Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) under scrutiny over tens of thousands of suspect contracts
Leading timeshare brand
MVCI are the world’s third largest timeshare company in terms of net income at $253 million in 2023 (behind Hilton Grand Vacations – $313 million, and Travel & Leisure – who own Wyndham Destinations – topping the list at $396 million).
MVCI have over 700,000 members in over 120 resorts worldwide. An estimated 35,000 of those members are spread between three resorts in Spain: Marriott’s Marbella Beach Resort, Marriott’s Playa Andaluza both on the mainland and Marriott’s Club Son Antem in Mallorca.
A significant percentage of these Spanish contracts are currently under the microscope of leading timeshare claims firm European Consumer Claims (ECC).
European timeshare problems
Since the early 1980s timeshare companies in Spain attracted widespread negative media attention, accused of high pressure sales and consistently lying to and cheating holidaymakers. The situation got so bad that tourism itself began to be affected, and this in turn threatened to disrupt the wider Spanish economy.
In 1999 Spain decided they had had enough. Strict consumer laws were enacted which were designed to provide effective protection for vulnerable tourists. It was forbidden for companies to take any money on the day of sale, or during the legally mandated ‘Cooling Off’ period. They limited membership terms to 50 years or less, and timeshare systems involving points or floating weeks were no longer legal to sell.
Timeshare buyers should have been safe. The trouble was that almost all timeshare companies operating in Spain ignored at least parts of the new legislation.
MVCI was no exception.
What’s wrong with Marriott contracts?
“Our data indicates that Marriott largely stopped taking money inside the Cooling Off period,” says Greg Wilson, CEO of ECC and MVCI expert. “However they have completely ignored the law when it comes to both selling floating time, and contracts which lasted longer than the maximum permitted 50 years.
“Marriott continued writing illegal contracts as though the law had never been created. They have been doing this for over a quarter of a century, and many thousands of people are affected. We at ECC are commencing large scale consumer marketing campaigns both online and offline to reach people affected by this behaviour.”
The main reason for floating weeks, as well as points being illegal to sell is because theoretically they allow a company could sell more timeshare memberships than they have inventory to accommodate. If this were the case we would expect to see a strong theme of people complaining online about availability in Marriott timeshare properties.
MVCI online reputation
Independent, external online review site TrustPilot reveals a shockingly poor reputation among MVCI reviewers with an overall Trust score of only 1.8 stars. 82% of reviews are the minimum 1 star, with shared reports of being unable to book their required weeks. “I can NEVER get a property booked,” says reviewer Kim. “I am in this for thousands and outrageous dues that keep increasing. DO NOT BUY.”
Kim’s availability grievances are echoed by swathes of other members on the platform. But availability is not the only issue. Many MVCI complaints are about the actual value (or lack of) delivered by MVCI.
“Absolute waste of money and will do anything to get out of this agreement,” says N Yvette Pinkney. “Much cheaper to book directly with an agent for vacations. MVC is NOT an investment and the maintenance fees NEVER end!”
Tesfaye Regaa is one of multiple reviewers who believe themselves to be victims of dishonest sales: “We were blatantly lied to about Marriott Vacation Club happily buying back the property if we needed to sell, and we were not informed about the two-week period during which we could have opted out of the contract.” Tesfaye also feels deceived about the lending conditions surrounding the loan arranged by MVCI to pay for his membership. “We were never informed about the exorbitant 14% interest rate, which was much higher than most bank rates at the time.”
The reviews are too abundant to catalogue comprehensively in this article, but clearly once the magic of the sales presentation is over and the dust settles, a significant proportion of MVCI members regret their decision to sign up.
Recognise your own experience?
If the above sounds familiar and you have an issue with your own Marriott ownership, help is at hand. In many cases unwanted contracts can be relinquished. In some instances there may also be significant financial compensation due.
No matter where in the world you bought your MVCI membership if you are unhappy with anything about it there is generally a way forward.
