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{UNLOCKED] Wyndham notice RE commercial use

EH does not currently accept weeks from owners during OPDs but I can't think of anything that would keep Wyndham from renting on EH during OPDs if it chose to do so.
If you will post a few examples of Owner Priority Dates for rent through Extra Holidays, now or anytime, I will buy into the Wyndham/Extra Holidays paranoia that Club Wyndham ex-renters try to drum up.
 
I think the main thing is that on Facebook there's usually an easy trail between the owner, their real name, and the dates and location they're renting out, and often the guest's real name as well. On Koala that would all be obscured. So not that Wyndham condones Koala over any other means of offering rentals, but that there's an opacity with Koala that Wyndham seems not to have bothered to crack at this point.
Nevertheless, the point is the same -- multi-factor authentication is probably not intended as and probably will not be a deterrent to mega-businesses.


An owner just posted on Facebook that he got a commercial renting notice despite using koala
 
If you will post a few examples of Owner Priority Dates for rent through Extra Holidays, now or anytime, I will buy into the Wyndham/Extra Holidays paranoia that Club Wyndham ex-renters try to drum up.

I didn't say there were, only that there could be rentals of Owner Priority Dates by Wyndham both on EH and other sites. Are you going to say that Wyndham can't or won't change what it does?

This is hardly paranoia. I think there are abundant reasons to be wary of Wyndham's actions.
 
An owner just posted on Facebook that he got a commercial renting notice despite using koala

wonder if they were putting up a listing, or if they were fulfilling a request?
 
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An owner just posted on Facebook that he got a commercial renting notice despite using koala
I saw that too. It’s still probably why they were mailing Facebook renters back in May/June, but Koala only now. (At least when it comes to low-volume renters who otherwise wouldn’t have GC patterns that are unusual for non-renters. I would guess high-volume GC users draw attention to themselves in other ways.)
 
I think there are abundant reasons to be wary of Wyndham's actions.
For those who rent Club Wyndham vacations, of course.

For everyday owners who just want to take their family on vacation, Wyndham's actions have made it easier to book prime vacation times without having to compete against the commmercial renters. There were a number of posts about how much easier it was to book 3 and 4 bedroom units after automatic upgrades eliminated the cancel/rebook abuses. There were also similar posts at that time about how it was all a conspiracy to benefit Extra Holidays.
 
I saw that too. It’s still probably why they were mailing Facebook renters back in May/June, but Koala only now. (At least when it comes to low-volume renters who otherwise wouldn’t have GC patterns that are unusual for non-renters. I would guess high-volume GC users draw attention to themselves in other ways.)

Given everyone sets the email for the GC to the exact same email address whenever using Koala - it’s pretty easy for Wyndham to determine when Koala is being used.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I definitely agree that certain salespeople used this tactic to get sales.

We all know the salespeople lie and will say whatever they want to make a sale

We all know that what the salespeople say does not matter, only what's in the contract. And the contract has had reference to "not for commercial purposes" for quite a long time, it's also been in the user directory.

As owners, and especially as TUG users, since we know the salespeople lie, we can't hide behind "well, the salespeople said it was ok" excuse... we know better, and any of you actually trying to feign ignorance on this topic are being disingenuous.

There are a handful of people on TUG who probably quit their jobs and made enough to support themselves by doing this. At the expense of other owners. Some of us are extremely glad that Wyndham is/has put an end to this.

At the expense of a couple of you... tough luck.
Wyndham should have had a better control of their sales people. Anyone who purchased because of it and see thousands of rentals should get a full refund.
Thankfully Wyndham first decided to pay people to leave at the remaining owners expense.

I guess you are against capitalism As well.
 
An owner just posted on Facebook that he got a commercial renting notice despite using koala
So much guessing and speculation. The wonderful world of Wyndham. I'm thinking I saw the same post, and they said they were only using koala (something to that affect) and yet...they did post rentals on FB. So... we are still left to guess what Wyndham really does look at and what the parameters are. Regardless, Wyndham's mission is accomplished. I say Wyndham is likely the biggest pot stirrer of them all.
 
I am/was chapjim on every listing site except RedWeek.com and I'm Jim C. there. I did not try to do anything to make tracking difficult. Didn't think there was a reason to and still don't. My use of guest confirmations told all the story that needed to be told.
I was Wyndhamrentals on eBay. I think that was my first cease and desist.
 
There is an obvious, logical difference between someone booking time in a premium resort/time at 13 months for a rental that is then no longer available for an owner to book, and someone booking " extreme leftovers" that are just sitting in inventory a couple weeks or less before arrival, like your hurricane example.
Why not first come first serve? Someone booking at 13 months actually owns at that resort. And either way I was able to do what I did and in the end went to the pay window and collected some of your maintenance fees.
 
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An owner just posted on Facebook that he got a commercial renting notice despite using koala

The ONLY way renting is now permitted is through Extra Holidays.
 
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I just received the Rule Violation Letter regarding commercial use, and reading through this thread of messages, I’m confused as to why I got the notice. I use a lot of GCs mainly for friends and family as I can’t travel as much any more but I don’t advertise or use any service. I do receive money to cover maintenance fees from a couple of my friends who live in resort areas who have their friends and family visit frequently. Could it be that on these GCs I use the friend’s email address on these reservations?
 
I just received the Rule Violation Letter regarding commercial use, and reading through this thread of messages, I’m confused as to why I got the notice. I use a lot of GCs mainly for friends and family as I can’t travel as much any more but I don’t advertise or use any service. I do receive money to cover maintenance fees from a couple of my friends who live in resort areas who have their friends and family visit frequently. Could it be that on these GCs I use the friend’s email address on these reservations?
My guess is that either upon check in or during a sales presentation they asked your guests how they booked and they probably said they rented or rented from a friend. I personally just go with the "my friend is an owner and they booked it for me" without any further explanation about who paid for what or how much.
 
My guess is that either upon check in or during a sales presentation they asked your guests how they booked and they probably said they rented or rented from a friend. I personally just go with the "my friend is an owner and they booked it for me" without any further explanation about who paid for what or how much.
Thanks, that is good advice. But I’m concerned about my future reservations now that my account has been identified in violation of policy. Any advice about what to do at this point?
 
I just received the Rule Violation Letter regarding commercial use, and reading through this thread of messages, I’m confused as to why I got the notice. I use a lot of GCs mainly for friends and family as I can’t travel as much any more but I don’t advertise or use any service. I do receive money to cover maintenance fees from a couple of my friends who live in resort areas who have their friends and family visit frequently. Could it be that on these GCs I use the friend’s email address on these reservations?

I mean... you are renting. I don't understand the surprise.
 
I agree that ARP is use that shouldn't be stopped or curtailed. After all, that is the deed that you own.

Anyone getting the letter that feels it was a betrayal by Wyndham's promises at the sales presentation should write a letter to the Florida AG. If the AG was inundated with hundreds of letters about this, perhaps they will do something. It cannot hurt.

I have given away quite a bit of our ownerhip so far. Looking forward to a 2023 with a lot less maintenance fees. And no, I am not giving away my Bali Hai or Shearwater.
 
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If you are making money, then yes. I got the impression this was "several", which my impression was that the person was using a majority of their points to make money, rather than do vacations. I've only used a handful of GC's in my entire ownership, and never asked for, or accepted money for them. But yeah, if you are making money, and using a majority of your points to rent, that seems pretty commercial.

If it walks like a duck... and quacks like a duck... maybe it's a duck
 
My guess is that either upon check in or during a sales presentation they asked your guests how they booked and they probably said they rented or rented from a friend. I personally just go with the "my friend is an owner and they booked it for me" without any further explanation about who paid for what or how much.
The problem is that you can't control what other people will say.
 
I think at this point I'd expect that Wyndham is reviewing all accounts that have reservations with a certain number of guest certs attached to them. If I were someone like @GrandmaGail and all of my certs were for family and friends with compensation not exceeding my costs, I'd pick up the phone and call Wyndham's legal dept to learn straight from the horse's mouth whether or not my pattern is one that they intended to snare in their net. And if not, I'd ask them what I or they can do to prevent the unnecessary anxiety over it.
 
If you are making money, then yes. I got the impression this was "several", which my impression was that the person was using a majority of their points to make money, rather than do vacations. I've only used a handful of GC's in my entire ownership, and never asked for, or accepted money for them. But yeah, if you are making money, and using a majority of your points to rent, that seems pretty commercial.

If it walks like a duck... and quacks like a duck... maybe it's a duck
Not so sure it "walks like a duck". The indicated they use a lot of GCs, but only get compensation to cover fees from a couple friends. If we take that at face value, it certainly doesn't sound like they are making money. Blanket statements don't really help here.
 
I just received the Rule Violation Letter regarding commercial use, and reading through this thread of messages, I’m confused as to why I got the notice. I use a lot of GCs mainly for friends and family as I can’t travel as much any more but I don’t advertise or use any service. I do receive money to cover maintenance fees from a couple of my friends who live in resort areas who have their friends and family visit frequently. Could it be that on these GCs I use the friend’s email address on these reservations?

What exactly do you mean by "mainly" for friends and family? If you have ever advertised anywhere, such as on a Wyndham Facebook group, or used a third party points manager, or a service such as Koala, then it's likely Wyndham will pick up on it these days. Maybe not right away, but eventually - as appears to have been the case here. Wyndham has no way to determine if anyone actually paid you - unless they explicitly ask the person checking in if they paid the owner for the reservation. I've not heard yet of Wyndham explicitly asking about payment - but I've heard many times on multiple forums/groups that Wyndham asks if the person named on the GC actually knows the owner who made the reservation - and if the person says yes - then in some cases they will actually then challenge the person to name the actual owner - because it's listed right on their check-in screen (after all - if that person is truly friends/family - then they should easily be able to name the owner). In other words, it's not good enough to just lie and say "yeah he or she is a friend of mine," any longer, as Wyndham is getting more explicit with their questions when guests are checking into the resorts.
 
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I don't think the "I don't make any money doing this" argument matters--at least, it doesn't appear to matter to Wyndham.

What appears to matter is whether or not you are truly doing this for friends and family---as in, specific people with whom you had some sort of prior relationship before you considered naming those specific people on a GC. That would be the criterion I would use in thinking about whether or not I was willing to use a GC.

So, if I were thinking about who I would be willing to name on a GC, "someone I met through Koala" isn't one of those people. "People I don't know who visit people I do know who live in resort areas" also aren't those people. I would be willing to name those friends who live in resort areas, and as long as they are the ones checking in for the unit, who else stays there doesn't really matter---those people are my friends, I knew them before I considered letting them use my membership, and I am letting them do so.
 
Anyone getting the letter that feel it was a betrayal by Wyndham's promises at the sales presentation should write a letter to the Florida AG. If the AG was inundated with hundreds of letters about this, perhaps they will do something. It cannot hurt.

Oh, give it a rest... you say I sound like a broken record?

I assure you the Florida AG (and the entire Florida Republican party) receives more money in campaign contributions from Wyndham than the "2 or 3 affected parties" who would complain. Plus they have legitimate real cases affecting Floridians (you aren't a Floridian, i'm guessing... I am) to be working on. As a Florida resident, I would feel betrayed (see what I did there) if they wasted their time doing what you suggest
 
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