Complaint Review: Wyndham Vacation Ownership Or Fairfield Resorts

Timeshares (non-deeded) and interval ownership are two different concepts.  If you "think" you have a deed, grow up.  I don't care if it's Wyndham or Blue-Green, you have "points."  Therefore, don't debate me.  Interval ownership is, indeed, the way to go, you DO actually own something tangible.  Developers make far, far more money on this elusive concept of "points."  Points are like the price of stone in the Bronze Age.  It's nothing, and neither is the company that sold it to you.  Think of it like a car---you can buy a lemon or buy a Mercedes.  See the difference?  And, has ever anybody held a gun to your head and made you stay a week?  Be real, in RCI their are about 900 "points" resorts; the rest of that 4000-plus are weeks resorts.  Are you smarter for buying "points," ?  When you finish paying all those "maintenance fees," you tell me.  

First off, I am a fairly Wyndham owner that started with Fairfield back in the mid 90's.  Sadly, I too bought the incredible sales story and paid faaaar too much for my timeshare.  Silly me.  Of course, by the time I realized that I had well and truly messed up it was too late to rescind my pruchase and I was "Stuck". Very, very mad and quite ashamed of myself.

Well, that was about 20 years ago and that financial wave has crashed ashore...no use weeping over spilled milk...pick another cliche' and instert it here.  In my defense, Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet so reseach was rather difficult at the time.  Oh well.  I eventually learned to make the best of the situation.  I rather like the points based system and my Bride and I have been to several Wyndham resort and have used the RCI trade from time to time.

Selling a TS without losing a ton of money is dang near impossible today.  There just isn't a decent secondary market for Wyndham right now.  With the Ebay price of most Wyndham packages running well under $100, that's right, under $100, the best you can hope for is to give it away via Ebay, Redweek, or some other TS site.  BTW, NEVER pay and upfront fee to unload a TS...all of those places are ripoffs.  Sorry, your initial purchase price is long gone and you will never get it back.

My absolute best advice for anyone contemplating a Timeshare purchase is to STOP!  Do some online research.  Go visit the Tumeshare Users Group forums for some "Real Scoop" as to how these companies operate.  Oh, and do a simple Ebay search of a Wyndham Timeshare.  If that doesn't tell you something, I can't help you.

A previous poster said "Never Buy Retail" and "Always buy Resale"...wish I had known that "back in the day".

First, learn to spell the name of the company you supposedly stand behind.  Second, check their Better Business Bureau rating (Wyndham is an "F," by the way).  Third, understand real estate terminology, you own "points," nothing else and you're guaranteed nothing else, which is why you get nothing else.  (Figure out how to "deed" a point, for example.)  Fourth, enjoy your ever increasing maintenance fees (upon which Wyndham floats their entire company).  Bamboozled consumers are as detrimental to the sincere and open-minded as the company hacks who sold you a bill of goods to begin with. 

There are extensive and undeniable reasons why Wyndham has an "F" Better Business Bureau rating.  High among them, of course, is their exorbitant monthly maintenance fees, upon which they float their entire company; they market "points," not real inventory (how do you deed a point??), which is why they are able to oversell their capacity to provide accomodations (check how many Wyndham "owners" can't even get back in where they think they bought)---it's called UDI (undivided interest), which, politely, means they sell invisible inventory.  To get into all their marketing lies (they "own RCI," etc., etc., would take me more time than I'm willing to invest here.  

If you buy, you'll be paying ever increasing maintenance fees FOREVER!!!,With those maintenance fees, you can easily stay at a 5 star resort of your choice, not theirs, by using expedia, hotwire, hotels dot COM discount websites.Sales people are trained to make you feel stupid if you don't buy, in other words, STAY AWAY FROM WYNDHAM! If it helps, for those who fell into this scam, you might want to read some of these articles about timeshare scams:

http://www.timesharescam.com/

I made the mistake that many others have made. Gave my hard earned money to a company that offers nothing special...I purchased 128,000 points and deeded at star island in Florida with wyndham. After some simple calculations, I realized that this was a waste of money and it is pretty much worthless. I am trying to figure out how to sell this with out being scamed even more.

Speaking of being scamed, wyndham is somewhat of a scam. But the companies that call you trying to sell your weeks for you and you have to pay them first! These companies are 110% a scam and they have duped many people after they are already upset about the purchase they made with wyndham. I really hope they are shut down and punished badly for hurting people. Any way if any one has advice for me on how to sell my deed to star island I will greatly appreciate it.

Gents just keep in mind there are no free rides.

My wife and I purchased our first timeshared back in 1989 in Pompano beach, at first we did not what we got our selves into so we went a couple of years with just paying the yearly fees.

Once we looked into it and READ the fine prints and started asking other timeshared/RCI members we learned how to at least breakout even at the end of the year.

We starting planning in advance our Vacations, we traded points for Cruises and air fares, we paid a round trip to/from NY - Fla $29 etc.. we have been in many places and we just paid the RCI exchanged fee. Now it gets better our family was growing and after staying in our first resort we were not planning on staying at any Hotel anymore.

So when Wyndham purchased the failfield resort we owned we were able to trade for another one and purchased more points giving us a VIP status. Now under wyndham they do have RCI but it sucks, so we learned to travel within Wyndham available resorts, and when you travel within their resorts there is not exchanged fee.

As of 2010 we purchased more points and became VIP GOLD, with unlimited reservation, 10 guest passed etc. We have sent very closed friends with kids that were not able to afford a Hotel on their dream vacation at no cost to them.

So to make a long story short, Just deal with it otherwise just think why did you get on the free ride.. You can complain for as long as you want, if you did not cancel the contract within the 3 days they give you. just learn how to use the program.

Their 800 services are great, or just have been lucky to get someone to go out of their way to help me.

Also keep your self up to date, Wyndham is making more changes.

Believing the lie that I could sell my Wyndham property and Wyndham wanted first right of refusal after I got an offer, not once, but twice I was deceived into buying more property to have that right.Once I was 7 hours with salesmen in Las Vegas with no food, 74 yr old widowed, not needing property anymore, not financially able to continue payments and making that all clear when I went there. When I realized the misrepresentation, I contacted company and eventually was told I signed contract, nothing they could do. Because a salesman at next resort visit told me they should not have sold me, I wrote a letter to corporate management directly and was eventually refunded money paid for that contract. Still desperate to sell the next year, I was again told I would be helped to "get rid of that 9.9% interest" and go to credit card interest of 2.99% and how we would manage the credit card accounts to keep that interest for 2 years, which would have allowed payoff as money went to principal. (This was 3 hours in San Antonio with family member as witness, who understood same as I did) Again,told me about first right of refusal with Wyndham, like I was told before wasn't true, but thought it had changed. Salesman told me he would hold my hand to help me manage my account so I could afford it. After 3 weeks, he no longer returned phone calls. Then I realized instead of the 33,000 I thought I owed plus a 16,000 membership fee to do the contract, I still had the 33,000@ 9.99 % plus a new 45,000 contract on credit card payment schedule, the fine print on credit card statement said additional 4 % would be charged if I did balance transfer. Again was told if signed contract, my problem. Next move: attorney general, then state realtor agency, and again Wyndham cancelled contract and refunded money, stated not admitting fraud. After 3 1/2 years of pleading with them, the only advice Wyndham has given that actually may work is allow foreclosure on this 150,000 plan that a legitimate realtor advised 15,000 most I could expect.When I came to my senses, I realized I could have some wonderful vacations if I could afford the 14,000/ year been paying Wyndham. Can't afford that and have any left to supplement social security, so just stay home and endure the almost daily calls from Wyndham that my account is seriously delinquent. 

I own 385k points with Wyndham and I love it. However, there are keys to being happy w/Wyndham.

1. Buy resale! You can get these memberships for $1 on ebay. I got my 385k for $1700 and that includes all of the closing cost and transfer fees.

2. Understand that maintenance fees are forever. I pay $1800 per yr in fees and that gets me about 25 days per yr in mostly 2 bedroom condos. That ends up being 5 vacations a yr. 5 vacations in 2 bedroom condos for $1800 is a great deal!

3. Plan in adavance. For any summer trip we book 8-10 months in advance. We also book spring break at least 6 months in advance. We book other trips 2 to 3 months in advance. I'm a firefighter and my wife is a teacher so its easy for us to book in advance. If you can't book in advance YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS PROGRAM. Don't fool yourself, it WILL be difficult to book a summer trip 2-3 months out. We have never had any trouble booking.

4. Learn about the program. This is really important. When the sales people come to my room I make sure that they know that I pay $4.50/1000 pts and that I know it's a good deal. I inform them that I pay about $80 per night. Finally, I tell them that I bought resale and how much I paid. If they know that you know whats going on they won't waste too much time on you. You also need to know how to use the program to get the most out of it.

Finally 5. Take the vacations. It cost money to travel. Don't buy more points than you can afford to use. The timeshare has actually made vacationing more affordable for us. We get a great rate on the condos and we also hit Walmart when we first arrive. My wife, daughter and I can eat for a week for $50 to $100. We usually eat out a couple of times for lunch but other than that we cook our own food. With that being said we still have to get there and we still have to pay to do things while on vacation. We budget about $1500/yr on vacation activities.  If you want 1 summer week in a 2 bedroom you can get buy on 154k to 224k depending on where you want to stay. Off season trips will cost fewer points.

Good luck to all of you out there. Too all of you who are unhappy and paid retail I understand your frustration. If you bought retail and you don't have enough points to do what you want check out ebay. The timeshare is not an investment but it can be a great value if you know how to use it. In my opinion the resorts are great. All of the places we have been to in cold weather places have had indoor pools. some of the furniture has been a little outdated but nothing too bad.

We tried to sell our timeshare interest back to Wyndham Vacation Resorts and they would not give us the time of day. We eventually did sell it and are still trying to settle issues with Wyndham.  When they transferred ownership, they also transferred our banking information and took the new owner's maintenance fees from our account.  We have been unable to get a refund, just a run around.

These comments are all too familiar.  We recently signed a contract in Panama city fla.  Only to call on our way home to cancel.  We were told that it would not cost any money, and we could use the additional points to pay for the contract.  I thought, this is crazy, signed the contract and on the way home called back & told sales I was cancelling the contract & later on followed  up with a certified letter to the home office. We were already VIP.  It's not about the members.  It's all about selling.  We spent time three(3) consecutive days with this salesman (Mr. Messenger). 

We were also told in Oct of last year at Governer's Crossing when we went for owner update that if we defaulted on our maintenance fee for any reason (even in death) that Wyndham could attach your property to collect.  In other words, you cannot get out of your timeshare.  We asked about Wyndham buying it back, since we are getting unable to travel and we were told that this did not happen.  That they did not want it back.  However, we were told (on one occassion) that if we decided to sell, we had to give Wyndham the first right of refusal.  We go on these trips to enjoy ourselves, but it is so stressful dealing with these sales people, it really spoils your fun time, and I know we do not have to go and nobody holds a gun to your head; however, it is called an update and I figure I cannot know too much about this Company.  Believe me you, from now on, I will read my Windham book and enjoy each and every day I am vacationing.  A lot of deceipt and lying.  I hope everyone planning on buying timeshare will read this and just save your money and take a trip and pay as you go, and not every month.  The more points, the higher your maintenance fee is.  We own 584,000 points; therefore, we pay $227.33, every month.

Also, BEWARE of these companies offering to sell your timeshare.  They are scam artists too.  They will take your money, and you will never be able to find them again. This happened to me. Forgot the name of the company.  JUST DON'T TRUST THEM AND DON'T GIVE THEM ANY MONEY UP FRONT!!!

TO EVERYONE READING THIS;  HAVE A BLESSED DAY & GOD BLESS YOU!!

My wife and I were on vacation in Maui and received $500 off a helicopter ride if we listened for 2 hours at the Wyndham Vacation pitch.  We sat down and thought we would just be out of there in 120 minutes.  We listened and thought there was no way we would purchase.  After listening to the pitch, it actually didn't sound that bad.  We were offered 154,000 points for a spot in Hawaii which were told was equal to approx. 2.5 weeks.  We were also told that since it was in Hawaii, we had special options to trade for 2X our points through TPI.  It all sounded great even though the price was a little steep.  They even threw in an extra 154,000 points that put us at VIP status for 2.5 years to show us what it was like until we purchased more when we were ready to upgrade.  Things sounded great from what were heard.  The sales person actually was great and I ve no issues with him at all.  I am sure all the information was accurate when they told us.  They just didn't go into a lot of detail explaining it.  There was A LOT of paperwork and as others have said, you are in vacation mode. 

One thing that I did that I was happy about was to ask if I could backout of this once I got home.  They said that was ok if we changed our minds.  Well on the last day, I finally started waking up...  I looked on-line and saw that Hawaii gives you 7 days to recind the offer.  By the time we got home, I would have two days to backout if I wanted to.  I looked on-line and saw almost all negitive comments on sales, property, etc.  It didn't sound too good to me.  The only thing I can say about that is that people that really enjoy something don't typically post it for others to read so I honestly thought about it.  I looked in the books that Wyndham provides and saw all the points per stay and most things were in the 100,000 - 200,000 points range for a 1 bedroom place for 1 week.  The problem is that they don't provide you enough time to look through all the books that are there.  I did notice a few and asked why the points were so high.  The manager said, "Those don't apply to you - you are API!".  Load of crap!  I tried to see how the reservations work via phone and it was exactly like it says - TPI or not.  What the people are trying to get you to do is delay your questions until you are locked into the contract. 

I decided that I wanted to get out of this deal and still had 2 days to do so.  There is a sheet of paper in the paperwork that is needed to recind  the offer.  It says that in order to do so, you need to mail the letter by midnight of the due date or telegram (yes I said telegram) to an address.  There is no phone number, fax number, whatever to help with this.  One of their approaches is to give you as little information possible so that you pass that recind timeframe.  Fortunately for us, our salesperson was truly great.  He provided us with all the information he had.  He had just started but I honestly think we just got luck and got a person who was honest.  I got a phone number (1-800-251-8736) and talked with a actual person who gave me a fax number (1-702-227-3298) so that I could fax the paperwork to.  He told me that it would be smart to also mail a copy using certified mail to the address in Las Vegas listed in the paperwork.  This needed to be done prior to midnight that night.  I did so and also faxe a copy to the contract department in Maui where we purchased it.  I was told by the Maui folks that this was all I needed to do but from everthing I have read - I am gladd I didn't.

I am still waiting to see if this actually stopped the process but I have saved ALL the paperwork, fax receipts, texts, etc.  It might have been a good deal but from everything I read, I didn't want to chance it.  If I want to do it later, I can try it then.  They really pry on those on vacation as others have said since you are not thinking clearly.  Do yourself a favor and don't go.  If you do, do it at the end of your vacation so that you have time to cancel it after when you get home and thinking clearly.  --- Good luck everyone.

I have own TS since the early 90's and currently a VIP GOLD owner. All i have to say it is a learning experience. For example when I owned at Santa - Barbara and never once used that resort however under RCI i was able to go other places, but no one ever told us that every 3 years they have this special fee to reinforced the foundation because the of salt water. Also when Katrina hit the hotel there was only an invoice we got stating how much the owners had to pay to rebuild what was damaged because the insurance will not cover regardless if the unit you owned was damaged or not.

Now in 2011 I just purchased more points but the only condition to the agreement was that I would be able to use the so call Rotating Priority. The first time i wanted to use this featured I was told it was discontinued by Wydham reservaton. This dragged for nearly 6 months because it was the only condition to the contract, now after spending hours and days on the phone it seemed that no one really knew an accurate information about this feature.

Even the VP and QA of sales at Wyhdam Shawnee did not really know what was going but they were offering this featured. after all the time spent on this I feel I was screwed because the VP of sales had told US I would be able to make reservation in advance up to 2yrs on any resort base on availability within 11 months. Now it turns out the VP was wrong and reservation could only be made to specific resorts and only special holidays, and because the feature still exists They could not cancel the contract and I got screwed.

My only advise before you sign any agreement find out as much as you can about what you are getting into.

  I cannot honestly believe someone could fall for this twice un-willingly!  I own 4 wyndham timeshares and fully agree that there is some high pressure BS sales . BUT we are all adults and need to have common sense here.We love the $125 offer and do it when ever invited. Most sales people have been pleasant but some bad. (like anywhere else)  You also have a period of time to back out of the contract  (read it!)   some people just cant handle these things & those people should stay away from any kind of sales people anywhere.  Wyndham is just like any other buisness.... aggressive and anxiouse to prosper. 

First I want to say I am not or have I been an Fairfield/Wyndham employee. Why is it when you make complaints about something and when someone else rebutts you think they are employess of said company or other service? Second you can always say no at these presentations. They aren't holding guns to your head. I could tell you what I think but it will only make you unhappy...

My wife and I have been with Fairfield/Wyndham since 2006. Yes it is a hard sell when you go in the first time and they do an update if you haven't been to a resort in six months. We went in because we really wanted to hear it. We decided to buy the minimum just to see if we like it. By the way you can sell your TS anytime you want. Wyndham has first shot. As we used the points we found we loved the resorts. There are none better out there. We toured Blue Green and it doesn't even compare. So we joined @105,000 points in Atlantic City which was our home resort. That was minimum. Now we are at 756,000 points and are VIP Gold members. We plan on getting to 1,000,000 points Platimum. We have had no problem with reservations and have been able to get in anywhere we have inquired. I don't know what you people want. Like I said I have never had a problem with Phone or Online Reservations. It just sounds like some people aren't listening when they go into these things. If your liason left the company they assign a new one to you. I have had three and have had no problems what so ever. Matter of fact he just called me yesterday to tell me my free upgrade to a four bedroom Presidential suite is all set. This is at the Bonnet Creek resort at Walt Disney World this coming December. Does this sound like it is a rip-off? 

I am so surprised at these responses to this report. Wyndham has mislead, lied to, and committed fraud against my husband and myself. I have read every report and all responses on this website concerning Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Wyndham Worldwide, Fairfield Resorts, and their other AKA's. There are soooo many people who are having the exact same problems with this company. How could so many of us be wrong? We are not wrong. It appears to me that these responses have been posted by Wyndham "people" in an attempt to make their service look better. I urge anyone who is thinking of purchasing a timeshare/points package with this company to do your research before buying. Business with this company will bring your life more stress and disappointment than you will ever believe.

As a travel agent, I am a little choosy when it comes to where I stay. However, I have stayed in Wyndhams (and sold them) before, so I knew they had good quality.

I will start off with the negative points which I have openly expressed with them:

The sales pitch: This I am with you on. When we were "called" to come in and give a listen we were staying in our timeshare in Shawnee, PA that we had just purchased that year. We were excited to be there, since we had grown up there as kids vacationing every summer. We had our 2.5 year old twins with us and I was due with our third baby in about 3 weeks. Needless to say, this was not the most convenient or comfortable time in my life. We, under the promise of 50 bucks, went in to listen and see how we could "save money on our maintinance fees" (Another joke). 3 hours later, we were tired, and my parents being nice enough to watch our twins were wondering what the deal was. We kept trying to leave under the promise we would think about it (After all, we are talking about thousands of dollars here). After we finally got to leave, after much deliberation of how many points, etc, etc, etc. we were able to come to a deal. We were tired and out out that our vacation had to come to a halt and I had to sit in a position that was hard for me (Sitting up was tough for long periods.) Needless to say we were annoyed. Plus we had to come back with my twins to sign contracts...something else that took another hour.

Another thing: Home resort. Since Shawnee was not built yet, we had to be assigned another home resort. Without even asking us, they assign one, not to mention, one we will never use in the lifetime of owning a Wyndham resort, but were told that it's really "no big deal". Now, as an owner for a year and more research, I find out that owners that want to stay at the home resort, can book 12-13 months in advance as opposed to the 10 months that regular members get. We wanted Shawnee, however were told we could not get them because they were not built then. We visit shawnee on a regular basis, and It was understood that getting into shawnee would not be an issue. I find out later they are only building 41 units, and in the high peak times we would want them, would be taken by "Home resort" members. When I called to switch it, they refused and said I would need to alter my contract in order to change it to Shawnee...this would mean, you guessed it, buying more points. Points I don't need! I was furious and explained that all your other members (Newport Onshore owners for example) got their home resort as their home resort and I was never given a choice even. Now that they are selling shawnee, they wont give me even the option of getting it back. NO DOUBT, they are selling them out for more $.

Good things:
The resorts are clean and very accomadating. We have had nothing but a pleasant experience as well did my parents when they stayed in Bonnet Creek. It has and will already save us a ton of money and can almost guarantee us a vacation with three kids in tow. As a former travel agent, I am aware of the cost that can acrue when booking vacations of weeklong proportions. We also have the ability to travel when we choose, which is a plus over owning the fixed week timeshare types.

As long as you book in advance you are more that able to get what you desire. It is a chore when you dont, as they book up fast. Also when we signed on we were promised more resorts would be built each year, and so far they are being done. Aside from the initial bad first impression I am enjoying the freedom of being able to vacation when I please. I also like the 2 day and three day deals they offer as well as the discounts at area hotels. We have yet to take advantage but will next summer.

Overall I am pleased, but can see the frustrations that go along with these complaints. I think that, in time things will work itself out. Wyndham is somewhat new to this and now that they are taking over, things will surly change for the better.

My husband and I have also been owners since 2005 with Fairfield, now Wyndham and had to also learn the system, which has resulted in a good investment/experience.

The Sales Rep complaints, already mentioned are true, according to our experience with becoming owners but aside from that, this has been good for us. We did have to learn about the so called owner update' meeting which actually turned out to be just a sales pitch to upgrade, but after the 3rd time, we figured it out and either never meet the sales rep for the meeting or as the previous poster stated, we give them 30-45minutes, then tell them that we were not interested and walk away with our $30, free dinner, or club tickets!

We always use the 1800 number to book vacations and never had a problem with customer service. Our Sales Rep did tell us that we had to book in advance to get exactly what we wanted and for the most part, he was telling the truth at that moment. We learned that we MUST plan ahead and schedule at least 45 to 60+ days in advance to get the rooms and dates that we wanted.

We purchased 308,000 points (with 154,000 bounce points for 2 years to upgrade to VIP Gold), at the Atlantic City Skyline Resort in NJ in 2005. The site has always been very nice, regarding the accommodations and service. We have already booked 5 days in Las Vegas at the Wyndham Grand Desert Inn and 3 days in Arlington Virginia and have had wonderful times at each, with great/clean rooms and good service---not to mention that since this is an investment in vacations/quality of life, we have saved so much money with the timeshare already. We will be taking our children to Disney World in 1 year and will save so much money because of the timeshare.

Our only complaints have been with the Sales tactics, already mentioned, but we also realized that they are just like new & used car Salesmen---just out to get as much of a commission as possible. We knew that going in and just listened to the sales presentation, read every document put before us, checked the budget (sitting right there because I carry our budget with me) and made sure that we understood everything before signing on the doted line.

My wife and I have been with Fairfield then, now Wyndham since 2005 and have learned some things along the way. One of them you mentioned, the "owners update" which is really a sales pitch. Don't ever attend those unless you are prepared to sit for a few hours, and plan to buy more points. We made that mistake one time, and never did it since. Besides, it is none of their business when you (and your spouse if applicable) have money to spend on more points. I don't like the idea of them trying to take up a lot of time either. I think our record was 45 minutes to get out of one of the presentations and that is because we told the salesperson up front we had no interest in buying anything because we just got married (which was true) and working on paying that off. It is sort of hard to argue there. We got our 30 bucks for sitting there for a little bit and was on our way.

Regarding general assistance, from my experiences with calling the 800 number, usually for reservations, but just for asking for general help, Wyndham has done a good job. I know the reservations link online rarely ever works but calling I am usually on hold no more than 10 minutes. The key with that is to call when they first open, if you are trying to book something exactly ten months out and need something bigger than a 1 bedroom. We had to do that for Orlando in September 2008 and I by pure luck was able to book it online, but called just in case because there were computer problems at the time and I wanted to make sure they got the reservation because we needed to get a 4 bedroom and those are very hard to get. We got the letter in the mail the following week proving the reservation was made, which was reassuring.

We haven't dealt with RCI yet, but that is because we haven't left the US.

You don't have to lose points. You can deposit points into RCI (something the salesperson should have told you) and you have 2 years to use those points. Some of Wyndham's resorts are in the RCI catalog as well.

Mike
Waldorf, MD