Due to it's implementation, the Marriott Vacation Club Destination Points program has sparked a knee-jerk reaction from timeshare owners. This particular comment, extracted from Marriott on the Move, Marriott's blog is as respectful and relevant as it is direct:
"Dear Mr. Marriott,
I have been a 20 plus year Marriott Timeshare owner. I have 5 weeks of ownership all bought through Marriott (including 3 separate properties in Hawaii). I have referred many, many friends to Marriott and at last count 16 have purchased Marriott Timeshares (all through Marriott). Through the years, my wife and I have been very pleased with our experience and with the integrity of Marriott in an other wise somewhat unscrupulous timeshare world.
However, I am totally upset with Marriott's new points system and I will never recommend Marriott again, unless the you and the company realize and rescind this massive error.
Like every points oriented program of competitor companies, the new Marriott program is totally flawed, and full of inequities. The arbitrary nature of assigning point values never works and virtually always results in otherwise loyal customers becoming disenchanted. If I had wanted to buy into a points oriented program, I would have purchased from one of the many other companies I considered (i.e., Hyatt, Hilton, Disney, Westin, etc.).
I have spent my entire professional career advising companies against huge business mistakes, such as this. My company conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys to assess such decisions. I seriously wonder who advised you and what research you conducted to arrive at this decision. Mark my words: IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THIS DECISION WILL BE WRITTEN UP AS ONE OF THE ALL-TIME WORST BLUNDERS IN BUSINESS. You have offended, betrayed and exploited one of your most loyal customer bases.
Even the implementation process has been flawed. First of all, I personally have not even been notified as of yet about this new program, even though many of my friends have received email and US mail notifications. Secondly, when I called the Marriott representative to have some rather basic questions answered about the new points program, he knew very little, and on multiple occasions asked for me to hold while he tried to find out the answer. For many of the questions, he said the kinks of the program still had to be worked out.
To reiterate, this program is hugely unpopular with Marriott Timeshare owners. It may or may not be too late for you to rectify the mistake. The long-term ramifications will be dramatically negative for Marriott, unless you act now." (Posted Marriott on the Move 06/30/2010 at 7:18 AM)
This MVC owner is not alone. The scale of negative sentiment from once loyal and highly credible Marriott Vacation Club owners is absolutely staggering. Among them are many Gold and Platinum Elite business travelers. Major themes include disappointment, lack of transparency, dishonest and unethical business practices, misleading and deceptive sales people, fear, uncertainty, inequitable trading value, owner exploitation, loss of trust and complete breakdown of confidence in Marriott.
When will Marriott International step in and reorganize this rogue division?
For more relevant owner feedback and comments posted at Marriott on the Move, see Re: MVC Owners Not Happy with New Program. There's a PDF of all 151 156196 comments posted through 8/2/2010 worth sharing. Send a 'private message' w/an e-mail address for a copy.