Wednesday, February 11, 2015

How Wyndham double dips and fucks over their 'owners'


So I'm a 'vacation owner'.  Yeah, I was stupid and bought this almost 15 years ago.  I fell for the lines and the empty promises.

They tell you things like "It's a real-estate investment", and "You get priority booking at your 'home base'".  It's all bullshit.  After dropping something like $6k on it, I now spend $30/month on Maintenance.  I get 120k points to 'spend' every other year.  So those cost me $720.
Common complaints:
  • That the timeshare interest purchased would appreciate and increase resale price and value over time.
  • That the timeshare interest purchased could be freely exchanged, transferred and sold.
  • That the timeshare interest purchased was a financial investment.
  • That the timeshare interest purchased would result in the purchaser receiving booking priority over non – purchasing vacationers wishing to stay at one or more of the properties owned and/or maintained by the defendant. 

What can I get for $720 every two years?  Well, I knowingly bought a single room for 5 days.  But it's a nice place, and I supposedly have priority booking.  In addition, those points can be used anywhere.

Using them is the problem. I tried to book my wife a weekend, and what did I find?
No Vacancy.  (Now this is after bitching to them after 2 weeks of their website not reporting inventory correctly).



So I started looking at Expeda for alternatives and come across the Wyndham Grand Desert, and what do I see?  Availability.
Not only that, but it's cheaper than WHAT I'VE ALREADY PAID.  Fuckers.
So I call Wyndham.  I knew I should have hit record on my phone.  The lady actually told me that it was a 3RD PARTY that was reselling their inventory.  Like I don't know what Sabre is.  Worse, after asking to speak with a manager, she put me on foreverhold.
Now, they'll argue they don't use Sabre, that's fine - you can find the Grand Desert GDS codes here:
http://www.travelweekly.com/Hotels/Las-Vegas/Wyndham-Grand-Desert-Resort-p3630422
You'll note their 'WorldSpan' GDS number - Expedia will get their inventory via WorldSpan:
http://www.expedia.com/daily/home/vendor/gds.asp



Just for fun, I decided to also check out Hotels.com.  Yep - Inventory:

Still cheaper than what I paid, and I chose the 'free to cancel' option.  Hotels.com use Sabre.
http://www.myeres.com/GDS.php

This is the norm.  I haven't used this timeshare in years because of awful availability and shitty customer service.