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Vidanta offers exit strategy from timeshare treadmill?

Go2Guy

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Thanks for all the helpful posts in this Mexico forum, it’s nice to get a perspective from current owners. We recently attended a Vidanta sales presentation at the Riviera Maya and ended up signing a contract and then rescinding a couple of days later. The Vidanta employee who handled our rescission was quite professional and didn’t try to talk us out of it. But at the end, when the rescission was complete, he did make us another, substantially better offer that we are still considering.

I need some friendly advice from people more experienced in the timeshare world to coach me a little and help vet or evaluate our logic regarding the pending decision to buy into Vidanta for the terms they’ve offered.

One of our main motivations for considering Vidanta is that it appears to provide an Exit Strategy from the timeshare treadmill.

We currently own 37,000 credits as Diamond members of Worldmark, which entitles us to about 3-4 weeks of vacation per year at Worldmark and Wyndham resorts, depending on the quality of the resort (and exchange into RCI and NovaSol for a $249/week exchange fee). But we’ve been frustrated by two things:
(1) There are only a few Worldmark properties that really appeal to us (e.g., Kihei on Maui and a couple in Mexico), and we have a very hard time getting into those because you have to book them 13 months-to-the-day ahead of time!
(2) We pay Maintenance Fees of $226 per month ($2,722 per year!), regardless of whether we use the vacation weeks or not. This is a financial commitment that will increase by about 5% every year (last year it seemed to go up 11.5%) and one apparently owes it for eternity. The “forever” ownership that was touted at the time of purchase as a huge benefit for us, our children and our grandchildren, is now turning out to feel like a liability we don’t want to saddle our children (or even ourselves) with. Even if we WERE to enjoy 3 weeks of vacation through Worldmark, that equates to almost $800 per week ($2,722/3) to stay at a place we had to reserve far in advance and may not match our preferences!

We are in our early 50’s, work demanding full-time jobs, and have children 5-15 who are not allowed to miss school, so it’s harder to be totally flexible about vacation time in the way a retired couple might be. When we take a week or two, we want it to be places we sincerely want to go.

Last year we lost 16,000 Worldmark credits due to their expiring when we didn’t stay on top of it. Every other year we can use something they call Personal Choice to “spend” the credits on hotels or flights or whatever (if booked through the Worldmark Travel Assistance), but the value per credit is only $0.045 (four and a half cents), and that doesn’t seem a good value for the credits, i.e., you paid $2,722 in Maintenance Fees and got back $1,665 in Personal Choice.

Just for illustration, in the last couple of years we went to France and Thailand and San Diego and for various reasons didn’t even use the Worldmark credits because:

France - the Worldmark and RCI exchange options are located in the suburbs of Paris, a 45-minute metro to the center, and we ended up using VRBO at $179/night to stay a 10-minute walk from Notre Dame!
Thailand – There is a new Worldmark property up in the hills outside Patong that I’m sure is very nice, but it is 27,000 credits per week! That’s like paying $2,000 in Maintenance Fees to stay there one week! Instead we ended up paying $150 per night to stay across the street from the beach.
San Diego – We made travel plans only one month in advance and there was no remaining availability at Worldmark.

Vidanta caught my eye because it appears to offer an exit strategy from Timeshare purgatory. Vidanta contracts (and sales strategies) seem to be highly customized (and therefore complex), with many options and negotiation tools at play, but the pitch we heard was that with the elimination of a Maintenance Fee its replacement by a Usage Fee, the owner pays only for the weeks actually used. The main constraint or commitment in this regard is only that:
1. You have to use 5 weeks in the first 10 years
2. For weeks you want to exchange through The Registry Collection, San Francisco Exchange, RCI or others, you first pay the full Usage Fee, which varies by size of the unit, and then deposit it into exchange inventory. I think you may have to pay it by Feb of the year you plan to exchange. (Theoretically you could lose the week if you somehow screw up the use of the exchange credits.)

Once you pay the purchase price for the unit you “buy”, and then comply with paying the Usage Fee for 5 weeks in the first 10 years, you could walk away from the whole deal without owing anything more. Alternatively, if you find that you like Vidanta and the properties they exchange with, then you have the option to renew your contract every 10 years, for a max of 9 renewals totaling 100 years.

The Usage Fee works out to about $150 per night for a studio and $250 per night for a 1-bedroom. $250 per night is not cheap and nowadays there are a lot of alternatives out there (VRBO, hotel deals, etc) that are cheaper, especially for non-peak periods. However, from what I saw Vidanta accommodations really are 5-star, top quality and they are worth that or more. With Worldmark we are already paying $2,400 per year, so IF we manage to use it for 3 weeks of vacation that works out to less than $100/night. But for any year that we only manage to find 1 week at a Worldmark place we care to spend our vacation time, that works out to $240/night to stay at (what is usually) a mediocre resort.

If I had never owned a Timeshare, I’d probably stay away and just vacation through “a la carte” decisions and the maximum flexibility now afforded by options like VRBO, which in my opinion threaten to render timeshares into outdated dinosaurs. But because we already own Worldmark shares and they represent a financial liability FOREVER, that’s troubling to us, and we are seriously considering trading in our Worldmark ownership for a Vidanta contract that commits us to taking at least 5 relatively expensive vacations there in the next 10 years, but thereafter we’re free to use our weeks, or not, with no other financial penalty.

I’m sharing this interpretation in hopes of having it vetted and evaluated by people who may have already been through the process themselves, and also to share with folks who might want to explore this option as an exit strategy that allows you to enjoy top notch properties in the near- to medium-term.
 

bizaro86

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Your Worlmark account is worth between $7000 and $11000, depending on how many unused credits you have. It would be very easy to sell if you don't want it.

It seems to me that you are almost certainly better off selling and just booking VRBO if you don't have the ability to plan far in advance and be flexible.

As an example, I traded into a 4 bedroom Grande Luxxe (off season mind you) and that trade was available using my resale worldmark, although I used something even cheaper. Spring break 2019 (for our scool district) was also available in a 2 bedroom for 10k WM credits plus the exchange fee.

Planning ahead, WM will almost certainly be cheaper than owning Vidanta. If you can't plan well ahead, then you should probably sell the WM and use the proceeds plus the savings to rent where you want to go.

I can't see paying Vidanta more cash, plus giving them your WM (which has real value). You might be better served renting from Vidanta owners when you really want to go there.
 

Eric B

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In my opinion, there are a few holes in the deal that you should consider. I own at Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta and probably spent way too much for the right to use the Vidanta properties and would recommend that you not purchase it unless you are dead set on wanting to go there in the high season (i.e., February or so). Vidanta sizes their properties for the high season and has availabilities in the shoulder season that you can either rent from third parties or exchange through SFX or The Registry Collection into. Most of their properties are available through RCI as well, and sometimes the Grand Luxxe ones show up in the lower season for RCI Platinum members. I believe I had replied to you in a different thread about the possibility of staying there for significantly less than the usage fee if you do the homework and figure out how to do it.

The "trade in" option they offer has significant issues that you can find discussed in many threads on TUG. Bottom line, in my opinion, is that it's not a sure thing and they try to take your money in advance to take your current timeshare off your hands without coming through at times. That's a different discussion, but you would probably be better off, in my opinion, figuring out how to trade your current timeshare to stay down there or go elsewhere, giving your current one away on TUG and getting a more efficient trading one, or figuring out how to rent from the appropriate timeshare owners rather than buying this offer and using it. I believe that the usage fees are a bit too high to then trade through The Registry Collection or SFX, where you'll pay additional fees and annual membership costs, to make this a good approach.

All that being said, I haven't seen the contract they are offering you, but would be very hesitant to invest further after having found the wealth of knowledge that is available here on TUG. Your contract sounds a lot different than mine, but I still wouldn't do it; you may have a much broader set of al a carte options without owning there if you take into account the savings on the purchase price.
 

geist1223

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Assuming your Worldmark Account is fully paid off bizaro86 is right on for secondary market value. Remember Diamond EliteTravelshare Status does not transfer upon resell. The Points/Credits transfer as WM not WM+A or WMTS. Also Wyndham has The Ovation Program for you to sell/give back to Wyndham. So you can also contact them. Call the VPC and ask to be transferred to OC. OC should be able to give you the contact # for Ovation. I believe the info for Ovation is also on worldmarktheclub.com Web Site.

Another avenue is to go to the Forum of www.wmowners.com. You can find some great advice there and they have a section for people to sell their Worldmark Accounts. If you want to move it quicker you should offer to pay Closing Costs and the Transfer Fee. Also there is a section to rent out your Points to other Worldmark Owners.

This is neither a positive point nor a negative point. Just a factual point. A Worldmark Credit/Point System is not for everyone. If you care about where you go but can not Plan 13 months in advance and be Online at 6am West Coast Time. Then Worldmark may not be for you.

Also did you know that Worldmark has a Wait List and you can have up to 4 separate Wait Lists pending at any given time. I have successfully gotten a week at Kihei in a 3 bedroom and I started the Wait List 8 weeks before my arrival date. The days dribbled in - a day here, two days there, until I had 7 days in a roll.
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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Dear Go2Guy ,
I would say bizaro86 & Eric B and giest1223 have given you good information .

1)IMO - the Vidanta trade in likely works with a Worldmark BECAUSE it can easily be resold on ebay . BUT why not do that yourself and pocket the cash .
Alternately figure out how to use it .

2) Eric B is correct - Feb high season - may be a reason to own Vidanta BUT the rest of the time there are other options that you should explore .

3) The offer through member services could be re- accessed in the future . The 5 day rescind period gives you control .
You would have to do another breakfast & sales presentation , accept a sales offer . (then read it) , book with member services & rescind and then start
negotiating . Read info in prior TUG posts from Mikenk , Grand Luxxe owner regarding this .

If you truly want Vidanta - find a 2003 or so Grand Mayan - where the vacation fare week also transfers and the Vidanta transfer fee is 10% of original sale price
( likely about $3000) <It will be a 25 year contract with 10 or 11 years left and 2 remaining reno fees ( a second MF every 5 years )> and if you want Grand Luxxe
you will get full trade in value based on the original purchase price of the Grand Mayan .
These are harder to find but one was on TUG last year .
 
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WatsonC2

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We like to stay at the Vidanta resorts as they are some of the only non AI resorts in Mexico that trade on RCI or II and we simply enjoy them. We've stayed at GM NV and GM RM, booking ours through RCI trades or Getaways. My Brother in law owns Vidanta Mayan Palace and although I'm not certain exactly what his maintenance fees are for a week when he upgrades to GM, I think what we pay is comparable and maybe even a little less. With the turmoil on Wyndham (our trader) right now I've considered selling it (or gifting it) but like the RCI membership it comes with and if I can book a Vidanta every couple years with it and not have to hassle with owning another timeshare, that works quite well for me.
 

TUGBrian

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sadly this sounds just like another flavor of the "Trade in" program that mexican resorts have been doing for quite some time now.

rest assured that one way or another, this is a great deal for the resort..and a terrible one for you. as mentioned above, WM has some resale value and you could easily get rid of via the resale market.

as for vidanta, you can likely do a search on a number of other threads that would paint a much less than rosy picture of how their sales process works.
 

Iggyearl

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I would add that the transaction you are considering is a 3 way transaction. You would be buying the product that Vidanta wants to sell you. They would be signing you up with a third party to sell your timeshare in a separate transaction. If your present timeshare fails to sell, you still own it. I would recommend that you google "Equity Acquisition Services" which has been used as a reseller by Vidanta in the past. After signing the contract with Vidanta, people have been contacted by the reseller and asked to pay an additional fee to sell their already paid for timeshare. If they balk at the fee, the reseller offers to sell the timeshare back to the original owner for a sum ranging up to the thousands of dollars. Imagine buying back your own timeshare for money.... In any event I would recommend not getting drawn into a discussion about buying a new timeshare in order to get out of another. Good luck
 

bizaro86

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Also, if you truly want the Vidanta, I would try to negotiate a price where you keep your WM. I doubt they actually want it.

You will be able to sell it for at least the $7k I mentioned very quickly, and I bet Vidanta would give you the same deal for what you're paying them plus much less than $7k.

Anyway, I would still recommend not buying Vidanta retail, but that might be a way to make it a better deal if you decide you do truly want it.
 

VacationForever

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I cannot comment on Vidanta but I would not buy into a Mexican timeshare system, but that is just me. For Worldmark credits, the going rate is 30 cents to 40 cents per point, depending on whether it is fully loaded or not. The cleanest way will be to sell your Worldmark credits through wmowners.com, instead of using it as trade in for buying into Vidanta. Sell your Worldmark credit first since it does not suit your needs. After that take your time to figure out what exactly do you want to do.
 

geist1223

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Several years ago we traded in Raintree as part of the payment to Royal Solaris. This enabled us to upgrade our Solaris Account basically for free. It was a RVC Platinum Account 80,000 Points per year. We found out later that it went to a Resell Company. We found out it is some sort of Tax Dodge for Solaris (and other Mexican Timeshare companies) to lower their taxes or get a tax credit. The company wanted to sell it back to us for a $1,000. We ended up negotiating a price of $400. Which a friend reimbursed us and she got the RVC Platinum Account for $400. Between our use and trade in value we more than recovered our couple thousand investment in the RVC Platinum Account.
 

Eric B

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I posted a discussion of timeshares with Vidanta in this thread -http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/global-vacation-trade-agreement-gotcha.248221/. In my opinion, the concept of a timeshare trade in for another one is a sales gimmick scam; the sales staff knows what timeshares are worth, after all. I'm unfamiliar with the value of Worldmark or RVC points, which sounds like it might be more than a typical timeshare, but believe one would always be better off dealing with disposing of it oneself rather than trading it in (and potentially being talked into paying anything to the reseller for just leaving it in your ownership, which sounds like a likely outcome). I have read some posts in which Vidanta has pressured the resale company into actually completing a transaction and relieving the individual of their continuing need to pay maintenance fees, etc., but many more where they were persuaded to pay some fee to the resale company to just stop bothering them. I won't go through my prior posting on the subject, but don't buy into the idea that an enforceable contract is created with a third party for the trade in when you agree to it in a sales presentation; if you look carefully at the document you'll see nothing obligating the third party resale company to do anything. In the end, I wound up working it out with Vidanta and having the third party provide me with a letter waiving any rights in my original timeshare for $0, not that I ever believed they had any rights in it. I'm happy that it worked out for geist with the friend reimbursing them for the $400, which doesn't seem unreasonable, but the bottom line is that you probably wind up at the same final price for the new timeshare/RTU whether or not you "trade in" an old one.

As far as the tax lowering or tax credit goes, the resort you trade in with never actually receives the timeshare, all they do is agree to a final price with you. When I looked at the final documents, I noted that the tax on the sale matched the percentage of the final price it should have been. Bearing in mind that this is typically a right to use in Mexico, I don't really see how there would be any tax effect attributable to capital gains or losses in the value of the RTU, particularly with the restrictions on alienation of that right included in the Vidanta contracts.
 

pittle

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You have had some good advice. We did not buy our first timeshare until our children were in college. We have loved having them and have had numerous weeks (many bought on eBay) that we have used for large family vacations and month long vacations after we retired. We have pared ours down in the past few years as we too, have discovered VRBO/HomeAway. We are currently in the Rosarita/Ensenada area in an oceanfront condo for a month for less $$$ than a week in our Grand Luxxe. Plus, we could bring our dog!

With your current situation, you do not need a Mayan World (my term for Vidanta properites) or WM points. If you can sell your WM points for $7-11,000, and have no MF to pay, you could have money in the bank for renting when and where you want to go. Just my opinion.
 

Go2Guy

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I really appreciate all the great advice Bizaro, Eric B, T-Dot, Geist and others, and everybody’s attention to detail. As always, the devil is in the details so I’ll share more specifics that may significantly change the conversation because our WM is far from being paid off.

Worldmark now: We get 37,000 credits every year and I think they expire after 2 years. We still owe $39,000 on the loan. (I realize that must change our WM valuation drastically.) We have 84,000 active credits accumulated, plus another 29,000 that would have already expired except that I have them parked in reservations (ones that unfortunately I probably won’t be able to use!) Maintenance fees currently $226/mo = $2,400 per year. Exchange is available to us through RCI and Nova Sol, but I think that’s all. We are eligible to use Personal Choice every other year. We have a boatload of RCI certificate weeks they’ve given us, but haven’t used. I’m understand many benefits would not transfer upon sale.

Vidanta, proposed: The sale price, after many negotiated discounts, is now at $33,291. So our loan would go down, even after paying TRM the $1,000 they charge to “list” – and hypothetically sell in 6-12 months – our Worldmark.

The Vidanta offer includes:
a) 2 Red weeks per year of Grand Luxxe Loft (or perhaps Deluxxe Suite, still open to negotiation), i.e., anytime but Christmas, New Year, Holy Week, or Easter week. However, we agreed to relinquish these 2 weeks for the first 6 years in exchange for help getting the purchase price down to $33,291. This is renewable after 10 years, up to 100 years.
b) 2 additional Vida Weeks per year through SFX, whereby we pay only the SFX Occupancy Fee(s). SFX Platinum membership paid for 2 years. Renewable up to 100 years.
c) 1 additional week at Vidanta every other year, specifically the even years. This contract is 10 years, so we are required to use a total of 5 weeks during those 10 years.
d) 2 additional SFX Privilege Weeks with no blackout dates, for use either through SFX or directly at Vidanta. Renewable every 10 years for up to 100 years.
e) 2 years platinum membership in Registry Collection and SFX.
f) Vida Dollars of $3,000 for each of the 2 weeks through SFX mentioned above in (b).
g) 50% off golf green fees

The two Privilege Weeks sounded to me like a valuable part of the offer, and led me to think I could reserve high season weeks and re-sell them on VRBO for higher than the Usage Fee (how much higher, I’m not sure?), and thereby recover some of the investment. I don’t aspire to be a timeshare realtor, but I could handle re-selling two high-demand weeks per year. I called SFX and they told me there is still Vidanta inventory available for Easter 2018.

So the rationale for Vidanta is:
· our loan would decrease a bit,
· I could re-sell some peak season weeks to recoup some money,
· we can exchange into more desirable properties in Europe and Asia through Registry Collection, and
· our 5 stays at Vidanta in the next 10 years are a 5-star experience not typical of Worldmark or RCI.
· We exit the “for eternity” commitment at WM. It’s NOT that I’m dying to get into Vidanta, you’ve all explained there are other ways to stay there. I’m more seeking “damage control” for the WM we bought and are still paying for (loan + MFs). I don’t mind pre-committing $2,400+ as MFs per year towards vacations, but I do mind it if there’s no availability at the places I want to go, or if it’s so constrained I can’t comfortably to use it.

(Before learning of Vidanta I was already resorting to the idea of re-selling Worldmark reservations as a way to salvage my accumulated credits, but WM is so oversold and so many others are already doing the same thing, all the most marketable reservations seem to be booked out for over a year.)

Bizaro86 or others, do you have a revised valuation of our WM shares? If our 37,000 shares are worth $0.30 to $0.40/share then at best that’s $14,800 and doesn’t even cover half of our remaining loan. I don’t follow..., other than to surmise we severely overpaid for our WM to begin with.

For what it’s worth, Vidanta told us they were valuing our Worldmark shares (purchased in Kihei, in case that matters) at $59,900 retail and $36,500 wholesale. They explained that they take it as a loss at the end of the tax year. They reassured us the WM would eventually sell through TRM and we wouldn’t be stuck with two timeshares, but it would almost certainly take 6-12 months.

We have used the waitlist at WM, and also gleaned that there are some tricks for maneuvering around the 13-month window, but had very mixed success. No experience yet with RCI or Nova Sol, mostly because the available destinations didn’t match up with our plans, you have to commit to entire weeks that begin on a Fri, Sat or Sun (we generally like to stay 3-4 days in a place and then move on), and you’re still paying $249 exchange fee for what looks like unremarkable lodging. It all seems very rigid.

I’d especially appreciate advice on the following:
· Valuation of the WM ownership
· Best ways to recover value from my WM credit balance, including the credits parked in reservations.
· I’m concerned about being left with responsibility for the WM loan and MFs. I have a call scheduled with TRM (Vidanta's reseller) this week; any questions y'all want to recommend I ask them? I have heard that if they haven’t re-sold the listed contract within 12 months they offer to refund the $1,000 or continue listing it for another year.

I will continue studying more about how to use WM, Ovation, the WM Forums; relevant and recommended threads appreciated.

THANKS!
 

VacationForever

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One quick note, you can rent out unused points to other WM owners. I think you can find that info on wmowners.com site as well. That will cover at least your MF in the meantime.
 
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Iggyearl

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They reassured us the WM would eventually sell through TRM and we wouldn’t be stuck with two timeshares, but it would almost certainly take 6-12 months.

This quote is potential dynamite to your deal. If Vida is buying your timeshare, that is one thing. If Vida is saying that their associate firm will sell your timeshare, that's another. These are 2 separate transactions. WM owners can put a better value on your current timeshare, but it appears that you are "underwater," as you have a note. That note has to be satisfied in order to sell your timeshare. My guess is that the re-seller is overly optimistic and if they don't sell it, even if they return your $1,000 fee - you lose. You then own 2 timeshares. As was the case with Equity Acquisition Services, the re-seller exists only as a vehicle to get you in to Vida. You might consider telling Vida that you will sign their paperwork AFTER the WM contract is sold. That would take a lot of the gamble out of the equation. And it might expose the deal for what it is.
 

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if they are valuing your WM ownership at 60 thousand...knowing full well its worth only a small fraction of that on the resale market...just think of how much they are fleecing you on the "trade in" price for what you are buying.

its like a car dealer offering you 60 thousand dollars on a 2005 honda civic if you buy this 100 thousand dollar 2006 honda civic!
 

ilene13

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Just as a side note we have traded into the GL in both Nuevo and Riviera Maya 5 times during high season through II. I have a 6th exchange coming up in 2019'
 

pittle

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This is NOT a good deal. A resale company is not going to get enough money to pay off your WM points. I am also leery of the fact that you cannot use it for 5 times.

Did you know that many GL owners cannot get a reservation at peak times? Many can only book 6 months ahead and others have the 12 month window for booking. When we only had the 6 month window, I spent all day using speed dial to get in to the switchboard to make a February reservation. It was much easier once we had the 12 month, but still is a hassle and we do not even travel in February or March any more.

I use SFX and was searching for 2 weeks next April. I was not using any bonus weeks or one of my GL units, but was able to secure 2 Grand Bliss weeks at Riviera Maya. I had had a search in for GL for 2 years before I told them I would take a GB if it became available. I snagged them when they called - even though the weeks were not the ones I preferred. If you are wanting Holiday weeks, that will be trickier than you think.

I have never found a good deal with Registry Collection. We did not renew.

I would check with WM and see what they could do for you to give them their points back.

We have found the key to timesharing is to buy where you want to go and go there - at least most of the time. You can do an occasional exchange, but those are often more work and you can be disappointed.
 
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geist1223

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I sincerely doubt that any one will be able to sell your Worldmark for anything close to what you still owe own it. I have seen Worldmark Accounts with money still owing either not sell on EBAY or sell for $1 and the buyer takes over the Payments on the Note. Neither Worldmark nor Wyndham is going to let you off the Hook for the ongoing maintenance fees. Neither Wyndham or other party holding the Note going to let you off the Hook for your Monthly Payments on the Note.

It does not matter what Vidanta told you or even what they put in the Contract Worldmark and Wyndham are going to look to you until the Contract is paid off. So unless Vidanta is willing to Pony up the cash to pay off your Note in the end you will be left with having to pay maintenance fees to Worldmark, Monthly Payments on your Note, and whatever you end up owing Vidanta.
 

bizaro86

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Your WM isn't worth the loan amount. With all those points in the contract, it would sell for a higher amount, probably on the $10-$14k range, which would still leave you bringing cash to close.

Alternatively, WM loans are assumable. If I were you I would list it on ebay for $1 with an assumable loan. Play up all the points that are immediately available, and offer to pay the $299 transfer fee. You might get someone to bite, or you may have to pay it down a bit more first.

Rescind Vidanta. They won't pay off your WM loan, and their reseller won't be able to sell it. If you go through with this, you will end up with a Vidanta TS loan and a WM TS loan, and from the sounds of that Vidanta contract, I don't think you'll be happy with it either.

You are under water on your worldmark, but this won't help with that.
 

Go2Guy

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Wow, this is all sobering and disturbing advice, folks.
Considering we bought the bulk of our Worldmark shares only two years ago and still owe $38,000 on the note, is there really no way to exit from this commitment and the associated MFs? It’s not like we’ve already received, used, and benefited from what we bought. Worldmark already got our downpayment and MFs to date, and we are in good standing. Shouldn’t there be an exit clause for these TMs? Has this whole phenomenon never been tested in a class action lawsuit?

Alternative 1: The consensus seems to be that our WM shares are worthless, and that our only real exit is to cut our losses by selling on eBay for $1 and hope someone takes over the payments. We lose all money paid thus far, having gotten in return only the few weeks of vacation we’ve already taken.
Alternative 2: Learn to use our WM credits better, i.e., vacationing with WM when we can, re-selling the desirable reservations we manage to make but don’t have time to use ourselves, and straight up selling excess credits we have accumulated.
Alternative 3: Risk the Vidanta option. Honestly, what Vida proposed sounds to us preferable to owning WM (because our loan amount remains almost the same, we stay at 5-star Vidanta every couple of years, we re-sell some Vidanta peak weeks on-line, and/or trade into Registry Collection or SFX.) HOWEVER, some of you seem quite confident that Vidanta is essentially lying to us and that the reseller TRM (Timeshare Resale Market, formerly Equity Acquisitions) will not be able to sell our WM, will come back asking for lots more money, or leave us still owing for both the loan payments and the MFs.

T-Dot wrote: "Vida /Grupo Vidanta/ Mayan has a long history of doing "trade ins" and there is a (long) fall 2015 Tug thread that includes some info of positive outcomes --see<.Dr Guy a Grand Luxxe owner says his did -Nov 11 2015- post 22 Thread Purchased Grand Luxxe - started by Seema who also purchase GL with a trade in >"
Vida /Grupo Vidanta/ Mayan has a long history of doing "trade ins" and there is a (long) fall 2015 Tug thread that includes some info of positive outcomes --see<.Dr Guy a Grand Luxxe owner says his did -Nov 11 2015- post 22 Thread Purchased Grand Luxxe - started by Seema who also purchase GL with a trade in >.

Notwithstanding the horror stories from year’s past, I can’t help wondering if in recent years Vida and TRM business practices have improved and there is a positive outcome for more people? The way Vida explained to us, their recent partnership with Cirque du Soleil (one of the most recognized and well-regarded brands out there) forced Vida to resolve many former issues and avoid them in the future.

I have a call directly with TRM and they seem to think we are in contract (evidently they never received notice that I had rescinded?), so I’ll be interested to hear their pitch and explanation of what’s ahead.

I'm also curious what it is that makes you say, Bizaro, that we won't be happy anyway... :
If you go through with this, you will end up with a Vidanta TS loan and a WM TS loan, and from the sounds of that Vidanta contract, I don't think you'll be happy with it either.
 

VacationForever

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I'm also curious what it is that makes you say, Bizaro, that we won't be happy anyway... :
Mexican timeshare groups have a long history of the so called trade ins, where the owners still end up being stuck with their old timeshare and the new Mexican timeshare. It is their marketing ploy and there really is no trade in.
 

WatsonC2

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Trust in the real world experiences you see on TUG and be skeptical of sales promises.
 

TUGBrian

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unfortunately alternative 1 isnt even an option for you if you still owe 38,000 on the loan.

even finding a willing taker, you simply cant transfer ownership until the loan balance is paid off.
 
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