Class action lawsuit? I’m in too! Anyone know a class action attorney?
Probably most Wyndham owners who use Redweek or other platforms book within their points discount/free upgrade window to maximize the value of their points. Wyndham does have its own rental company – Extra Holidays – but EH will not accept reservations made in the discount window, they take an exhorbitant percentage of the rental amount, owners cannot specify a minimum rental amount, and EH will not notify an owner whether the reservation has been rented or for what amount. So, owners rent points themselves on Redweek.com or elsewhere.
There really is not an inventory shortage for owners desiring to travel if they book well in advance of the discount window. This costs the owner “full points,” but at least the owner gets a reservation for themselves, and they can always re-book during their discount window (and cancel the original reservation) if there is still inventory available. Owners are able to cancel up to 15 days prior to the check-in date and receive refund of points. So, there really is no inventory problem if owners who themselves want to travel plan ahead and make reservations well in advance.
This is a fiasco of Wyndham’s own making. They allowed owners to “roll over” unused 2020 points to 2021 or 2022 for no fee. Right thing to do in the pandemic? Sure, but better to have refunded maintenance fees on unused points rather than create this debacle by cancelling guest reservations already on the books. Or, Wyndham could have warned owners in advance of a future change coming, rather than cancelling existing guest reservations. Or, the website could provide a pop-up message on the guest confirmation page for any potential guest reservation that might be affected BEFORE the guest confirmation is actually added – at least that way, the owner could notify the potential guest immediately and refund their money before the guest purchases air fare, Disney tickets, etc. only to have their accommodations cancelled by Wyndham later.
At my level, Wyndham provides 30 guest confirmations per year. Now, they are upset that I am using GCs to recoup maintenance fees and are limiting how GCs can be used.
The problem goes way beyond the new guest policy, though. Whether intentionally or through ignorance, Wyndham sales reps have consistently misrepresented how the timeshare is to work -- in our experience 6 different encounters/purchases from 2005 to 2016 totalling nearly $180K (not including annual maintenance fees that go up every year), with each new incremental purchase intended to fix some problem with the previous purchase, only to create another unforeseen problem. Most people do not read the 2” thick stack of legal documents provided at the time of purchase.
Without going into too much detail, I originally bought in early 2005 in St. Thomas. When I went to make our first reservation a couple months later, I was told that I could not do so because I had purchased “fixed weeks.” To fix this problem, I purchased some “UDI” points at Bonnet Creek in May 2005. Then we learned we were being separately billed for real estate taxes at St. Thomas, in addition to timeshare maintenance fees. We had no representative assigned to help at that point, so at a third “owner update” at Wyndham Smoky Mountains in spring 2006, we were told all this would be remedied if we would convert all prior points (and purchase a few more) by trading to Smoky Mountains. Also, we were told we could use the points for airfare, and were presented a chart that showed the amount of points required for domestic/international flights. The points required on the chart were competitive with paying cash, so we “upgraded.” When I went to make the first airline reservation using points through Wyndham’s travel agency (this was the only way to use points for airfare), not only were the points required exponentially higher than the numbers shown on the chart from the sales presentation, there was also a $60 fee per ticket fee charged by Wyndham to use the points. This made using points for airfare economically infeasible. When I tried to reach the salesperson who sold us the Smoky Mountain points, I was told she was no longer there.
In early 2009 we used Wyndham points to travel to an El Cid resort in Mazatlan, Mexico, where we were promised that, if we bought into El Cid, they would sell our Wyndham timeshare. We were presented a computer printout showing recent sales of Wyndham points. It appeared we could recoup our Wyndham costs, so we signed on. Not only did El Cid not sell our Wyndham timeshare, we were scammed out of $27K five years later by a legitimate looking title company who said they had a buyer for the El Cid timeshare.
We met with a fourth Wyndham rep in spring 2011 in Branson who told us we needed to convert our points to the new “Club Pass” program (requiring still another points purchase) in order to be able to book reservations at over two dozen resorts (not just our home resort) more than 10 months in advance. A new owner rep would be assigned. We signed on, but this time I read all the legal documents and cancelled the purchase within the short 5-day cancellation window when it was obvious from the documents that Wyndham could change the rules at any time.
In February 2012 on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe, we met with a fifth Wyndham rep who told us we needed a few more Lake Tahoe points with a staggered use year, so that we could perpetually roll over unused points each year for no fee and get him assigned to our account as the Wyndham rep going forward. He claimed he was there to assist owners, not sell points, and that he could help with rentals to recoup some of our maintenance fees. So, we bought more points. This worked out okay (he actually did facilitate some rentals) until Wyndham changed the rules and consolidated all points into one use year. The Lake Tahoe rep who had been with Wyndham for over 20 years left the company in early 2013 within a year after this purchase. He did introduce us to another Wyndham owner who helped us rent points for the next few years, but took a 35% commission.
On another ski trip in early 2016, we met with a sixth Wyndham rep at Park City who sold us more points and converted existing points to the “Presidential Reserve” program. This gave us a new rep who had also been with the company for 20+ years, and provided a 50% discount/free upgrade window and 30 guest confirmations per year. While the legal documents specified that the purchase was not being made for the purpose of renting points, there is nothing that prohibits rentals – how else would one use 30 guest confirmations per year!? We also were led to believe that a Park City home resort would eventually sell more easily on the resale market in the future than a Smoky Mountains home resort. However, Wyndham has a right of first refusal, and any resale by us to a third party will cause the points to lose all the Presidential Reserve benefits otherwise afforded to points purchased directly fromWyndham.
So, there is no way that we will ever recoup the $180,000 we dumped into these purchases or the ongoing annual maintenance fees that Wyndham increases every year, regardless of need. This timeshare bleeds cash every year, and with this new guest policy Wyndham has now made it even more difficult for owners to recoup costs.
I tell everyone who will listen NEVER to buy a timeshare from Wyndham.
