Former Wyndham Sales Rep Answering Questions

[Eric B]

A while back @ronparise posted about having sold some ownerships back to Wyndham via third parties. IIRC, that's how Wyndham became aware of what he was doing with the points and lead to his departing ownership in Club Wyndham. Whether or not Wyndham still purchases via third parties at present is not something I have a clue about; I wouldn't expect that they share that side of the business with the sales staff or former sales staff either.

 

[ronparise]

A while back @ronparise posted about having sold some ownerships back to Wyndham via third parties. IIRC, that's how Wyndham became aware of what he was doing with the points and lead to his departing ownership in Club Wyndham. Whether or not Wyndham still purchases via third parties at present is not something I have a clue about; I wouldn't expect that they share that side of the business with the sales staff or former sales staff either.

to be clear, i didnt know that it was Wyndham that I was selling to. I was referred to a guy that said he could get my contracts sold. He prepared the deeds, and I signed them. They went to an anonymous LLC. As it turned out the LLCs were, in fact, Wyndham.

When Wyndham froze my accounts, I believe they intended to get rid of me. but I dont think they knew what I was doing until I told them.

 

[WManning]

I listed several of my resale contracts with Timeshare Broker Associates. One of Wyndhams "featured resellers". They were able to purchase 3 of my contracts. 1 to a private person. And, two (2) to Sharetime Holdings, LLC. The address of Sharetime Holdings and Timeshare Broker Associates have the same address. The process was smooth and efficient. Better than certified exit, although timing on one was poor. Wyndham took 5 months to complete the transfer. Dec 27, 2022 and they pulled full 2022 points. Anyway - I've also wondered if Sharetime Holdings actually sells to Wyndham.

Follow the recording of deeds. You to Sharetime to Wyndham

 

[WManning]

They don't.

I would bet someone could provide recorded deeds to prove they do.

 

[1Melanie]

Very few salespeople in the other aspects of our lives find it necessary to resort to the sales tactics commonly used by the Wyndham salespeople. And by other timeshare group's salespeople too.

There are some excellent reasons to own a timeshare. You're correct in saying that sometimes there's no need for the timeshare salesperson to convince the person to buy. It's just working out what they'll buy and the price. It sure makes the timeshare salesperson's day or more likely week when they get a sale like that.

Timeshares used to have a bad rep, a lot of it deserved, but have come a long way in 35-40+ years. What hasn't changed are the sales practices. It's harder than ever now for the salespeople with all the information available on the internet about the different timeshares, buying resale and with younger people being very internet oriented.

As willing participants in the purchasing process, we were fortunate to have good salespeople who amazingly enough were always able to find inventory that didn’t exceed our established budget and got us to the level of membership we desired…oftentimes with freebies included. We knew that if they couldn’t do it that time, there would always be other opportunities for a reasonable acquisition. We recently added our children to our membership. One knows very well how to use the program as he has been with us almost every step of the way since we started with Vacation Break then Fairfield and now Wyndham, since he was a mere tot, vacationing and sitting thru sales presentations (that’s probably why they didn’t keep us longer than 60 minutes). The other will have to play catch up with the leaning curve. One has young children, the other hasn’t even started yet. We are looking forward to seeing our children create memories for our grandchildren and hopefully future grandchildren as we have for them. Many see time share sales as a negative. It’s no worse than buying a car. All are things we can live without but for those of us that have chosen to have it as part of our lifestyle, it’s great! I’m often asked why we don’t just buy a vacation home instead? That would relegate us to going to the same place every vacation. Even vacation homes have expenses and maintenance. We even looked at condos in Hawaii. Folks complain about maintenance fees on timeshare. They haven’t seen the maintenance fees on a tiny $500k condo in Honolulu. They start at around $750 a month! Kind of expensive for a piece of real estate you might visit a couple times a year.
Sales presentations are usually given to people who are staying at the facility. It couldn’t be that bad if they’re there. Sadly many people are willing to get in-over their heads when purchasing anything on impulse without giving any thought as to how they plan to pay for it. I guess you could fault the salespeople for taking advantage of that but, bottom line, people are responsible for managing their own finances.

 

[Rolltydr]

…people are responsible for managing their own finances.

100% agree with your post!

 

[ronparise]

They don't.

They did

 

[WManning]

They did

They still do! They use their preferred resale brokers for Wyndham and Worldmark.

 

[HitchHiker71]

They don't.

This is incorrect - Wyndham absolutely uses a few LLC holding companies that are actually owned by Wyndham - along with existing relationships with third parties to indirectly acquire resale contracts. Many owners on TUG over the past several years have sold or given away resale contracts and came to find out that the acquiring third party was Wyndham itself through one of these LLCs. It’s not public knowledge and not discussed much as Wyndham doesn’t advertise this method of third party resale contract acquisition.


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[WManning]

This is incorrect - Wyndham absolutely uses a few LLC holding companies that are actually owned by Wyndham - along with existing relationships with third parties to indirectly acquire resale contracts. Many owners on TUG over the past several years have sold or given away resale contracts and came to find out that the acquiring third party was Wyndham itself through one of these LLCs. It’s not public knowledge and not discussed much as Wyndham doesn’t advertise this method of third party resale contract acquisition.


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It's easy to follow on the Wyndham side with a recorded deed. But with Worldmark there is no conclusive proof. The preferred resale brokers play a important role in the third party buys and have to disclose their financial interest in the third party that is indirectly purchasing for Wyndham.

 

[findingmyway]

Which leads to another question. Do accounts get blacklisted if a salesperson determines there's no way this particular owner is going to buy? Conversely, are there owners that are great marks and their accounts are duly noted (or is that obvious anyways based on their purchase history)?

I took over my moms timeshare in 2008 and it is paid off. She owns 3 deeds. She started with Fairfield back in 1996 and then Fairfield turned into Wyndham. So, I have been to a meeting every single time I went to Wyndham, which was 1 to 3 times a year. I only go for the gift card. I also tell them that my mother bought it and pays the maintenance fees and there is no reason for me to purchase anything. They have tried everything in the books but, there is no way on Gods green earth would I buy anything from them. I even had a sales guy tell me I could Never go to another meeting. Ha! That’s funny because I thought they were only for updates not sales pressuring. So, I can never have an update? I thought that was funny. I have tried to tell them no but, they won’t that no for an answer. Just last week I actually said No and meant it and I did not go to a meeting for the first time. How do you not get invited back? They won’t give you your parking pass or keys until you speak with a rep to sign you up? I think it’s bull crap that they charge $20 to $40 just to make sure you show up. I also start a timer when I walk through the doors and at 60 minutes there time is up. Too bad people don’t secretly record their meetings so in case they want to get out of it they will have the proof that they lie. I live I. Alabama and you can record here as long as one person knows their being recorded.

 

[findingmyway]

Never a wiser statement posted on TUG! I love this.

I am never invited anymore and glad about it @travelhacker You should count your lucky stars. I don't like being harassed while on vacation. I am glad to not get the calls from the "concierge" constantly during my stays.

The first thing I do when I walk into my hotel room is disconnect the phone plus I have my iPhone set so only contacts ring through to my phone. Everyone else gets the voicemail.

 

[findingmyway]

Yes those are all the typical objections and here is typical response that starts the selling.

1) I/we can't afford it. Because you don't have the programs to offset cost that were offered last time you bought. Why didn't you take advantage when you could have?

2) I/we don't have $20,000 (or whatever the cost is) right now. You're already paying that. It's the same money.

3) I/we can buy the same thing resale for a fraction of the cost (see E-Bay, Craigslist, TUG, Red Week, etc.). You don't get VIP benefits with resale.

4) I/we can rent from existing owners for less than the annual MFs. Or you could rent yours and it pays for itself. Self-sustaining Ownership.

5) I/we don't travel very often. Then how are you here now if that's true?

The whole purpose/ process to sell to an owner is "Finding the pain". Make them feel they were sold wrong package before and show them how you can fix it without costing them anymore money.

I wanted to consolidate all 3 deeds because my mom did t know to go back to the same resort to purchase more points. 2 of her deeds are from the same deed at the same resort. They made her 2 deeds because One was converting her 1 week into points because she originally bought a week from Fairfield then they converted it into Wyndham points. They made her a second deed because she purchased points. Then, the following year she purchased more points from a resort down the road from the first, so now she has 3 deeds. We were trying to consolidate them but, the only way anyone would do it is if we purchased a lot more points and there is no way I am paying Wyndham more than necessary. We don’t even use all the points we have now. I’m trying to figure out how to go about either renting the, or just getting rid of the whole thing. We prefer to go to adults only all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean.

 

[Richelle]

They don't.

Edit: They do.

 

[Rolltydr]

I have tried to tell them no but, they won’t that no for an answer. Just last week I actually said No and meant it and I did not go to a meeting for the first time.

So, they do take NO for an answer as long as you NEVER give them any other answer. They can’t argue or reason with No. Anything else gives them an opening, and hope. Crush their hope and stick to No!

 

[Richelle]

So, they do take NO for an answer as long as you NEVER give them any other answer. They can’t argue or reason with No. Anything else gives them an opening, and hope. Crush their hope and stick to No!

Rep: How are you doing today
Me: No

Best to set expectations early on.

 

[bnoble]

I've mentioned this before, but my answer is: "I've never gone to even one sales presentation, and I want to keep my streak alive."

 

[ddavid1073]

Any supposed meeting to update me on the Wyndham program that turns into a sales pitch that I have to consummate before I leave is not legitimate. The only sales people that can possibly survive must be able to take candy from babies and old ladies!