The Best Presentation Ever.......

FractionalTraveler · Aug 21, 2014

Recently I attended a presentation at Oceana Palms and after that presentation I got to thinking a bit more about why I actually decided to go in the first place and constantly drag my wife into this mess.

After much reminiscing and reflection upon past presentations (some more memorable than others) over the years, it came to me as a breath of fresh air.

All incentives aside, what I came to realize is that "The Best Presentation Ever" is actually hosted here daily on TUG and served up 24/7 with real people and real topics of discussion! No Marketing, no Sales pressure, no SPIN.

Well maybe some spin in each of our own distinct perspectives on Marriott Timesharing, but that is what makes this place interesting.

So it appear that the years of presentation purgatory have come and gone without a single purchase except for an encore package years back.

Moving forward I cant see myself ever returning to that place where vacation dreams are now sold one day at a time.

Tug is the real place where the best presentations are made daily.

FT

jont · Aug 21, 2014

No truer words have ever been written. And the best part of this presentation is that it's all in writing.

BocaBoy · Aug 21, 2014

I actually enjoy going to the presentations most if the time, although it was more fun when they were still selling weeks. It was fun to get the pitch for the various resorts. Now they are only selling generic points (which we won't purchase) so we go mostly for the gifts, but as long as they offer these incentives we will keep attending.

Fasttr · Aug 21, 2014

BocaBoy said:
I actually enjoy going to the presentations most if the time.... so we go mostly for the gifts, but as long as they offer these incentives we will keep attending.

I'm with BocaBoy....I enjoy going as I sort of get a kick out of their sales pitch of the day, as their angle of attack is ever changing. In most business transactions, you are either pitching, or being pitched, so the more info I can pick up on the science of the pitch is always of interest to me. As long as they keep offering me enough points to make it worth my while, I'll likely continue going...assuming I can book an 8:30am(ish) slot (that won't carve into the middle of my day).

I did have an interesting conversation at my Crystal Shores pitch on Tuesday. I was offered 45K MR points or $300 room credit. I was amazed that the offer was so high, especially since I just received 30K MR points to do the pitch in May of this year at Newport Coast. I often see folks here on TUG mention they were offered 15K, 20K, 10K so I asked specifically how they determine what to offer. I was told its based on an algorithm that MVC's marketing system spews out to them, specific to each individual (he showed me mine), which produces a number between 1 and 10. Based on that number, the resort makes you a customized offer. The higher the number, the higher the offer (of MR points, or room credit, or Visa Card value, etc) for you to attend a presentation.

The algorithm takes many factors into consideration such as....
-Age. As an example, folks in their early 50's are mathematically more likely to spend money on a second home, so if you are in that target age group, they value that more
-If you are an un-enrolled owner with weeks eligible to be enrolled, they value that more
-If you are short a nice even number of points that nicely falls into one of their targeted packages with a nice discount attached (say 3500 points) away from reaching P or P+ status, they value that more than if you only needed 1000 points to get to Premier status.
-If you happen to be staying using cash (even if a MOD discount), they value that more for a couple of reasons. 1. you obviously need more points so you don't have to pay cash anymore, and 2. They can use the cash room charges you are paying as an additional discount against the purchase price of the points.
-There are many other variables that the system uses, those are just some examples.

The more boxes your situation ticks off, the higher your point value (on the 1-10 scale) and a high number tells them you are ripe for selling points to, so they up the offer in hopes to get you to the pitch.

Anyhow, that was the first time that part of the process was ever explained to me, and I found it interesting.

suzannesimon · Aug 21, 2014

That is very interesting. I wonder if they start deducting points if you've been to numerous presentations and not purchased. The last one I went to was in Aruba a couple years ago. I was offered 200 Marriott bucks and their pitch was they could get me from Premier to Premier Plus. They still had a few low season weeks left which they would be willing to sell me also. It was a pleasant experience and the closer said I already had a very nice portfolio so she would get me out of there early.

dioxide45 · Aug 21, 2014

Fasttr said:
I'm with BocaBoy....I enjoy going as I sort of get a kick out of their sales pitch of the day, as their angle of attack is ever changing. In most business transactions, you are either pitching, or being pitched, so the more info I can pick up on the science of the pitch is always of interest to me. As long as they keep offering me enough points to make it worth my while, I'll likely continue going...assuming I can book an 8:30am(ish) slot (that won't carve into the middle of my day).

I did have an interesting conversation at my Crystal Shores pitch on Tuesday. I was offered 45K MR points or $300 room credit. I was amazed that the offer was so high, especially since I just received 30K MR points to do the pitch in May of this year at Newport Coast. I often see folks here on TUG mention they were offered 15K, 20K, 10K so I asked specifically how they determine what to offer. I was told its based on a logarithm that MVC's marketing system spews out to them, specific to each individual (he showed me mine), which produces a number between 1 and 10. Based on that number, the resort makes you a customized offer. The higher the number, the higher the offer (of MR points, or room credit, or Visa Card value, etc) for you to attend a presentation.

The logarithm takes many factors into consideration such as....
-Age. As an example, folks in their early 50's are mathematically more likely to spend money on a second home, so if you are in that target age group, they value that more
-If you are an un-enrolled owner with weeks eligible to be enrolled, they value that more
-If you are short a nice even number of points that nicely falls into one of their targeted packages with a nice discount attached (say 3500 points) away from reaching P or P+ status, they value that more than if you only needed 1000 points to get to Premier status.
-If you happen to be staying using cash (even if a MOD discount), they value that more for a couple of reasons. 1. you obviously need more points so you don't have to pay cash anymore, and 2. They can use the cash room charges you are paying as an additional discount against the purchase price of the points.
-There are many other variables that the system uses, those are just some examples.

The more boxes your situation ticks off, the higher your point value (on the 1-10 scale) and a high number tells them you are ripe for selling points to, so they up the offer in hopes to get you to the pitch.

Anyhow, that was the first time that part of the process was ever explained to me, and I found it interesting.

Thanks for this great information. This explains our puny offers, 10K, 15K points. We are young enrolled owners that rarely stay on cash stays and are quite far away from any premier level. I suspect our number is pretty low. I wonder if they also don't take in to consideration the number of times one has toured without ever buying, 17 tours for us.

Big Matt · Aug 21, 2014

I've received 250 destination points for the last two times I've gone to the presentations. This a good deal IMO. It's probably worth about $400 if you use the points wisely. It's worth a lot more if you want to stay in studios in the off season at some resorts.

ExDean · Aug 21, 2014

We go to the pitch for the Marriott Dollars vs. MR points. My wife always tells me "We are not going to another presentation." She doesn't like how I ask questions and tend to string them along. We can't get the sales person to understand that we are not interested in two days here, three days there, one day somewhere else. We like golf so the rep says, "You can go to a fantastic course in California for three days of golf in a magnificent resort with your points." We're going to fly to CA for golf? Have they considered the airfare from Ohio?

We always exchange our units for three weeks at a time in the Orlando area. The last pitch was going to cost us an additional $12,000 for us to do the same thing we do every year with our II exchange. For us, the economic value isn't there. Their reply was, "You have to realize that it is going to become more and more difficuly for weeks owners to exchange through II because Marriott isn't releasing the units. Yes, his lips were moving.

Fasttr · Aug 22, 2014

dioxide45 said:
I wonder if they also don't take in to consideration the number of times one has toured without ever buying, 17 tours for us.

We didn't specifically discuss this, but I bet you are 100% correct. The algorithm seemed very sophisticated and I would be very surprised if this was not a factor they take into consideration. There is one way to test your theory, you could buy a thousand DC points next time and see if your future offers increase.

GregT · Aug 22, 2014

FT,

I definitely agree with this -- I've learned much more about Marriott's system and its strengths/weaknesses from my fellow TUGgers than from Marriott. Same goes for the other systems too.

I am always curious to hear the rumors that other TUGgers hear from the presentations they attend -- I wish there was more reliability in the rumors, like for new locations.

It is what it is -- thanks again for the upbeat post and I love talking timeshares with my TUG friends!

Best,

Greg

brigechols · Aug 22, 2014

FractionalTraveler said:
Tug is the real place where the best presentations are made daily.

FT

Agreed. I'd rather spend 90+ minutes reading TUG and learning about how to make the most of timeshare ownership than spend 90+ minutes of well-deserved vacation time listening to a slanted sales pitch loaded with half-truths and outright incorrect statements.

Fasttr · Aug 22, 2014

GregT said:
I am always curious to hear the rumors that other TUGgers hear from the presentations they attend -- I wish there was more reliability in the rumors, like for new locations.

The only new resort "info" shared at my Crystal Shores pitch was that the Miami location was severely delayed and may fall through because of the discovery of a Native American burial ground on the proposed property. A quick Google search uncovered THIS article. Even if there is/was any truth to that being a potential new MVC location, it seems like an odd location as it sounds like its near the JW Marriott Marquis, which is downtown, not on the beach.

kds4 · Aug 22, 2014

dioxide45 said:
Thanks for this great information. This explains our puny offers, 10K, 15K points. We are young enrolled owners that rarely stay on cash stays and are quite far away from any premier level. I suspect our number is pretty low. I wonder if they also don't take in to consideration the number of times one has toured without ever buying, 17 tours for us.

17. I wonder if that's a record?

FractionalTraveler · Aug 22, 2014

Fasttr said:
The only new resort "info" shared at my Crystal Shores pitch was that the Miami location was severely delayed and may fall through because of the discovery of a Native American burial ground on the proposed property. A quick Google search uncovered THIS article. Even if there is/was any truth to that being a potential new MVC location, it seem like an odd location as it sounds like its near the JW Marriott Marquis, which is downtown, not on the beach.

I appreciate the statements above but this again is another un-factual piece of information being communicated by sales persons.

You are correct regarding the native American burial ground but that is just where the truth ends. This was discovered years ago while planning for building a new mixed-use residential/office park in downtown Miami right next to the mouth of the Miami River Inlet.

I should know, the developer is a friend of mine. The facts are that there was never any plans for a timeshare component anywhere near this location. In fact, they also mentioned in my last presentation the Brickell area for a timeshare. I will believe it when I see it standing in their front lobby.

FWIW: They continue to tell people of the Cancun location (presumably the JW Marriott) property or maybe the Casa Magna next door. What SPIN masters.

Thanks again for the info.

FT

Fasttr · Aug 22, 2014

FractionalTraveler said:
I appreciate the statements above but this again is another un-factual piece of information being communicated by sales persons.

You are correct regarding the native American burial ground but that is just where the truth ends. This was discovered years ago while planning for building a new mixed-use residential/office park in downtown Miami right next to the mouth of the Miami River Inlet.

I should know, the developer is a friend of mine. The facts are that there was never any plans for a timeshare component anywhere near this location. In fact, they also mentioned in my last presentation the Brickell area for a timeshare. I will believe it when I see it standing in their front lobby.

FWIW: They continue to tell people of the Cancun location (presumably the JW Marriott) property or maybe the Casa Magna next door. What SPIN masters.

Thanks again for the info.

FT

I actually almost laughed out loud when he mentioned the burial ground was the cause of the Miami project coming to a halt. I couldn't resist to Google it after I left the presentation. Ya gotta give them points for creativity though. :clap:

Oh....and FT...thanks for the restaurant suggestions at Marco. We loved breakfast at Doreen's Cup of Joe, as well as many of your dinner recommendations.

dioxide45 · Aug 25, 2014

FractionalTraveler said:
I appreciate the statements above but this again is another un-factual piece of information being communicated by sales persons.

You are correct regarding the native American burial ground but that is just where the truth ends. This was discovered years ago while planning for building a new mixed-use residential/office park in downtown Miami right next to the mouth of the Miami River Inlet.

I should know, the developer is a friend of mine. The facts are that there was never any plans for a timeshare component anywhere near this location. In fact, they also mentioned in my last presentation the Brickell area for a timeshare. I will believe it when I see it standing in their front lobby.

FWIW: They continue to tell people of the Cancun location (presumably the JW Marriott) property or maybe the Casa Magna next door. What SPIN masters.

Thanks again for the info.

FT

Just spoke with the "concierge" at Oceana Palms/Ocean Pointe ahead of our upcoming stay. She mentioned, Cancun, New York, Miami, and Washington DC all as new resorts that MVCI would be announcing shortly. So not only are the sales people spewing it, so are the head hunters.

puckmanfl · Aug 25, 2014

good evening...

kds..

at my last tour, the sales dude reminded me that I have gone on 19 tours, since my last purchase. He asked why I do this...

I said, if you keep inviting me, I'll keep coming. not a single one of the 19 was unsolicited by MVCD. At 20K points per it adds up..

FractionalTraveler · Aug 25, 2014

dioxide45 said:
Just spoke with the "concierge" at Oceana Palms/Ocean Pointe ahead of our upcoming stay. She mentioned, Cancun, New York, Miami, and Washington DC all as new resorts that MVCI would be announcing shortly. So not only are the sales people spewing it, so are the head hunters.

Oh that's so true!

They will add all these hotels to the explorer collection via a sales/marketing agreement titled "Asset Light Baby".

They can have those agreements signed up all day without spending a penny on any new construction or affiliate program purchase. :banana:

FT

jjluhman · Aug 26, 2014

I was told NYC, Cancun, and Miami at OceanWatch last week. I was also told that I could access the Ritz properties if I upgraded my ownership. The pictures she chose to show me were of the Jupiter property. My sales person was not too happy when I mentioned that was the property that just voted Marriott out!

Thanks TUG! She said well that won't happen right away so you could still go there. :hysterical:

SueDonJ · Aug 26, 2014

FractionalTraveler said:
Oh that's so true!

They will add all these hotels to the explorer collection via a sales/marketing agreement titled "Asset Light Baby".

They can have those agreements signed up all day without spending a penny on any new construction or affiliate program purchase.

FT

That's my thinking, too, that they're playing up any and all properties that can be booked through the DC Explorer Club. Technically, they're not wrong. And from all accounts there are a whole lot of DC Members who are booking Explorer Club options, so I can understand why they promote them the way they do.

suzannesimon · Aug 26, 2014

But you need to reach the Premier level to use them, don't you? They aren't available to all the DC points owners. I hope everyone not familiar with the program reads the fine print.

Fasttr · Aug 26, 2014

suzannesimon said:
But you need to reach the Premier level to use them, don't you? They aren't available to all the DC points owners. I hope everyone not familiar with the program reads the fine print.

The Ritz and Residence Clubs are only for P and P+, but most of the normal hotel options are open to all, I believe.

suzannesimon · Aug 26, 2014

So that falls into the same tour and cruise category? That's good. I've only converted to points once but would really like to try the Ritz in St. Thomas sometime. I am Premier level, but really didn't feel that my one and only conversion was a good deal in my situation. My 2 Plat+ weeks at MFC were not allotted enough points to make it worthwhile.

Mamianka · Aug 26, 2014

puckmanfl said:
good evening...

kds..

at my last tour, the sales dude reminded me that I have gone on 19 tours, since my last purchase. He asked why I do this...

I said, if you keep inviting me, I'll keep coming. not a single one of the 19 was unsolicited by MVCD. At 20K points per it adds up..

Just got a call from the guy at Marco Island. He said that if we commit NOW to an "Informational Meeting", we would get 15K MRPs or $100; if we sign up when we arrive, 10K points, $75. I told him we NEVER go to these - and that we read things EVERY SINGLE DAY on TUG. Acted like he never heard of it - conversation over.
M

714 · Sep 5, 2014

Crystal Shores Presentation

We are at Crystal Shores for the week and received a phone call before arriving to sign up before arriving for our presentation offering us 45,000 MR pts. or $300 cash if we did so in advance or 15,000 MR pts or $75 after arrival, we chose the pre arrival deal. Took the prescentaion yesterday and were told that there were 5 possible new locations, Cancun, Puerto Vallarto, South Beach, NYC, San Diego. We are Premium Plus Owners and told our sales person that we were not purchasing any more points and then were offered (due to our status) 'foreclosure points' (if they were available, she had to check with her manager) for $7 or $8 per point. Said no thank you and were still offered more deals by the closer, 4 days 3 nights back at Crystal Shores plus 100,000 pts, and a cruise for yet another price. The deals just never end. Took our 45,000 pts. and left.

The Best Presentation Ever.......

FractionalTraveler

jont

BocaBoy

Fasttr

TUG Review Crew

suzannesimon

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert

Big Matt

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

ExDean

Fasttr

TUG Review Crew

GregT

TUG Member

brigechols

Fasttr

TUG Review Crew

kds4

FractionalTraveler

Fasttr

TUG Review Crew

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert

puckmanfl

FractionalTraveler

jjluhman

SueDonJ

suzannesimon

Fasttr

TUG Review Crew

suzannesimon

Mamianka

714