Happy or Not Happy with Shell conversion to Wyndham?

[bobalee01]

I have owned Shell since 2001, We have enjoyed it. I know Wyndham purchased SVC but no one till today has tried to convert me to Wyndham. They'll give me the same deal they say that they offered Shell members several years back. I've seen online talk about paying $11,000, they say it's $17,000. That's a lot!
Are you folks who converted HAPPY? OR do you WISH YOU STAYED WITH SVC?
I am not seeing a good reason to change. I have had no trouble booking. Have they made that harder? The resorts do seem to be going the wrong way, but for the most part I'm happy and being retired now the extra money is not in my budget.

Is it working out to be a good deal or now??? Please share your experience.
Thank you

 

[samara64]

@bobalee01

Do not do it.

You can buy a Wyndham contract on eBay for pennies and keep your Shell contract as is or give it back.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have owned Shell since 2001, We have enjoyed it. I know Wyndham purchased SVC but no one till today has tried to convert me to Wyndham. They'll give me the same deal they say that they offered Shell members several years back. I've seen online talk about paying $11,000, they say it's $17,000. That's a lot!
Are you folks who converted HAPPY? OR do you WISH YOU STAYED WITH SVC?
I am not seeing a good reason to change. I have had no trouble booking. Have they made that harder? The resorts do seem to be going the wrong way, but for the most part I'm happy and being retired now the extra money is not in my budget.

Is it working out to be a good deal or now??? Please share your experience.
Thank you

Why are you happy with Shell? I think it's very expensive to own. I am deeding mine back in about four months.

 

[chellej]

I really liked my shell but I used it for a very specific purpose and that was oceanfront at shell Beach boy. The only way to get those units is if you own and book 12 months out. I did occasionally use it for a few days at the illokai or the cliffs up at Princeville. I was really sad to deed it back but at the time dh had been laid off and something had to go.

Now it seems that the maintenance fees are ridicuously high.

I agree...don't convery...there is no way it is worth 11k

 

[bobalee01]

Thanks for all the replies. We have loved our Shell vacations over the years. The folks on the phones have always worked with me to help what we want for our vacation. The resorts have been great. It's always been the salespeople at those so called "updates" which always try to sell me but I understand it's their job. Some lie threw their teeth some do not.
I never expected to sell my time share down the road. I have thought of it as if I bought a $50,000 high class motor home. I buy insurance, plates, gas, have it repaired down the road and that all costs money. That would equal my maintenance fees. Now 23 years latter it's only worth maybe $15,000 and it costs more to keep it going down the road. Would I like to sell it someday, sure. A $1 a point at that time would be fine with me cause we had a lot of good times on those vacations. But if I got nothing say another 10-15 years down the road, I could pass it on to my kids if they want it. I've had cars which I had to junk cause they were too old or bad to try to sell.

I feel listening to you all I should just stay with Shell. I do book out 12 months to get what I want and haven't had a issue. I have transferred points to RCI with 50-50 success on getting to where I want which is Maui.

I just am concerned could Wyndham just shut down Shell then where would we all be.

Thank you

 

[bnoble]

It's always been the salespeople at those so called "updates"

Fun fact: You don't have to go to them! I never have, not even once. I plan to maintain that streak.

I just am concerned could Wyndham just shut down Shell then where would we all be.

I suppose never say never, but I don't think there is enough of a chance this could happen to worry about it. Just keep enjoying your vacations!

But, your ownership is going to be worth very very little if you try to sell it, even right now. That's okay--like you said, sometimes you junk a car. The good news is that the car keeps running until you decide to junk it!

 

[rickandcindy23]

You would never get $1.00 per point for that membership. We own 25,300 points, and I know we will have to give it back in a few months. I am just trying to use our points we built up over Covid. Once I rent all of the spring break Anaheim weeks, I am going to be done with Shell for good. I think nearly .30 per point in MF's is way too much money. I think Wyndham is trying to get people into their system, but I already am in their system, and I don't need more Wyndham, nor do I want more Wyndham.

 

[bizaro86]

Thanks for all the replies. We have loved our Shell vacations over the years. The folks on the phones have always worked with me to help what we want for our vacation. The resorts have been great. It's always been the salespeople at those so called "updates" which always try to sell me but I understand it's their job. Some lie threw their teeth some do not.
I never expected to sell my time share down the road. I have thought of it as if I bought a $50,000 high class motor home. I buy insurance, plates, gas, have it repaired down the road and that all costs money. That would equal my maintenance fees. Now 23 years latter it's only worth maybe $15,000 and it costs more to keep it going down the road. Would I like to sell it someday, sure. A $1 a point at that time would be fine with me cause we had a lot of good times on those vacations. But if I got nothing say another 10-15 years down the road, I could pass it on to my kids if they want it. I've had cars which I had to junk cause they were too old or bad to try to sell.

I feel listening to you all I should just stay with Shell. I do book out 12 months to get what I want and haven't had a issue. I have transferred points to RCI with 50-50 success on getting to where I want which is Maui.

I just am concerned could Wyndham just shut down Shell then where would we all be.

Thank you

I own shell points as well, which I got for free resale. The market value of your current Shell points is $0. If you paid to convert them to Wyndham, they'd have a bunch of your money and the value of what you'd then own would still be zero.

I dont think they can shut down Shell, but even if they did you'd be far better off giving your Shell points back at that time and getting Wyndham points very cheaply resale than paying to convert.

 

[Timelover]

It's only a matter of time before they offer FREE conversions without a purchase into Wyndham. It is a waiting game.

 

[bnoble]

It's only a matter of time before they offer FREE conversions without a purchase into Wyndham.

They already did that. The price has only gone up over time.

Will they go back to it? Maybe---and if they do it might be worth converting if the OP bought retail from Shell. In that case, the conversion should be VIP-eligible.

 

[TheHolleys87]

We too were offered the $17K conversion in the first year or two after Wyndham bought Shell, but we turned it down, mostly due to the cost but also due to concerns about losing usage (we were suspicious of Wyndham, particularly that we wouldn’t have the same booking advantage at the Shell resorts that we used as Shell owners). A few years later we decided we weren’t getting enough benefit for the cost of MFs, so we gave it back through the Certified Exit program in early 2021.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We too were offered the $17K conversion in the first year or two after Wyndham bought Shell, but we turned it down, mostly due to the cost but also due to concerns about losing usage (we were suspicious of Wyndham, particularly that we wouldn’t have the same booking advantage at the Shell resorts that we used as Shell owners). A few years later we decided we weren’t getting enough benefit for the cost of MFs, so we gave it back through the Certified Exit program in early 2021.

Which is exactly what we are going to do at the end of May. I think the fees are outrageous for staying in Shell resorts. It's no bargain. And of course Wyndham points is not a product I need. I already have Wyndham points.

 

[domvaldez]

Hi, we have had a weeks worth of Shell points in Hawaii for at least 10 years. We haven't been to an update but I have read thoroughly and am not interested in spending more money to buy into Wyndham. I have had an issue trying to book at the Beachboy for August, I started trying a few months ago. My dates are unavailable on Shells website and via their phone agents. However, there are more than 6 units available via Hotels.com. The Shell rep told me those are not Shell inventory but owned by Wyndham. So it's happening, we are losing access. Is there any recourse available to us? Does anyone know what percentage of Shell Hawaii members are left? Will they have to "let us in" to Wyndham for free eventually? What happens if we refuse to leave Shell? This seems unethical.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Hi, we have had a weeks worth of Shell points in Hawaii for at least 10 years. We haven't been to an update but I have read thoroughly and am not interested in spending more money to buy into Wyndham. I have had an issue trying to book at the Beachboy for August, I started trying a few months ago. My dates are unavailable on Shells website and via their phone agents. However, there are more than 6 units available via Hotels.com. The Shell rep told me those are not Shell inventory but owned by Wyndham. So it's happening, we are losing access. Is there any recourse available to us? Does anyone know what percentage of Shell Hawaii members are left? Will they have to "let us in" to Wyndham for free eventually? What happens if we refuse to leave Shell? This seems unethical.

Yeah, Wyndham has our website clunky and crappy and I am unable to add guests without phoning. This is all intentional on Wyndham's part, to force people into Wyndham. For the longest time I couldn't even see my reservations, now when I choose a reservation, I cannot see my guest's name, nor can I email a confirmation to myself. I have to call to do everything.

 

[JohnPaul]

We are currently enjoying our stay at The Inn at the Park. We own a LOT of timeshares in various systems. We use Shell for San Diego, Napa and San Francisco and are very happy with it. MF aren't the cheapest but those are also expensive places to operate.

I laugh that every time we go to a presentation the offer gets worse.

 

[Lsfinn]

Toward the end of 2020 it was possible to convert for free, though the offer was never made clearly and you had to be aggressive in pursuing the option. We converted at that point in time.
Are we "happy" with the conversion? Well, we didn't lose anything vis a vis ability to reserve early. We did lose Interval International; however, we never found anything there we were interested in. The Shell benefits were a bit different than the Wyndham benefits; however, for the most part not so different that you are likely to notice. [Even before the pandemic daily maid service was not available even at the highest tier.] There were a few European properties (Paris, Rome) in one of the Shell special programs that we used once and enjoyed.
What did we gain? Well, we have access to all the Club Wyndham properties (at least at 10 months out). We've found a couple we like/fit our vacation style. We got RCI in place of Interval International; but, we've never been happy with properties in either.
Maintenance fees are Shell fees. Club fees are Wyndham fees. This turns out to be a wash.
For a zero $$$ cost conversion it was worth it for the access to more properties. Would I have paid for it (or, worse, paid for some nominal developer point package) to get it? No.