Wyndham Changed My Cancellation Window Without Notice
No so fast Wyndham. You tried to get one by me but I was not going down without a fight. I needed to cancel and upcoming stay and Wyndham changed my cancellation window without notice. That is beyond shady but the worst thing is they didn’t even offer an apology or explanation for it.
Details On The Booking
I had booked a 2 night stay for our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. Originally we had planned on staying with my parents for 2 nights and then booking a 3rd night somewhere else. We had a family situation arise that I wasn’t sure if my parents would be able to make it any more so I made a reservation with Wyndham just in case.
My wife had 30,000 points left over from her recent Wyndham credit card sign up. That means she also has Platinum status with the program. We had used 20,000 points on our trip to Las Vegas at a Total Rewards casino. That was the main reason I had her get the card. Wyndham also came in handy with my Total Rewards status match and it ended up netting me a free dinner.
I started checking hotel options and figured now would be a good time to burn her remaining points. We settled on the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista. It looked like it had some fun things for the kids and it was walkable to Disney Springs. This opened up more dining options and a free shuttle back from the park via the Disney Springs bus.
Cancellation
Everything ended up working out with my family so I no longer needed the room. I canceled it two and a half days before we were supposed to check in. When I was going through the cancellation process I noticed the terms said if I didn’t cancel outside of 72 hours I would be charged for 1 night. This was strange because my paperwork said 24 hours.
I went ahead and cancelled it online and noticed the points did not get placed back into my account. I don’t have a lot of experience with Wyndham so I thought maybe they have a delay of returning your points. After an hour or so I reached out via Twitter and was informed that I would not be getting my points back since it was within 72 hours of our stay.
I had two issues with this. One, my paperwork says 24 hours so this was a bait and switch like Hyatt tried to pull on Shawn. Two, if that was the case why would I be punished for two nights when the terms say one night? I should have received 15,000 points back at least.
Solution
I responded on Twitter with a copy of my reservation that said 24 hours. No response for 5 hours until I sent another message that simply said: Hello?
That garnered me a response to call the 1-800 number or email them again. I tried email and sent them a copy of my reservation. No response for hours (still have not received one). I then called the 1-800 number and was told my wife needs to add me to her account for me to be able to speak on her behalf. Once she completed this task, which many other loyalty programs do not make you do, I was finally able to get it resolved.
After explaining the issue to the representative they put me on a 6 minute hold while they called the property. I found it interesting that they needed to speak to the hotel to make a loyalty program decision but I am not familiar with Wyndham. She came back and said the points were already put back into the account. There was no need to show proof on my end, no explanation, and no apology for wasting my time. That seems really shady to me.
Conclusion
This is my first real interaction with Wyndham and let’s just say I am less than impressed. I am still not sure why Wyndham changed my cancellation window. My hope is that it is similar to Shawn’s situation with Hyatt where it got mixed up when they made adjustments to the reservation. I doubt that is the case though since I only made the reservation 3-4 days prior to the cancellation.
This is a pretty shady thing to do to your customer, an Elite customer at that. This situation has ensured I will never spend time or energy accruing Wyndham reward points or staying at their hotels. Once these 30,000 points are depleted they will be placed at the bottom of the trash pile with Club Carlson.
I find it annoying when companies do not empower their Twitter teams to resolve issues. It is more cost effective for them and offers a better customer experience so I don’t get why they wouldn’t. That is the difference in chains like Hyatt & Hilton and chains like Wyndham I guess though.
Has anyone else had something similar happen?
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[…] When hotels change their cancellation rules after you book […]
I agree that getting Rewards posted correctly is a constant struggle. Same as @ Gladys I completed the recent Masterpass promo but no 15k WR. I followed up twice, & they said they saw the stays, but I didn’t pay with Masterpass! Finally corrected by elevating the issue to a manager.
Every offer is a struggle to recoup points. But they conversely mispost many error corrections, & I have actually come out ahead over time!
Beware, too, the WR cc, they consistently do not award correct points but are generally corrected thru a SM. Especially their bonus promos, you must audit every transaction. Again I come out ahead by moving up to a manager & awarding me extra WR for my trouble (which is usually imdeed great).
Love the brand, though, many oversized opportunities, so I continue to put up with their IT nightmare & horrible c/s reps who barely speak English.
Watch out too if you listen to their vacay promo after dealing with their reps. They NEVER post the “complimentary” 500 WR without a fight.
When they refused to let me talk about my wife’s account they gave me that 500 point offer….I was like how does that work. I can’t talk about her account but you are gonna give me points for her account? Haha sure you will 🙂
Lol yessss knowing you also can’t call back on her behalf to complain about the (invariably) missing 500 WRs!
The Rewards Center has also made so many errors in my favor, though (in an attempt to make me whole with missing points), I continue to suffer thru the ineptitude!
I recently participated in their book with Masterpass, get 7500 points. I booked 2 stays according to their terms, but never got the points. After I called CS 8 weeks later, they finally deposited the points. No explanation. Should have been automatic. Wonder how many people don’t follow up on Wyndham award promotions
I think a lot don’t think it is worth the hassle. That is what separates us from others Gladys – we will not forgo our points 🙂
I stopped considering Wyndham several months ago for a similar issue. Only in my case it was a cash deposit. After wasting 2 hours of my life, I got the cash back. If I ever need to stay in a Wyndham, I will book through Expedia or another OTA, however, hopefully I can just avoid them completely.
It is even worse when it is cash – glad you were able to get it back. Fortunately I have not stayed in a Wyndham since the Crystal Palace in Nassau when we were stranded for a night because of hurricane Katrina
Wyndham is one of the best programs as it’s easy to accumulate points and then stay at free Hawaii suites or all inclusive.
The 15K free nights is pretty awesome but I don’t think it is worth the hassle if this is the way they do business. But I can see why people would be attracted to the program.
I don’t necessarily think it’s evil intentions, just terrible IT systems and poor customer service.
A lot if the property systems or not orbooorly integrated, so what you see or enter on the Wyndham site and what the hotel has seem to be two different things.
I recently stayed at a Wyndham property that received my reservation by email from corporate, only with partial information: they didn’t have my payment info, didn’t have my rewards number or status, nothing… of course rewards bonus points didn’t post.
So, don’t be surprised if things are messy – that “blue band” of Wyndham Rewards is more like a tattered yarn…
Keeping good records is a must when dealing with Wyndham, that’s the cost of high-value rewards, might not be worth it for some…
Good points Rupert – thanks for sharing. Definitely save your paperwork 🙂
My excitement for the Wyndham rewards has cold significantly since 2016, I used to have positive interactions with costumer service but lately I have found costumer service to be lacking and nonresponsive …. I how ever keep the credit card for the free night, which I use as a throw away night when I start my year Hawaii vacay to see my family
That is a good plan for the free night Allen. Yeah I can’t see why anyone would use them as their hotel chain of choice which is sad because the 15K a night prices are pretty outstanding.
Just happened to me last week as well! https://dealswelike.boardingarea.com/2018/10/11/always-screenshot-your-hotels-cancellation-policy/
Wow so they are doing it on purpose Jen…I guess I am moving the rest of my points to TR and I will be done with them for good then.
I agree no trust there. I even have passed on their lucrative promotions and status match. I want things that are easy.
Agreed – I will pay more for something that is easy and pain free.
Will this article pertaining to Wyndham Rewards changing rules without notice suffice in answering your question, Mark?
https://thegate.boardingarea.com/wyndham-rewards-changed-promotion-rules-on-its-members-without-notice-again/
I have stayed away from Wyndham Rewards for some time now, as I do not trust that frequent guest loyalty program…
Yeah I remember that – they seem to do what they want whenever they want.