You, me, and a lot of people here on TUG could figure things out just fine. The fact is, only a small portion of ownership is knowledgeable about timeshares. I didn’t take a poll, but if you spend enough time on those Facebook groups, you will see the same questions or frustrations over and over. You will see there are plenty of people that are confused. These are the most common comments and questions.
“I’m really confused”
“I’m lost”.
“Why is there no availability a year out?” (People just don’t understand the booking windows)
“How do I use my points to pay for airfare/cruises/Disney tickets/rental cars/maintenance fees/etc”.
“What are housekeeping credits”
“why did I get charged $19 for this reservation?”
“What’s the difference between CWA and deeded?”
“What is blue thread?”
“I went to an owner update to get answers to my questions, and they told me (enter various sales tactics here)”
“When can I borrow points?”
“How can I use my points for hotel stays”
“How do I move my points to next year? They expire tomorrow”
“How do I rent points/reservations?”
“Will Wyndham buy my timeshare back”?
“How do I get out of my loan?”
“How do I get out of my timeshare”
“The timeshare exit company said my children will be stuck with this after I die!”
“Why can I not book WorldMark resorts?”
“How do I book RCI?”
“Where can I buy points resale?”
“What’s the difference between resale and retail?”
“Did I do the right thing?” (My personal favorite)
“What are the benefits of VIP?”
“What is Club Pass?”
“How do I use my points to pay for maintenance fees?”
“How many points is a cruise?”
“How do I sell my timeshare?”
Over, and Over, and Over. It’s not just a few “turkeys”. Just because you or I have figured it out, doesn’t mean it’s easy. The difference between banking and timeshares, is the average person knows at least a bit about checking accounts, credits cards, 401k, etc. They’ve known about money since they were a kid. The majority of these poor souls know next to nothing about timeshares. The smart ones take the time to figure it out. The even smarter ones rescinded, so they had time to figure out what they want. Unfortunately, plenty are not as smart, and believes a commissioned sales person. Don’t base your opinion on your experiences, and what you see people write here, alone. There are more people on the Facebook groups, because they know of Facebook. You’ll see more opinions and experiences there, then you would here. Most of the people here are familiar with their timeshare, so it’s easy to think that only a few don’t know how to use it. If it were easy to figure out, half the sales tactics the sales people use wouldn’t work. Multiple accounts with different rules would create mass confusion. As
@dgalati said, that would give the sales people even more opportunities to con people into buying points they don’t need.
Im not saying this is a reason they shouldn’t take away VIP benefits from resale. I’m not saying they should take away benefits either. What I’m saying is, multiple accounts with different rules is a bad idea, and the only people who will benefit, will be the sales people.