My wife and I were coerced into signing a timeshare contract we never really wanted through several acts of fraud on the part of Wyndham Vacation Resorts. This is our story.
On September 9, while we were vacationing at the Fairfield Inn in Atlantic City, New Jersey, we were approached on the street by an associate from Wyndham Vacation Resorts who invited us to attend a 90-minute timeshare presentation in return for $100. We were not familiar with timeshares, so we went to find out what it was all about, and we went that same day. The presentation lasted nearly 3 hours.
Christian E. Highlander was the sales representative who told us about how wonderful it would be for us to purchase a timeshare at Wyndham. He told us what wonderful vacations we could take if we were owners at Wyndham. Christian explained that we would be making a good financial investment because timeshare ownership was the same as owning real estate, and that the value would keep increasing as time went by. Then, if we no longer wanted the timeshare, we could easily sell for more than we had bought it. And, Christian said, that if we bought it right then and there, we would get the best price possible. The deed, he said, would be for a resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Plus, he said the deed had equity that had been paid by a previous owner and we would get a $10,000 discount because of it.
Christian used all kinds of statistical information that was too confusing to comprehend, but looked impressive. There was no way to check the validity. We trusted him to be telling the truth. It didn’t occur to us to question it.
He said that we could use the timeshare to go anywhere in the world or for plane tickets, cruises, rental cars, etc. But later, when we did try to book at a resort, there was no availability in any location we wanted. This is not a useful benefit! The other items, we found we could get much more cheaply in other ways than by using timeshare points.
Or, he said, we could use the timeshare to make money by renting it out to others. This way we could earn enough money to pay maintenance fees and loan payments—the timeshare, he said, would “pay for itself.” Christian also stated that there were tax benefits and deductions that could be made for the income taxes—just like with real estate. We believed all that he was telling us and were excited about putting our money toward an investment that would make more money for us.
Christian promised to be a personal representative for us to help with rentals or even to help us sell, if we wanted to. He said to call him any time with any problems and even gave us his number. (We were never able to get a hold of him after this day.)
We agreed to a program costing $15,000 with 4 to 6 weeks at 254 points every odd year. It was minutes prior to closing time, so Christian began rushing us to sign and finish all the paper work. Even though we asked, we were not allowed to take the papers to read and study before our final decision to purchase. The price, he said, would be much higher if we did that. Now we were coerced into buying while all the while saying ‘no.’
While still in the signing process, we were informed by a phone call that our sister-in-law’s health was rapidly declining. She had been battling lymphoma cancer. She unfortunately passed away on the 15th of September. It was a very tumultuous time for us where we unfortunately were not able to focus on the recent purchase.
When we finally had the time to go through the paperwork, we discovered that we had been sold Atlantic City and not Las Vegas as promised. This switch we regard as illegal. We were given solid reasons why a Las Vegas deed was better than an Atlantic City deed, and that’s what we purchased. Its not what we got. We also found out that we were past the one-week period allowed for canceling. We contacted the finance department anyhow because of our special circumstances because we wanted to cancel, but they told us it was too late. They would not accept any explanation. We are stuck. We were willing to send any documents, such as a death certificate, that Wyndham would need to prove the validity of the circumstances we were under. But they said that wouldn't matter. Now we know we were coerced into buying while all the time saying “NO.” And because of the death in our family, we were in no proper state of mind to have gone through the paperwork in detail on the signing day. Yet, it was pushed on us. We now realize that Christian and Wyndham took advantage of our great distress. We initially trusted Christian E. Highlander because of the Wyndham Vacation Resorts name. Now we know we should not trust anything that comes under Wyndham’s name.in looking over our documents, we see a notary page, but neither of us recall signing a notary log, which we thought was legally necessary.
The maintenance fee went up from $66.45 a month (12 months = $797.40 a year) to $76.58 a month equaling $918.96 a year. We were greatly surprised as we did not expect such a dramatic increase in such a short time. This type of information was not given by the sales rep or anyone else during the presentation. We had no warning that the maintenance fees might go up.
We desperately want this contract canceled and our money back. We have contacted Wyndham directly, but they refuse to negotiate or even talk to us any further than to tell us we signed the papers, so we must pay. We have filed complaints with the BBB and the FTC. Wyndham's reply to the BBB is no different then the one to us. They say they did nothing wrong and that we need to provide proof of our alligations. We wish we had a recording of the presentation so we would have proof of what we were told, but we do not have a recording. Also, we assumed that everything we were told by the sales rep was the truth, even if it wasn't specifically stated in the contract. We were duped by a slick talker and tricked into a contract by acts of fraud. They should not be allowed to get away with this.
We have also complained to ARDA, the Florida, New Jersey, and New York Attorneys General
We are both from India, and English is not our first language. Someone helped us write our complaint letters and helped with this complaint.in India, we could have trusted that what we were told was the truth, and we mistakenly assumed things were the same here. Now we know—trust no one. What a sad way to be.
We want this fraudulent contract canceled and our money refunded.
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