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Disgusted by Wyndham Sales tactics

Bigrob

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I know, there is nothing new here. But it is SO discouraging to have a product I believe in represented in such a slimy manner.

My daughter - a recent college graduate and a newlywed - checked in at Panama City Beach tonight. She was hoodwinked into attending a presentation tomorrow - for which she paid a $20 cash deposit. The "concierge" - who is really the first in a series of sales pit bulls - claimed when I called to "undo" this that, "we put the money in a safe and she'll have to come down tomorrow to get the deposit back". Some nonsense about accounting, and how she's doing her job, and giving them a wonderful honeymoon package.

I said, "so, it's a gift? for their honeymoon? And they don't have to attend a presentation? That's great!" A moment of silence, then she starts talking about how they want to let non-owners learn about the benefits of ownership. I explained I'm a platinum owner with over 10M points and probably know more about their product than anyone who will be presenting tomorrow, and my daughter is also an owner. Could not get her to return the money. She was quite nasty about it.

All of this followed several calls to/with Wyndham and the PCB resort staff. I had received an outbound call from the resort staff last week and discussed that is was my daughter who would be visiting, and they confirmed it was noted in the reservation. Somehow, none of the notes were there and they didn't let my newlywed daughter check in. I had to call Wyndham corporate and get them to get her entered in - even though I'd already done that with the resort the week before. So I was already hot.

UGHHHH.
 

Free2Roam

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So instead of offering gifts to lure you in, they're asking for a deposit? They actually expect folks to pay to be tortured. Incredible.
 

tschwa2

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No, it sounds like they offered gifts but asked for a refundable deposit to ensure that the guests come to the meeting rather than no showing.


And as for the check in I am confused. Was this booked with points on which she is on the account and you put her name on the reservation or was it booked in your name on your account and you called the resort to say your daughter would be checking in without a guest cert and the resort said fine but when she actually arrived to check on they said she couldn't or was it a problem because she is a newlywed and now has a different name than her name on the account?
 
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Free2Roam

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Got it. Still ridiculous that they're asking for deposits... Although that makes it even easier to say no.
 

ronparise

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I wouldnt worry about your daughter, Once the salesman figures out her connection to you.. They will move on to someone else.
 

lprstn

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Many resorts do the 'deposit' ploy to 'hold' you to the seriousness of the offer. What gets me is - I and many others fall for it.

Remember, Wyndham is a business, they don't care about their 'owners' one bit. Only their bottom line as shown when they keep slicing the benefits to be the most profitbable for them.
 

pedro47

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So do you still want to own a timeshare and do you still want to refer a friend to a sales presentation ?
 

presley

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Someone on wmowners recently had to pay the $20. to hold her spot in the presentation. She went and bought and instead of giving her $20. back to her, they gave her a $20 american express card. I'm pretty sure she canceled her purchase, but they want $20 cash and promise to give it back, but they bait and switch and give you a $20 gift card instead. They probably get those for free and pocket the cash.
 

Bigrob

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No, it sounds like they offered gifts but asked for a refundable deposit to ensure that the guests come to the meeting rather than no showing.


And as for the check in I am confused. Was this booked with points on which she is on the account and you put her name on the reservation or was it booked in your name on your account and you called the resort to say your daughter would be checking in without a guest cert and the resort said fine but when she actually arrived to check on they said she couldn't or was it a problem because she is a newlywed and now has a different name than her name on the account?

Booked in my name... the resort called me for the pre check-in stuff (in part because I have about a half dozen reservations there) and I mentioned to her I needed to change it to another owner on the account, but that the deed transferring in was still tied up with Wyndham Title. (Been there since July). She got her manager and came back and said, "we've got your daughter on the reservation here locally and it's the manager who approved it, and it's all noted on the reservation along with your unit request."

Well - apparently it wasn't, and the staff was rather nasty about it on the phone and refused to help. I had to call Wyndham and have them send emails to the resort. Not exactly the smooth, stress-free experience I wanted for my daughter on her honeymoon.

Were they doing me a favor originally to put her name on it without a guest cert? Yes... and if they had refused and said there was nothing they could do at the time, I would have understood. But that wasn't how it played out. So my daughter was stuck in the lobby for 30 minutes while I frantically worked this out just before the Wyndham VIP number closed for the night.
 

Bigrob

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Somewhat happy ending

There is a satisfactory conclusion to this... my son-in-law shut down the nonsense. Yup, my daughter seems to have chosen wisely!

And they are having a GREAT time... perfect weather. And I know they're enjoying the place, since it's the 3BR Presidential on the top floor.
 
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