Karma1958
TUG Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2017
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 3
- Resorts Owned
- Wyndham Avon
I am a 15-year Wyndham owner and am very happy with the hospitability side of the company – the resorts are very nice and the resort personnel are professional, helpful, and friendly. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the sales side of the company. I want to identify recent two problems I had with Wyndham sales so that others can avoid the same problems.
This warning applies specifically to current owners adding points to their ownership. As part of the discussion at Bonnet Creek to purchase additional points we were given an ‘owner worksheet’. The “Total Points” section of that worksheet identified “Today’s Price / 1000 Pts”. My assumption was that the price identified in this section of the document (and sated repeatedly by the salesperson) identified the price we would pay that day per 1,000 points – in my case that would have been $169.00 per 1,000 points. It wasn’t. What that section of the worksheet actually shows is the simple average of our equity divided by the number of points we own – the sales person referred to this as the “blended” rate. Since we have bought points in increments over the past 15 years, the “blended” rate shown as “Today’s Price” is significantly less than the current actual price per 1,000 points. If you are an owner considering adding additional points to your ownership and are presented with an “owner worksheet” identifying “Today’s Price” information, or if the salesperson verbally identifies that information, before you sign the contract pull out your calculator and verify what your actual price per 1,000 points is. It’s easy: take the Net Purchase price minus the processing fee divided by the number of points you are purchasing. In my case, that was $29,749.00 minus $349.00 divided by 145,000 points. The actual price per 1,000 points we paid was $202.75, not the $169.00 identified verbally by the salesperson and in writing on the “owner worksheet”. The difference between what we paid for the 145,000 points and what we assumed we were paying based on the “Today’s Price” of $169.00 was $4,849.00. So it is worth your time and effort to pull out the calculator and verify exactly how much you are paying per 1,000 points before you agree to the sale. And don’t let the salesperson convince you there is no reason to verify the price per 1,000 points. There is.
This second warning applies to anyone purchasing at Wyndham. When purchasing the 145,000 points discussed above the salesperson at Bonnet Creek verbally assured us that if we purchased additional points within 1 year using our equity that the “price per point will remain the same”. The salesperson stated this repeatedly throughout the sales pitch. More importantly the salesperson, in response to follow-up emailed question from me, reiterated that assurance in an email. We did purchase additional points within the 1-year timeframe using our equity, but of course the “price per point” did not “remain the same”. So the lesson learned here is that Wyndham did not stand behind or honor promises made verbally and in writing from their sales personnel.
I tried to resolve both of these issues first with the resort personnel involved, from whom I received no substantive response for one month. Next I submitted both issues with all supporting documentation to the Owner Care department. Owner Care did not addressed the first issue re failure to use the “Today’s Price” issue on the owner worksheet. Owner Care did addressed the second issue (salesperson written assurance regarding price) saying that “the promotional price is not the price that is guaranteed”, even though that is exactly what the Bonnet Creek salesperson said and put in writing. Really?
I have also sent both issues to Wyndham senior leadership. No response, but I didn’t expect any.
This warning applies specifically to current owners adding points to their ownership. As part of the discussion at Bonnet Creek to purchase additional points we were given an ‘owner worksheet’. The “Total Points” section of that worksheet identified “Today’s Price / 1000 Pts”. My assumption was that the price identified in this section of the document (and sated repeatedly by the salesperson) identified the price we would pay that day per 1,000 points – in my case that would have been $169.00 per 1,000 points. It wasn’t. What that section of the worksheet actually shows is the simple average of our equity divided by the number of points we own – the sales person referred to this as the “blended” rate. Since we have bought points in increments over the past 15 years, the “blended” rate shown as “Today’s Price” is significantly less than the current actual price per 1,000 points. If you are an owner considering adding additional points to your ownership and are presented with an “owner worksheet” identifying “Today’s Price” information, or if the salesperson verbally identifies that information, before you sign the contract pull out your calculator and verify what your actual price per 1,000 points is. It’s easy: take the Net Purchase price minus the processing fee divided by the number of points you are purchasing. In my case, that was $29,749.00 minus $349.00 divided by 145,000 points. The actual price per 1,000 points we paid was $202.75, not the $169.00 identified verbally by the salesperson and in writing on the “owner worksheet”. The difference between what we paid for the 145,000 points and what we assumed we were paying based on the “Today’s Price” of $169.00 was $4,849.00. So it is worth your time and effort to pull out the calculator and verify exactly how much you are paying per 1,000 points before you agree to the sale. And don’t let the salesperson convince you there is no reason to verify the price per 1,000 points. There is.
This second warning applies to anyone purchasing at Wyndham. When purchasing the 145,000 points discussed above the salesperson at Bonnet Creek verbally assured us that if we purchased additional points within 1 year using our equity that the “price per point will remain the same”. The salesperson stated this repeatedly throughout the sales pitch. More importantly the salesperson, in response to follow-up emailed question from me, reiterated that assurance in an email. We did purchase additional points within the 1-year timeframe using our equity, but of course the “price per point” did not “remain the same”. So the lesson learned here is that Wyndham did not stand behind or honor promises made verbally and in writing from their sales personnel.
I tried to resolve both of these issues first with the resort personnel involved, from whom I received no substantive response for one month. Next I submitted both issues with all supporting documentation to the Owner Care department. Owner Care did not addressed the first issue re failure to use the “Today’s Price” issue on the owner worksheet. Owner Care did addressed the second issue (salesperson written assurance regarding price) saying that “the promotional price is not the price that is guaranteed”, even though that is exactly what the Bonnet Creek salesperson said and put in writing. Really?
I have also sent both issues to Wyndham senior leadership. No response, but I didn’t expect any.
