Fairfield Resorts, Wyndham Vacation Resorts Extremely Deceptive Sales Practices By This Timeshare Resort! Sevierville Tennessee

Because your timeshare contract will certainly establish what happens to your timeshare when you die in one of its clauses, I highly recommend you to read the timeshare agreement cautiously. Some timeshares can be inherited, while others can be owned by more than one person, however, whatever the contract says, the truth is that all of the clauses will always benefit the resort. Also, ask as many questions as possible during the presentation if you are seriously considering acquiring a fractional ownership. This is a good article on what happens to your timeshare when you die

I purchaced with Wyndham in 2007.   I love my points.    He mentioned that they didn't show him all the paperwork and they ran credit without permission.    And Lee Landers was a lier.    Well I can't argue with that, but he no longer works for the company either.   I checked.    It is our responsiblility as consumers to confirm what we are buying.   I always read what I sign.    It sounds like you didn't take the time to read everything.    But as for points.   I normally get all the reservations I ask for.    You do need to plan ahead for summer vacations.   So use common sense.   And if you don't have any,  stay home.

  As it turns out, you have a 10 day period to back out of the deal, and after that, if you look on page 393 in the Club Wyndham Plus members book, the frist paragraph reads that you can terminate at any time writing to the trustee.  (however, I don't know about the payments if you still are paying on the loan...it is worth looking into.)

My story: my wife and I own 2 with Wyndham Plus point programs and we were entertained this weekend to purchase an additional one from a non-pushy salesman yesterday.  We signed up and everthing was great till I had time to go back over evething in my mind on a good nights sleep.  My wife and I were looking into getting another "Plus" points time share to convert to "Reward" points for paying for meals and tickets when we go on vacation.  To do this, you have to have purchased directly from Wyndham, because we bought the other two from a resale company.  So, we met with "Ben" in Orlando this past weekend.

 Now for this GREAT DEAL that "BEN" was pitching to us, he was slick in trying to make it sound like "Plus points" was the same as "Reward points" but something didn't add up.   "Ben" was selling the idea that I could convert 120,000 points to pay $1350 in maint fees a year, and  I should buy a larger points package to cover that as well.  So being sold on this idea, we looked into a much larger package of points, enough to pay maint fees for all our units and enough to cover things we might want to do.    He sat in front of us, alowing me to do the math at a conversion rate of 1-1, he even rechecked the my math!  We signed up for close to 400,000 points!

 As it turns out, you can convert Plus points to Reward points, but here is the catch, they convert 1000 Plus points to 400 reward points. and 10,000 "REWARD" points equals $60 in maint fees.  I could only pay $880 in maint fees a year with what we were going to purchase.  Not the $2200 that we would need to cover the maint fees on all our units.  HE SAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, KNOWING d**n GOOD AND WELL THAT WE WERE FALLING INTO A TRAP!  HE EVEN TOLD US THAT HE WAS HAPPY TO SEE THAT WE HAD MADE A WISE AND WELL INFORMED DECISION!!  . 

So, tonight, I am writing this at 3am, after I have wrote the letter for cancelation.  BUYERS BEWARE, these guys are slick, they CANNOT BE TRUSTED.  Make sure that you know what you are doing.  People that buy resale properties are smarter than buying direct.  The benefits are not worth the price you pay when buying direct!  My brother in law bought a time share in Las Vegas 6 years ago and is still paying on it, $120 a month, not to mention another $50 in fees a month.   He has 4 more years to pay, with his down payment he will pay over $16,000 for a small 56000 bi-anual package.  He has taken 3 vacations in 6 years in the middle of winter.   My wife and I will pay less than $500 for 315,000 annual points.  I don't care if I didn't buy from Wyndham, and from what I have seen and hear, those that buy from resale companies are much happier with their vacations than those that buy direct from Wyndham. 

ALSO, as a side note.  when we went to Myrtle Beach and stayed during spring break, we were told that we are spending a lot more on Maint. fees because we bought through a resale company......  After doing some research, this is not the case, the fees are the same if you buy from them direct or not, don't believe these guys!  I was a salesman for many years and I never lied to a customer and I was able to retire at the age of 35.   Any salesperson who needs to lie to make a sale has lost what is important, the return customer. 

HOWEVER, I will say this...I did meet a time share salesman 12 years ago at Star Island in Orlando that during his presentation, he said to me, "don't buy from me today, think about it and call me tomorow, the deal will be the same then as it is today."  I did not buy from him, but I called him back and talked to him.  He then tipped me off to a resale market on timeshares.  As it turns out, I came back 10 years later to the same guy and bought a resale.

I can tell you from experience that Wyndham can and will turn non payment over in a way we never expected. They foreclosed on our property when we attempted to refuse payment and to allow Wyndham to take over our property. We found out about the forclosure during refinancing of our mortgage to get a lower rate. What a shock! We were told to do what the earlier past employee said to do and there would be no recourse. Again lied to. Yes these guys use fraudulant techniques, but fly just under the radar to not do time. I have other family members that also got snookered. They are still trying to find a way out. Go to your county department to get legal help. It is your best option.

You said that you were deeded in Gatlinburg with Wyndham.....Hello...There is no Wyndham resort in Gatlinburg. They have 2 in Sevierville.

Stagmie you stated that Wyndham got your account number from the voided check you gave them for the maintenance fee. You would only give them one check since the maintenance fee and the monthly payment are coming out of the same account. If you believe that you did not sign anything to give them permission to do a credit check, ask to see the paper you signed.

People love to use the word scam when they talk about timeshare, but they never tell you what the scam is. If you state on here that you cannot get a reservation, you need to tell us when you were planning to go and how close to that date you are calling to make the reservation. If you state that you did not sign a paper to do a credit check, put on here that you have contacted the company and they cannot provide you with this paper. If you state that a company is made up of CROOKS, THIEVES, LIERS, you need to be more specific than typing that they kept up there for 2 hours. How did they keep you?? Did you ask to leave??? Did they tell you how long you were going to be there??? You seem to have left this information out. You state that you were offered more points at one resort; however, Wyndham uses points similar to Bluegreen which means that you can use the points at any of the resorts they own. You state that you have owned since 1998. You should have known this.

You sound ridiculous in this post. You did not state how close to your vacation date you were trying to make a reservation. If you are trying to make it a couple months before, and you want to go on July 4th, good luck. This is a high demand time. You stated that you were talked into purchasing more points. Do you even know how to use the points??? Did your real estate agent talk you into buying your house? Does your pastor talk you into giving money to the church??? You CHOSE to attend a sales presentation....HENCE them trying to sell you something. If you go to a clothing store, they try to sell you something. If you go to a car lot, they try to sell you something. If you go to a restaurant, they try to sell you something. If you walk into AT&T wireless, they will try to sell you something. You feel stupid because you cannot afford what you purchased (or you would not have made the comment about taking the monthly payment our of your checking account), and you want to trash a company on this website. If you make a false claim about a company, like not giving permission to run your credit, and you sue them, and they show you the document that you signed, they can sue you in return.

I can understand having problems with your purchase; however, there are better and more mature methods than publishing a person's private cell phone number on the internet. How do you know that this person still works for the company? Usually people like don't get to stay with a company very long. If you have his phone number, he has yours as well. How will you feel when your first and last name and phone number are placed on here with a rebuttal about you?

My family has a timeshare with wyndham resorts and our contract is in Gatlinburg Tennessee. We love our timeshare. We have NEVER had a problem booking. Our usual week is the week of christmas, to which we have never had a problem booking. We recently began booking our week in march because it is spring break for us. We are currently here this week and just today spoke with a representitive about upgrading points to a VIP status and it was a very good deal and a very easy transaction. She even helped us book the week of christmas in Disneyworld because we had 2 free weeks with RCI. This whole transition was very easy and pleasent. If you own timeshare and have no intentions of getting rid of it, I encourage you to take the time to get to know how to use your timeshare vacation rental to you and your families advantage. This particular timeshare can be a wonderful asset if you understand how to use it. We sent around 5 hours today talking to our rep, which made for a long day, however we read everything and we understood everything before we signed it. Take the time to read and understand before you sign anything. I am sorry you had a bad expirience with this particular person but our representitive was a wonderful woman! Not all of them are bad people.

The company is called The Owner's Advocate. It is located in Santa Barbara, CA. It is a consumer protection group that works with people in disputes with the timeshare industry. They have a website at http://theownersadvocate.com. They truly are wonderful people who will guide you every step of the way to fight them and get you out of your contract. They are not legal representation. They are professional representation. They are very intelligent when it comes to the laws that affect and govern the timeshare industry. Keep all documentation that has to do with Wyndham. You will need to write an affidavit of the events that have taken place. If you have supporting documents you will want to attach this to your affidavit. I have supporting documentation for each of our complaints. I kept everything. You will then be instructed to mail to Wyndham a cease and desist letter stating that you will no longer make the payments due to the dispute. This protects your credit while you are fighting them. They cannot report you to the credit bureau for not making your payments after receiving a cease and desist letter. Then you start specific steps against the company as instructed by The Owner's Advocate.

I have contacted the Federal Trade Commission, The North Carolina Real Estate Commission (that's where our purchase was made), The Florida Attorney General (this is where the home office for Wyndham is), The Better Business Bureau in North Carolina and Florida, Florida Consumer Affairs Department, and others. Each of these agencies have opened an investigation into Wyndham's business practices.

We have made very good progress but will not stop until we have recevied a full refund of all monies paid. They have already made an offer of settlement to cancel the contracts and pay 50% of the vacation expenses for last year that we incurred due to no availability with the program. It is possible to fight these people. You can't give in to their threats. I found a line on one of the many contract pages that goes something like this ..... "nothing discussed at the table at the point of sale will be honored unless it is written in the contract". This statement alone will take you far in a court of law. Good luck to each of you. The more of us who get together and bombard this company and all of these agencies with our complaints, the better chance we all stand of defeating this Deceitful giant. Remember the story in the bible ... David as young and small as he was defeated the giant! WE CAN TOO!

Kathy you stated there is a Co. that can help get you out of contract. You did not say which web site or Co. name.

Please go to The Owner's Advocate on the website. They are not legal representation, but professional representation. They know all about Wyndham and their practices. They have been able to successfully cancel contracts of many. They are currently working for us and are doing a splendid job. Also contact the Attorney General in the state you made your purchase. Also contact the Consumer Affairs department in the state of Florida (home office). I have filed complaints with every government agency, Better Business Bureau in each state, many other things to bring attention to this deceitful practice. Keep fighting. Never give up!

This same "method" is being used by different individuals at Wyndham Fairfield Bay. Oct 2008.It must be a company wide "scam" sells technique.

This same "method" is being used by different individuals at Wyndham Fairfield Bay. Oct 2008.It must be a company wide "scam" sells technique.

This same "method" is being used by different individuals at Wyndham Fairfield Bay. Oct 2008.It must be a company wide "scam" sells technique.

This same "method" is being used by different individuals at Wyndham Fairfield Bay. Oct 2008.It must be a company wide "scam" sells technique.

I am also an "owner" with Fairfield/Wyndham. Mr. Landers met with us in Sevierville in December 2008. He gave what sounds like the same spiel, we have multiple deeds, and he said how much better it would be if we "cleaned things up" and had them all transfered to the same location and had only one deed. He kept saying things like "I shouldn't say this but..." and "I have to watch what I say...." like he was giving us all this insider information. But whenever we asked him specific questions he hemmed and hawed. He was supposed to get back with us later that week, and never showed up. A call to his "private cell phone" was made and he claimed he was sick.

We met later that day with someone in the office and told them what he had said, and they were puzzled. They told us that there was no benefit to having one deed instead of more than one. After spending time with them, I left knowing what I have known before: 1) never make quick decisions, especially with your money. 2) don't trust people you don't know who are appearing to give you "insider information". 3) always double check with someone else in the company before making a decision. I don't think that everyone in the company is shady; we have met with some very helpful and businesslike people, and we have met with some who, like him, can't or won't answer simple, direct questions. We have decided that from now on, when we vacation, we will just enjoy our time, and when we get the "courtesy call" from "management" we will tell them no thank you, we are on vacation, if you have important information we need to discuss regarding our timeshare ownership, please fax it to us so we can go over it with our attorney!

I worked in the fairfield wyndham member services, and if you want out of the contract, then just close the drafting account, and stop all payments, wyndham-fairfield does not report to the credit agencies, they will just take back the deed, and your others will be unscathed! It will not in any way affect your credit, but you will unfortunately lose all the money that you invested in your most recent purchase!!!
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