They are def not bonvoy points as I've been platinum for decades and know that program well and wouldn't have paid for those.
They also told us the only recurring fees were 250 club dues and 1132 they said were "taxes" but that's listed as assessment in contract.

 

[ssva1313]

You did not buy 51700 Abound points; you bought that many Westin Flex or Sheraton Flex points that will convert into a couple thousand Abound points. Your maintenance fees are based on your Flex package, not Abound.

That said, it was a lousy deal and you should definitely rescind -- if for no other reason, because you don't really understand what you bought.

That's what I'm coming to realize. Convoluted conversion rate that they expertly glossed over. Thanks for the input!

 

[rickandcindy23]

If you want Abound points, you should buy them resale and stop saying you bought 51,700 Abound points because that is not the product you actually purchased. Flex Options has $0 resale value, or maybe a few hundred bucks.

 

[ssva1313]

These aren't Abound points at that number. Where was the presentation? Are you sure they weren't selling some sort of Flex Options?

We own 16,600 Abound points and were told it would cost us $225K to buy what we own. That was 2 years ago.

Correct. They told us they were Abound points off the bat and were easily traded for 2 weeks anywhere in the program. All our paperwork and our 20k binder says simply Abound on them. When we asked them to walk us through an actual booking they glossed over the conversion with lots of talk about other aspects of the program. We got scammed for sure but we'll within our 10 day window.
Thanks for the reply!

 

[ssva1313]

If you want Abound points, you should buy them resale and stop saying you bought 51,700 Abound points because that is not the product you actually purchased. Flex Options has $0 resale value, or maybe a few hundred bucks.

That's the product we were told we were buying.

 

[vacationtime1]

Correct. They told us they were Abound points off the bat and were easily traded for 2 weeks anywhere in the program. All our paperwork and our 20k binder says simply Abound on them. When we asked them to walk us through an actual booking they glossed over the conversion with lots of talk about other aspects of the program. We got scammed for sure but we'll within our 10 day window.
Thanks for the reply!

Two weeks? More like two or three nights if you are talking about a 2bd unit in a Marriott timeshare property.

Which is why they glossed over the conversion rate.

 

[DeniseM]

RESCIND!

 

[ssva1313]

Two weeks? More like two or three nights if you are talking about a 2bd unit in a Marriott timeshare property.

Yep, or 4 middle of week studio off season. Total scam and we're canceling.

 

[vacationtime1]

Yep, or 4 middle of week studio off season. Total scam and we're canceling.

Follow the written rescission instructions exactly. Everyone who signed the contract must sign the rescission letter. Send it by the method designated in those instructions, but also send it by a method that will generate proof of mailing. You have $19K at stake.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am so glad you found us to ask these questions. You are wise to rescind. The salespeople are desperate.

 

[5finny]

Definitely rescind
Also double check that you actually have 10 days to rescind--I have frequently seen shorter times

 

[ssva1313]

I am so glad you found us to ask these questions. You are wise to rescind. The salespeople are desperate.

Me too! Everyone here has been awesome!

 

[WorldT]

Me too! Everyone here has been awesome!

Go rescind that contract, then come back and do more research. In the Marriott brand, there is Abound and deeded weeks, then there are Vistana weeks ( mandatory and voluntary), Westin flex. Then there are other brands.
Research how they work and which one will fit your travel. Then buy resale.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Hi all,

We just purchased a abound package at ownership interest level 51,700. We paid 19k including closing costs. We did some digging and couldn't find clear arguments to buy or not other than complaints about yearly fees. Ours are only taxes (which is not raised or adjusted by Marriott) and 250 bucks annually for dues. Trying to connect with current program owners to see if we should cancel or if its worth it for what we paid. We are within our window to cancel for the next week and greatly appreciate any guidance from you all!
Thanks!

You should definitely rescind and purchase resale.

 

[jwalk03]

51,700 is Westin or Sheraton flex- not abound. The value is basically zero so you over paid by about $19,000!

Rescind ASAP! Then spend sometime learning the various programs and the pluses and minuses of each. Then once you understand you can make an informed buying decision instead of a high pressure sales one full of lies and half truths!! And if you decide you want to be an owner after you spend sometime time learning save yourself thousands and thousands by buying resale instead!!

RESCIND!