Purchased points from Shell Vacations club now owned by Wyndam. Timeshare continues to sell worthless points yet will not refund my initial purchase.
In May 2008, my girlfriend and I purchased 1,500 points from Shell Vacations Club West, now owned and operated by Wyndam Vacations. Even sitting down for this meeting was a bad idea. I felt pressured by the sales staff to purchase points in order to show my girlfriend I cared. A majority of the time, the sales presentation focused on the vacation desires of my girlfriend and very little on the financial impact it would have on us. It was a fast-paced, high pressure environment where I felt cornered to purchase points. We have finally finished paying off our points ($14,808.71 Principal + Interest) ($9360 Loan, $1010.90 deposit). It has been a severe financial burden the entire time we have been owners.
I finally became financially educated and determined that this purchase made absolutely no financial sense for us. I contacted Shell for a refund multiple times and have been run in circles, each time getting nowhere. As a consumer I feel taken advantage of. They recently offered to cancel my membership but that does nothing for the $14,808.71 that has seemingly been flushed down the toilet. I would really like Wyndam to refund my money and urge them to change the way the sell their timeshares. Urging a young couple who just started dating to purchase $14,000 in vacation time is a recipe for disaster.
I hope to prevent others from making the same mistake we did. Avoid doing business with Shell or Wyndham.