Welk resale vs buying from developer

[CindyinSD]

We currently own 540,000 Welk points that we purchased on ebay. We were recently staying in Lake Tahoe and went to an owners presentation (i.e. sales pitch)
we were told that Welk is going to be changing how they handle resale customers. They said we would soon only be able to use the points where the original owner purchased them, which for us was Escondido, Ca

We were also told that if we bought some upgrade points, then all of our points would show up in their system as if we had bought all of our points directly from the developer.
He also said that if we had "resell points" we would be given 2nd priority when booking stays.
However, so far we have had no trouble booking. This year we have stayed in a 2 br in Carlsbad, a 3 bedroom in Lake Tahoe and a 4 bedroom in Kauai with no issues. We have reservations for a 2 bedroom lock off in Cabo this coming January.

They offered to sell us 90,000 points for $15,000 (we paid $6000 for the 540,000 we have)
we agreed to buy them, but a few days later rescinded. Of course we were told if we didn't buy them right then, we would not have another chance.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? any information you can provide would be much appreciated.

 

[geist1223]

Were the Sales person's lips moving? A sales person will make up anything to try and sell you more Points.

 

[mjm1]

We currently own 540,000 Welk points that we purchased on ebay. We were recently staying in Lake Tahoe and went to an owners presentation (i.e. sales pitch)
we were told that Welk is going to be changing how they handle resale customers. They said we would soon only be able to use the points where the original owner purchased them, which for us was Escondido, Ca

We were also told that if we bought some upgrade points, then all of our points would show up in their system as if we had bought all of our points directly from the developer.
He also said that if we had "resell points" we would be given 2nd priority when booking stays.
However, so far we have had no trouble booking. This year we have stayed in a 2 br in Carlsbad, a 3 bedroom in Lake Tahoe and a 4 bedroom in Kauai with no issues. We have reservations for a 2 bedroom lock off in Cabo this coming January.

They offered to sell us 90,000 points for $15,000 (we paid $6000 for the 540,000 we have)
we agreed to buy them, but a few days later rescinded. Of course we were told if we didn't buy them right then, we would not have another chance.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? any information you can provide would be much appreciated.

Congratulations on NOT believing the sales people.

We are former Welk owners. The only benefits you don't have as a resale owner are receiving a discount if you want to rent additional nights from them. However, note that if you buy additional resale points they will be in a separate contract and can't be combined for making a reservation. Also, your maintenance fees will effectively be higher because each contract includes a base fee (I think around $600) plus an amount based on the number of points you own in that contract. So, you would be paying the higher base fee more than once.

If Welk does change their system related to resale owners, I suspect they would grandfather owners who own as of the date of the new policy. But, no one really knows.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[LannyPC]

Of course we were told if we didn't buy them right then, we would not have another chance.

Isn't that what sales people always say?

 

[CindyinSD]

Congratulations on NOT believing the sales people.

We are former Welk owners. The only benefits you don't have as a resale owner are receiving a discount if you want to rent additional nights from them. However, note that if you buy additional resale points they will be in a separate contract and can't be combined for making a reservation. Also, your maintenance fees will effectively be higher because each contract includes a base fee (I think around $600) plus an amount based on the number of points you own in that contract. So, you would be paying the higher base fee more than once.

If Welk does change their system related to resale owners, I suspect they would grandfather owners who own as of the date of the new policy. But, no one really knows.

Best regards.

Mike

well actually they gave us a new certificate of title showing a total of 630,000 points along with a new contract. with 540k the monthly maintenance was $2500 a year, with the additional 90,000 the maintenance fee would $2800,so only went up $300.

 

[Rtravels65]

It seems that mostly of the posts I have read on TUG are pretty against purchasing from the developer at any cost. However, what you're proposing is exactly what I am planning on doing with Welk. Buying resale and then purchasing the 90k point package from the developer as long as they will combine all points. The main benefit for doing so would be that advance reservation window to get the weeks/dates that I want. I would try and negotiate them down under $0.10 per point but I don't see anything wrong with this strategy and getting all of the additional benefits to having "developer" points. (FWIW I haven't purchased from Welk or Welk resale at this point, but am thankful for a lot of great information on this site)

 

[CindyinSD]

It seems that mostly of the posts I have read on TUG are pretty against purchasing from the developer at any cost. However, what you're proposing is exactly what I am planning on doing with Welk. Buying resale and then purchasing the 90k point package from the developer as long as they will combine all points. The main benefit for doing so would be that advance reservation window to get the weeks/dates that I want. I would try and negotiate them down under $0.10 per point but I don't see anything wrong with this strategy and getting all of the additional benefits to having "developer" points. (FWIW I haven't purchased from Welk or Welk resale at this point, but am thankful for a lot of great information on this site)

They also offered 60,0000 for $10,000
Seems like a good strategy to get the lowest number of points to make them all “welk official”. When we go to Cabo I may to see if I can negotiate something better

 

[AJCts411]

So just to clarify the sales weasel says that if you buy from us (Welk) retail, full pop, your "valuable" points are useless, a complete waste of your money, when you want out of your maintenance fees, do not wish to be involved with timeshares any longer. Wonder if they dare put that in writing?

 

[Rtravels65]

So just to clarify the sales weasel says that if you buy from us (Welk) retail, full pop, your "valuable" points are useless, a complete waste of your money, when you want out of your maintenance fees, do not wish to be involved with timeshares any longer. Wonder if they dare put that in writing?

@AJCts411 I'm not sure I follow. What @CindyinSD and I are exploring is the ability to buy lower cost resale points and combine them with a developer package that would give all of the points owned the benefits that come with developer points. You pose a good question though and I dont know at this point if they will put it in writing. I attended the Welk webinar last week but couldn't stay until the question period to ask.

 

[mjm1]

well actually they gave us a new certificate of title showing a total of 630,000 points along with a new contract. with 540k the monthly maintenance was $2500 a year, with the additional 90,000 the maintenance fee would $2800,so only went up $300.

I understand what you are saying. I was trying illustrate what would happen to your maintenance fees if you decide to buy more resale points rather than developer points.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[CindyinSD]

So just to clarify the sales weasel says that if you buy from us (Welk) retail, full pop, your "valuable" points are useless, a complete waste of your money, when you want out of your maintenance fees, do not wish to be involved with timeshares any longer. Wonder if they dare put that in writing?

What he was saying is if we would buy additional points directly from Welk those points would be combined with our existing points, and from then on all of our points (resale + from the developer) would show up on their records as if I had purchased ALL of my points directly from Welk. our maintenance fees would change from $2500 a year to $2814 a year.

we signed a document where we released our 540,000 points to Welk and then a new contract was created with all 630k points. We were also issued a new certificate of title showing the total points of 630,000 points

The key is to discover the minimum number of points I can buy to do this at the lowest cost. We were offered to options: 60,000 points for $10,000 or 90,000 points for $15,000
we rescinded the contract, and our now back with just our 540k resale points.

 

[nuwermj]

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? any information you can provide would be much appreciated.

The Public Offering Statement for the points system is on Welk's home page. Every points owner has use-rights to the inventory documented in this statement. That includes the so-called "Experiences Collection" too, the only exclusion is the Disney locations.

https://welkresorts.com/terms/public-report.pdf

 

[Shankilicious]

It seems that recently I have heard from other owners that the sales people are offering to combine packages/accounts if your second account is retail.
I was told by a reliable source that this will work as long as they put the same account number or member ID# on both accounts.
No guarantee that you'll get the tiered benefits though and Welk has the ability to change how they allow resale points to be used. They wouldn't be able to limit you to a single resort in a points based system though I wouldn't think.
Welk is changing the tiered benefits levels though in January I believe. Making the pinnacle (highest level) require more points.

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[AJCts411]

What he was saying is if we would buy additional points directly from Welk those points would be combined with our existing points, and from then on all of our points (resale + from the developer) would show up on their records as if I had purchased ALL of my points directly from Welk. our maintenance fees would change from $2500 a year to $2814 a year....we rescinded the contract, and our now back with just our 540k resale points.

...............

So to clarify...I was saying, in my way, the same thing that he sales weasel was saying.

"we were told that Welk is going to be changing how they handle resale customers. They said we would soon only be able to use the points where the original owner purchased them, which for us was Escondido, Ca and ..." He also said that if we had "resell points" we would be given 2nd priority when booking stays." that added to the fact that developers do everything they can to impede resales, my point is that if sales weasels told you the facts, your stuck with us for ever...no one would buy into the scheme.

 

[Shankilicious]

...............

So to clarify...I was saying, in my way, the same thing that he sales weasel was saying.

"we were told that Welk is going to be changing how they handle resale customers. They said we would soon only be able to use the points where the original owner purchased them, which for us was Escondido, Ca and ..." He also said that if we had "resell points" we would be given 2nd priority when booking stays." that added to the fact that developers do everything they can to impede resales, my point is that if sales weasels told you the facts, your stuck with us for ever...no one would buy into the scheme.

I wouldn't believe anything the sales guy says about restricting resale points. The only limitation is the tiered benefits and you can't book Disney through Welk. But booking through RCI is cheaper anyway.
However, Welk does state in the owner rules and regulations that it reserves the right to change the rules on points whenever they choose.
Those same rules have recently addressed people who own from outside Welk getting a "personal interval choice account which gives the owner of a deeded fixed week points in the program".
So some changes are coming January 1 for sure.

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[BJRSanDiego]

We currently own 540,000 Welk points that we purchased on ebay. ...we were told that we would soon only be able to use the points where the original owner purchased them, which for us was Escondido, Ca

...so far we have had no trouble booking. This year we have stayed in a 2 br in Carlsbad, a 3 bedroom in Lake Tahoe and a 4 bedroom in Kauai with no issues. We have reservations for a 2 bedroom lock off in Cabo this coming January.
.
Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? any information you can provide would be much appreciated.

You mention staying in Carlsbad (there isn't a Welk resort there so it must have been an RCI or II exchange), Lake Tahoe (I presume that you mean Truckee - - close to Tahoe) and Cabo (presume Serenas Welk?).

I don't think that the Salesman was telling the truth. I have been told similar things about my Marriott timeshares that if I don't get points, I won't be able to reserve anything of worth.

A common sales technique is to employ F.U.D. That is, fear, uncertainty and doubt.

It doesn't make a lot of sense that Welk would not allow an owner at one location to be able to easily exchange between Welk resorts. If they did that, it would make it more difficult for a developer-purchased points package owner to get into inventory purchased on the resale market. So, they would be making it harder for their new developer points owners (as well as resale owners). Everybody would be a bit upset.

You are doing the right thing - - that is, asking if anyone else has evidence that this is true.

 

[Shankilicious]

You mention staying in Carlsbad (there isn't a Welk resort there so it must have been an RCI or II exchange), Lake Tahoe (I presume that you mean Truckee - - close to Tahoe) and Cabo (presume Serenas Welk?).

I don't think that the Salesman was telling the truth. I have been told similar things about my Marriott timeshares that if I don't get points, I won't be able to reserve anything of worth.

A common sales technique is to employ F.U.D. That is, fear, uncertainty and doubt.

It doesn't make a lot of sense that Welk would not allow an owner at one location to be able to easily exchange between Welk resorts. If they did that, it would make it more difficult for a developer-purchased points package owner to get into inventory purchased on the resale market. So, they would be making it harder for their new developer points owners (as well as resale owners). Everybody would be a bit upset.

You are doing the right thing - - that is, asking if anyone else has evidence that this is true.

Welk has a collection of 14 affiliate resorts that includes Carlsbad and Kuai that owners can book using our points.

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[BJRSanDiego]

Welk has a collection of 14 affiliate resorts that includes Carlsbad and Kuai that owners can book using our points.

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Thanks I did not know about the affiliate resorts.

 

[Guitarmom]

I can verify that there is value in what the Welk sales rep told you. Our situation was similar to yours, and we're really happy to have upgraded.

We had three separate resale cotracts: a fixed week 2-bedroom (Thanksgiving week) in the original Resort Villas, a two-bedroom lock-off in Villas on the Green, and 240,000 Platinum Points. These contrats combined were the equivalent of 780,000 points, albeit less flexible. Welk offered to combine those resale contracts all into a single Platinum Points contract of 780,000 points WITH Platinum Select benefits for under $10,000. Doing so lowered our annual maintenance fees enough that we'll break even in under a decade. We love the flexibility of being Platinum Select owners. In fact, if I play my cards right, we can stay at Welk eight weeks per year.

So, for once, I feel like a Welk sales rep told the truth and we got a good deal.

You also ask if they're going to start restricting resale points. This part doesn't really ring true to me. As long-time resale owners, we were never treated any differently from developer point owners. I eventually decided that once you're an owner, they can't tell who's who. But this is only a guess on my part. And I do admit that we are treated a little better as Platinum Select owners. We have more availability, we get some weeks at a discount, and they deliver insanely delicious chocolate covered Oreos every time we stay. Are these things worth $15,000 and increased MFs for your family?

 

[bobinmich]

the LIES salespeople tell to get you to BUY from them and the developer! Shameful.