Fairfield/Wyndham resorts denial of usage

[Thom Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thom]

Hi all.....I am a FF/W owner since May'03.....since 2004 i have been denied usage of my pts, on several occasions and attempts, by FF/W with no reasonable,rational reason or excuse given. Has anyone else had/have this problem and if so, are you interested in forming a class action lawsuit against FF/W for their actions..I'll omit a lot of details for the sake of brevity but i have played by their rules and gotten nothing in return over the last 3 yrs. except due bills for approx.$14,000. FF/W's reply to me was, in so many words, "too bad, it's your fault for not getting time. We, FF/W, are under no obligation to provide owners with fair and reasonable usage in any time frame or yearly basis. " I have posted complaints on TheSqueakyWheel.com - we get refunds! and Rip-off Report.com - badbusinessbureau.com websites if anyone would like to view them. anyone interested in a lawsuit can post a reply here or at the other websites and we'll take it from there .thank you 3/15/07
PS: anyone know the name of a experienced lawyer/firm for this kind of lawsuit ?

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

Sounds to me you have no idea how to use your timeshare/points and cannot plan far enough in advance for those dream vacation condos that you deserve. Any lawyer will laugh at you and some will take your money. If you have more details foresaking brevity, someone here may be able to teach you how to use your points. FF/W is not hard to use.

Hi all.....I am a FF/W owner since May'03.....since 2004 i have been denied usage of my pts, on several occasions and attempts, by FF/W with no reasonable,rational reason or excuse given. Has anyone else had/have this problem and if so, are you interested in forming a class action lawsuit against FF/W for their actions..I'll omit a lot of details for the sake of brevity but i have played by their rules and gotten nothing in return over the last 3 yrs. except due bills for approx.$14,000. FF/W's reply to me was, in so many words, "too bad, it's your fault for not getting time. We, FF/W, are under no obligation to provide owners with fair and reasonable usage in any time frame or yearly basis. " I have posted complaints on TheSqueakyWheel.com - we get refunds! and Rip-off Report.com - badbusinessbureau.com websites if anyone would like to view them. anyone interested in a lawsuit can post a reply here or at the other websites and we'll take it from there .thank you 3/15/07
PS: anyone know the name of a experienced lawyer/firm for this kind of lawsuit ?

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

How can you say there's nothing?

Sounds to me you have no idea how to use your timeshare/points and cannot plan far enough in advance for those dream vacation condos that you deserve. Any lawyer will laugh at you and some will take your money. If you have more details foresaking brevity, someone here may be able to teach you how to use your points. FF/W is not hard to use.

I have to agree with Spence. FF can be confusing but it is not hard to get your value out with even a slight bit of understanding. If you haven't made the effort to utilize your points it certainly isn't FF's fault. I have lost only 430 points in over 10 years of ownership which means I've dealt with the use of at least 2,560,000 FF Points so far. It has been a very positive experience and led me to buy into other points systems based on the results.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

Thom,
For any of us to give you a good answer and try to help you out we will need a little more detail as to how you are going about using your FF points.
I am a FF owner and have never had a problem using my points except maybe this year where I am not sure if I have enough time to use all my points and may have to consider renting some out. Anyway drop another note with a little more info and we will try to give you some info on how best to get what you are looking for out of your points.

[btejada Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close btejada]

Thom,

You may not be aware, but someone has already tried this type of lawsuit against FF/Cendant at the time. I'm not sure if it went anywhere. You've come to the right place to read here and learn about how to use your ownership. Saying you were "denied usage" is just not a fair statement. Maybe they didn't have what you wanted available, but that is an entirely different animal than "denial." On the other hand, if you are just trying to start trouble, I suggest that you go somehwere else.

[CC_dad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CC_dad]

Join the Yahoo Group for Fairfield Resorts Owners

I must agree with the other replies to your original post.

I'm assuming you paid good money to become a member of FF, now you need to invest your TIME to learn the system and make it work to best fit your travel needs. You must also pay all MFs and special assessments in addition to the cost of your points purchase, otherwise FF/WVO is well within their rights to DENY you any usage of your purchase. Read the contracts you signed.

If you have not joined the Fairfield Resorts Yahoo group, I strongly suggest you join it. Fairfield_timeshare : Fairfield points and fixed week owners

There is a wealth of information in that group. Many of those members will also help you with questions posted in this forum. You must be willing to learn the FF system, otherwise you will never receive any return on your outlay. And the courts will not be sympathetic to your case.

Good luck in whatever course you choose to pursue. In the meantime, learn how to recoup the annual MFs you pay for those points.

[Thom Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thom]

all...update 3/15/07

Hi all who have replied to this posting as of 3/15/07.....how hard is it to decide on where to go ? when to go? and how far ahead to plan? and then go to the website or make a phone call and request dates/time at a resort? It's not rocket science! i have tried on numerous occasions, over a period of months, from requesting 13 months out to 2 months out,for usage from May on thru to Nov, over last 3yrs, to book any time on any hawaiian isle, in arizona, california, florida, the places I want to go to. If I had kept all the refusals in print ..I would have a stack of at least 13 request denials. How many more times over a 3 yr period does a owner have to make a request b4 they get accepted ??
Always.. i get the same response from FF/W reservations .."sorry no time available for your requested dates".. If I went on Wyndhams reservation site right now ..and made a request ...i no doubt would get the same old response.I have tried to book time in Jan/Feb/march/ etc for Sept/Oct/Nov/etc. for usage ..all to no avail. How much farther out do I need to go to avail myself usage ? the "rules " say no more than 10 months ahead for a request. I have sat at this computer for hours ata time ..going from resort to resort , the ones i want to go too, and requested time and got refused , as many as 4-5 times a session. How much more effort and planning does one need ? I did get accepted once @ west palm beach .....this was the resort that was damaged by a hurricane and was still under repair..No wonder they had room available but that was a experiment to get usage anywheres , I had/have no desire to go to west palm or any other resort just to avail myself usage of my pts for that year. I didn't come here to start trouble with anyone for any reason but i'm apparently guilty of trying to use my points in a way i want to/ should be able to do. If some one makes a request for time @ a resort and gets shot down, exactly how would you define that? if not a denial for usage? would you call it " Can't come here stupid , we're booked? " or maybe "your too late with your request, Try again in another year?" How else would you define the rejection of a request? How would you explain/define the pattern of repeated refusals by FF/W ? I bought the 154,000 pt package...deeded " in severality" @ the Royal Sea Cliff Resort in Hawaii , on the Big Isle with the intent and understanding that I could use the pts. every year to reserve time and usage where I wanted and when I wanted ,within the amount of points I had to use. this was a fact that was stated in the sales pitch @ the sales presentation. I don't know how much simpler and to the point to make this. Since I'm a new person to this website, maybe I have misunderstood what this site is all about. time will tell. Looking forward to your comments.
PS: Jada..I find your comment about "starting trouble" inflammatory. Just because someone, especially a new person , posts a negative comment about a timeshare company, does not necessarily mean that person is trying to start "trouble" in here but your kind of response most certainly will start and cause bad feelings. I joined this site with the intent to find others who are in the same circumstances as me and find out what they did and how they handled it and to find out if I am , in fact, working the system wrong and maybe learn something. Forums like this shold be about posting bad experiences as well as good and everyone learning from them. so far mine have been all bad.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Forums like this shold be about posting bad experiences as well as good and everyone learning from them. so far mine have been all bad.

I agree.

In relation to some of the more combative replies, all I can say is that you get all types of etiquette on the internet.

Hopefully, members will be helpful in passing on methods to help you fully utilise your purchase and get you the holidays you want.

[LisaH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close LisaH]

after re-reading the OP again, my post was not relevant so I deleted it.

[CC_dad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CC_dad]

Thom,

It's too bad it took three years to find the right web site(s) to help you out. I agree with you that the VC's at FF don't always go out of their way to try to help you. Plus the FF internal web reservation system has had problems since the 2006 year end maintenance.

As a member of TUG (Timeshare Users Group - Timeshare Owners Helping Each other - Unbiased Timeshare Information for All Owners!) and the Yahoo Fairfield Timeshare user group, I learned how to make 2 deposits of 28K FF points into RCI and pick up two weeks in a 2 Bedroom unit at FF's Kona Hawaiian Resort for the additional RCI exchange fee ($164). A total cost of about $304 for each week if you put the MF cost of those 28K points at $140.

Exchange weeks at all the FF resorts on the Big Island have been put into RCI over the past year - in fact there may be some availability late this fall at Kona, Mauna Loa Village and/or Royal Sea Cliff. Even the new FF Hawaii at Waikiki Beach Walk resort on Oahu has been made available for exchange in RCI. I picked up two weeks in prime time summer 2007 just last October.

Get your posts on this site to 15, then you can view the RCI exchange opportunities forum to learn what kind of RCI exchange opportunities are available. In some cases, there are late RCI exchange cancellations for Hawaii - if you can try to get a reasonable airfare within 45-60 days of the check in date.

RCI also appears to offer a FF owner preference when searching for exchanges back into other FF resorts. RCI receives exchange weeks at various FF resorts available throughout the year to try to exchange into.

I think part of your issue may also be that 154K won't get you much in Hawaii - probably only a 1Br unit at either Mauna Loa Village or Royal Sea Cliff. The point cost for Waikiki and Kona exceed your available points, unless you're willing to book for less than a full week or rent points from FF to complete a full week's reservation.

You can also rent FF points from other FF owners to make up the difference required to book a full week's reservation. The Yahoo group is a great place to find out about this and/or rent out your 2007 FF points to other owners if you can't find a suitable reservation before your points expire. You can at least recoup your 2007 MFs, the FF FSP progam fee plus earn a couple extra bucks.

Go over to the Yahoo FF Timeshare user group and request to join that group. It may take a couple weeks to complete the approval process, but that's the best place to learn quickly about FF and RCI.

Be persistent, ask questions and learn from the veteran FF owners at the Yahoo group and you will eventually be happy with your purchase.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

i have tried on numerous occasions, over a period of months, from requesting 13 months out to 2 months out,for usage from May on thru to Nov, over last 3yrs, to book any time on any hawaiian isle, in arizona, california, florida, the places I want to go to. If I had kept all the refusals in print ..I would have a stack of at least 13 request denials. How many more times over a 3 yr period does a owner have to make a request b4 they get accepted ??
Always.. i get the same response from FF/W reservations .."sorry no time available for your requested dates".. If I went on Wyndhams reservation site right now ..and made a request ...i no doubt would get the same old response.I have tried to book time in Jan/Feb/march/ etc for Sept/Oct/Nov/etc. for usage ..all to no avail. How much farther out do I need to go to avail myself usage ? the "rules " say no more than 10 months ahead for a request.

Maybe its just luck or expectations. I have used almost the exact approach you write about and have always been able to get the exact unit/week/resort we wanted at the 8-10 month request or we've waited until 2-4 months and taken a shot and always got a great unit like the penthouse at Royal Vista for New Years 2000 - a trip we will never forget. I didn't even make a request for that week until mid-October of 1999.

But I know what you mean. I read all the time how people have such great luck with II. I tried for 10 long years to get what I wanted from them - almost nothing came of it. I don't know if they are willing to take less than what we wanted or if they were lucky and we weren't (hard to believe in a decade of trying) or if they had better weeks than we did (the same weeks traded great with SFX and RCI - go figure) but whatever the reason II as an individual owner trading our weeks never worked for us. Once we dropped our membership and simply used the free priority link through Sunterra we have actually got some times we liked. It's no RCI or FF but it's usable that way. Somethings can't be explained.

In any case keep trying with FF as our first year of ownership was also very frustrating with them. We got lucky and had a very patient guide help us during that year and when the process finally clicked in my head it's been great ever since. Try to get the best methods down and hopefully you'll make it work for you too.

[thv13 Member Find all posts View Profile Close thv13]

I have empathy for your frustration but as a FF owner for about 2 years I have had very little trouble booking what I wanted when I desired it and almost all has been done on line (including Myrtle Beach in July)...although their internet technology certainly leaves alot to be desired...The best advice I can give is to follow advice already received and to join the yahoo FF website and read the files which I believe will answer all of your concerns and give you techniques. Before i bought I did this and I believe if you do this you will actually be better educated than their Vacation Counselors may be...Good Luck and I hope you can resolve your frustration...most dissatisfaction I have seen expressed is a lack of understanding the system..again try this group..I hope this helps Tom
Fairfield_timeshare : Fairfield points and fixed week owners

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

The key to using points is simply plan ahead where you would like to visit.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

As a FF newbie myself, I appreciate Thom sharing his frustration. When I get an account, Thom, I'd be happy to keep a look out for the reservations you most desire and will give you a quick heads up via email or PM, your preference.

Until then this whole scenario makes me wonder...is Thom being treated differently because he owns Royal Sea Cliff and not a "branded" Fairfield property? Are all Fairfield members treated equally, in other words, no matter where they bought into the points program? I'm curious, because it does seem that Thom has worked awfully hard for three years and still gets a "sorry Charlie" response from FF. I'm wondering if there could be another factor...I just don't believe in chocking it all up to bad luck. RCI and its cousins have been infamous for secret formulas for trade power that we're never made aware of. Could there be some kind of trade power factor coming into play for Thom, even though supposedly "points are points"?

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Carol,
He owns at Royal Sea Cliff, and that is Fairfield. How do you buy Fairfield points at a resort that is not Fairfield?

We have considered buying Fairfield points, now called Fairshare to take the Fairfield name out of it and have it fit better within the Wyndham system. We actually own four PAHIO weeks: We own one, two and three bedroom units at Bali Hai, one week of each size, and we also own at Shearwater. Next month, we will be staying at Shearwater and will attend the owners' update. If they offer us a "deal" to convert, I wonder if we should? What would be a good deal for a conversion? Does anyone even know how many points these weeks are worth?

I have so many more questions and want to be informed before attending the sales presentation.