Trouble using Platinum Benefits [merged]

[travelwyndham]

We checked into the Wyndham Beaver Creek in February and had reservations through July.

The resort said that they would keep us in the same unit for the entire stay but decided they wanted to use our unit for the show room and decided to make us move. The move was difficult because we were prepared for a long stay and they were very upset because it took too long. They said that for the rest of our stay they were going to make us move every week.

They said that the reason they moved us in the first place was because I took advantage of the option to cancel and rebook within 60 days of travel and they said that I was a cheater for getting the rooms at a discount, even though this is the way the platinum ownership was sold to me (because of that benefit). They looked into my account and even "googled me" and found out that I rent some of my points to help cover maintenance and said that I wasn't allowed to have overlapping reservations.

I explained that the reservations weren't overlapping because they had my name, husbands name, sons name and my fathers name (the original owner, who still uses his Wyndham to travel). This obviously upset them because my fathers name was removed from the account a few days later.

I cannot grasp how this is even legal and I need the harassment to stop. I was told that I was allowed to rent out my points and to do a cancel and rebook on a reservation within 60 days of travel and even get a free upgrade as a platinum benefit. How dare they call me a cheat and manipulator and then change my account without my permission.

PS- A lawyer from Wyndham contacted me and wanted the names of all the reps and mangers who told me that it was O.K. and pitched the idea of the Book, Cancel, and Rebook process- Of course I don't remember those names! Any Ideas? We have always been HUGE supporters of Wyndham and now we are being kicked to the curb for knowing how to use it.

Thank you so much for all of your replies (agree or disagree). I have posted the bigger picture because I feel that its time more people heard the story. Something happened yesterday that has left me so upset. So it continues... I really thought that when we checked out of Beaver Creek early (we know when we're not wanted and it was obvious) and headed to Hawaii (where we feel like we are among family at the Beach Walk after staying a full year in 2012) that things would get better, but yesterday somebody from Wyndham Corporate at Missouri (The front desk looked into it) canceled our 1 week stay in a 4 bedroom presidential (with no notes or reason). We didn't have any overlapping reservations- 1 reservation in my name in another unit and then the 4 bd (as a luxury) in my husbands name. It was canceled and the points were forfeited. I called owner care and they tried to tell me that the reservation was cancelled because it was in my daughters name, but I had a picture of the reservation (I am taking notes and pics now) and there's no denying it... I sent the picture to owner care and now I don't know what's going to happen. The front desk is on my side. They described the action as Theft on wyndham's part. I will be updating my posts (hopefully with good news) from here on out. Thank you again to everyone who has commented and given their " 2 cents"

 

[Don40]

Great idea of making copies of all confirmations. Also good idea to call the resorts and confirm they have your reservation before you get on the plane. Since you have a copy of the reservation Wyndham will have to honor the reservation. Hold their feet to the fire, probably Franz going to Hawaii and needed a room and took yours . Just have him move, and pay to stay at the Trum Towers he makes too much money anyway.

Let us know the end results.

 

[jebloomquist]

... First please let me explain my story...

Travelwyndham, your story is down right scary. I too am a Platinum owner and feel that I use the "added features" of the Wyndham system well. Do I dare even to write this response here? Is big brother Wyndham monitoring TUG, eager to pounce on owners such as us?

In the near future I will be using one reservation and have another in my wife's name at the same resort. I have done this for the use of one of my kids, who is also an owner, but is not too reliable. If I put the second reservation in his name, and he cancels within 15 days, I can't ask one of the other kids to take his place; therefore, I put the reservation in my wife's name. In this way, she can check-in regardless of which child shows. (All of the kids are co-owners on the account, so I am not trying to bypass a guest certificate.)

Do I have to worry that Wyndham will see that both my wife and I have a reservation, and then cancel one of them for whatever reason it chooses? Since I do a fair amount of the cancel and rebook within 60 days, must I now begin to worry?

I'll repeat it again, travelwyndham's story is scary.

Jim

 

[am1]

Since you have a copy of the reservation Wyndham will have to honor the reservation.

Not the case at all.

 

[b2bailey]

I am a new (resale) owner of Wyndham. This entire thread is so weird. All this talk about multiple reservations and overlapping reservations not being 'legal' in the Wyndham system is very confusing.

Do I understand correctly that I can't book two simultaneous weeks at the same location? Like if I want to invite my sister and her family to join me and want to get them a room?

Please help me understand. Why would Wyndham care?

 

[tschwa2]

I am a new (resale) owner of Wyndham. This entire thread is so weird. All this talk about multiple reservations and overlapping reservations not being 'legal' in the Wyndham system is very confusing.

Do I understand correctly that I can't book two simultaneous weeks at the same location? Like if I want to invite my sister and her family to join me and want to get them a room?

Please help me understand. Why would Wyndham care?

You can you just can't have two rooms under the same name. If you don't have two owners checking in each under his/her name, you have to purchase a guest certificate.

 

[b2bailey]

So, if I have a large family and there are only studios available -- I can't book two studios in my name to accommodate everyone. I would need a guest certificate for the other half of my family?

 

[am1]

Yes. Wyndham has said this is what we wanted.

 

[ronparise]

Travelwyndham, your story is down right scary. I too am a Platinum owner and feel that I use the "added features" of the Wyndham system well. Do I dare even to write this response here? Is big brother Wyndham monitoring TUG, eager to pounce on owners such as us?

In the near future I will be using one reservation and have another in my wife's name at the same resort. I have done this for the use of one of my kids, who is also an owner, but is not too reliable. If I put the second reservation in his name, and he cancels within 15 days, I can't ask one of the other kids to take his place; therefore, I put the reservation in my wife's name. In this way, she can check-in regardless of which child shows. (All of the kids are co-owners on the account, so I am not trying to bypass a guest certificate.)

Do I have to worry that Wyndham will see that both my wife and I have a reservation, and then cancel one of them for whatever reason it chooses? Since I do a fair amount of the cancel and rebook within 60 days, must I now begin to worry?

I'll repeat it again, travelwyndham's story is scary.

Jim

Jim

you are exactly right...scary. But I gotta think there is more to it than what travelwyndham has posted. Otherwise why havent we been faced with the same issues. I would think Wyndham would want more "full timers" that paid full retail for 2 million points.

 

[travelwyndham]

Watch out for Wyndham! This is from my teenage daughter- Just saying

[Duplicate post; moved from Info sticky thread.]

 

[travelwyndham]

A view of Wyndham through an angry teenager-who is listed as owner on Wyndham account

Hi my name is Aspen and we own over 6 million points. We do extended stays with wyndham, rent our our house and travel the world and maybe you have heard of us because a lot of time share people share our story and sell by our name. Now someone is physically going into our account and cancelling our reservations. They just cancelled our 4 bedroom presidential in Hawaii and took all of our points with it. It's not even the computer, it's a real person in owner care. So we have had problems with you guys for a long time now and are issues are not being resolved. I don't know what you guys plan on doing about our 4 bedroom but we either need it or are points refunded. You guys are stealing from us and if this doesn't stop happening that's fine. I'm sure my parents would be happy to take their timeshare update every two weeks and complain very loudly so everyone else can hear what cheats you have been. I use to love Wyndham, it's like our second home and the staff has always been like family but what is happening is unacceptable and everyone refuses to help. Each day you don't resolve the issue, I am talking to people in the hot tubs why not to buy. I use to tell them all the wonderful reason to buy but I'm telling them everything you guys have done to us. At bonnet creek they destroyed about 400 dollars in luggage with letting ice cream and frozen strawberries sit on our stuff when moving our room, they never refunded us. In beaver creek they lost about 100 dollars of stuff moving us and they never refunded us and now it's people physically going into our account and removing our rooms. I might be only a teenager but I stay in Wyndhams all the times and every day I am asked by at least 4 families how I like it and how they are thinking about buying. I'm just telling them everything you have done to us. Please resolve this issue and I will have nothing to say and if you can't, I will tell my story all over. Wyndhams are beautiful but for having over a 2500 dollar maintenance fee a month, they sure do treat us awful.

 

[Bigrob]

Hi my name is Aspen and we own over 6 million points. We do extended stays with wyndham, rent our our house and travel the world and maybe you have heard of us because a lot of time share people share our story and sell by our name. Now someone is physically going into our account and cancelling our reservations. They just cancelled our 4 bedroom presidential in Hawaii and took all of our points with it. It's not even the computer, it's a real person in owner care. So we have had problems with you guys for a long time now and are issues are not being resolved. I don't know what you guys plan on doing about our 4 bedroom but we either need it or are points refunded. You guys are stealing from us and if this doesn't stop happening that's fine. I'm sure my parents would be happy to take their timeshare update every two weeks and complain very loudly so everyone else can hear what cheats you have been. I use to love Wyndham, it's like our second home and the staff has always been like family but what is happening is unacceptable and everyone refuses to help. Each day you don't resolve the issue, I am talking to people in the hot tubs why not to buy. I use to tell them all the wonderful reason to buy but I'm telling them everything you guys have done to us. At bonnet creek they destroyed about 400 dollars in luggage with letting ice cream and frozen strawberries sit on our stuff when moving our room, they never refunded us. In beaver creek they lost about 100 dollars of stuff moving us and they never refunded us and now it's people physically going into our account and removing our rooms. I might be only a teenager but I stay in Wyndhams all the times and every day I am asked by at least 4 families how I like it and how they are thinking about buying. I'm just telling them everything you have done to us. Please resolve this issue and I will have nothing to say and if you can't, I will tell my story all over. Wyndhams are beautiful but for having over a 4,000 dollar maintenance fee a month, they sure do treat us awful.

I guess I have a couple of questions at this point. Your profile says you own at Bonnet Creek and CWA - I'm aware of those maintenance fees - and at Beaver Creek. Since Beaver Creek just started selling, to own there you would have had to make a very recent developer purchase?

With the huge point values to stay at Beaver Creek, suspect the maintenance fee rates there are lower than at Bonnet Creek and CWA. All of which leads me to the conclusion that your maintenance fee rate should be closer to $5.50/K, rather than the $8/K you say you're spending.

I am becoming more dubious of the veracity of these accounts. As OP has said, the story related has been retold at many presentations... perhaps this is where the story came from, rather than being the OP's own story? I am not sure of the intent of a brand new poster with less than 10 posts suddenly becoming utterly disgusted after utilizing the system so well for apparently so long. It would be interesting to see if a check of the poster's IP does indeed register Hawaii as that is where they indicate they currently are.

Jim, Ron - FWIW, I am going from the assumption that this is no doubt someone with an axe to grind trying to stir things up... but the treatment described doesn't ring true, especially if the OP is being used as an example of how the system can work during sales presentations! If ever anyone would be "protected" from this kind of "prosecution," it would be someone whose story had been made public in sales presentations and who had acquired 2M points directly from Wyndham at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars, no? Any bets on who this poster actually is?

 

[Bigrob]

Jim

you are exactly right...scary. But I gotta think there is more to it than what travelwyndham has posted. Otherwise why havent we been faced with the same issues. I would think Wyndham would want more "full timers" that paid full retail for 2 million points.

Exactly right. This would be considered a dream customer, and as a customer whose story is being retold in sales presentations, exactly the customer that Wyndham executives would be very careful to keep happy at all costs. Something doesn't ring true here.

 

[tschwa2]

In the deleted advertising post was indication of the ebay seller info (mcgab12345). Indeed that very same 4 br Hawaiian presidential was up for auction ending today. My guess was that they keep multiple units in various family members names and then check the guest in without a guest cert while in residence but that is just a guess maybe not even a very good one. Very positive ebay feedback but only 106 so another guess is the raiment renting is fairly recent as there was over 40 auctions ending in last 3 weeks and another 34 currently running including a bunch of obviously RCI DVC exchanges.

Hope it works out for them. Be careful what you post it can work against you as well.

 

[Bigrob]

In the deleted advertising post was indication of the ebay seller info (mcgab12345). Indeed that very same 4 br Hawaiian presidential was up for auction ending today. My guess was that they keep multiple units in various family members names and then check the guest in without a guest cert while in residence but that is just a guess maybe not even a very good one. Very positive ebay feedback but only 106 so another guess is the raiment renting is fairly recent as there was over 40 auctions ending in last 3 weeks and another 34 currently running including a bunch of obviously RCI DVC exchanges.

Hope it works out for them. Be careful what you post it can work against you as well.

I didn't see the deleted advertising post.

 

[CO skier]

Any bets on who this poster actually is?

I would put my money on "someone with some serious psychological issues" that they are foisting on the 5 kids (if they exist).

 

[travelwyndham]

Wow- interesting feedback

I can assure you that I am the person who's story has been told- I am new to this site and so on my profile I put places I recently stayed- not necessarily owned (I realized that it needed to be fixed today). My maintenance is about $5.00 per 1000 points and we own more than 6 million points. I own Shearwater (converted), Bali Hai, Waikiki Beach Walk, and then we own some re sales. We only have 4 names on our account and 2 of them "don't count" they are my kids under 21 years of age. So any reservation I used to make with their names were always canceled and forfeited (I found out why after losing hundreds of thousands of points). My father used to be on my account (as the original owner), but Wyndham removed his name when my problems started in March.

Your right, I used to LOVE this company. We are traveling the world and are so blessed! Then We had some minor issues and got on someone's bad side and Wyndham retaliated by assigning agents to my account to "help" me... Since then the reservations under my older kids starting getting canceled (with no robot calls for warning), my fathers name was removed from account, and then now our 4 bedroom was canceled here at Beach Walk. I had a picture of the reservation and a Wyndham owner specialist admitted that it shouldn't have been canceled, but as of now... Nothing has been done about it. They took the room and the points and they are "looking into it".

As for the other comment about having psychological issues because I have 5 kids- Shame on You.
As for the rentals on EBay- that's right... I have very positive reviews and I'm very proud of my ability to send families on amazing affordable vacations. I don't have a ton of rentals- just enough to help me cover my maintanence fees and put a little toward the loans outstanding with Wyndham. There's nothing wrong with being educated enough to work the system the way I was taught when going platinum and extending my knowledge on to others for their benefit.

I will continue to be outraged at Wyndham until they start treating us with the respect that we deserve as owners and guests. I started posting here to warn others that Wyndham has the ability to access their accounts, cancel any/all of their reservations for whatever reason they may see fit without warning, and alter owners accounts. I am also upset because I have stood by for a long time listening as sales reps talked about my "wonderful" story and sold product using this story, and then Wyndham went behind the scenes and did all they did to try and make us so miserable that we would stop using the product all together and even try to entice us to "sell it back to them"- I really did get an offer from someone at corporate to sell it back to them, without asking to.

All we want is for Wyndham to leave our account alone. If a reservation has an overlapping reservation then it's my bad- the computer will most likely cancel it on me. However, I don't think it's right to have agents "watching my account" and canceling what they decide to cancel.

 

[Jason245]

If you have that much money and these many issues and have documentation of them violating the contract for the services they provided, why haven't you sued for breach of contract yet?

 

[travelwyndham]

Exactly right. This would be considered a dream customer, and as a customer whose story is being retold in sales presentations, exactly the customer that Wyndham executives would be very careful to keep happy at all costs. Something doesn't ring true here.

Yes, I was a dream customer when I was buying all the points. Now that I really know how to use it, I'm not liked so much. Sure, it's a great story for the sales reps to tell- our story sells packages! However, these clients have no idea what Wyndham is doing to us behind closed doors- that's why I'm here. I can guarantee you that when they stop playing dirty- I'll go back to standing in the shadows and listening quietly. However, I won't lie if someone asks me about what we've experienced- some absolutely amazing and some downright evil experiences with this company. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. I have nothing to hide. I know the system well and we have had a reservation at a Wyndham resort (of our own- not for a rental) everyday since December of 2011 at various resorts and various cities. As a matter of fact- we are booked in Australia and New Zealand from Sept 2015 to Jan 2016. Funny enough- as I write this my husband is cautioning me because Wyndham (maybe you have ties even?) are going to go into our account now and cancel all our upcoming Australia plans... We really are watching over shoulders now! However, we have to stop "hiding" in the corner afraid that they will do something like this- because they already are. What do I have left to lose at this point? If you or anyone on this site is "Wyndham" please just tell them to leave us alone and the cat fight will stop. We don't want this- life is too short.

 

[travelwyndham]

If you have that much money and these many issues and have documentation of them violating the contract for the services they provided, why haven't you sued for breach of contract yet?

All our money is with Wyndham now. It may seem super cool (kinda is), but truth is we have to stay in Wyndhams until the loan is paid off- can't afford to go home now. LOL
Besides- it's not that easy to find a lawyer to help you with a timeshare fraud... Ok, maybe I tried to make a few phone calls....

 

[Jason245]

Not easy? It isn't hard to find a competent attorney especially if you have documented evidence of breach of contract. .

 

[scootr5]

As for the rentals on EBay- that's right... I have very positive reviews and I'm very proud of my ability to send families on amazing affordable vacations. I don't have a ton of rentals- just enough to help me cover my maintanence fees and put a little toward the loans outstanding with Wyndham. There's nothing wrong with being educated enough to work the system the way I was taught when going platinum and extending my knowledge on to others for their benefit.

There is something wrong when you're renting RCI exchanges though - that's against their rules and can get your account locked and the exchanges cancelled, leaving those families with no place to stay.

 

[Bigrob]

Yes, I was a dream customer when I was buying all the points. Now that I really know how to use it, I'm not liked so much. Sure, it's a great story for the sales reps to tell- our story sells packages! However, these clients have no idea what Wyndham is doing to us behind closed doors- that's why I'm here. I can guarantee you that when they stop playing dirty- I'll go back to standing in the shadows and listening quietly. However, I won't lie if someone asks me about what we've experienced- some absolutely amazing and some downright evil experiences with this company. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. I have nothing to hide. I know the system well and we have had a reservation at a Wyndham resort (of our own- not for a rental) everyday since December of 2011 at various resorts and various cities. As a matter of fact- we are booked in Australia and New Zealand from Sept 2015 to Jan 2016. Funny enough- as I write this my husband is cautioning me because Wyndham (maybe you have ties even?) are going to go into our account now and cancel all our upcoming Australia plans... We really are watching over shoulders now! However, we have to stop "hiding" in the corner afraid that they will do something like this- because they already are. What do I have left to lose at this point? If you or anyone on this site is "Wyndham" please just tell them to leave us alone and the cat fight will stop. We don't want this- life is too short.

I'm still wondering about the $4000/month in maintenance fees for 6M points... with Shearwater converted, Bali Hai, and Waikiki Beach Walk, your maintenance fees should be even lower than the $5.50 I estimated. $5/K annually would be $30K annually or $2500/month, not $4000/month.

I don't work for Wyndham, but suspected you might... or that you might attract attention from Wyndham with this thread.

Are you compensated in any way for the use of your story during presentations? Are there any images of you or your family used in the presentation?

I think I asked in the other thread about how they "removed" your father from the account. Without meaning to sound crass, if he is still living and on any of the deeds as an owner, they cannot remove him.

Regarding having someone under 21 on the reservation; I have had this situation occur, where a guest did not disclose they were under 21. They were unable to check in and had to have a parent drive 2.5 hours to check them in (and of course an additional guest confirmation was required). But the reservation was not canceled (in this case, of course, neither Wyndham nor I knew the name I had was not eligible to check in).

This does bring up an interesting question though. My understanding is that only reservations that are inside of 15 days can be cancelled. Have you had reservations cancelled beyond this window?

Do you have multiple accounts? If so, are reservations from the different accounts that coincide also getting cancelled?

 

[ronparise]

Then We had some minor issues and got on someone's bad side

And there it is

as I guessed; there is more to the story than posted. I wonder what it is



So help us out. travelwyndham, Here on TUG we dont just post problems, we try to help out others by posting the whole story. Let us know what these "minor" issues were, and what you think you might have done, to get on someones bad side. I ask so you can help others here to avoid the same mistake(s)

You need to understand that most folks here (Ill call them regular owners) dont care about your problems and may even be happy that Wyndham is making live miserable for a "mega renter" like yourself. These are the guys that own this stuff for a nice vacation every once in a while and resent it when they have to share a hot tub with a non owner that rented their unit for less than mf

And even the other mega renters dont much care. I know I take the attitude, "better him than me." As long as Wyndham is distracted dealing with you , maybe they will leave me alone.

You gotta know however, that those of us of any size, that have been doing this for a while dont believe anything that you have posted because what you say is happening to you is completely foreign to our experience. (at least I dont believe you, and wont until you come clean with the whole story.)

And you dont want to piss us off either. We (the big guys here) have established contacts within the company and outside of the company that we might be able to use to help you out, If you want help.... Frankly all I think you want is to bitch and I dont know why

 

[Bigrob]

And there it is

as I guessed; there is more to the story than posted. I wonder what it is

My money is on tschwa2's theory... checking people in while staying on site to avoid guest confirmation fees. But even that would not, I don't think, get the kind of special attention being referred to here, so perhaps there is more to it?

Also, I agree with Ron on his other point; there are VERY few people who care about the interests of mega-renters. The vast majority of owners just want to be able to book a vacation using their points, and Wyndham is more focused - by a longshot - on keeping that much larger group of folks happy than a small subset who purposely own excess points for the purpose of running a rental business. While I am sympathetic to some of the issues you've raised (we'll have a better perspective once the full story is shared), you have to realize that you're still ahead of where you might be should Wyndham again make revisions to the VIP benefits or cancellation rules. I'll be very interested in the follow-up regarding the 4BR Presidential cancellation.

You also mentioned you are still paying on the loan(s). That is obviously a concern, as rumored changes may make how you're paying for it become much more difficult.