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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst

Current Assessment of Marriott’s New Destination Plan. The plan has now been in the Marketplace for 18 days. Here is how I think Marriott is doing. 1. The Plan has lots to like especially if you purchased multi-units from third parties. (other then Marriott.) The ability to stay less then a week (or add a few days unto your week) or staying in a different size unit are a nice features. So is being able to convert to Rewards Points every other year – especially if you are an international traveler. 2. If you purchased from Marriott in the first place, then you already had the ability to convert to Reward Points, but you gain the Vacation Point features and the fee is less to join. What is not nifty? 1. The contract that owners have to sign to participate has a couple provisions that commit the owner to supporting the new points program as well as not saying things against it. This was a very poor decision by Marriott: - It presents a conflict of interest if any Board members sign it. Their fiduciary responsibility is to owners – not to Marriott. - It does not enhance the single most important thing Marriott has to sell – which is TRUST. Owners should be encouraged to provide truthful feedback – not be constrained by this type of provision. 2. Marriott has done a less then satisfactory job in training their people to provide accurate answers to questions. I have made over 10 calls in an attempt to understand provisions of the new plan. Answers to the same questions have varied widely. In addition, some questions still don’t have answers. It is difficult to understand introducing a program of this magnitude without first making sure all the loose ends are nailed down and people properly trained to CORRECTLY answer them. It would be helpful if the Q&As on the internet site was updated to answer the additional commonly asked questions. Since I am a multi-week owner it is my intent to join the program. It is also my intent to do my best to factually state what is good and what isn’t about the program to both Marriott and other owners. It is my hope Marriott will promptly drop the provisions in the contract that require owners to avoid sharing their real opinions unless their views are favorable to the program. I would be interested in hearing from those who are members of the Boards of Marriott timeshare properties as to how they plan to meet their fiduciary responsibilities to owners and also sign the current contract. Last, is also my strong view that it is in our interest for this program to be successful. I fail to see how those of us who own Marriott Timeshare can gain by having Mariott not be successful with how they handle this program. But we also need to be able to provide other owners factual informaton as well as provide Marriott our views based on factual information.