Newbie Questions about Wyndham Vacation Ownership

[MissEclair82]

I recently attended a sales presentation at the Wyndham Ocean Pier in California. It's a beautiful property and the sales people had me completely convinced it was the right thing to do.

Basically they are offering me 150k points every 2 years for about $13k. Apparently this is an "awesome deal" but as I look more and more into it I'm not so sure. Could someone give me some advice?

Also, the sales people made it sound like I can call at anytime and pretty much get any resort I want whenever I want as long as I have the points available. This sounds a little too good to be true.

They also said that it doesn't really matter where I own the deed since I can use the points anywhere...this really didn't seem right to me. I would assume you have better odds of getting what you want at the resort you hold the deed at.

Anyway, since I haven't signed any paperwork (I'm doing that tomorrow) I think I still have a chance to pull out of this if needed.

Any clarification or advice would be most helpful!

 

[legalls]

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING. Wyndham can be a wonderful program, but always buy resale. You can currently get around 300K annual points for $1.00 on ebay. What resort you own determines how much you will pay in Maintenance Fees. Since these are ongoing they are more important than sales price. It is true you can reserve almost any Wyndham resort at 10 months out. You can reserve at your own resort 13 months out. Hope this helps.

Rick

 

[MissEclair82]

You said 300k points a year for $1 total?????

What's the catch?

Also, 10-13 months out seems a bit far in advance. What about booking something a month or 2 away? Is that pretty much a no chance? ie booking Vegas in early Aug of 2009?

 

[Conan]

You can seriously get the same deal resale for about $800 including closing costs.

Take your time, study and learn, and when you've figured out what's best for you, buy resale!

 

[ecwinch]

I recently attended a sales presentation at the Wyndham Ocean Pier in California. It's a beautiful property and the sales people had me completely convinced it was the right thing to do.

Basically they are offering me 150k points every 2 years for about $13k. Apparently this is an "awesome deal" but as I look more and more into it I'm not so sure. Could someone give me some advice?

Also, the sales people made it sound like I can call at anytime and pretty much get any resort I want whenever I want as long as I have the points available. This sounds a little too good to be true.

They also said that it doesn't really matter where I own the deed since I can use the points anywhere...this really didn't seem right to me. I would assume you have better odds of getting what you want at the resort you hold the deed at.

Anyway, since I haven't signed any paperwork (I'm doing that tomorrow) I think I still have a chance to pull out of this if needed.

Any clarification or advice would be most helpful!

You obviously need to do more research. Do nothing. Do not go back.

No need to. They will just put you under the sales spell. It is a process that is specifically designed to get you to do one thing - buy a product you do not need to buy right then. Timeshares can be a good purchase, but only to a fully informed consumer that has a basic understanding of what owning a timeshare means, and what is the best product for your needs. That requires a lot of research - just as much as you would with any major purchase - like a car. Would you have bought a car while on vacation? No, of course not.

Do you have a copy of the documents they want you to sign? If so, good. They are a great source of information on what you are buying. Timeshare regulations state that they have to disclose certain information.

Do nothing, if you have signed nothing. I can think of only exception to this advice.

And depending on the date - Vegas can be one the easiest trades to make. It is like Orlando.

 

[ecwinch]

For early August09 in my Worldmark Acct - lots of inventory.

II Flexchange (low cost last minute exchanges) - lots of inventory - including Marriotts.

E-Bay - numerous Wyndham rentals 300-900. Can probably be had for $600 - less than your m/f.

So it is unlikely to be a problem with my Wyndham account.

RCI is not up - but will probably have inventory.

And $600 buys a lot of hotel in Vegas right now.

 

[vacationhopeful]

You are so lucky to NOT to have signed that paperwork. $13,000 worth of your money lucky!

Now to address your fears. Buying off eBay (generally, the cheapest) or from another interent site is easy. Wyndham points are ALL the same; resorts have different point requirements for different seasons of the year and for different size units. People sell their Wyndham points ownerships so CHEAP because their age, income, dislike of timesharing, divorice, and any other reason you can think of - some just to get rid of the monthly maintenance fees.

Why do people buy direct from Wyndham? Impulse purchase. Lack of interent knowledge. The salesman's "snake oil" pitch. If points are that cheap, there must be some defect with them. The "new" car smell. A finance plan makes it simple (not needed if you buy resale). And a thousand more well rehearsed lines which a successful Wyndham saleman has up their sleve's.

I will get NO COMMISSION or benefit by telling you to NOT to BUY direct.

So let us assume you decide to keep your money. Spend time reading these boards and asking questions. Wyndham is a complicated system with UDI points, points from converted fixed weeks, fixed weeks, and exchanging options using independant exchange companies. And Wyndham is not the only timeshare company. Many very experience TUG members here will suggest you read, research and ask questions here for 6+ months before you buy. Others will also suggest you rent several vacations at various resorts also before buying. There is no perfect answer for every person but at least you have a choice and time to figure out what is right for you.

And Welcome to TUG!

 

[WeLovetoTravel]

Everyone is giving you sound advice. DO NOT BUY RETAIL!! We did because we were not informed! We were captured by the "snakes" in Orlando at a weak moment. We sure could have spent our money in much wiser ways! We have added to our initial retail points buy buying cheap on Ebay. Aside from the mistake of spending too much money on our initial purchase, we love using our Wyndham timeshare. We love the flexibility of being able to vacation for 2 nights or a week. If you plan ahead, you can usually go where you want. Of course, Last minute has much less availability. Good Luck with you decision.
-Deb

 

[ace2000]

If you have $13K to burn for an ownership, that will sell on eBay for hundreds afterwards, then go for it! You won't be able to burn your money any faster than buying a timeshare contract from Wyndham.

 

[wsholaway]

buy resale

I hope you're already convinced, but if not here's one more person telling you not to buy retail! I think wyndham has the best program out there, but it doesn't make sense to pay 13k when you can buy the same thing on ebay for less than $300. just do your research and buy at a later date.

 

[R&K]

There was a guy on here giving away his contract of 126,000 pts . Just asking you to pay closing and resort transfer fee and pay May maintenance fee,

Cost around 450.00 total

 

[Bill4728]

This isn't quite as easy as most of the posters have said. It because Wyndham has purchase a lot of TS resorts which sold weeks to owners long before Wyndham.

Most owners at these resorts are not part of the Wyndham point system. They instead own a fixed or floating week at that one resort. It will cost you several thousand of dollars to convert that week to points.

So if you want into Wyndham points, you must make sure that week you're looking to buy, is in Wyndham points and not an unconverted week.

BUT sometimes buying an unconverted week is a very good thing. If you only want to go to that one resort, having an unconverted week means that Wyndham point owners can't reserve unconverted inventory.

 

[muskitties]

Do lots of research on this site, then BUY RESALE!!! I love my Wyndham Timeshare points. I love the product, and I love knowing that I bought mine on ebay for 95% less than what Wyndham offered me.

There are some benefits from buying directly from Wyndham. But these benefits are not worth the ridiculous price that you will be required to pay. So read as much as you can on this bb, and if you decide to buy Wydham, buy resale.

 

[EAM]

You said 300k points a year for $1 total?????

What's the catch?

Also, 10-13 months out seems a bit far in advance. What about booking something a month or 2 away? Is that pretty much a no chance? ie booking Vegas in early Aug of 2009?

As long as you own them, you still have to pay the maintenance fees for those 300K points, which could be close to $150 per month. People are sometimes giving them away to get out of paying those fees.

It only matters where you own if you want to go to a popular area at a poplular time (e.g. Myrtle Beach in the summer) and are willing to make a reservation 10-13 months in advance (the ARP reservation period). Also, maintenance fees are lower at some resorts than others. Note that unusually low maintenance fees may indicate that the resort is still in active sales and the fees are temporarily and artificially low for sales purposes. Low fees may also indicated that the HOA is not setting aside enough money in reserve for repairs, updates, etc., and that you may be hit with a special assessment in the future.

Booking something a month or two away is no problem during most of the year, but may not be possible for prime season.

Vegas in early August is HOT (temperature). There is plenty of availability for 1 and 2 BR units at this time.