Marriott Aruba Ocean Club Owners Being Ripped Off By Marriott - READ IF AN OWNER

[Eric]

How's the strong arming been working out so far ? I have not seen one tangable thing accomplish so far, just a lot of threats on your part.

I am not saying to have 2 voting sessions. What I am saying is that instead of a nomination committee just put all names on the ballot and let the owners decide who should be on the board.

I appreciate your comments, but the board has been unresponsive for a long time and a hard line needs to be taken. Others have tried a softer approach and have gotten no where with the board or with Marriott.

 

[marksue]

More if we had not done anything and let the board and Marriott walk all over us.

 

[SueDonJ]

I am not saying to have 2 voting sessions. What I am saying is that instead of a nomination committee just put all names on the ballot and let the owners decide who should be on the board.

I could be way off here, but it makes sense to me that there must be some sort of screening in place for candidates of the BOD, and the nominating committee is responsible for that. I imagine that at the least the application contains personal information about candidates that is protected by privacy laws and may even require a CORI check or something similar, and a signature is required to give the nominating committee access to those personal items. If Marriott was to change the entire process as you're suggesting, they would have to somehow circumvent privacy laws and I don't see how they could do it. Nevermind the whole issue of, what person in their right mind would complete such an application knowing that thousands of Marriott owners would have access to their personal information? Not very many.

I appreciate your comments, but the board has been unresponsive for a long time and a hard line needs to be taken. Others have tried a softer approach and have gotten no where with the board or with Marriott.

But you're not getting anywhere either, are you? In fact, you've said that Marriott and your resort's BOD are even less responsive than they were before. Others have said and I agree, there appear to be legitimate concerns surrounding the special assessment circumstances. If your efforts had remained focused on this one issue then you may have had a chance of Marriott meeting you more than the half-way they've offered to this point.

But the rest of it - the quibbling over annual dues when you've been provided with a line-item budget and irrefutable proof from outside sources that Aruba's infrastructure costs are increasing, the insinuations based on rumors and innuendo that board members are acting inappropriately against the owners' interests, the paranoia that Marriott practices which work at all of the other MVC properties do not, will not and can not work at your one resort, and the demands to change the election process for BOD's - I'm sorry, none of that makes sense to me.

 

[marksue]

If you like i will send you the form. All it asks is your name address occupation and why you wnat to be on the board.

Let me know when you get a 35% in your mf. THe issue is the fee increase should not be that high if the owners did not pay millions to repair. We also wouldnt be paying assesments if marriott pahad done thier proper due dilligence when they bought the building.

THis is an issue around fairness, transparency and owners rights. The owners at the OC are upset and angry.

If you think having the BOD, who the owners do not trust, be the nominating committee makes sense then not much to say.

I think if you were an owner at the OC you would feel different

 

[Luckybee]

I hope Mark doesnt take this the wrong way, but Mark is not the center of the universe here. I wish everyone would stop focusing so much on Mark but rather on the issues he has raised. Assume for a moment that what he is saying is true, and I have no reason to disbelieve him, that in fact the very board members whose actions are being questioned, will be the nominating committee. There are hundreds, yes hundereds, of owners who are upset over this situation at the OC and the manner in which this board has handled things. The logical conclusion , and suggested by many is "if you dont like it run for the board". Except this "board" the very one people are upset about will have the absolute ability to make certain nothing changes by totally controlling the nomination process. And people here think thats ok ? Huh ? I hear backround music and Rod Serling starting an episode of the Twilight Zone.

 

[SueDonJ]

If you like i will send you the form. All it asks is your name address occupation and why you wnat to be on the board.

Let me know when you get a 35% in your mf. THe issue is the fee increase should not be that high if the owners did not pay millions to repair. We also wouldnt be paying assesments if marriott pahad done thier proper due dilligence when they bought the building.

THis is an issue around fairness, transparency and owners rights. The owners at the OC are upset and angry.

If you think having the BOD, who the owners do not trust, be the nominating committee makes sense then not much to say.

I think if you were an owner at the OC you would feel different

That's surely correct; I'd be furious at the hit my pocketbook would be taking and that would make me even more irrational than some say I already am. I wouldn't wish what any of you owners are going through on anybody, and really do hope that there can someday be a mutual resolution so that you can all relax and enjoy the resort that you purchased.

That aside, I am honestly shocked that there is no screening process for the BOD! Since you offered to send me the form I checked my latest mailing from the GM at BaronyBeach and found the form there. At the very least I would hope that somehow there could be a way to disallow a person who had been ineffective in a similar past position. There doesn't seem to be - live and learn. The topic of how a BOD seat is filled - from application through screening and voting - might make for an interesting thread some day; I don't want to take your cause off on a tangent with it, though.

So, since you proved me wrong with that, I just went back and reread this entire thread. Wow. There are some very good points made here, both for and against you and the other OC owners, the BOD, and MVCI. Whatever the tone or intent of the individual posts, in itself it is a lesson in diplomacy and timeshare ownership.

I'm going to keep reading but stop posting to this thread because there's nothing more I can add. Before I go, though, I want to mention one thing that caught my eye this time around. When I went back and read the January mailing from Barony Beach I noticed something:

"To communicate with your BOD please feel free to send your comments or questions to MVCIBBCOB@vacationclub.com."

That's new. We used to have individual email addresses for all of our BOD members, just as you did. I'm wondering if this is a new policy across the board at all resorts and if it is, is it a result of the situation at OC? Or, more likely, is it just a coincidence that contributed to what appears at OC to be The Perfect Storm? I see the financial situation at OC as a terribly unfortunate timing of unprecedented rising utility and labor costs on the island, insufficient collection of reserves for a number of years, delayed refurbishment of units, and a need to repair structural elements with no warranty recourse. Combine the financial situation with changes to the BOD and poor/questionable communication methods, and you have a mess.

If it's any consolation to you, the BaronyBeach newsletter danced around the topics of an upcoming refurbishment and the reserve fund. I hope that if the day comes, some of the folks who are posting in this thread can talk me down as nicely as they've tried to do for you.

Good luck to you, Mark and all the other OC owners. Truly.

 

[marksue]

lucky,

I agree with you. I don't want to be the center of th universe. All I am sharing is the information i Know or recieve. You know the old say they shoot the messenger. So if they want to go after me they can, but I will continue to post what I know and continue my activities for the benefit of the owners.

 

[Luckybee]

lucky,

I agree with you. I don't want to be the center of th universe. All I am sharing is the information i Know or recieve. You know the old say they shoot the messenger. So if they want to go after me they can, but I will continue to post what I know and continue my activities for the benefit of the owners.

And so you should, imho you have been doing a great job. But that isnt the issue I just didnt want the "shoot the messenger " theory to continue to interfere with the message, which by all accounts should have people concerned.

 

[lovearuba]

Gratitude

Hi Mark
I personally want to thank you for the abuse you take for keeping owners up to date with what has happened. I got a call this week from Marriott wanting to update our referral list. They had people on it that passed away 3 years ago. I cant remember how long ago we gave them referrals but we asked them to update it by promptly removing anyone we referred.

The sales person askd my husband if he was interested in purchasing another one and he made some comments about the maintenance fees. The sales person said, "Oh you must own at the Aruba Ocean Club". Guess they really are trying to find referrals if they are digging through referrals from years agol

 

[marksue]

I guess our efforts are being succesful. If more and more people say that to the sales people maybe MArriott will get teh message.

 

[qlaval]

Did any one receive a response to the letter they have sent to Mr. Marriott?

 

[marksue]

I have not heard of any responses. Is anyone surprised Marriott didnt respond? I know I am not.. Maybe they will ahve the AOC board respond for them .

 

[vincenzi]

Did any one receive a response to the letter they have sent to Mr. Marriott?

To date, I have not received a response. I mailed my letter "Personal and Confidential" to Mr. Marriott. However, I doubt he read it.

 

[marksue]

Bill Marriott's main office # is 301-380-3000; His exec. asst. is named Phyllis Hester. Give her a call and leave a message for Mr Marriott. He will then have the head of MVCI call you.

 

[marksue]

Here is the info on the nominating committee

In the past the nominating committee usually just consisted of the President and Vice President. However, since there are actually two ‘A’ members and one ‘B’ member who’s terms expire this year, the Board recently voted and agreed that those falling off the Board will not be involved in the nominations; this leaves the two remaining Board members (the current vice president and treasurer/secretary) who will receive all nominations and then set up interviews and go through the selection process. I know that at a minimum, Marriott recommends to Board that the Nominating Committee choose at least a minimum of two volunteers for each open position, to be placed on the Limited Proxy. Selection of the candidate(s) is based on qualifying experience, and skills. Applicants must commit to following applicable law when they volunteer to serve on the Board of Directors and will not have issues with following the law. Qualifications and expertise is solicited and evaluated in, but not limited to, the following areas:

o Association management

o Accounting/budgeting experience

o Business management

o Contract and/or real estate law

o Engineering experience

o Professional accomplishments

o Property management experience

o Purchasing experience

 

[marksue]

There is a great deal of activity going on at the OC this week. A few of the people behind this effort are down in Aruba gathering names of OC owners who want the special meeting. I have high hopes we will shorlty have the 10% of the owners to call the special meeting. Stay tuned as we get closer to the magic number.

As you can see from my above post, existing board members will choose who can run for the board. I wonder who the people are they will select. You think it will be anyone who disagrees with Frank and them selves?

 

[marksue]

As expected, but there was hope, Mr Marriott has not responded to any owners. I did hear from well over a hundred owners that they did send letters to his office. It is disappointing that he has not responded to anyone. We can only hope he got the message and will put pressure on MVCI to get this resolved.

Marriott is announcing earnings on 2/12. There is a conference call following the announcement. AS a shareholder or owner, and I am not sure any of that matters, you are allowed to participate in the call and ask questions. WOuld be great to have a bunch of owners on the call ask questions about the Ocean CLub. On this call are the financial papers, and analysts. The meeting is shceduled for Feb 12 at 10:00 am. Here is the link and phone number for the call

The conference call will be webcast simultaneously via Marriott's investor relations website. Investors and news media wishing to access the call on the web should log on to http://www.marriott.com/investor, and click the link for the fourth quarter earnings call under "Recent and Upcoming Events". A replay will be available at that same website until February 12, 2010. The webcast will also be available as a podcast from the same site. A transcript of the call will also be available on the company's website.

The telephone dial-in number for the conference call is 719-325-4831. The reservation number for the recording is 7210547

 

[davidbb]

How many people have actually paid their dues ? I am having a real psyochological issue making the payment, knowing that at the very least I have been deceived and most likely have been defrauded in my purchase and my subsequent dues payments.

If enough owners refuse to pay dues, will it make a difference ?

 

[Eric]

yes, it will. It will generate lots of late fee payments for the HOA.

How many people have actually paid their dues ? I am having a real psyochological issue making the payment, knowing that at the very least I have been deceived and most likely have been defrauded in my purchase and my subsequent dues payments.

If enough owners refuse to pay dues, will it make a difference ?

 

[lovearuba]

davidbb

Hi
We paid ours. It just makes us angrier ever time we hear the Marriott name. I know they are experiencing the same issues many folks are with the economy turning so sour and I dont think they realize what a price they are paying by letting their reputation go sour with it.

 

[qlaval]

How many people have actually paid their dues ? I am having a real psyochological issue making the payment, knowing that at the very least I have been deceived and most likely have been defrauded in my purchase and my subsequent dues payments.

If enough owners refuse to pay dues, will it make a difference ?

Not paying our maintenance fees is not an option nor a way to express Marriott that we aren't satisfied with how things are handle.
If you don't pay you will expose yourself to extra fee... more eventually HOA will retake your TS to recover their money...

 

[lll1929]

I paid my Maint fee's but like others, I was not happy.

I am not going to be happy when I have to pay the assessment in Apr.

I don't want to be subjected to late fees.

I have a feeling next years fees are going to be over the top since we will have to absorb to fees that folks didn't pay in Jan 2009.

I will pay as long as I am blessed to have a job and pay. I have sent my letters, called as suggested by others and I hope to see a change, but with this economy, I am not holding my breathe.

 

[marksue]

I would recommend you pay your invoice. Dont get hit with penalty fees and possible foreclosure on your unit for lack of payment. Those of us invloved in this effort have paid thier fees and letting the process work its self out.

 

[luvmypt]

We paid ours. Enough said

 

[marksue]

Aren't we all. ANd do you think Marriott cares. Remember tomorrow is the ANalysts call for Marriott. Here is the info again if you want to dial in.