Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Yet Another Group of Timeshare Owners In Need of a Platform-The Manhattan Club Saga

About a month ago, I received an e-mail about the alledged wrongdoings at The Manhattan Club.  As I do not own, nor have ever owned a timeshare there, and since the e-mail seemed to be addressed to about 200 or so owners, I briefly read the e-mail and filed it.  That was the first of about 100 or so e-mails I've received since then.  It seems that owners at The Manhattan Club are very, very angry.

So, I decided to open up this blog again to these owners to give them a platform and hopefully gain some traction and attract some attention.

I DID NOT START THIS BLOG FOR THIS ISSUE AND WHILE I AM PLEASED TO HAVE THIS PLATFORM AVAILABLE FOR OWNERS, IT SADDENS ME TO NO END TO HEAR FROM UNHAPPY OWNERS.  IT DOES SEEM HOWEVER, THAT TIMESHARE COMPANIES ARE NOT WILLING TO DEAL WITH OWNERS ON A ONE TO ONE BASIS...ONLY WHEN AN ISSUE REACHES A CRITICAL MASS OR REACHES A BLOG OR OTHER OUTLET DO THINGS SEEM TO CHANGE.  HERE'S HOPING FOR A CHANGE.


The Manhattan Club TimeShare is a scam.  They have 286 rooms and “14,000+ plus plus owners”.  They keep selling the same 286 rooms to more and more people.  I paid $20,000 to purchase an ownership in the Manhattan Club. The maintenance fees have more than doubled.  I paid $2,000 in maintenance fees for my 1 week time share this year alone. During the sales presentation I was told that the maintenance fee increase would be no more than 10% a year. There is no limit on how high the Manhattan Club maintenance fees can go.  When I come to New York I have to stay in another hotel because I can’t get a room at the Manhattan Club were I am an “owner”.  You have to book your room 9 months to a year in advance to guarantee you can stay there. They do not tell you that in their sales presentations. Sometimes even that does not work. 

This is not listed in any of their printed material, the contract, or their website.  You also are not told that they have 286 rooms and 14,000+ owners. The Manhattan Club never tells how many "Owners" they have.  And, they are constantly soliciting new “Owners”.  I get mailings each month and phone calls asking me to refer people as possible owners.   If an owner can’t book a room then the owner pays for nothing. You lose your money.  How many thousands of times can you legally resell and slice and dice the same 286 rooms?

The Manhattan Club aggressively works to collect their maintenance fees.  Even if "owners" are not able to book a room.  They threaten you with legal action if you do not pay them. Manhattan Club owners are duped into signing a deed that gives that ownership of nothing.  In reality the Manhattan Club owns you.  You have to pay their fees and may get nothing in return.

The Manhattan Club also offers their rooms on the internet on hotel.com and other sites to the general public.  

The Manhattan Club takes money knowing full well they do not have the capacity to provide rooms to all the people they promise rooms to as owners.  Looking at their website I saw at least 3 promotional offers inviting people to stay at the Manhattan Club.

Today I received an email asking me to refer more people to the Manhattan Club.

I invite other owners to post on the blog and of course, I hope that managment at The Manhattan Club does as well.

8 comments:

steve burton said...

I have just returned from a weeks vacation at the Manhattan Club which was booked over one year in advance through RCI. I received two E mails prior to my stay offering me inducements to attend a sales presentation which they call a preview. I declined and perhaps surprisingly I was not bothered by phone calls from the sales staff during my stay. I have friends who I know from another timeshare resort who until recently owned at the Manhattan club. They told me that they gave their week which cost them over twenty five thousand dollars back to the Manhattan club for nothing. They did this mainly because of the vast increase in maintenance fees since they became an owner in the late 1990's. I was told that so many owners are seeking to give back their weeks for nothing that there is actually a waiting list of owners wanting to give back their weeks. Perhaps to some degree this answers the question as to how they can continue selling at the resort. I feel that most people would view this matter as unsatisfactory. Just imagine if they told you at a sales presentation that space at the Manhattan club is hard to book, fees will increase by far more than inflation and that their is likely to be no resale value for your week that they are trying to sell you for tens of thousands of dollars. I wonder how many buyers they would get under those circumstances?

steve burton said...

I have just returned from a visit to the Manhattan club which was booked over one year in advance through RCI. I received two E mails prior to my visit asking me to attend a sales preview which I declined. I have friends who until recently owned at the Manhattan club. They bought their week there for over twenty five thousand dollars back in the late 1990's but mainly because of the vast increase in maintenance fees gave their week back to the resort for nothing. It is my understanding that so many owners wish to deed back their weeks for nothing that the Manhattan club actually have a waiting list of owners seeking to do this. I guess to some degree this answers how they can keep on selling the same apartments. It may answer that question but in my opinion it is a far from satisfactory situation that purchasers pay tens of thousands for ownership only to have difficulty even giving their week away at some time in the future.

Anonymous said...

I own 7 days of annual flex time at The Manhattan Club and I have been successful in getting a room there for a total of two days over the past three years. They just charged my credit card last week for $2,162 for the annual maintenance for next year. Maybe, just maybe, if I'm lucky I'll get one day there this year. Unless reservations are made over 9 months in advance the chances of getting anything are very slim, unless, of course, you pay 3-4 hundred a night through expedia or hotels.com because there are always rooms available for rent, just not for owners.

Lisa Ann Schreier, The Timeshare Crusader said...

I'm curious if anyone has the actual case number that has been filed. I think that most of you would find this interesting, so if anyone has it, please post it or e-mail it to me and I'll be happy to.

Anonymous said...

Having just found this blog I can totally agree with these comments by other owners. We have owned two weeks for a number of years and find it impossible to book. Also they are still selling weeks. I believe this is a deceptive practice and am wondering if there is the possibility of legal advice on a class action or reporting to the N.Y. attorney generals office.I wonder if other owners would support such a step.I would prefer to apy some money to resolve rather than fees every year for charges for nothing.Look forward to any comments.

Anonymous said...

I'm a disgruntled 10 year owner as well. I just got off the phone with reservations and was unable to book 4 or 5 nights 9 months in advance. I pay my fees automatically on a credit card and I paid cash for the timeshare, so there are no money issues to prevent a timely booking. Booking has always been a struggle. I feel that I have held up my end of the bargain. Not being able to book time 9 months out is unreasonable and outrageous.

Anonymous said...

I read that the case was dismissed on one of the other sites, Redweek? or something like that.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I own 2 contracts, each of them for 7 nights, including 3 weekends. As the years have gone on, we have been increasingly unable to use our time. We have complained many times to various Owner Agents at the Club, but the next time we return that person isn't working there and there is another person in their place. The rules that they have in place do not help the owners. They are actually a hindrance to owners making use of their time. In addition to not being able to get our time, the maintenance fees have become astronomical. They have gone up over 300% since we bought our timeshares. So basically now we are paying about $350 per night for time which we are not able to use. Obviously, no one wants to buy the timeshare from us, and the Manhattan Club has refused to even take the contract back. The only way they offered to take it back from us is if we pay the next year's maintenance fees in advance but not use the nights. We have been trying for about a year to get the Club to take back our contract, but they have stuck with this ludicrous option - we need to pay THEM over $2500 for them to take the contract back.