jimmc66

Along with the closure of several Wyndham corporate run and/or managed locations, relations with Wyndham franchised locations look close to collapse:

BLUE MAUMAU

I would suggest if you've got any Wyndham points saved up, you look to cashing them in quickly.

yscleo

That doesn't sound too good.

I only have a few stays so not many points to do anything with. But I do have some bookings with non-8 Wyndham hotels. Hopefully these won't be affected.

aces

Wyndham's stock has risen 98% in the past 6 months.

lugliflo

You make a strong point, Aces.

I am EVP Marketing at Wyndham and wanted to let you know that Wyndham is a strong company and it's growing despite the economy. We have over 7,000 hotels in 65 countries, and our loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards, has more than 7.5 million members. Also, I'm proud to say that Wyndham Worldwide, our parent company, was listed as one of FORTUNE magazine's most admired companies in 2009.

While we don't discuss our business relationships with franchisees publically, I will say that we have good, solid relationships with most owners. We value their input and welcome honest and open discussion with both franchisees and consumers. In fact, each of our hotel brands has an advisory board which works hard to represent franchisees. As a result, each owner not only has access to the board but directly to brand leadership.

I hope this clarification helps put you all at ease.

rustyr

Welcome to flyertalk lugliflo! It's always nice to have an insider on the forum. Maybe you could shed some light on the recent fiasco/10K promo that is taking forever to credit bonus mileage to accounts for those dully owed? If you not familiar, please read the thread "10K miles after 3 stays" in this forum.

Evan!

Yes please do what rustyr said. The company you have contracted to manage the WR program is killing your reputation/business with travelers who are attracted to points/miles. Having the worst reputation for a loyalty program is actually worse, IMO, than having no loyalty program at all. The IT is not there. The customer service is rated poor at best (and I am being kind). The terms and conditions on the 10K promo were sophomoric and likely a copy/paste from some other hotel's promotion.

With that said, welcome to flyertalk lugliflo. If you want to see what kind of corporate goodwill one can generate on FlyerTalk I suggest you look at a thread in the US Airways forum titled Up to a 250% Holiday Bonus. An insider for a company called Track It Back has created a nothing-but-positive response from thousands of customers by being present, vocal, responsive, and helpful on that thread. Good luck and hope to hear more from you and often.

yscleo

Well said. Hope Wyndham would listen and take action.

RobertTheTraveler

The Super8 franchises have always been the most disagreeable and customer-unfriendly in the WR hierarchy IMHO. I logged 20+ Super8 stays at perhaps a dozen properties on the west coast during 2006-2008.

The check-in process was always a challenge, with many locations still having me fill out little 3X5 cards with all my information --- even though I had booked the reservation weeks in advance, using the WR or Super8 website, while logged into my WR profile. And even if I had stayed at their property 5X before ("I should be in your system" was generally met by "Everyone must fill out the card").

During this same time, I stayed at Days Inn, Ramada, HoJo, and Travelodge properties as well. Check-in was generally easy and simple. The clerk would print out my information, I would initial acceptance on the paper, and be checked in -- just like most other major hotel chains.

For the small subset of Super8 properties I visited, it was flashback to the 1950s in terms of the check-in process.

Further, these properties ferociously fought the now-dead "Stay Free BRG" program. Several times, after being approved for a free night weeks in advance, I would show up and the motel would attempt to deny the claim, saying that "everyone has to pay, there are no freebies". All would be settled with a quick call to WR customer service.

Clearly, these unhappy franchisees may not renew. I have never stayed at an "Americas Best Value Inn", so I don't know whether they have modern systems sophistication or whether they still use 3X5 registration cards to check in, charge extra for a second guest, or offer any perks to a frequent guest. Many of these disgruntled franchisees will probably be happy turning their properties into a "Super7" or a "InsertCityName Motel" or some other really tacky name. Frankly, their general clientele at many locations seems to be trucker-oriented or extreme value-oriented. Those customers will probably continue to stay there. Customers who want to earn points or miles, or who want a hassle-free experience will likely select another property.

RobertTheTraveler

The OP mentions the "article" which refers readers to the "Owners 8 Association" (www.o8a.org). What seems like a reasonable website becomes extraordinarily customer un-friendly when you click through and read their various issues.

The horror at "amenity creep". Or how about "Guest must present number to property to get points" rather than from info provided on the reservation. Demanding a two week notice for QA visits (presumably so they can spruce up the property and give a false impression of the "quality").

These jokers don't believe in ANY CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

OK, I will grant that these are rough times. And if a motel proprietor has the rules of the game change on him without adequate notice, that's not fair either.

If they are so unhappy being WR affiliates, then just leave.

Evan!

That page just hangs and hangs on me. I've tried three different browsers. All the same. Strange.

starflyer

That page (www.08a.org, with a zero) doesn't hang for me using IE7. Regardless, I would suggest that you try www.o8a.org (with a letter o) instead.

aces

That link has a "zero" in the name. Use a capital "oh" instead. It just worked for me.

As for the site content, I'm inclined to agree with Robert. I go to Super 8 for a clean, comfortable room at a good price, as well as points that I can use down the road. Imagine my surprise to find that the franchise owners (1) resent complying with QA requirements, (2) resent charging me bargain rates, and (3) resent giving me points at a reasonable rate. If these folks were looking for my sympathy, they sure didn't get it!

lugliflo

Thanks to all for your comments. We're working hard to address many of the issues discussed here, and have several initiatives underway to improve your experience. We're always looking to improve the program based on the suggestions we receive from our many loyal members.

Regarding the 10K miles after 3 stays, it's taken a bit longer than expected to post points and miles, and I'm sorry for that. We're trying to process them as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience.

tcook052

How do we go from strained relations with some franchisees to the OP's thread title? Seemed very misleading and inaccurate IMHO after reading the linked article.