[2016] Account review email [Accts. suspended]

[Jan M.]

I have not done a lot of "renting" but I do use all of my GCs every year by March and purchase a bunch through the year. My guests are almost entirely made up of family members and friends, and I use TUG or Redweek to advertise a handful a rooms each year, mostly to move reservations that my known guests can no longer use. So, here is my attempt to answer your questions:

1. I own where I want to stay, or where my guests want to stay. Bonnet Creek, Glacier Canyon, Royal Vista, Panama City. Most of those are NOT low MFs. I may look to rid myself of the Royal Vista contracts, due to the Front Desk at Royal Vista no longer honoring the "do not move" label placed on rooms. I used my ARP and reserved 13 months out so as to hold the ocean front rooms I love. It does not make sense for me to pay the premium to have RV contracts when the value is to get specific rooms, but the manager gives those rooms away and places me or my guests in rooms overlooking the street. I spoke with him directly and he feels that it is his right to determine who gets those rooms, not an owner, and not the Wyndham VCs.
2. Yes, but not counting on the upgrades. And will likely get rid of some of my contracts. If Royal Vista can get away with ignoring ARP "do not move" stipulation, won't other resorts follow their lead and change my ARP units?
3. Too soon to tell. Perhaps the business model will change to making reservations at 60 days, getting the best room available at that time.
4. It seems that was for using Credit Pooling to strip and use all of the points from the contract for the next two to three years, then sell the stripped contracts to whomever was buying, including Wyndham. I did not do that, but I did sell some contracts that I no longer wanted, mostly due to how I felt when I visited the resorts. I know a lot of people love Ocean Walk, but when I stayed there I did not like the attitude of the staff. I lived in Brooklyn for 7 years, and it was like visiting NYC again with no one really interested in customer service. It is hard to believe that only 60 miles separates Ocean Walk from Bonnet Creek, where the staff has a fantastic attitude and goes out of their way to make the guests comfortable. So, I sold all my Ocean Walk contracts. Love the beach, hate the attitude.
5. Having to place GCs on rooms 13 or 14 months prior to check in, even if I used ARP. My biggest trip each year is a reunion at Bonnet Creek over Thanksgiving. I use all of Presidential Reserve points, and all of my ARP for Bonnet Creek regular contracts to get the rooms we need. The ten unit limit placed a large difficulty for me as I basically purchased more and more over the years to get this event. Wyndham, and Fairfield before the name change, advertised the lure of having family reunions as a reason to buy more and more points, and I bought in. So, I paid retail for a lot of contracts, and then Wyndham pulled the rug out from under me. So, now I have to use ARP to reserve the rooms (I was not able to do so for 2017 Thanksgiving due to the Great Suspension of 2016, which irritates me beyond belief, so half of my reunion party will be staying at Reunion). Now this wrinkle.

It appears that Wyndham corporate simply does not want me to enjoy owning what they willing sold to me. Maybe they should buy me out.

Your reservation was for a specific unit number that was an ocean front unit at Royal Vista and a VC put do not move on it too but the resort put you, not a guest, but you as an owner and not just any owner but a platinum/presidential reserve owner, in a non ocean front unit? I hope that you at least contacted owner care and got your points back. Resort managers can be replaced and sometimes are when they get caught pulling b.s. like this and owners complain. Sometimes some of them need reminded that they are not gods in their own little kingdoms.

In the future if that ever happens to you, or any of you reading this post, start a thread here on TUG asking other owners to call owner care voicing their concerns about that resort and the resort manager. When owner care starts getting multiple calls about the same thing they take it seriously in my experience.

 

[vacationhopeful]

This is happening MORE and MORE ... as the "universal agent" is the former hangtag staff ... who got paid a bonus for obtaining HIGH ratio for guest attendance at sales presentation.

So the NEW bribe is 'agree to attend a sales presentation and get a better unit'. I reported that last time I stayed at Sea Gardens front desk giving me a BETTER unit .. one in the Ocean Palms building ... not the Cabanas 1bdr with all the pool noise.

I bet the guest for the OP unit was very unhappy ... or they did NOT know any better.

Seems I had to go home early .... else I would have missed the flight I booked home.

 

[wjappraise]

Your reservation was for a specific unit number that was an ocean front unit at Royal Vista and a VC put do not move on it too but the resort put you, not a guest, but you as an owner and not just any owner but a platinum/presidential reserve owner, in a non ocean front unit? I hope that you at least contacted owner care and got your points back. Resort managers can be replaced and sometimes are when they get caught pulling b.s. like this and owners complain. Sometimes some of them need reminded that they are not gods in their own little kingdoms.

In the future if that ever happens to you, or any of you reading this post, start a thread here on TUG asking other owners to call owner care voicing their concerns about that resort and the resort manager. When owner care starts getting multiple calls about the same thing they take it seriously in my experience.

Yes, had the room "do not move" label for room 4001, on the 4th floor of the front building, Saturday check in during Spring Break, April 1-8. Got placed in room on back building, 5th floor, overlooking the "intercoastal" which is really the street view from the 5th floor. I had double checked room status with Wyndham corporate the day before. The RV manager says he does not pay attention to "do not move" designations, and he claimed he has Wyndham's backing to do so. He invited me to come to the annual meeting at RV, to hear them reiterate that contention. No thanks.

 

[vacationhopeful]

See my avatar picture ... that was taken on the balcony of a Royal Vista unit ... I think the 5th floor several Aprils ago.

The A1A/Ocean Drive view is over a parking lot and the entrance to the front of the building. Public bus service, trucks, cars, the traffic light "stop & go", street lights all night long and absolutely no view or sounds of being anywhere near the ocean/beach.

 

[wjappraise]

See my avatar picture ... that was taken on the balcony of a Royal Vista unit ... I think the 5th floor several Aprils ago.

The A1A/Ocean Drive view is over a parking lot and the entrance to the front of the building. Public bus service, trucks, cars, the traffic light "stop & go", street lights all night long and absolutely no view or sounds of being anywhere near the ocean/beach.

Yes. And I have stayed in rooms on the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th floors in that front building. I have done so every year for ten years now. Never had a problem for either myself or a guest staying there if I used ARP and "do not move". It has NEVER not worked. Except this year. And it wasn't due to maintenance. It was manager's discretion. Why do I own at RV and use my ARP if that's my treatment? I could just use my Panama City points and reserve a street view unit at ten months. PCB MFs are about 30% cheaper than RV.


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[bnoble]

It can't hurt to let Owner Care know this is happening. There are a few resorts that do this, and while local management thinks they have the right to do this, they do not. Wyndham-managed resorts which carry the label "VIP Benefits Apply" are obligated to provide VIP perks---and Royal Vista is definitely one of those. Even as a resale-only low-point peon, I get this.

 

[Sandy VDH]

This resort and Sea Gardens are notorious for not honoring 'Do NOT Move'. The Sea Gardens arrogant GM will even move people out of Ocean Palms bookings and into Cabanas or Waterfalls, even though those rooms are LESS points and the Ocean Palms building is MORE points. I know they can't change Royal Vista point structure, but if they would have made these more points than that might have helped.

There is Point Saver units at Royal Vista, where are these rooms?

 

[ronparise]

So it would seem the "play" here is to reserve the points saver rooms and ask for a premium view

 

[Sandy VDH]

So it would seem the "play" here is to reserve the points saver rooms and ask for a premium view

Well pucker your lips and figure out what you have to kiss to get that oceanfront unit.

 

[wjappraise]

So it would seem the "play" here is to reserve the points saver rooms and ask for a premium view

That's a better option than my "play." Mine was to tie up full value 203,000 points for 13 months using ARP contract that has an MF rate of about $7.00 per 1,000. I believe PT Barnum had a quote about me.


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[ronparise]

Well pucker your lips and figure out what you have to kiss to get that oceanfront unit.

Somebody is gonna get them and the post here say it's not going to be the guy that paid for them

So why not me

 

[vacationhopeful]

Remember ... a resort manager makes chump change compared to a HIGH producing sales person.

 

[OutSkiing]

Yes, had the room "do not move" label for room 4001, on the 4th floor of the front building, Saturday check in during Spring Break, April 1-8. Got placed in room on back building, 5th floor, overlooking the "intercoastal" which is really the street view from the 5th floor. I had double checked room status with Wyndham corporate the day before. The RV manager says he does not pay attention to "do not move" designations, and he claimed he has Wyndham's backing to do so. He invited me to come to the annual meeting at RV, to hear them reiterate that contention. No thanks.

OMG this is sickening, assuming you were present yourself at check in. If so, I would definitely pursue it with OC and Wyndham management .. doesn't seem that manager should be working there unless he gets a better understanding of ARP and VIP ownership.

BTW some of the 'point saver' rooms actually have a view of the ocean looking north. I once had one of the x001 units booked on the ocean front (reciprocal ARP at 11 months), then a family member had a conflict so I had to re-book another week .. only thing available at that time was the point saver so I took it (I think I strung together a 3 day and 4 day somehow and one of those was the ocean view point saver). OC and I both felt it might have some view from it's positioning but with a palm tree partially blocking. When we got there .. two cars full of tired people they had put me in a parking lot view! I was nearly in tears. Stood there asking them to double check, and then for the manager. Finally the manager put us back in the 'point saver' saying he was 'pretty sure' the people slated to check in there were not the owners. The palm tree was not much of an obstacle at all. I suppose whoever was checking in after us were pretty disappointed but I assume he was right and that they were renters.

I've also been in the parking lot view .. on a 3 day stay over I got last minute. That would have been a big disappointment if it were not so last minute. I have yet to be in an ocean front at Royal Vista.

Bob

 

[Jan M.]

Yes. And I have stayed in rooms on the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th floors in that front building. I have done so every year for ten years now. Never had a problem for either myself or a guest staying there if I used ARP and "do not move". It has NEVER not worked. Except this year. And it wasn't due to maintenance. It was manager's discretion. Why do I own at RV and use my ARP if that's my treatment? I could just use my Panama City points and reserve a street view unit at ten months. PCB MFs are about 30% cheaper than RV.


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You own at Royal Vista and were treated like that? Usually when you own at a resort they go out of their way to take care of you. It adds insult to injury that you used your ARP too for the stay! Did you call owner care and ask for your points back?

In the future if you are going back and have an oceanfront unit reserved I would call owner care a week or two before you are due to arrive and tell them that because of your bad experiences in the past that you would like them to contact the resort manager to ensure that you are given the unit you booked and treated with the respect and consideration usually given to owners who stay at their home resorts.

Another thing you might consider doing is getting the contact information for the members of the board of directors at Royal Vista and sending them each a letter or email about how you as an owner there were treated.

 

[wjappraise]

Finally the manager put us back in the 'point saver' saying he was 'pretty sure' the people slated to check in there were not the owners.

"Pretty sure" the manager just screwed an owner. I would think once they start down this road, it perpetuates itself. An owner shows up and is upset with his room, and the manager moves him to a room that he is "pretty sure" is filled with renters. Then those folks show up, and they are owners, and upset. So, he has to move them to a nicer room, to cover his "problem." Before long he has given away the nicest room in the place in the hopes the next owner or renter that shows up won't make a stink, or the owner shows up so late due to airline problem, that the manager is gone and the owner has no choice but to accept the room and go to bed (me!).

And once word gets out that complaining or being upset gets you "upgraded" then it will take on a life of its own. Further complicating it is the implied bribery of upgrading someone's room to get them to agree to a sales pitch. Royal Vista is a small resort with every room assigned to an owner (or guest) for the entire winter and spring break seasons. There simply are no available "upgrades" without screwing the rightful owner of that room. And that is the problem. And the net result is that owners like me will not see the merit in paying the extra cost for a Royal Vista MF.

 

[wjappraise]

Another thing you might consider doing is getting the contact information for the members of the board of directors at Royal Vista and sending them each a letter or email about how you as an owner there were treated.

Thanks, Jan.

 

[vacationhopeful]

The Wyndham resort managers lately are NOT the professional managers of yester-year. A 90 unit building (aka Santa Barbara) or 93 unit building (aka Royal Vista) are small places with freshly minted (promoted) managers. With a college degree in marketing, perhaps a sales person who did not make the commission mark or just someone's relative ... verses the resort manager & assistants at a large resort, like Bonnet Creek.

The front desk staff used to have 5-10+ years of experience ... and could RUN the checkin & understood people. Today, most of them got the job if they can enter a name into the computer ... pleasant and young, but trying to get into sales (marketing majors are a dime a dozen without jobs).

8-10 years ago ... I chatted up a floor maid at Wyndham Santa Barbara. Nice person who tried to help every guest to make their stay pleasant. The next year, I had a issue with a Guest Letter for a fixed week guest after 11PM. The front desk clerk could NOT find them in the computer .. the guest called me and handed the phone over to this same woman (now on the overnight clerk). She promptly told me who she was and we got her to find the right system .. got my guest into the room. The next winter, she was working the afternoon slot, etc. She moved up in year 4 to being the Front End manager for Royal Vista and then Sea Gardens.

Then, came in the universal agent. Gone. And no one on ANY of the front desk knew much of anything.

And it has not improved .. even slightly .. over the pass 3 years now. Royal Vista does get the guest certificates off the computer (and I don't promise anything to Royal Vista guests). Santa Barbara and Sea Gardens fixed weeks... I call at least twice to add the names with an email to the NEWEST email address ... give copies to the guests and KNOW to answer my phones.

And have had Wyndham guests (not my guests) roosting still a few times in my deeded fixed week units... that I have learned about. Could have happen more .. but those guests did not call me or just figured I was an airhead and took whatever unit they got a room key for.

 

[Sandy VDH]

The whole Universal Agent is a nightmare. They have a completely different agenda than a true front desk, and are likely being rewarded/compensated for that sales bent. So it is completely at odds with what the front desk is suppose to do. So couple that behavior of attend a presentation or buy and I will give you a better unit, along with lack of training and the two system inventory (fixed weeks and points) problem.

Lack of training aside, and sales vs hotel management, at least the inventory system could be improved. It would be easy enough for Wyndham to combine the both the fixed interval system and the point reservation system, at least for presentation to the front desk staff. All they would have to do is convert Fixed Weeks into an equivalent reservations in the point system with 0 points and 0 fees, with DO NOT MOVE FIXED WEEK designations. It would at least solve the dual inventory problem, but it wouldn't help if the front desk staff still ignore DO NOT MOVE designations, which is appears that Pompano area resorts (more so at Royal Vista, Sea Gardens and Santa Barbara) have to have constant problems with.

 

[vacationhopeful]

The Wyndham beach trio of resorts ... Sea Gardens, Santa Barbara and Royal Vista only have 1 sales site ... the top floor of Royal Vista where the whole OPEN sales floor is facing the ocean. And sales proudly states "Buy here and YOU will get a ocean front unit as you OWN here". But they will also sell CWA ... but originally, Royal Vista was NOT in CWA.

Royal Vista was the ONLY Pompano (and Ft Lauderdale) resort totally in UDI points ownership. 93 1bdr and 2bdr units. 52 weeks worth of UDI points sold. And everyone WANTS Week 51 thru Week 14 plus Week 25/26/27 ... depending how July 4th falls. And there is a rumor, some RV points are now in CWA.

Sea Gardens has oceanfront units ... all are studio units in either North or South Oceanview buildings. 4 floors with 6 units per floor in each building. And many of the PRIME season weeks are still OWNED by Fixed Week owners .. like ME. And NO BALCONIES .. those patio doors open onto a "Juliet" balcony with a depth of 4".

And the Sea Gardens resort/Ocean Palms building and the Santa Barbara resort have 'some' units with partial views of the intercoastal waterway ... if you want to consider those a 'water view' units. And both buildings (Ocean Palms & Santa Barbara have many prime weeks still owned by fixed week owners).

So, I have acquired Wyndham fixed weeks in Pompano beach ... starting 10+ years ago...before CWA was started. And I have way over a 1,300,000 Royal Vista UDI points. And I have even MORE fixed weeks at a non-Wyndham resort in Ft Lauderdale. So YES, I can spend all winter from Week 52 til Week 14 in the Ft Lauderdale/Pompano Beach area.

And why do I have weeks/points at 4 different resorts? Hurricanes ... Santa Barbara was closed for several years ... owners had a LARGE special assessment and MANY dumped their ownership to PCCs who sold on eBay ... where I brought. And after it reopened, the deeds that Santa Barbara HOA foreclosed on .. were ALL SOLD to CWA on a "Just In Time" model for $1 each. And I would suspect that ALL fixed weeks acquired now all go into CWA ... as well as ALL UDI deeds.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Santa Barbara was closed for several years ... owners had a LARGE special assessment

I still own 2 Sea Gardens weeks. i used to own a Santa Barbara week, but did an Equity trade to avoid that HUGE (>$2K) Special assessment. I had also acquired a small studio fixed week at another Non-FL resort just prior to this. So in one transaction, and with a Developer purchase for 160K points from Wyndham, I converted 3 fixed weeks to points, I also PICed two other weeks and and did the equity trade on the Santa Barbara unit. It was my only purchase from Wyndham direct, but I got my VIP Platinum out of it. They tried to remove my Platinum when they went through the housekeeping process a few years ago, but I had it written into my Contract that PLATINUM was a condition of the transaction. So I got reinstated as I was able to show them the contract.

So can you do this today, I don't know. I don't think so. I think now they require you to purchase some points for each PIC and for each converted week, if they let you.

So like Linda I know those resorts pretty well, but I have converted all of my weeks to points. No fixed weeks left for me.

It is a constant PITA when the front desk is more sales focused AND otherwise clueless to how their fixed and points operations work. As well as their blatant disregard for DO NOT MOVE requests. Chad, who at last check was at Sea Gardens, does not help with matters either. I had to read him the riot act, and point out to him the Ocean Palms units were MORE points, and I completely expected my guests (one of my oldest friends (2nd grade), and her husband (who I went to University with)) to be placed in that building and NOT walked to another building instead. They did get OP but it was too many phone calls and chats with Chad to get the point across.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Dealt with Chad in person at Sea Gardens.

I got him to give me the Ocean Palms unit over the Cabanas unit where I was supposed to be sleeping. He wanted me to go to a Owner's Update. I left early to make my plane reservation. And called the front desk to check out after I got home ... and missed my Owner's Update appointment (oh, so sorry .. emergency back home at work. Big problem ... losing several days of my vacation. Had to get back ASAP.).

 

[wjappraise]

Dealt with Chad in person at Sea Gardens.

I got him to give me the Ocean Palms unit over the Cabanas unit where I was supposed to be sleeping. He wanted me to go to a Owner's Update. I left early to make my plane reservation. And called the front desk to check out after I got home ... and missed my Owner's Update appointment (oh, so sorry .. emergency back home at work. Big problem ... losing several days of my vacation. Had to get back ASAP.).

And that's the problem. Front desk staff are using room upgrades to entice sales tours. And for each upgrade given there is an an equal and opposite reaction. Someone like me getting shafted out of a room I booked 13 months earlier using ARP. Doesn't seem ethical to me.


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[55plus]

And that's the problem. Front desk staff are using room upgrades to entice sales tours. And for each upgrade given there is an an equal and opposite reaction. Someone like me getting shafted out of a room I booked 13 months earlier using ARP. Doesn't seem ethical to me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Nothing about timeshares when it comes to management and sales is ethical. . .

 

[vacationhopeful]

I really was dumbfounded that he was 'dealing' with moving guests for attending an "owner's update". I expected him to return with a "looked but all those units are reserved" and up the $$$ to attend the update. I knew there are limited 140K Ocean Palms units (poor views) which would equal a Cabana's 1bdr points value ... But I believe I got a 154K Ocean Palms unit .... nice & high ocean view unit.

 

[dagger1]

Not to change the subject, but has there been any positive "movement" on any of the "suspended accounts"?