Original Message:
ask-redweek-wyndham-ovation-help-owners-get-out (by Roberta F.):
I joined Wyndham in 2000 and am on the points system. My deed is in Las Vegas and I finished paying for the deed years ago. I, a 76 year old woman, am the sole owner of the deed. In Dec, 2017, I learned about the Ovations Program through the quarterly publication that Wyndham sends to all its owners, and on Dec. 29, 2016, I applied to the program on the Option 3 mentioned above and was told that Las Vegas is one of the resort places that Wyndhan is willing to take back. But I was not given any details as to what I should do or not do during the application process except that I should stay current on my monthly fees. In late Feb, 2017, I spoke to Minerva who works with the Ovations Program and told her I had no info on where my application was. She then told me that I had made a reservation at the Smokey Mountains Resort in early March and this was not permitted while my application was in process. I told her that no one had told me this. So she suggested that since I was so close to the date of the visit to the SMR that I keep my reservation, then reapply to Ovations after I got back from the trip. At the SMR, one of the sales people told me that since my application to the Ovations Program had been approved in late January, 2017, I could no longer be considered a Wyndham owner but no one had even told me that my application had already been approved. In mid March, following Minerva's advice, I reapplied to the Ovations Program. But again I have not heard further about where I am in the process. To complicate communications further, since May I have not been able to speak with anyone in the Ovations Program office. Wyndham says it has a new web system of operations and while I am holding on the phone, I am being told over and over that the company recommends that we deal with our web page to make reservations. Now it is virtually impossible to speak to anyone at the company. I have called first thing in the morning, and throughout the day, but the lines are always busy. Since I applied to the Ovations Program in Dec, 2017, it is now seven months later and I am still having to pay my monthly fees. I am concerned that I am being scammed. In the seventeen years that I have been a Wyndham owner, I have enjoyed my vacations at Wyndham properties but lately the company has changed dramatically. The latest issue of the AARP magazine has a lengthy article on the scams that are operating in the time-share industry and this has alerted me to the fact that Wyndham too may be scamming its owners. The two times that lately I have been lucky enough to speak to a reservations agent, after holding for 40 minutes on the phone, I have mentioned that while Wyndham is no longer able to provide its promised services to its present owners, the company keeps selling to new owners. The reps who are trained to do their job well tell me that I should just have patience and that the company is trying to work out the kinks in their new IT system. I rather smell that a class action law suit against Wyndham is forthcoming. Meanwhile I am required to keep paying monthly fees and I have no way of speaking to anyone at the Ovations Program office. If I dial the number directly to Ovations, I am connected to the Reservations Dept and all day long I get a busy number.