| Wyndham Vacation Resorts |
| Misleading statements about fees, availability, future value |
| 8th of Nov, 2012 by VStar0608 |
We invite you to view our video on Youtube: "Wyndham Owner Shares his Experience"
Our list of objections begins with our most recent “Update” where we were convinced to purchase additional points based upon a distortion of the truth. This took place on during the Owner update we attended on May 28, 2012. We were paired with Ms. Serena Schuler. She was new to the group at Edisto Island Member Services office at the time. She was supported by Mr. Gabriel Jolley and John Ryan during the sales presentation and closing. The presentation started with a group meeting led by Ms. Terry Judy, who used handwritten charts to illustrate her talking points. During this time, she said that many owners pay little or no maintenance fees via the use of excess points and the Wyndham reward credit card. We based our decision to upgrade in large part upon this statement. After making the upgrade and performing some calculations we discovered that it is virtually impossible to buy enough points to fully offset maintenance fees due to the exchange rate. If we used 100% of our use year points for maintenance fees, it would only cover about half of the annual expense, and leaving nothing for a vacation or any other benefits. Use of the rewards card provides very little supplement to the maintenance fees, as the exchange rate for those is of such a small amount that even if we used the card for every day expenses, we would have to charge almost $232,000 per year to offset just ½ of our maintenance fees. This is a gross misrepresentation of fact on the part of Ms. Judy.
She also said that the threshold for achieving VIP gold was being changed and we had a grace period to buy in at that level. This created a false sense of urgency that we had to buy on that date. She said that the Edisto location was one of the few authorized resellers of unwanted memberships, thus could offer packages with built in equity resulting in lower initial cost. She told the group that resold packages from entities other than Wyndham did not receive the same benefits as those purchased directly so we could feel confident in purchasing at this location.
During our sales encounter with Serena and Gabe, we were shown a membership at Lake Marion and were told by Mr. Jolley that it had some equity from a previous owner. There is nothing in the documentation to prove whether or not this statement is valid, and if so, how much. He also told us that the maintenance fees at this resort were lower than the combination contract we owned at the time. There is no documentation to prove the truth of this statement. Our 2 existing contracts were consolidated and added to a new purchase at the Lake Marion resort. It is impossible for an owner to make any assessment of whether the maintenance fees are any more or less at one resort or another during closing. These appear to be based more on points owned instead of location. The misrepresentations listed in this and the preceding 3 paragraphs induced us to purchase an additional 185000 points valued at $29,400 plus fees of $349.
While closing at the Edisto Member Services center, Mr Jolley stepped out and Mr John Ryan took over with the documentation. His job was to put papers in front of us for signature as rapidly as possible, which he fulfilled according to plan. At no time during the closing did he mention or explain the recession period as required by law. This is an egregious omission, since his title is Quality Control Manager and should represent proper training in the closing procedure. In fact, part of his role at the time was to train Ms. Shuler in a proper closing. During our time with Ms. Shuler, we were told that she would be our personal representative and assist us with the most effective use of our membership. We did make a call that resulted in us getting handed off to another Wyndham veteran sales person. Looking back at the experience, it seemed odd that any time I mentioned the points to maintenance conversion we were met with a pause and blank look for a few seconds, but never were discouraged from believing this was the truth by Mr. Jolley, Mr. Ryan, or any other members of the Wyndham sales force. They knew they told us a lie, were purchasing based upon it, and just kept right on with the closing process.
After our return home, we have recognized that the usage agreement has been changed since the initial one we signed in 1999. Among the changes are the addition of, and subsequent escalation to a fee for guest registrations. We were told at our initial purchase that the vacations were excellent gifts and that we could give it to anyone at no additional cost to us. At subsequent updates, including the most recent one, we were told that rentals of timeshares are a good way to offset maintenance fees and loan payments. This is not true, and the addition of guest registration fees further diminishes the ability of an owner to recover any expenses via rentals. We did give a vacation as a gift in December 2010, which required 2 reservations to fill the nights requested, and were charged $99 each for those reservations.
As earlier mentioned, we called June 4, 2012 and spoken to Mr. Ryan about our concerns and were directed to send our complaints to Financial Services. I have called and spoken to Will at Owner Care in the Orlando office, and was told there is no program for buy backs and he changed the subject by asking if there was anything else he could help us with. Since no one at Wyndham seems willing to address our concerns over the phone, we are now forced to escalate to letters. On August 16, I called the Sr Vice-president of Owner Club management and was transferred to an Owner Care representative, Jamie. Ms. Jamie was one of the more pleasant people I have spoken to at WVO, and was told that our account has been tagged with a Case number. This is the first and only indication that our calls have been heard.
Going further back to October of 2007, we booked a stay at Bonnet Creek. At check-in, I was invited to attend an Owner Update in exchange for discounted tickets to Disney amusement parks. I was reluctant, having experienced these updates in the past, but was assured by the member services rep that “You will enjoy the way we do it here.” Well, it was one of the most aggravating and downright insulting experiences I have ever had. After we told the first person we were not buying, then another person came to our table and tried again. Then a third person came over, holding our voucher, and made insulting remarks to the effect that if we couldn’t afford to spend more money with Wyndham, then we probably had no business vacationing at Disney. I wish I had his name, but that is really irrelevant to the point that Wyndham only sees Owners as dollar signs and victims rather than investors in a vacation program.
From our initial purchase they told us that the points system allows the use of points anywhere in the system at any time. This is not completely true. Some resorts in the system have a minimum length of stays restriction that is not displayed via the online reservation system. The attempts at reservations are simply met with an "unavailable for dates and times requested" response.
I have read the Timeshare Act in the states in which we have signed contracts. In all cases, it is illegal to coerce a purchaser into signing a contract using false or misleading information. In the case of our most recent contract signed in South Carolina, it is very clear that the purchaser’s rights are reserved to bring legal action against the seller as a result of any action arising from false or misleading verbal statements. |
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