Former Wyndham Sales Rep Answering Questions

[bnoble]

I'm not looking at getting out all together, but have something I can live with.

That's not one of your options. Wyndham is not going to re-negotiate your payments. They probably no longer even own your loan.

Your two options are: (1) Pay it off and use it. (2) Stop paying on it, have Wyndham freeze your account, and eventually take back the whole thing. The latter will likely incur a credit hit, but probably not a huge one. If it is between that and being able to make rent/buy groceries/etc. it is an easy decision to make. If it is just that the payments are hard, but doable, that's a more nuanced question.

A lawyer is not going to be of much help, because you willingly signed a valid contract, and there is no magic lawyer-way to undo that.

You might consider speaking with a credit counselor, who could help you navigate your situation. I would advise against a debt settlement/relief company.

 

[RowdyRiner]

What is the contractual basis for Wyndham’s prohibition on owners renting their points? Is that prohibition in folks’ purchase contracts?

Sorry for late responses. Work has been crazy. But on top of the commercial use statements, a big reason is also because Wyndham wants their piece, so they push Extra Holidays. They want your money anyway they can get it.

 

[tabowers215]

That's not one of your options. Wyndham is not going to re-negotiate your payments. They probably no longer even own your loan.

Your two options are: (1) Pay it off and use it. (2) Stop paying on it, have Wyndham freeze your account, and eventually take back the whole thing. The latter will likely incur a credit hit, but probably not a huge one. If it is between that and being able to make rent/buy groceries/etc. it is an easy decision to make. If it is just that the payments are hard, but doable, that's a more nuanced question.

A lawyer is not going to be of much help, because you willingly signed a valid contract, and there is no magic lawyer-way to undo that.

You might consider speaking with a credit counselor, who could help you navigate your situation. I would advise against a debt settlement/relief company.

Thanks for the advice! Defiantly not going the relief company route.
You mentioned Credit Freeze. That has thrown a wrench in their processing. Right when I saw what I had done, I got a letter from a bank asking me to unfreeze my credit so they could process my loan. That's when I began trying to contact Wyndham. The sales rep told me that they used that bank to get me 6 month interest free. I told him that this was a huge mistake, but all he kept trying to do was talk me out of doing anything, and to use the 6 months to refinance the loan.
I then called the bank. they told me that if I did not unfreeze my credit, that after 30 days the application just voids. So, I know that doesn't get me out of the contract, but makes me wonder where is the loan? I'm not unfreezing my credit.

 

[WManning]

I am a Newbie here, and so wish I were a member before getting myself in the situation I am now.
I am looking for some guidance on what I should do next. Yes, what I did was dumb! I beat myself up everyday over it.
I tried to rescind but was past 5 days. The cost and payments are simply more than I can afford, and I can't seem to get anyone at Wyndham to help. I have canceled the credit cards my original payments were coming from. I'm sure I'll hear something when they stop getting money.
Who can I call?
Should I get an attorney?
As I mentioned, I'm not looking at getting out all together, but have something I can live with.

If you can't afford your only option is to walk away and default. Hiring a lawyer will be of no help or add any realistic options.

 

[WManning]

That's not one of your options. Wyndham is not going to re-negotiate your payments. They probably no longer even own your loan.

Your two options are: (1) Pay it off and use it. (2) Stop paying on it, have Wyndham freeze your account, and eventually take back the whole thing. The latter will likely incur a credit hit, but probably not a huge one. If it is between that and being able to make rent/buy groceries/etc. it is an easy decision to make. If it is just that the payments are hard, but doable, that's a more nuanced question.

A lawyer is not going to be of much help, because you willingly signed a valid contract, and there is no magic lawyer-way to undo that.

You might consider speaking with a credit counselor, who could help you navigate your situation. I would advise against a debt settlement/relief company.

Sound advice but I would add stay away from any exit company wanting thousands upfront. Best to just walk away and stop paying if you can't afford.

 

[WManning]

Greetings Rowdy! I have gotten myself into a situation where I have signed for a contract that I am not capable of paying. It was in December, at North Myrtle Beach. They did a bait and switch, or should I say, ADD! I now have two contracts that have monthly payments double my house payment. I submitted the rescind documents, but it was outside the time period. I'm not looking at getting out all together, but need something I can live with. Where would I start?

A past thread for your review.

[ 2020 ] Timeshare Default Credit Report/Collection Tracking

Does anyone know if anyone has defaulted HGVC MF what was the outcome?

tugbbs.com

 

[bnoble]

Credit Freeze

No I didn’t. I meant that Wyndham will freeze your account shortly after you stop paying.

You signed the document, so you are in the hook.

 

[schreff]

Sorry for late responses. Work has been crazy. But on top of the commercial use statements, a big reason is also because Wyndham wants their piece, so they push Extra Holidays. They want your money anyway they can get it.

Hi and thanks for being transparent. I am on the Do Not Call list. Does this hurt me in anyway? What does the suppression clause mean and does it hurt any Wyndham owner who has this attached to their account?

 

[RowdyRiner]

Hi and thanks for being transparent. I am on the Do Not Call list. Does this hurt me in anyway? What does the suppression clause mean and does it hurt any Wyndham owner who has this attached to their account?

DNC list just prevents them from calling you regarding Sales so that would just benefit you unless you like sitting in a presentation for an hour for a measly $100 gift. As far as suppression clause, I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[WManning]

DNC list just prevents them from calling you regarding Sales so that would just benefit you unless you like sitting in a presentation for an hour for a measly $100 gift. As far as suppression clause, I have no idea what you're talking about.

You know if Wyndham buys back inventory using a third party?

 

[1Melanie]

I'm a former Wyndham Sales Rep and I'm trying to fill my down time at work so I am here to answer any questions related to Wyndham Sales. I am not here to promote anything. I am just bored and wanting to answer truthfully. I gain nothing from this except the joy of clearing the air for some confused owners.

We love our time share. Looked at several programs. Even bought into Marriott once. Too many hoops to jump thru to get much use out of it. Ending up giving it back. None of them come close to the efficiency Wyndham offers. For those that make vacationing a regular part of their lives the Wyndham program sells itself. The sales reps seem more interested in making a sale vs helping owners reach their ownership goals or helping them understand how to get the most out of it. We were fortunate to have bought over time minimizing the impact to our budget and usually purchased from reps who knew the program inside and out and could educate us on how best to make the most of the membership. We went to a few presentations where we knew more than the reps. Don’t they all get the same training? Why are some more knowledgeable than others?

 

[paxsarah]

The sales reps seem more interested in making a sale vs helping owners reach their ownership goals or helping them understand how to get the most out of it.

Salespeople’s job is not to teach owners how to use their ownership. They only use that as a ploy to get owners into a room to sell to. They only need to know a bare minimum to make that part seem plausible.

 

[Eric B]

Salespeople’s job is not to teach owners how to use their ownership. They only use that as a ploy to get owners into a room to sell to. They only need to know a bare minimum to make that part seem plausible.

I respectfully disagree; actual knowledge is not a requirement for the job. They just need to sound like they know things.

 

[bnoble]

"People whose job it is to sell things only want to sell things" doesn't seem all that shocking to me.

 

[chapjim]

I respectfully disagree; actual knowledge is not a requirement for the job. They just need to sound like they know things.

Plus, the less they know, the easier to make up stuff.

 

[1Melanie]

Salespeople’s job is not to teach owners how to use their ownership. They only use that as a ploy to get owners into a room to sell to. They only need to know a bare minimum to make that part seem plausible.

Too bad. The ones who do know a lot are worth their weight in gold and, I suspect, top earners. It’s very apparent in the first five minutes when the sales rep is ignorant of the workings of the program. I sometimes find them very entertaining.

 

[philemer]

Too bad. The ones who do know a lot are worth their weight in gold and, I suspect, top earners. It’s very apparent in the first five minutes when the sales rep is ignorant of the workings of the program. I sometimes find them very entertaining.

The best "earners" are the best "salespeople". Has nothing to do with knowledge. Spin a good tale and people will buy.

 

[Jan M.]

Too bad. The ones who do know a lot are worth their weight in gold and, I suspect, top earners. It’s very apparent in the first five minutes when the sales rep is ignorant of the workings of the program. I sometimes find them very entertaining.

The best "earners" are the best "salespeople". Has nothing to do with knowledge. Spin a good tale and people will buy.

It has to be much, much easier to sell to people who don't already own with Wyndham or owners who haven't learned much of anything about what they own. In those situations the salesperson can paint a pretty picture that leaves out vital information. A successful salesperson has a number of commonly used sales tactics in their arsenal.

Many knowledgeable owners are smart enough to go on high alert as soon as the salesperson starts with something they know isn't true or something that shows the salesperson doesn't really know how the system works. We have a website, a directory and groups like TUG and Facebook for owners to learn from. The salesperson's job is to sell by whatever it takes to do that.

Why is it so hard to grasp what lengths or depths the salespeople will go to in order to get current owners or potential first time owners to buy? Their livelihoods, their family's financial security depend on their sales numbers. There's excellent earning potential for the salespeople but there's a very limited window of forgiveness when they don't make their quotas to bring their numbers up or they're gone. Think about it. If you could make that kind of money in a different type of job would you show up every day to a job that required you to deceive and con people into buying something they didn't need, couldn't afford, wasn't what they thought they were getting?

 

[1Melanie]

It has to be much, much easier to sell to people who don't already own with Wyndham or owners who haven't learned much of anything about what they own. In those situations the salesperson can paint a pretty picture that leaves out vital information. A successful salesperson has a number of commonly used sales tactics in their arsenal.

Many knowledgeable owners are smart enough to go on high alert as soon as the salesperson starts with something they know isn't true or something that shows the salesperson doesn't really know how the system works. We have a website, a directory and groups like TUG and Facebook for owners to learn from. The salesperson's job is to sell by whatever it takes to do that.

Why is it so hard to grasp what lengths or depths the salespeople will go to in order to get current owners or potential first time owners to buy? Their livelihoods, their family's financial security depend on their sales numbers. There's excellent earning potential for the salespeople but there's a very limited window of forgiveness when they don't make their quotas to bring their numbers up or they're gone. Think about it. If you could make that kind of money in a different type of job would you show up every day to a job that required you to deceive and con people into buying something they didn't need, couldn't afford, wasn't what they thought they were getting?

I was a child support collector for 30 years. Sounds like my job. It was hard “selling” benefits of paying…other than staying out of jail… to parents who hadn’t ever seen their children. I was more successful than many of my peers.
Sales is all around us, no matter what industry we’re in. It comes down to meeting wants vs needs. At least yours was selling, for many of us, fun. We all want fun, don’t we? Especially if we’ve made it part of our life’s goals NOT to spend 100% of our time on anything but working and sleeping. To a bunch of workaholics, time sharing is a life saving investment… it forces us to take vacations because we have to use it or lose it.
Most recent sales presentation I attended was with the Neptune Society. Same sales tactics used everywhere. That time, they were selling me the “want” not to bother my heirs when I push off the face of the earth.
My dad was an auto exec, they employed the same sales tactics.
The only thing that comes the closest to selling itself is food because we all have to eat. That being said, even the food industry does it’s share of selling. We have to eat but don’t necessarily have to eat Captain Crunch or Cheetohs.
All of our livelihoods depend on selling something. It’s not exclusive to Wyndham. Next time you go to the grocery store think about that pretty packaging that catches your eye or the cut of steak you choose. Chuck or Filet mIgnon. They both get the job done.
With time sharing it’s a choice of Motel 6 or a nice resort or even being able to take a vacation at all.

 

[bnoble]

It has to be much, much easier to sell to people who don't already own with Wyndham or owners who haven't learned much of anything about what they own.

I'm not so sure about this. The nice thing about selling to an existing owner is that they already understand what in general a timeshare is and why it might be useful to own one. So, there's an entire piece of the sales and marketing process that doesn't have to happen.

Maybe it comes down to what you mean by "learned about what they own" but most Wyndham owners around the pool are pretty happy with their ownership--including those who bought only from the developer (and that's most of them). They know at least enough to use it, because they are at the pool! Would some of them buy more points for various reasons? Probably.

 

[Jan M.]

I was a child support collector for 30 years. Sounds like my job. It was hard “selling” benefits of paying…other than staying out of jail… to parents who hadn’t ever seen their children. I was more successful than many of my peers.
Sales is all around us, no matter what industry we’re in. It comes down to meeting wants vs needs. At least yours was selling, for many of us, fun. We all want fun, don’t we? Especially if we’ve made it part of our life’s goals NOT to spend 100% of our time on anything but working and sleeping. To a bunch of workaholics, time sharing is a life saving investment… it forces us to take vacations because we have to use it or lose it.
Most recent sales presentation I attended was with the Neptune Society. Same sales tactics used everywhere. That time, they were selling me the “want” not to bother my heirs when I push off the face of the earth.
My dad was an auto exec, they employed the same sales tactics.
The only thing that comes the closest to selling itself is food because we all have to eat. That being said, even the food industry does it’s share of selling. We have to eat but don’t necessarily have to eat Captain Crunch or Cheetohs.
All of our livelihoods depend on selling something. It’s not exclusive to Wyndham. Next time you go to the grocery store think about that pretty packaging that catches your eye or the cut of steak you choose. Chuck or Filet mIgnon. They both get the job done.
With time sharing it’s a choice of Motel 6 or a nice resort or even being able to take a vacation at all.

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.

 

[markb53]

It is amazing the doozy of the lies they tell to current owners, especially VIP owner. My favorite is. If you don’t purchase 154k points before the end of the year you are going to loose your VIP benefits. Hard to prove wrong if you purchase and your VIP benefits aren’t lost.
I’ve stop going to the updates. I used to sort of enjoy them. It was fun challenging them. But I finally just got tired of getting lied to. Plus my wife decided she was done with them.

 

[RowdyRiner]

You know if Wyndham buys back inventory using a third party?

They don't.

 

[RowdyRiner]

We love our time share. Looked at several programs. Even bought into Marriott once. Too many hoops to jump thru to get much use out of it. Ending up giving it back. None of them come close to the efficiency Wyndham offers. For those that make vacationing a regular part of their lives the Wyndham program sells itself. The sales reps seem more interested in making a sale vs helping owners reach their ownership goals or helping them understand how to get the most out of it. We were fortunate to have bought over time minimizing the impact to our budget and usually purchased from reps who knew the program inside and out and could educate us on how best to make the most of the membership. We went to a few presentations where we knew more than the reps. Don’t they all get the same training? Why are some more knowledgeable than others?

Salesrep knowledge is whatever they want to learn on their own. 100% commission means everyone will try to sell their own way or style, but in the end that's the job and only way they get paid.

 

[Snippy]

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.