TimeshareGuru

I rescinded my Wyndham purchase (Fairfield at the time) by fax AND certified mail.  They were very straight about it and the fax method was fine.  Can never be too certain though.

While I feel Wyndham has degraded the VIP status, re-sale is not they way for a number of people.  I ended up buying 1.3 million points re-sale but there are two significant VIP benefits I am not eligible for.
- Free room upgrades when booking less than 60 days in advance
- 50% points discount when booking less than 60 days in advance
OK, not many people will use 1 million points/yr, but if you do then if you book most of your trips less than 60 days in advance then buying 1 million points and using them like 2 mil (or more if upgrades are available)effectively means you are paying half the maintence.  Granted, it would take a lot of time for that to pay off, but it does pay off. 

Throw in early checkin and a few other perks and the direct purchase has very specific value.  I’m not going to buy direct for that, but I do think it’s worthwhile.  I’ve bought direct with Diamond in order to get rtesale purchases back into full Club benefits.  That’s proven to be very worthwhile for me.  But I understand a lot of people don’t want to pay the extra money.  It’s OK, just remember there are people who will decide the money is worth it for the added benefits.  But if you don’t know your options, many people are also missing out on the resale market values!

I was reading the forum at Redweek yesterday and ran accross a number of posts complaining about re-sale company scams.  The primary complaint of course is when Sales Departments make assurances they can get your unit sold or rented for prices so lofty, you deserve to lose the money you pay them because you should know better!  PEOPLE, PLEASE.  If I told you I had a buyer for your car willing to not only pay more than you want for it, but more than you paid for it, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER than to pay anything in advance to get it sold.  Why then, do so many people agree to pay (more than once it seems) based on false promises common sense can often discern the truth of?  But I digress …

What is not so easy to avoid is being scammed by your resort or timeshare company.  You’re an owner, your company is there to take care of you, right?  In our world there always comes a time when you must rely on or trust others.  We are supposed to build relationships on trust and trustful interaction.  Timeshare companies often don’t participate in this type of relationship though.  For them the relationship is based on money and profit.  They appear to lose sight of the possibility they can be profitable if they take care of their owners, choosing instead to be profitable at the expense of owners.  Diamond Resort International is a cse in point.  We all know timeshare resale prices are far less than direct purchase prices.  There are many facotrs, including professional sales staff working for the sdevelopers and developer budgets for marketing.  The individual timeshare owner does not have this marketing muscle.  The timeshare resale vultures make it worse, since they charge fees and for the most part do not exert a significant effort to market the resale units.  After all, what incentive do they have once they get the owners’ money?  Owners also act as individuals, people who will lower the price of their units to get them sold which causes buyers to learn they can always wait to get a great deal.  There’s noghting wrong with this, but it hurts all the direct purchase owners tremendously.

Diamond Resorts international (DRI) takes this one step further.  They are happy to sell you a timeshare  for top dollar, then buy it back from you for less than market value.  That’s right.  DRI has a buyback program which is not made known to many people.  In fact, often when owners need to sell their units and they call DRI about buying their units back, DRI will state they have no program to do so.  In fact though, they do.  However, that $20,000 timeshare you bought last year they are happy to buy back for $3,000 (if that)  and they will charge you over $500 in closing fees to boot!

One of my favorite shows is Californication.  Hank Moody is a brilliant but hoplessly lost individual too full of self loathing to get off his ass and make his life better, but women and publishers are happy to make his life quite enjoyable anyway!  At least in material and physical stimulation terms.

Timeshares can be like that.  Too many timeshare owners buy their units after listening to the sales pitch promising happiness and smart financial prowess only to later learn they invested in one of the least promising items in their life.  They don’t understand their ownership, the Timeshare resort/company can be less than helpful, and before they know it the new owner accepts that they have been duped and either  sells their ownership for a fraction of what they paid, or quite often pays their annual maintenance and taxes without even using the unit.  It doesn’t have to be this way! 

I wish to bring to light what can be done to improve your timeshare experience, complain about developers who work to enhance their profits at the expense of their owners, generally bring to light unacceptable practices by developers, timeshare management companies, and those vulchers asking you to pay $300-$1,000 to sell/rent your unit for the Valhalla prices deep down you know aren’t possible but want to believe so badly you actually pay those robbers to do nothing at all for you.

Be smart timeshare owners.  Be brave.  I don’t have all the answers but I want to help.