Keeping watch on Trendwest / WorldMark by Wyndham

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Collections Conumdrums

Oh dear. I received this question via email:

I became an "experience" (trial) member after being told in the presentation that you could pay half of the total cost, use all the points, then cancel your membership.

When the time came to cancel I was told you can't. The woman I spoke with at corporate offered a work-around solution; stop the payment on the account, let it go into collections, then after 4 months it will be worked out of their systems and you'll be in the clear. This solution shouldn't affect my credit because they never got my social security number and they use an internal collections department. I called to verify this three times.

On their advice I canceled the payment and have been receiving collection calls for a month. Now my worry is not if it will ruin my credit, but if this will result in a lawsuit for breach of contract. Any ideas or comments?


Oh dear indeed. You're playing with fire, my friend. Unless you've got any of this in writing, my recommendation would be:
  • Get something in writing that says what you owe, and that if you pay it you have no further commitments to their organization. I suggest YOU write this and have them agree to it.
  • Pay what you promised you would pay (after all, you did make a contractual commitment)
  • Get a receipt in writing
Yes, somebody might have told you one thing and other people say differently, but the fact is you'll be a lot better off settling the matter and getting on with your life. You don't want this carrying on for years and ruining your credit rating. Cut your loss and move on. You'll never win without something in writing.

-- Fabbo

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

NZ Student wants out

A reader says...

Dear sir,

I read you'r article on you'r web side, i am a member on trendwestch since 2007, and i am paying 250 NZ $ each month, I am also not happy on their service. As you know do you have any advice how do i cancel my member ship cse i am still paying my money from my credit card, (If i advisce to my credit card centre to stop this payment i know the paymount will stopped)But the thing is They have been advisce to me if i did that i may BLACK LIST with financial market and i want be able to get any loan or other purchasce from the open market and the any bank from the world. IS IT TRUE? Can you advisce PLEASE.I am an student and it's very hard to continue this payment.

B. regards,
(Name not displayed)


Well, this all depends on what you've signed-up for.

If you have a Trial membership, it should stop at the end of your trial.

If you have purchased Credits, you can always sell them via eBay or Redseason.

However, if you financed your purchase through Trendwest and still owe them money, you will need to pay them the outstanding amounts.

I suggest you contact Trentwest and ask them how to stop the charges. If this does not work, I recommend you contact an Accountant or a Lawyer ('Solicitor' in NZ) to discover your options.

Good luck!

-- Fabbo
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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Horrible People

A reader in Washington State says...

All the negative feed back about Worldmark Trendwest is correct. I'm here in Wash, state and the Worldmark people are the same here. Very rude if you're just there for the gift even though that's how they get you there.

Also, when I told them maybe give me some time to make a decision (a day, maybe a week) that might not be a lot of money to most people but it is to me, so I can't justify making a decision that big over a hour and half talk, they laughed and said it's a one time deal good for today (that's funny, since then I know of others who have been offered that same deal, they've even called me back a few times) HORRIBLE PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Stay away, it's not worth your time or the humiliation they put you through.


Yep, they say it's a once-only deal, but strangely they offer it every night!

-- Fabbo
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