CraigInPA
Since June 1974
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
- Messages
- 2,589
At this point, the "culture" of the sales organization effectively prevents them from going back to a time when they didn't have restrictions. While DVC calls them "guides", they're still timeshare sales people, who want a way to differentiate their pricey (partly due to their commission) points from ordinary resale points. Would changing the guides to regular paid employees bring down the price? It could. Another part of the direct sale experience is access to discounts on AP's and dining. I suspect these are negotiated with the parks department and not a cent is coming from DVC to finance the discount. Moonlight Magic and the lounges are most likely paid for by the sales organization as perks. If DVC still sells direct points, I assume they'd continue these as a marketing expense, and would continue these as a direct only benefit. On the other hand, the resale restrictions on Riviera are just plain punitive. They exist only to provide a competitive advantage to buying direct points, using FOMO as the primary driver. The restriction on use of resale Riviera is especially punitive, since it punishes those who buy resale points while still allowing members with direct and grandfathered points to book Riviera. Over time, as the number of resale Riviera buyers grows, they'll find that they will absolutely have to book during the home resort advantage period, or be locked out of using their points.
