Timeshare Legal Issue for Wyndham Timeshare Company
A retired couple has taken legal action against Wyndham Vacation Resorts, their latest timeshare legal issue. They are alleging that the company issued them two Wyndham-branded credit cards, credit limit totaling $40,000, without their knowledge or consent. In a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that this incident is not an isolated one and seek to hold Wyndham responsible for its actions. Wyndham, a resort and timeshare company, offers credit cards in partnership with various banks.
The Ashbys, both in their 70s and residents of Indiana, are the plaintiffs in this case. They stated that they were invited to enjoy three complimentary nights at a Wyndham timeshare property in Missouri last July. However, the condition for their stay was attending a timeshare sales presentation, to which they agreed. During the presentation, a sales representative attempted to persuade them to purchase a deeded property. However, later shifted their focus towards buying “points” for future Club Wyndham vacations. Eventually, the couple agreed to make a $3,375 purchase using their credit card.
Issued Credit Cards Totaling $40,000 Limit Without Consent or Knowledge
According to the lawsuit, the salesperson then requested their social security numbers and driver’s licenses. The salesperson claimed it was necessary to secure the best deal. Interestingly, the topic of credit accounts was never discussed during the presentation. However, upon returning home, the Ashbys discovered that both Wyndham and Comenity Capital Bank had issued them individual Wyndham-branded credit accounts. Each account with a $20,000 credit limit—an alarming revelation for the couple.
The lawsuit contends that the Ashbys promptly voiced their concerns to Comenity, resulting in the closure of the accounts the following month. However, Wyndham allegedly stonewalled their attempts to address the issue. The plaintiffs argue that this incident was not an isolated occurrence. They presented Better Business Bureau reviews and media reports that contain similar allegations against Wyndham. They also referenced a whistleblower lawsuit involving a Wyndham employee in the company’s San Francisco office. This lawsuit resulted in a punitive damages award of $12.8 million.
Drawing parallels, the Ashbys compare their case to the 2017 class settlement involving Wells Fargo. The bank was accused of opening accounts without customer consent, resulting in a $142 million settlement. The lawsuit suggests that both cases exhibit a pattern wherein companies establish unrealistic sales targets for employees and subject them to immense pressure to meet those goals. Consequently, employees resort to questionable practices, such as creating unauthorized accounts to fulfill their objectives. The companies, in turn, allegedly turn a blind eye, deny any
wrongdoing, and downplay the extent of the problem until exposed in legal proceedings.
Lawsuit Claims Wyndham Collaborated with Comenity in Fraudulent Scheme
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that Comenity and its parent company, Alliance Data, collaborated with Wyndham in the fraudulent scheme beginning in 2018. The Ashbys are suing Wyndham under several acts, including the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, Delaware Consumer Fraud Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Unauthorized Issuance of Credit Cards under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.
In their lawsuit, the Ashbys seek to represent a nationwide Class comprising individuals who were issued a Wyndham credit line without their consent, as well as a Missouri Class. Their demands include a declaration that the alleged practices are unlawful, an injunction preventing Wyndham from engaging in such activities in the future, reimbursement of costs, triple damages, and a jury trial.
Meanwhile, Wyndham faces additional recent timeshare legal allegations of misleading and exploiting customers. In August 2020, timeshare owners filed a class action lawsuit accusing the company of deceiving customers. The complaint was about benefits and subjecting them to aggressive marketing tactics in order to sell worthless points. This lawsuit followed a similar class action filed against Wyndham in February 2020.
If you have ever experienced the issuance of a credit card or credit line without your consent, share your story in the comments below.
Case referenced: Douglas and Suzanne Ashby, et al. v. Wyndham Vacation Resorts Inc., Comenity Capital Bank, Alliance Data Systems Corp., Case No. 6:21-cv-03044-WBG, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District Of Missouri Springfield Division
44 Responses
Windham Vacation Clubs is perpetrating massive systematic identity theft in order to open unwanted credit card accounts under its customers’ names to facilitate its deceptive sales practices of worthless timeshares. My parents have been RCI timeshare owners for over 30 years. Unfortunately, in 2007 RCI was merged with Wyndham Vacation Clubs when both companies were purchased by Cendant. In early 2023, we made an exchange through RCI to stay at a resort run by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts: The Worldmark San Diego – Balboa Park at 1110 A St, San Diego CA, 92101. When I checked into the Worldmark at Balboa Park, the conscierge’s desk offered me an Amazon gift card and a free week of vacation through RCI if I attended a “90 minute orientation” at a different location. So, on February 20, 2023 I was shuttled via a complimentary Uber to a different Worldmark by Windham – Inn at the Park which is located at 525 Spruce St., San Diego, CA 92103. Once there I was introduced to a 21 year old man named Wyatt who engaged me in friendly conversation and presented me with a iPad with a blank white screen which I was told I was required to sign with my finger as a small formality before they began the presentation. What I was not told was the blank white screen was actually the bottom of a credit card application for a Wyndham Rewards Card issued by Barclays Bank of Delaware (a bank that specializes in company branded credit cards). Over the course of my conversation with Wyatt, my social security number and other information needed for the credit card application were stolen through an array of seemingly innocent forms and surveys I was required to complete. After this was done, Wyatt’s sales manager introduced himself and after showing me a picture of a beach resort and a map with a bunch of blue and red dots on it representing RCI and Wyndham resort locations, scribbled some numbers on a piece of paper. First a large number (I think it was around 10k), representing the full cost of the timeshare, then a smaller number representing what I would pay if I accepted their today only offer (I think it was around 6k). Finally he wrote down a number that was between 3 and 4 dollars which I guess was the monthly payment divided by the number of days in a month. I refused the offer and told them not to run my credit. After a bit of arguing, the sales manager called me a crook and stormed off. Then I was moved to a table under an air conditioner that blasted cold air down upon me. As I shivered there, a hispanic woman approached me and gratiously allowed me to put on my sweatshirt. She made some semi-unintelligible statements in a thick accent and told me I just needed to sign a few more things and then I could take the Uber they had hired back to my hotel. I was sent a Docusign from a Roberta Flores, and in my haste to leave I almost signed it but after squinting at my cell phone for several minutes I realized it was a contract for a timeshare billable to a bank account I did not recognize, which I found out later was the Windham Rewards Card they activated under my name with a 20k credit limit. Furious, I demanded they return some paperwork that had my cell phone number and email address because I was asked in the docusign to check a box next to a deceptively worded statement essentially giving them the right to sell my information to their “affiliates”. The hispanic lady sneered at me, refused, lied and said they had already shredded all of the documents.
Wyndham smokies screwed me so bad was happy the last fifteen years but got talked into something out of the blue got calls from a bank about late payments didn’t know I got roped into a loan for more points till the bank called I’m deeded there I guess they didn’t want that anymor
I was issued a Comenty bank card without being informed at a “owner update” on June 16, 2023.
I just had the same thing happen 8/8/23 and I have left a message 4 times in the last 2 days and the manager refuses to call me back.
I was a Wyndham owner for 11 yrs and never bought more points so I wanted to sell I was told I had to have more points to sell so I got roped in for more money than I can afford I’m a 70 something widow He lied thru his teeth and now I find out it’s not worth anything
Same thing happened 8.15.2019 at Phoenix, AZ resort. Last time we used Shell or Wyndham.
We were offered a 6 night 7 day trip to Hawaii for $699. We were not told, until I had paid and we received the paperwork in the mail, that we had to listen to a 120 minute presentation. To cancel would cost us money. I have had a Wyndham Rewards card for quite a while and I was happy with it as we were able to accrew points and use them for free nights. When we went to the presentation (we put it off for several years because of COVID) we were ask what we thought of timeshares and we said we had a negative view of them. They then said this wasn’t like a timeshare. We sk all kinds of questions. It sounded really good as they were giving us extra points, gave us a “free” vacation (which I never booked as it cost to do so) she said that we could go to any resort. I ask if they would ever go higher than the maximum of 15,000 points per night and she said no. We ask about maintenance fees and she said they stayed pretty much the same, and if they did go up it was “just pennies” in a year. We decided we would get it as it sounded like a good hedge against inflation – which they pointed out. After that they wanted a down payment, I had no checks or credit cards with me. They said they could get a get it through some kind of credit thing. They did not say it was an open line of credit. Also, when we were ready to sign, they took us to another room that had a big screen on the wall and a tablet in front of us. They scrolled through everything quickly, giving us a synopsis of what was on the pages. Lots of signatures. We should have quit right then as there was a lot of pages that they just whizzed by to get to the signature pages. There was no way we could read them all. However, we thought it would be good, so we signed. Dumb, dumber, and dumbest thing we’ve ever done!
Next we were invited to a party weekend in Nashville. We went and then found out when we got there we had to, you guessed it, go to another meeting to be informed of new information. They had taken everyone to a meal the night before and their sales people were there to get to know you and, I suppose get you guard down. If you didn’t go to the meeting then you had to pay the full price of the 4 day, 3 night vacation. When we got in there with the girl who was assigned to us, she told us we had really signed for 300,000 points in Hawaii, but we were losing points because of the way it was written, plus, we weren’t really owners, and if we ever wanted to sell, they couldn’t help us. I told her, even showed her the paperwork from Hawaii where it showed we had purchased 126,000 point year. She kept insisting that we had bought 300, but the way it was set up we were actually giving benefits back to Wyndham. When I kept insisting that “no we didn’t buy 300,000, she whipped out a paper that showed us where we supposedly had bought 300,000. We had already been there 4 hours by then. We were confused, exhausted, and not thinking too well. Somehow she convinced us we needed to change the contract (we paid the other one off when we got home.) so we could get the benefits we wouldn’t have if we didn’t. She finally convinced us that if we let it stay the way it was we would be losing points and not getting benefits that we paid for. We ended up owi g them a boatload more money, a higher maintenance fee, which doesn’t make sense if we already had the 300,000 points. Half the time I can’t even get on the website. The last vacation we took, they absinthe said we needed to go to a meeting – just to get the info on the upgrades to the website and a hard copy of the places we can go. I told them we were not going to sit around in a meeting – we were on vacation. Agsin, they insisted it was just to learn about the new website and other enhancements they had made – it would take no longer than 30 min. It wasn’t even with sales people. WRONG. Finally, after our last two experiences, I ent in and told them “you have 30 minutes. They start oz all nice, but when they weren’t telling us anything that would help us, I said we were done. That guy went off and got another guy – to make a long story short – they got extremely angry we just left! They are not honest, they manipulate words, they don’t give your what they promise. Much more I could say and point out, but I’ve already written a book!
I do not know how they did it, but I went to a wedding in which I stayed at a RCI timeshare apartment that I paid for on a per night fee. After my stay I received a phone call about meeting with a representative to talk with me about free stays. I met with the person, I did not give my social security number or give too much personal information, but within a few days my credit score dropped about 100 points, from 811 to 710. That was the only way I knew that there was a problem or possible identity theft. Barclay’s Bank issued a RCI credit card with a $10,000 charge and simultaneously, Comenity issued a $7,6000 Interval International credit card with a $5,000 charge. Since I caught the fraud within a day of issuance, remember the credit cards had not yet arrived, I was able to report the fraud and the credit cards and payments have been blocked. I am grateful that I was able to get the information from my credit reports before the credit cards arrived. I am thinking of suing or join a class action suit against these fraudsters.
Did you ever get rid of it? I have been through the whole experience.
Just left one of their presentations. The girl told me she was going to do a pre-approval..the page on her iPad even said “This will not impact your credit”. Next thing I know I’m approved for a 12k credit card and yes it did impact my credit. I complained but closing the card would be even more damaging. Total crap
We were issued a card without our consent after attending a presentation in December 2019. We are currently Wyndham owners and want to sell. Just got told we can “pay it off and give it back for free.” I don’t think so!
The same thing happened to me. I was issued a card without my consent. Was pushed into buying the vacation club at a huge discount. Points are worthless- no resale available. I was told that I could pay it off and they might take it back for free so that I could get out of the maintenance fees after that.
The same thing happened to my parents in Jan of 2020, except the credit card involved was Barclay’s. My parents were in their late 70’s. I have no idea what they were told or not told, but Mom had been having declining cognition for some time prior to that and Dad started exhibiting symptoms of myasthenia gravis which we though were mini-strokes shortly after with a confirmed diagnosis sometime April/May. They couldn’t afford to buy the timeshares then and they certainly can’t afford them now, nor have hopes of ever using them. They started the process to get out of them before they got so ill and handed over their finances to me in April 2020. I’m not paying Wyndham…ever…
We were leaving the US and moving to Tahiti in 2019, we stopped in Vegas for a few days and stayed at a Wyndham timeshare location.
When we went to the sales meeting there were multiple sale people surrounding my wife and I and they assured us staying in Tahiti was extremely expensive, and that a Wyndham timeshare would reduce the cost of living there significantly. They said Wyndham had multiple relationships with hotels in Tahiti and that the points system would make our stay while we transitioned to living there extremely beneficial.
Wyndham had zero relationships or partnerships in Tahiti, only one in NZ, so they were complete liars. After four years I’ve moved back to the US and now I owe $9000 for something I’ve never been able to use in the location I bought it for. Why would I buy something I can’t use for four years. Ridiculous and I’ll never pay them out of principle.
Hi did you just stop paying the monthly fees. My daughter and her boyfriend got roped into this, now have a young baby and all students loans are in repayment mode. So I am helping them get out of this. They can’t afford to pay and have never ever used anything since sign up? Their has to be a pay off! Scandalous
They opened a Barclays account without my knowledge They placed the downpayment on the card. I was told my payments would be around $450.00 what I wasn’t told is that didn’t include fees when then brought it up to $750.00. The card was opened for $18,000. I was extremely upset but there was nothing I could do. I paid my payments in time for 3 years. Not the full amount because remember it was $750.00 but I paired $350.00 monthly on the bill. I ended up racking up 11,000 in debt they them cut my $18,000 lining without notice down to 11,000 which means I now all of a sudden have no way to pay for the time share. I can’t afford to pay timeshare and Barclays. My credit score went from 100% on time payments and a 780 FICO score for 7 yrs to now having missed payments and a 640 FICO score. I feel defeated with all my hard work I did to maintain a great credit score for so long. I love there presidential suites and the resorts but not there unfair tactics and dishonesty.
I am having this same problem. Scandalous business practices.
I would like to be a member of this lawsuit. We bought a timeshare on 5/08/2019. We were traveling before our son had his operation at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix Az. We kept telling them we had to go, we were not buying. Finally they convinced us to purchase. We were told the monthly maintenance fees rarely go up. They have gone up to 92. per month. We were under such pressure that our son was about to have major surgery, we finally agreed. We got the money out of our retirement to pay the loan off. We still have monthly maintenance fees.. Hadwe not been so stressed at the time regarding our son’s surgery at Mayo, I know we could have resisted.
We have been deceived & lied to at every encounter with Wyndham employees. We are in our 70’s and in poor health. We are eligible for pathways on part of our points and certified exit for the remainder. We have been trying to exit for over a year. At each turn we are asked for more money and put off. We have been threatened & told that if we put anything negative on social media, that this process will take even longer. Our loans have been paid for years and up to date on fees as of a year ago. Now they have initiated another fee as of June 2023, 9 months AFTER WE BEGAN THE PROCESS. we are stressed and ill. We feel trapped and continue to shell out money to try to get out of this timeshare. We ask for help in anyway possible.
We have been deceived & lied to at every encounter with Wyndham employees. We are in our 70’s and in poor health. We are eligible for pathways on part of our points and certified exit for the remainder. We have been trying to exit for over a year. At each turn we are asked for more money and put off. We have been threatened & told that if we put anything negative on social media, that this process will take even longer. Our loans have been paid for years and up to date on fees as of a year ago. Now they have initiated another fee as of June 2023, 9 months AFTER WE BEGAN THE PROCESS. we are stressed and ill. We feel trapped and continue to shell out money to try to get out of this timeshare. We ask for help in anyway possible.
We started with Wyndham buying resale points (233,000). In Dec 2019, we were told that if we purchased 67,000 points (84,000 was the minimum but they saw where we were offered 67,000 years ago and it was still available), we would become VIP members (300,000points). Pandemic hit so we didn’t travel in 2020 so out of sight, out of mind. It didn’t dawn on us that we weren’t VIP until we attended a presentation in May 2021 at Myrtle Beach and the rep reviewed our account and said that information was incorrect. So we’re furious now. Attended another presentation in July 2021 and rep said, why didn’t you write to corporate to get out of the contract. It’s too late now. So, we don’t have VIP and there’s nothing we can do about it. Ever since, we’ve been just dealing with Wyndham and swore off buying anything else until April of this year. We decided to buy more points and become Bronze members, paid ab $30k, signed contract. Maintenance Fees show $337.34 and access to Travel Up will be granted in 30 calendar days. None of that has happened. They are charging us $354 w/ an expected increase to $373 for 2024. I’ve called both financial services and opened claim thru Wyndham Cares due to breach of contract and asked that they cancel the contract and refund all monies paid. In Oct 2023, they issued a decision stating they found no discrepancy and cannot grant my requested relief. I followed up and asked how’d they reach that conclusion when clearly my contract says one thing but another thing is happening. It’s been crickets ever since. Is this a class action I can be involved in?
I attended a seminar at a Wyndham resort and promised an $80 gift card as an incentive. I was also told my credit would not be run. I noticed my credit score went down 3 points because of my credit being checked. And the only thing I can think of was the wind hemorrhoid. So I called them and i’m waiting for a manager to return my call. A week later I noticed on my credit report, a credit card for Barclays bank. I called the number provided and was advised I have a credit line of $5,000& a balance of $35 … WOW ! It was my understanding that I was using the gift card they proved me ($80) Not sure how that occurred, But I need some direction. No one is calling me back from Wyndham & the bank says there’s not much they can do.
September, 2023, I attended a presentation in Las Vegas to get “free” tickets to a show. Plus I paid $50.00 cash for three tickets. I found out a week later I was issued a credit card with a charge of $3,270.00 without my knowledge. It arrived in the mail (sent to the address on my drivers license in South Dakota) and forwarded to me in Arizona. No amount was ever discussed. They had me sign a blank tablet and when I asked what I was signing I was told it was for “free stuff”. Very frustrating conversations have now ensued with many different people. I finally received a email with the “documents” that they transposed my signature on. I never agreed to purchase anything!
I am a retired library manager; in early September of this year I attended a presentation in Las Vegas about a Vacation Package Plan offered by Wyndham Resorts with a friend, primarily to take advantage of discounted tickets to a Las Vegas show. Neither of us decided to purchase the plan, we did sign for the pair of discounted tickets. 3 weeks later I got a new Wyndham Rewards Earner credit card from Barclays Bank, with a charge of $3279 from Wyndham for a vacation plan. I did NOT agree to purchase a plan, I signed NO paperwork agreeing to such; most importantly, I did NOT apply to Barclays Bank for credit, or a credit card. I immediately canceled the credit card and disputed the charge; the dispute is ongoing because Barclays wants paperwork that I don’t have. After weeks of fruitless emails and phone calls with Wyndham/WorldMark; I was contacted by Mark Steeley a “Sales Experience Specialist” from Wyndham Destinations about this issue. He offered absolutely no help with the matter; when I asked for copies of the original purchase agreement, that was declined, along with a request for the credit application to Barclays Bank they submitted. I have submitted a BBB complaint against Barclays; a very nice customer complaint rep from Barclays has replied; she stated she has fielded many complaints exactly like mine, with no valid response from Wyndham to date.
We are still trying to determine what happened, and how. It appears that the primary cause of this fiasco is that the Wyndham Resorts Sales Representative lied to my wife about what she was signing. Wyndham’s response by a Ms Lady Quinones (Better Business Bureau Liaison
Sr. Sales Experience Specialist, Owner Resolutions & Strategy) to our dispute is a copy of a contract which appears to show my wife’s signature. They claim the contract was signed through DocuSign and emailed to her; she never got a DocuSign document, or signed one.
I agreed with all these complaints. I’m supposed to be experiencing a nice resort/ vacation and the pin up up immediately at check in to attend a mandatory meeting. Once I told them that I did not feel safe attending because I was not completely vaccinated from the new strands of Covid. I was promised that I would be set aside from the crowd attending the meeting AND it was not so!! I figured the young lady blatantly lied to keep her job. It’s unpleasant how they force Wyndham owners to attend those meetings or else…..I’ve started to use more air B & B to avoid the stress that Wyndham puts you through.
I owned one million six hundred thousand Wyndham points. I went for a vacation to Myrtle Beach for a vacation. We told them that we were not going to a presentation. The next day a young woman came to our door just to see if we needed anything. She talked small talk, and finally asked us to come down and meet her friend that she knew that we would like. He scammed us into buying more points that we could not afford at the time y telling us that he gave all his owners a five page booklet and if we followed it, we would rent these points and pay nothing for them. Well, the first reason that he didn’t have the pages was that his printer had no ink and the store was closed. The next excuse was that his sister and nephew surprised him with a visit and he had not seen them in a year. Well, we were leaving and of course had no booklet. We figured that we would have to go home and call to cancel the contract. When we got home, we were told that it was too late to cancel even though we told them what had happened. It cost us $18000 to get out of everything and another $10000 to Wyndham. We also lost all of our points. This is one example of a Wyndham scam.
Yep! Wyndham is the scammiest company out there. We are owners (unfortunately) and went through yet another timeshare presentation at a location while staying there. The man was “verifying” all of our information on an iPad and then asked to see my driver’s license. There was a picture of a small credit card in the upper corner, so I paused and asked if this would ding my credit and if I was actually applying for a credit card. Once I realized it, he backtracked and told me how great the card was…blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I would have had NO IDEA he was actually signing us up for a card had I not seen the tiny photo. Please do NOT buy a Wyndham timeshare. Do NOT trust this company. Using our points at the end of the year, we’ve stayed at 3 different locations over the past month, and EVERY location has had us do a presentation. The bottom line at all of them is that they wanted us to pay $25000 and double our monthly payment. For what? They’re pillaging their own timeshare owners for more money. Wyndham is incredibly unethical, and I wish we never purchased a timeshare.
We bought with Wyndham many years ago. When the price was reasonable. Now though we bought 1 a few yrs. ago it was way more expensive and the young lady rep kept giving us this crap about the printer not working. We never saw any paperwork while we were in Arlington VA. Still have. More recently went to National harbor MD. Purchased but we had no communication with the salesman except for him occasionally leaning over to say things like I’m trying to keep it under 2000.Before I could say anything he was gone. Another guy started with us who came and sat in. He talked about the new baby. Would say things like I don’t know how the other guy was doing this. I had been very sick and was having processing issue’s. My husband was doing the talking. They knew about a credit card I had but had nothing on it. They used it without saying they were putting 14000 on it the entire credit amount. Anyway we canceled the contract. Wyndham has not paid a 4000 Wyndham reward card off. We were paying the monthly but we are not now all of this has taken us to debt relief. Seems like the only way out of this debt. Process started. Wyndham has us owing 3500+. For what I do not know I went on maje a payment. To pay the mortgage which idms not 3500+ only this month needs to be paid plus they owe us 4000. For Wyndham reward card.
Just got off the phone with Worldmark – Finance- as of 6 months ago- our ‘Account due” was under $10 K.
Well today after speaking with “Markee” – it turns out Worldmark/Wyndham, in Nashville and Orlando took out Comenity Credit Line accounts (which Comenity Bank Card claims they have no record of) totaling over $61,441.54- on top of this WORLDMARK boosted out account to 45,811.00
Now between the two culprits- we have a total balance of $107,393.44.-
How do we get in in on this current suit or whom else would like to create another class action against World Mark/Wyndham and Comenity?
My wife and I went to Myrtle Beach almost two years ago now. My inlaws have timeshare and we’ve suffered through these presentations, for a round of golf or tickets to a show, in the past. This Wyndham presentation seemed mostly similar-maybe a little more disappointed when you tell them you’re not buying anything. We said “no” more than enough to demonstrate our unwillingness to buy anything. It’s been some time now and I can’t say exactly what we signed or didn’t sign. I know simply from our overall experience that you have to almost get forceful at some point-because they don’t take no for an answer. We returned home and a couple weeks later, to our surprise, and here comes two credit cards sponsored by Wyndham. The hard inquiry on my wife’s credit report still remains of course. I was happy to find this page though after discussing my wife’s credit report with her and experiencing the anger associated with this situation. I imagine it’s worked out okay for Wyndham because most people, like us, are unsure what to do…and sooner or later lose interest. It’s extremely disheartening to know that this was not just “one location ” with bad practices but more like a sales tactic they employed far and wide. I can’t imagine the training they received-centered on deceiving potential customers. Thanks.
In 5/2022 I was deceived into buying more points in order to be a member of Wyndham & to have access to Wyndham resorts. At a presentation in 6/2023 I was informed it never happened. I would like a refund since I do not need the extra points at 76 years old besides being limited to WorldMark resorts only.
I would join a class action suit if you are looking for more people. Same thing happened to us in Myrtle Beach.
My husband and I visited Las Vegas in March of 2021. We were approached by someone at the Casino Royale stated that we would get $100 ea of freeplay and a Amex gift card just for going and doing a tour. We go and listen. They would not let us listen to their presentation without our information which they said would not be used without our permission. I turned down every offer they made and made sure to tell them I did not want them running a credit check that we already had enough credit accounts. They said they werent they wanted me to sign acknowleding that my info was correct. We leave, we go back for our “free play” which wasnt really free play they were for certain machines that you had to jackpot in order to cashout (rip off). I get home and there were 3 credit accounts open. 2 on one of our accounts and one on the other. I will NEVER stay at a Wyndham. I submitted a complaint about this after this happened and NEVER heard from anyone again.
2/2024 The sales tactics are definitely are very shady! So many red flags. I was introduced to the company at a public event where they asked you if you want to spin a the wheel for a chance to win a vacation. I spun and was told that I would get a 7 nights land vacation. So of course, I was interested. I was presented with paperwork and was told they needed a $40 dollar refundable deposit and when you go to the presentation you’ll get your money back. I found out that they ran a background check and a credit check. Also, a requirement is that you “make 75,000 or more yearly” and the person helping me basically said you don’t actually have to make that much, you just have to put that you do. It made me wonder why yearly income has to play a part in receiving a “gift.” Afterwards, I was ALSO told, you will need to attend a presentation tour that is about 90 mins of your time. Okay… doable, I don’t mind gaining more information about vacation stays. I get there and the sales representative was very friendly AT FIRST. l am so glad I listened to my gut and kept asking questions! It’s like the more questions I asked the more the sales person got frustrated because they don’t want you to know the truth and make an educated decision! DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED INTO SOMETHING YOULL PROBABLY REGRET, especially with this shady business! If I’m going to spend thousands of dollars towards a “vacation ownership” I need to know what I am getting into. He made VERY demeaning remarks towards me. Asked personal questions then used that information to gaslight me. I should’ve walked out then and there but I already went all that way. My husband was not able to go with me and he was very upset at how I was spoken to by this salesman. I found out after 2 hours of my time that I couldn’t by anything anyway because I’m married and my husband would need to be there also! I haven’t been on vacation in a while so the opportunity to go as a “gift” was enticing. Some of the information I knew he gave about himself I could tell was a lie because it wasn’t making sense. I also found out that some of the sales people are realtors. This specific sales person stated that they were a realtor and he told me his license number extremely fast and moved on from the conversation, so I didn’t have time to write it down! I looked up his name when I got home and could not find his license. Such a deceiving and humiliating process! He asked why I was taking notes and how people like me that take notes are putting on a show and how he already knew I wasn’t interested in ownership because I’m taking notes. After he finally told me I couldn’t purchase because my husband was not with me, he was pressuring me to call my husband. No matter how many times I said I wasn’t interested he would then make another demeaning comment. Then his sales manager wanted to speak with me as well I guess for the last sales pitch even offering a lower “credit” purchase. It was a terrible experience. I literally left feeling so anxious and stressed. How I felt was definitely not worth the “gift” of vacation. It’s best that you just pay for a vacation yourself without using this company.
Has anybody won any lawsuit against Wyndham?
We were scammed BIG TIME also- last March 3/23// and have been fighting ever since- we went on an owner update 2/24 to try to straighten it up and were PROMISED they would contact us from corporate- well here it is 3/24- and CRICKETS… I just got off the phone with owner resolution- and was told sorry- you used some of your points this year- so i guess you are happy- BS- they opened a credit line of $8400-which we did not agree to- which dropped my credit score- they took “control of another of our timeshares “ which they told us was going to give us points- which we found out are- “ghost points”- it just gives us status- doesn’t get us any points at all-they told us they “owned “ a property 15 minutes from our son in Oregon- which is primarily why we purchased- and come to find out- it’s an affiliate- so there is never any availability there- so it’s useless to us-we try to go on waitlist- and each time it disappears… we are supposed to have VIP status- (early room access-??)yet we had to wait until after 5pm to be able to check into our room at our resort last month( we got there and did the owner update at 1130am- then had to basically sit in our car – we walked the property a bit- but we didn’t have bracelets so couldn’t access anything)- this was our first stay anywhere- NOT IMPRESSED-we have yet to have our new owner phone call-1 year later- because they set a time to call 3 times- and never called when they said they would They had someone return our complaint call- to help us- she was going to become our “personal helper” and we could have her direct number.. we were actually getting answers to questions (through Wyndham cares)- but then- she all the sudden wants my ss#- cause she wants to sell us more points- why the heck would i buy more if i am not happy with what I have now? And I still owe a crap ton of $??? She got mad and hung up.. it was a zoom call.. funny- there is no record of this call in our acct- and no record of our owner update and the manager supposedly reaching out to corporate either- they conveniently only have records of the calls that work for them
We also had an issue with Wyndham taking my existing RCI account and deleting it (we own other timeshares)it was a huge hassle to get it corrected. We had to contact our sales person, the person we signed our contract with.. and I spent countless hours on the phone with RCI myself correcting it- I am beyond disgusted with Wyndham and their lies and decietfulness- and their “ owner resolution team is USELESS!
They issued a card when i verbally refused and multiple times verified in the meetings that I did not want a card and would not be using their card for the purchase at the time. It was EXTREMELY violating to know they did so, when it was with a witness (spouse) that this was never agreed to and vehemently expressed to not do so.
My wife & I cancelled “full” membership (@Branson) before leaving resort. But they corralled us for “discovery”.
At resort in VT right now. From Indiana, the 800 miles one way travel is a challenge at our age. Snow in mountains but we don’t ski. Wife has “physical” issues that seemed calmed down. Just wanted to get away. “Use points” was motive.
Good part was roads clear from Buffalo (last 400 miles). Cleveland portion to Buffalo was sleet & high winds. No, that’s not a Wyndham issue.
I felt like “use points or lose them”. EVERY time it’s said “you won’t have to hear another presentation”. Can’t find any other word but another lie.
I always explain to our friends that our arms were “twisted” to explain our “semi-retired” status includes these vacations.
When I mentioned on first presentation my wife was deaf, the answer was “go before gets worse”. She is now 1/2 blind.
Wyndom hotels has points system that’s worked well, EVERY time.
Use 3,000 then earn 700? Math not great but that’s one “reward” that’s worked! That was part of “reward” in 1st presentation.
They’ve covered so many hotel brands, “suites” brands (has kitchenette) & Baymont (most were upgraded after Wyndham purchased)… best news I can add to dismal news here.
I pray you all find a resolution. Seems we got away cheapest from these disasters.
Another presentation here. When they learned we are at “end” of contract they tried to get us to buy another similar contract.
FYI
Yes, we were doubled up on credit charges too. Seems we got away better than others here.
COVID was odd time too. Told no contract changes in spite of “time ticking on expiring contract & can’t use”.
We were split up during this intense interview and it and felt we were forced into this. We were sent credit cards and it hit hard on the credit report. We immediately regreted it and went back but the next day but they closed up shop and disapeared. We called and called and felt stuck into it. We figured the best thing was to pay it off and try to sell it back. Don’t know how that is though. We tried to use it and it was bad… very bad. We don’t know how to at least recoup some of out life saving back. They really took advantage of my veteran husband and my self. If there is a law suit how do we get involved?
I was issued 2 credit cards and my husband was issued 1 without knowing. Every time we went in to complain and get out they told us if we buy this many points we can just turn our timeshare in and walk away. We were also told that the sales people would invest our points for us and make enough money to pay off our contract. When we got our points and let them know, they would never return our calls or texts. We were told they would call us so much we would be annoyed. He didn’t even call us at his scheduled times. The last time we were told “global” would call us and help us figure out what to do with our points. They were supposed to call us three times and never called once. The salesman said he put his info in our phones but didn’t. They told us that if we purchased this extra 105,000 points we would use those points to pay the maintenance fees every year. They never told us that there was a right to recission or we would have done it the second time when we went from discovery to owners.
want to sue Wyndom for fraud. I am a shell Vacations owner and while visiting a resort in Anahrim. Peacock Suites I attended a presentation for what I thought was an owners update. I was told that my shell vacation ownership was going away and that I needed to convert to Wyndham in order to continue to have access to shell resorts. They signed me up for another timeshare club Wyndham. I didn’t want this I thought j had to do it to keep from losing my access. It was $26,000. They me to get a their Wyndham rewards credit card and use it to pay thr bill to earn extra credits for travel. A few month later I visited Vino Bello in Napa and was brow beaten into another “Owners Meeting ” despite my refusal I was told more important updates were added that I needed to know about. I attended and learn from the Associate that I was lied to in Anaheim and that My Shell Vacations ownership was intact and not going to change. I was furious and abruptly left the Meeting. I’m sick of the pressure tactics they use at the resorts. The moment you check in your sent to “pick up your parking pass” and they start in on you about booking an appointment for an update. Saying no once is not enough. They will keep you at the desk 15-20 minutes trying to lure you by offering gift cards and dinner. No one should have to go through this. I just want to enjoy the resort and my vacation. This needs to stop. The parking pass is a scam. There’s not even enough slots available. Most times I have to park on the street. They need to remove the concierge desk and climate those shark tactics. No matter how often you frequent the resort thry pounce. I visit napa at least 3 times a year. Every visit its a fight to get away from the sharks at the concierge counter. It’s ridiculous. Please help me and other victims stop Wyndhams high pressure sales tactics. I’m stuck with a $26,000 I don’t need because of their lies.
This same thing happened to me in Panama City Beach. I was told I needed to go to the meeting to get my new member ID because of the merger with Travel and Leisure I wouldn’t be able to access my account and not be able to vacation any more despite having a paid off ownership. I told them I was on a girls trip and didn’t want to bc they take forever and I didn’t want to. My friends were getting annoyed at the check in process and how long it was taking despite me saying no, no, and NO. They did not care. I followed up with I hated how long they take even though they are only supposed to be 1hr. They promised that it would only be 30 minutes bc my bus wasn’t there so I couldn’t even purchase anything. So I go and find out this is a lie. They said I had to purchase to be able to have the time share exit strategy and I needed to buy more points so I could sell them for a check and that would help with the rising cost of maintenance fees. I told them I didn’t need more points I couldn’t even use all I already owned. They said it was not just for the points but for the programs to sell the time share for the current market value of the points as well as selling the points for a check to cover maintenance fees. I finally caved even though I wasn’t supposed to be able to buy without my husband bc they said they could see where I had turned down the offer in the past and this was the last time I would be able to buy. That if I didn’t I was not going to be able to use Wyndham or my current 405,000 points. Facts are that those programs don’t exist and I now have $30,000 more Wyndham debt for nothing more than points. I didn’t get a new member number or anything. My husband and I called several times trying to find out how to set up the points selling program just to be told each time that it does not exist. I bought nothing more than more points to get to waste. Then when I was in St Thomas was told it was dumb that they didn’t even sell me a different ownership so we would have more booking capability, instead they just kept us in the same access group where we can’t even book the other resorts. I HATE Wyndham. Not only can I not offset those maintenance fees by selling the points, my maintenance fees went up bc I have more points. 😭
I also had a card opened without my consent last year at an owner’s update meeting. I never had any luck speaking to any of the workers at the specific resort location, nor did I receive any response when writing to the board. What can be done about this, as it is an obvious widespread problem? They need to be sued.
My wife and I have a similar story but it’s so similar to many other situations already written about there is no need for me to share all the details of the deception we had with Wyndham.
We’re interested in becoming part of a class action to put a stop to this but so far I’ve found no information about how to get involved in a class action lawsuit against this company.
Would appreciate any help anybody can provide to us.
Thanks