"I am a Marriott owner and have been very dissatisfied with very aspect of my ownership since my purchase in 2005.
The people who I have contacted have not been helpful at all ranging from a total lack empathy and assistance to some empathy without helping me at all. Many have stated that they would call me back with information and most if not all have not done so,
I have been trying to obtain assistance for the last couple of years and it would be in Marriott’s interest to try to help owners like me, who have not been accommodated by local properties, to assist owners.
There is no possibility to communicate with local boards at all; I have tried since 2007. Other than attending meetings which is not a possibility for most, Marriott is the only place to seek communication and they have not been willing to be of any assistance at all. I have tried over the years to reach out to every conceivable Dept within Marriott up to and including Marriotts’ corporate offices in Maryland.
Thee premise of ownership of a Marriott property which led to my purchase was under false promises that Marriott would be there to help owners. This has not been the case at all.
Many statements were made to me at the time of my purchase which were outrightly not true and even fraudulent."
I am writing this to provide information for those considering buying into Marriott Vacation Club. Talk to an owner and ask lots of questions. Our experience is that is has been difficult to make reservations when and where we would like to travel because of limited availability. I have come to the conclusion that this program only works possibly for those who know when and where they want to go 1 year in advance and have the opportunity to travel off season if needed. I was prompted to write this report today after talking to MVC customer care for the 3rd or 4th time trying to find a beach resort on the East Coast during a week in August.
She told me there was no availability, but if I wanted to purchase rooms, she could put me in touch with a vacation specialist for a 70% discount for rooms in Hilton Head. I've also had a sales rep calling me from the Myrtle Beach location offereing special deals to come and stay there. The trouble is I can't use my points to book rooms. The conclusion is that there are no rooms for MVC owners who have invested thousands of dollars into the program, but rooms are available for outside paying customers. I also went ahead and tried to schedule for next March 2018 with flexibility of 3 or 4 nights during the week at two different restorts, but only to hear there is no availability.
My option is to go on a wait list now that ties up my points as long as I am waiting for some rooms to open up. The ironic thing is I can go online and book rooms at those places next March, but I can't use my very expensive points. Also, beware of rising maintenance costs annually. During the sales pitch we only heard how many possibilites we had to use the resorts all over the world, but in reality, we have very limited possibilities. Save yourself the hassle of dealing with all the rules and limitations of using your points, and book directly with MVC resorts. Enjoy the resorts without the hassle of ownership. Beware of high pressure glossy sales pitches.
On December 31, 2014 my family and I were enjoying a much needed vacation with the Armed Forces Vacation Club (which is incredible and I should have stayed with them) so I agreed to extend our Vacation a few days by staying at the Marriott on Myrtle Beach. In so agreeing I was required to attend a Vacation Club presentation. A person needs to know that we had had a huge crisis just a few months before when our home burned down. With this in mind I was extremely relaxed and was having a nice chat with the lady presenting the "Vacation Club". They stressed repeatedly that this was not a "Timeshare", and after a few hours of convincing us we gave in and I bought a "premier package" and since I was a disabled (wounded) veteran on top of it with four combat tours, the people at the club sales "gave" us a few perks free hotel stay (where we were at - never got paid for), 500 extra points (never saw them) and no maintenance fees (seemed weird that a "non-timeshare" would have maintenance fees) for the first year (also a lie). Since we did not want to finance it we paid cash. After all, these properties would be going up (showed us a bunch of 100% increases) and Marriott would be happy to "buy-back" our shares within 3 years if not satisfied. After this wonderful sales pitch we decided to use our points in Orlando (2 days - that was all 3,500 points would buy). My family and I stayed there for five more days at $250.00 a night. Then I started getting harassed about "maintenance fees" since I inadvertently paid the first years fees when I received the bill, then Marriott Vacation Club Management Office informed me that I could "forgo" my 2nd year fees since I paid the first year one. I then really started having problems. Not only were m points practically useless (all that stuff about overseas properties and signature properties were all hype. So I decided to fight them and what did they do? They offered to "buy-back" my points for a whopping profit of -75% or translated $29,000 less than I had paid. Then I find out I had no option as they had started "foreclosure" proceedings due to the "missed" "timeshare maintenance fees". I am listing this here to sound then alarm - look out for these crooks. They overpromise and way under deliver. The only satisfaction I get out of all of this is he fact that I am going to have a powerful microphone next year and a lot of people will know to stay away from this company. I thought Bill Marriott was better than this, now I know he is just like anyone else that loves money. One final warnng, military members - stay away, stay far away. If you have bought in the past day or two get out of you contract now. I forgot - if you have a Rewards number with Marriott that you got way before he "Vacation Club Ripoff" came into being, they will confiscate the points and freeze your account. They really are low-life's. Caveat Emptor
Beware of all timeshare representations. They are highly misleading, if not downright fraud. You will not be able to get the timeframe you want. There will be a million reasons but none to your liking. And, Marriott, the granddaddy of them all is the worse. You wind up paying far more for your week than what it would cost you in one of the most expensive hotels. At least in a hotel, you can get the reservation you want. They lie, lie, lie.
I did everything I was instructed to do, beginning with calling in exactly at 6:00 a.m. only to have an automated voice system tell me that due to heavy volume, Marriott could not take my call. I tried going online, and could not get any reservation for the month of March. At 6:08 a.m., I was told that the week I wanted was gone. Come on guys. Stop seliing what you can't deliver.
A professional Sales Executive will use free lunch vuchers as incentive to attend a "meeting" which is actually a sales presentation of either a Marriott Time Share or if you already have one, an "Additional Benefit" to your Time Share. This additional benefit is aimed at saving unused Time Share which, if an owner cannot use in two years, is forfieted. The idea is for Marriott to induce you to buy this added benefit which, in my case, almost three years ago, cost $19,000 payable as a ten-year mortgage payable at $1900 a year or a little less than $160.00 a month.
Since my wife and I, having owned and titled two units of Marriott Time Share since 2004 could not always afford a yearly vacation, we attended the meeting at 10 in the morning. Mr. Rod Hill, a Marriott Executive Salesman, presented his talk starting at 10 in the morining and ended almost exactly at 12 noon.
Not having had breakfast, we were more than eager to use our free lunch vouchers.
And the scheme happened...Mr. Hill demanded a 10% down payment or $1900 cash. We used our Bank of America Debit Card for this purpose.
Mr. Hill was now fully aware we needed lunch more than anything else so that instead of performing the usual Real Estate-related Closing where State and Federal Law require FULL DISCLOSURE of all monies involved at Closing, Mr. Hill produced the many Contract Pages and simply POINTED at the spaces where we were required to sign or initial...We did this Closing Procedure within what I estimated to be not more than 5 minutes.
Comes New New Year and I review our Holiday Expenses. I noticed that aside from the $1900.00 we paid at Closing, Mr. Hill withdrew, without our authorization, an additional $860.00 using the same Bank of America debit card we used at Closing. We called Mr. Hill right away to cancel becuase had we been aware there was such an added fee he never mentioned at Closing, we would have simply walked away. Anyway, he suggested we write a Cancellation letter. When we followed up and inquired about our desire to cancel, he changed his mood. He said we missed the cancellation period of 10 days...by two days. We pleaded for him to reconsider since we were at the height of the busiest Holiday Season of the year where like most people, we were focused on gifts and merriment. His said he was not "obligated" for that matter.
Conclusion: Stay away from Time Shares. Owners are giving up Time Shares in droves for FREE to Carpet Baggers. Not worth it, even with such a High Class Hotel Corporation like Marriott which charges an annual fee of some $750.00 Maintenance Fee. If you realize, you can rent a first class room for less than this amount.
Its time for the SEC and Congress to file Class Action against Marriottt and other Time Share operators. Thank you.
Bought vacation membership and was shown beautiful new condo. Promised easy availability not only in Maui but around the world. Turns out all the properties in Europe have 14 month wait list. Maui is almost impossible.
We finally got a spot in Maui and was promised 2 bed with kitchen. We got to bed, no kitchen just microwave and dorm size beer refit without ice. The said there was a communal kitchen.
In in order to change anything we were told to call salt lake but they are only open mon-fri
the front desk including manager was rude and unhelpful. He actually giggled
this is second time this has happened where we were promised one thing but given something else
Marriott Vacation Club Reviews
Letter i just wrote to Marriott
"I am a Marriott owner and have been very dissatisfied with very aspect of my ownership since my purchase in 2005.
The people who I have contacted have not been helpful at all ranging from a total lack empathy and assistance to some empathy without helping me at all. Many have stated that they would call me back with information and most if not all have not done so,
I have been trying to obtain assistance for the last couple of years and it would be in Marriott’s interest to try to help owners like me, who have not been accommodated by local properties, to assist owners.
There is no possibility to communicate with local boards at all; I have tried since 2007. Other than attending meetings which is not a possibility for most, Marriott is the only place to seek communication and they have not been willing to be of any assistance at all. I have tried over the years to reach out to every conceivable Dept within Marriott up to and including Marriotts’ corporate offices in Maryland.
Thee premise of ownership of a Marriott property which led to my purchase was under false promises that Marriott would be there to help owners. This has not been the case at all.
Many statements were made to me at the time of my purchase which were outrightly not true and even fraudulent."
I am writing this to provide information for those considering buying into Marriott Vacation Club. Talk to an owner and ask lots of questions. Our experience is that is has been difficult to make reservations when and where we would like to travel because of limited availability. I have come to the conclusion that this program only works possibly for those who know when and where they want to go 1 year in advance and have the opportunity to travel off season if needed. I was prompted to write this report today after talking to MVC customer care for the 3rd or 4th time trying to find a beach resort on the East Coast during a week in August.
She told me there was no availability, but if I wanted to purchase rooms, she could put me in touch with a vacation specialist for a 70% discount for rooms in Hilton Head. I've also had a sales rep calling me from the Myrtle Beach location offereing special deals to come and stay there. The trouble is I can't use my points to book rooms. The conclusion is that there are no rooms for MVC owners who have invested thousands of dollars into the program, but rooms are available for outside paying customers. I also went ahead and tried to schedule for next March 2018 with flexibility of 3 or 4 nights during the week at two different restorts, but only to hear there is no availability.
My option is to go on a wait list now that ties up my points as long as I am waiting for some rooms to open up. The ironic thing is I can go online and book rooms at those places next March, but I can't use my very expensive points. Also, beware of rising maintenance costs annually. During the sales pitch we only heard how many possibilites we had to use the resorts all over the world, but in reality, we have very limited possibilities. Save yourself the hassle of dealing with all the rules and limitations of using your points, and book directly with MVC resorts. Enjoy the resorts without the hassle of ownership. Beware of high pressure glossy sales pitches.
On December 31, 2014 my family and I were enjoying a much needed vacation with the Armed Forces Vacation Club (which is incredible and I should have stayed with them) so I agreed to extend our Vacation a few days by staying at the Marriott on Myrtle Beach. In so agreeing I was required to attend a Vacation Club presentation. A person needs to know that we had had a huge crisis just a few months before when our home burned down. With this in mind I was extremely relaxed and was having a nice chat with the lady presenting the "Vacation Club". They stressed repeatedly that this was not a "Timeshare", and after a few hours of convincing us we gave in and I bought a "premier package" and since I was a disabled (wounded) veteran on top of it with four combat tours, the people at the club sales "gave" us a few perks free hotel stay (where we were at - never got paid for), 500 extra points (never saw them) and no maintenance fees (seemed weird that a "non-timeshare" would have maintenance fees) for the first year (also a lie). Since we did not want to finance it we paid cash. After all, these properties would be going up (showed us a bunch of 100% increases) and Marriott would be happy to "buy-back" our shares within 3 years if not satisfied. After this wonderful sales pitch we decided to use our points in Orlando (2 days - that was all 3,500 points would buy). My family and I stayed there for five more days at $250.00 a night. Then I started getting harassed about "maintenance fees" since I inadvertently paid the first years fees when I received the bill, then Marriott Vacation Club Management Office informed me that I could "forgo" my 2nd year fees since I paid the first year one. I then really started having problems. Not only were m points practically useless (all that stuff about overseas properties and signature properties were all hype. So I decided to fight them and what did they do? They offered to "buy-back" my points for a whopping profit of -75% or translated $29,000 less than I had paid. Then I find out I had no option as they had started "foreclosure" proceedings due to the "missed" "timeshare maintenance fees". I am listing this here to sound then alarm - look out for these crooks. They overpromise and way under deliver. The only satisfaction I get out of all of this is he fact that I am going to have a powerful microphone next year and a lot of people will know to stay away from this company. I thought Bill Marriott was better than this, now I know he is just like anyone else that loves money. One final warnng, military members - stay away, stay far away. If you have bought in the past day or two get out of you contract now. I forgot - if you have a Rewards number with Marriott that you got way before he "Vacation Club Ripoff" came into being, they will confiscate the points and freeze your account. They really are low-life's. Caveat Emptor
Beware of all timeshare representations. They are highly misleading, if not downright fraud. You will not be able to get the timeframe you want. There will be a million reasons but none to your liking. And, Marriott, the granddaddy of them all is the worse. You wind up paying far more for your week than what it would cost you in one of the most expensive hotels. At least in a hotel, you can get the reservation you want. They lie, lie, lie.
I did everything I was instructed to do, beginning with calling in exactly at 6:00 a.m. only to have an automated voice system tell me that due to heavy volume, Marriott could not take my call. I tried going online, and could not get any reservation for the month of March. At 6:08 a.m., I was told that the week I wanted was gone. Come on guys. Stop seliing what you can't deliver.
A professional Sales Executive will use free lunch vuchers as incentive to attend a "meeting" which is actually a sales presentation of either a Marriott Time Share or if you already have one, an "Additional Benefit" to your Time Share. This additional benefit is aimed at saving unused Time Share which, if an owner cannot use in two years, is forfieted. The idea is for Marriott to induce you to buy this added benefit which, in my case, almost three years ago, cost $19,000 payable as a ten-year mortgage payable at $1900 a year or a little less than $160.00 a month.
Since my wife and I, having owned and titled two units of Marriott Time Share since 2004 could not always afford a yearly vacation, we attended the meeting at 10 in the morning. Mr. Rod Hill, a Marriott Executive Salesman, presented his talk starting at 10 in the morining and ended almost exactly at 12 noon.
Not having had breakfast, we were more than eager to use our free lunch vouchers.
And the scheme happened...Mr. Hill demanded a 10% down payment or $1900 cash. We used our Bank of America Debit Card for this purpose.
Mr. Hill was now fully aware we needed lunch more than anything else so that instead of performing the usual Real Estate-related Closing where State and Federal Law require FULL DISCLOSURE of all monies involved at Closing, Mr. Hill produced the many Contract Pages and simply POINTED at the spaces where we were required to sign or initial...We did this Closing Procedure within what I estimated to be not more than 5 minutes.
Comes New New Year and I review our Holiday Expenses. I noticed that aside from the $1900.00 we paid at Closing, Mr. Hill withdrew, without our authorization, an additional $860.00 using the same Bank of America debit card we used at Closing. We called Mr. Hill right away to cancel becuase had we been aware there was such an added fee he never mentioned at Closing, we would have simply walked away. Anyway, he suggested we write a Cancellation letter. When we followed up and inquired about our desire to cancel, he changed his mood. He said we missed the cancellation period of 10 days...by two days. We pleaded for him to reconsider since we were at the height of the busiest Holiday Season of the year where like most people, we were focused on gifts and merriment. His said he was not "obligated" for that matter.
Conclusion: Stay away from Time Shares. Owners are giving up Time Shares in droves for FREE to Carpet Baggers. Not worth it, even with such a High Class Hotel Corporation like Marriott which charges an annual fee of some $750.00 Maintenance Fee. If you realize, you can rent a first class room for less than this amount.
Its time for the SEC and Congress to file Class Action against Marriottt and other Time Share operators. Thank you.
Bought vacation membership and was shown beautiful new condo. Promised easy availability not only in Maui but around the world. Turns out all the properties in Europe have 14 month wait list. Maui is almost impossible.
We finally got a spot in Maui and was promised 2 bed with kitchen. We got to bed, no kitchen just microwave and dorm size beer refit without ice. The said there was a communal kitchen.
In in order to change anything we were told to call salt lake but they are only open mon-fri
the front desk including manager was rude and unhelpful. He actually giggled
this is second time this has happened where we were promised one thing but given something else
stay away.