FAX Exchange Program cancelled by Wyndham

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Have any Wyndham Plus owners tried to exchange to another Wyndham Property and been advised the week is not available and then check through RCI & find that same week at the same resort available through RCI ? What's going on with that setup???????

Yes, it could happen. If you think these as 2 different pools, it maybe more easy to picture it.

So, if now, I want to trade through RCI, as plus member, I will have to tell Wyndham to make some deposit. In theory, Wyndham will remove some from its inventory pool to RCI. Once it deposit, it belongs to RCI, not Wyndham any more, thus plus member can not get it, but RCI member can.

In reality, Wyndham probably doing constant deposit to RCI at certain time. And they have their rules to pick those deposit either in Advance or Pay Back. But it still the same, once it deposit to RCI, it is theirs, no longer Wyndham plus

Jya-Ning

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

Re: Dissolving Wyndham FairShare Exchange Fax Program

Monty,

I totally agree with you,....joined the forum precisely so I could get some information about that October letter...to see what my options are. I will not give Wyndham a "dime" for their conversion points. I want my fixed week, with the opportunity to exchange someway...somehow. I have a week in Fairfield Glade in TN. We usually go there every year because we enjoy it so much, but I just hate it that I will not have the opportunity to exchange to the other old Fairfield Resorts. Whether it was profitable or not, I feel that Wyndham has "taken" something that was mine! I am looking for some ways to possibly find some people interested in exchanging their week for my week at some time in the future. I don't want to pay all of the extra fees and go through the complicated process of points. I have studied it thoroughly; while it may be more convenient, it is more expensive.

I have another post on the forum with some good information.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ote=1&p=356868

Good luck and let me know if you come up with any good ideas to deal with this letter that, in my opinion, deserves a class action lawsuit! BT

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

How Would Points Owners Feel if Wyndham Dissolved RCI?

For those timeshare owners who have purchased points to be used together with RCI Exchange, what if I told you that "the RCI Exchange is gone...it is history!!!!!"

How would that make you feel?

Please think about that for a minute or two, and you will know exactly how FIXED timeshare owners feel because Wyndham is doing away with our Fairshare Exchange.

This is not a matter of which is better...points or a fixed week...it is about what each one of us valued at the time we purchased it with our hard-earned money.

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

If it isn't in the purchase then it isn't forever

For those timeshare owners who have purchased points to be used together with RCI Exchange, what if I told you that "the RCI Exchange is gone...it is history!!!!!"

How would that make you feel?

Please think about that for a minute or two, and you will know exactly how FIXED timeshare owners feel because Wyndham is doing away with our Fairshare Exchange.

This is not a matter of which is better...points or a fixed week...it is about what each one of us valued at the time we purchased it with our hard-earned money.

The ability to use RCI weeks with Wyndham Points is a bonus feature. If it ended tomorrow I would say "thanks for all that time we had it" and move on. It in no way was my basis for owning Wyndham points nor do I depend on it to give those points value. Doing so would be a big mistake IMO. You have to get the value out of the product you purchased NOT the bonus add ons. Those can and do end. Your purchased rights are the only guaranteed items that must be supplied perpetually.

The FAX system was also a bonus add on - it was never a guaranteed part of your purchase. It lasted for decades so I guess it met the terms to be be considered a bonus feature. Now it ends, there are other options if you must trade (remember all trades are optional - never guaranteed) so move on. It had a fair run everything considered.

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

The ability to use RCI weeks with Wyndham Points is a bonus feature. If it ended tomorrow I would say "thanks for all that time we had it" and move on. It in no way was my basis for owning Wyndham points nor do I depend on it to give those points value. Doing so would be a big mistake IMO. You have to get the value out of the product you purchased NOT the bonus add ons. Those can and do end. Your purchased rights are the only guaranteed items that must be supplied perpetually.

The FAX system was also a bonus add on - it was never a guaranteed part of your purchase. It lasted for decades so I guess it met the terms to be be considered a bonus feature. Now it ends, there are other options if you must trade (remember all trades are optional - never guaranteed) so move on. It had a fair run everything considered.

Who are you?? A Wyndham employee trolling the threads trying to save face?? This is bogus, I will be contacting my AG. If they want to cancel the program, then it should be with no additional cost to the owners. At a minimum, conversion to weeks should be free, not a 25% discount as it says in my letter, which is $1800. I pay them enough money.

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

Who are you?? A Wyndham employee trolling the threads trying to save face?? This is bogus, I will be contacting my AG. If they want to cancel the program, then it should be with no additional cost to the owners. At a minimum, conversion to weeks should be free, not a 25% discount as it says in my letter, which is $1800. I pay them enough money.

Because you are a first time poster, you don't know that timeos2 (John) is a long time very knowledgeable Wyndham owner. You have a right to not be happy about the elimination of the FAX exchange program.

You should watch who and what you accuse people of. John's reputation is well established. Your reputation is getting off to an inauspicious start.

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

PROOF: FAX Exchange Benefits Promised in Signed Certificate; Contact Wyndham ASAP!

I don't know where some members are getting their information, but the FAX Fairshare Exchange was NOT a bonus add on that was not guaranteed. RCI was a bonus free annual membership for about one year when originally sold, but if you wanted to use RCI after the trial period, then you had to pay an annual membership.

On the other hand, owners who purchased fixed weeks were PROMISED certain benefits in their Certificate of Benefits/Other Documents, as well as verbally during their sales presentation and when the transaction was made. I have a deed and other documents which were signed by all parties during the transaction purchase that says fixed owners are entitled to free annual membership in the FAX Exchange and could exchange to other Fairfield Resorts for a small exchange fee if they wanted to do so. For anyone who would ask if these benefits, as well as other benefits outlined in the documents are GUARANTEED, I would have to believe [after receiving this Wyndham letter about dissolving FAX] that there may not be much that is indefinitely GUARANTEED that was originally promised by Wyndham, Cendant, or Fairfield Resorts, to not only fixed week owners, but points owners as well. I would ask that each owner of timeshare carefully review their signed documents to look for some fine print that says something like this... "Fairfield, Cendant, or Wyndham has the rights to change or changed 'whatever' was promised to you."

Personally, I believe the overall failure of the FAX program began when points timeshare was implemented without any regard to how it would affect their current fixed week owners. Perhaps, they thought everyone would convert to points, but this did not happen. For years, I was invited to & attended numerous sales presentations during my fixed week of vacation to understand how points would be better for me and my family. I was treated like royalty until they realized I did not plan to convert. My last visit became abusive, which resulted in a formal complaint with documentation.

Just because management at Fairfield, Cendant, or Wyndham decided the FAX Exchange was financially difficult to manage does not eliminate their responsibility to keep the benefits we were promised. In 2009, Wyndham has been ranked among the top 100 Greenest Companies in America by Newsweek magazine and also was in Fortune magazine as one of the "World's Most Admired Companies." Well, if winning these awards includes management decisions such as terminating the benefits of many elderly or next generation fixed timeshare owners' benefits, then congratulations is NOT in order for me. If this successful management team truly cared about their owners, I do not have any doubt they would also have the ability and would have found a way to improvise a more equitable plan to deal with the exchange problem rather than terminating our benefits/rights without "giving" us something in return [other than a "token" 25% discount off a conversion fee of $2,395] for timeshare privileges WE HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR!! I agree with the forum member, "At a minimum, conversion to weeks should be free, not a 25% discount as it says in my letter, which is $1800. I pay them enough money." I have a B Side week in late May...I am trying to figure out why they would only charge him $1800 and me $2395???

Nevertheless, I do not feel that the arguments for or against the two types of ownership [fixed & points] has ANY relevance to our complaints about losing benefits we paid for. After getting out my documents, I know and have proof of what was promised to us fixed timeshare owners with FAX & other benefits. If anyone has any proof to the contrary, then please let me know. I have a signed agreement of Certificate of Benefits, as well as a deed to our property.

I have contacted my home resort, & the management says that this decision came down from the top, and that neither they, nor the Property Associations Board had anything to do with the decision. For this reason, I have prepared a letter that I am trying to get in the mail in response to Mr. Byrd [who wrote the letter about dissolving FAX]. I am also sending my letter of concern to others as well to request that Wyndham RECONSIDER dissolving the FAX program, or at least find a more fair way to grandfather Fairfield fixed/interval week owners into a new method of exchange to other Fairfield Resorts.

I fully recognize that a sincere letter may not change their decision, but, at least, I will have documented my concern for any future reference. Most of all, however, I want Wyndham to know that their actions are not going unnoticed by loyal timeshare owners who contributed to the early success of property now owned by Wyndham. Business decisions like the one outlined in our letter from Mr. Byrd diminishes public confidence in Wyndham and timeshare ownership in general.

The members on this forum have given me a lot of useful information, and I have carefully considered what everyone has had to say about dissolving FAX. Even though I disagreed with some of the opinions, I respect them and apologize if I seemed otherwise. I know I do not understand all of the benefits of point system ownership, perhaps others do not understand these benefits that were promised in signed documents to fixed week owners at the time of purchase. Perhaps, others do not have all of the documents that I have retained, but after reviewing them carefully, I am confident fixed time share owners have a right to be concerned and angry over our ownership benefits being terminated.

Every timeshare owner, whether fixed or points, deserves to get whatever they were promised and purchased [no more/no less] which is outlined in whatever legal documents that were signed at the time of purchase. Therefore, please consider how any timeshare owner would feel if benefits associated with your timeshare [for which you have signed documents as proof] were changed significantly or terminated...This is how fixed week owners feel. The only hope for a successful recourse in this matter would most likely have to be a legal one, which is not something most owners would want to do for several reasons. However, if there was a class action lawsuit, I would bet there would plenty of fixed week owners to jump on the band wagon if management cannot find a more fair way to deal with this matter.

Unless they have already done so, I hope that ALL fixed week owners will take the time to call or write Mr. Gary Byrd, Chief Customer Officer, Wyndham Vacation Resorts, 8427 South Park Circle, Suite 500, Orlando, FL 32819 [or call regarding the FAX Program (800-251-8736, Option 1, Option 3)] to express your concern. Also, I have additional names/addresses I can post at a later date...Even though the letter from Wyndham was received nearly a couple of months ago, it is never too late to let Wyndham know how you feel.

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

response to Fairfieldglade

I totally agree with your comments. I am all aboard for putting Wyndham in their place & feel that they have placed the Fixed Week owner(the ones who got them started in the beginning) at the bottom of the barrel, just to make extra bucks. I say let's get all the fixed week owners together for a class action lawsuit. Who wants to stand up or get shoved down?

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Perhaps you haven't been paying attention...

I say let's get all the fixed week owners together for a class action lawsuit. Who wants to stand up or get shoved down?

Unfortunately, recent class action suits in the industry don't seem to have accomplished much other than to create a few nice paychecks for attorneys.. Ultimately, the cost for these paychecks is going to be passed down to the consumer..

When a class action suit forces a significant change in an industry, it's worthwhile. However, for that to happen it normally requires a lead attorney who isn't just in it for the money... And I thought searching for a fair exchange could be difficult!

In this specific instance, you'd be racking up million dollar legal bills to try and keep a small exchange option alive- that is only used by a handful of owners at this point. I just don't think that it's very feasible..

Have a hug.. It's frustrating, but there are still plenty of exchange options available to owners. This site can go a long way to helping you make the most of those!

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

They aren't refusing they have nothing to pay for anymore - the system is gone

I don't know where some members are getting their information, but the FAX Fairshare Exchange was NOT a bonus add on that was not guaranteed. RCI was a bonus free annual membership for about one year when originally sold, but if you wanted to use RCI after the trial period, then you had to pay an annual membership.

They aren't saying they won't pay - they are saying the exchange is no longer in existence. You have no guarantee that the FAX service will be "forever". It's like Oldsmobile going out of existence. As an Oldsmobile owner you have no say.

You MIGHT have a case that they should provide an equal amount toward another exchange company such as RCI, II, TPI, whatever. But that would be about it.

As for a class action don't waste the time or money. Thats all it would be as we see over and over again when it is tried.

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

Wyndham Owns RCI & Could Have Grandfathered Fixed Owners W/Free Annual Memberp. Etc.

I realize W is saying the FAX is simply no longer in existence; W could just as easily tell point owners, RCI is no long in existence and owners will have to purchase annual membership somewhere else. Programs go out of existence, but to lose a free program and not be given one in exchange for what we paid for and have to go out and buy another is not fair.

I was just trying to say that the FAX Exchange was not a bonus, it was actually part of what we purchased. I have the Certificate of Benefits signed by Fairfield & owners. Even it if the FAX was not profitable or workable, they should have grandfathered the fixed timeshare owners into some type of system where would continue to exchange to the Fairfield Resorts as originally promised.

If Wyndham owns and manages the company, they can make whatever legal rules and regulations they want to make. For Pete's sake, Wyndham owns RCI, which is probably a conflict of interest and may have caused part of the problems that we experienced with the exchanges.

If Wyndham owns RCI, don't ya think they could have told RCI to continue accepting exchanges to the Fairfield resorts as promised if they had wanted to?

Don't ya think Wyndham might have waived the RCI introductory and annual maintenance fees for fixed week owners since they are taking away our free FAX membership [Points owners don't have to pay for their RCI annual membership do they?]

Don't ya think Wyndham could have figured out how to exchange a week of fixed week for a week of points if they had wanted to. There is a lot Wyndham could have done, but instead they have chosen to drop the ball on fixed owners and are hoping fixed time share owners will sit idly by until they decide to take more of our benefits away.

If Wyndham is managing the resorts, then they could have continued some type of method of exchanging if they had wanted to.

Monty, I wish I were a lawyer, but have simply been a legal secretary. I would be absolutely ready to jump on a class action lawsuit simply as a matter of principle to get what we rightfully deserve or something better...or at the very least fairly equal. What they have offered us is a "joke." But as the moderator said, we would have to find someone to represent us to help us regain our rights, not just working for money. I would like to wait to see what kind of response I can get from my letter to the executives of Wyndham & hope they will reconsider a better offer.

I do think fixed owners has a case that we should be provided with an equal opportunity to participate in RCI or another exchange company, and I do NOT feel fixed owners should have to pay the annual RCI maintenance fee, which is may be nearly $200 a year.

The FAX system is gone, but that is not what concerns me, W. did not offer us anything that was equitable in return...they just dissolved our benefits. This should be scary for both fixed and point owners alike. If they can do it to one of us, they can do it to any of us.

The advice given to us about the class action lawsuit being time and money wasted may very well be true, but I absolutely despise taking a beating without trying to defend myself, my property, or rights if I can. There are other ways to get assistance such as going to the press and our legislators both in our own state and leaders in Washington, D.C. If anyone has any constructive ideas, please let me know. Thanks. Becky

[Blondyfor3 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blondyfor3]

Hi...I am an owner since 1983 and I own at 3 different resorts and what Wyndham is doing to us just isn't right. They are dumping the fixed week owners so that the points owners can have a better selection and also a better chance of actually being able to obtain the weeks they want at the resorts they want. The fixed week owners were using weeks at resorts they wanted and so they dumped the fixed week owners in order to accommodate the points owners. I feel that we need to band together and try to right this wrong in whatever way we can. Has anyone heard of anyone getting together for a class action law suit? We have to try...Pam

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

Points are just another exchange

Hi...I am an owner since 1983 and I own at 3 different resorts and what Wyndham is doing to us just isn't right. They are dumping the fixed week owners so that the points owners can have a better selection and also a better chance of actually being able to obtain the weeks they want at the resorts they want. The fixed week owners were using weeks at resorts they wanted and so they dumped the fixed week owners in order to accommodate the points owners. I feel that we need to band together and try to right this wrong in whatever way we can. Has anyone heard of anyone getting together for a class action law suit? We have to try...Pam

That simply isn't true. If you purchased a fixed week you still have that fixed week and no points owner can take it. All they have done is change one of the options you had, the FAX system, to EXCHANGE your fixed week. You can still do that but just not with FAX. Points has nothing to do with it unless an individual owner decides independently to change their ownership from weeks to points (and pay to do so). It is just a permanent "exchange" of the fixed week they own - just as if they chose to trade it using FAX every single year.