Is Wyndham website running properly or screwed up like Worldmark

[JohnPaul]

I know that there were lots of issues for Wyndham owners when the current website first appeared. Worldmark is now on, essentially that same framework, and it is a mess. Every time they fix something they break something else.

The thing that appalls me is that Wyndham seems to thing this is normal.

So....is the Wyndham website essentially working properly or is it still a mess and people have just accepted that?

Thanks.

 

[Bill158]

I know that there were lots of issues for Wyndham owners when the current website first appeared. Worldmark is now on, essentially that same framework, and it is a mess. Every time they fix something they break something else.

The thing that appalls me is that Wyndham seems to thing this is normal.

So....is the Wyndham website essentially working properly or is it still a mess and people have just accepted that?

Thanks.

I just logged on and used today with no issues.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I know that there were lots of issues for Wyndham owners when the current website first appeared. Worldmark is now on, essentially that same framework, and it is a mess. Every time they fix something they break something else.

The thing that appalls me is that Wyndham seems to thing this is normal.

So....is the Wyndham website essentially working properly or is it still a mess and people have just accepted that?

Thanks.

It's often two steps forward one step back, and on occasion one step forward two steps back. We received this new website back in May 2020 - before it was really ready as they moved up the introduction of the new website by about six months due to the pandemic with the clear understanding that things weren't really ready for prime time. I personally, along with one of my cohorts, put together a rather detailed bug and feature tracking spreadsheet at that time and worked directly with Wyndham on the plethora of reported issues. There are still many issues that remain unresolved after three years unfortunately. It's not all bad to be clear, such as the recent Club Pass online booking feature, adding nights to existing reservations, and a few other major features that were introduced over the past few years, but the bugs oftentimes are outstanding for weeks or many months before we see any resolution, and Wyndham also doesn't do a very good job of letting us know when bugs or smaller features are fixed or introduced, such as the recent addition of Guest Allowance tracking in the owner Benefits Summary area as but one example.

If you think whatever is happening in Worldmark is bad - trust me when I say it was worse for Wyndham owners back in May 2020 - as we were the literal guinea pigs for a brand new system that no one had ever used. At least with the Worldmark migration, Wyndham is now at least somewhat familiar with the underlying website system itself (which is an Adobe web hosting content management platform hosted within a Wyndham datacenter last I checked). We weren't so lucky three years ago. That said, we feel your pain, and what is likely missing on the Worldmark side of the house is someone like me to kinda spearhead the fixes and problems using Wyndham contacts on the inside, along with many other TUGGERs on this Wyndham forum that I relied on during the early weeks to provide feedback on what wasn't working to add to the spreadsheet that we used for tracking. I'm not aware of anyone on the Worldmark side of the TUG house doing something like this, and I'm not a Worldmark owner, so I cannot do so as I don't have the ability to reproduce reported issues like I do as a Wyndham owner - to validate the exact steps needed to reproduce a reported issue repeatedly without fail (it was a lot of free work I did to do this back then really). I do know the resource at Wyndham who owns the Worldmark website from a product management standpoint though - and I've asked in the past to be able to get access to a test account within the Worldmark system for testing purposes to reproduce reported issues - but expectedly - since I'm just an owner and not a Wyndham employee - this was shot down pretty quickly - after which two of the three people I knew and worked with quite often - left Wyndham altogether. I have new contacts - but we don't work together nearly as closely as I did with the old crew unfortunately.

 

[bnoble]

I'm generally able to make and cancel reservations without much hassle, though it's also fair to say I am not a power user.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I know that there were lots of issues for Wyndham owners when the current website first appeared. Worldmark is now on, essentially that same framework, and it is a mess. Every time they fix something they break something else.

The thing that appalls me is that Wyndham seems to thing this is normal.

So....is the Wyndham website essentially working properly or is it still a mess and people have just accepted that?

Thanks.

It works fine for me and has for a while with only a few minor/occasional hiccups.

 

[PhilD41]

This is obviously not the most voiced opinion based on the comments before mine, but as someone that works in technology... it is still a mess. People have found a way to work around it or gotten use to it... but it is a mess. Phantom inventory floats around from resort to resort making it hard to always know what is there. I have had to call 2 - 3 times in the last 3 months to check inventory because the website wasn't reliable. I expect people miss opportunities because the search doesn't always show accurate results. I can think of two bookings I have made in the last 6 months where searching from the dashboard for a specific city didn't show any availability for certain dates, but I could book the exact same dates from a resort's inventory page... which was in that city. They still haven't nailed down the algorithm for processing inventory on their resorts page so there are regular errors when selecting dates that show as available, and the occasion where longer stays then what is shown are available once the check-in date is selected. I fully appreciate that algorithm is incredibly complicated, but hard is what engineers do... or should be. There was also an issue where you can't select a full two weeks from the dashboard search. It would give you an error. Once on a search in the resorts list you could then extend the dates for two weeks. I could keep going, as these are just the issues I regularly deal with. Because of them it is one of the least effective and most time consuming sites I use. It is certainly better than it has been at times, but it is also worse than it has been at times. I absolutely wouldn't take it out of the "mess" category, though.

 

[WyndhamBarter]

At least the Worldmark side tries to publicize some of the website progress,
even including some of the bugfixes.

https://worldmark.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/resorts/news/2022/new-website-updates

 

[CO skier]

Worldmark ... website progress,

The four-day website shutdown June 12-16 was a complete disaster that the website and many owners have mostly not recovered from.

I'm generally able to make and cancel reservations without much hassle, though it's also fair to say I am not a power user.

It works fine for me and has for a while with only a few minor/occasional hiccups.

It is definitely not just "power users", and the new WorldMark website does not and has never "worked fine." The June 12-16 website "enhancement" disaster completely erased credit card information from accounts. Any owner who did not serendipitously re-enter their credit card information for a new booking, and cancelled a reservation booked prior to June, 2023 had their refund go into la-la land, because there was no credit card information available for the computer to issue a refund. Most owners trust the website and do not track their cancellation refunds. They have no idea they got ripped-off and did not receive a credit for the cancelled reservation on their credit card. Call in to Wyndham and they will say, "Our records show the refund was issued." Call the credit card company and they will say, "No refunds from WorldMark are pending." La-la land. Wyndham will, obviously, not engage in the overwhelming audits to rectify account balances, and it is indeed like pulling hens teeth to receive proper credit for failed refunds that can clearly be documented (speaking from experience). (I do not recall Club Wyndham members having this particular problem with their new website.)

Unlike Club Wyndham, WorldMark owners may keep additional purchases in separate ownerships (for certain advantages, but at a not insignificant cost of $200+ per membership/year). The new WorldMark website randomly assigns one "landing ownership" for log-in. The additional, "sub-ownerships" are available only for viewing reservations. Reservations in these "sub-ownerships" may not be booked, cancelled, modified, view reservation details, online. Calling-in to Reservations is now the only way to accomplish these tasks. I thought one of the objectives of the new website was to reduce call volume into Reservations. Total failure.

WorldMark members now enjoy the "phantom inventory" and "overbooking" issues (that did not exist with the "old" WorldMark website and now affects every WorldMark owner) afflicting all Club Wyndham members from the beginning of their new website.

The WorldMark waitlist that was 100% reliable under the "old" website is now completely undependable.

The WorldMark "credit shuffle program" is now completely unreliable when cancelling reservations with expired credits and trying to preserve the credits with a new booking.

I could go on with the deficiencies of the new WorldMark website that affects all owners (whether they know it or not), but I am depressed enough to stop here.

fwiw - Until there is some noticeable improvement to the disastrous new WorldMark website, my post-stay survey answer to the question, "Would you recommend Wyndham to family or friends" will continue to get a "zero."

 

[samara64]

If you are a Worldmark owner with multiple accounts, can you log in, switch to a different account and book something on that account (not the initial account you get in after logging in).

I cannot see financial info from my 2nd account. Only the first one I log into.

 

[CO skier]

If you are a Worldmark owner with multiple accounts, can you log in, switch to a different account and book something on that account (not the initial account you get in after logging in).

I have multiple, multiple accounts and cannot book (or cancel, or modify, or view reservations, or do anything else) in any of my "sub-accounts." Total failure for months, so Wyndham management is either clueless (likely) or could not care less (not sure which is worse). Watched the annual WorldMark owners meeting online; it seemed like Tim Dierks, who must be responsible for the new website, just paid lip service to gloss over all the website problems. If this was Snow White, he would be the "Sleepy" dwarf. He must be there just to collect a paycheck.

 

[samara64]

It did not use to work, then it worked for a while but stopped about a month ago.

I can switch accounts but things will not update correctly and credit balance shows only the initial account balance even after switching.

 

[WyndhamBarter]

WorldMark owners may keep additional purchases in separate ownerships (for certain advantages, but at a not insignificant cost of $200+ per membership/year). The new WorldMark website randomly assigns one "landing ownership" for log-in. The additional, "sub-ownerships" are available only for viewing reservations. Reservations in these "sub-ownerships" may not be booked, cancelled, modified,

Is this the same bug they documented just over a week ago having to do with
the "Permission Addendum" feature? If so, an optimist would read that admission
as astrong intent to solve the problem to, uh, reduce call center volume?

As a power Wyndham user but a baby Worldmark user I do feel your pain, but in
a different way. Thank you for your ongoing contributions and strong opinions on this BBS.

Here's the link and the relevant passage:
https://worldmark.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/resorts/news/2023/permission-addendum-update

Permission addendums are a unique part of your WorldMark ownership that allow you to grant booking privileges to non-owners.

However, we are currently unable to process new permission addendums and are working on a fix to correct this issue. All submitted forms will be processed once a fix is in place and owners will be notified by email to advise their request has been completed. During this time, if an account had a previously accepted permission addendum, agents at the Vacation Planning Center will be able to validate and assist these guests.

"Would you recommend Wyndham to family or friends" will continue to get a "zero."

This does seem absolutely correct for now.

 

[VacationForever]

I have a really bad problem with my account where the credits have not been shuffled. So I now have 37K credits that will be expiring next year, while 2K credits have expiration 2 years out. Every 2 weeks, my owner care person sends me an email that "my problem is still being worked on." I wonder if my credits will expire before they get around to working on it. I waited from June to Sept before calling them to report the issue, hoping that they would fix my problem with each "upgrade". So now I am more than 2 months from having a case number assigned but it is still not resolved. Another agent said not to expect my account to be fixed until next year.

 

[CO skier]

Is this the same bug they documented just over a week ago having to do with
the "Permission Addendum" feature?

No. A Permission Addendum just allows one or two other named individuals to book and/or cancel reservations over the phone. It is a super minor issue and should be at the very bottom of the large pile of issues that need to get fixed.

 

[HitchHiker71]

At least the Worldmark side tries to publicize some of the website progress,
even including some of the bugfixes.

https://worldmark.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/resorts/news/2022/new-website-updates

This is also available on the Wyndham website: https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/resorts/resort-news/new-website-updates

Though IME it's missing a lot of useful minor feature enhancements and bugfixes that aren't documented anywhere for owners unfortunately.

 

[WyndhamBarter]

also available on the Wyndham website

Hmm. And also kinda misleading? The most recent entry on this webpage under
"Other Recent Updates" is for 10/13. (I assume that is 10/13/2023, not 2022.)

The first update listed has been implemented since last May (and announced
via an email discussed in this thread.) 'Coincidentally' it is *also* mentioned
under the *last* (least recent) date of 7/12.

Looks like someone went a little crazy with copy-and-paste to me. Sigh.


Current contents excerpted below:

Other recent updates:​

• 10/13
  
  • You can now search and view availability for your favorite Wyndham Club Pass resorts online — and when you find the perfect suite, simply call a Club Wyndham Vacation Guide to book your reservation. This is just the beginning, future enhancements anticipated in late 2023 will allow you to search and book that resort all online.

 

[Sandy VDH]

It used to be that you could open a Wyndham site and a WM site and run searches on either, but I now am seeing that it says that i am already running a search if I started one on the other website. It is also getting confused between the room types on search. On wyndham you can put All Suites which you can't at the resort level search on WM. But I am seeing that language now happening on the wynd side, if I have had the WM site up and running.

Weird.

 

[ddavid1073]

My biggest complaint is that when you enter a resort name on the landing page it doesn't take me there. Also, when you look at a resorts monthly availability if the date range entered has no availability it freezes. The only way around this is to refresh (f5) the screen which puts me back to the current month. This is in Chrome. Generally I can do what I need to do. I imagine putting all the convoluted rules into their site is difficult.

 

[chapjim]

YOUR WEBSITE WILL BE TAKING A QUICK VACAY
Your website will undergo maintenance from November 11 at 11 p.m. EST - November 12 at 8 a.m. EST. Thank you for your patience as Club Wyndham continues to upgrade your online experience.

Oh, well! Did anyone really think it would be back up at 8 AM? Can't wait to see how much harm the upgrade did.

 

[WyndhamBarter]

I just got one of those

Don't Abandon Your Next Vacation!​

emails about ten minutes ago. And it mentions a booking
I was tentatively working on yesterday.

Maybe that means (part of) the back end database is at least brewing its first cup of coffee?

 

[WyndhamBarter]

Did anyone really think it would be back up at 8 AM?

Just now six hours overdue, and counting...

 

[RENTER]

YOUR WEBSITE WILL BE TAKING A QUICK VACAY
Your website will undergo maintenance from November 11 at 11 p.m. EST - November 12 at 8 a.m. EST. Thank you for your patience as Club Wyndham continues to upgrade your online experience.

Oh, well! Did anyone really think it would be back up at 8 AM? Can't wait to see how much harm the upgrade did.

3:53 and still down

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Still down at 4:10 pm. OH well. Hopefully my reservations are all there when it comes back, I forgot to screenshot some of them.

 

[geist1223]

Same with Worldmark System. I think Wyndham is trying to save money by basically having one Online System/Platform for 2 totally different unrelated timeshare organizations. So if the Coders/Programmers change/"fix" something on the "Worldmark" side it breaks something on the "Wyndham" side; and, vice versa. And our MF's go up to pay for it.

 

[wjappraise]

The ineptitude of Wyndham IT is astounding. And why can’t there a governmental oversight. Or class action lawsuit. They need to stop screwing us over with such incompetence.

My solution: No CEO pay this year. Where is Michael Brown? On his private yacht?