Wyndham's new "Ovation" program offers exit solutions for their owners... interested?

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and giving me some insight. Good idea to ask Wyndham. I did ask them and they said that their conversation is being recorded but that there was a flag on my file meaning under representation (by TET) and that she wasn’t free to tell me anything else until the flag is removed. She gave me an email for TET to write to and simply y’all them they’re not representing me any more. I asked her some more questions and she said the Ovation program was legit but she couldn’t say anymore that she had already told me more than she should??? Odd!

Thank you! I did and I got silence over the past few months and then I got an email yesterday from a lady in DR’s office. She thanked me for alerting them and that they were going to check into it and forward my letter to Reid/Hein TET. I’m sure they’re done with me by now as I’ve written two more appealing for at least a partial refund. :)

Hello everyone - like everyone else here, I bought a timeshare with Wyndham back in 2007 and found it not being useful for my life. I was researching methods to get out of my timeshare for the last 7 or 8 years (one fraudulent group called The Owners Advocate even swindled me out of $1000 when they promised to get me out of my timeshare), I came across this program. I was skeptical, but I decided to give them a try since I didn't have anything to lose. After speaking to an Wyndham Ovation rep, I was told I qualified to return my deed to them since my timeshare was paid in full and I was current on my maintenance fees. They e-mailed me the paperwork to fill out about 3 weeks later. I filled it out (it was only two documents I needed to fill out), got everything notarized for free through my bank, and mailed it back (via priority mail so I can track it and obtain a delivery confirmation). About a month later (yesterday), I got a letter in the mail stating that my contract has been cancelled. The process took about 7 weeks and was surprisingly smooth. The only thing I paid for was the priority postage to mail the documents. I was anticipating something going wrong, but it didn't. So I'm a fan and supporter of this program.

I wanted to share my experience with this program. It was unbelievably easy and fast! I contacted Wyndham on July 6, 2018 and got all the info I needed, including a pdf file detailing the "Limited Edition Program" that I would be enrolled in for 3 years, once my regular ownership was cancelled. I told them to go ahead with my exit from ownership. I received the paperwork to sign on July 20, 2018 (two weeks later) via email. I signed the paperwork and mailed it back (the paperwork they emailed me included a 2-Day UPS label to print to return the signed paperwork). The cancellation of my ownership (and liability for future maintenance fees) was processed on July 30, 2018, and I received the signed paperwork in the mail the first week in August. I was expecting this to take several months, so I was very pleasantly surprised!

Thank you, thank you! You’ve given my siblings and me some hope!

Thank you so much for sharing!

lynnw231 wrote:

...they said that ...there was a flag on my file meaning under representation (by TET) and that she wasn’t free to tell me anything else until the flag is removed. She gave me an email for TET to write to and simply them they’re not representing me any more...

With all due respect, I repeat again that you should try to press Wyndham to answer whether or not they will accept this particular ownership into Ovation in the first place if TET can be removed from the situation. Remember, Wyndham doesn't just accept anything and everything into Ovation --- they "cherry pick".

If you "fire" TET only to then next learn that Wyndham will not accept this ownership back under Ovation anyhow, then you will be stuck between a rock and a hard place --- as well as being "out" the several thousand dollars you surely already paid to TET. You really should try hard to find out if this ownership is even eligible for Ovation first.

I hired an attorney to get me out of my deed in Waikiki. I still owe on the mortgage which is financed through Wyndham. My current financial situation is not allowing for continued payments or vacations. The attorney and i were told that since i am current on payments and have a vacation planned that i wasnt eligible. I would rather not just stop paying but they wont let me out. Desperately seeking options. Without a scam.

We had two weeks at The Wyndham Long Wharf in Newport, RI. Great place and we loved it. I bought them as resales and only paid a dollar for one of them. Two bedrooms and two baths allowed us to have guests. Always booked two weeks in a row and loved going there. However, we are now in out 80's and it is more difficult to travel. I called Ovation, spoke to a really nice person and three weeks later received the paperwork to transfer the units back to Wyndham. I hope other timeshare sellers realize that this is something they need to do as the original buyers grow older.

charlese71 wrote:

We had two weeks at The Wyndham Long Wharf in Newport, RI. ... I bought them as resales and only paid a dollar for one of them. ... However, we are now in our 80's and it is more difficult to travel. I called Ovation, spoke to a really nice person and three weeks later received the paperwork to transfer the units back to Wyndham. I hope other timeshare sellers realize that this is something they need to do as the original buyers grow older.

Good for you! We just used the last of our three years worth of "free" Limited Edition points to book a stay for 2019, so we're near the time when our not-always-pleasant association with Fairfield/Wyndham will come to an end. In light of all the stories shared in this Redweek forum, I'm betting Wyndham will keep Ovation going forever, with or without Limited Edition. As noted in these pages pretty frequently, through Ovation Wyndham is getting inventory for almost nothing (there is, of course, in-house administrative and legal expense), and they have to be significantly cutting costs and wasted time associated with trying to collect from owners who quit paying because they have no other way out and/or from kids who refuse to inherit their parents' timeshares. Other timeshare sellers will most certainly copy Wyndham in some way, shape or form.

I was able to sell my 154,000 points through Fidelity Real Estate, which was recommended by Ovation. They are legitimate real estate company & will only take the commission when the sale closes. Now saying this I only got a fraction of what I had originally paid for my stupid mistake of buying a timeshare. But on the bright side, no more monthly maintenance fees. I do have however, another problem. I had banked with RCI 230,000 points & now was told when I sold the timeshare I lost those points. I am not a happy person right now & am working on getting those points back. RCI still shows I have them. So make sure you use whatever points there are at RCI before the Wyndham thieves take them from you. First of all I am not saying you should use Fidelity, but I would at least find out some info. I have their number if you wish to contact them. Reply to me at jl0041@protonmail.com or on this site.

When you ask to be accepted into the Ovation program you will also lose any points you have accumulated on RCI, and that happens immediately as soon as you agree to the Ovation sign-over, even if you haven't yet received and signed the paperwork.

yes, but if you book it and have a reservation certificate before you call, they can't cancel it. At least that's what I was told and I have one last reservation for sept and I called the hotel and they said I was good to go

lollis3 wrote:

When you ask to be accepted into the Ovation program you will also lose any points you have accumulated on RCI, and that happens immediately as soon as you agree to the Ovation sign-over, even if you haven't yet received and signed the paperwork.

This is why I refer to our Limited Edition points as "free" in quotation marks. They really are not "free." You lose all you paid for your points in the first place and in our case, anyway, we had to keep up monthly mintenance fee payments for 2-3 months until the deal was done. Plus, of course, we lost the reservations made with the previous year's points. That's just typical of Wyndham -- hands in both your pockets all the time. We're VERY glad to have them gone from our lives.

Yep, after talking to someone today at Ovation, those points are gone. You know Wyndham is worse than the lowest rated company in America by consumers, which I think is Comcast. But Comcast is a prince among thieves compared to the Wyndham Timeshare garbage company

jimh873 wrote:

...Wyndham is worse than the lowest rated company in America by consumers, which I think is Comcast. But Comcast is a prince among thieves compared to the Wyndham Timeshare garbage company

I am not in any way waving Wyndham's flag (I bailed out 10 years ago), but I personally think that Westgate is actually much worse than Wyndham in the timeshare world. The Wyndham system is actually pretty good and relatively flexible, with lots of properties at which to make reservations. It's their lying and deceitful sales weasels selling Wyndham "product" at truly exorbitant and utterly obscene prices that give Wyndham a bad name. Westgate is worse in my opinion, but because they are smaller they don't seem to get targeted for derision as much as Wyndham; it's simply a matter of "scale".

Just my personal opinion, for whatever it's worth.

I too have a Wyndham. I am a couple months behind on my maint because frankly I can't afford it anymore. I am thinking to hire Resort Release or an attorney to walk me through the deedback or try and transfer this to someone. I just don't have the time to do it myself, but I know I can. If I hire them, they said they'd work through me to contact the resort so it looks as though I'm the one doing it. Is it worth it to go this route? What takes the longest amount of time? I think the guy quoted me 12 months or longer. I guess they'd try for deedback and then try and sell it for me, so they'd have to find a buyer. I'm new to this whole 'trying to find a way out' thing. Anyone have any thoughts? This has been a great thread! Thanks.

katharinej3 wrote:

I am thinking to hire Resort Release or an attorney to walk me through the deedback or try and transfer this to someone.Is it worth it to go this route? Anyone have any thoughts?

Many of us in these pages have advised against paying anyone up front to "get rid" of your timeshare for you. There are too many stories of people who have plunked down $5000 and gotten nothing for it. First question: Have you called Wyndham, told them your situation, and tried to work some sort of deal? That at minimum should be done. Second question: Have you looked for a property attorney in the state -- and preferably the county -- where your Wyndham points are "anchored?" Many in these pages agree that that's the only route to take if you want legal help; you do not want to pay an attorney in another state to learn the peculiarities of timeshare law and regs in the state where your Wyndham points are "anchored." To be clear: If your points are "anchored" at a Wyndham property in Virginia and you live in Tennessee, find an attorney in Virginia with an office in the same county as your timeshare. Third, depending on your age and need, or not, for credit, you might just send Wyndham a nice letter and a quit claim deed for your points and walk away. Wyndham points on the secondary market are worth about ONE PENNY each. Sometimes less. Check For Sale ads for Wyndham points in Redweek, MyResortNetwork, TimeSharing Today, T.U.G., and eBay. Have a stiff adult beverage handy... ;-)

Forget about an attorney or any company that requires an upfront payment. You are quite frankly wasting your money, your time & energy. Get caught up first with those maintenance fees. Then call Ovation & ask for their list of real estate companies they recommend. There is about 5 they gave me. Call them & find out what the commission is for selling your timeshare. I will warn you in advance. If you think you are going to get a good portion of your original money you bought in for, forget about it. I estimate for every 154,000 points about $2000 less their commission. The sale is actually goes through a title company & they will disburse the proceeds. Very similar to selling a home. Final warning. If you have RCI points book them before you close. I said that in an earlier post.

I recently use the Ovation program to end my timeshare responsibilities and I have mixed feelings about it. It did relieve me of future obligations but the fact that I paid so much for these points makes me feel truly foolish to have been sucked in by some really smooth women who where not pushy but just too fast talking for me. It seemed like a good thing at the time...but oh well, we did make good use of our timeshare privileges. Also, Wyndham made it quite difficult with their new program, changing the website and procedures after I had finally figured out how to do it on my own.

So I am glad that I did this. The process was so easy and within a few weeks we got back a confirmation. While you will have your points to use for 3 years, remember that you will not be able to use Club Pass and RCI. You will not be able to use Worldmark resorts as well and I realize now that I used mostly Worldmark resorts over the years.

Think carefully before doing it but don't look back once you do it. I guess that's the lesson I learned