Not quite too late to back out....

[Jersey Skier]

OK. First time owner, first post here, so this may be in the wrong place.

Went to a sales presentaion at Oceana Palms over the weekend. Put a deposit down on vacation points. Have several days where we can still rescind.

Alll of the info I have been able to get (reading numerous posts) are from prior week owners, bashing, or questioning the new points system.

Didn't realize what we were getting into with the new system. Seemed straight forward (at the presentation).

As someone who does not own a week anywhere, what would be the downside to this system? I guess my biggest concern is not being able to get a resrvation when and where we would like. Obviuosly at the presentaion, that was stated to not be an issue if you book far enough in advance. After researching the past 2 days, I'm not too sure about that now.

For the foreseable future I am stuck with prime weeks based on school vacations. Being a skier, that means Xmas or President's weeks. How can I find out if there will be any availablity at those times where we would like to go?

Is there any way to find such information, before our closing? Are there any poinst only members here that have used the new system?

Hoping not to make a very expensive mistake.

Thanks.

 

[ampaholic]

Run away

If you have to ask so many questions - you really should rescind and then learn. :whoopie:

 

[vacationhopeful]

You have NO UNDERSTANDING as to what you just spent thousands of dollars on. Please RESCIND immediately. That great deal will be available NEXT MONTH or in 6 months, if that is what is the best deal for you and your family.

I am willing to bet that your can and will find a deal better suited for your family for pennies on the dollars you just signed contracts for. Pennies spent but DOLLARS saved.

 

[mjm1]

We have enjoyed timesharing for over 25 years. Our first purchase was a mistake but we made the most of it. I agree with the prior poster who suggested canceling this contract and then research and learn, so you can make the most informed decision possible. That would include the various programs available, locations, points programs vs weeks programs, buying resale vs from the developer, etc.

The deal they offered you will be available later if you are still interested. The price may go up slightly, but with this economy it would be much if any at all.

I would recommend joining TUG and learn everything you can here. I wish I had done that long ago.

Good luck and have fun learning.

 

[Jersey Skier]

Wow, that was quick....and what I was afraid of.

 

[funtime]

Oceana Palms is a beautiful resort - I can see why you bought. I had a great time there last Easter when I picked picked up with an exchange. Nevertheless I recommend recission and do the recission exactly as required in your documents and do it NOW. Do not give them a reason nor talk to them, just follow the instructions in your contract.
I also suggest that yo u join TUG and also learn a lot about timesharing. And, go on ebay and do a search for Marriott timeshare - these are primarily weeks but you would be shocked what they are going for. Best regards, Funtime

 

[BocaBoy]

I don't know whether in your circumstances you made a mistake or not, and it seems that you are also unsure. That is a good reason to rescind. Then take your time and learn all you can about timeshares and the Marriott system. If you then decide that a purchase of Marriott timeshare points is right for you, you can do it at that time with more confidence.

 

[Karen G]

Just another voice encouraging you to take all the good advice you've received here and rescind your purchase. You won't be sorry!

 

[puckmanfl]

good evening

Jersey Skier...

To Snag Pres week or Xmas at Park City or Tahoe will take well over 5000 points...for a week... Cost will be $50K + 2K MF..Better off finding a pres week resale or Xmas week resale...still pricey but will be cheaper with MF's about $1K...

Remember with points...you can fork over the 50K and STILL not get the week you want... with a deeded ownership week for Plat Plus..you get the week for ever!!!!

Most of the owners love their timeshares in the weeks model..points work for some but not for others....they are really pricey..have no guarantees and are extremely restricted to anyone that purchases them resale from you...

be careful...

 

[OldPantry]

My two cents worth: rescind ... YESTERDAY!

 

[timeos2]

You have one chance to avoid a big mistake. Take it - rescind now while you can! Then do some serious research as to how to get a far better deal.

 

[Lansdowne]

BTW What kind of incentives did they offer? The deal is always there and today you can purchased the property from somewhere else that may be more convenient and still get the incentives.

Good Luck - looking back I got get deals on two of my properties and ok deals on the others. Bottom line at the end of the day I like my resorts and feel like I have gotten my money out of them. I am sure that had I known what I know now I would have received better deals and would have purchased a resale for my collection.

 

[Jersey Skier]

BTW What kind of incentives did they offer? The deal is always there and today you can purchased the property from somewhere else that may be more convenient and still get the incentives.

Good Luck - looking back I got get deals on two of my properties and ok deals on the others. Bottom line at the end of the day I like my resorts and feel like I have gotten my money out of them. I am sure that had I known what I know now I would have received better deals and would have purchased a resale for my collection.

The only incentives were 10% discount and 2400 free points that would need to be used within the first 12 months.

The biggest issue for me is the fact that they made it sound as if all Marriott current owners have switched or are switching to the point system. Thus, availability wouldn't be an issue. They made it sound as if all you had to do was plan earlier than I normally do and you surely get the weeks you want. My research has proven otherwise.

 

[KathyPet]

I still cannot help but think that Marriott is involved in a very delicate balancing act when it comes to DC points reservations at the popular sold out resorts in prime time. THey are relying heaving on using weeks that are traded in for Marriott reward points by existing owners. Too me it's a crap shoot as to whether they will be able to satisfy the DC points owners request with what they will have for available inventory on a ongoing basis. Guess we will just have to wait and see what points owners report over the next couple of years.

 

[aka Julie]

The only incentives were 10% discount and 2400 free points that would need to be used within the first 12 months.

The biggest issue for me is the fact that they made it sound as if all Marriott current owners have switched or are switching to the point system. Thus, availability wouldn't be an issue. They made it sound as if all you had to do was plan earlier than I normally do and you surely get the weeks you want. My research has proven otherwise.

Besides, did you purchase enough points to get you into those holiday weeks as Puckman outlined above?

Otherwise you would only to be able to vacation maybe every other year but your maintenance fees would be due every year with no vacation some years.

 

[vacationhopeful]

That is a common sales tactic with timeshares.

RCI put out a Points system years ago; people converted their fixed weeks to get points to book varous size units and different seasons. Cost owners thousands of dollars to convert -- all to get the weeks they didn't own but wanted.

HA! Fixed week owners who had the GOOD WEEKS, ask the same question the Marriott owners of the good weeks have ask, Why do we need to pay more money to get good weeks? We already own the good stuff!

Plus Marriott thru in the "skim" factor in their points system. So owners of GOOD weeks don;t even get enough points to book GOOD weeks as Marriott requires a HIGHER point number to BOOK than what they GIVE to owner to deposit their GOOD weeks.

 

[puckmanfl]

good morning....

Jersey Skier...

Find a reputable resale broker... Purchase a resale Xmas week at a Park City Resort (mountainside or Summit). Even if you pay 40K (seems high) it will be cheaper than DSC points. You now OWN a deed for Xmas forever. MF about 1k in contrast to 2K in points. I also believe that SummittWatch may be better for you becuase you can book any plat week (ski season) with your plat plus week.

Even if you don't ski over Xmas, you can bok any other part of ski season. If you wan't to trade. you have a tiger/killer trader that can be locked off and get you two weeks.... Only downside is you can't convert these resale weeks to DC points. But you will have tears of Xmas skiing!!!!

please don't misunderstand, I have 4 legacy weeks that gets me 14,000 points that I love using, but I only forked over $695 to enroll and got 800 bonus points which covered the enrollment. I still own my deeded weeks but can play in weeks or points!!!!

 

[jimf41]

I'll go along with the others who have recommended rescinding. Not for the same reasons however. I won't buy something that I can't unload if needs arise. This was confirmed at my recent presentation at Lakeshore when I asked the rep how I could sell trust points if I needed to. He came back with some mumbo-jumbo about a resignation program but when the sales mgr was called in to verify this he confirmed that at the current time there is no way to sell trust points permanently to anyone who can use them.

As to the ability to reserve weeks it's my experience that reserving a week in your home resort as a week is easier than reserving it with DC points. Reserving a week with DC points in any resort including swapping back in to your home resort is far superior to trying to swap with II.

 

[puckmanfl]

good morning...

This is the most concerning aspect of DC points. Even if the value of my 4 Legacy weeks went to $1. I am pretty sure I could at least give them away ( 2 GV 3 bedroom Plat and 3 hawaii EOY's).

DC points that are sold/transferred have severe limitations. They cannot be used for the Exchange Company and can only snag Trust inventory within 60 days!!! Yet, they come with a lifetime of MF's...Any purchasers/recepients of the Trust points would pay $0.41/pt MF and only have access to Trust inventory within 60 days...

I asked about the resale policy at Oceana Palms. The rep told me "If I was worried about resale, this wasn't the product for me". I asked if he ever heard about death, serious illness, divorce etc???

 

[timeos2]

I'll go along with the others who have recommended rescinding. Not for the same reasons however. I won't buy something that I can't unload if needs arise. This was confirmed at my recent presentation at Lakeshore when I asked the rep how I could sell trust points if I needed to. He came back with some mumbo-jumbo about a resignation program but when the sales mgr was called in to verify this he confirmed that at the current time there is no way to sell trust points permanently to anyone who can use them.

As to the ability to reserve weeks it's my experience that reserving a week in your home resort as a week is easier than reserving it with DC points. Reserving a week with DC points in any resort including swapping back in to your home resort is far superior to trying to swap with II.

Agreed 100%. No matter what its called - VIP, Club, Points, etc - if it cannot
be sold/transfered to a new owner / buyer then it has NO VALUE and therefore paying 10 cents for it (or far more in most cases as in thousands!) is money thrown away. Don't fall for it - its all sales hype.

Another reason resale is the better way to go. If you can buy it resale you can sell or transfer it later - guaranteed!

 

[m61376]

I expect by now you've written your rescission letter; make sure to follow the directions exactly as outlined in your contract (even if you fax it, also send a certified/return receipt letter for proof and if still there and hand delivering, make sure to get a receipt, etc.).

Take the time to understand what you are buying. The problem is that Marriott paints a very appealing picture- buy some points and reserve where and when you want to go easily. But the reality is that those holiday ski weeks were sold out long ago, so there is little or no inventory in the trust for those weeks. Availability is based on legacy week owners not only enrolling in the DC program, but choosing to deposit those weeks either for DC points or Marriott Reward Points (and if the latter, Marriott then electing to make those weeks available for points reservations rather than renting them on Marriott.com). For Marriott, the beauty of this system is they are no longer confined to selling x number of Christmas or New Year's ski weeks, or President's ski weeks, to x number of people. With points, they can sell the possibility of booking those prime weeks over and over basically to an infinite number of people, since any points owner has the possibility of booking those weeks.

On the other hand, if you paid a premium for a deeded Plat. Plus ski week, you are guaranteed a week every year. While you cannot currently join the DC program with a resale week, you would own a very premium week that would be a tiger trader in II, be a high demand week for private trades (Tug has a classified board for private trading which many have availed themselves with great success), or command a high rental rate and allow you to rent elsewhere should you so desire.

Buying a Plat. Plus ski week on the resale market will be much cheaper than buying enough points to reserve such a week, will incur lower MF's on an annual basis, and moreover will guarantee you the reservation you are looking to buy. While I don't know the pricing for ski weeks, there is a President's week Mountainside week on Redweek with an asking price of 35K, with asking prices for week 51 a bit higher; selling prices are generally significantly lower. I am still guessing that in this economy, assuming you bought enough points to make a holiday ski week reservation, you would save quite a bit of money upfront and more every year on MF's.

Welcome toTug, btw

btw- if you decide to buy resale, check out all the ads on the sites in the stickie at the top of the buying, selling and renting forum. Contact a few reputable resale brokers and tell them what you are looking for (Shelley from transactionrealty.com and Jessica from Timesharing2000.com are two reputable ones I've dealt with, and if you want other recommendations just ask and I am sure several will follow). Plat. Plus ski weeks are high demand and short supply, so Ebay probably is a longshot but it never hurts to look. There are a few owners there here on Tug who can probably give you some advice as to pricing as well.

 

[flyboy0681]

I agree with all of the contributions here, try to get out of it.

Although my purchase worked out for me in the end, I was very discouraged for the first 10 years at just how difficult it was for me to trade my unit. The sales person exuded so much confidence that all I needed to do was "pick my destination and reserve it". At the time I too was restricted to school vacations and that spelled disaster as I was competing with just about everyone else in my age group and that was tens of thousands of people. My success rate of getting what I wanted, when I wanted, was probably less than 15%. Maybe the points system will work out better now, but are you willing to take that chance to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars?

The sales person will fight you tooth and nail to prevent you from backing out and will likely put a "closer" on the phone to make the final appeal. You need to stick to your guns - heavily. Keep in mind that you are doing this once in a lifetime but they do it several times a week. So who has the upper hand?

 

[Former Cruiser]

There are still thousands of weeks owners that did not get into the DC program. Owning at Oceanwatch, I've never had a problem getting the trade I wanted. However, I used to wait until I got an accommodation certificate (free week) offer before I deposited. From now on I'm going to do a Request First so Marriott will get me the week I want so they can used my Oceanwatch week for the DC people. No extra money, and the trades I want - priceless.