Conflict of interest: Wyndham/RCI?

ken1193 wrote:

michaelc741 wrote:

I'll be asking our state attorney general's office to look into the high-pressure techniques Wyndham appears to be using.

Lying (and /or exaggerating or misrepresenting) salespeople are a fact of life at the developer level in the timeshare world. Wyndham is certainly no better or worse than many others in terms of their lying developer sales weasels. It has been so for decades now --- and it will likely always be so.

The bottom line (to any AG or any other legal entity) regarding any developer sales presentation is that if the salesperson verbal claims are not also clearly and specifically reflected within the associated contract, then those verbal claims and representations mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING --- it's just "noise in the air".

We just stayed at our time share at the Shearwater in Kauai for a week. We LOVE it, but cannot go every year, and have traded the points with RCI. RCI memberships cannot lapse. Dues have to be paid every year. It costs to bank your points. It costs to search and book a reservation. Yet it appears that the availability of properties has been absorbed by Wyndham Club, and now we are just ending up getting the left-overs in properties and times. Can only book for certain time segments, can't book too far out, points are only good for so long, the website is unfriendly and unprofessional, but phoning is even worse; waits are very long, and results are minimal. I'm pretty sure that when I bought my timeshare we could use our points to book cruises, airlines, rental cars, etc. Now we have to buy into Club Wyndham for $8K - $17K to receive these benefits, and they "throw dirt" on RCI, as the salesman for Club Wyndham termed his technique for selling the new "points" system. If we wait for another few years, the Club Wyndham points wouldn't be worth anything either.

Were you previously Pahio owners?

Yes. We bought at Pahio Shearwater in 2001.

We are the owners of a Gold Crown two-bedroom resort in Branson, MO, and have enjoyed our trades in Europe and the British Isles. I deposited our 2014 week in order to go to England next summer and found out that everything is done by points, not weeks, and they require more points than we have at the present time. I am having a hard time getting a one-bedroom Gold Crown resort. The two-bedroom all require 205,000 points. I looked at rental for the same resorts, and it is $120 a night. This doesn't make sense that Wyndham requires so many points now.

All of this sounds exactly like what my husband and I experienced last week when we stayed at Wyndham's Kingsgate resort. We have been with RCI since 1995, and we are very happy with our "home" resort (Summer Bay in Clermont, FL). We have never had a problem with exchanges through RCI. I asked at the desk about discounted tickets to Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg, knowing full well that we'd have to suffer through another 'presentation', but the gal at the desk said it would only take an hour, and it was only to help us 'understand how to use our points more effectively'. I really should have known better.

It was the same song and dance, with a twist: if we threw in with Wyndham, we'd have access to all the fabulous Wyndham properties. Otherwise we'll be stuck with no guarantees when it came to exchanges in crappy little RCI. An offer we couldn't refuse!! When the sales guy started tossing numbers out, my husband (who can run numbers in his head better than anyone I know) started catching the guys mistakes/bullshit. I've never seen such double-talk! When it was clear we weren't biting, they send over a stilletto-heeled bleached blonde to make sure we understood what we were turning up. When we mentioned that we had just purchased a piece of construction equipment (and the corresponding monthly payment), and that we were not in a position to take on any more, she looked at us with incredulity and said "Is a piece of equipment really more important than your FAMILY?!?" I wanted to reach across the table and smack her. I simply said, "you know what? you don't know a damn thing about it." That cemented it for me. I will never request discounted tickets, and I refuse to attend any more of these "helpful informational meetings".

Kudos to you .... I got a kick out of the stilletto-heeled bleached blonde .... actually LOL = laughed out loud.

How come I never got a stilletto-heeled bleached blonde at my presentation ?? I got cheated !! :)

Wyndham DOES NOT own RCI. It is a lie that their sales reps often tell. Wyndham and RCI are owned by Cendant Corp that owns MANY corporations.

jamess524 wrote:

Until I stayed at a wyndham resort over the weekend, I didn't know that they owned RCI. My experience, though, makes me wonder if there is some kind of illegal conflict of interest in the relationship.

After cheking in at the Kingsgate reort near Williamsburg, VA this weeknd, we accpeted $75 in gift cards to attend a 21-question "Wyndham evaluation." I knew enough to expect that the “evaluation” was going to be more than 21 questions, but what actually happened really turned me off to Wyndham. For a half hour or so, we chatted with the sales rep about our current property and how we use it, building up to his pitch on Wyndham’s point system. Then he said “I’m going to pull up you RCI account to see if it’s configured correctly.” I told him I was not comfortable with that and he replied “Since Wyndham now owns RCI, I can do it whether you give me permission or not.” That, to me, is totally unfair (information is power in negotiation), so I called an end to the meeting and walked out. My wife stayed behind long enough to find out that we needed to do an evaluation of the session to avoid being charged for the cards we received. We did, and when the second rep doing the evaluation asked, I told him why I was unhappy and that it made me wary of doing any business with Wyndham. He then replied “Since Wyndham now owns RCI and the most properties in the business, you don’t have much choice.” Maybe that kind of arrogance works for some customers (maybe it’s how they get people to pay full price for properties that can be had a resale for a fraction of their price), but it was a total turn-off to me.

when u sign into rci in tiny little letters before the rci logo comes on it specifically says wyndham worldwide corporation. I actually had a problem with an agent at rci and needed to speak to a supervisor. supervisor told me tht wyndham does in fact own rci. That being said I can honestly say that I have never had a problem getting a trade with rci. I own pahio Bali hai in Kauai . wyndham did try to get us to buy into their program a few years ago told us our points would be worth nothing if we didn't told them to,take a hike. Then I called the president of the pahio homeowners association and reported them. I have traded into disney vacation club numerous times hgvc many times we book early and never have any problems.

jackiep123 wrote:

Wyndham DOES NOT own RCI. It is a lie that their sales reps often tell. Wyndham and RCI are owned by Cendant Corp that owns MANY corporations.

Sorry, but you are entirely mistaken. Wyndham does indeed own RCI --- lock, stock & barrel and 100%. As a relevant aside, RCI separately bought out a few other travel related entiries (specifically, Leisure Link and Snap Travel) a few years ago now.

Wyndham sales people are notoriously aggressive and deceitful liars, but any of them who mention this particular irrefutable fact that Wyndham owns RCI are actually speaking the truth (...maybe the ONLY truth to come out of their mouths, but the truth nonetheless).

It has been many years since Cendant was in this picture AT ALL. Clearly, there have been corporate changes in the past decade of which you are apparently (and understandably) completely unaware.

That said, although Wyndham owns RCI outright, there is certainly no obvious or apparent "collusion" between the two. In fact, it sometimes seems as though there is little working connection or relationship between them. Wyndham also has its' own internal "points" system, one which is completely and entirely unrelated in ANY way to the "currency" of RCI's "points" system. Oddly, some Wyndham facilities are even also affiliated with RCI's competitor Interval International!

I'm not in any way defending Wyndham or RCI (...personally, I have no use whatsoever for either one of them) but the indisputable fact still remains that Wyndham does indeed own 100% of RCI.

Just checked out of Kingsgate resort in Williamsburg and upon check in was immediately invited to an educational presentation to inform me how I could save money since Wyndham now owns RCI. I was immediately skeptical because they were offering me $120 to come. I turned it down but was badgered all week by slimy sales tactics (we can get you discount tickets to Williamsburg- come to pick them up and find out we need to go to presentation). They even called at 8 am to remind me I was "scheduled" for a 9:30 breakfast. I resisted the hard sell but it was very annoying. They insisted over and over it was not to sell me anything. Left me with a very bad feeling for ever going to a Wyndham property again. I have been a member of RCI for years and while I do not like their escalating exchange fees I have been happy (key is to plan way in advance). I bought my Diamond Resorts Hawaii property and all my other redtime timeshares (4 weeks) on Ebay for less than $1.00 each.

You could have stop the annoying by telling them you can get any timeshare on the secondary market. And all the calls would have stopped. If that didn't work then you tell them at the meeting you will scream out. You can buy timeshare for a dollar on E-bay. Me I go to the presentation for the gift or gift card and end the presentation by saying I can get it on the secondary market for a dollar and I am not interesting in points.

jayjay wrote:

Kudos to you .... I got a kick out of the stilletto-heeled bleached blonde .... actually LOL = laughed out loud.

Every timeshare company has one of those blonds, just like every junk yard has it's dog...

The funniest thing about all of these posts is that these people think the resort is really just wanting to give them a gift! And that their time on vacation isn't worth more than a crappy gift card! lol!

Here's my question for any lawyer or law student. I have a Shell Vacation Club time share. When I signed my papers they belonged to RCI. ( no problem) I then bought a Summer Winds/Trading Places and they belonged to Interval International, ( again no problem) more choices. Then S.V.C. drops our membership with R.C.I. When ended me up with 2 I.I. memberships. Now Wyndham has purchased S.V.C. but we can't stay go through R.C.I. for availability. We purchased the 2nd time share because in 2010 we kept getting reasons why something wasn't available. and I have in writing that my pts. are good for at least 1 7 day stay anywhere with R.C.I. but we( SVC) are no longer " members of R.C.I. Nowhere in my contract does it state anything about dropping R.C.I. I can understand then "ALSO" being allowed to become members of I.I. but not being allow to drop your membership from the contract Since all 3 are now OWNED BY WYNDHAM. Wouldn't this be away to break contracts and not let those with a membership have a choice or as a way to keep from being SUED. I for one like my other timeshare and think they are ok as a whole just being sold wrong. It's a shame the industry has such a black eye and so many bottom feeders.

Do you know what happened from the class action suit.We were just contacted from a company that said it was because of the class action suit.There name is EVE and we are wondering if they are legit.

Pretty much contacting you about a lawsuit that was settled 4 years ago, is using it as a lead off to a scam. We're they trying to get you to rent out weeks you had as a result of uthe lawsuit? Generally anyone contacting you unsolicited about your time.share or exchange membership is either out to scam you, sell you something or both.

Cendant has actually been completely OUT of that picture for many years now. Make no mistake about the absolutely irrefutable fact that Wyndham OWNS RCI 100%.

Yeah let us know how that all works out in the end, haha!!