Fairfield Resorts Timeshare - RCI - Wyndham ripoff They lied cheated and ripped us off on their timeshares Every word that came out of their mouth was a lie Gatlinburg Tennessee

Well, my response/rebuttal here is not just in regards to the original report but to the one coming from the individual who is or was obviously in timeshare sales at Fairfield/Wyndham and to timeshare ownership in general.  But to the sales people:

How do you all sleep at night?

I bought in to Fairfield many years ago and I don't have to go on and on about the high pressure tactics that were employed then, moot point now.  But to the sales person here who insists that it's not their responsibility to inform you of many realities of buying in to a timeshare and how to use it without getting ripped off.  I say to that, isn't that the same thing as lying by omission?  What a crock!

Everytime we use any of our timeshares, we are bugged by a sales person offering a free gift in order to  horn in and steal away two hours or more of our precious vacation time to pitch and push trying to sell us more timeshare.  It happens every time we use it!  I just don't answer the ringing phone anywmore that starts buzzing and flashing the minute we get to the condo unit. 

Then a couple of times when I allowed the speal to happen, enticed by the free meals/tickets, the guy told us that if we didn't buy more points then, the ones we had would eventually turn in to "rental" points, diminish in value as far as usage and expire or something (actually that would have been a blessing!).  He had me totally confused no matter how many times I asked him to explain what he meant.  It didn't even make sense!  I've noticed that male sales personnel are ruthless when dealing with women too!  They really think we're stupid!  

Then, when I told the next guy at the next speal about it, HE told me the guy probably made it up and sorry about that!  Is this how you do business?

Using my timeshare now is a pain.  Very seldom is the process easy and a happy one.  I feel pressured now to use it, even if I don't want to or can't really afford to go anywhere since I'm paying about $600 a year in maintenance dues for 77,000 points, which by the way, doesn't get much really unless you go during some off time when everything is closed in the area or it's too cold.  Renting it is a joke.

They keep moving my "use year" end date on me which causes me to miss "banking" then thus loosing the use of my points. 

Then one time, I tried using Fairfield on line system.  I tried to make a reservation and it refused my credit card, so I called directly and the reservationist told me that there wasn't any availabilities at that resort that I requested, even though there was a page listed on their website a mile long with availabilities.  What the eff? 

Then, I booked a hotel room at a hotel instead and later on my credit card, found a charge for the Fairfield reservation that I couldn't make because, A - said my card wouldn't go through, and B - when called in person, reservationist said NOTHING WAS AVAILABLE!  It took me two months to get that charge taken off!  They argued with me that I did make the reservation and just failed to show up.  Why would anyone do that?  Why would I have made the reservation, then turned around and made one at a hotel instead and just not showed up?

I had gotten NO confirmation from them in the first place which would have alerted me that it had gone through and I would have then gladly gone!  THEY JUST TRIED TO RIP ME OFF and convince me I was the one who was crazy! When I asked them to supply me with a copy of my confirmation and reservation they sent me, they argued they weren't obligated to send me anything!  What???

This is all true, people!  I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced this kind of nightmare with Fairfield!

Finally, I talked to this guy who sounded like a used car salesman and I had to get so persistent with him, he finally removed the charge after I threatened everything from disputing the charge to a lawsuit to a filing with the BBB!  When he finally agreed to remove the charge and give me back my lost points, I thanked him and told him I appreciated him being a nice guy after all.  He then bit my head off and said, "Hey, I'm NOT a nice guy!  OK?"  What was that all about?  Did Fairfiled pride themselves in hiring the WORST people they possibly could to screw people???

Which by the way, I don't think  timeshare companies are afraid of the BBB.  They take the attitude of , "just get in line and take a number."

In fact, in resorts that I have "exchanged" my timeshare, outright renting a room/suite/studio comes out to being cheaper then what I invested in the first place after maintenance dues and exchange fees. 

People who are considering buying in to timeshare from any company, take note!  It can be a money pit and a living nightmare!

When we first purchased our timeshare, we were also told many things that have now changed because somewhere in the fine print, ladies and gentlemen, they RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE RULES!

Now we have a fixed week from another resort and the above mentioned points from Wyndham.  I'm never able to use the entire amount of points and loose many of them each year.  They will only carry over with a fee and then only for a few weeks. 

When trying to exchange for a cruise, that's the biggest rip off of all!  Not only do they fool you in to thinking you're getting a cut rate of the fare price by jacking it up, but you're actually paying more then if you went through Travelocity or Expedia.  Then you're paying an exchange fee of almost $200 on top of that and turning over a week/points to them which monitarily equals your yearly maintenance fees. 

So, in essence, you end up paying more!   So you do the math: inside room on a ship for four nights is around $250 to maybe $600 average, give or take time of year, ship, where you are going, etc.  With your exchange, they tell you it's normally $1200, now it's $400 (lie) with the discount of your exchange week (lie), add on another $200 exchange fee then add your maintenance dues of $600 back on which you've already paid.  So for a simple $250 ship fare through a travel agency less a bit in tax which you will pay anyway, you've just spent over $1000, .......$750 over and that ain't even counting what you originally paid for your timeshare in the first place!

The first time I exchanged my timeshare week for a cruise, we paid almost $600 out of pocket not counting the yearly maintenance fee for a room that our table mates on the ship paid $250.  You live and you do learn!

Some of the condos are nice and well kept, but many that are available for "exchange" are falling to disrepair and age, despite the high maintenance dues and can be disgustingly dirty.  And because many people have just stopped paying, those of us who continue faithfully with are dues are penalized by the fees and assessments being raised to cover their losses.

Many of the so called "condos" are nothing more then old Holiday Inn's and motel/hotels converted.   The grounds sometimes are not very "resort" like nor accommodating.  Some are quite nice, but many are not.  When exchanging, beware! 

It's not worth it.  You're stuck for life with it unless you can find someone to take it off your hands for little to no money just to unload the forever, yearly maintenance fees or any assessment fees they have the right (look in fine print) to access you at any time!  But who would want it anyway??

This is definately a "BUYER BEWARE" situation!

Please!

I worked at the indianapolis call center a HUGE majority of the members I had spoken with claimed they were lied to. So I took two tours at fairfield resorts. On both ocassions I was lied to. On one occasion I was even removed for trying to tell the saleman I worked in reservations and he was incorrect. I was told they removed me because other people could hear me. I advised my supervisor nancy grindstaff and her boss in orlando Casey clements. I finnaly quit out of self respect.

I then called a V.P. named Don From orlando. Nothing was ever done to this day. Not to mention that lots of my co-workers were rude to customers constantly, they never got a tslking to. In fact thery only time most of us got fired was if our production to low, or our mouths got to honest. so please mike take a better look around your office befor defending this terrible company

I am responding to the numerous complains about Fairfield/Wyndham Vacaction Resorts. People say that the salesmen lie in the pitch, tell them they can "roll their points" over if they dont use them. TIME SHARE POINTS ARE NOT CELL PHONE MINUTES! THEY CANNOT ROLL OVER. Salesmen use the word "Bank" or "roll over" when they talk about putting your points in the points credit pool. It is stated in black and white in the members directory and in the contract that this MUST be done before your use year starts.
WHICH MEANS. If you have a DECEMBER 31 use year. YOUR POINTS WILL EXPIRE ON 12/31. This means you will get more points on Jan 1st (RIGHT?).

So...if you pay $25 (stated in the members directory and the contract) to put your next years points in the points credit pool you can have them available for three extra years (with limitations). It would take me too much space to expalin everything needed to know to plan a vacation with a TIMESHARE...it isnt something to be taken lightly. Salesmen don't lie...they will tell you the good things about owning a timeshire...not the challanges. If they told you the challanges, you would never bye. So my question and my Plea to everyone who owns a timeshare or is going on a timeshare presentation is this : READ the fine print, members directory and contract. Unless you ask, we won't expalin everything....we work in a call center and have to service thousands of owners everyday. EDUCATE yourself on your timeshare, you are paying for it! It is a lifetime commitment. A marriage is a lifetime commitment...and soemtimes people take that lightly too.


People who plan your vacation go through a five week training course and still don't learn everything! So Please...ask your reservationist, they would be more than happy to explain it. IF the person you get on the phone will not explain it, call back....we go through customer service training as well, and our calls are monitered, so beleive me, if you get a rude person they will be getting a talking to.