Did we get screwed?

My wife and I are DVC owners and absolutely love it! We purchased resale and I am positive we will add additional points down the road.

We are looking at an additional timeshare company outside of Disney. We love Disney, but there are other places in the world to see.

Here is the question -

I inquired on the Wyndham website about vacation ownership and was contacted. They offered us a 4 day 3 night stay for $179 that would need to be claimed in the next 18 months. In addition they will give us a $100.00 AMEX giftcard and coupon book. (I'm not expecting much out of the book lol)

The only thing is that we need to attend the 2 hour presentation while at the resort.

Has anyone does this before? Is it worth it? We have 15 days to cancel and get our money back.

We intend on purchasing resale, but I was hoping they would send us some literature or a promo video about the properties etc...

Is this a good idea?

As long as you don't buy retail at the presentation, you got a good deal. Wyndham is a good system IF you don't buy from them. Enjoy your stay.

How is your sales resistance? You'll be subject to multiple salesweasels, 'closers', finance managers, etc. etc. etc, for likely 3-4 hours then subsequent phone calls harassing you. Likelihood of usable information translatable to resale- close to zero. Don't even try to counter their arguments, they're trained to pit spouses against one another, lie, promise you the same Presidential suite year after year. Nothing is off limits.

So. Buy the new TUG "I paid more for this T-shirt than my Timeshare". Or "Keep Calm and buy Resale". Buy one of each and both of you wear them to the presentation. That should keep it to a manageable time frame. About 15 minutes. They won't have you in the boiler room wearing one of those. http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228250&highlight=T-shirt

Jim

Be prepared for a high pressure sales pitch ride of your life. Set you watch and get up and leave after 2 hour and don't forget to collect your $100 AMEX gift card on your way out. If they continue to pressure you tell them you're a resale guy and visit the TUG website regularly.

wyndham is it worth it?

Try and set the sales pitch for the last day or as late as possible. Also unplug the room telephone.

I did one four or five years ago. They actually did not put me up in a Wyndham resort but a local hotel in the neighborhood of the Wyndha in Alexandria. I personally would not do it again. I think you can see the type of things you would like to know if you read the member directory that gets posted on this site from time to time. You can see all of the resorts and have the different ownership levels explained.

simon.fisher.2 said:

My wife and I are DVC owners and absolutely love it! We purchased resale and I am positive we will add additional points down the road.

We are looking at an additional timeshare company outside of Disney. We love Disney, but there are other places in the world to see.

Here is the question -

I inquired on the Wyndham website about vacation ownership and was contacted. They offered us a 4 day 3 night stay for $179 that would need to be claimed in the next 18 months. In addition they will give us a $100.00 AMEX giftcard and coupon book. (I'm not expecting much out of the book lol)

The only thing is that we need to attend the 2 hour presentation while at the resort.

Has anyone does this before? Is it worth it? We have 15 days to cancel and get our money back.

We intend on purchasing resale, but I was hoping they would send us some literature or a promo video about the properties etc...

Is this a good idea?

Click to expand...

I would just hear them out and then tell them you need to think about it for awhile. You'll have to tell them that multiple times. I wouldn't start arguing with them about buying retail, just say it's tempting, but you have a rule that you won't sign a contract on the spot. Tell them you went back to sign the DVC contract after 3 days thinking about it.

If you have a difficult time resisting high pressure sales, this could be your most expensive cheap mini-vacation ever.

I believe you will be staying at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in the Bonnet Creek complex, and will have full access to all of the pools and other activities throughout the complex. WBC is great and it should be a very nice stay.

I have not attended a timeshare presentation at Bonnet Creek, but everything I've heard about them is bad. Very high pressure and really obnoxious, so I would be prepared for that.

I like the suggestion to schedule the presentation on your last day for a couple of reasons: 1) you won't miss anything you want to do because the presentation ran overly long, and 2) you can look at you watch and say, "Oh look at that! We gotta go; got a flight to catch, bye!"

We also unplug our phones to avoid the nonsense. Anyone we want to talk to has our cell numbers.

The Wyndham system itself is fine. We leave next week for Sedona/Flagstaff/Monument Valley/Grand Canyon/Sedona.

to go or not to go, that is the question.....

You originally bought resale, and have never been through the ringer. That make you a virgin of sorts. Go to the presentation. Leave your checkbook and credit cards in the room/car. After the two hours, "gotta go, we have a spa appointment", get your gift card, and leave.

You will no longer be a timeshare sales presentation virgin, ever again!

weems637 said:

You originally bought resale, and have never been through the ringer. That make you a virgin of sorts. Go to the presentation. Leave your checkbook and credit cards in the room/car. After the two hours, "gotta go, we have a spa appointment", get your gift card, and leave.

You will no longer be a timeshare sales presentation virgin, ever again!

Click to expand...

The question is: Will you feel violated after?



[Sorry, I couldn't resist given the analogy :hysterical:]

I have not attended a timeshare presentation at Bonnet Creek, but everything I've heard about them is bad. Very high pressure and really obnoxious, so I would be prepared for that.



I can vouch for this :annoyed: Was just there a couple weeks ago, fell victim for the many lies and scare tactics used and am currently trying to rescind.

That said, totally agree with the above - very high pressure and will lie about anything to make the sale. However, I don't think your buying the package was a bad deal if you can stay strong and not fall for it like I did!

Passepartout said:

So. Buy the new TUG "I paid more for this T-shirt than my Timeshare". Or "Keep Calm and buy Resale". Buy one of each and both of you wear them to the presentation.

Jim

Click to expand...

Good idea... I liked the "I paid more for this T-shirt than my Timeshare" but couldn't find it on Michael's site, is it not up yet? I can't imagine the look on the salesmen's face when you show up to the presentation wearing that one!

OP: if it were me, I would cancel.

If you really want to know what it is like to stay in Wyndham resorts, rent a stay from an owner and check it out. If your first exposure to Wyndham is a sales presentation, it could color your perception of the system significantly, to the point where you decide it just isn't for you.

I've been a resale owner for nearly ten years. I've split my stays between Wyndham and exchanges, but our Wyndham stays (Bonnet Creek, Tamarack, Smoky Mountains, Old Town Alexandria, La Belle Maison) have all been great, and we look forward to more down the road.

Bigrob said:

Good idea... I liked the "I paid more for this T-shirt than my Timeshare" but couldn't find it on Michael's site, is it not up yet? I can't imagine the look on the salesmen's face when you show up to the presentation wearing that one!

Click to expand...

I think it is on a different site - i bought mine through a thread on the "about TUG BBS" subforum

[Oops. inadvertent double post]

Bigrob said:

Good idea... I liked the "I paid more for this T-shirt than my Timeshare" but couldn't find it on Michael's site, is it not up yet? I can't imagine the look on the salesmen's face when you show up to the presentation wearing that one!

Click to expand...

Sorry Rob. These come from a different supplier than Michael (Teespring), and we had to order a certain number of them before they would print. Maybe there's a waitlist. They don't charge you until they print.

Thread here: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226814&highlight=T-shirt

bnoble said:

OP: if it were me, I would cancel.

If you really want to know what it is like to stay in Wyndham resorts, rent a stay from an owner and check it out. If your first exposure to Wyndham is a sales presentation, it could color your perception of the system significantly, to the point where you decide it just isn't for you.

Click to expand...

This is a great suggestion, especially if you have a low pain/pressure threshold.

There really is a HUGE difference between the Wyndham resorts and people and the sales weasels. Wyndham good; weasels bad.

You can usually rent a WBC 2 bedroom for less than $1,000 for an entire week, usually somewhat lower. You could also do a 1 bedroom, shorter time period, etc.

My wife and I decided to do nearly this same deal at Myrtle Beach about 3 years ago. We had no intention of buying a timeshare though - just wanted a cheap vacation. Wyndham put us up at a Hampton Inn (unexpectedly about 3 miles from the beach). The presentation was definitely high pressure, 3.5 hours instead of 1 and we vowed "never to do that again". The sales rep transported us to/from the Hampton Inn so that took up even more time. Our kids were very hungry when we were finally done and we had lost over a half day of the vacation.

However, it turns out we really liked what we saw at the presentation. We got a tour of Ocean Boulevard Myrtle Beach. The resort was nice and the early part of the presentation gave a good overview of Wyndham. Afterwards I spent about 2 months on TUG reading EVERYTHING and decided I liked Wyndham's system despite how difficult it can be to use effectively. Note that some of the TUG articles are dated so some tricks you could use years ago no longer work (specifically getting to VIP status). We bought resale at the Cottages/Myrtle Beach and have loved the vacations since then (2 at Myrtle Beach and one RCI exchange into Mariott Vistanna in Orlando).

We've since been to 2 more "owner presentations" knowing what torture we will endure. Every time we leave saying "never again" but it seems we can still be bribed... (breakfast and 5 tickets to Medieval Times just last Tuesday ).

So, my advice - leave the checkbook and credit cards at home, endure 3-4 hours of very high pressure sales (well, 1 hour of banter, 2-3 hours pressure), say no to everything (including all the follow up phone calls), and enjoy the rest of your "nearly free" stay.

Then if you like Wyndham and don't mind the complexity, buy resale (understanding ARP, MFs and CWA before the purchase).