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no more renting-transferring of Wyndham pts. between owners

wyndhamrental

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December 4, 2008

Dear Valued Owner,

On behalf of your FairShare Vacation Owners Association’s Board of Directors and Wyndham Vacation Resorts, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a 2009 filled with many joyful memories.

During the past year, we’ve certainly seen many exciting enhancements to your program. New Wyndham Vacation Resorts properties in highly desirable locations such as Steamboat Springs, CO; Lake Marion and Edisto Island, SC; and New Orleans, LA have opened their doors for you. We’ve also added many new associate and affiliate resorts for your enjoyment. And your Web site has undergone significant changes as well. In addition to the recently launched new Member home page, more than 185,000 reservations have been made with the improved online reservation system through the end of November - that’s a 321% increase over the same period in 2007! We also recently debuted your newly redesigned reservation confirmation letters that will now be e-mailed to you directly for faster delivery and reduced costs as long as we have your e-mail address on record. If you haven’t yet created your online account, please do so today so that you may take advantage of these great new features.

We are always looking for ways to enhance your ownership experience and provide you with even more travel options. As these new opportunities become available, we look forward to sharing more information with you.

We would also like to take this opportunity to share with you a program change that your Board of Directors recently approved that will go into effect in conjunction with online availability of your 2009-2010 Member’s Directory. In response to feedback from many owners and so we are able to ensure your accounts are being securely and accurately maintained, the transferring of points feature will no longer be offered as of March 1, 2009.

I’d like to provide you with details regarding your Annual FairShare Plus Assessment.

As is customary, your FairShare Vacation Owners Association’s Board of Directors meets annually to review your FairShare Plus Program Fee. This Fee is essential to providing you and your travel companions with enjoyable products and services. In this letter, we have provided you with a review of the pertinent information, and a complete explanation of your assessment for those of you who may want further details. The FairShare Plus Annual Assessment is comprised of two parts: The FairShare Plus Program Fee and your Property Owners Association (POA) maintenance fee.

For 2009, the first portion of your annual assessment is the FairShare Plus Program Fee. This year, there will only be a nominal fee increase of just 1.5%. This fee is set by your FairShare Vacation Owners Association Board of Directors so that we can provide for you the right balance between cost management and feature enhancements to your program.

The second portion of your FSP Annual Assessment is your POA maintenance fee. The Board of Directors at your timeshare plan where you own your interest set this fee on your behalf, and provide that amount to us, which allows us to simplify your payment into one statement for your convenience. The POA maintenance fee directly funds the daily operations and continual improvements to your resort(s).

To see a detailed accounting of your FairShare Plus program and POA maintenance fees, including a description of how your fees are calculated, please log on to WyndhamVacationResorts.com, and click “Financial Services” link on the “Membership Quick Links” navigation bar an the right side of your home page, then select Assessment Information” tab. If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact a member of our Financial Services team at 1-866-495-1985.

I sincerely appreciate the privilege of serving you and your ownership interests alongside our dedicated associates who continue to work diligently with me to provide you with the most worthwhile vacation ownership experiences possible.

Wishing you and yours happy holidays,
Deanne Gabel
FairShare Plus Plan Manager
 

Attachments

  • 2008-1204 - WVO letter - no more renting-transferring points from other owners.doc
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bnoble

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As I wrote OT, it's either another shot at the mega-renters, or just an admission of outright incompetence in accounting.

Notably, DVC did something similar to its mega-renters a few years back, but at least they still allow one transfer in or out in a calendar year...
 

BocaBum99

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I heard strong rumors in September that the Wyndham Board had decided to kill the rental market for Wyndham Vacation Resorts. I thought that the $99/129 guest fees were meant to address that since now the megarenters would be working for Wyndham.

But, now with this act, they are definitely intent on killing it off. The only issue with it is that what it does is potentially increases the probability that owners who aren't using their points will bail on their ownerships.

My guess is what Wyndham will do is buy back these points and rent them out themselves to other owners.

When I first heard the rumor that Wyndham would cancel points transfers a couple weeks ago, I at first blew it off in disbelief. But, what Wyndham does always surprises me. They are so hard to predict because they don't seem to make rational business decisions. I actually don't see how this helps them. It seems to make much more sense taxing the activity and letting it continue.

I wonder if this will spawn other lawsuits since they will be putting a lot of renters out of business. Time will tell.
 
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Steve

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Hi Jim,

Do you think that WorldMark will follow suit and ban the renting of credits?

Steve
 

jkkee

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Wow! I didn't get this yet, was it an e-mail or real mail? I'll be writing a letter. I haven't needed to rent my points or rent from others yet, but it's nice that the option was there, and who is to say in the future I wouldn't want to? And it's just one more benefit that they are taking away from us. Whats next? No more using your points to go to resorts other than your home resort?
 

Timeshare Von

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Looks like I'll be searching for someone to take the 77k points contract off my hands for Myrtle Beach if this is true.
 

bookworm

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I am very disappointed about this. It was one of the features I liked best about Wyndham. I could use what I wanted to and rent the rest. It has worked so well in the last few years. No need to hassle over making a reservation and hoping it rents. It may be time to say good bye to some of my points.
 

timeos2

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Not a good move

Just the slightest possibility that they are referring only to ONLINE trnasfers between accounts? You could read it that way as it is in a paragraph about the on line system and talks about security of the account. Not that any "guide" will know a thing but at some point we need to get a clarification of what was meant. If it is cutting off all owner to owner transfers (rental or not) that is a big negative and worth a fight. Just who are these owners that gave such requests/feedback anyway? I don't know of any.
 

bnoble

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I don't believe you can do an online tranfer right now---I think it requires a call.

It will be interesting to see how much pushback they get. I wonder how many owners not in our little communities here and on atozed/yahoo ever even realized transfers were possible.

I've been meaning to write a letter about the rapacious guest fees. Looks like now the letter will be longer. I understand that they want to kill the rental business, but (a) I don't have a problem with the mega-renters (I don't much care about distress inventory) and (b) they seem to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In particular, these two changes make it pretty much impossible for the average owner to have a big family reunion some year.
 

Don

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Just the slightest possibility that they are referring only to ONLINE trnasfers between accounts? You could read it that way as it is in a paragraph about the on line system and talks about security of the account. Not that any "guide" will know a thing but at some point we need to get a clarification of what was meant. If it is cutting off all owner to owner transfers (rental or not) that is a big negative and worth a fight. Just who are these owners that gave such requests/feedback anyway? I don't know of any.
That,too, is my belief since they are mentioned in the same paragraph.
"that will go into effect in conjunction with online availability of your 2009-2010 Member’s Directory. In response to feedback from many owners and so we are able to ensure your accounts are being securely and accurately maintained, the transferring of points feature will no longer be offered as of March 1, 2009. "
 

jeany1020

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i can understand trying to break the megaowners (no disrepect to the mega owners) but i don't see how hurting the person with the small point package helps wyndham. also i believe even if i wanted to i can't rent from wyndham more then 90 days in advance so planning a trip to say myrtle beach for next summer would be next to impossible for someone who cannot afford alot of points. i think as someone suggested allowing one or two transfers is a better way to go.
 

mtribe

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I do not understand how they can possibly do this. You have a deeded ownership and you have the RIGHT to use, exchange, rent, sell, inherit your property. They have ALWAYS sold that as a key component of timeshares in general. Now, I realize that Wyndham could not care less about governing documents, or ethics, or fiducary responsibility to owners, but I see this as a HUGE liability and potential lawsuit. I suggest a big letter writing campaign and everyone let them know how you feel about this. This is a big time issue.
 

carolhab

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This is just one more way to tick off owners. I think they want to end up with deliquent accounts. This will drive the value of our points even further down. They will be getting email feedback from me shortly. I don't think I can stand any more of their "new features and enhancements" to the Fairshare Plus program. :annoyed:
 

Caius

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The following contact information for the VOA board of directors has been posted at the "atozed" site a couple of times, but I don't recall seeing it here. I have already sent emails to the board members, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

The letter we all received states that the change is "In response to feedback from many owners," which is obviously ludicrous as the only possible effect on owners of the ability to transfer points is positive. We all need to let them know what the real owner stance on this issue is. Here are the email addresses posted at the other site:

brian.keller@wyndhamvo.com Director, FairShare VOA (President also)
gary.byrd@wyndhamvo.com Director, FairShare VOA (VP also)
peter.hernandez@wyndhamworldwide.com Director, FairShare VOA (Secretary & Treasurer also)
deanne.gabel@wyndhamvo.com FSP Trust/Plan Manager, FairShare VOA
 

rickandcindy23

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Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms; WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
This is just one more way to tick off owners. I think they want to end up with deliquent accounts. This will drive the value of our points even further down. They will be getting email feedback from me shortly. I don't think I can stand any more of their "new features and enhancements" to the Fairshare Plus program. :annoyed:

I agree that delinquency will be a huge problem, especially in this economy, as it is today. People aren't going to be able to use what they own, so they will stop paying, and the brunt of the problems will rest on our shoulders, causing us all considerable damages. Sounds like the perfect grounds for a lawsuit. They keep de-valuing what we own, so now we cannot use it as we did before.

Does anyone have a phone number, address or email for the Florida Attorney General's office? Perhaps about 100 letters to that office would be in order. If we could get everyone that is angry to write just one letter to the right people.........I don't think Wyndham's big wigs care one bit about what they are doing to us. They just want to rent points at $8 per 1,000. :( I won't be buying a single point from those greedy corporate yahoos.
 

bnoble

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You have a deeded ownership and you have the RIGHT to use, exchange, rent, sell, inherit your property.
For the most part, though, the deed is for the real property---either a fixed week interval, or a 1/big-number share of Unit blah-blah-blah for UDI deeds. FSP Points are not, themselves, deeded. They are layered on top, and the agreements we all signed make it clear that the VOA runs the roost---and the VOA board is All Wyndham, all the time.

So, from a legal perspective, it's kosher.

The only chance of getting it reversed is by large outcry from owners. It will be interesting to see if that happens. Unlike VIP discounts for guests, which affected very VIP owner, this change may only effect those of us in the online timeshare community, and those few families that have multiple owners and transfer amongst themselves. And, while there are a lot of people who are e.g. members of atozed, it's a small fraction of total ownership.

It will be interesting to see what happens, and I plan to write a real dead-tree letter about both this and the rapacious guest fee. But, I'm betting both will stick.
 

Miss Marty

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Timesharing Today Magazine

Hopefully the editors and staff of Timesharing Today
will do some research on this and publish a magazine
article for owners who do not have internet access.
 

bogey21

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I used to own 4 Marriott weeks. When they started messing with some of the things that caused me to buy like rental program, sales program, points program, etc., I bailed. Truth is that you just can't trust the corporations. They will do what is in their best interest and ignore their promises which incented you to buy. Hasn't hapened to you yet? It will. Believe me.

George
 

Timeshare Von

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. . . They will do what is in their best interest and ignore their promises which incented you to buy. Hasn't hapened to you yet? It will. Believe me.

I'm pretty sure that most people doing business in the Wyndham system are fully aware of this premise. Wyndham continues to do what is in their best interest and continues to adversely impact their owners. Many have bailed . . . many others are too "vested" to bail. At some point I believe most will reach "their point to bail" . . . which is different for each owner. I am still pretty happy with my fixed weeks with them because there isn't a lot of messing around with the ownership that they (Wyndham) can do, especially once you consider that FAX isn't REALLY a program!! Points on the other hand, are almost a limitless place for them to tinker and hose owners. Sad but true indeed! It won't take much for me to want to dump my small points contract with them.
 
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