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Marbrisa Owners Update - Scary News or Lies?

JSparling

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My wife and I had our owners update today at Marbrisa. In return for our 60 minute obligation we were given about $250 in LegoLand tickets. I say “about” because depending on how you look at the pricing, or what discounts are available to you, the total price varies. But I know myself, my wife, and our daughter got in with the tickets and I saved “about” $250.

I should add that we had zero intention of buying anything. But we also were happy to hear the update, see the resort, and enjoy the chance to learn more about HGVC. In other words, we had a good attitude going in.

Anyway, we arrive and after a few minutes are met by X. Things got off to a rocky start right away. The conversation literally went like this – “Hi, my name is X. I’m a straight shooter, I don’t get commission, so whether you buy anything or not doesn’t matter to me. I’m just here to make sure you’re taken care of as an owner.”

No commission? Really? That statement got us on guard right away. And then it got much worse.

Mr. X sat us down and talked about our “odd” portfolio. He didn’t understand why we have some regular purchases (direct from HGVC) and some resale purchases. I said “you said you’re a straight shooter, so let me ask you this – why would we buy anything today when I can get it on TUG or E-Bay for a fraction of the price”. The look on X’s face was priceless. He quickly said “that’s not true” and that’s when the lies started to flow.

He said that if we buy anything resale it doesn’t come with any “rights”. I asked what “rights” he’s talking about and added that I’m aware resales don’t count towards Elite status. He said that if you buy resale you don't get to trade into RCI and you don't have an RCI account provided by HGVC. He went on to say you are locked into the actual week you buy (for example if you buy week 45 you must travel in week 45 and only in week 45). Besides that, you are not allowed to stay anywhere but at the actual resort you own. And you can’t break your week apart; in other words, points don’t exist. You get an annual 7-night stay at your home/only resort; nothing more, nothing less, no flexibility. He then launched into some confusing nonsense about his “neighbor” who bought a unit from a “friend” and got stuck in this “no rights” situation with HGVC. Fortunately, X gloated, he was able to “save” his neighbor and “unwind” the transaction.

At that point I said “we just closed on a resale week and HGVC put the 5,800 points in our account and they are commingled with all our other points”. He said “well this new rule just took effect, so you got lucky”. He then went into a fascinating story about HGVC’s use of their ROFR. He said that the ROFR ensures that resale units can’t be sold for less than developer prices. At this point we were done with X and I was getting mad for being lied to. I said “that’s odd, we just closed on a unit I got on E-Bay for $1. It passed ROFR”. Again, he said we got “lucky” and it must have “slipped through HGVC’s office by mistake”.

Unrelated to HGVC, he said that Marbrisa (as a Grand Pacific resort originally) allows you to use “a fraction” of your points to pay your maintenance fees. His example was something like this – if you own 7,000 points you can use 2,500 of them to pay your annual MF and then use the remaining points to travel with. He said he owns 35,000 points at Marbrisa, uses some of them to pay his MF, and then travels for free on the rest. Has anyone ever heard of this? It sounds great! But based on the stories/lies he told us I don’t trust anything he said to us. And I don’t see how Marbrisa can pay their bills if this is the case. Who wouldn’t use 1/3 of their points to avoid writing a check for $1,300 and then use the other 2/3 to travel with?

He also said that California recently passed legislature that prohibits ANY and ALL future timeshare resorts on the California coast. Wouldn't that be a local law? Like Carlsbad (where Marbrisa is) would pass such a law? But the entire state passed a law the restricted any and all future timeshares? He said "California didn't want to become like one of the east coast states where their entire shoreline is covered with timeshares." His point with this interesting "fact" was that we needed to buy Marbrisa because it was the last chance FOREVER to buy a timeshare on the California coast.

Anyway, we had several other annoying and unprofessional conversations regarding various topics and we left after spending 59 minutes. The survey lady sat us down to sign us out and we were short and said “we just want to leave” and she showed us to the door.

While I knew he had lied to us, I had 0.00001% doubt in my mind and worried that perhaps all our resale points were indeed now under this new “rule”. I went back to our (mediocre) room (more on this later) and e-mailed 3 different, independent resale professionals I have worked with and talked with and trust. All of them agreed they had never heard of this and all said they’d reach out to their contacts who work for HGVC and confirm it’s a bunch of BS. I also heard from one of them they have another client at Marbrisa this week and just yesterday Mr. X gave them the SAME SPEECH. The same lies. The same BS.

So here’s my question. Do I go over and talk to a manager tomorrow? Does Mr. X need a talking to from Marbrisa or HGVC? Do they care?
 
Last edited:

Ty1on

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The last person I would talk to is a Sales Manager, and the Resort managers have no control over Sales. I'll bet that HGVC Communications reads these forums, and if you gave a name, and HGVC really cared in a non-wink-wink way, they would follow up.

Many salespeople lie. It's the way of the world.
 

SmithOp

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He seems to have found a lie that induces people to buy, like the Mexican TS sales that promise to rent extra weeks for thousands that will pay all your fees. There is another thread on here with a buyer that is rescinding, sounds like the same salesman.

He's a damn liar and needs to be called out for it.


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presley

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Why are you protecting him by referring to him by "Mr. X"? Don't you want his superiors to know what he is doing and prevent this from happening to others? I find that to be the most shocking part of your entire post.
 

VegasBella

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He also said that California recently passed legislature that prohibits ANY and ALL future timeshare resorts on the California coast. Wouldn't that be a local law? Like Carlsbad (where Marbrisa is) would pass such a law? But the entire state passed a law the restricted any and all future timeshares? He said "California didn't want to become like one of the east coast states where their entire shoreline is covered with timeshares." His point with this interesting "fact" was that we needed to buy Marbrisa because it was the last chance FOREVER to buy a timeshare on the California coast.
The California Coastal Commission could probably make or enforce such a law. I don't think there is a law like that - it doesn't sound fair.

Besides, MarBrisa isn't even on the coast! It's nearby but not even walking distance nearby. I own down by the beach at Carlsbad Inn. And they're still selling resales in-house. So yes, you absolutely have opportunities to buy a timeshare on the coast.

By the way, if you like Legoland you might want to buy annual passes. The first year they're high priced (you can get discounts though so look for them) and then the renewals are pretty reasonable.
 

SmithOp

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Here is the language from the club rules that he is subverting for his lie, bonus points can be used to pay maint fees, but look at the rate, it would not work out even if you could use regular points. 7500 points would get you $750, not even enough to pay Vegas mf!

http://www.hgvclubprogram.com/resources/club-rules/

Bonus Points used toward maintenance fee payments are limited to the amount due only. Credits toward future maintenance fee payments are not permitted. Member remains responsible for payment of any portion of the maintenance fee not paid by the Bonus Points. Bonus Points have no redemption cash value, but when using Bonus Points toward maintenance fees, 2,500 Bonus Points are equivalent to approximately $250 and are only calculated in U.S. Dollars.


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tschwa2

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There are some affiliates that when bought resale can't be brought into the points program without additional direct purchases. There is at least one like that in the GPR group. So tiny kernel of truth. Is the salesperson so uninformed that he thinks that the exception applies to system as a whole or does he think that his version of the truth will make you more likely to buy from him? I am sure he will hide behind his kernel of truth and say that you misunderstood him about resales and using points to pay for MF's.
 

jsparents

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"He also said that California recently passed legislature that prohibits ANY and ALL future timeshare resorts on the California coast. Wouldn't that be a local law? Like Carlsbad (where Marbrisa is) would pass such a law? But the entire state passed a law the restricted any and all future timeshares? He said "California didn't want to become like one of the east coast states where their entire shoreline is covered with timeshares." His point with this interesting "fact" was that we needed to buy Marbrisa because it was the last chance FOREVER to buy a timeshare on the California coast."

Did he talk about how many phases Mar Brisa has left until completely built. I own there and spoke with different employees (not sales) who told me that they are supposed to build units on the Sheraton side and up the hill from phase 1. When all done, it will be a very large complex. They must have had the permits approved before the "new" law.
 

1Kflyerguy

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The California Coastal Commission has some restrictions hotels, condos and timeshares that are built on the coast..

But I am not aware of any outright ban, plus Marbrisa is pretty far up from the beach, so I am not sure if those would even apply.

Most of restrictions are intended to ensure public access to the beach.
 

MikeinSoCal

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Since (we all know) he started out with outlandish lies, why would anyone belive anything else coming out of his mouth?

Just sayin...
 
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