Bought Wyndham points - am I screwed? How do I make the best of it?

[Vaca2go]

just hit day 10 and realized I cannot rescind now. I think i’m stuck with overpaid Wyndham vacation points. Is there any way to rescind past the time period? If i’m Stuck, how do I make the best of this situation?

 

[TUGBrian]

we would always suggest still moving forward with rescinding even if you just missed the cutoff...costs nothing to try and you might get lucky!

 

[Vaca2go]

Thank you. I sent the rescission letter to the address on the contract on day 10 (post marked). After reading the fine print, AZ had a 7 day cooling off, but the governor had signed into law in May this year, an extension to 10 days. It doesn’t go into effect till later this year, but it was worth a tryout cancel. The salesman at Wyndham did not disclose the cancellation policy to us and I stated that in an email to them as well. It appears there was misrepresentation of their product. So, hopefully they’ll except my rescission request this close to the deadline. (Fingers crossed, ).

 

[dayooper]

Thank you. I sent the rescission letter to the address on the contract on day 10 (post marked). After reading the fine print, AZ had a 7 day cooling off, but the governor had signed into law in May this year, an extension to 10 days. It doesn’t go into effect till later this year, but it was worth a tryout cancel. The salesman at Wyndham did not disclose the cancellation policy to us and I stated that in an email to them as well. It appears there was misrepresentation of their product. So, hopefully they’ll except my rescission request this close to the deadline. (Fingers crossed, ).

Good Luck!

 

[RNCollins]

Hi Vaca2go,

Please keep us updated.

 

[Vaca2go]

So far, no word from Wyndham. I definitely will, Carol. This is a great group. I wish I would have found it earlier.

 

[LannyPC]

This is a great group. I wish I would have found it earlier.

A lot here wish they would have found TUG earlier. It is indeed a great site for, among other things, helping people avoid costly mistakes when it comes to timeshares and travel. Now that you have found TUG, albeit a tad too late to avoid one mistake, you can now find a lot of helpful information so you can avoid any other costly mistakes.

You can also find info that will help you make the best of your ownership if you are indeed stuck with it.

 

[bnoble]

They may cut you a break but I don't know that I would hold my breath. In case they don't, to answer your other question:

If i’m Stuck, how do I make the best of this situation?

Use it! I am typing this from a 2BR unit at Wyndham Smoky Mountain. My (college-aged) kids and I just finished our first full day here. We ducked into Dollywood last night to process our season passes and get a few laps on Lightning Rod, which together with Thunderhead is a top-10 wooden coaster worldwide. Today we went tubing on the Little River, and had dinner in Gatlinburg. Tomorrow we are hiking in GSMNP, and will go back to Dollywood for some more coasters and maybe a show or two.

We get to do all of that staying a very comfortable and spacious 2BR condo. I hear tell that some people vacation in hotel rooms, but I don't know why.

We bought our first timeshare over a dozen years ago, and a few more shortly thereafter. True, they were all on the secondary market but they were easily the best money I've ever spent---and that would be true even if one of them were a direct purchase. We take several vacations every year, and the use-it-or-lose-it nature means we make vacation a priority. I don't know that we would have done that otherwise, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

 

[Vaca2go]

That’s great to hear! Coincidentally, I have a reservation at the Wyndham Smoky Mountain for June 2020. One week in a 1 bedroom deluxe. I’ve been to Pigeon-forge once before and loved it! My wife hasn’t been there yet, so it’ll be a great experience for her. I know she’ll love it. If we’re stuck, we’re prepared financially, only wish I knew there was a cheaper way to get the points. We stayed at the Wyndham in Sedona last month and had a great time there. Very comfortable and lot’s to do. That’s what peaked our interest in purchasing. 124,000 points per year aren’t enough to book more than a week per year, so we’ll likely get additional points if we are indeed stuck. If not, we’ll look at resales. Thanks for the encouragement! My wife will be glad to know, we can look forward to some great vacations, even if we paid too much.

 

[TUGBrian]

squeaky wheel gets the grease, if they do say no be sure to keep trying! its only been a few days, and while they are under no obligation to let you out "legally"...if you express your desire to cancel so soon after buying on social media/etc you might luck out!

 

[Vaca2go]

Thanks Brian. They got back to me and said we are bound legally...what social media are you referring to?

 

[bnoble]

He's talking about complaining on e.g. twitter. But it's a long shot.

 

[Grammarhero]

Maybe if you contact your Congressman, congresswoman, or Senator. Both state and local/county/district.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bnoble]

Maybe if you contact your Congressman, congresswoman, or Senator. Both state and local/county/district.

Maybe we should pump the brakes a bit. The OP signed a valid contract, and that contract no longer allows the OP to rescind. They may regret the purchase now, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a legitimate one.

 

[Vaca2go]

The only regret is that I could have paid less for the points, otherwise I like the Wyndham resorts and the maintenance fee’s are not unreasonable. I signed the contract, fair and square. So, moving forward, i’m looking forward to our next vacation in the Smokey Mountains resort...speaking of which, I saw 28k points listed on the resale market for the same resort. Can someone explain how that would work? Do the points merge? Am I able to use those additional points anywhere or are they specific to that resort?

 

[Jan M.]

The only regret is that I could have paid less for the points, otherwise I like the Wyndham resorts and the maintenance fee’s are not unreasonable. I signed the contract, fair and square. So, moving forward, i’m looking forward to our next vacation in the Smokey Mountains resort...speaking of which, I saw 28k points listed on the resale market for the same resort. Can someone explain how that would work? Do the points merge? Am I able to use those additional points anywhere or are they specific to that resort?

You can buy resale points and combine them as long as you are making reservations at 10 months or less. You cannot combine points from different resorts or types of points, like deeded or Club Wyndham Access points, to make ARP, Advance Reservation Priority, reservations at your home resort or resorts.

You can use your points to book many, many more resorts than just your home resort!

28k points isn't going to get you much. With many resale listings you are asked to pay the closing costs of anywhere from about $250-$550 and the resort transfer fee of $299. That makes small amounts of points expensive. Take a look in the directory or sign into your account and take a look online at how many points it will take to stay at some resorts you think you might like to stay at. You will likely find that you want more points than the 124k you currently have and 28k isn't going to be enough to make much difference. Take a look in the TUG marketplace or eBay and you can see a lot of listings for points at Grand Desert that you can get for a very good price. Grand Desert maintenance fees are less than you will be paying for your Smoky Mountain points. Grand Desert maintenance fees without the program fee are $4.73 for buildings 1 and 2 and $4.82 for building 3. If you can afford the maintenance fees I highly recommend you look at getting one of the 308k point listings. You can find resorts with lower maintenance fees but they typically sell for a lot more money so the price difference can pay for the difference in the maintenance fees for a lot of years.

 

[TUGBrian]

yea, im not sure complaining to state or federal agencies is appropriate...

I just meant attempting to explain that you have only just missed the cancellation window by a very short period (ie you just bought new and havent even used the product yet) and plead with them to let you out of it publicly etc etc. we arent talking about you coming back weeks or months after your purchase, but apparently only a few days outside your legal rescission period.

again, there is no real obligation for them to do this, but in many cases for such a new purchase and to avoid folks seeing the fact that you want out so quickly and they wont allow it "publicly"...it might result in you getting lucky.

chances are certainly slim, but it costs you nothing to try! how motivated are you to save 10,000 bucks or more?

 

[paxsarah]

You can buy resale points and combine them as long as you are making reservations at 10 months or less.

You can combine at 13 months if they’re deeded at the same location you own (or CWA if that’s what you have).

 

[Gypsy65]

The only regret is that I could have paid less for the points, otherwise I like the Wyndham resorts and the maintenance fee’s are not unreasonable. I signed the contract, fair and square. So, moving forward, i’m looking forward to our next vacation in the Smokey Mountains resort...speaking of which, I saw 28k points listed on the resale market for the same resort. Can someone explain how that would work? Do the points merge? Am I able to use those additional points anywhere or are they specific to that resort?

We are in a different club and got to the level we are at by buying some resale mixed with developer sales

I look at it like this.
If I bought all I own from the club directly it would have cost me probably somewhere around $220,000 give or take. I think closer to $300k if you look at high retail. But that’s not realistic

I did it for about $80,000
That said. If I take all of our purchases and divide them between them all it takes the developer sting completely out of the equation
And we use what we have many weeks per year and have had great vacations doing it
I don’t look at vacations as I need $1 value for every $1 spent
I look at. How can we replace what we’ve gained. Meaning the places stayed at and memories?

Any time we have friends come with. They are always like. Omg.

Enjoy what you have. Use it as a base to build a better value package

 

[CPNY]

My advice to you is this. You purchased your timeshare and found the group late. Don’t be upset, it is what it is. See if you can maximize the purchase by picking up more points resale cheaper and look at it that you got double the points for the price you paid. Many here paid developer pricing including myself. My first purchase resort that turned out to be astronomical maint fees. But if I look at the price I paid with all maint fees each year then offset that cost with retail price of staying at the resort and rental income I’ve made in its prime, I’m ahead of the game. My new strategy is buying more points in lower maint fee resorts within the network that allows for using the resale points network to get more my money. In the booking resorts which would cost a ton of money for a week and am not paying much for it.