BEFORE YOU PURCHASE YOUR FIRST WYNDHAM TIMESHARE OR BUY MORE POINTS FROM WYNDHAM CONSIDER THIS!
(This is long but you’re free to skip near the end.)
My wife and I have been Wyndham Timeshare Owners since before it became Wyndham. Our first purchase was in August 1993 well before the company became Wyndham… it was then known as Fairfield. We started with a single fixed week of time in Williamsburg, VA, over New Year’s break.
We enjoyed plenty of weeks in Williamsburg when our kids were small. For us, it was an easy drive for a fun vacation. But, as our family got older and the kids wanted to explore more things, we purchased more “points”, always through what eventually became Wyndham. We had many great stays with Wyndham, including “big” family stays in places like Flagstaff, Arizona, visits with our daughter in school in Chicago, Alexandria VA to tour in Washington, DC, etc.
As our family grew, these stays got bigger, and yes, better. It was great getting together with our two daughters, their husbands, and eventually their children (our grandkids) now numbering five. We always seemed to be able to book enough space for what we needed to accommodate us. If we needed more space for the next vacation, we seemed to always purchase more points.
Now, before we knew it we had over a million points and had moved up to “Presidential Reserve” level. We thought we were set for life, at least two one week stays for all our families in peak seasons.
Then came COVID and we lost 2020.
Wyndham was making some changes as well. As they became larger, and arguably more successful, they implemented new restrictions.
Some of us had visited Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont several years prior and wanted to return there. We had all visited Myrtle Beach, SC, and we all agreed to return there as well.
2021 was the year.
On 10/24/2020 we made two reservations for two seven day stays in Vermont, one to begin on 6/19/2021 and one to begin on 6/20/2021. Eventually the 6/20/2021 stay was canceled and rebooked to begin on 6/23/2021 for 7 days to accommodate a change in a wedding date.
Both Vermont stays were for 3-bedroom Presidential condos. There was plenty of room for all of us to get together, or for each one to have some “alone time”. These start dates accommodated school years, job complications and wedding changes. All was confirmed, and so far as we knew, set. Cast in stone.
We had begun packing and making final preparations for our trip to Vermont when we got a phone call from Wyndham (actually the Caller ID showed Worldmark, so we didn’t answer the call immediately - we didn’t need to purchase more vacation time, so we let it roll to the phone company answering service). This call came on 6/17. Remember we’re supposed to be in Vermont on 6/19:
Good afternoon Stephanie Graves,
I called you today on (one of three numbers Wyndham has for us) and left a detailed voicemail regarding a change to an upcoming reservation at Smugglers Notch 6/19-6/26 RCO0016272613BR. Your reservation has been changed to a 3 bedroom deluxe and moved to Sycamores C which is still at Smugglers Notch but a different building. The reason for the change is they are experiencing delays in renovations and construction at the resort so multiple units are down for the time being. Please respond to this email with the best phone number and time of day you can be reached and I will do my absolute best to contact you then.
Thank you,
Michael Nunes
Resort Experience Specialist
Owner Care, Wyndham Vacation Clubs
Wyndham Destinations
6277 Sea Harbor Drive
Orlando, Florida 32821
office: 1-800-446-1466 EXT 624557
fax: 407-626-6328
Michael.nunes@wyn.com
When I got this email, I returned the call immediately, with my iPhone number. Alas, Michael was behind an answering machine wall saying that we we would receive a callback. I’m still waiting for the callback — any callback from those guys.
We had been downgraded from a Presidential condo to a deluxe condo. No problem so far.
On June 18 we got another call from a person named Navlyn to inform us that our reservation from June 23d - 30th had been
cancelled, flat out
CANCELLED. Despite repeated calls, we were informed that there was nothing she, or apparently anyone in the Wyndham Corporation could do for us. Nothing. Nada.
Also, no promised callbacks.
The reservation for 6/23 was actually
cancelled by Wyndham on 6/17, just 6 days before it was to begin, and two days before my wife and I were to meet the first party in Vermont. We were to get the two families together on the 23d of June. After several days of very upset calls back and forth with the folks who were to arrive on the 23d, they were able to book another condo at Smugglers’ Notch, a 2-bedroom for $1,800 for the week. But it was through VRBO.COM, not through Wyndham.
Wyndham repeated throughout this incident that there was “Nothing we can do. And if you want to speak with a manager, they will have to call you back” which, of course, never happened.
After my daughter and her husband and two kids (daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren) found their accommodations and were on the way to Vermont, we collared a couple of Wyndham employees at Smugglers’ Notch. One offered that we could extend our stay at the downgraded three bedroom at the “Wyndham wholesale rate”, meaning another $600.
Finally, on June 22 at 5:45 p.m., after our rather heated discussion with the Wyndham Employees at Smugglers’ Notch, we got a call from a Juan Gonzales in “Owner Resolution”. He offered to return our 450,000 points for the Wyndham-cancelled reservation and 150,000 points as the difference between the Presidential condo and the Deluxe condo. (Case CDCR171897821) That is about 8,000 more than the difference - which is not enough to get an extra night’s stay in most resorts.
Anyway, the incident is over, but there is still a bitter taste in my mouth. We don’t ever plan to make another Wyndham purchase, and we won’t be telling anyone else to either. If you are intent on purchasing Wyndham points, I can highly recommend the Timeshare User’s Guide Marketplace. You won’t be treated any worse than if you purchased those points from Wyndham, and they will be one heck of a lot cheaper, but make sure you are well aware of changes Wyndham is making to the treatment of points not purchased directly — IMHO.
By the way these points are listed on our points log as “Goodwill Award”. I fail to see any goodwill in returning our points. The 8,000 extra points won’t even buy us a night of “goodwill”.
NOTES:
- We booked two one-week stays in 3-bedroom Presidential Condos on 10/24/2020, one to start on 6/19/2021 and one to begin on 6/23/2021.
- On 6/17/2021 we were informed that our 3-bedroom Presidential condo had been downgraded to a 3-bedroom Deluxe.
- On 6/18/2021 we found out that the 3-bedroom Presidential condo stay that was to begin on 6/23/2021 had been canceled giving us less than 5 days notice.
- Though we received several phone calls from a “Navlyn”, she was not empowered to do anything for us. Each time she contacted us, she apologized told us the would call us back. She never did.
- Mr. Michael Nunes told us we had been downgraded. I returned his call as he requested, with my iPhone number. He never called back.
- We discussed our situation with two Wyndham Representatives on-site at Smugglers’ Notch.
- We got a phone call within 3 hours after speaking with on-site reps.
