Sticky - Give back your unwanted wyndham Timeshare - Wyndham Ovations / Wyndham Cares / Certified Exit

[Nunyah123]

First question, have you called the Certified Exit department to inquire? Some of their policies are a moving target and can only be answered by them - for instance, which resorts they're accepting or not at any given time.

Next question, is this a Club Wyndham fixed week that has not been converted to points? Because if it is, I'm not even sure that Wyndham will take back an unconverted fixed week. I know they will take back converted fixed weeks (at least as of Q3 2023). If you have confirmed that they they will take your unconverted fixed week, I'll admit that I haven't heard a report on this forum from an owner who has done it, so I'm not sure if anyone here will have the answers to your questions.

I can say in the case of points contracts (and in this case, no difference between UDI or converted fixed week), current year points can be completely used up and Wyndham will still accept the contract. The Certified Exit paperwork for points contracts specifies that future year points must be fully intact, but is agnostic on current year points. I've heard of owners waiting until the start of their use year, converting their points to maintenance fees at $2.10 per 1,000 points, and then immediately starting the Certified Exit process successfully. I used Certified Exit last year on two contracts 8 months into my use year with zero points available. The paperwork also states that any confirmed RCI reservations will still be honored. However, a Wyndham points owner with points deposited to RCI will lose access to their Wyndham-provided RCI account during the Certified Exit process (EDIT: if they're fully exiting their ownership) and then can't use their points for exchanges, which is why only confirmed exchanges from prior to the start of the process are honored. If Wyndham were to take an unconverted fixed week, IMO I would see an exchange deposit of the paid-up current year's week as comparable to the ability to start the process with current year points that have been used up - but I have no idea how Wyndham would see it. And with an unconverted fixed week, there would be no issue of loss of access to the RCI account since it's paid for by the individual, not Wyndham.

Good Info. Thanks. I can provide more info on the situation but not at this time. Will update this post with all details asap. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[jlchriswi]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

 

[TUGBrian]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

So very happy you found all the info you needed to dispose of your timeshare and it wont cost you a dime!

it truly is incredible to think that had you contacted an exit/cancellation company, they would have charged you thousands for their help!

 

[dioxide45]

So very happy you found all the info you needed to dispose of your timeshare and it wont cost you a dime!

it truly is incredible to think that had you contacted an exit/cancellation company, they would have charged you thousands for their help!

@Irene Parker said in one of the YouTube videos she is in that one of the people she helped had gone to an exit company seminar and was told that Wyndham did away with their Ovations program and they don't take back contracts anymore. They wanted to charge something like $35K to help them get out of their 11 contracts. Plus about $10K in the next year maintenance fees. Luckily tey found Irene and were able to get out for nothing.

Truth is, Ovations did go away but it was just changed to Certified Exit.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I've been lurking and reading for months, in anticipation of giving back our Shell points and getting rid of our SVC timeshare (contracts in Hawaii and California).

I called Certified Exit today, and, as I heard on this forum, the process was easy! Of course, this is just the beginning and who knows what glitches may happen, but it seems that the hard part (making the decision and then the call) are over. Just waiting for paperwork, and I know the whole process will take about 3 months.

The first person I spoke to mentioned that, since I still have some points left, I could redeem them for gift cards before starting the Exit process. So she transferred me to a regular customer service rep, who told me that I could do that, but that I didn't have points for this year, they were for next Use Year (which is what I sort of thought when the first person mentioned it, but wasn't sure). My next UY starts May 1st so I'd have to wait a month to redeem for cards, which means another month of maintenance fees before I can Exit, so I passed on that (the gift cards would be about $400 or so, and my monthly fees are well over $200, so not really worth it). But I thought it was nice that she mentioned it. I had no intention of using the points for travel so I don't care about losing them, but would have gone for the gift cards if the points were for current use year.

Just thought I'd mention that option for a few bucks if anyone is considering this and has just a few current points they were going to lose.

I'll post again when we're done.

Thanks so much, everyone who contributed to this forum, for all the good info and advice!! I would have been lost without it.

I hope your give-back is as easy and quick as ours was. Our story is somewhere back in this thread - a few years ago. We’re so happy we did it!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

They wanted to charge something like $35K to help them get out of their 11 contracts.

That’s so terrible.

 

[Nunyah123]

First question, have you called the Certified Exit department to inquire? Some of their policies are a moving target and can only be answered by them - for instance, which resorts they're accepting or not at any given time.

Next question, is this a Club Wyndham fixed week that has not been converted to points? Because if it is, I'm not even sure that Wyndham will take back an unconverted fixed week. I know they will take back converted fixed weeks (at least as of Q3 2023). If you have confirmed that they they will take your unconverted fixed week, I'll admit that I haven't heard a report on this forum from an owner who has done it, so I'm not sure if anyone here will have the answers to your questions.

I can say in the case of points contracts (and in this case, no difference between UDI or converted fixed week), current year points can be completely used up and Wyndham will still accept the contract. The Certified Exit paperwork for points contracts specifies that future year points must be fully intact, but is agnostic on current year points. I've heard of owners waiting until the start of their use year, converting their points to maintenance fees at $2.10 per 1,000 points, and then immediately starting the Certified Exit process successfully. I used Certified Exit last year on two contracts 8 months into my use year with zero points available. The paperwork also states that any confirmed RCI reservations will still be honored. However, a Wyndham points owner with points deposited to RCI will lose access to their Wyndham-provided RCI account during the Certified Exit process (EDIT: if they're fully exiting their ownership) and then can't use their points for exchanges, which is why only confirmed exchanges from prior to the start of the process are honored. If Wyndham were to take an unconverted fixed week, IMO I would see an exchange deposit of the paid-up current year's week as comparable to the ability to start the process with current year points that have been used up - but I have no idea how Wyndham would see it. And with an unconverted fixed week, there would be no issue of loss of access to the RCI account since it's paid for by the individual, not Wyndham.

Update 4-19-24 - Wyndham, via Certified Exit, did take back Unconverted (Paid Off) Fixed Week but it took 3.5 Months. So far deposited points in RCI for the final year and vacation week for the maintenance fees paid still remain in RCI Account. Even though Wyndham owns RCI, my RCI account is not a provided RCI account by them but an individual account. Final input, Resort Maintenance Fees are way out of control, almost to the point of the same cost of a not so fancy hotel for the week or a rental property. Finding exchanges on a Timeshare exchange programs is also becoming very hard and takes months and even years ahead of planning to get a desired location. On top of that, Exchange Programs are finding new ways to milk you for more money by developing sub programs with fees...for example, RCI now has Exchange PLUS program where they have moved desired time frame & resort swap options into new Exchange Plus bucket that will cost you hundreds of dollars more, on top of your basic RCI exchange fee and your already paid resort maintenance fee for the weeks deposit. To me, for me, the Timeshare business / "racket" is a game I no longer wish to play. The Timeshare Game Master's primary goal is to get you to pay, and repay, over and over again, for the same thing you already bought. Wyndham tried that on me way back when they shifted the game from deeded weeks to points. Property Paid for but now buy it again in Points as Points is better. Nope. Get Out Now. Not worth it.
"I Chose Not To Run!" - Seinfeld

 

[Timeshare Von]

I'm pretty sure that at the end of this year, I too will be doing the Certified Exit with our Wyndham points contract.

 

[jlchriswi]

An update to my post of 3/29/24 about using Wyndham Certified Exit -

As posted above, I called Certified Exit, and they were very easy to work with and helpful.

By April 29, I had all documents via email (using Docusign), but I was unable to complete them immediately. There was some confusion about a week later, when they said they would mail physical docs (which I had NOT requested), but then they sent a reminder to sign the e-docs, I called to find out if that was the correct procedure (which it was), and we signed everything on May 7th.

Our maintenance fees were on autopay through Paymentus, and I received an email on May 9th saying that those payments were cancelled.

Yesterday, I got a letter for each contract saying, "We have completed your requested changes to the ownership records for the referenced membership."

That's literally ALL the letter said.

I THINK that means we're clear, right? I guess I was expecting a bit more paperwork,

Assuming that the above is the whole process, it took only about 2 months from initial phone call to receiving the letters confirming the cancellations. Sending the documents electronically certainly made the process faster!
Again, thank you to everyone on this board who posted the information about how to do this, your own experiences, and encouragement that made it all possible.

I hope everyone looking to exit their timeshares has a smooth transition, and those keeping them enjoy their vacations!

 

[Lsfinn]

Had a call two weeks ago with someone from the certified exit call center. If your Wyndham points are a Shell conversion it is (still) the case that it’s an “all or nothing” deal for contracts associated with Hawai’i Preferred or West Coast Preferred: Wyndham won’t take back individual contracts in either of those two “clubs”.

Also, Shell conversion points are not eligible for Ovations or the equivalent.

So much for Shell conversion points being the same as Wyndham points.

We initiated an outright exit on our Preferred West membership. Expectation is eight weeks, start to finish.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We are going to attempt an exit of Shell points after next February, when we will use our last bunch of points for an RCI exchange into Sands of Kahana for February. I used 7,500 points for the exchange (X.31 + $300 exchange fee), so not cheap, but it used the last of our points for 2023.

Our use year is March 1st. Hope to get rid of them by June 1st, but being Wyndham, and how they dislike us as former mega renters of Wyndham points, they could absolutely refuse to take our points back. If I stop paying on our Shell, can they come back on us with our Wyndham accounts, totally separate? I don't know the answer to that.

 

[Catira]

When you decide to use the ovation program.. are the wyndham points that were deposited in rci forfeited ?

 

[TUGBrian]

in almost all cases something you have already deposited into RCI now belongs to RCI.

 

[bnoble]

...except that if you give away all of your Wyndham points, your Wyndham-affiliated RCI account would no longer be accessible. I suspect that any exchanges you had made would be honored. But I also suspect that any points you have deposited but not yet exchanged will be lost to you.

 

[paxsarah]

I suspect that any exchanges you had made would be honored.

The documentation Wyndham provides to Certified Exiters states this. Points, no, but confirmed exchanges are documented to be honored.

 

[Timeshare Von]

With my upcoming (and theoretically last) Wyndham Resort stay under my existing 77k points contract coming up in just a couple of months, I will be starting the Certified Exit process on or around October 1st. I sure hope it goes smoothly!

 

[feliciatd]

Good Info. Thanks. I can provide more info on the situation but not at this time. Will update this post with all details asap. Thanks for your feedback.

Trying to get better info on the certified exit process - we own two fixed weeks converted to points, one puchased many years ago from the developer and one resale, at Williamsburg Kingsgate, and have been told they're not acceptable for certified exit. They are Club Wyndham Select. Does anyone have any info on this resort and its eligibility?

 

[bnoble]

Who told you they were not eligible?

 

[Timeshare Von]

Trying to get better info on the certified exit process - we own two fixed weeks converted to points, one puchased many years ago from the developer and one resale, at Williamsburg Kingsgate, and have been told they're not acceptable for certified exit. They are Club Wyndham Select. Does anyone have any info on this resort and its eligibility?

On at least two "owners updates" they've explained to me that certified exit is only available to the original owners (i.e., not to those acquired via resale market, etc) . . . and that anything "converted" would also be ineligible.

I also believe (but don't know this to be fact) that Wyndham can pick & choose what timeshare properties they are willing to take back. Given Kingsgate is in an over-developed area in terms of timeshares, I can't imagine them wanting it back as there is probably little market for them to resell it themselves.

I had one of the old fixed weeks there, week #18 in a 3BR lock-off unit . . . and loved it for all the time we had it. But fixed weeks aren't for everyone, and eventually its usefulness to our changing travel interests made it expendable. So we disposed of it here on TUG.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest you call Wyndham directly to get firsthand information from them regarding what you own and your options via certified exit. The phone number I have for them is 866-434-9046.

 

[dioxide45]

On at least two "owners updates" they've explained to me that certified exit is only available to the original owners (i.e., not to those acquired via resale market, etc) . . . and that anything "converted" would also be ineligible.

Owners Updates are not a reliable source of information for stuff like this.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Owners Updates are not a reliable source of information for stuff like this.

I understand, but I have also called Wyndham and gotten the information from them first hand as well, to confirm. Even if it was "correct" at the time, things frequently change. It is also why I suggested they contact Wyndham directly and provided them with the phone number.

 

[dioxide45]

I understand, but I have also called Wyndham and gotten the information from them first hand as well, to confirm. Even if it was "correct" at the time, things frequently change. It is also why I suggested they contact Wyndham directly and provided them with the phone number.

As I understand from this post, there are several programs within CE. Resale contracts aren't eligible under Tribute, but they are eligible for an Outright deed back. As noted, information does change over time and it is also possible that people are given incorrect information at any given time.

 

[littlestar]

We are in the process of giving back a resale contract to Wyndham via Outright.

 

[feliciatd]

We are in the process of giving back a resale contract to Wyndham via Outright.

Thank you - that's good to know.

 

[feliciatd]

Who told you they were not eligible?

Someone at Wyndham Cares - it was quite a while ago though. I hear that things can change depending on the time and demand for cerain properties.