# Wyndham Discovery



## dis5150 (Jan 12, 2015)

My husband and I recently went to Branson on vacation and got talked into a Wyndham TS presentation at the tourism center when we picked up our Silver Dollar City tickets. They were offering $100 cash and it was hard to turn down as we scheduled it for on our way home. Leaving with cash seemed like a great idea. We weren't worried about the "pitch" as our credit is terrible and knew we wouldn't qualify for anything. We had a very nice salesman, went with him to do the tour and were very impressed by the units shown. We had warned him that our credit was terrible. End of his pitch, now enter 2nd salesman who had to "evaluate" our 1st salesman so we could get our voucher to go back and pick up our $100. Well, he somehow talked us into this "test drive" package. It seemed like a good deal at the time and I had never been to a TS presentation or heard of this site. 

Long story short - we now have 300,000 points we can start using after we have paid $1300 in monthly payments. Our "use year" starts August 31 of this year, although the 2nd salesman told us to call if we wanted to use it a little sooner and he would work it out. Now, I have been all over this site and am definitely having buyers remorse. It is past my rescind period. I am wondering if I should just cancel and walk away from the $250 I have already paid, or pay the $2500 in monthly payments ($2900 after finance charges), and try out the system and then buy resale? Since I won't be paying maintenance fees for this "trial" are the points worth the money we will be paying for them? We plan to use the points (if we keep them) in Branson and gift a large chunk of them to my daughter for her honeymoon. The salesman said if I called him, he would handle the reservations for her without charging us the guest fee. 

I would say our experience with the salespeople were pleasant. We did get our $100 cash from them, without having to drive back to the tourism center with a voucher. Were there about 4 1/2 hours with all the "back and forth" on just what we could get with our credit. 

Any thoughts on keeping vs walking away now?

Thanks in advance!
Linda


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## Bigrob (Jan 12, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> My husband and I recently went to Branson on vacation and got talked into a Wyndham TS presentation at the tourism center when we picked up our Silver Dollar City tickets. They were offering $100 cash and it was hard to turn down as we scheduled it for on our way home. Leaving with cash seemed like a great idea. We weren't worried about the "pitch" as our credit is terrible and knew we wouldn't qualify for anything. We had a very nice salesman, went with him to do the tour and were very impressed by the units shown. We had warned him that our credit was terrible. End of his pitch, now enter 2nd salesman who had to "evaluate" our 1st salesman so we could get our voucher to go back and pick up our $100. Well, he somehow talked us into this "test drive" package. It seemed like a good deal at the time and I had never been to a TS presentation or heard of this site.
> 
> Long story short - we now have 300,000 points we can start using after we have paid $1300 in monthly payments. Our "use year" starts August 31 of this year, although the 2nd salesman told us to call if we wanted to use it a little sooner and he would work it out. Now, I have been all over this site and am definitely having buyers remorse. It is past my rescind period. I am wondering if I should just cancel and walk away from the $250 I have already paid, or pay the $2500 in monthly payments ($2900 after finance charges), and try out the system and then buy resale? Since I won't be paying maintenance fees for this "trial" are the points worth the money we will be paying for them? We plan to use the points (if we keep them) in Branson and gift a large chunk of them to my daughter for her honeymoon. The salesman said if I called him, he would handle the reservations for her without charging us the guest fee.
> 
> ...



You could do much better just renting from a platinum owner. At $2900 for 300K points, you are paying almost the equivalent of $10/K point, which is far higher than maintenance fee rates and higher than anyone would charge you for the use of their points. Did they also mention that those points have different booking availability than regular points? Are there limitations on how far in advance you can make a reservation with them? Do you have to use them all up by a certain time frame? What do you get for any leftover points you have at the end? When you use these points, how likely do you think it will be that you will be pressured to attend another presentation, this time to tell you how to avoid the $3,000 you've already committed being a sunk cost because now they can get you "real" points?

Please check the language of the contract you signed. If you already have bad credit, you may not want it damaged further, so you should try very hard to get them to release you from further obligations without another hit to your credit.


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## floridacrazy (Jan 12, 2015)

*After the 10 or 14 day period Wyndham won't cancel the Discovery*

Hi.  Three years ago I was at Star Island with a friend who owns a Wyndham timeshare.  I was stupid enough to think that going to a timeshare presentation would be worth the discount on the Disney tickets that they were offering.  I was there with my niece and her son who was maybe 8 at the time.

I couldn't wait to get out of there.  The Wyndham sales personnel are like hound dogs.  They don't give up.  I was told it would be 90 minutes and it ended up 3 hours.  I ended up signing up for the Discovery Program.  I told them that my credit was bad, but they kept sending in one salesman after the other.

They also played on the fact that my niece and nephew fell in love with the timeshares that they were showing us that we could book with the 125,000 points I was getting by signing up for the Discovery Program.  What a lie.  I told the salesman right out that my vacations are only during the summer months.  He made it seem like 125,000 points could get us 2 weeks at a timeshare in Orlando in the summer.  That was another argument I made.  If I take a vacation and I'm paying for airfare I want a 2-week vacation - not less.

They pushed until I caved in.  I thought I was doing something for my niece and nephew - we were going to have a great 2-week vacation in a timeshare the following summer.  He told me that I had 10 days to rescind.  By the time I got home and really realized what type of vacation I was getting, it was too late to rescind.  They wouldn't let me out of it.

The only thing I could get for 125,000 points in the summer was Governor's Greene in Williamsburg, Virginia.  It turned out fine, but boy was I pissed.

Since that vacation at Star Island and the one at Governor's Greene, I realized that a timeshare is the way for us to vacation, but I won't buy a timeshare.  I rent from an owner and we have a great vacation.


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## 55plus (Jan 12, 2015)

If you vacation annually and like vacationing in a condo t may be more cost effective to buy, but only buy resell.


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## puppymommo (Jan 12, 2015)

I, too, once bought a discovery package. Yes they do make it sound great but we did end up having nice vacations with it. I suspect that they save out some good inventory for DP "owners" to sweeten the deal because there is definitely a hard sell pitch while you are at your DP vacation to upgrade to a regular membership using your DP "equity" as the down payment. Don't fall for this one!

Since you are past rescission you are essentially stuck with it unless you want to further damage your credit. Yes you are stuck with some expensive vacations but choose carefully and you should have two to three very nice vacations (depending upon size of unit, location and season).

Just as an example, we go to Branson often. For the week between Christmas and New Years, we stayed in a two bedroom unit for 77,000 points. Deals can be found! On the other hand, some newer resorts cost 300,000 for a week.

Good luck!


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## dis5150 (Jan 13, 2015)

*Discovery*

Thanks everyone, for the input. I went home last night and read everything again, with the right questions in mind this time. Yep, too late to get out of it. Yep again, limited number of places to visit (compared to non-Discovery owners). But, we do have 300,000 points, unlimited number of reservation calls, unlimited number of housekeeping credits. So, after reading a lot on this forum yesterday, I think we will just plan some great vacations and try to make the most of it. We love the idea of the timeshare, but will definitely be buying resale! 

On another note, again after reading all over these boards yesterday, I am sure our salesman who gave us the tour was another lying weasel! But maybe I am wrong... maybe someone can answer a couple questions?? 1. "Sam" told us that we could golf for free, whenever we stayed in the TS in Branson? No cost whatsoever.  2. We could bring our Chihuahua, just needed to get him a certificate as a "therapy dog"? 3. Kids under 5 don't count as "people" in the occupancy limits. I'm sure there is more that I am just not thinking of right now. 

Thanks again!
Linda Reynolds


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## vacationhopeful (Jan 13, 2015)

Another Linda! Welcome to TUG and yes, "sam" was speaking with forked tongue.

1) Don't know Branson ... but very unlikely. But might, if you took a tour (again, 3 hours of LOST time) listening to sales crap.
2) Long thread on "service dogs" here on TUG. And hearing that spiel, I suspect MORE people are going to "need" a service dog to save on kennel fees. TS sales staff seem to have their own web site to pass around "new ways of selling to get commission checks".
3) Occupancy limits are FIRE CODE rules - not bed count for pillows. Also, several long threads on TUG regarding that issue, too. Let me guess, you have a 3rd child under 5 and a 1bdr using less points is in your budget? See another "salesman truth" to overcome your objection to how much a week's stay cost.


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## dis5150 (Jan 13, 2015)

vacationhopeful said:


> Another Linda! Welcome to TUG and yes, "sam" was speaking with forked tongue.
> 
> 1) Don't know Branson ... but very unlikely. But might, if you took a tour (again, 3 hours of LOST time) listening to sales crap.
> 2) Long thread on "service dogs" here on TUG. And hearing that spiel, I suspect MORE people are going to "need" a service dog to save on kennel fees. TS sales staff seem to have their own web site to pass around "new ways of selling to get commission checks".
> 3) Occupancy limits are FIRE CODE rules - not bed count for pillows. Also, several long threads on TUG regarding that issue, too. Let me guess, you have a 3rd child under 5 and a 1bdr using less points is in your budget? See another "salesman truth" to overcome your objection to how much a week's stay cost.



Thanks Linda! Actually, we had just spent 3 nights with my sisters family in a "family suite" at a hotel (2 rooms, 4 qn beds and a crib, with mini fridge, micro, table w/4 chairs and 1 bathroom) with 11 people total!! But 4 of them were 5 or under (3 mo, 14 mo, 4 & 5 yo). Wow! That was a crazy time, lol! So I was comparing that to what I could get with the TS. My kids are grown and no grandbabies yet!

I would never try and bring my dog somewhere by saying he is a service animal. "Sam" asked if we had pets and suggested it if we wanted to travel with our dog. 

And I figured he was lying, after reading on here, about the golf! I read the book I got for the Discovery package last night and saw different resorts had events and such and wondered if they charge for those too? (Sunday Sundaes, bbq cookouts, etc.)

Linda R


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## bnoble (Jan 13, 2015)

> We love the idea of the timeshare, but will definitely be buying resale!


The Discovery program isn't all that bad, really.  You aren't paying too much of a premium for the use of the points, and it will give you first-hand experience to see if timesharing is for you.  It's a different sort of vacation than hotels---even suite hotels---because you're a little more self-sufficient.  Some people really like that, others not so much.


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## puppymommo (Jan 13, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> I read the book I got for the Discovery package last night and saw different resorts had events and such and wondered if they charge for those too? (Sunday Sundaes, bbq cookouts, etc.)
> 
> Linda R



Some activities are free, some (especially with a meal) cost $5-$15. In Branson they will have meals along with entertainment, worthwhile IMO.

Crafts are usually around $5.

Just beware of anything like "owner's update". That is code for hard sell sales presentation!


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## dis5150 (Jan 13, 2015)

puppymommo said:


> Some activities are free, some (especially with a meal) cost $5-$15. In Branson they will have meals along with entertainment, worthwhile IMO.
> 
> Crafts are usually around $5.
> 
> Just beware of anything like "owner's update". That is code for hard sell sales presentation!



Thanks for the info! I will beware, believe me! We will unplug the phone and not answer the door!


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## 55plus (Jan 13, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> Thanks everyone, for the input. I went home last night and read everything again, with the right questions in mind this time. Yep, too late to get out of it. Yep again, limited number of places to visit (compared to non-Discovery owners). But, we do have 300,000 points, unlimited number of reservation calls, unlimited number of housekeeping credits. So, after reading a lot on this forum yesterday, I think we will just plan some great vacations and try to make the most of it. We love the idea of the timeshare, but will definitely be buying resale!
> 
> On another note, again after reading all over these boards yesterday, I am sure our salesman who gave us the tour was another lying weasel! But maybe I am wrong... maybe someone can answer a couple questions?? 1. "Sam" told us that we could golf for free, whenever we stayed in the TS in Branson? No cost whatsoever.  2. We could bring our Chihuahua, just needed to get him a certificate as a "therapy dog"? 3. Kids under 5 don't count as "people" in the occupancy limits. I'm sure there is more that I am just not thinking of right now.
> 
> ...




Therapy dogs are not protected under Americans with Disability Act (ADA), meaning they can be denied entry. It seems like lately everyone has a service dog these days and businesses are getting wise to it. I'm a disable veteran and travel with a service dog to help me with my injuries. I never had any issues traveling with him before, but in the last two years since everyone seems to have a service dog now I get looked at funny. When that happens I show documents from the VA so they know I'm not faking it. My dog came from a VA contractor through VA VocRehab.

I use to train dogs for the government and now perform as a contractor for the VA. I qualify PTSD dogs for disabled vets, which are really a form of a therapy dogs. If you want to know more about therapy dogs click "His Website" below and towards the bottom of the page click on the Service Dog hyperlink.


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## Jay6821 (Jan 14, 2015)

I bought a 154,000 Discovery package last December for $1,295.  I don't have big regrets. 

We used it for 4 days in a 2 bedroom deluxe in Las Vegas and we got a 25% points discount because we made our reservations so close to our actual travel date.  I was happy about that, as it left me a larger bank of points left over which I'm using for 4 nights in a 1 Bedroom deluxe in Myrtle Beach this spring.  I had to spend about $60 to add enough points for that to work out.  

So I got 2 separate vacations out of it, one with the kids (both over 21 so Vegas was ok) and one with just my wife and I.  

After joining TUG I bought a 189,000 point contract on eBay.  The only problem I've run into is trying to use up the Discovery points soon enough as there is overlap between my 2 contracts.


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