Keeping watch on Trendwest / WorldMark by Wyndham

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

How to cancel a Worldmark trial?

A reader asks...

I just attended a presentation in Vegas for some free gifts and eventually ended up buying the cheaper "trial" period, not the one from the initial seller Wyndham but from corporate Worldmark. I have decided not to keep it and wanted to cancel. I have the address but was wondering if there was anything specific I need to mention to cancel. The address I have is only a P.O box number, not a fax; I will be sure to send it certified for a receipt. The presentation I heard does seem like a good deal and I'm sure the same if you bought from a broker, I just changed my mind. Thanks so much.


I'm not personally familiar with the trial, so can anyone else provide an answer? If so, please leave a comment.

Nonetheless, I'd recommend reading the fine-print of whatever you signed. It should explain if you have any remaining obligation after the Trial Period and how it should be canceled, and whether that is even necessary.

-- Fabbo
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Why buy Trendwest from Wyndham?

I received this very straight-forward question from a reader:

I came across your quite informative site, and was curious about one thing. If there are alternatives to buying the Trendwest program, such as eBay and RedSeason, then why buy Trendwest at all? I mainly want to know what advantages do you get from purchasing directly from Trendwest in comparision to RedSeason?

Thank you in advance for your response.

Alex


Ah, the crux of the matter!

One of the benefits of purchasing credits, Wyndham will tell you, is that you can re-sell them anytime, or gift them to your family in your will. Wyndham will tell you how easy they are to re-sell, making it a sound investment.

Dig a little deeper, however, and you'll find them being openly hostile to the concept. They don't assist people in selling (eg they won't combine two accounts into one credit pool), they do not make any attempt to encourage a resale market (eg an online exchange where people can buy/sell), and they'll suddenly make claims that purchasing credits from an existing holder will not give you access to certain 'premium' facilities (which may or may not be true -- it's hard to get clear information out of them in this area).

So, there's basically two reasons to buy direct from Wyndham:
  • Their strong-arm sales tactics that make you want to buy on the night, without having time to really think it through (they'll say that the deal won't be available if you come back, which is baseless, since they'll try to sell exactly the same thing to another group of people the next night)
  • The buyer's gullibility which lets them purchase without doing adequate research (eg without actually reading the Contract)
Put simply — you'll buy exactly the same thing for half price via eBay or Red Season. That means double the value. Whether that value is still worthwhile (after annual maintenance fees) is still questionable, but many, many people think Trendwest is worthwhile. So, why not get it for half price? That's the logical question, but keep in mind one simple fact — humans are not always logical.

That's why there's no Wynham on the Planet Vulcan. Spock would never fall for such a scheme.

-- Fabbo
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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Well Prepared

From a reader who went to a presentation with clear thinking and fore-knowledge:

Well I read all this before going to our presentation in Vancouver, WA. There's a lot of bashing and what not on here, but like buying a truck or a car, its not for everyone. We went anyways, $75 gift card was offered.

Everyone we encountered was nice (of course the culture here is fairly laid back), We had a nice lady as our sales person. She did ask questions, got to know us a little bit, and our vacationing habits. There was no presentation, so we skipped that part and went right into how it works. Its fairly simple, a studio for example can cost about 7,000-10,000 credits for a week stay at any of the 71 locations they have. They also have RCI for 4,000 credits per week plus a exchange fee ($160) (this is sort of a codeshare type thing where you can stay at other resorts where they dont have their own, new york city for example).

This is all fine and dandy, but then they get to the cost: $10,000 for 5,000 credits, $22,500 for 12,000 credits. You do only pay this once for lifetime membership.

The Maintenance fees we were told covers property taxes and utilities to upkeep the properties, its was $330 a year and $775 a year respectively for the amounts above (think of it as an HOA payment). They offered us in-house financing, which based on our not-so-glowing credit resulted in a 25% down payment to take the offer.

Well we can't afford that for one, secondly, they should think about that. In the long run, if you vacation every year, it can save you money, but you have to use it to the fullest. They also offered bonus time, which means within 1-14 days of arrival, you can book at 4.8 cents a credit, $40-93 plus the occupancy tax. For what you get, its a deal. (We have stayed at a couple of their properties.)

So after declining, we were offered 12,000 credits for $1,880, which you could apply to the ownership if you decide you like it, pay $250 down and $90 a month for it, and it held the "Premier" offer as noted elsewhere on this site for 20 months, the time you have to spend the credits. Well after he found out our credit level, it went to $900 down (50 a month or so, same price, no interest). Again, out of our range for "Right now" spending.

I understand you can get the deal cheaper thru other sites, but I don't know, we are young still, so it can benefit, but its not for everyone. Always read contracts in entirety before signing, You do when you buy a car or house, same here. If you don't like it, then don't sign it. If you signed it and didn't read and now want legal recourse, it's your fault for not reading it. They are a company in the business to make money, and you get you vacationing stays in return, so its not a scam per-say, but again, you do what fits your lifestyle, not Woldmark's, not the other people on this site, but yours.
Yep, you can buy credits for about half price via eBay and Red Season. Thanks for the report and congratulations on being level-headed.

-- Fabbo
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