I'm Mad As Hell, But I Don't Know How To Fix Things

Everyday I receive an average of three e-mails from timeshare owners who are confused, feel ripped off and want out.  I can only assist them so much as I'm a writer and an educator, I don't buy or sell timeshare, I'm not an attorney and everyone knows that it is nearly impossible to "get out" of a timeshare, particularly when there are thousands still owed on it.   Day after day these e-mails come in and day after day I try my very best to find out why these consumers don't seek out any assistance PRIOR to buying a timeshare, only afterwards.

Here's the unedited e-mail that prompted this blog post:

Im a very angry Bluegreen owner. I have sent dispute letters and letter to Missouri Attorney Generals office. I have recieved a response from Missouri Attorney General with a nice letter from Bluegreen denying us of our money being returned and letting us out of our timeshares. They denied no wrong doings. I have sent them paperwork on top of paperwork to them showing them how we aren't the only timeshare owners that have been through the same scams and deceptive sales tactics. This has been going on since last August.

 

All this has got us is late payments on our credit and charge off/ collection. So I'm assuming after we contact the Mo Attorney General office within the next 45 days they will start wanting to collect from us. They have told us so many lies. They have even went as far to call us and offer to put is up at the 1000 Hills Golf course. Just for coming in for a owners update. But, they claim we arent pressured into going to owners updates. We choose to go to them, we only go to complain about all the issues we have had. What do they do to help take care of our concerns and issues, get you to try and buy more points.

 

We have 15,0000 bcuz they only way to fix one of our issues was to buy into bronze and that will give us a different screen of availability. Well I guess that explains why we could never get in when we wanted. Because we had 8,000 points. Duh? They highly pressured us to sign up for two credit cards for each my husband and I. After we repeatedly stated we didnt want any new credit cards and mind you we were there for serveral hours and our salesman who we were there for a owner update to explain again our issues. Nevermind that he knew I was very sick and had a headache and was threwing up.

 

I could go on and on about Bluegreen. Like they told us we would be deeded Big Cedar and that we own a one bedroom unit. Also that we wanted to be deeded at Big Cedar because it will be worth alot of money later. We can hand it down to our kids. Not telling us that we would owe for a lifetime and our children and there children and so long would be responsible for rising maintenance fees and club dues. Also that if there was a major disaster we would be liable for assessment fees. They told us with our 8000 would allow us to take our 3 girls and us to Disney. Wow what a lie. We could sell a week on eBay and make money off it.

 

A good one was a sales person told is that the employess do that and make money and then buy more points to continue to sell time at Big Cedar for people to buy to come stay there. Also were told by a sales person the reason why we couldnt get in when we wanted was because they went public and hugh corporations were buying up a hugh part of the inventory. I have in sight on their sales tactics from a former sales person who told us they were told to say anything to get a sell. If they dont sell they are fired. Which explains the high turn over of salespersons there. I should send a copy of the letter Bluegreen sent to the Missouri Attorney General. I always paid all my monthly payments and maintenance fees and club dues in time. I only stop paying them when we kept finding out things they told us were lies. Otherwise if they did what the promise and sell you we would still be paying.

 

We paid on one time share since 2005 and the other one 3 years(this is the one we had to upgrade to so we could stay there at Bronze level) I so tired worrying myself sick with Bluegreen. I am on a mission and looking for someone that can actually help us be done with this horrible company once and for all. Do you have any insight for us?? 

You can sense her frustration and frankly, I'm equally frustrated.  These sales tactics are reprehensible and make me ill.

However, it makes me equally ill to read that a consumer purchased such an expensive product...two of them...without doing so much as a cursory Internet search or verifying anything that the salesperson said...such as the number of points it would require to take a family of 4 to a resort near Walt Disney World.

Even if I were to be able to get this one person a refund...and that is doubtful to say the least, it doesn't stop other salespeople from such practices and doesn't stop consumers from making similar purchases without doing their due diligence.  How can something as good and fun as vacations have been tarnished like this?

And how do we fix this?

7 Questions You Had Better Be Asking

Ah, summer vacation season is here.  Beaches, theme parks, tourist attractions, dining, cities and oh yes, for millions of people, one or several timeshare sales presentations.

 

As I've said for years, timeshare can be a great thing for some people.  However, you had better be asking something more than "how much is it?" before making any decisions.

 

Here are some starter questions:

 

1)    Do you understand all the terms and conditions of the contract?

2)    What are the current maintenance fees?

3)    What is the five (5) year history of those fees?

4)    Are there any special assessments and if so, what are they and what are they for?

5)    Is the HOA (Home Owners Association) under developer control or owner control? 

6)    How much of the resort is sold out?

7)    What is the current delinquency rate among owners?

 

If you don't know why you should be asking these questions...perhaps this is not the time to purchase.  If you'd like more questions to ask...e-mail me.

Enjoy!

Bluebell Ice Cream Understands "It"

Lately, Blue Bell Ice Cream has made some mistakes...some of them serious.

However, they maintain a loyal following in part, because of their ability to recognize, fix and move on from those errors.

Take a look at this video clip:

http://wordofmouth.org/blog/wom-tip-223-owning-your-mistakes-is-just-as-remarkable-as-fixing-them/#comment-19748

The difference between Blue Bell and other companies is quite simple:  they don't operate in an us vs. them mindset, they own their mistakes, they talk about them and above all, they are mistakes, they don't have a history of unfulfilled promises, misrepresentation and doing wrong for the consumer.

Lessons to be learned no doubt.  Who is paying attention?

Help STOP This Timeshare Bill From Passing In Florida

We received this today from our friends at the Florida Timeshare Owners Association and want to pass it along:

IMPORTANT AND URGENT!

The information provided below is from the office of my District's State Representative, Greg Steube.

The proposed revisions to the Florida Timeshare Act, having now been approved by the Senate and the House, are now being sent to Florida's Governor, Rick Scott, for either his approval, or his veto. Once he receives the bill, HB453, he has up to 15 days to either sign the bill, or veto it.

Many timeshare groups, including ours and the National Timeshare Owners Assn., have voted to object to its passage, due to the extremely harmful and immediate negative effects that the proposed changes would create for all present and future owners of timeshare property located within the state of Florida, as well as, in the future, all 50 states.

This bill was created and submitted for legislative filing by the Timeshare Resort Developers, for their sole benefit, and will directly damage and negate the multiple consumer rights and protections that all Florida unit owners have now, that are currently existing within the present state statutes. This bill, HB453, favors only the Resort Developers, and was also supported by the American Resort Developers Assn., ARDA, and their subsidiary, ARDA Resort Owners Coalition, ARDA-ROC.

In order for us to obtain the Governors veto, all individuals and organizations opposed to this bill, must register their objections to this bill's passage directly to the Governors office within the next few days. This is vital, as the Governor's staff is now keeping records of all emails, and especially, all telephone calls, that they receive advocating for a veto.

I am requesting your participation in our efforts to convince Gov. Scott that a veto is most necessary and that the current law should remain unchanged, in order that we, as timeshare owners, may retain its many built-in consumer protections.

Please contact the Governor's Office, by his direct telephone number, 1 (850) 488-7146, Legal Affairs, and state that you are opposed to House bill #453, and request his veto of this bill. A phone call is preferred.

For those who prefer to email the Gov., his direct email address is: Rick.Scott@eog.myflorida.com

Please note:  You do not have to be a resident of Florida, or even presently own a timeshare in Florida, in order to have your objection registered with the Governors Office. It is also not necessary to provide your address in order to object.

Every FTOG member should/must be concerned enough to participate in this major effort that will impact you, as well as  family members, and all other timeshare owners, effective July 1, 2015, if not vetoed.

And please remember that "Time is of the Essence". Our "window of opportunity" diminishes every day we delay!

 

We stand with FTOG and the NTOA on asking the governor to VETO this bill and sit down with the entire timeshare community to work  on a new set of timeshare laws that are fair to both sides.

 

It shouldn't be a matter of win/lose, but a win/win.

 

Let's do this!

All Star Guest Blogger Reviews The Cliffs at Peace Canyon

Before I commence my review of The Cliffs at Peace Canyon I would like to give a few reasons why RCI members should consider a visit to the Las Vegas area. The first reason is obvious ie for the gambling in the numerous casinos on the strip and nearby. This may be the main reason why numerous people come to Las Vegas but it certainly is not for me as I have now visited twice for multiple other reasons. Another reason why people should consider visiting this city is for the top rated shows which are too numerous to mention here in my review. The high end shopping at places such as many of the hotel/casinos will be an attraction for others. Other people will enjoy the free shows on the strip such as the water fountains at the Bellagio. Many people will enjoy just walking around and looking at the sights at the fantastic Las Vegas hotels  Perhaps for myself the two main attractions for visiting Las Vegas was the superb warm weather in the spring and fall without the humidity I am used to at that time of year in Florida. Above all for me the principle attraction for visiting Las Vegas is to take trips to places such as the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. The last two National Parks were visited on my last trip to Las Vegas and were booked through the timeshare resort with Sweet Tours and what a superb day out it was for us though tiring as it involved travelling about five hundred and sixty miles in one day with a 6-15am pick up from the resort.

I will now commence my review of The Cliffs at Peace Canyon and I would like to start by getting my two negative comments out of the way. Firstly this is one of those resorts where after checking in you are directed to a member of staff from 'guest services' After my fiancée and I had been travelling for about twelve hours all I wanted to do was to get to my unit and rest however we were subjected to the usual invitation to attend a free breakfast or lunch and then have a timeshare presentation to become an owner at the Grand View resort in Las Vegas. I had to say no several times before the lady in question understood that no meant no and we were then able to go to our unit. The second negative about this resort is that my fiancée and myself were not alone in finding the sun loungers to be too firm and uncomfortable. I went up to another guest one day who was sitting on a chair with her feet on another chair. I asked her why she was doing this and she said that it was more comfortable than using the sun loungers in my opinion she was correct in having that view.

I slightly hesitated in making these two negative comments because in every other way this is one of my favourite resorts in RCI. I first visited this resort about twelve years ago and I liked it then and I like it even more now as the units are so spacious and comfortable. I like the fact that both bedrooms in the two bed unit are at the opposite end of the apartment which gives more privacy for the guests. The units have their own washer and dryer which is very convenient. I found our unit to be very quiet but that to some degree depends on who your neighbours are in any particular week.

The pool area is very pleasant with water tumbling into the water on either side of the pool. The pool has a maximum depth of four feet which is unusual in my experience but it was not a problem for me.

I found all the staff to be friendly and helpful especially the young members of staff on 'guest services' as I had some contact with them through booking my day trip to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

The resort has an excellent computer room which you can use at any time of day. This was particularly useful for printing our boarding passes for our flights back home. There is also a fitness room which to my shame I never stepped into even to look at what equipment they have on offer.

As I am British I am not very comfortable driving on what I see as the wrong side of the road!!!!!!LOL hence I try to avoid visiting timeshare resorts where having a car is essential. I don't believe that it is essential to have a car at this timeshare resort as they have a free minibus which will take you to a large supermarket. The main purpose of the minibus is to take you to the strip which is about ten miles away where they drop you off near the Mirage hotel and casino and from time to time they will take you to Fremont Street. This service is an hourly service leaving the resort from 10am and the last pick up at the strip is at 11-30pm. There is a period in the afternoon when there is no service because the driver is having his lunch break. I met three drivers and they were all very friendly especially Steve from England who supports the English football champions Chelsea while this Steve from England supports Sheffield Wednesday for my sins!!!!!!!LOL.

I have often done reviews for Timeshare Insights at timeshare resorts where there is very limited availability several resorts that I have reviewed in England come to mind also the Manhattan Club in New York is another example. This is not the case with the Cliffs at Peace Canyon as RCI has availability for most weeks over the next two years and at a reasonable exchange trading power. Another issue I should mention is this resort makes a charge of twenty five dollars which you pay at check in this is I believe for services such as the internet though there is a further daily charge of one dollar fifty for high speed internet. While I don't appreciate these extra charges which are now quite common especially in California twenty five dollars for the week is far better than the thirty dollars a day daily charge at the Manhattan Club in New York.

I ask myself at the end of every timeshare vacation would I go back and the answer is yes as for me the positives far outweigh the negatives at this lovely peaceful timeshare resort on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

Timeshare Owners Deserve Better

On Wednesday, April 29^th, the Florida Senate unanimously passed HB 453, which contains language that significantly shifts more power to timeshare developers and further limits rights that timeshare owners currently have.

The bill originated in the Florida House of Representatives by Eric Eisenaugle was replicated by Senator Kelli Stargel.   According to Lobby Tools.com, the bill(s) “Revises provisions relating to timeshares, including amendments made to timeshare instrument, public offering statements, release of certain escrow funds, written advertising materials, real estate licensure requirements, fee requirements, multisite timeshare plans, substitutions & deletions of component site accommodations or facilities, etc.”

Sounds like a small amendment, however vague.  However, when the National Timeshare Owners Association got late wind of this bill and took a closer look at it, what they saw alarmed them.  “This legislation is detrimental to timeshare owners and their ownership interests as well as to good developers who have no problem complying with current laws”, says Gregory Crist, the Association’s President. “We think consumers will likely be exposed to certain rouge developer practices that we haven’t seen since the 80s and 90s.  What this could do to the reputation of the industry remains to be seen.” For those of you not old enough to remember, the 80s and 90s was when the timeshare industry gained its less than stellar reputation for honesty and transparency, and to their credit, continues to make strides towards overcoming that reputation to this day.

Prospective timeshare purchasers as well as owners are already at a disadvantage due to language written into all timeshare purchase contracts which state that any and all oral representations made by anyone during an oftentimes 3-4 hour intense  presentation are deemed immaterial.  Basically that means anything told to the consumer by the marketing person, the front desk person, the sales person, the sales manager or anyone else representing the resort means absolutely nothing, even if the consumer relied on it to make a purchase  A license to lie?  You tell me.

The NTOA started an online petition https://www.change.org/p/florida-governor-veto-senate-bill-932-florida-timeshare-act?recruiter=282528011&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive designed to persuade Florida Governor Rick Scott to veto the bill.  It states in part; “The bill allows developers to almost unilaterally decide what constitutes “compliance” and “materiality” with regard to mistakes and omissions in contracts. The bill also restricts owners’ ability to challenge the legality of their contract after the 10-day rescission period required by current law.  As you know, developers already hold all of the cards in timeshare transactions; Potential buyers are subjected to verbal high-pressure sales tactics that, under current law, are not actionable. Developers provide buyers with long and complicated contracts that are very difficult to read much less understand, and which are written to protect the developer.  Beyond that, most timeshare developers don’t even offer, to this day, programs that will allow longtime Florida owners with medical or financial hardship to get OUT of their timeshare contracts while their mandatory maintenance fees continue to increase.”

The cause and the petition have gained support from consumer friendly organizations such as RedWeek.com (2.1 million registered users), TUG (50,000 members), TimeSharing Today magazine, the Timeshare Board Members Association, Frank DeBar, President of the Florida Timeshare Owner Group and Florida Real Estate Broker and timeshare reseller Tom Tubbs who says; “The timeshare industry has had more than its fair share of negative publicity through the years.  This legislation has the power to peel back years of consumer protections and return the industry to the “us first, consumer last” or “us vs. them” way of thinking.  It is shortsighted to the nth degree.”  Robert Brooke, President of The Villages Timeshare Owners Group had this to say, “Timeshare owners' rights need to be protected. Lack of buyer/owner confidence will cause the industry to collapse.”

Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel recently wrote; “What should surprise — and gall — you is that the Florida Legislature is trying to pass a law to decrease the industry’s obligation to disclose things and make it tougher for buyers to get out of faulty contracts.”

The bill is being supported by the American Resort Developers Association-Resort Owners’ Coalition which has this to say on it’s website; “The proposed amendments to the legislation would provide benefits for the timeshare industry at large by clarifying current law to include the operations of timeshare plans organized as real estate trusts, which are not currently addressed in the statute. Additionally, the bills propose to make a number of changes that would potentially save owners hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, provide additional detail and transparency to current disclosures and provide new tools for associations.”

The NTOA and the above named organizations and I do NOT see how this bill would provide “additional detail and transparency to current disclosers.”  In fact, we see exactly the opposite, e.g.; “The bill allows developers to almost unilaterally decide what constitutes “compliance” and “materiality” with regard to mistakes and omissions in contracts.”

No consumer input was considered by Representative Eisenaugle or Senator Stargel.  Clearly, consumers are the lifeblood of the timeshare industry.  They deserve a better deal than what this set of laws offers them.

Five and Almost 10 With...Perry Newton

Perry is with AZURE Resort who I had the distinct pleasure of meeting during the recent ARDA Conference.


What was your first job in timeshare?

OPC

What was the greatest lesson you've ever been taught?

Treat people the way you would like them to treat you.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Turks & Caicos, Peovo

If you could change one thing about timeshare, what would it be?

Create a universal resale market value.

What is your favorite color?

AZURE Blue of course!


Thanks Perry!

Want to be included in this blog?  Just drop me an e-mail at lisa@timeshareinsights.com.