Smugglers Notch and Wyndham

Anybody have thoughts on Smuggs working to convert current owners to the Wyndham program? We just went through the presentation as owners and chose not to convert. We could not justify the expense to pay for the conversion when what we have through RCI is working just fine. We would really like to know what other owners are thinking.

We just went through the presentation too. It seems that maybe we could get more vacation time, but it was very expensive and w also choose not to convert. I would also like to know what others thought.

we feel the same .our salesman was so green ,not informative.Had no idea about smugglers notch.absolutely no incentive for a smuggs owner to buy.We already own have points,why would I pay thousands for more of the same??What about all the resale and brokers trying to rent the "new wynham properties"??They false advertise.making smuggs look cheap

We just had our presentation today. The Wyndham rep said that as more owners "upgrade" to Wyndham it will be more difficult to come back to Smuggs on weeks other than your own. However, on the Smuggs FAQ page regarding Wyndham, it states that this would NOT be the case. Who is correct? As I understand it, Wyndham bought unused inventory from Smuggs and are selling the new construction. If most owners do not change to Wyndham, then trading back into Smuggs as an owner should not become more difficult. Here's to hoping that most owners do not change over to the "dark side." We also couldn't see why we'd want to pay that much money when trading on RCI has been working fine.

We have been a weeks owner at Smuggs for 20 years. We see no sense in changing over to Wyndham. When you do change there are no guarantees on what week you will get to go back to Smuggs. If you are happy with the weeks system stick with it. This is how an honest salesperson recently explained it to me.

Thanks all for posting, Wyndham called us today so we could meet with them. Using your information we will cut them short. We didn't buy at Smuggs because we wante a time share, we bought at Smuggs because we wanted Smuggs. If you have any other helpful tips to get us out of there quickly, let us know.

We also did not buy the "upgrade" to Wyndham at the ridiculous price that was offered to repurchase our own unit. I have noticed, though, that quite a few Smuggs weeks are showing up for rent on eBay. I have learned that Wyndham owners are allowed to rent the weeks, and they are allowed to give the weeks back on relatively short notice if they so decide (are unable to rent them). This is causing me concern as it is likely greatly reducing the pool of weeks available for point members.

First, if they offer $50 for the presentation, tell them you want more. I saw on the sign up sheet that folks were getting anywhere from $50 to $200 in Amex cards. I got $100 I think.

I chose not to buy. The presentation was last year so I don't recall the exact price or details, (it was around $20K maybe more?) but basically my saleperson was pretty slick and it took me about 15 minutes before I realized I would have to pay for the privilege of exchange one points system (RCI) for another (Wyndam). Makes no financial sense. And I say that with a grain of salt since buying a timeshare in the first place makes no sense. Who has time to vacation all over the world? I barely have the ability to get my one week of Smuggs. I'd never use the points, so why bother?

BTW, the deal is bad.

They offered me 500,000 points for my timeshare (week 7). In fact, you can buy 500,000 points on ebay for $3,000 or less.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/wyndham-timeshare-points

Scam.

We also didn't change to Wyndham and have owned here for 7 years. They wanted $50k to keep what we have with an extra week, which would be 3 weeks of ownership...we don't have that much time off! Since the switch to Wyndham management, we get hounded at every check-in to make an appointment for the presentation, which we did the first year they switched. We come here twice a year (summer & winter) and love the benefits, but we miss the old smuggs. We own in Sycamores and on our 'float' week we used to get a comparable condo (Willows, Sycamores, Oaks, Tamaracks), but this week we got Villmarksauna, which I believe is a rental. Sure, we still have 2BR, 2BA and I'm not complaining, but it is not a comparable unit to what we paid for. I do plan to let them know on the survey they send after our stay. I just wonder if this is what is to come for RCI owners who choose not to switch.

We just sat through the presentation and was amazed that they actually said this was not going to harm owners and then 3 minutes later they said it was going to be more difficult to get weeks with RCI. The were asking us to pay 40,000 grand plus 2000/ year in maintennce and it does not really give us anything more. AND then I found 500,000 Wyndam points on ebay for 4,000. WHAAAAT??? Are they crazy? I wish I had checked while I sat through the presentation! I would have loved to hear their response.

For years my family loved Smuggs. Then Wyndham came. We dread checking in, visit 2-3 times/yr so it's a regular annoyance (to the extreme). The check in experience is the first thing I think about as we drive up and the bitter taste in my mouth as we're settling in. Giving up the two consecutive weeks I own in the unit I want to be in for no guarantees of getting the weeks I want and having to move units in the middle of my two-week stay--how much do they want to pay me to convert? Well, they'd have to pay me! But no, they want $50k to sell me another week -I've got two floating weeks already! Unbelievable. Makes me want to sell what I have.

Let me sum up the change quickly as my kids have keenly observed: the entrance sign used to have "welcome!" hanging in front of the "Smuggler's Notch Resort." When Wyndham came they put they "Wyndham" sign where it used to say welcome and the welcome sign after the Smugglers sign. Upon our visit last month my kids observed that the Welcome sign had disappeared entirely. How perfect.

For 7 years we've visited 2x/year too and have the same feelings & experiences. I miss the old smuggs. We tried doing 'express check-in' to avoid the harassment, but it didn't work. We had to say no several times and unplugged the phones in the condo ( we do this at every resort...I recommend it).

My kids and I just returned from our annual week at Smuggler's Notch. We own week 2 at Sycamores but I've always used the swap column to exchange for a week better suited to my kids' school schedules. This year we couldn't get a swap (first time ever) so i ended up renting a week from another owner. Expensive. When i got home i decided i would go right on the Swap Column and post for next year hoping it will work out. I've tried for 4 days and I can't get on the Swap Column ... i've called Owner Services and left messages, no call back. Is it me? Is anyone else unable to get onto the Owners Network? I just have this bad feeling that Wyndham is slowly taking away Owner's options. I hope I'm wrong. I've sat through the presentations for 2 years and for 2 years have declined. It seems crazy expensive for something i already own. I'd appreciate any feedback.

We sat through this presentation years ago and could not be convinced that it was a good deal. We've been happy with what we originally bought. We've had no trouble getting on the owner's swap, and have always had a good experience there. I hope it stays that way. We recently had to give up our ski week because of a change of plans. We posted it and rented to another owner at the last minute, cheap. I think owners can still get good deals there.

The real scam happening is that they want to purchase your deeded time share for some number of Wyndam points. This is like selling your house for monopoly money.

That's what they really want to get their hands on - the valuable inventory.

So, the win here is to keep your deeded timeshare.

In fact, the Wyndam development will be big and will only increase the value of the resort and provide new amenities.

So, not selling is a win-win.

the increasing maintenance cost was killing us almost 13,000 a year ( fractional owner) I was never able to get a trade I wanted from RCI and agin that cost went up to 249 a trade. The last 5 times i went to my unit it was dirty and house keeping had to come back. Timeshare is money pit. and you can't get out because no one else wants it. you can't even give it away. We lucked out because Windham wanted to be some of the fractionals ( we owned 1/3 of year or 17 weeks in North hills Kestrels . We were able to sell ours back to the resort and then windam purchased it. If you have the opportunity to get out do it

you are kidding the maintenance costs of deeded property is ridiculous amours comes to about 900 for each week we own plus 249 to make an RCI trade and I can never get the one i want. So i end up paying for my reservations os I can go where i want when i want. I was lucky enough t sell off my 17 weeks fractional.and now I save myself over 13,000 a year in fees

And now they want to control the way club owners rent out their units and how the benefits and smuggs pass is handled with those renters. The private internet rentals is affecting their rental revenue. Meanwhile, don't they realize that now with all the Wyndham exchangers coming in they are getting the Smuggs Pass for free? Why are they picking on long term owners who barely even use their benefits to the fullest extent or at all? The whole thing is so convoluted. I am keeping my nice 2 weeks at West Hill - summer and floater. Don't rent out my unit (at least yet) and I use my floater there. I rarely exchange anymore. Don't belong to RCI. I use the free independents if I want to exchange my floater.

How are owners feeling about resale options for Smuggs weeks at this point? Does having the Points "upgrade" with RCI make any difference? This is our last year of going, since our child will be 17 this year.