Need help with cancellation!!!

[Gifts3]

Hi everyone,

My husband & I bought a Discovery Vacation by Wyndham on 8/1/08, in Atlantic City, NJ.

After doing some research, we decided to cancel. Our contract states that we can cancel within 7 days, in writing, & must send all materials back to them. The address they gave is a PO Box, therefore, we could not send it requesting a receipt. My husband sent everything back, including a letter of cancellation by Fed Ex. on 8/5/08. Received an email from Fed Ex that they Refused Delivery! What can we do now??? We do not want to call them. I tried to say "no" at the presentation, but they kept passing us on to someone else, for more convincing. By the time we got out of their, almost 3 hours later, we had signed and I was a wreck! I do have copies of all paperwork sent.
Diane

 

[rsackett]

Does your paper work state a method that must be used to send the cancelation back?

Ray

 

[Gifts3]

Ray,

Yes, it does. To a PO Box in Las Vegas, Nevada. We sent everything that they gave us, back by Fed Ex, along with a letter of cancellation. On the letter I put the Date of Agreement, Contract No, and asked to please return our $195 down payment to the credit card used for that transaction. They refused it. Maybe I should have sent the letter separately? I don't know what to think.
Thanks,
Diane

 

[Patri]

Keep that email from FedEx and your records of sending the material. If the contract said to send by USPS they might have gotcha but I think you still have a good reason to prevail.
Perhaps send via USPS now with copies of all your records. Check if there is another address as well, and send to both.

 

[Talent312]

My husband & I bought a Discovery Vacation by Wyndham on 8/1/08, in Atlantic City, NJ.

After doing some research, we decided to cancel. Our contract states that we can cancel within 7 days, in writing, & must send all materials back to them. The address they gave is a PO Box, therefore, we could not send it requesting a receipt. My husband sent everything back, including a letter of cancellation by Fed Ex. on 8/5/08. Received an email from Fed Ex that they Refused Delivery! What can we do now?

You cannot Fed-Ex to a P.O. Box, so its highly likely that wherever Fed-Ex tried to make delivery, it was not the proper office or reception was instructed not to accept deliveries. Get Fed-Ex to return your stuff, but do not wait to re-send your notice to the specified address by USPS.

Whether you prefer another method or not, you must adhere strictly to the terms of your contract. Do it as they instructed... B4 its too late, and explain that the materials are being sent separately.

BTW, you can send a return-receipt letter to a P.O. Box, but what happens is that a "pick-up at counter" slip is put in the box and usually ignored. Why? Becuz in many places, notice of lawsuits can be served that way and go-fers who pick up mail are not allowed to sign for stuff like that.

While a return reciept is preferred, I believe that the Postal Service offers a "proof of delivery" service in which they will verify that your package arrived at its addressed destination. Check it out at your local P.O.

 

[Lawlar]

Legal Recission

Hi everyone,

My husband & I bought a Discovery Vacation by Wyndham on 8/1/08, in Atlantic City, NJ.

After doing some research, we decided to cancel. Our contract states that we can cancel within 7 days, in writing, & must send all materials back to them. The address they gave is a PO Box, therefore, we could not send it requesting a receipt. My husband sent everything back, including a letter of cancellation by Fed Ex. on 8/5/08. Received an email from Fed Ex that they Refused Delivery! What can we do now??? We do not want to call them. I tried to say "no" at the presentation, but they kept passing us on to someone else, for more convincing. By the time we got out of their, almost 3 hours later, we had signed and I was a wreck! I do have copies of all paperwork sent.
Diane

You have performed a valid recission. A party can't refuse to accept your notice and then claim that you didn't rescind. No judge would go for that.

I suggest you look up their main office address and also get a fax number for them. Send your notice to every address you can find for the company. Also send another copy of your notice to the address they gave you (by regular mail).

If they made any misrepresentations to you (very likely), or they refuse to accept your recission notice, then I recommend that you report the incident to the Attorney General's office in your state and to the Better Business Bureau. The timeshare industry is very sleazy. The more consumers complain the more likely the government will take action to protect consumers in the future. Also, the BBB keeps a record on its website of complaints. So other consumers can learn of your complaint and be forewarned.

Good luck.

 

[Talent312]

You have performed a valid recission. A party can't refuse to accept your notice and then claim that you didn't rescind. No judge would go for that.

I would not rely on this advice.
If the notice was not delivered to the proper address and delivery was attempted in a place or manner not designated in the contract, a judge could rule that they had every right to refuse and that notice was invalid.

I suggest you look up their main office address and also get a fax number for them.

A notice to the "main office" or by fax, unless provided in the contract is likewise, invalid. The OP needs to comply with the terms of the contract. Absent that, the TS comany has no legal obligation to honor their notice.

 

[Dave M]

You have performed a valid recission.

I'm not so sure. A lot depends on the cancellation language in the contract.

NJ law states:

The [timeshare] purchase contract shall provide notice of the seven-day cancellation period, together with the name and mailing address to which any notice of cancellation shall be delivered. Notice of cancellation shall be timely if the notice is deposited with the United States Postal Service not later than midnight of the seventh day.

If the contract contained such language, it would appear that the OP didn't follow the directions to deposit the cancellation letter with the Postal Service, as required. If the contract didn't contain such language, the OP should insist on the right to cancel because the contract didn't comply with NJ law.

 

[Dave M]

See the last paragraph on this page for the NJ legal language I referred to.

 

[taffy19]

Why did the resort not give a physical address since the OP had to return a big package too? He should have done it in two stages but Wyndham may take his rescission notice anyway. I don't think they are that callous. There are human beings working there and they have a heart if you treat them right. Just hoping for you and keep us informed. I have a feeling that the outcome will be OK.

 

[Gifts3]

Patri,
Thank you for your reply! It does not say which method to send it by. I will send the letter & copies of everything to the PO Box, again, and to Owner Relations & Financial Services. They all have different addresses.
P.S. I loved your quote at the end, so much, I emailed it to my husband & daughter! Hope you don't mind.
Thanks again!
Diane

 

[Dave M]

Why did the resort not give a physical address since the OP had to return a big package too?

My guess is that the P.O. box, likely a convenience for the developer, was provided because the contract called for sending it via mail, not via a private carrier such as FedEx. The P.O. box would have worked well had the package been sent through the mail.

 

[Talent312]

USPS Delivery Confirmation:
-- Know when it got there with Delivery Confirmation.
Verify delivery with Delivery Confirmation. Our low cost Delivery Confirmation service gives you the date, ZIP Code and time your article was delivered. If delivery was attempted you will get the date and time of attempted delivery. You can easily access this information with our Track & Confirm tool.
-- This is not Certified Mail, Return Receipt, which requires a signature acceptance.

 

[Gifts3]

Talent312, Lawlar, Dave M, iconnections

Wow! Thank you everyone for your replies!
I will make copies & send by USPS, with delivery confirmation to all three addresses I have. Will also include copies of emails showing the date package was mailed & when it was refused. I will have my husband fax them as well, can't hurt.
Thanks again to everyone for your advice! I'll let you know how I make out.
Diane

 

[Lawlar]

Both Right

I'm not so sure. A lot depends on the cancellation language in the contract.

NJ law states: If the contract contained such language, it would appear that the OP didn't follow the directions to deposit the cancellation letter with the Postal Service, as required. If the contract didn't contain such language, the OP should insist on the right to cancel because the contract didn't comply with NJ law.

Dave - I think we are both right. The statute you provided is helpful. The law gives a method that will be deemed to meet the requirements of proper notice. But if the purchaser can prove that notice was recieved by the seller, that is sufficient. But it would be safer to follow the exact provisions of the contract/statute.

When I read the first post it said the notice had been refused. The company can't prevent recission by refusing to accept the notice. That won't work. That would be like someone refusing to accept service of a subpoena (refusal to accept doesn't negate the service).

Another post points out that FedEx might not have been able to deliver the notice to a postofice box. That is a different matter. However, a court would give the purchaser additional time if that mistake resulted in a delay. These types of statutes are construed liberally to protect the consumer.

Regardless, I have seen many cases where notices were given in various situations that didn't strictly comply with a statute or contract provision, but the courts upheld the recission notice as long as there was a reasonable effort to rescind and the seller received the notice.

 

[theo]

Cancellation instructions not followed...

The address they gave is a PO Box, therefore, we could not send it requesting a receipt.

You didn't need to prove "receipt" in order for your rescission to be valid.

You only needed to cancel in writing, said cancellation needing only to be postmarked within the rescission period, sending your cancellation (by USPS, as specifically instructed within the contract) to the address specified in the contract. A certified mail date stamp (regardless of any unnecessary return receipt request) would have provided you with the necessary proof of having met the time deadline. A delivery confirmation
request, also requiring no recipient signature, would also have sufficed.

I sincerely hope that the developer will still honor your belated cancellation request. However, since you did not follow the cancellation instructions provided and are now well beyond the contract rescission period provided by law, they might choose to "dig in their heels" to enforce the contract and you might have a fight on your hands.

As much as I tend to dislike lawyers, I'd still recommend at least contacting an attorney for a consultation on this. There is a fair amount of money potentially at stake here and your best chance of success at this point might have to be making yourself enough of a persistent annoyance that the developer will just voluntarily capitulate. I sincerely wish you luck.

 

[Blondie]

In the meantime notify your credit card company you are disputing the charges

 

[djs]

I'm surprised FedEx accepted the package for delivery since it was going to a PO Box. Though I do remember at one time FedEX and the USPS had gone into some sort of "partnership" if that's the case you might be able to use that to your advantage.

 

[SBK]

I'm surprised FedEx accepted the package for delivery since it was going to a PO Box. Though I do remember at one time FedEX and the USPS had gone into some sort of "partnership" if that's the case you might be able to use that to your advantage.

Several weeks ago I ordered some small items from Amazon. The tracking information described them as accepted by FedEx, then transferred to USPS. they were delivered to the house by our regular mailman.

The procedure confused me, because I could not track the package through FedEx. They explained it to me when I called to check.

 

[Gifts3]

Hi Everyone!

My letters were delivered, so I kept checking my credit card summary online. On August 28th, it shows (- $195.00). Thank goodness! Thank you all soooo much for all your help! Now that I know you can rent a week's vacation from an owner, we might give that a try next year. I will be sure to do lots of research first! ")
Diane

 

[overthehill]

Sounds typical of Wyndham

Glad to learn you finally received a refund. My daughter had a similar problem with WorldMark, also run by Wyndham. She and her husband signed up for the Travelshare program. She called me the same day to discuss her purchase (we own WorldMark) and decided to cancel. She hand carried her rescission notice/cancellation letter to the sales office and handed it to the receptionist who assured her it would be processed.

Wyndham charged her Visa for Travelshare dues for three months even though she, 1. Rescinded the same day, 2. Wrote multiple follow up letter trying to resolve Wyndham's screw up and 3. Made numerous phone calls to their Owner Services dept., each time being assured the matter was taken care of.

Wyndham has many new employees in their Las Vegas and Florida offices, most of whom either haven't received the training one would think necessary to provide reasonable customer service or lack basic customer service skills.

Hopefully, Wyndham will get it's act together and attain a higher level of service for it's owners/potential owners. It may take a while.

 

[Patri]

Your daughter needed to get a receipt from the receptionist as proof she was there. That's why people mailing it get proof of delivery.

 

[ctyatty]

please follow up with a complaint to NJ authorities

New Jersey Timeshare Act:
"A statement that within seven days after receipt of the public offering statement or after execution of the purchase contract, whichever is later, a purchaser may cancel any purchase contract for a timeshare interest from a developer together with a statement providing the name and street address to which the purchaser should mail any notice of cancellation."

Please file a complaint with the NJ Real Estate so maybe the next guy won't have to deal with a LV PO Box!