Documentation


Table of Contents


Overview

The WM Owners Credit Manager is designed to allow owners to independently track credits in their account, their usage and their expiration dates.

The application has two main sections: Credits and Reservations. After some initial setup where you enter basic information about your account including the number of credits you receive each year, your annual credit blocks are added automatically. You can then enter reservation information and assign the appropriate blocks of credits to cover the cost of each reservation. If you rent credits from someone or obtain additional credits through the purchase of FAX credits or via trade credits, you can add these credit blocks and track their usage and expiration dates.

On-screen analysis allows you to see how each block of credits is assigned to reservations or, on the reservation side, see which blocks of credits were used to book a specific reservation.

A built-in reservation calculator tool helps you see what the earliest check-in date possible would be based on a booking date for all the various types of bookings including bonus time, fun time, inventory specials, 13-month-out reservations, etc. Conversely, you can select a desired check-in date and it will calculate the earliest date you could book for that check-in date for the various reservation types.

An export function is also included which allows you to extract the credit and reservation information to an Excel spreadsheet as well as show which credits were used for each reservation.


Initial Setup

The program form is resizable. Simply move the mouse over any of the program borders, click the left mouse button and hold it down while dragging the edge of the form to the desired size.  A minimum size is enforced to prevent covering up important fields.  Upon exiting the application, the size will be stored and the main application window will be reset to that size next time it is run.


The Credits Tab

This tab shows blocks of credits in your account. The source, date obtained, total amount, balance and expiration date are shown.  Annual credits which have not yet been deposited into your account, but which are available to borrow from, are shown in blue with (Borrowed from) prepended to the source description.  Any credit blocks with an available balance that have an expiration date that has either already past or is within three months of today's date show their expiration date in bold and red.

You can change the sort order of the list by clicking the column header of the column by which you wish to sort.  Clicking a column header a second time will reverse the sort direction.  You can also change the width of a column by placing the mouse over the right edge of the column header to be resized, clicking the left mouse button and holding it down while moving left to right to resize the column.

If you want to hide blocks of credits which are older or have already been completely assigned to reservation, check the Hide zero balance box. All blocks of credits with a zero balance will no longer show in the list until you uncheck the box.  This setting will be saved and will be reset to your preferred option each time you start the program.

Annual credits will automatically be added to your account when it is created.  Every time you run the program, it check to see if the account's anniversary month has been reached.  If it has, it automatically adds the following year's annual credits as a new block from which you can borrow. Annual credit blocks cannot be removed.

The status bar at the bottom of the form will show on all tabs and shows the total balance of matured credits available as Current balance, total balance of credits available for borrowing as Available to borrow, the sum of these two numbers as Total available, and the amount of credits assigned to reservations with future check-in dates as Total in pending reservations.

Adding credits

Sometimes, owners obtain additional blocks of credits through rentals from other owners, purchasing FAX credits from Trendwest, or by trading other timeshare weeks in exchange for trade credits.  These blocks of credits can be added via the Add credits button.

The Source field allows you to describe the origin of a new block of credits.  Examples are "Rented from Joe", "FAX purchase", "Depoe Bay RC Trade Credits". 

The Credits field is where you enter the number of credits in this block.

The Obtained date lets you track when you obtained this block of credits.

The Expiration date lets you keep track of when the credits in this block expire.

Showing credit usage

After selecting a block of credits from the list, you can click Show usage to see how credits have been assigned.  The popup list shows a list of reservations, information about the reservation, the total Credit cost of each reservation and how many credits from this block were Used toward each reservation.  A final row shows the available balance for the block.

Editing credits

If you need to change information on an existing block of credits, highlight the reservation and click Edit reservation.  If the block of credits is an automatically-added, annual credit block, a confirmation message will warn of this condition and ask if you are sure you want to continue.  You can change any information on the block of credits including the number of credits in the block.  A box showing the number of credits from this block that have already been assigned to existing reservations will be shown next to the amount of credits in the block.  You will not be allowed to reduce the credit block below the number of credits in use without editing the associated reservations and assigning other credits.

Removing credits

If, for some reason, you need to remove a block of credits that you manually added, first highlight the block to be removed and click Remove credits.  If the credits are currently assigned to existing reservations, an error message will be generated informing you that you must first cancel those reservations or reassign other credits to them.  If no reservations are connected with the selected block of credits, you will simply be asked to confirm removal of the block.  Clicking "Yes" on the confirmation will remove the block of credits from the account file.

Annual credits can not be removed. NOTE: If you are renting out annual credits to another person, enter the rental as if it were a reservation, but note the rental info in the Resort box (See the Reservations Tab section)


The Reservations Tab

This tab shows reservations you have entered into your account file. The resort, booking date, check-in date, number of nights, check-out date, credits used, housekeeping fees, TOT (Transient Occupany Tax) Fees, Bonus Time or Inventory Special fees, confirmation number, cancel by date and notes are shown in the list.

You can change the sort order of the list by clicking the column header of the column by which you wish to sort.  Clicking a column header a second time will reverse the sort direction. You can also change the width of a column by placing the mouse over the right edge of the column header to be resized, clicking the left mouse button and holding it down while moving left to right to resize the column.

If you want to hide reservations whose check-in dates have already passed, check the Hide completed box. All past reservations will no longer show in the list until you uncheck the box.  This setting will be saved and will be reset to your preferred option each time you start the program.

Adding reservations

To add a reservation, click the Add reservation button.  You will be prompted to enter the resort you booked, any notes you might want to make about the reservation, the date you booked it, the check-in date, number of nights, cancel by date, any fees charged, number of credits used (if any), and the confirmation number. 

At the bottom of the dialog, a list of credit blocks with available balances is shown.  If the reservation used credits, you can automatically assign credits to the reservation in order of expiration date by clicking the Auto-assign oldest credits button.  All assigned credits will first be unassigned and then credits will be assigned in expiration date order using the full available balance of each block until the unassigned balance is zero.  If there are insufficient credits to cover the reservation, a warning message will appear.

If you want to assign credits manually, select each block of credits you want to use for this reservation and click the Assign button.  If you need to use more than one block, you should assign them in order of consumption.  For example, if you have 2000 remaining annual credits for this year, and 10000 available to borrow from next year, and you are making a 9000 credit reservation, you should first assign the 2000 credit block and then the 10000 credit block.  This will reduce the 2000 credit block balance to zero and the 10000 credit block to 3000.  If you assign the 10000 credit block first, it will consume 9000 credits from it as there are 10000 available. 

To override the number of credits to be assigned to the reservation from the currently selected block, change the value in the Amount box to the left of the Assign button.  By doing so, you can completely control how many of each block is assigned to this reservation.

If you wish to remove a block of credits from use on the reservation, highlight the block and click the Unassign button. Any credits assigned to the reservation from that block will be returned to the credit block's balance and the unassigned balance adjusted accordingly. To accurately track your credits, you should assign credits to your reservations in the same way the online reservation system or Vacation Planning center used them.

Once the Unassigned balance is zero, you can click OK to save the reservation.

Showing credit sources

If you want to analyze which credits were used to book an existing reservation, highlight the reservation in question and click Show credit sources.  The displayed list will show information about the credit block(s) assigned to the reservation including the source, date obtained, total amount in the block, amount used for the selected reservation and the expiration date of the credits in each assigned block.  A final line shows the total credits assigned to the reservation.

Editing a reservation

If you need to change information on an existing reservation, highlight the reservation and click Edit reservation.  If the reservation check-in date has past, a confirmation message will warn of this condition and ask if you are sure you want to continue.  You can change any information on the reservation including unassigning credit blocks and assigning different blocks as needed.

Canceling a reservation

If you need to cancel a reservation, highlight the reservation and click Cancel reservation. If the check-in date has past, a confirmation message will warn of this condition and ask if you are sure you want to continue.  If credits assigned to the reservation have already expired, you will be warned of this condition.  After confirming you want to cancel the reservation, all assigned credits will be returned and become available for usage in the appropriate credit blocks.

Alternate method:  If you wish to keep a record of reservations made but later canceled, you can edit the reservation, unassign any credits, change the credit cost and any fee amounts to zero, and modify the Resort field to show something like "(CANCELED):Depoe Bay".  The reservation will still show in the reservations list, but the credits will be freed up for reuse.


The Account Info Tab

See Initial Setup for more information

You can make changes to your account info at any time.  Changing the annual credits amount will only affect future annual credit automatic deposits.  You must click Save changes to save any changes to the account file.


Managing Accounts

After initial setup, each time you execute the program, it will automatically open the last account file accessed.  If you have only one account, this makes it convenient and easy to use.  If, however, you have multiple accounts, you can create additional accounts and select them by using the Account menu.

Account/New

This closes any open account file and returns you to initial setup mode.  If you complete the Account Info tab and click Save changes, a new account file will be created. 

NOTE: If you enter the same owner number as an existing account file, a warning dialog will ask if you want to erase the existing account file and create a new, blank account file with the same owner number.

Account/Open

This opens a dialog box where you can navigate and select an account file to open.  Account files are normally named with the owner number as the filename followed by the WMO extension.  Simply select the account file you want to open and click Open.

Account/Add historical annual credits

If you have been an owner for awhile, and want to go back and enter all reservations you've made, historically, you can use this option to have prior year's annual credits added to the credits tab.  You simply enter a year and all annual credits since that year will be added for you.

Account/Run FIFO

Recently, the online booking system has started to implement a FIFO re-shuffle of credits to help people use the oldest credits available in the next-earliest upcoming reservation. It is especially problematic for people who make and cancel a lot of reservations and end up with their newest credits not being used by their furthest-out reservation creating a chance for a cancellation to lose credits due to the expiration dates. Selecting this option will apply a FIFO (First In First Out) algorithm that will unassign all credits from all reservations with a check-in date AFTER the selected "FIFO run date" and then reassign credits using the first-expiring credits for the chronologically soonest upcoming reservation. You will still need to confirm by phone with Owner Services to see if FIFO has been run on your account, but this menu item will allow you to automatically re-shuffle your credit assignments in what should be a similar manner to the way the WorldMark booking system operates.

Account/Exit

This exits the program.  You can also click the X in the upper-right corner of the form.


Tools

Tools/Reservation Calculator

This popup tool allows you to determine various important booking and/or check-in dates.  You can change any of the dates on this form and the others will be calculated.

Examples:

You want to book a week for credits next July.  Change the pull down at the top from Booking date to Desired check-in date, and set the date next to it to the day you want to check in. The rest of the dates will automatically re-calculate and show you the earliest day on which you could book each type of reservation.

 

Or, if you simply want to know what the earliest check-in dates are for each type of reservation if you book on a certain date, select Booking date in the pull down, enter the date you will make your reservation and the reset of the dates will automatically recalculate and show you the earliest check-in date you could book for each type of reservation.

Tools/Dues Calculator

This popup tool allows you to determine the monthly, quarterly and annual dues, or maintenance fees, charged for any amount of credits.  It will also calculate the annual maintenance fee cost per credit.

When selected from the Tools menu, the form will automatically show the annual dues for the amount of annual credits entered on the Account Info tab for the current, open account file.  You can enter any positive value in the Credits box and click Calculate to recalculate the dues for that amount.

 


Disclaimer

NO WARRANTY

BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.


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