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OWNERS UPDATE

jjcristi

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Hi All, I may be missing it but wasn't there an "owners update meeting " sticky at one time? We have a trip planned in one week for WKORV and was looking to see what their "reward" is so we can most likely say no to for their 90 minute BS session that we have done maybe 20+ times in the past. (sometimes the reward is worth it, but its been a while)
 
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DeniseM

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I don't think we've ever had and a sticky for that - most people avoid owner's sales meetings.
 

jjcristi

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I don't think we've ever had and a sticky for that - most people avoid owner's sales meetings.
I hear that!!! There was a time when the points exchanged actually meant something. Can anyone tell me what's currently being offered?
 

daviator

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I hear that!!! There was a time when the points exchanged actually meant something. Can anyone tell me what's currently being offered?
It is completely variable, it differs by property and maybe also by individual, I think their system may rate how likely a prospect you are.

Last week at WDW they offered me $300 or 50,000 Bonvoy points. I declined.
 

dioxide45

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Hi All, I may be missing it but wasn't there an "owners update meeting " sticky at one time? We have a trip planned in two weeks and was looking to see what their "reward" is so we can most likely say no to for their 90 minute BS session that we have done maybe 20+ times in the past. (sometimes the reward is worth it, but its been a while)
The gift for attending an update can vary based on a lot of factors. It won't necessarily be the same as what someone else is offered at the same resort.
 

Denise L

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At WKORV, it's currently 40K points or $200 resort credit/partner credit (dining, etc.) Credit for partners is given in two $100 certificates that have to be used in their entirety to get the full value because there is no credit given back if you don't spend it.
 

jjcristi

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At WKORV, it's currently 40K points or $200 resort credit/partner credit (dining, etc.) Credit for partners is given in two $100 certificates that have to be used in their entirety to get the full value because there is no credit given back if you don't spend it.
Thanks Denise, precisely what I was looking for!!!
 
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It is completely variable, it differs by property and maybe also by individual, I think their system may rate how likely a prospect you are.

Last week at WDW they offered me $300 or 50,000 Bonvoy points. I declined.
I wondered why my offers were always so low. They probably have a note on file saying "The guy who eats all the pastries and can do math in his head far faster than we can do it using a calculator. Never buys anything!" I know for a fact that there is one closer lady who is fed up with me at WKORV/N/Nanea, I can see it on her face when she enters the room. :)
 

dioxide45

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Thanks Denise, precisely what I was looking for!!!
Keep in mind, it may or may not be the same offer for you at any given time. The offer changes depending on traffic through the sales floor. If they have a lot of people signed up, they may lower the gift. If they need more bodies they may increase the offer. If you haven't been on a tour in a while, then you may get a better offer. If you've been on six updates in the last eight weeks, they may reduce the offer.
 

Denise L

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I decided that I needed some Bonvoy points, so we attended a 12:45 update today after scheduling it last minute this morning while it was raining. We don't go very often, and usually it's long and boring, but this time it was just over an hour, including being stuck in traffic from WKORV South to Nanea. We could have walked there, but the check-in lady wanted us to wait for the VIP Shuttle. It was running about 7 minutes behind, and then while we were waiting, the regular shuttle blocked our view of it, so when it pulled out, we had to wave it down. We met a nice cat named Lucy in the valet/entry area while waiting, and the shuttle driver was super nice. Probably arrived at Nanea at 1:07, and done with nice salesperson by 1:45, with time then spent waiting for the closer and then the exit person. Maybe started walking back to South at 1:52.
 

daviator

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I decided that I needed some Bonvoy points, so we attended a 12:45 update today after scheduling it last minute this morning while it was raining. We don't go very often, and usually it's long and boring, but this time it was just over an hour, including being stuck in traffic from WKORV South to Nanea. We could have walked there, but the check-in lady wanted us to wait for the VIP Shuttle. It was running about 7 minutes behind, and then while we were waiting, the regular shuttle blocked our view of it, so when it pulled out, we had to wave it down. We met a nice cat named Lucy in the valet/entry area while waiting, and the shuttle driver was super nice. Probably arrived at Nanea at 1:07, and done with nice salesperson by 1:45, with time then spent waiting for the closer and then the exit person. Maybe started walking back to South at 1:52.
Wow. Maybe I’ll do an update while we are at South later this month. Are they doing them all at Nanea now?

Maybe I don’t say no soon enough, I’ve never gotten out of an update that quickly. It’s always two hours by the time I get done with the closer. (Granted, I often buy the encore package which probably adds some time.)

Did they try any entertaining lies?
 

Denise L

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Wow. Maybe I’ll do an update while we are at South later this month. Are they doing them all at Nanea now?

Maybe I don’t say no soon enough, I’ve never gotten out of an update that quickly. It’s always two hours by the time I get done with the closer. (Granted, I often buy the encore package which probably adds some time.)

Did they try any entertaining lies?
Yes, all updates are at Nanea. We are usually there for the entire 90+ minutes like you, so this was a nice change. No entertaining lies. Really straightforward presentation with hopes that we would requalify our lone non-Abound Maui week for the minimum spend. It all sort of made complete sense if we cared about Abound or Bonvoy conversion and lots of bonus Bonvoy points.
 

daviator

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Yes, all updates are at Nanea. We are usually there for the entire 90+ minutes like you, so this was a nice change. No entertaining lies. Really straightforward presentation with hopes that we would requalify our lone non-Abound Maui week for the minimum spend. It all sort of made complete sense if we cared about Abound or Bonvoy conversion and lots of bonus Bonvoy points.
Interesting. The sales gallery at WKORV was quite large. If they've consolidated sales activities to Nanea, I wonder if they'll ever repurpose that space (and I wonder if that space is owned by MVW or if they pay any rent to the AOA for its use... ) I'm not sure what else could or would be done with it, it just seems weird to have such a large space going unused. I'm sure they are still using the sales reception area but maybe the rest of it is wasted now.

We were last there in 2022 and I think I did an update, but I'm pretty sure it was there at the South property. I've had a couple updates at Nanea but that was back when they were trying to sell that specific property, which wasn't a good fit for us.
 

Denise L

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Interesting. The sales gallery at WKORV was quite large. If they've consolidated sales activities to Nanea, I wonder if they'll ever repurpose that space (and I wonder if that space is owned by MVW or if they pay any rent to the AOA for its use... ) I'm not sure what else could or would be done with it, it just seems weird to have such a large space going unused. I'm sure they are still using the sales reception area but maybe the rest of it is wasted now.

We were last there in 2022 and I think I did an update, but I'm pretty sure it was there at the South property. I've had a couple updates at Nanea but that was back when they were trying to sell that specific property, which wasn't a good fit for us.
It could be that they still use the South sales center for new sales, and Nanea for owner updates. The salesperson waved her hand in that general direction when she told me what the retail price was for an OFD, for example, and told me that the people "over there" were paying this and that, etc.
 
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It could be that they still use the South sales center for new sales, and Nanea for owner updates. The salesperson waved her hand in that general direction when she told me what the retail price was for an OFD, for example, and told me that the people "over there" were paying this and that, etc.
They do.
 

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We went to a Vistana update yesterday. The salesman introduced us to Marriott’s new “MRP” or Maintenance Redemption Program. The gist of it is we would give a quantity of our 2025 Options to an outfit called “Koala” which rents them out for us to offset our MF. Marriott keeps 8% of a successful rental. There’s no guarantee of successful rentals but the salesman insists that the system works great and his clients are making back their MF. There’s “no way the won’t rent.”

For the “privilege” of joining this new program —also called “Full Marriott Access” or “Abound Full Access”—we must buy an indeterminate amount of new Options and trade in our previous Flex contract. His offer to us was to buy an additional 114,000 Options for $46,097, which would bring us up to a total of 343,000 Options and would make us Presidential VIP. There is also a future Buy Back offer involved but he was not clear on the details.

We politely declined the offer. Any and all comments or questions would be appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hindsite

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We went to a Vistana update yesterday. The salesman introduced us to Marriott’s new “MRP” or Maintenance Redemption Program. The gist of it is we would give a quantity of our 2025 Options to an outfit called “Koala” which rents them out for us to offset our MF. Marriott keeps 8% of a successful rental. There’s no guarantee of successful rentals but the salesman insists that the system works great and his clients are making back their MF. There’s “no way the won’t rent.”

For the “privilege” of joining this new program —also called “Full Marriott Access” or “Abound Full Access”—we must buy an indeterminate amount of new Options and trade in our previous Flex contract. His offer to us was to buy an additional 114,000 Options for $46,097, which would bring us up to a total of 343,000 Options and would make us Presidential VIP. There is also a future Buy Back offer involved but he was not clear on the details.

We politely declined the offer. Any and all comments or questions would be appreciated.


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:eek: Truly stunning creativity in lies.
There's no such thing as Full Marriott access or Full Abound access, you either have access or you don't. There's no secret hidden inventory that spending any amount of money will get you access to. There's no guaranteed buy-back programme, and MVC don't use the 3rd party rental site Go Koala to rent out. Yes of course you are at risk of not renting your ownership, particularly in the current market, whoever you use.
Sounds like the salesperson is running a side gig in renting out on behalf of their select group of "VIP Owners".

Well avoided.
 

daviator

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:eek: Truly stunning creativity in lies.
There's no such thing as Full Marriott access or Full Abound access, you either have access or you don't. There's no secret hidden inventory that spending any amount of money will get you access to. There's no guaranteed buy-back programme, and MVC don't use the 3rd party rental site Go Koala to rent out. Yes of course you are at risk of not renting your ownership, particularly in the current market, whoever you use.
Sounds like the salesperson is running a side gig in renting out on behalf of their select group of "VIP Owners".

Well avoided.
The only thing I’d add to your accurate response is that I’ve used Go-koala several times and have never been successfully at renting through them. So “there's no way it won’t rent” is just another lie. Some have had better luck renting through Go-koala, I don’t think it’s a worthless site, but it’s far from guaranteed.
 

Eric B

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I’ve had about a 20% success rate with Koala. I typically list something with them when I have an acceptable alternative with a shorter cancellation period or have already got alternate plans. Sometimes one comes through and it’s worth adjusting my plans.
 

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I have a presentation scheduled Tuesday here at SDO in Scottsdale. After reading this thread, now I'm actually excited to go to see what crazy "selling features" they come up with! I almost want to fake extreme interest in whatever they tell me and then suddenly change my mind, take my Bonvoy points and move on :p
 
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dioxide45

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I have a presentation scheduled here at SDO in Scottsdale on Tuesday. After reading this thread, now I'm actually excited to go to see what crazy "selling features" they come up with! I almost want to fake extreme interest in whatever they tell me and then suddenly change my mind, take my 40K Bonvoy points and move on :p
I can't remember exactly what the shtick was there when we went in August. It had something to do with the sales manager there was making a deal to sell a bunch of inventory to the big local companies so they could offer them for employee benefits. I have no idea how this was supposed to help me, but I was somehow able to get some special cheap inventory. It worked out to about $7 per club point. I suspect it was a bundle deal in disguise.
 

daviator

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I scheduled an owner update for this Friday, but was dubious about it, the concierge assured me that it wasnt a big deal if I decided to cancel. So maybe I will go and hear the latest.

They must have a brainstorming meeting every month or so where they come up with new and compelling sales tactics. Presumably most of it is not vetted by corporate and that’s probably intentional on both sides.
 

cubigbird

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At our last owners update they tried the pay to downgrade approach and seemed shocked when I laughed at them. They also tried the we will no longer be selling deeds after X date. Hybrid packages were low season + points for about $10/point all in. It seems the per point offering varies depending on where you attend. No new approaches heard. However, they were willing to take one of my Vistana deeded weeks back for equity trade in, so that strategy has returned.
 
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jjcristi

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So... we did our update at Nanea and they offered $200 vouchers, $100 each or 40K points as Denise L. stated above. We chose the points because you can you use them at Dukes, Leilani’s etc. or the properties restaurants. We just happen to have reservations for the next two nights at both of the listed restaurants so it was a win. Typical presentation..... I told the representative at the start that we are not going to purchase anything and she said, "then why are you here?"

LOL!!!!Cracked me up.
 

kozykritter

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So I went to the update today at SDO...no crazy schemes were presented, darn it! It might be the most enjoyable update I've had in ages, lots of jibber jabber and very little sales pressure. She told me that Marriott has just officially started taking back Vistana ownership (Westin and Sheraton Flex only for now) to put towards a Club Point purchase...previously they were trialing it. They give you the existing Club Point value of your traded-in ownership and in return you have to purchase a minimum of 2,000 new points ($35K in new money). She said it was a good option for a dual owner to consolidate all their ownership in one system and avoid the "hassles". Me, I don't mind hassles (aka doing the research/using different booking changes including Interval) but I see how it could appeal to some owners.

Dual ownership gives me all kinds of options for booking Abound properties which fits the way I travel currently. Also adding 2,000 points wouldn't even get me to 7,000 for Executive, a status I'm already grandfathered into because of my Vistana ownership (3*) which I would give up in the process...and all that would cost me is $35K :p

Pam was great, fun to talk with and someone that I would call if I did ever want to buy more ownership or if someone asked me to refer them to a salesperson if they were looking to do a presentation/buy ownership.
 
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