Changes to Ovation program "limited Edition"...

[PeterS]

We exited Wyndham through Ovation and our ownership qualified for the "Limited Edition" program that gave us three years of the same amount of points with no maintenance fees.

We have found it is working well, as it has given us value for what we turned over and it allows us to phase out over three years....

We just got notice of a change in "Limited Edition" which summarized is they are eliminating guest certificates for use of points during those three years. Not a big change, but it shows the entire Ovation program is very fluid and can change at any time...


"CLUB WYNDHAM introduced the innovative Limited Edition program in 2014 to allow our valued owners, whose needs have changed over the years, the opportunity to transition out of their ownership in a safe and secure manner. As the program evolves in response to owners' needs, we've made some adjustments to the program guidelines so that members may access as many of the over 100 CLUB WYNDHAM resorts in their portfolio as possible during the term of their membership.

Accordingly, as of Dec. 26, 2018, Guest Confirmations for Limited Edition reservations have been discontinued. If you have already made a reservation using a Guest Confirmation, it will be honored, and your guest(s) will be permitted to occupy the reserved unit. However, any Guest Confirmations for future reservations made on or after Dec. 26, 2018 will not be accepted.

We at CLUB WYNDHAM continue to be committed to serving our Limited Edition members, and to assist you in taking full advantage of this unique program. If you have any questions or concerns regarding Guest Confirmations, future reservations or anything else, please contact us.

Happy travels,
CLUB WYNDHAM Limited Edition Reservations"

 

[uscav8r]

Actually, it’s not just an elimination of Guest Certificates. In effect, Wyndham is saying guest check-ins and occupancy will not be permitted. Therefore any usage must be by the owner(s).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wjappraise]

Don’t you love how they cannot speak truth? “In response to our owners’ needs....” What a blatant lie.

It should say “In response to you using the program and allowing your friends and family to use it, we have decided to stop this right of ownership unilaterally.”

 

[ronparise]

A little off topic but

The limited edition Ovation was and probable still limited to contracts bought directly from wyndham.

And it is or was a way to “pay” owners for their contracts. As I remember they “paid” 3 years worth of points. But instead of paying money they allowed the sellers to strip the points from the contract

Resale owners didnt get paid

 

[chapjim]

Don’t you love how they cannot speak truth? “In response to our owners’ needs....” What a blatant lie.

It should say “In response to you using the program and allowing your friends and family to use it, we have decided to stop this right of ownership unilaterally.”

I think a more accurate interpretation would be, "In response to OTHER owners' needs (not yours) . . . ." Wyndham is giving something and now they're taking some of it away. Wyndham doesn't want LE Ovation people making money off the program so the are spinning this the same way they managed to spin the May 2017 changes as enhancements.

You gotta admit they're good at spinning!

 

[PeterS]

I guess I didn't summarized it clearly....

Absolutely, the elimination of Guest Certificates was a cute way to say no more guests....

Also they made it clear when they said, "In response to our owners".... again a cute way of saying LE Ovation people are no longer considered owners...

Also, don't assume it is only people who bought directly from Wyndham... we didn't... but we qualified...still not sure why... Could be we converted weeks to points through Wyndham, could be they needed points at our resort that week????? Who knows but don't assume anything, as it changes daily....

We just hope the changes stay minimal until our three years are up.

I am not knocking Wyndham... they didn't have to offer the Ovation plan or the LE Ovation plan in the first place. I appreciate that they did. The offer of the three years helped us make the decision and it must have been worth it to them to give it to us in exchange for what we gave them... A deal that both sides are happy with.

My original posting was to just point out a change that anyone considering LE Ovation should be aware of, when making their decision. Actually we are using the points ourself so it doesn't affect us at all.

Actually this change makes a lot of sense, as it does protect owners...

 

[TravelTime]

It sounds like they do not want people who have ended their timeshare ownership to rent out and profit. To me, this makes sense. They did owners a favor by having an exit plan. If you are exiting, perhaps you should not get 3 more years with no MFs. I can see why now that a prominent Tugger said there is a sense of entitlement among TS owners.

 

[wjappraise]

Not likely someone who uses Ovation all of sudden becomes a mega renter. Very likely it’s an older couple who uses Ovation and has points available for a year or two more, wants their family members to enjoy “one last trip” to Disney or the beach compliments of Grandma and Grandpa.

Either way, lying is so ingrained in Wyndham culture they can’t honestly state the reason for the corporate policy change. I used to think it was only the sales staff that had perfected the art of unashamed lying. It’s part of the corporate DNA.

 

[ronparise]

It sounds like they do not want people who have ended their timeshare ownership to rent out and profit. To me, this makes sense. They did owners a favor by having an exit plan. If you are exiting, perhaps you should not get 3 more years with no MFs. I can see why now that a prominent Tugger said there is a sense of entitlement among TS owners.

"They did owners a favor"

perhaps.... but they did their shareholders the bigger favor,,, They get something for nothing, that they can resell for $150/1000 points

 

[paxsarah]

Not likely someone who uses Ovation all of sudden becomes a mega renter. Very likely it’s an older couple who uses Ovation and has points available for a year or two more, wants their family members to enjoy “one last trip” to Disney or the beach compliments of Grandma and Grandpa.

Either way, lying is so ingrained in Wyndham culture they can’t honestly state the reason for the corporate policy change. I used to think it was only the sales staff that had perfected the art of unashamed lying. It’s part of the corporate DNA.

This was my first thought - no more gifting a honeymoon to your niece or a big family vacation requiring more units than there are owners’ names on the account during the LE period. I guess it’s “nice” of Wyndham to offer that program, but this seems a little petty.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Wonder if they've stopped selling hundreds of thousands of points to people over 80 years old to help them reduce their overall maintenance fees? Selling an 80+ person with 1M points another 400K is shameful. Telling them they can rent the excess, ha. Next tell them you'll take them back for no charge, and let them they can use them for 3 years (quoting my Dad, as sarcastically as I can say it 'Isn't that nice of them'). Now tell them they can give the contracts back for no charge, and only they can use them. There was ONE person on my father's account (him) when they sold him his last 400K. I think he was 82-84, somewhere in there. Thanks Wyndham!

 

[jediinprescott]

I guess I will never understand Wyndham's thinking ( first mistake)... seems to me anytime a guest is in a unit , there's a potential new owner( sucker). So why would they put a restriction on guest certs? I would think there's a better potential buyer than from the person manning the kiosk in Harrahs.
Mike

 

[jediinprescott]

I guess I will never understand Wyndham's thinking ( first mistake)... seems to me anytime a guest is in a unit , there's a potential new owner( sucker). So why would they put a restriction on guest certs? I would think there's a better potential buyer than from the person manning the kiosk in Harrahs.
Mike

Has any other "limited ovation" participant received the email in question?
mike

 

[Jan M.]

I didn't think this was something new just recently. I may be mistaken but I thought someone reported a while back that they were told they could only use the "Ovated" points for reservations for themselves.

 

[PeterS]

I didn't think this was something new just recently. I may be mistaken but I thought someone reported a while back that they were told they could only use the "Ovated" points for reservations for themselves.

"Accordingly, as of Dec. 26, 2018, Guest Confirmations for Limited Edition reservations have been discontinued. If you have already made a reservation using a Guest Confirmation, it will be honored, and your guest(s) will be permitted to occupy the reserved unit. However, any Guest Confirmations for future reservations made on or after Dec. 26, 2018 will not be accepted."

Recent change.... and noted they were accepted before.
Maybe someone knew it would be coming and tried to a give heads up...
Maybe the system allowed it but it shouldn't have and they "fixed it" and now have to give official notice.

 

[Jan M.]

Maybe someone knew it would be coming and tried to a give heads up...

I think that was likely the case. Some people wait until after the first of the year so they have the full points when they give their deed or contract back but they inquire a few months prior to the first of the year to get the ball rolling. I thought some people reported they were given a month?, 6 weeks?, two months? to accept the offer from Ovations and I would think that would be disclosed in the paperwork if the date was after December 26th.

 

[bestpal38]

It sounds like they do not want people who have ended their timeshare ownership to rent out and profit. To me, this makes sense. They did owners a favor by having an exit plan. If you are exiting, perhaps you should not get 3 more years with no MFs. I can see why now that a prominent Tugger said there is a sense of entitlement among TS owners.

People exit for a variety of reasons. The Ovation program is a nice program, but just hold on there, when you say people are pfofiting. Lets take my own Timeshare numbers, and see who is profiting here. Let's say for example, Wyndham gives me 3 years "free" use. My annual MF's are around $2500. So over 3 years, I get the equivelant of $7500. Total cost of the timeshare....$115,000. Please show me the profit. Just to clarify, I did not purchase my timeshare, I inherited it, but the bottom line is, it cost $115,000, so getting 3 years of usage out of it, before it goes back to Wyndham, is not profit, even if you sell every point.

 

[tschwa2]

I think it is more that they don't want ovation participants to compete with Wyndham's own rental program. While they can't prohibit owners from renting, since they can write and change rules of ovations at anytime, they can prohibit the competition so they have chosen to do so.

 

[Jan M.]

I wondered if they restrict the stays with the "ovated" points to owners only counting on the owners not being able to use them a good percentage of the time. Wyn wins. When you think about how the Ovations program was advertised they were definitely targeting the older owners who are no longer able to travel like they had in the past. So give them three years of points, which they may or may not be able to use, to make them feel like they are getting something out all the money they spent buying developer. Then restrict them to only using the points for themselves instead of allowing even close family to use them. I know not everyone who gives back to Ovation is in poor health or physical condition, no longer inclined to travel or their spouse has passed but I would bet that a good percentage of them are. Does Wyndham get to play the accounting/tax game of declaring the value of the points they give but then those points never get used? Genius.

 

[CO skier]

As I remember they “paid” 3 years worth of points. But instead of paying money they allowed the sellers to strip the points from the contract

Resale owners didnt get paid

"For those who qualify, Limited Edition enables participants to enjoy three years of continued access to CLUB WYNDHAM resorts with no obligation to purchase, pay maintenance fees or incur additional costs. In exchange for relinquishing their ownership, participants are also cleared of future obligations, as Wyndham fully assumes those responsibilities."

"three years of continued access" sounds to me like three years of points used over three years and does not sound like "immediate three years of points usage" which is what points stripping would be. Maybe someone who has taken advantage of LE Ovations can comment on how they can use their three years worth of points.

 

[PeterS]

""three years of continued access" sounds to me like three years of points used over three years and does not sound like "immediate three years of points usage" which is what points stripping would be. Maybe someone who has taken advantage of LE Ovations can comment on how they can use their three years worth of points.

Exactly...

Still have an online Wyndham account and the same number of points show up for each use year. No lump of points. The only real limitations were they could only be used for Wyndham properties (ie: No Worldmark or other affiliates) and no trading/depositing into RCI. And now no guest certs.

Even taking all that into consideration, we are extremely happy with the Ovation LE program. We could have given away our time for free but we have three years of free use. Yes it is limited usage but it is better than nothing and with everything we learned here, we can maximize our usage by carefully selecting unit size and seasons.

 

[flindberg]

was ONE person on my father's account (him) when they sold him his last 400K. I think he was 82-84, somewhere in there. Thanks Wyndham![/QUOTE]

Can't think of a better definition for "Despicable". Wyndham Corp culture is Predation - of which deception is part & parcel.

 

[chapjim]

If someone has multiple contracts acquired from Wyndham, could that person divest one contract every three years? That would allow personal use of the "ovated" contract and continued unlimited use of the remaining contract(s). Three years later, turn in another contract (understanding that three years later, there might not be an Ovation program).

Or, is Ovation an "all or nothing" deal?

 

[paxsarah]

If someone has multiple contracts acquired from Wyndham, could that person divest one contract every three years? That would allow personal use of the "ovated" contract and continued unlimited use of the remaining contract(s). Three years later, turn in another contract (understanding that three years later, there might not be an Ovation program).

Or, is Ovation an "all or nothing" deal?

We've had multiple reports of people using Ovation (simply the give-back) on some contracts but not others. As far as Limited Edition (the three years of points) goes, I found this thread from two years ago where it says that all contracts must be returned. However, I can't find that exact language published anywhere although it looks like it came from Wyndham - maybe that poster received it in an email.

 

[chapjim]

I remembered something like that. So, in my case, I own 4.7 million points, about 40% bought from Wyndham and some of which are converted fixed weeks, the rest from Ebay. I would have to turn in the entire 4.7 million, not just the ~1.8 million retail points.

Sounds like a heckuva a deal!