Thank you, TUG. You just saved me almost $20,000.
We've been Starwood owners since 2003. We're three star elite. You'd think we'd know what we're doing. I used to follow TUG closely, but let my membership lapse, and stopped reading the threads. Last month, we went to SVV for a week. We went to the presentation to get a $100 gift card, and ended up dropping $19,985. We swapped our three weeks for... well, I'm still not sure. It seemed at the time that we would have more flexibility in making reservations, and the kicker was that somehow I was convinced we'd have far better trading power in their network. I cannot believe I fell for this.
When we got home from dinner that evening, I started reading the agreements and other materials. That night, I couldn't sleep. I picked up my phone and searched for threads about the Sheraton Flex program on TUG. I read about how to cancel and what to put in the letter. When I got home, I followed the instructions on TUG and the next day, seven days after signing, we mailed the letter. They received it on the tenth day. Fourteen days after they received the letter, they gave us a full refund on our credit card.
Thank you to all of you who post advice and information, especially Denise M.