State of Max benefits

[skier4]

My husband and I were intrigued by the notion of Max back when initially announced. I've tried to keep informed on what the current state of Max is and I noticed that the Max benefit chart has changed quite a bit since the first one I saw.

An earlier chart (borrowed from a post)

But this is what's shown on the site now:

Things that had us intrigued- the "loyalty searches" and guest certificates among others- have disappeared. There's also an almost complete flattening of the tiers. One chart says "future state" while the other is "current", do we know if the other items are still planned? Am I misunderstanding what the charts represent?

I know many on this site are a no-go for Max but I'm not looking for a "should we or shouldn't we" answer. I'm just trying to understand the ins & outs of the product. Thanks!

 

[HaberHGV]

I’m a max member and was quite disappointed to see that guest certificates and the number I get changed based on the agent I talked with on the call.

What is frustrating is a lack of clarity across the board on the HGV side of things.

As many often bring up, salespeople say a variety of things to close a sale. But, one fix to this would be a clear, transparent outline of the various membership structures available to the public outside of sales pitches. Something that can be referenced and scrutinized by potential customers.

I went into to buy an elite level amount of points and laughed when the sales person said I couldn’t keep the chart showing the different levels.

I’m buying into this company for what presumably is for life and I can’t keep data about the very program I’m getting into?

Outside of that- sales people don’t represent the HGV experience for me. I’ve been able to take my family, friends, and co-workers on a variety of trips around the world at a fraction of the cost- so it’s worth it to me. Do I wish points were cheaper? Sure- who doesn’t want points for as little as they can get? But, overall- I’m happy with the program and hope improvements and transparency grow.

 

[dayooper]

I’m a max member and was quite disappointed to see that guest certificates and the number I get changed based on the agent I talked with on the call.

What is frustrating is a lack of clarity across the board on the HGV side of things.

As many often bring up, salespeople say a variety of things to close a sale. But, one fix to this would be a clear, transparent outline of the various membership structures available to the public outside of sales pitches. Something that can be referenced and scrutinized by potential customers.

I went into to buy an elite level amount of points and laughed when the sales person said I couldn’t keep the chart showing the different levels.

I’m buying into this company for what presumably is for life and I can’t keep data about the very program I’m getting into?

Outside of that- sales people don’t represent the HGV experience for me. I’ve been able to take my family, friends, and co-workers on a variety of trips around the world at a fraction of the cost- so it’s worth it to me. Do I wish points were cheaper? Sure- who doesn’t want points for as little as they can get? But, overall- I’m happy with the program and hope improvements and transparency grow.

Transparency is the last thing sales wants. They want ambiguity with room for the potential buyer to be led to the answer that it’s a great purchase. Most victims … errr … potential buyers aren’t armed with knowledge that this collective has. We can go into a sales presentation knowing the rules, policies and aftermarket value of what they are offering. Most do not. They trust the salesman and that trust is used against them. HGVC sales knows exactly what their salesman are doing and it’s encouraged and even taught. It’s frustrating and makes the entire system seem dirty.

We to enjoy the system and have had many great trips. We were very lucky that we bought only resale. I know there are those that are very happy they purchased from the developer. If they are happy and find value in their purchase, more power to them. We don’t find value in the perks of retail and are happy with what we spent to get the vacations we want. My wife and I feel the value is on the trips, not the perks. The system outside of the sales department is incredible. We have loved every trip we have been on. Maybe it’s because we don’t do sales presentations?

 

[Eggrollcreative]

I did find ultimate access events available on the max website for $99 so maybe the sales rep wasn’t lying after all about that.

 

[Eric B]

I'm hoping they straighten things out and provide the final version of what the benefits will be. We upgraded and got Max more as a side benefit than a motivation, but were disappointed to learn that the promised open season credit for our tier level hasn't been implemented yet. It also doesn't appear on the benefit chart, either the earlier one or the current one that is available on the site. It might be a case of them wanting to under promise and over deliver but seems odd to have that be something only the sales staff tells people about. I remember having to initial the sheet listing the benefits (which are subject to change, of course); I'll have to check and see if I still have a copy.

I'm also wondering about the removal of the automatic upgrade within unit size benefit. That's an existing one for some of the legacy elite tiers and should have been simple to implement.