Sticky - Give back your unwanted wyndham Timeshare - Wyndham Ovations / Wyndham Cares / Certified Exit

[Nunyah123]

First question, have you called the Certified Exit department to inquire? Some of their policies are a moving target and can only be answered by them - for instance, which resorts they're accepting or not at any given time.

Next question, is this a Club Wyndham fixed week that has not been converted to points? Because if it is, I'm not even sure that Wyndham will take back an unconverted fixed week. I know they will take back converted fixed weeks (at least as of Q3 2023). If you have confirmed that they they will take your unconverted fixed week, I'll admit that I haven't heard a report on this forum from an owner who has done it, so I'm not sure if anyone here will have the answers to your questions.

I can say in the case of points contracts (and in this case, no difference between UDI or converted fixed week), current year points can be completely used up and Wyndham will still accept the contract. The Certified Exit paperwork for points contracts specifies that future year points must be fully intact, but is agnostic on current year points. I've heard of owners waiting until the start of their use year, converting their points to maintenance fees at $2.10 per 1,000 points, and then immediately starting the Certified Exit process successfully. I used Certified Exit last year on two contracts 8 months into my use year with zero points available. The paperwork also states that any confirmed RCI reservations will still be honored. However, a Wyndham points owner with points deposited to RCI will lose access to their Wyndham-provided RCI account during the Certified Exit process (EDIT: if they're fully exiting their ownership) and then can't use their points for exchanges, which is why only confirmed exchanges from prior to the start of the process are honored. If Wyndham were to take an unconverted fixed week, IMO I would see an exchange deposit of the paid-up current year's week as comparable to the ability to start the process with current year points that have been used up - but I have no idea how Wyndham would see it. And with an unconverted fixed week, there would be no issue of loss of access to the RCI account since it's paid for by the individual, not Wyndham.

Good Info. Thanks. I can provide more info on the situation but not at this time. Will update this post with all details asap. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[jlchriswi]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

 

[TUGBrian]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

So very happy you found all the info you needed to dispose of your timeshare and it wont cost you a dime!

it truly is incredible to think that had you contacted an exit/cancellation company, they would have charged you thousands for their help!

 

[dioxide45]

So very happy you found all the info you needed to dispose of your timeshare and it wont cost you a dime!

it truly is incredible to think that had you contacted an exit/cancellation company, they would have charged you thousands for their help!

@Irene Parker said in one of the YouTube videos she is in that one of the people she helped had gone to an exit company seminar and was told that Wyndham did away with their Ovations program and they don't take back contracts anymore. They wanted to charge something like $35K to help them get out of their 11 contracts. Plus about $10K in the next year maintenance fees. Luckily tey found Irene and were able to get out for nothing.

Truth is, Ovations did go away but it was just changed to Certified Exit.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

I hope your give-back is as easy and quick as ours was. Our story is somewhere back in this thread - a few years ago. We’re so happy we did it!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

They wanted to charge something like $35K to help them get out of their 11 contracts.

That’s so terrible.