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Wyndham / RCI? (by KC):

jeffs946 wrote:

Timeshare are nothing more than an investment in yourself and are only valuable to the individual. One way they industry could improve is offer the actually buy back at a pro-rated rate up to a certain time and then a flat % of cost after that. Here's what I really don't understand- Why they would rather have unhappy clients and owners. I have yet to see one solitary thing anywhere on any website-- saying something good. As an industry or an association member I'm be embarrassed to even tell people where I worked.

I sympathize with your being "stiffed" by Wyndham when Wyndham acquired Shell Vacation Club. That stinks, although it's certainly typical of the "us first, you last" practices consistently exhibited by Wyndham.

The timeshare industry has no motivation to "improve". On the contrary, business is thriving. Clueless people keep parading into those sales weasel presentations and paying large sums of money for empty promises. Many are later willing to give back FOR FREE something for which they originally (and very foolishly) paid tens of thousands of dollars. Why would Wyndham (just to cite one example; this applies to other corporate chains as well) PAY for "buybacks" when so many people are willing to just hand their "product" back to them FOR FREE, delivered on a silver platter? The developer can then sell it all over again (at full freight pricing) to someone else. Why would the developers ever voluntarily change what is plainly working so well for them?

Timeshare developers are in the business of PROFIT --- nothing else. They couldn't possibly care any less about the "consumers".

What *I* would like to see is Federal legislation requiring timeshare developers to notify buyers IN WRITING at the time of purchase, that the ONLY real value in the product they are purchasing is in its' use and enjoyment. The developers should be REQUIRED to make it very clearly known that outside of that use and enjoyment, the "product" may very well have NO monetary value whatsoever by the time the ink on the purchase contract is dry. Too often, people are talked into believing that a timeshare purchase is somehow a "good investment". Nothing could be further from the truth. As a "financial investment", there is probably nothing WORSE than buying a timeshare directly from a developer. Flushing money down the toilet would be equally good as a "financial investment" --- maybe better, since flushing the money down the toilet would not also involve mandatory, ever-increasing annual fees.

This sad situation will continue unless FEDERAL legislation makes it MUCH more difficult for developer sales weasels to lie, exaggerate, deceive, obfuscate and misrepresent. In the current administration, don't hold your breath waiting for better consumer protection. On the contrary, President Tweet actually wants to DO AWAY WITH the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entirely! Then again, I suppose it should come as no big surprise when a bona fide idiot expresses an interest in doing something truly idiotic.