Complaint Review: Fairfield Resorts - Orlando Florida

I have many ex-employees that have gone into the timeshare business for Fairfield Resorts, now Wyndam Resorts in Branson, Mo. They are lured to this profession by the promise of earning $40,000 to $50,000 per month in commissions while working only 30 hours a week. I have heard that during training they are told that it is okay to tell the consumer anything to get the sale because it is so unregulated. They regularly mislead customers in regards to the resale value and do not openly tell consumers about the maintenance fees. If they can't close the sale they send in a "closer" to get the job done. They know that they must close the sale on the 1st visit before a customer has a chance to do any research and find out all the facts. They think nothing of misleading a customer during their presentation if it means getting the sale. Every liar, cheat and lazy dishonest person looking for a quick buck is gravitating to this business in the hopes of getting rich quick. Needless to say when you attract this type of salesperson it is strictly buyer beware. The average resale value of a timeshare is between $1,500 to $4,000, a far cry from what conumers are being told. If you don't believe me just look on the internet and how many people are trying to sell theirs. Strictly supply and demand. Fairfield Resorts has almost 500 consumer complaints lodged against it. Does that tell you anything?

R.C.I. agents have absolutely no training on fairfield products. In fact fairfield has agent traind to access rci's system. If you call R.C.I. you will probably get the wrong info, or mis transfered. You must cal fairfield's rci line to get the proper info. trust me I used to work for both. Also just dont trust fairfield. The executives are completely aware they just make too much to care

Always make sure when you spend a significant amount of money that you understand fully before you sign anything. Many salesmen will try to get you to make a decision the day of the presentation, mainly because they think you will not purchase if you have time to think about it. There are some in the timeshare industry, however, who will at least give you a time frame, i.e. this discount is good for 10 days. Those are the salespeople you want to deal with. If someone deals with you otherwise, leave the room immediately! I have owned a timeshare for many years. So I have some advice and facts to offer. There are good deals out there, among the many rip-offs, just like there are good and bad car deals, real estate deals, and so on. You must do your homework. The fact is that Wyndham has very little knowledge of the timeshare industry - they are a hotel chain - that would have been the first red flag. Fairfield Resorts has been in business over 30 years, though. I do not own at a Fairfield Resort, and I'm wary of some of their business tactics. That said, Fairfield is an RCI affiliated resort. RCI is the cream of the crop in the interval vacation and timeshare industry. If you are not getting straight answers from your home resort, or Fairfield, you can get answers from RCI. Is it easy? No, but persistence will pay off if you keep calling them. Points cannot be lost unless 3 years have passed on your "use year", and if you are traveling a lot, you should use your points for hotel stays, rental cars or airline tickets. Not as good a deal as using points for a condo, but better than losing the points. You do pay a fee for redeeming points for anything other than your home resort, but it is very low. You always have the option of depositing your points EVERY YEAR into your home resort, or the RCI system. Maintenance fees are always due annually or bi-annually at your home resort (read your contract). This fee covers insurance, taxes, maintenance, refurbishment and other costs. Consider this like an escrow account on your residential mortgage, except you pay it directly to the resort. As long as those fees are current, and you told RCI that you will use your points at your home resort for said year, it costs NOTHING to stay at your home resort. But you must use it that year or lose it. Points were designed for people who owned a week and could not spend 7 days at a resort and felt they were losing money on the days they weren't there. Get educated on the use of points. Again, if your home resort won't explain it, contact RCI. RCI regularly sends a written publication that covers all of this annually or bi-annually, depending on what you purchased.

One of the selling points of Tims Scare when they take people on tours of their property is "You can't vacation in lousy hotels year after year". I've heard people who've taken the tours tell me this over and over. After paying 10-15K minimum for a two week slot you may not be able to use you then are faced with $400-800 a year fees. Just think one moment about not buying the place and saving $15-20K right off the bat and then a mandatory let's say $500/year maintenance fee. All this for possibly not even being able to use/trade your slot. That's a lot of money saved (consider just the maintenance fee w/o the purchase price) for real vacations to go WHEREVER you want and sill have money left over. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Time Scare benefits only those selling it. R

NOTICE TO: Lou of North Carolina and all the other complainers of FAIRFIELD'S Timeshare selling tactics...Fairfield is NO MORE! You are all too late! They have merged with WYNDHAM RESORTS and CENDANT has also changed its name as well. Anyone who buys a Timeshare today directly from any resort (where they are touring) is paying 60% to 80% too much for it. The day you bought 1 share and 9 others didn't - means you have to pay the marketing costs for the 9 persons who did not buy! The only way to really get your moneys worth from a timeshare is to buy on the after market from a fully licensed Real Estate company that can legally arrange a closing and transfer the deeded timeshare property into your name from the previous owner. And keep in mind, a timeshare that costs from $15K to $25K when purchased at a resort can most likely be purchased from a fully licensed resale company for $5K or less. Never buy vacation points as they are just made up of air and air is FREE! If buy and own a deeded FIXED week of timeshare - it is yours forever during the week that you choose. Always buy a Peak Season week. Never buy a FLOATING week of timeshare because it does not guarantee you a vacation during any specific week of the year. Always buy a RED (peak season), DEEDED, FIXED week at a popular resort within a days driving distance of your home. It is your guarantee of a specific week every year at that resort. You can always trade it for a different location through RCI or one of the other exchange companys if you tire of the same resort and same week each year. And one final thing; if you do never go on vacations NEVER buy a timeshare! It's a good/great deal for folks that go on a vacations every year. Oh Yeah...and don't forget, everyone who owns a timeshare (there is no gettig out of the fact) pays an annual maintenance fee averaging from $400 to $800 per year. The resort where I own my timeshare collects more than $6 Million Dollars per year - do you really believe that they spend it all on condo maintenance? If you wonder how I know all the above information its because I did my homework before making a timeshare purchase more than 20 years ago. Best to all involved; Thom in Virginia

I live in a town that is full of these resorts. Fairfield is one of the biggest. They have what they (the time slime industry) call "Generators" hanging outside 7-11's and Hotel lobby s trying to get you to go on a tour of what they call a "Plantation". All the timeshares here have a name that has "plantation" in it so people will believe that there is historical value. They soon find out that they've been had and are on a sales tour. When the original salesman has taken you onto the "Plantation" in his/her car so you can't escape and you're insistent on not buying they bring out the "Hammer". The "Hammer" is usually an individual wearing a polyester suit with mixed stripes/plads who then gives you the real strong sell. They will actually sell you two weeks for whatever you can afford if they have to. Why not? When you've already over sold a $150K Condo two weeks at a time to the tune of about half a million they can certainly afford to let one two-week slot slide a little on the "light" side. What a wonderful business ;). Lesson: Beware of anything sold through unconventional methods. R

again I find that someone has hit 4 of fairfields ripp off reports and responded to all withen 40 min! I would say that it is odd. Most do not return to send positive thoughts multiple times. Returning is a sign of anger! Also funny enough they are all listed in cities very near fairfield offices and, or resorts. Anyone who has worked at this company knows what is going on to defend them is no different than stealing a meal from the child of a ripped off owner. I also would like to say I met a don who worked in pompano. One of his jobs is to represent the company. Not to mention anyone who workd there and is ok with what they do is getting paid and therefore has an incentive to defend. I have told told in the past at two different resorts by a salesman that there were no maintenance fees. Lies are lies. These just seem to have affected others not you Rick!

I am a happy member of the Fairfield discovery club with intentions to buy in July - my mom and both sisters are owners. Some of you clearly think that anyone who has POSITIVE things to say about Fairfield are being paid to do so *OR* are current employees. That's pretty small minded, and definately not the case. With regards to the original poster - When you go through the presentations, they may not talk much about maintenance fees, but they do mention them. At least at every preso I've done, they have. They mention them usually in tandem with "You can get a month of maintenance waived for each person you refer who goes through a presentation." Personally, I'll refer my friends who are interested, but I don't mind paying the maintenance fees. We recently visited the Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando, and the sales lady (who I didn't like) gave us price sheets with payment breakdowns. Those payment breakdowns included the maintenance fees. I'm also pretty sure your contract has all kinds of wording relating to the maintenance fees and what they can and will do if you don't pay them.

Jim I am an ex-employee of fairfield and we deserve it. I never stole from anyone but most of my co-workers did. When I left I didn't take my info out and public untill it was to late for many. Anyone who is willing to work for these thievs knows what is going on. They learn quick. Lois obviously works in the industry or she wouldnt be so angry. So I Say FREELOAD ONCE FOR ME Jim.

this is directed to Jim, he is living proof of why sales people get the bad rap - he freeloads off of anything he can and proudly proclaims it herein.....do you milk the government for food stamps and welfare too? is your family living in section 8 housing??? Probably. Obviously the industry did something to you, you also clearly admit to owning a timeshare, so one of those poor sales people you enjoy tormenting (mind you, they have families they support and do not live off goverment money, food stamps and section 8)must have made some impact, otherwise why would you have bought one? You dear Jim are, with intentional malice, stealing from a living breathing human being, unlike yourself that is, who has a family, who works to support this family and who "allows" you to walk all over them with every presentation you take each time you agree to tour some resort for all this "free"(loader)stuff. It may be the nature of the beast in sales to take the good with the bad, but people like you make me sick and trust one very real thing, what goes around comes back around to you, and obviously it already has since you feel this truly sick enjoyment out of forcing your family through 3 to 4 hours of a presentation simply to attempt to piss off or humiliate a sales rep, does that make you feel like a man there Jim old boy? Is that the only way you can feel like a real man? Degrade someone you don't even know? Did you get beat up when you were in grammar school? Bet you did you really are a sick breed, and I truly wish there was a way of having a no call list for people such as you - enjoy your life there Jim, more than likely you are some bitter looser who's only saving sake in life is to try and make someone else's life more miserable than your own.........

Obviously you work for the company as you have rebutted every recent negative report, and you admit it in your heading. Just wondering if you're being paid to do so. Also, if the company is the largest, which others would argue with (like maybe Hilton), why are you even on this site? Why worry about what a few people say. After all, doesn't 1 out of 10 buy? So to follow your logic and some of the others I have read ont his issue, I guess the other 9 are either just in it for the free gifts or bums? I take every tour I can. I like to play with the poor slaes people who spend three hours and make nothing, but then, it's their choice to sell timeshare. Of course, if a realtor doesn't sell you a house, they make nothing either, but my last one didn't get all nasty when I didn't buy cause someone else will come along (1 out of 10, right?) And remeber, you invited me, I didn;t call you. You called my house and offered me a free package. Just like every resort does that I visit while I'm there. Of course, when I tell them who I own with (see above) my tour doesn't last too long. Oh yeah, you wanna buy timeshare, go on e-bay. They ahve sonme really good prices. MAybe if consumers got really smart, they could put time share retailers out of business. And yes, you buy on e-bay or antoehr secondary market, you get your title insured by a major title company. You don't get that "free" stuff that ends up costing you several thousand dollars, though.

Don. Seems to me you make a lot of rebuttles for Fairfield. Maybe you're being paid to do so. I am not an employee. My spouse is. I have spent a lot of time in the "call center" where she works and have heard many dishonest comments and bogus offers (such as 50 yard line tickets to a local football team) by the telemarketers who call to set up your tour. Now, if you've won something, as often promised, why do I even have to take a tour? IF I do, how did i win? I have also heard many of the comments by the confirmers that could very easily be taken as threatening to the person on the other end. For the record, I own three time shares, none with Fairfield. Why? Price. The mark up on the share is about 20%. IF that's not so, why can I buy one for that price being married to an employee, or why, every August, does Fairfield offer its employees a 50% discount? Also, in their system, points aren't points. In other words, a package at one place may not get me in on an exchange, even within the system. Yes, the parent company, CENDANT, owns RCI, but so what? IT soesn't guarantee you anything. Maybe you should direct Mr. Henning to this site so he can read what people think about his company. I ahve seen the organization at work, up close and personal. Based on my expereince, both in the call center and on a tour that I took in Atlantic City, they are the most high pressure group. I don't feel soory for a sales person who wnats to make a living doing sales in time shares. After all, it's like they say about the bonus in the call center, it's the luck of the draw. And if the product is so good, why do only 1 or 2 out of 10 peopel buy? Remeber, I own three, so I think I can speak with a bit of knowledge!

Don. Seems to me you make a lot of rebuttles for Fairfield. Maybe you're being paid to do so. I am not an employee. My spouse is. I have spent a lot of time in the "call center" where she works and have heard many dishonest comments and bogus offers (such as 50 yard line tickets to a local football team) by the telemarketers who call to set up your tour. Now, if you've won something, as often promised, why do I even have to take a tour? IF I do, how did i win? I have also heard many of the comments by the confirmers that could very easily be taken as threatening to the person on the other end. For the record, I own three time shares, none with Fairfield. Why? Price. The mark up on the share is about 20%. IF that's not so, why can I buy one for that price being married to an employee, or why, every August, does Fairfield offer its employees a 50% discount? Also, in their system, points aren't points. In other words, a package at one place may not get me in on an exchange, even within the system. Yes, the parent company, CENDANT, owns RCI, but so what? IT soesn't guarantee you anything. Maybe you should direct Mr. Henning to this site so he can read what people think about his company. I ahve seen the organization at work, up close and personal. Based on my expereince, both in the call center and on a tour that I took in Atlantic City, they are the most high pressure group. I don't feel soory for a sales person who wnats to make a living doing sales in time shares. After all, it's like they say about the bonus in the call center, it's the luck of the draw. And if the product is so good, why do only 1 or 2 out of 10 peopel buy? Remeber, I own three, so I think I can speak with a bit of knowledge!

Don. Seems to me you make a lot of rebuttles for Fairfield. Maybe you're being paid to do so. I am not an employee. My spouse is. I have spent a lot of time in the "call center" where she works and have heard many dishonest comments and bogus offers (such as 50 yard line tickets to a local football team) by the telemarketers who call to set up your tour. Now, if you've won something, as often promised, why do I even have to take a tour? IF I do, how did i win? I have also heard many of the comments by the confirmers that could very easily be taken as threatening to the person on the other end. For the record, I own three time shares, none with Fairfield. Why? Price. The mark up on the share is about 20%. IF that's not so, why can I buy one for that price being married to an employee, or why, every August, does Fairfield offer its employees a 50% discount? Also, in their system, points aren't points. In other words, a package at one place may not get me in on an exchange, even within the system. Yes, the parent company, CENDANT, owns RCI, but so what? IT soesn't guarantee you anything. Maybe you should direct Mr. Henning to this site so he can read what people think about his company. I ahve seen the organization at work, up close and personal. Based on my expereince, both in the call center and on a tour that I took in Atlantic City, they are the most high pressure group. I don't feel soory for a sales person who wnats to make a living doing sales in time shares. After all, it's like they say about the bonus in the call center, it's the luck of the draw. And if the product is so good, why do only 1 or 2 out of 10 peopel buy? Remeber, I own three, so I think I can speak with a bit of knowledge!

Everytime I read a report about Fairfield I'm perplexed! You all freely admit fault by overextending yourselves financially, not reading your contracts, not using what you bought, etc. When will you realize you are to blame...NOT Fairfield! How many decisions did Fairfield make for you? Did you give them "power of attorney"? Look inside your heart and find the answers. Also, once a negative is on your credit reports, only you or a credit repair company can attempt to have it removed. Not the original creditor. I hope these comments have helped.

This is very typical of Fairfields sales offices.They say anything to get you to buy and then if you have a problem they leave you hung out to dry. Here is what I would do Call their corporate office and ask for the ceo Franz Hanning [DELETED]. Or e-mail him at [DELETED] [Place your comments below and be sure to include your FULL contact information so Rip-off Report can contact you.] You need to tell him all of what you have said here and tell him that you filed here on rip off reports and you are demanding that they refund you your monies (which they will)and clear up your credit report. I would also write a letter to Cendant(their parent company) Henry Silverman CEO and copy FF. Fairfield does not want the publicty I assure you. I know of many refunds that were given due to misrepresantion. I worked for them for over 6 years and know how devious they can be. good luck