I TRULY APOLOGIZE THAT I HAVE TO ASK YOU TO SIGN ALL PETITIONS BUT IF THEY TAKE ONE DOWN, I WILL HAVE THE BACKUP TO SEND TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU, CONSUMER FINANCE PROTECTION, US DEPT OF JUSTICE AND THE PRESIDENT. I AM REQUESTING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKE TIMESHARES ILLEGAL THROUGH AN EXECUTIVE ORDER, WHICH SKIPS OVER CONGGRESS.
PLEASE SIGN ALL THREE PETITIONS AND LETS PUT THESE CROOKS OUT OF BUSINESS. I ALSO AM ASKING THAT EVERYONE WHO WAS DEFRAUDED IN A TIMESHARE RECEIVE THEIR MONEY BACK THROUGH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THERE IS A CLAUSE IN THE TIMESHARE AGREEMENTS THAT KEEP THE TIMESHARE OWNERS FROM PARTICIPATING IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, BUT IT DOESN’T KEEP THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FROM FILING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ON OUR BEHALF. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THIS IS THEIR JOB, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM MASSIVE AND PERVASIVE SCAMS LIKE TIMESHARES:
I TRULY APOLOGIZE THAT I HAVE TO ASK YOU TO SIGN ALL PETITIONS BUT IF THEY TAKE ONE DOWN, I WILL HAVE THE BACKUP TO SEND TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU, CONSUMER FINANCE PROTECTION, US DEPT OF JUSTICE AND THE PRESIDENT. I AM REQUESTING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKE TIMESHARES ILLEGAL THROUGH AN EXECUTIVE ORDER, WHICH SKIPS OVER CONGGRESS.
PLEASE SIGN ALL THREE PETITIONS AND LETS PUT THESE CROOKS OUT OF BUSINESS. I ALSO AM ASKING THAT EVERYONE WHO WAS DEFRAUDED IN A TIMESHARE RECEIVE THEIR MONEY BACK THROUGH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THERE IS A CLAUSE IN THE TIMESHARE AGREEMENTS THAT KEEP THE TIMESHARE OWNERS FROM PARTICIPATING IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, BUT IT DOESN’T KEEP THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FROM FILING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ON OUR BEHALF. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THIS IS THEIR JOB, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM MASSIVE AND PERVASIVE SCAMS LIKE TIMESHARES:
We purchased a timeshare with Westgate in Gatlinburg, TN March 2010. In November 2020, after frustrations with WG & personal reasons, we tried to Deed Back 2 timeshares. All mortgages were paid off & maintenance fees were never late. We were denied.
- Branson, MS River Terrace - Gatlinburg, TN Smoky Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, TN River Ranch Resort & Rodeo - Lake Wales, FL Flamingo Bay Resort - Las Vegas, NV Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino - Las Vegas, NV Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort - Myrtle Beach, SC Lakes Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Palace Resort - Orlando, FL Towers Resort - Orlando, FL Town Center Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Vacation Villas Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Park City Resort & Spa - Park City, UT Historic Williamsburg Resort - Williamsburg, VA Blue Tree Resort - Orlando, FL Painted Mountain Resort - Mesa, AZ South Beach Oceanfront Resort - Miami, FL Tunica Resort - Robinsonville, MS Central Florida Investments, Inc.
In communication with WG it was mentioned that the “banking” information was in our Public Offering Statement. We then discovered we didn’t receive the POS in paper form, even though we signed the Receipt for Timeshare Documents requesting the paper form. The CD-ROMs only had the POS for WG of Park City, UT (not Gatlinburg) & the amendments were from 2006. In Tennessee, it is illegal for that document to not be included in the contract.
I have filed with the BBB, but WG continues to claim our concerns are “time-barred”. I believe that in stating it is “time-barre” WG may be admitting to wrongdoing but claiming we just didn’t find it soon enough. However, a clear case of fraud, deception, or concealment, for instance, where the plaintiff is misled into believing that the wrongful act did not occur cancels out any claim to "time-barred". Also, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the plaintiff reasonably should have discovered that he or she has a claim. This equitable doctrine is called the "discovery rule." We did not discover that we didn't have the correct documents until 11/2020. There are many lawsuits involving hundreds of owners, regarding Wg & deceit (Hambacker, Moore, Overton, Sparks). These Lawsuits mention deception that occurred in a "standard practice" way.
We have spent a lot of money with this company, Westgate. The reps told me that to remove my ex-wife from my account I would have to purchase a new account. They told me I would have to combine both accounts into one and purchase a new account at an amount of nearly 30,000 dollars. I have found out since then I could have removed my ex-wife from the account by simply removing her by contract since I was “awarded” the timeshare in the divorce.
I was told by the company that my timeshare would be double that amount in value when that is also not true you can sell these timeshares for a dollar on eBay. I went to Florida in person to again talk to Westgate, this is when they told me they could not assist me in removing her even after I was making all of my payments they had no care to help me other than putting me into a whole new account to remove her. I had no choice but to get a new account this is when things got really screwed up they were supposed to merge my account into one I was told just to get this new account and they would take care of cancelling out the other account.
This was not done correctly either so now I had two accounts that I could not afford and not any closer to removing my ex-wife from the first account. Westgate was supposed to make this into one account but all they cared about was making more money and no concern that I was struggling on making both payments on those accounts. This business does not treat there customers with respect the way they should if they would have done this right in the first place I would not have had to take care of three accounts. The only time this was fixed was when I came to Florida again for a third time, this time they sold of both of the other accounts and removed my ex from the account.
This left me with a huge payment because I once again had to purchase this new account to straighten this all out and I had no interest in starting all over but I could not afford two accounts along with making the yearly property taxes on both. I should have never had to get 3 accounts just to make this go away and keep spending more money that I did not have. This started out at nearly 8000 dollars and now it is over 30000 dollars total I have put into these accounts. This is something I have had a lot of stress over for my family and a company like this should not be doing this to customers. Westgate has done nothing but lie to me about the steps on this. I should not be paying for Westgate employees sales people mistakes.
Beware of Westgate Resorts. My husband and I were celebrating his birthday at their Paradise Road Resort in Las Vegas, when Westgate staff offered us a “free breakfast.” For a start, the breakfast was very poor, and then this sales rep who could hardly speak English began trying to sell us a timeshare. And he would not stop.
He was going on and on and he was ruining our day. When he finally got the message, he went and got his manager and the whole thing began again. These sales reps kept us prisoner in this hot stuffy room for 8 solid hours, the whole day. They finally got us to sign up for one of their timeshares, and we did this just to get out of there.
Now we have the timeshare, and we have discovered that it does not work as the reps described it. And how could it? Most of the money we paid went on their commissions. In brief, going to Westgate Resorts is a sure way to ruin your vacation and also your finances. Don’t do it! Just say No to Westgate.
I made reservations at the Westgate Hotel Las Vegas, they made it for the wrong dates & when i called to add a night they had no record of the reservation. The reservation was made two months before our flight, they screwed up & reserved for July & my reservations were for Sept. We were consided a no show, which i can live with getting charged for one night (which is the Hotels policy) but they refused any refund because they couldnt rent the room, which should be they're problem. Me & my girlfriend spent 4 hours getting runaround on the phone trying to resolve the situation but at the end of the day we said Screw-it & got a new hotel....will never use Expedia or stay at WestGate hotels ever again.
I booked a room to get away from Hurricane Irma, and they charged me $75 when I cancelled within the allowed cancellation time period. When the storm track showed that Orlando would be hit, I changed my plans. I called them a day before the cancellation period ended, and they still kept $75 of my deposit.
I found several of their resorts on Travelocity, Hotels.com, and Trivago. Each site shows a phrase highlighted in green, with a large checkmark, that says: "Free Cancellation" I booked with the company directly at their 800 number.
The booking process was painfully slow, reciting each letter of name, email address, etc. Cancellation terms were read to me, declaring that their usual cancellation policy required a three day (72 hour) notice, i.e. three days before arrival. However they were changing that policy for me, to allow me to cancel up until 24 hours before arrivel, i.e. by Friday 9/8 at 4 PM.
The lengthy and detailed process was repeated by a second agent. The spelling of names, email address, etc. was repeated "for security". Again I was told that I could cancel up until Friday 9/8 at 4PM.
On Thursday 9/7 the hurricane track changed, and the track at that time showed hurricane winds from coast to coast in Florida, and the eye running directly through Orlando. I decided to head for the Florida panhandle.
I called Westgate Resorts to cancel my reservation, at 7 PM on Thursday 9/7 - 21 hours before the end of the allowed cancellation period. I was informed that there would be a $25 charge. I reminded them that I had been allowed a 24-hour period, and there should be no charge.
I told them that I was avoiding their property because a severe hurricane was projected to pass through that area. I told them that the Governor of Florida had asked hotels to be liberal with cancellation policies.
The agent spoke with her supervisor and returned to tell me that the cancellation required a $75 "administrative fee". I had paid a deposit of $251 when I first booked, so they refunded $176, withholding $75 for the fee.
I complained to Call For Action in my city. Today (9/14) they tried to help me by speaking with the company. Together, the agent from Call For Action and I, we spoke with an agent, for a very long time, and then with a supervisor at Westgate. The supervisor agreed to refund the $75, and gave me a transaction number.
It has been four hours and there is no refund yet processed on my card. Whether the refund comes or not, this report reflects the company's attitude and policies. They fail to live up to their policies to the disadvantage of their customers.
It is notable that the supervisor never apologized. She mentioned that there was no need to call my bank, a TV station (host of Call For Action in my city), etc. She described how the purpose of her action was so that we all "could move on". Clearly this company has done this to scores or hundreds of people. There was no mention of an error of policy, information, or ethics.
This company has resorts in Orlando, Las Vegas, Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach, and Gatlinburg. They have plenty of cash and plenty of lawyers, but they have no ethics and no shame. And they certainly have only derision for their customers.
My wife and I sat through a 90 sales presentation at a Westgates Resort in Orlando Florida. We declined to buy, but did pay for a "lock in" package that included a week at a Westgate Resort and three free weekends at any Westgate property.
We paid $595 and were promised everything we would need would arrive in a "big package" in the mail. Several weeks later we received a simple business envelope with a membership to their vacation clun Leisure Time Passport. There was nothing on the website instructing you how to redeem your free travel.
I called them and was told they have nothing to do with that. I called Westgate and was told I would have to call reservations. I called reservations and they told me I did not have three weekends coming.
I complained and they believed me but said the salesman lied to me! I was told to call customer service. They told me I had to speak with the resort where I bought the package. The resort said I had to call member services. After an hour, everyone agreed I was mislead, but everyone said there was nothing that could be done.
Planned a vacation last year with west gate resorts. Daughter unfortunately broke her elbow 3 days prior to trip. Had medical papers, etc. was not granted any type of refund. Had to pay more money for an extension. Was supposed to travel this summer to resort. Which is now burnt down. Called for refund, lawyer sent letter. No responses. Wanted us to once again pay more money. I'm devastated. No money back at all.
The Bar & Grill manager named Israel was not able to set my payment bill to my reservation account.He was very rude to me because I had no money or credit card in hands. He treated me like a criminal. At the end He called his boss and easily solved the issue checking my ID and my reservation number. "If I call the cops you go in to jail for no pay the bill" he said. I was hosted in Westgate Lakes Resort and I will not going back in the Bar & Grill restaurant anymore. If he is the manager, is his duty deal with costumers issues, specially if they are guest hosted in the resort. I feel very embarrassed Usually when we call the manager is to solve the problem, but when the manager does not, who you call? (ghostbusters?)
My husband and I saw one of Westgates ads stay 4 days and 3 nights for $79.00 which includes 2 tickets to the Wild Bear Falls water park and $50.00 Dining Dough Dinner Certifcate. We knew for that price we would have to go through a presentation for TIMESHARE and that was ok because it was something we wanted to do anyways. We called instead of making our reservations online because we have 3 kids and wanted to see about getting tickets for all 5 of us. After giving name etc the gentlemen on the phone asked our income. My husband told him and told him that he was self employed. So after few minutes and some back and forth we
get 4 days and 3 nights along with 5 tickets and food certificate for just over $125.00 We where told we would be staying at River Terrace Resort and that we would have to go through 90 minute tour or we could face being charged $300.00. We where like great we get a little Vacation and get to see about getting a time share so win win Right? Wrong!!!!! So we print out paperwork with all information and our itinerary they set up.
We had date of arrival and departure, Next was our Tour information which was 6/2/17 @ 9:30 am along with water park tickets and food voucher. So kids packed and can't wait. River Terrace has 2 outdoor heated pools and
bottom floor room for me because I'm disabled. Sounds great Right? Well we get to hotel and check in. So we do get to check in early and staff was above and beyond nice and helpful. Room is clean little outdated but very clean. We are on top floor which goes up a big hill but we could access from parking lot. One pool was closed and the other wasn't warm despite saying it was heated. Fast forward to Friday June 2nd we had a 9:30am time to tour Westgate for 90 minutes TIMESHARE spill. We arrive at 8:30 am check in and asked again about income. We sit there for another 30-40 minutes and then our name is called and we are told to
fill out yet more paper work. Filled out and return it and that's when the craziness starts. We where informed that they don't take self employed and asked for tax papers to prove income. Ok who carries their tax returns with them on Vacation and why when we called and made reservations where we not told this Westgate Resort didn't take self employed? So after another 30 minutes we where told we could take Travel tour at 12:30 so we wouldn't be charged $300.00 We explained that we had our 16, 14,and 9 year old back at hotel and that we had made plans and that we had never been given our wterpark tickets or food cards which you don't get
until you come to take tour which again wasn't told when we made reservations. So my husband speaks to Robin who we assume was a manager and she assures us that our kids could go to water park which would be downstairs from where we where going to be no problem. So we go get kids come back it's 11:30 We check back in and told again to go take kids on to water park and come back and wait for our guide. We get to water park and lady takes voucher and goes through spill of wearing bracelet and then she ask ages. We don't lie and tell her 16,14 and 9 and she said they can't stay without adult. Now mind you this is after we
where assured by front desk and Robin that they would be allowed. By this time I'm hurting so bad because these people have done nothing they said and at every turn someone is telling us one thing to turn around and do another. My husband goes back to office and I'm left there with 3 kids who have waited the whole trip to go to this water park only to get disappointed. So I'm crying because I feel bad for them and I'm hurting and in pain and so stressed. So another employee and young gentleman comes up and ask if he could help. I tell him about 930 appt and the whole deal and now after being told come back and promised kids could go
to park now we are told different story. He said sounds screwed up and that they should have held to 930 appt seeing we had no way of knowing this Resort didn't take self employed when we made reservations if we wasn't told. So then here comes Robin she assures me that kids will be allowed in while we tour and through my tears I said ok but I told her seems like to me left hand doesn't know what right is doing. Robin takes kids inside water park only to come back out 10 minutes later saying they can't swim because our almost 17 year old can't watch 9 year old. At this point I loose it. I call my husband who is still in office trying to figure
out how come we wasn't informed of self employment wasn't accepted and why not after we have been here 2 times why they are asking now for proof of income. Robin comes out and says I can take them to outdoor pool so you can do tour and of course my kids are hurt and upset and I make them go because I don't want to miss tour and them charge us another $300.00. So kids go to pool and I'm standing waiting and a lady and another couple who was in 930 group asked me what was all the deal. I told them what was going on and they said well we don't make that and we got to tour and then the older lady told me be glad because the free
breakfast was nasty and that staff was rude when she wouldn't commit and both couple and lady said that when their 90minutes was up and they where going to leave that the staff kept on and they said we said no again and again and that the staff kept knocking price down and finally told them that they could be TIMESHARE owners for less than $100.00 a month. Both couple and lady said I'm sure we could have gotten it down to $50.00 a month but after staff was told they wanted to think about it before committing they got rude so they left. Finally my husband comes back and asked if kids where in water park I said no Robin took them
to outdoor pool. My husband is livid by now because nothing anyone has said or promised has been done. So back to office and by this time I'm a complete mess barely able to walk and I'm sitting where we had to wait for our Tour guide to call our name while my husband is having yet another conversation about us being jerked around. So I'm sitting there watching my husband wait on Robin or Cassie to come back and talk to him and I'm crying others ask me if I'm ok but not one employee ask me anything. As sit and tell others there to take tour I'm fine it's just my MS and Fibromyalgia causing me pain I am nice and don't say anything
going on and that all this and the stress was causing me to hurt worse. Now it's 12:20 husband still waiting and I finally hobble over to him where by now Robin and Cassie both have joined him. He let's them have it telling them they can't keep stories straight one saying they don't take self employed other says it where lady who gave us paperwork put down another amount and made us $2000.00 short of their requirements and now they both even after Robin showed my husband a paper of their guidelines that they don't take self employed she now is Turing tail and saying it has nothing to do with that when that's all they have Harped on till now! I
broke in and again after 9 or 10 times before ask why was this not told to us before now? I said I can see if we booked online the oversite, But we called and spoke to a person who is a Westgate Resort employee and not once did he mention any of this and had us believing tickets and food voucher would be given at check in. Of course I'm still crying and upset and Robin tells me to calm down and I said what right do you have telling me to calm down when we have held up to our end of agreement and you have done nothing you have said or promised on your end. Then we are informed that we have missed our appt and that we would have to come
back later today for another!!!! That's when I loose it and asked how did we miss it when we have been right here and no one has called our name? They try to say some bullpoop that our name was called and I know for fact it wasn't and called them on it. So seeing they knew I had them they said well you can take tour but you have to answer questions and participate. My husband fine but I will answer honestly and that's when we where told we where dismissed. My husband what to you mean we are dismissed? They informed us that we wasn't allowed to take tour and asked to leave. My husband said fine but my card better not get charged
because we agreed to take tour we have been here since 830am and now it's 1245pm he asked them again why we where not allowed to take tour and that they didn't want other potential buyers to hear what we had to say. So we get in our vehicle and have to go hunting our kids. My husband said call bank cancel cards because they aren't charging us for a tour we where at and then they jerked and lied to us about. I call bank at 1247 and guess what our card has already been charged the 300.00 so we get kids and leave. Yes we are pissed and with good reasons. 1st if you book someone a room and you know what they do for a living and their
income and you know the resort doesn't do self employment then why book it? 2nd If you see a confirmation with time and date from your company then honor it. 3rd if your can't or just won't honor it then don't go talking out both sides of your mouth and making promises and saying things you don't intend on keeping. 4th If the staff there is any indication of how Westgate Resorts does business then I pity they people who do buy into it. 5. Don't have your guest and yes we where guest made to feel like we where 2nd class citizens because of a screw up on your end. Learn that the customer is always right and epically when they have all the
paper work provided by the very company your working for!!! 6. Instead of making a situation worse by giving people the run around how about saying this. Ok you where missed informed or never told about our policy and we are sorry and we will hold to the agreement as shown on your reservation but be advise if you are interested in buying a TIMESHARE we will have to see more proof of income. That would have been a simple fix, But nope I truly believe you have to sell so many a day/week or come up with lame reasons to charge people credit cards. 7. What happened to people talking in private? YOU DIDN'T WANT US TO SAY WHAT WAS
HAPPENING IN FRONT OF POTENTIAL BUYERS BUT YOU NEVER SAID LET TALKS ABOUT THIS IN MY OFFICE. I truly believe you was hoping we would cause a seen as it's funny a security guard was only 2 feet away on our last conversation and he was motion too by one of the other employees to come stand 2 feet away from us. Intimidation doesn't work well for myself not my husband because we had every right to be upset and if we had been yelling then I could see a reason to have a guard over there, But I guess seeing how we where lied to and promises broken why not just add intimidation to your list of why BUYERS SHOULD BEWARE!!! You know
I was brought up to tell the truth no matter even if I knew telling it would get me into trouble and when you have employees of a big resort telling you we understand your disable we understand that you wanted to tour and probably purchase a TIMESHARE with us because it may be last time I am able to walk with walker and I want to have something that if the time comes I'm in wheelchair that I can still enjoy myself because of the access to pools and other amenities you offer and that you will do everything you can to see to it that we can tour and you promise you will uphold our reservations seeing you knew that it was a mistake on Westgates
end and not ours, Too just turn around and lie again. I even went on to explain that we would more than likely purchase a TIMESHARE from you and you where happy to hear it, But after the way my family and myself was treated it will be a cold day in Hell and I will let everyone I know how they lie and don't keep up their end and it's all a scam to get you there with promises of this and that and then you get there and if you didn't know of a rule they have it's your fault not theirs in their eyes. I guess we should count our blessings that we saw the truth on how they view their guest and how they will treat you even if it's their mistake. Despite Westgate
Resorts treatment of us on our last day, We had a good time and have and will continue to search for a TIMESHARE to buy. Please just be careful when dealing with Westgate Resort know the hidden agenda and know that What the left hand says isn't what the right hand goes by. And just know that if you do go to the Gatlinburg Westgate Resort you will not be staying there until probably 2018 as we where told. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
I stayed for one week at the resort and overall my stay was okay, but there are some areas that require serious attention and a review of personnel training and procedures. I complained to the management with a letter after my stay, but they didn't even respond to me.
1) The ice maker in the refrigerator did not work. After turning it on and waiting 24 hours it still did not work. I pulled the refrigerator away from the wall to discover the water was turned off. I turned the water on but the hose leaked badly so I had to turn the water back off. It would seem that the issue was not reported or not repaired. I find it hard to believe that other guests would not have reported that the ice maker did not work. Someone turned the water off and the average guest probably would not have bothered to do it and not called room service about it if it was leaking. If it was reported, maintenance dropped the ball and didn't repair it.
This caused me to have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the ice machine for the building. I found the machine on the 3rd floor only to discover it was out of ice. I find it unfathomable that there is only one ice machine for an entire 6 story building in the summer heat when a lot of the rooms are probably split rooms with the single bedroom not having a refrigerator to make ice. How does one ice machine for a 6-story building make sense to anyone in Florida heat? As bad as that was, there should be signs outside the elevator door on every floor telling people where the ice machine is located since there was only one for the whole building. Find a way to add more ice machines. One machine per building is not acceptable.
2) The light bulb above the tub was burned out. Housekeeping should have caught this and maintenance should have replaced the bulb prior to my arrival. This leads me to think that housekeeping was cleaning the bathroom in partial darkness and didn't do or say anything about the light being out.
3) There was black mold growing inside the shower in the caulking and along wall edges and corners. Housekeeping should have caught this and used shower spray cleaner with bleach to kill the mold. There was also mold growing on the a/c vent above the bathroom sinks and on the wall in the toilet area. There was also a lot of unsightly looking hard water deposit buildup on the shower window ledge over the sink due to water leaks from the shower. This is not something an owner or guest wants to see in their room.
4) The air conditioner air intake vent had a lot dust accumulation on the metal grate. Maintenance / housekeeping should be checking and cleaning this as people with allergies like myself suffer with headaches from the accumulated dust which I did in that room. I woke up with headaches everyday either from the dust on the vent or the mold in the shower or mold in the a/c vents them self.
5) The outside doorbell did not work which I found out after my food delivery person could not get my attention and stood outside for 15 minutes trying to back trace my room number to call me to alert me that he was outside. Because of this I had to leave the outer door open for other deliveries which didn't sit well with the guests in the adjoining suite due to security concerns. Someone on staff should be checking this. Housekeeping can check it when they clean the rooms and report it to maintenance.
6) The patio screen door closer was falling off the frame and only being held by one screw on the door frame. It was evident multiple repairs were attempted which all failed. A simple fix for maintenance would be to use a steel hinge backing plate measuring 2" x 4" found at Home Depot / Lowe's or easily fabricated and mounted on the aluminum door frame and then mount the closer hinge to the steel backing plate. Maintenance department is slacking.
7) There was black hair on the walls of the jacuzzi that had dried and were stuck to it. After I filled the jacuzzi up I could see lots of hair floating in the water which I did not appreciate. Housekeeping is slacking and may need re-training in paying attention to details. Of course, if the light is burned out above the tub (see above) they probably did not see the hair in the tub. So then.....did housekeeping just not report the burned-out light or did maintenance just not fix it?
8) The Flamingo Bay spa / jacuzzi water was cloudy and below the skimmer basket. This means the water was not being filtered and the chlorine level may have been low. I saw this during the evening while I was at the pool and the following morning when I went to check if the water had cleared which it didn't and the water was still below the skimmer basket. Whoever is doing pool maintenance is slacking. It would not be hard for resort security to visually check these things on their patrols and report them to maintenance and have maintenance check these things several times a day to ensure water levels and water quality are being maintained properly. Preventative maintenance is better than reactive maintenance.
9) On the day of my check-out, which I believe the required time was 10:00 am, housekeeping entered my room at approximately 8:30 am before I had vacated the room. I was not yet ready to check out. I had not used housekeeping the entire time I was in the room, so it was disturbing to have someone just enter my room without warning. Why is housekeeping entering rooms before checkout time if they don't know if the occupants are still in the room or not? There is a reason check-in / check-out times exist.
10) This next incident didn't apply to me directly, but it showed me how the maintenance department is being run. The room across from me (1316B) somehow flooded their room and maintenance responded with a water vacuum. The loud noise of the vacuum is what caught my attention causing me to open my door to see what the loud disturbing noise was. I could see maintenance vacuuming up water from the bathroom area which only lasted a few minutes before the vacuum was turned off as I watched. I thought it was curious that they did not vacuum the rug which was clearly wet and had absorbed water. After maintenance left I looked inside the room out of curiosity and found several soaked towels on the floor. As I walked over the rug it squished under my feet from being water soaked. The vacuum never came back on, the room was cleaned up and the door left open all night to dry the room out I suppose. The rug was still wet however. They never used rug drying fans and to my surprise new guests had checked in the next day. I was really surprised because there is no way the rug dried out overnight just by having the door left open. This means new guests had been checked in with a wet rug that at some point is going to grow mold and mildew on the bottom. This is shocking that maintenance would clear the room as ready without properly drying out the rug before allowing new guests to occupy the room.
11) During my stay, I upgraded my ownership to All Unit / Week. I understand that my new account number and status had to be updated with corporate. When I returned home I tried to log into my owner account but I could not because I got an error message that my account was locked. I called the phone number provided in the error message and spoke to a customer service rep who explained that it may be due to my account being upgraded but was not sure. The rep told me to attempt to log-in in three days. I waited four days but I still could not log-in because my account was blocked. I called customer service again and explained what happened. The rep couldn't tell me why my account was blocked or anything dealing with technical questions, nor if my ownership upgrade had anything to do with why my account was blocked. In the end, I had to be issued a temporary password to access my account. The rep was asking me questions as if I was just starting my online profile as a new owner when I have been an owner since 2007. I just find it curios that two people really couldn't tell me or explain why my online account profile was blocked or answer any of my questions about it.
My husband and I were walking in island of adventure when appoached by a friendly guy. He asked how we would like free breakfast and $75. I asked what the catch was. He said nothing you just have to show up - sit through a 90 minute tour and presentation - get free breakfast whatever you want pancakes French toast eggs - they will also give you a voucher 3 days 2 nights - they will send you a car to bring you to westgatein the morning.. so we said okay we'll do it. After filling out the paperwork the sales rep says we have to pay $20 each to "hold our spot" and we would get it back when we showed up... then as we were leaving he said hey if you change your mind and don't want to come we had to go to the resort in the morning and just tell them we changed our mind and they would give us our money back. So we wake up early and go to westgate. We get there we had to sign in. On the information form it asked how much money we made. I left it blank. When he looked it over he said I had to write something for income. I asked why... he said it's the rules.. i told I didn't think my income was an appropriate question and if someone could tell me why they needed it I would answer the question. He goes and gets his manager - he comes outside and says it's the company's rules and they don't share the information with anyone and they will shred it when we leave. I said okay well it's not important if it's just being shreddedz A woman helping other people rudely told us "it's because we are selling time shares and we have to know what bracket to put you in". I said well I can pick for myself can't I? They said if we didn't give them our income we had to leave (we should have just left here). I wrote down what I make because we just wasted our time we at least want our 75 dollars and 40 Dollars back. We go and sit for about 15 minutes when the property manager came over and said they were short staffed so it would be a little bit but he wanted us to eat while we waited. Our free buffet.. a couple scrambled eggs.. burnt sausage and hash browns.. so we go to the owner and decided we want to leave... he tells us we have to say we lied about how much we made so they would give us our money back.. I was like okay but I didn't lie... he said well they won't give you your money back if you don't lie - the manager asked what we were promised.. I told him 75 dollars from them and 40 back plus a 3 day 2 night stay.. he goes oh well that isn't for here anyway that's for a motel 6..what a scam!! So we go downstairs to the marketing manager and he tries to get us to stay.... we told them we just wanted our money back which we finally got and left. What a waste of time on our short vacation. Stay away at all cost!! Plus reviews on their site are terrible. Should have read them first!
We purchased tickets to Universal Studios Orlando, it was a package for 1 day park to park ticket for two adults.Then, after the payment we were informed that we had to attend a 90 minute tour in order to keep the discount. We needed to be at 7.30 am at the Westgate to pick up the tickets and to assist that tour. I explained that we were not interested and they told me the tour wasn´t compelling but that I would lose the discount.Inmediately I wanted to cancel the purchase and they just keep me hanging over the phone waiting for the supervisor to attend my call! and I didn´t get the refund!
More than 40 years ago, my ex-wife and I purchased a Timeshare Westgate Club Orlando. My ex-wife passed away in November and I wanted to deed the property to a daughter. Westgate called informing me that my timeshare was closing and asked to deed it back to Westgate. Now after talking with another rep informed that it is not closing but being converted into Realestate holdings. After paying off the mortgage and the maintenance fees for decades not getting a penny back.
I called and cancelled within time frame. i sent letter and material back. they gave every excuse in the book not to grant me my refund. they also are still trying to take out my account every other week. i will never visit this resort again or recommend it. my advice, go to the seminar and say no to everything. no to everything. say noooooooooooooooooooooo.
This resort rips people and Corporations off. The company I represent pays for our lodging when we attend SEMA. On check in we present a credit card for incidentals. On check out we are charged for the room as well as the company we represent. We were also charged for the over priced bottled water placed inthe room at $4.00 each x 2, which why would you consider drinking when vending machine in hall is $1.00 cheaper. When you try to dispute, they bog you down in emails and extensions they transfer you to. I finally called my credit card company and disputed charges. Lord only knows what my company I represent has to go threw. I have attended trade shows for the automotive industry since 1990 every year. I have never had problems with a hotel. I would not reccomend Westgate to any individual or corporation and will dilligently sway both from booking with this hotel.
During My Honeymoon we visited Las Vegas and it was great, we stayed at the 4 Queens on the stip.
During our stay we were confronted at one of the main enterances by a westgate employee that wanted to share with us there vacation packages. We went along to hear what they wanted to sell us & it seemed reasonable. We could not afford to purchase there full vacation membership as it was a rediculous price however the sales rep. told us would could do a trial only 25$ per month for 1 year. so we agreed, after 5 months making on time payments I had lost my job. At this point we called Westgate to let them know we can no long pay on this account and asked if we could cancel the services, the collections rep told us we can mail them a letter with the reason we can no longer make this payment. we did and enclosed my layoff letter i had recieved. after a few weeks go by i recieve a letter in the mail that my account was past due and that i had 10 days to catch it up before it was sent to collections. At this time I called westgate and talked to the lady from collections and expressed my concerns, she understood and said "I understand, between Morgage and vacation" and said she would transfer me to there sales rep to see what he could do. When the man came on the phone he verified all of my information then asked what i need, i repeated my concerns and without skipping a beat said "would you like to catch up your balence?" It is completly apperent to me that this company has no regard to familys lives, over 25$ per month for 7 more months for a discounted vaction package that we have never used nor are going to be able to use due to not having any money to even go on vacation, just cruel. I will never stay at these hotels nor spend any money on any subsidiaries......EVER! And if you value your familys quality of life I beg you to not fall into there traps.
I want to sell my timeshare back to Westgate and they told me they don't do that. I would have to sell it myself, which is impossible. They also tell you that you own a deeded to the property but never recieve a deed. You pay a ridiculous amount on maintaince fee's a year or every other year. We thought it would be a great thing to try and get and if we did use it we could sell it back. Thats what they tell you but after buying it you are stuck with it.
I don't want it anymore and want out. I want my money back for them lying to me. Everything the tell you about the place is a lie. I don't know how the workers get thru the day telling people these lies. They make me feel there is no way out. If I buy a home or property you can always sell it if you don't want it anymore. This should be the same way. HELP PLEASE>>>>
We visited the westgate resort in Orlando over spring break, 2016. We were given a week at the resort by a family member, and that was super nice of them. If we had only avoided going to the timeshare presentation, it would have been fine!
After a truly bad "free buffet breakfast" (eggbeaters and cold sausage, and they kept running out) they parked our kids in a small windoowless video room; we saw them about 7 hours later, by then the exhausted and starving "owners" of a timeshare. I had no idea the free breakfast was going to be a timeshare presentation. Duh!
We said many times we didnt want it but they finally broke us down. They really dont force you to do anything, it was entirely our fault. But we were eager for our vacation to start, worried about our kids, starving, excited to use our "discounted" passes to Universal, and finally thought maybe this makes sense financially, lets do it!
We paid $24000 for the unit. - every other year, 4 bedrooms, I think. The financing rate was like 15%. Which is ridiculously terrible but we thought we would pay it off pretty soon. That night I began to read about westgate online and realized this was not for us. We have 3 small kids and really need flexibility around when we go and where we stay on vacation. You are not guaranteed the weeks you want, or the location, with this deal. It worked great for our elderly, retired family member with lots of time on their hands to plan.
The part that felt really sketchy was when we tried to find out how to cancel. You CAN get out of it, but you have a very small window, it was somewhere like 7-14 days. I had to do tons of research about Florida laws online, which was not how I wanted to spend my vacation.
They gave us a paper contract and a disc. None of the cancellation clauses were on the papers. We went to the office and they "printed out the whole contract", but it wasnt there either. I had read online it might be hidden somewhere, so my husband scoured the documents on the disc and thanks to his patience we finally found it.
We wrote the letter, and filed the forms in triiplicate, certifying the one we sent to headquarters about 2 hours from the resort. We turned it in in person as well, at which point they offered us this unit for $8000!! actually, at that price, I might have kept it! Thank goodness my husband as in there instead of me. I'm glad he didn't fall for it.
We were, in the end successful at getting out of our contract, and I share this story so others can hopefully cancel their contract if they too realize they made a mistake!
It was really stressful. Also, by the way, the contract says you are responsible for paying them back for all the "perks" - the discounted tickets, and the meals they provided. The meals were honestly so bad I thought I would cry at the thought of having to pay for them. But they didnt actually make us pay for the food.
When i purchased the timeshare, i was told that every week is Red and i never have to pay any extra fees for booking any holiday weekends. I also was sold a week which falls during very busy time of the year for me. When i informed the agent of my inability to ever travel this week, i was told that i can just exchange it for any other week. She failed to mention that i will have to pay exchange fee every time i exchange.
Now, i am also told that i have to pay additional $250 for booking a holiday week and referenced an offering plan.
They try to get you with these hidden fees every step of the way. Costumer services is non existent and their complaint department has inbox full and does not accept any more e-mails!
My husband and I own timeshare at Orange Lake in Kissimmee and in 12/2015 attended an owner's meeting and purchased more points. We ended going to Westgate Resort that same week for a tour and told the salespeople upfront that we had just purchased another week at Orange Lake 2 days before. They immediately responded they could take care of that for us and cancel it through their office. We then went on a tour and agreed that Westgate was a nice resort but price was an issue so of course they found a repossed unit available much cheaper. We agreed and were sitting in the title office and wanted to make sure we got a Christmas week, which they did give us and we initialed a floor plan for a 2 bedroom unit. We then wanted a tour of a unit like the one we assumed we purchased while we were waiting for closing and were shown an 8 person 2 bedroom 2 bath unit with 2 full size beds in the guest room. Our 2 children were with us at the time. Fast forward to a week later when I called and wanted to reserve our Christmas week for 2016 and understood that everything was fine until I saw on my reservatioin on my account only to see that we got a 6 person unit for that week. I called immeediately and was told that there was a glitched and the person on the phone spoke with the notary who handled the title to be told that they would straighten it out and she knew we had purchased an 8 person unit and to call back in a week to 10 days (which coincidently would put us past the cancellation period). I emailed the notary at the title office only to be told she forwarded it on to her superior and have heard nothing. I emailed again today only to get a response that she forwarded it on again to her superior to find out about the statue. Had we known that Westgate is running such a scam we would have kept our purchased at Orange Lake rather than buying at Westgate as we were apparently involved in a bait and switch scam.
We would not recommend going on a tour of Westgate as they will lie to you and ignore all your pleas for help getting anything corrected.
Our honeymoon has turned into a horror of deception and now rudeness. I have attached a detailed description of our incident with Westgate Resorts.
On April *** 2013 my husband, *****, and I got married and came to Westgate Resorts in Gatlinburg for our honeymoon. We loved the property and were glad we decided on it for our honeymoon, even though we knew we had committed to a 90 minute tour and a sales pitch.
After we took the tour of the property, we were taken upstairs into a room where all the sales take place. The pressure to buy was severe, but knowing we could not afford what was being offered, we declined. Then the sales offer was reduced to a smaller, less expensive purchase which we still could not afford. Finally, a manager was brought in to "approve" some great deal for us. It was a purchase of another person's timeshare, who had apparently upgraded. The payment was affordable to us, but it was still a big step and we were reluctant. So, we were told about all the perks...that we could trade our time for other great vacations, that we could stay at any Westgate Resorts location, that we could split our week into 2 parts and use a portion on our off year (since we purchased an every other year option). We were told that we had the option to rent out our unit, possibly for a nice profit and that WG could even help us sell, should we decide to do so, just as they were selling us the property of the other person who had upgraded. So, we decided to buy.
Next, we met with the Closing Officer, Keri Pierce. She told us that she was there for our protection...to make sure we understood every aspect of what we were buying. She "verified" the perks that our salesman, Jeff Lamb, told us about. However, neither Keri, Jeff nor the manager mentioned the cost for any of these "perks". Keri worked up all the papers and said she was carefully explaining everything to us so we would know what we were signing. THAT TURNED OUT TO NOT EVEN BE CLOSE TO THE TRUTH! We signed the paperwork and then Keri said that she would process it all over again with my name change (since I would be making the name change immediately upon returning home) and would send us the revised copy to have and a copy to sign and return.
I told Keri that we were excited and would love to come back every year and celebrate our anniversary and that we would also like to bring my daughter and son-in-law since their income does not qualify them for a stay and a tour. I asked if that was allowed. She said that it was absolutely allowed and that owners could get stays for just $59.00 a night. I was so thrilled and told her that was perfect and it really would make it possible for us to bring my daughter and her family the following Spring (2014). She said, in fact, that we could even stay an additional night for the $59.00 rate since our tour and the sales pitch ended up taking 6 hours out of our day that we could have enjoyed on the property. She told me to just go to the front desk to let them know we would be staying another night.
I did go to the front desk and was promptly told that there was no availability for us to stay another night. So, we were forced to leave enough though we did not get the full, promised benefit of the stay because the 90 minute tour turned into an all day venture.
We came home excited and I was busy doing marketing to get all of our friends to go to Westgate. I even sent a flyer and a letter telling friends and family how much we loved the resort out to 100 people with our wedding announcements. One of our friends did go to WG and did buy.
A couple of weeks after we got home I did receive the contract with the name change revision. I sat down and read the contract. I then discovered that there were hidden fees for the supposed perks we told about and that our maintenance fee could increase yearly. I also saw that there was a 10 day right to rescind, that we had never been told about. And, we received our copy of the paperwork AFTER the right to rescind had expired. I sent this complaint to the BBB and the resort denied any wrong doing and basically told me "too bad". I have contacted an attorney, but everyone out there should avoid the lure of this place. It is not what it appears to be once you sign on the dotted line!!!
Today I contracted Westgate Resort to pay 2016 HOA fee (which is exorbitant). I asked about the flyer enclosed with my statement that said I would get $1000 credit for paying HOA fees on time - which I did for 2015, and was expecting not to have to pay a maintenence (HOA) fee for 2016. I was informed that this was only if I was a member of Westgate Cruise and Travel. This is a separate service that costs thousands of dollars. --- extra fee!!!!! I asked about the remainder of a week I had scheduled for August, but only used 4 of the 7 days because of an illness. I was told that because it was a week from a previous year and because I didn't purchase vacation protection (another fee), I couldn't bank the remaining three days. Why not, I asked. I paid for it. I asked that my dissatisfaction be recorded in my file. Then, I asked about rescheduling my 2015, which I had previously scheduled, but had to cancel. I was told they would, as a one-time courtesy, waive the $150 reschedule fee if I booked the room within 2015 - but wait - not the last two weeks of the year because those were holiday weeks, else I would have to pay the $150 reschuled fee. Another fee!!!
The resort itself seemed ok at first. We got a good deal on the room because we attended a time share presentation. We had actually been considering a time share before we booked the "vlila" so it seemed like a good opportunity. But I wouldn't go back if they paid me.
The time share sales presentation was stereotypical. Like something out of a movie. After a couple nights at Westgate Lakes we were sure we did not want to own there, but the rep made a good case for buying in Orlando because it is in demand. We'd be able to trade one Orlando week for two weeks nearly anywhere in the world. I now believe this is BS.
We bought a "trial" membership - which includes a week at any Westgate resort plus access to their network of partner resorts where you can buy discounted vacations all over the world. Our plan was to evaluate one of the other resorts and see if it made sense to buy a property.
Unfortunately, we've been unable to book anything anywhere. The system doesn't work the way they describe in the presentation. We've tried booking weeks at several resorts, some as far as a year in advance and nothing is available. The customer service staff keeps suggesting that I go back to Orlando, or to try Branson, Missouri or Gatlinburg, TN.
After three failed reservation attempts I tried cancelling our purchase. I was told that this is not possible. I believe this is BS also, so I will continue my effort. From my perspective, Westgate is good at marketing and very good at billing but they do a poor job following through on their commitments.
Westgate Resorts Reviews
I TRULY APOLOGIZE THAT I HAVE TO ASK YOU TO SIGN ALL PETITIONS BUT IF THEY TAKE ONE DOWN, I WILL HAVE THE BACKUP TO SEND TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU, CONSUMER FINANCE PROTECTION, US DEPT OF JUSTICE AND THE PRESIDENT. I AM REQUESTING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKE TIMESHARES ILLEGAL THROUGH AN EXECUTIVE ORDER, WHICH SKIPS OVER CONGGRESS.
PLEASE SIGN ALL THREE PETITIONS AND LETS PUT THESE CROOKS OUT OF BUSINESS. I ALSO AM ASKING THAT EVERYONE WHO WAS DEFRAUDED IN A TIMESHARE RECEIVE THEIR MONEY BACK THROUGH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THERE IS A CLAUSE IN THE TIMESHARE AGREEMENTS THAT KEEP THE TIMESHARE OWNERS FROM PARTICIPATING IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, BUT IT DOESN’T KEEP THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FROM FILING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ON OUR BEHALF. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THIS IS THEIR JOB, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM MASSIVE AND PERVASIVE SCAMS LIKE TIMESHARES:
I TRULY APOLOGIZE THAT I HAVE TO ASK YOU TO SIGN ALL PETITIONS BUT IF THEY TAKE ONE DOWN, I WILL HAVE THE BACKUP TO SEND TO THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU, CONSUMER FINANCE PROTECTION, US DEPT OF JUSTICE AND THE PRESIDENT. I AM REQUESTING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN MAKE TIMESHARES ILLEGAL THROUGH AN EXECUTIVE ORDER, WHICH SKIPS OVER CONGGRESS.
PLEASE SIGN ALL THREE PETITIONS AND LETS PUT THESE CROOKS OUT OF BUSINESS. I ALSO AM ASKING THAT EVERYONE WHO WAS DEFRAUDED IN A TIMESHARE RECEIVE THEIR MONEY BACK THROUGH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. THERE IS A CLAUSE IN THE TIMESHARE AGREEMENTS THAT KEEP THE TIMESHARE OWNERS FROM PARTICIPATING IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, BUT IT DOESN’T KEEP THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FROM FILING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ON OUR BEHALF. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! THIS IS THEIR JOB, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM MASSIVE AND PERVASIVE SCAMS LIKE TIMESHARES:
We purchased a timeshare with Westgate in Gatlinburg, TN March 2010. In November 2020, after frustrations with WG & personal reasons, we tried to Deed Back 2 timeshares. All mortgages were paid off & maintenance fees were never late. We were denied.
- Branson, MS River Terrace - Gatlinburg, TN Smoky Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, TN River Ranch Resort & Rodeo - Lake Wales, FL Flamingo Bay Resort - Las Vegas, NV Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino - Las Vegas, NV Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort - Myrtle Beach, SC Lakes Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Palace Resort - Orlando, FL Towers Resort - Orlando, FL Town Center Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Vacation Villas Resort & Spa - Orlando, FL Park City Resort & Spa - Park City, UT Historic Williamsburg Resort - Williamsburg, VA Blue Tree Resort - Orlando, FL Painted Mountain Resort - Mesa, AZ South Beach Oceanfront Resort - Miami, FL Tunica Resort - Robinsonville, MS Central Florida Investments, Inc.
In communication with WG it was mentioned that the “banking” information was in our Public Offering Statement. We then discovered we didn’t receive the POS in paper form, even though we signed the Receipt for Timeshare Documents requesting the paper form. The CD-ROMs only had the POS for WG of Park City, UT (not Gatlinburg) & the amendments were from 2006. In Tennessee, it is illegal for that document to not be included in the contract.
I have filed with the BBB, but WG continues to claim our concerns are “time-barred”. I believe that in stating it is “time-barre” WG may be admitting to wrongdoing but claiming we just didn’t find it soon enough. However, a clear case of fraud, deception, or concealment, for instance, where the plaintiff is misled into believing that the wrongful act did not occur cancels out any claim to "time-barred". Also, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the plaintiff reasonably should have discovered that he or she has a claim. This equitable doctrine is called the "discovery rule." We did not discover that we didn't have the correct documents until 11/2020. There are many lawsuits involving hundreds of owners, regarding Wg & deceit (Hambacker, Moore, Overton, Sparks). These Lawsuits mention deception that occurred in a "standard practice" way.
We have spent a lot of money with this company, Westgate. The reps told me that to remove my ex-wife from my account I would have to purchase a new account. They told me I would have to combine both accounts into one and purchase a new account at an amount of nearly 30,000 dollars. I have found out since then I could have removed my ex-wife from the account by simply removing her by contract since I was “awarded” the timeshare in the divorce.
I was told by the company that my timeshare would be double that amount in value when that is also not true you can sell these timeshares for a dollar on eBay. I went to Florida in person to again talk to Westgate, this is when they told me they could not assist me in removing her even after I was making all of my payments they had no care to help me other than putting me into a whole new account to remove her. I had no choice but to get a new account this is when things got really screwed up they were supposed to merge my account into one I was told just to get this new account and they would take care of cancelling out the other account.
This was not done correctly either so now I had two accounts that I could not afford and not any closer to removing my ex-wife from the first account. Westgate was supposed to make this into one account but all they cared about was making more money and no concern that I was struggling on making both payments on those accounts. This business does not treat there customers with respect the way they should if they would have done this right in the first place I would not have had to take care of three accounts. The only time this was fixed was when I came to Florida again for a third time, this time they sold of both of the other accounts and removed my ex from the account.
This left me with a huge payment because I once again had to purchase this new account to straighten this all out and I had no interest in starting all over but I could not afford two accounts along with making the yearly property taxes on both. I should have never had to get 3 accounts just to make this go away and keep spending more money that I did not have. This started out at nearly 8000 dollars and now it is over 30000 dollars total I have put into these accounts. This is something I have had a lot of stress over for my family and a company like this should not be doing this to customers. Westgate has done nothing but lie to me about the steps on this. I should not be paying for Westgate employees sales people mistakes.
Beware of Westgate Resorts. My husband and I were celebrating his birthday at their Paradise Road Resort in Las Vegas, when Westgate staff offered us a “free breakfast.” For a start, the breakfast was very poor, and then this sales rep who could hardly speak English began trying to sell us a timeshare. And he would not stop.
He was going on and on and he was ruining our day. When he finally got the message, he went and got his manager and the whole thing began again. These sales reps kept us prisoner in this hot stuffy room for 8 solid hours, the whole day. They finally got us to sign up for one of their timeshares, and we did this just to get out of there.
Now we have the timeshare, and we have discovered that it does not work as the reps described it. And how could it? Most of the money we paid went on their commissions. In brief, going to Westgate Resorts is a sure way to ruin your vacation and also your finances. Don’t do it! Just say No to Westgate.
I made reservations at the Westgate Hotel Las Vegas, they made it for the wrong dates & when i called to add a night they had no record of the reservation. The reservation was made two months before our flight, they screwed up & reserved for July & my reservations were for Sept. We were consided a no show, which i can live with getting charged for one night (which is the Hotels policy) but they refused any refund because they couldnt rent the room, which should be they're problem. Me & my girlfriend spent 4 hours getting runaround on the phone trying to resolve the situation but at the end of the day we said Screw-it & got a new hotel....will never use Expedia or stay at WestGate hotels ever again.
I booked a room to get away from Hurricane Irma, and they charged me $75 when I cancelled within the allowed cancellation time period. When the storm track showed that Orlando would be hit, I changed my plans. I called them a day before the cancellation period ended, and they still kept $75 of my deposit.
I found several of their resorts on Travelocity, Hotels.com, and Trivago. Each site shows a phrase highlighted in green, with a large checkmark, that says: "Free Cancellation" I booked with the company directly at their 800 number.
The booking process was painfully slow, reciting each letter of name, email address, etc. Cancellation terms were read to me, declaring that their usual cancellation policy required a three day (72 hour) notice, i.e. three days before arrival. However they were changing that policy for me, to allow me to cancel up until 24 hours before arrivel, i.e. by Friday 9/8 at 4 PM.
The lengthy and detailed process was repeated by a second agent. The spelling of names, email address, etc. was repeated "for security". Again I was told that I could cancel up until Friday 9/8 at 4PM.
On Thursday 9/7 the hurricane track changed, and the track at that time showed hurricane winds from coast to coast in Florida, and the eye running directly through Orlando. I decided to head for the Florida panhandle.
I called Westgate Resorts to cancel my reservation, at 7 PM on Thursday 9/7 - 21 hours before the end of the allowed cancellation period. I was informed that there would be a $25 charge. I reminded them that I had been allowed a 24-hour period, and there should be no charge.
I told them that I was avoiding their property because a severe hurricane was projected to pass through that area. I told them that the Governor of Florida had asked hotels to be liberal with cancellation policies.
The agent spoke with her supervisor and returned to tell me that the cancellation required a $75 "administrative fee". I had paid a deposit of $251 when I first booked, so they refunded $176, withholding $75 for the fee.
I complained to Call For Action in my city. Today (9/14) they tried to help me by speaking with the company. Together, the agent from Call For Action and I, we spoke with an agent, for a very long time, and then with a supervisor at Westgate. The supervisor agreed to refund the $75, and gave me a transaction number.
It has been four hours and there is no refund yet processed on my card. Whether the refund comes or not, this report reflects the company's attitude and policies. They fail to live up to their policies to the disadvantage of their customers.
It is notable that the supervisor never apologized. She mentioned that there was no need to call my bank, a TV station (host of Call For Action in my city), etc. She described how the purpose of her action was so that we all "could move on". Clearly this company has done this to scores or hundreds of people. There was no mention of an error of policy, information, or ethics.
This company has resorts in Orlando, Las Vegas, Williamsburg, Myrtle Beach, and Gatlinburg. They have plenty of cash and plenty of lawyers, but they have no ethics and no shame. And they certainly have only derision for their customers.
My wife and I sat through a 90 sales presentation at a Westgates Resort in Orlando Florida. We declined to buy, but did pay for a "lock in" package that included a week at a Westgate Resort and three free weekends at any Westgate property.
We paid $595 and were promised everything we would need would arrive in a "big package" in the mail. Several weeks later we received a simple business envelope with a membership to their vacation clun Leisure Time Passport. There was nothing on the website instructing you how to redeem your free travel.
I called them and was told they have nothing to do with that. I called Westgate and was told I would have to call reservations. I called reservations and they told me I did not have three weekends coming.
I complained and they believed me but said the salesman lied to me! I was told to call customer service. They told me I had to speak with the resort where I bought the package. The resort said I had to call member services. After an hour, everyone agreed I was mislead, but everyone said there was nothing that could be done.
Planned a vacation last year with west gate resorts. Daughter unfortunately broke her elbow 3 days prior to trip. Had medical papers, etc. was not granted any type of refund. Had to pay more money for an extension. Was supposed to travel this summer to resort. Which is now burnt down. Called for refund, lawyer sent letter. No responses. Wanted us to once again pay more money. I'm devastated. No money back at all.
The Bar & Grill manager named Israel was not able to set my payment bill to my reservation account.He was very rude to me because I had no money or credit card in hands. He treated me like a criminal. At the end He called his boss and easily solved the issue checking my ID and my reservation number. "If I call the cops you go in to jail for no pay the bill" he said. I was hosted in Westgate Lakes Resort and I will not going back in the Bar & Grill restaurant anymore. If he is the manager, is his duty deal with costumers issues, specially if they are guest hosted in the resort. I feel very embarrassed Usually when we call the manager is to solve the problem, but when the manager does not, who you call? (ghostbusters?)
My husband and I saw one of Westgates ads stay 4 days and 3 nights for $79.00 which includes 2 tickets to the Wild Bear Falls water park and $50.00 Dining Dough Dinner Certifcate. We knew for that price we would have to go through a presentation for TIMESHARE and that was ok because it was something we wanted to do anyways. We called instead of making our reservations online because we have 3 kids and wanted to see about getting tickets for all 5 of us. After giving name etc the gentlemen on the phone asked our income. My husband told him and told him that he was self employed. So after few minutes and some back and forth we
get 4 days and 3 nights along with 5 tickets and food certificate for just over $125.00 We where told we would be staying at River Terrace Resort and that we would have to go through 90 minute tour or we could face being charged $300.00. We where like great we get a little Vacation and get to see about getting a time share so win win Right? Wrong!!!!! So we print out paperwork with all information and our itinerary they set up.
We had date of arrival and departure, Next was our Tour information which was 6/2/17 @ 9:30 am along with water park tickets and food voucher. So kids packed and can't wait. River Terrace has 2 outdoor heated pools and
bottom floor room for me because I'm disabled. Sounds great Right? Well we get to hotel and check in. So we do get to check in early and staff was above and beyond nice and helpful. Room is clean little outdated but very clean. We are on top floor which goes up a big hill but we could access from parking lot. One pool was closed and the other wasn't warm despite saying it was heated. Fast forward to Friday June 2nd we had a 9:30am time to tour Westgate for 90 minutes TIMESHARE spill. We arrive at 8:30 am check in and asked again about income. We sit there for another 30-40 minutes and then our name is called and we are told to
fill out yet more paper work. Filled out and return it and that's when the craziness starts. We where informed that they don't take self employed and asked for tax papers to prove income. Ok who carries their tax returns with them on Vacation and why when we called and made reservations where we not told this Westgate Resort didn't take self employed? So after another 30 minutes we where told we could take Travel tour at 12:30 so we wouldn't be charged $300.00 We explained that we had our 16, 14,and 9 year old back at hotel and that we had made plans and that we had never been given our wterpark tickets or food cards which you don't get
until you come to take tour which again wasn't told when we made reservations. So my husband speaks to Robin who we assume was a manager and she assures us that our kids could go to water park which would be downstairs from where we where going to be no problem. So we go get kids come back it's 11:30 We check back in and told again to go take kids on to water park and come back and wait for our guide. We get to water park and lady takes voucher and goes through spill of wearing bracelet and then she ask ages. We don't lie and tell her 16,14 and 9 and she said they can't stay without adult. Now mind you this is after we
where assured by front desk and Robin that they would be allowed. By this time I'm hurting so bad because these people have done nothing they said and at every turn someone is telling us one thing to turn around and do another. My husband goes back to office and I'm left there with 3 kids who have waited the whole trip to go to this water park only to get disappointed. So I'm crying because I feel bad for them and I'm hurting and in pain and so stressed. So another employee and young gentleman comes up and ask if he could help. I tell him about 930 appt and the whole deal and now after being told come back and promised kids could go
to park now we are told different story. He said sounds screwed up and that they should have held to 930 appt seeing we had no way of knowing this Resort didn't take self employed when we made reservations if we wasn't told. So then here comes Robin she assures me that kids will be allowed in while we tour and through my tears I said ok but I told her seems like to me left hand doesn't know what right is doing. Robin takes kids inside water park only to come back out 10 minutes later saying they can't swim because our almost 17 year old can't watch 9 year old. At this point I loose it. I call my husband who is still in office trying to figure
out how come we wasn't informed of self employment wasn't accepted and why not after we have been here 2 times why they are asking now for proof of income. Robin comes out and says I can take them to outdoor pool so you can do tour and of course my kids are hurt and upset and I make them go because I don't want to miss tour and them charge us another $300.00. So kids go to pool and I'm standing waiting and a lady and another couple who was in 930 group asked me what was all the deal. I told them what was going on and they said well we don't make that and we got to tour and then the older lady told me be glad because the free
breakfast was nasty and that staff was rude when she wouldn't commit and both couple and lady said that when their 90minutes was up and they where going to leave that the staff kept on and they said we said no again and again and that the staff kept knocking price down and finally told them that they could be TIMESHARE owners for less than $100.00 a month. Both couple and lady said I'm sure we could have gotten it down to $50.00 a month but after staff was told they wanted to think about it before committing they got rude so they left. Finally my husband comes back and asked if kids where in water park I said no Robin took them
to outdoor pool. My husband is livid by now because nothing anyone has said or promised has been done. So back to office and by this time I'm a complete mess barely able to walk and I'm sitting where we had to wait for our Tour guide to call our name while my husband is having yet another conversation about us being jerked around. So I'm sitting there watching my husband wait on Robin or Cassie to come back and talk to him and I'm crying others ask me if I'm ok but not one employee ask me anything. As sit and tell others there to take tour I'm fine it's just my MS and Fibromyalgia causing me pain I am nice and don't say anything
going on and that all this and the stress was causing me to hurt worse. Now it's 12:20 husband still waiting and I finally hobble over to him where by now Robin and Cassie both have joined him. He let's them have it telling them they can't keep stories straight one saying they don't take self employed other says it where lady who gave us paperwork put down another amount and made us $2000.00 short of their requirements and now they both even after Robin showed my husband a paper of their guidelines that they don't take self employed she now is Turing tail and saying it has nothing to do with that when that's all they have Harped on till now! I
broke in and again after 9 or 10 times before ask why was this not told to us before now? I said I can see if we booked online the oversite, But we called and spoke to a person who is a Westgate Resort employee and not once did he mention any of this and had us believing tickets and food voucher would be given at check in. Of course I'm still crying and upset and Robin tells me to calm down and I said what right do you have telling me to calm down when we have held up to our end of agreement and you have done nothing you have said or promised on your end. Then we are informed that we have missed our appt and that we would have to come
back later today for another!!!! That's when I loose it and asked how did we miss it when we have been right here and no one has called our name? They try to say some bullpoop that our name was called and I know for fact it wasn't and called them on it. So seeing they knew I had them they said well you can take tour but you have to answer questions and participate. My husband fine but I will answer honestly and that's when we where told we where dismissed. My husband what to you mean we are dismissed? They informed us that we wasn't allowed to take tour and asked to leave. My husband said fine but my card better not get charged
because we agreed to take tour we have been here since 830am and now it's 1245pm he asked them again why we where not allowed to take tour and that they didn't want other potential buyers to hear what we had to say. So we get in our vehicle and have to go hunting our kids. My husband said call bank cancel cards because they aren't charging us for a tour we where at and then they jerked and lied to us about. I call bank at 1247 and guess what our card has already been charged the 300.00 so we get kids and leave. Yes we are pissed and with good reasons. 1st if you book someone a room and you know what they do for a living and their
income and you know the resort doesn't do self employment then why book it? 2nd If you see a confirmation with time and date from your company then honor it. 3rd if your can't or just won't honor it then don't go talking out both sides of your mouth and making promises and saying things you don't intend on keeping. 4th If the staff there is any indication of how Westgate Resorts does business then I pity they people who do buy into it. 5. Don't have your guest and yes we where guest made to feel like we where 2nd class citizens because of a screw up on your end. Learn that the customer is always right and epically when they have all the
paper work provided by the very company your working for!!! 6. Instead of making a situation worse by giving people the run around how about saying this. Ok you where missed informed or never told about our policy and we are sorry and we will hold to the agreement as shown on your reservation but be advise if you are interested in buying a TIMESHARE we will have to see more proof of income. That would have been a simple fix, But nope I truly believe you have to sell so many a day/week or come up with lame reasons to charge people credit cards. 7. What happened to people talking in private? YOU DIDN'T WANT US TO SAY WHAT WAS
HAPPENING IN FRONT OF POTENTIAL BUYERS BUT YOU NEVER SAID LET TALKS ABOUT THIS IN MY OFFICE. I truly believe you was hoping we would cause a seen as it's funny a security guard was only 2 feet away on our last conversation and he was motion too by one of the other employees to come stand 2 feet away from us. Intimidation doesn't work well for myself not my husband because we had every right to be upset and if we had been yelling then I could see a reason to have a guard over there, But I guess seeing how we where lied to and promises broken why not just add intimidation to your list of why BUYERS SHOULD BEWARE!!! You know
I was brought up to tell the truth no matter even if I knew telling it would get me into trouble and when you have employees of a big resort telling you we understand your disable we understand that you wanted to tour and probably purchase a TIMESHARE with us because it may be last time I am able to walk with walker and I want to have something that if the time comes I'm in wheelchair that I can still enjoy myself because of the access to pools and other amenities you offer and that you will do everything you can to see to it that we can tour and you promise you will uphold our reservations seeing you knew that it was a mistake on Westgates
end and not ours, Too just turn around and lie again. I even went on to explain that we would more than likely purchase a TIMESHARE from you and you where happy to hear it, But after the way my family and myself was treated it will be a cold day in Hell and I will let everyone I know how they lie and don't keep up their end and it's all a scam to get you there with promises of this and that and then you get there and if you didn't know of a rule they have it's your fault not theirs in their eyes. I guess we should count our blessings that we saw the truth on how they view their guest and how they will treat you even if it's their mistake. Despite Westgate
Resorts treatment of us on our last day, We had a good time and have and will continue to search for a TIMESHARE to buy. Please just be careful when dealing with Westgate Resort know the hidden agenda and know that What the left hand says isn't what the right hand goes by. And just know that if you do go to the Gatlinburg Westgate Resort you will not be staying there until probably 2018 as we where told. Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
I stayed for one week at the resort and overall my stay was okay, but there are some areas that require serious attention and a review of personnel training and procedures. I complained to the management with a letter after my stay, but they didn't even respond to me.
1) The ice maker in the refrigerator did not work. After turning it on and waiting 24 hours it still did not work. I pulled the refrigerator away from the wall to discover the water was turned off. I turned the water on but the hose leaked badly so I had to turn the water back off. It would seem that the issue was not reported or not repaired. I find it hard to believe that other guests would not have reported that the ice maker did not work. Someone turned the water off and the average guest probably would not have bothered to do it and not called room service about it if it was leaking. If it was reported, maintenance dropped the ball and didn't repair it.
This caused me to have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the ice machine for the building. I found the machine on the 3rd floor only to discover it was out of ice. I find it unfathomable that there is only one ice machine for an entire 6 story building in the summer heat when a lot of the rooms are probably split rooms with the single bedroom not having a refrigerator to make ice. How does one ice machine for a 6-story building make sense to anyone in Florida heat? As bad as that was, there should be signs outside the elevator door on every floor telling people where the ice machine is located since there was only one for the whole building. Find a way to add more ice machines. One machine per building is not acceptable.
2) The light bulb above the tub was burned out. Housekeeping should have caught this and maintenance should have replaced the bulb prior to my arrival. This leads me to think that housekeeping was cleaning the bathroom in partial darkness and didn't do or say anything about the light being out.
3) There was black mold growing inside the shower in the caulking and along wall edges and corners. Housekeeping should have caught this and used shower spray cleaner with bleach to kill the mold. There was also mold growing on the a/c vent above the bathroom sinks and on the wall in the toilet area. There was also a lot of unsightly looking hard water deposit buildup on the shower window ledge over the sink due to water leaks from the shower. This is not something an owner or guest wants to see in their room.
4) The air conditioner air intake vent had a lot dust accumulation on the metal grate. Maintenance / housekeeping should be checking and cleaning this as people with allergies like myself suffer with headaches from the accumulated dust which I did in that room. I woke up with headaches everyday either from the dust on the vent or the mold in the shower or mold in the a/c vents them self.
5) The outside doorbell did not work which I found out after my food delivery person could not get my attention and stood outside for 15 minutes trying to back trace my room number to call me to alert me that he was outside. Because of this I had to leave the outer door open for other deliveries which didn't sit well with the guests in the adjoining suite due to security concerns. Someone on staff should be checking this. Housekeeping can check it when they clean the rooms and report it to maintenance.
6) The patio screen door closer was falling off the frame and only being held by one screw on the door frame. It was evident multiple repairs were attempted which all failed. A simple fix for maintenance would be to use a steel hinge backing plate measuring 2" x 4" found at Home Depot / Lowe's or easily fabricated and mounted on the aluminum door frame and then mount the closer hinge to the steel backing plate. Maintenance department is slacking.
7) There was black hair on the walls of the jacuzzi that had dried and were stuck to it. After I filled the jacuzzi up I could see lots of hair floating in the water which I did not appreciate. Housekeeping is slacking and may need re-training in paying attention to details. Of course, if the light is burned out above the tub (see above) they probably did not see the hair in the tub. So then.....did housekeeping just not report the burned-out light or did maintenance just not fix it?
8) The Flamingo Bay spa / jacuzzi water was cloudy and below the skimmer basket. This means the water was not being filtered and the chlorine level may have been low. I saw this during the evening while I was at the pool and the following morning when I went to check if the water had cleared which it didn't and the water was still below the skimmer basket. Whoever is doing pool maintenance is slacking. It would not be hard for resort security to visually check these things on their patrols and report them to maintenance and have maintenance check these things several times a day to ensure water levels and water quality are being maintained properly. Preventative maintenance is better than reactive maintenance.
9) On the day of my check-out, which I believe the required time was 10:00 am, housekeeping entered my room at approximately 8:30 am before I had vacated the room. I was not yet ready to check out. I had not used housekeeping the entire time I was in the room, so it was disturbing to have someone just enter my room without warning. Why is housekeeping entering rooms before checkout time if they don't know if the occupants are still in the room or not? There is a reason check-in / check-out times exist.
10) This next incident didn't apply to me directly, but it showed me how the maintenance department is being run. The room across from me (1316B) somehow flooded their room and maintenance responded with a water vacuum. The loud noise of the vacuum is what caught my attention causing me to open my door to see what the loud disturbing noise was. I could see maintenance vacuuming up water from the bathroom area which only lasted a few minutes before the vacuum was turned off as I watched. I thought it was curious that they did not vacuum the rug which was clearly wet and had absorbed water. After maintenance left I looked inside the room out of curiosity and found several soaked towels on the floor. As I walked over the rug it squished under my feet from being water soaked. The vacuum never came back on, the room was cleaned up and the door left open all night to dry the room out I suppose. The rug was still wet however. They never used rug drying fans and to my surprise new guests had checked in the next day. I was really surprised because there is no way the rug dried out overnight just by having the door left open. This means new guests had been checked in with a wet rug that at some point is going to grow mold and mildew on the bottom. This is shocking that maintenance would clear the room as ready without properly drying out the rug before allowing new guests to occupy the room.
11) During my stay, I upgraded my ownership to All Unit / Week. I understand that my new account number and status had to be updated with corporate. When I returned home I tried to log into my owner account but I could not because I got an error message that my account was locked. I called the phone number provided in the error message and spoke to a customer service rep who explained that it may be due to my account being upgraded but was not sure. The rep told me to attempt to log-in in three days. I waited four days but I still could not log-in because my account was blocked. I called customer service again and explained what happened. The rep couldn't tell me why my account was blocked or anything dealing with technical questions, nor if my ownership upgrade had anything to do with why my account was blocked. In the end, I had to be issued a temporary password to access my account. The rep was asking me questions as if I was just starting my online profile as a new owner when I have been an owner since 2007. I just find it curios that two people really couldn't tell me or explain why my online account profile was blocked or answer any of my questions about it.
My husband and I were walking in island of adventure when appoached by a friendly guy. He asked how we would like free breakfast and $75. I asked what the catch was. He said nothing you just have to show up - sit through a 90 minute tour and presentation - get free breakfast whatever you want pancakes French toast eggs - they will also give you a voucher 3 days 2 nights - they will send you a car to bring you to westgatein the morning.. so we said okay we'll do it. After filling out the paperwork the sales rep says we have to pay $20 each to "hold our spot" and we would get it back when we showed up... then as we were leaving he said hey if you change your mind and don't want to come we had to go to the resort in the morning and just tell them we changed our mind and they would give us our money back. So we wake up early and go to westgate. We get there we had to sign in. On the information form it asked how much money we made. I left it blank. When he looked it over he said I had to write something for income. I asked why... he said it's the rules.. i told I didn't think my income was an appropriate question and if someone could tell me why they needed it I would answer the question. He goes and gets his manager - he comes outside and says it's the company's rules and they don't share the information with anyone and they will shred it when we leave. I said okay well it's not important if it's just being shreddedz A woman helping other people rudely told us "it's because we are selling time shares and we have to know what bracket to put you in". I said well I can pick for myself can't I? They said if we didn't give them our income we had to leave (we should have just left here). I wrote down what I make because we just wasted our time we at least want our 75 dollars and 40 Dollars back. We go and sit for about 15 minutes when the property manager came over and said they were short staffed so it would be a little bit but he wanted us to eat while we waited. Our free buffet.. a couple scrambled eggs.. burnt sausage and hash browns.. so we go to the owner and decided we want to leave... he tells us we have to say we lied about how much we made so they would give us our money back.. I was like okay but I didn't lie... he said well they won't give you your money back if you don't lie - the manager asked what we were promised.. I told him 75 dollars from them and 40 back plus a 3 day 2 night stay.. he goes oh well that isn't for here anyway that's for a motel 6..what a scam!! So we go downstairs to the marketing manager and he tries to get us to stay.... we told them we just wanted our money back which we finally got and left. What a waste of time on our short vacation. Stay away at all cost!! Plus reviews on their site are terrible. Should have read them first!
We purchased tickets to Universal Studios Orlando, it was a package for 1 day park to park ticket for two adults.Then, after the payment we were informed that we had to attend a 90 minute tour in order to keep the discount. We needed to be at 7.30 am at the Westgate to pick up the tickets and to assist that tour. I explained that we were not interested and they told me the tour wasn´t compelling but that I would lose the discount.Inmediately I wanted to cancel the purchase and they just keep me hanging over the phone waiting for the supervisor to attend my call! and I didn´t get the refund!
More than 40 years ago, my ex-wife and I purchased a Timeshare Westgate Club Orlando. My ex-wife passed away in November and I wanted to deed the property to a daughter. Westgate called informing me that my timeshare was closing and asked to deed it back to Westgate. Now after talking with another rep informed that it is not closing but being converted into Realestate holdings. After paying off the mortgage and the maintenance fees for decades not getting a penny back.
I called and cancelled within time frame. i sent letter and material back. they gave every excuse in the book not to grant me my refund. they also are still trying to take out my account every other week. i will never visit this resort again or recommend it. my advice, go to the seminar and say no to everything. no to everything. say noooooooooooooooooooooo.
I did a time share consultation for westgate and they said it would be a quick 60 mins it was Three Hours!!! They push and push you till you give up.
Please becareful Juliano Fernandes
This resort rips people and Corporations off. The company I represent pays for our lodging when we attend SEMA. On check in we present a credit card for incidentals. On check out we are charged for the room as well as the company we represent. We were also charged for the over priced bottled water placed inthe room at $4.00 each x 2, which why would you consider drinking when vending machine in hall is $1.00 cheaper. When you try to dispute, they bog you down in emails and extensions they transfer you to. I finally called my credit card company and disputed charges. Lord only knows what my company I represent has to go threw. I have attended trade shows for the automotive industry since 1990 every year. I have never had problems with a hotel. I would not reccomend Westgate to any individual or corporation and will dilligently sway both from booking with this hotel.
During My Honeymoon we visited Las Vegas and it was great, we stayed at the 4 Queens on the stip.
During our stay we were confronted at one of the main enterances by a westgate employee that wanted to share with us there vacation packages. We went along to hear what they wanted to sell us & it seemed reasonable. We could not afford to purchase there full vacation membership as it was a rediculous price however the sales rep. told us would could do a trial only 25$ per month for 1 year. so we agreed, after 5 months making on time payments I had lost my job. At this point we called Westgate to let them know we can no long pay on this account and asked if we could cancel the services, the collections rep told us we can mail them a letter with the reason we can no longer make this payment. we did and enclosed my layoff letter i had recieved. after a few weeks go by i recieve a letter in the mail that my account was past due and that i had 10 days to catch it up before it was sent to collections. At this time I called westgate and talked to the lady from collections and expressed my concerns, she understood and said "I understand, between Morgage and vacation" and said she would transfer me to there sales rep to see what he could do. When the man came on the phone he verified all of my information then asked what i need, i repeated my concerns and without skipping a beat said "would you like to catch up your balence?" It is completly apperent to me that this company has no regard to familys lives, over 25$ per month for 7 more months for a discounted vaction package that we have never used nor are going to be able to use due to not having any money to even go on vacation, just cruel. I will never stay at these hotels nor spend any money on any subsidiaries......EVER! And if you value your familys quality of life I beg you to not fall into there traps.
I want to sell my timeshare back to Westgate and they told me they don't do that. I would have to sell it myself, which is impossible. They also tell you that you own a deeded to the property but never recieve a deed. You pay a ridiculous amount on maintaince fee's a year or every other year. We thought it would be a great thing to try and get and if we did use it we could sell it back. Thats what they tell you but after buying it you are stuck with it.
I don't want it anymore and want out. I want my money back for them lying to me. Everything the tell you about the place is a lie. I don't know how the workers get thru the day telling people these lies. They make me feel there is no way out. If I buy a home or property you can always sell it if you don't want it anymore. This should be the same way. HELP PLEASE>>>>
We visited the westgate resort in Orlando over spring break, 2016. We were given a week at the resort by a family member, and that was super nice of them. If we had only avoided going to the timeshare presentation, it would have been fine!
After a truly bad "free buffet breakfast" (eggbeaters and cold sausage, and they kept running out) they parked our kids in a small windoowless video room; we saw them about 7 hours later, by then the exhausted and starving "owners" of a timeshare. I had no idea the free breakfast was going to be a timeshare presentation. Duh!
We said many times we didnt want it but they finally broke us down. They really dont force you to do anything, it was entirely our fault. But we were eager for our vacation to start, worried about our kids, starving, excited to use our "discounted" passes to Universal, and finally thought maybe this makes sense financially, lets do it!
We paid $24000 for the unit. - every other year, 4 bedrooms, I think. The financing rate was like 15%. Which is ridiculously terrible but we thought we would pay it off pretty soon. That night I began to read about westgate online and realized this was not for us. We have 3 small kids and really need flexibility around when we go and where we stay on vacation. You are not guaranteed the weeks you want, or the location, with this deal. It worked great for our elderly, retired family member with lots of time on their hands to plan.
The part that felt really sketchy was when we tried to find out how to cancel. You CAN get out of it, but you have a very small window, it was somewhere like 7-14 days. I had to do tons of research about Florida laws online, which was not how I wanted to spend my vacation.
They gave us a paper contract and a disc. None of the cancellation clauses were on the papers. We went to the office and they "printed out the whole contract", but it wasnt there either. I had read online it might be hidden somewhere, so my husband scoured the documents on the disc and thanks to his patience we finally found it.
We wrote the letter, and filed the forms in triiplicate, certifying the one we sent to headquarters about 2 hours from the resort. We turned it in in person as well, at which point they offered us this unit for $8000!! actually, at that price, I might have kept it! Thank goodness my husband as in there instead of me. I'm glad he didn't fall for it.
We were, in the end successful at getting out of our contract, and I share this story so others can hopefully cancel their contract if they too realize they made a mistake!
It was really stressful. Also, by the way, the contract says you are responsible for paying them back for all the "perks" - the discounted tickets, and the meals they provided. The meals were honestly so bad I thought I would cry at the thought of having to pay for them. But they didnt actually make us pay for the food.
When i purchased the timeshare, i was told that every week is Red and i never have to pay any extra fees for booking any holiday weekends. I also was sold a week which falls during very busy time of the year for me. When i informed the agent of my inability to ever travel this week, i was told that i can just exchange it for any other week. She failed to mention that i will have to pay exchange fee every time i exchange.
Now, i am also told that i have to pay additional $250 for booking a holiday week and referenced an offering plan.
They try to get you with these hidden fees every step of the way. Costumer services is non existent and their complaint department has inbox full and does not accept any more e-mails!
My husband and I own timeshare at Orange Lake in Kissimmee and in 12/2015 attended an owner's meeting and purchased more points. We ended going to Westgate Resort that same week for a tour and told the salespeople upfront that we had just purchased another week at Orange Lake 2 days before. They immediately responded they could take care of that for us and cancel it through their office. We then went on a tour and agreed that Westgate was a nice resort but price was an issue so of course they found a repossed unit available much cheaper. We agreed and were sitting in the title office and wanted to make sure we got a Christmas week, which they did give us and we initialed a floor plan for a 2 bedroom unit. We then wanted a tour of a unit like the one we assumed we purchased while we were waiting for closing and were shown an 8 person 2 bedroom 2 bath unit with 2 full size beds in the guest room. Our 2 children were with us at the time. Fast forward to a week later when I called and wanted to reserve our Christmas week for 2016 and understood that everything was fine until I saw on my reservatioin on my account only to see that we got a 6 person unit for that week. I called immeediately and was told that there was a glitched and the person on the phone spoke with the notary who handled the title to be told that they would straighten it out and she knew we had purchased an 8 person unit and to call back in a week to 10 days (which coincidently would put us past the cancellation period). I emailed the notary at the title office only to be told she forwarded it on to her superior and have heard nothing. I emailed again today only to get a response that she forwarded it on again to her superior to find out about the statue. Had we known that Westgate is running such a scam we would have kept our purchased at Orange Lake rather than buying at Westgate as we were apparently involved in a bait and switch scam.
We would not recommend going on a tour of Westgate as they will lie to you and ignore all your pleas for help getting anything corrected.
Our honeymoon has turned into a horror of deception and now rudeness. I have attached a detailed description of our incident with Westgate Resorts.
On April *** 2013 my husband, *****, and I got married and came to Westgate Resorts in Gatlinburg for our honeymoon. We loved the property and were glad we decided on it for our honeymoon, even though we knew we had committed to a 90 minute tour and a sales pitch.
After we took the tour of the property, we were taken upstairs into a room where all the sales take place. The pressure to buy was severe, but knowing we could not afford what was being offered, we declined. Then the sales offer was reduced to a smaller, less expensive purchase which we still could not afford. Finally, a manager was brought in to "approve" some great deal for us. It was a purchase of another person's timeshare, who had apparently upgraded. The payment was affordable to us, but it was still a big step and we were reluctant. So, we were told about all the perks...that we could trade our time for other great vacations, that we could stay at any Westgate Resorts location, that we could split our week into 2 parts and use a portion on our off year (since we purchased an every other year option). We were told that we had the option to rent out our unit, possibly for a nice profit and that WG could even help us sell, should we decide to do so, just as they were selling us the property of the other person who had upgraded. So, we decided to buy.
Next, we met with the Closing Officer, Keri Pierce. She told us that she was there for our protection...to make sure we understood every aspect of what we were buying. She "verified" the perks that our salesman, Jeff Lamb, told us about. However, neither Keri, Jeff nor the manager mentioned the cost for any of these "perks". Keri worked up all the papers and said she was carefully explaining everything to us so we would know what we were signing. THAT TURNED OUT TO NOT EVEN BE CLOSE TO THE TRUTH! We signed the paperwork and then Keri said that she would process it all over again with my name change (since I would be making the name change immediately upon returning home) and would send us the revised copy to have and a copy to sign and return.
I told Keri that we were excited and would love to come back every year and celebrate our anniversary and that we would also like to bring my daughter and son-in-law since their income does not qualify them for a stay and a tour. I asked if that was allowed. She said that it was absolutely allowed and that owners could get stays for just $59.00 a night. I was so thrilled and told her that was perfect and it really would make it possible for us to bring my daughter and her family the following Spring (2014). She said, in fact, that we could even stay an additional night for the $59.00 rate since our tour and the sales pitch ended up taking 6 hours out of our day that we could have enjoyed on the property. She told me to just go to the front desk to let them know we would be staying another night.
I did go to the front desk and was promptly told that there was no availability for us to stay another night. So, we were forced to leave enough though we did not get the full, promised benefit of the stay because the 90 minute tour turned into an all day venture.
We came home excited and I was busy doing marketing to get all of our friends to go to Westgate. I even sent a flyer and a letter telling friends and family how much we loved the resort out to 100 people with our wedding announcements. One of our friends did go to WG and did buy.
A couple of weeks after we got home I did receive the contract with the name change revision. I sat down and read the contract. I then discovered that there were hidden fees for the supposed perks we told about and that our maintenance fee could increase yearly. I also saw that there was a 10 day right to rescind, that we had never been told about. And, we received our copy of the paperwork AFTER the right to rescind had expired. I sent this complaint to the BBB and the resort denied any wrong doing and basically told me "too bad". I have contacted an attorney, but everyone out there should avoid the lure of this place. It is not what it appears to be once you sign on the dotted line!!!
Today I contracted Westgate Resort to pay 2016 HOA fee (which is exorbitant). I asked about the flyer enclosed with my statement that said I would get $1000 credit for paying HOA fees on time - which I did for 2015, and was expecting not to have to pay a maintenence (HOA) fee for 2016. I was informed that this was only if I was a member of Westgate Cruise and Travel. This is a separate service that costs thousands of dollars. --- extra fee!!!!! I asked about the remainder of a week I had scheduled for August, but only used 4 of the 7 days because of an illness. I was told that because it was a week from a previous year and because I didn't purchase vacation protection (another fee), I couldn't bank the remaining three days. Why not, I asked. I paid for it. I asked that my dissatisfaction be recorded in my file. Then, I asked about rescheduling my 2015, which I had previously scheduled, but had to cancel. I was told they would, as a one-time courtesy, waive the $150 reschedule fee if I booked the room within 2015 - but wait - not the last two weeks of the year because those were holiday weeks, else I would have to pay the $150 reschuled fee. Another fee!!!
The resort itself seemed ok at first. We got a good deal on the room because we attended a time share presentation. We had actually been considering a time share before we booked the "vlila" so it seemed like a good opportunity. But I wouldn't go back if they paid me.
The time share sales presentation was stereotypical. Like something out of a movie. After a couple nights at Westgate Lakes we were sure we did not want to own there, but the rep made a good case for buying in Orlando because it is in demand. We'd be able to trade one Orlando week for two weeks nearly anywhere in the world. I now believe this is BS.
We bought a "trial" membership - which includes a week at any Westgate resort plus access to their network of partner resorts where you can buy discounted vacations all over the world. Our plan was to evaluate one of the other resorts and see if it made sense to buy a property.
Unfortunately, we've been unable to book anything anywhere. The system doesn't work the way they describe in the presentation. We've tried booking weeks at several resorts, some as far as a year in advance and nothing is available. The customer service staff keeps suggesting that I go back to Orlando, or to try Branson, Missouri or Gatlinburg, TN.
After three failed reservation attempts I tried cancelling our purchase. I was told that this is not possible. I believe this is BS also, so I will continue my effort. From my perspective, Westgate is good at marketing and very good at billing but they do a poor job following through on their commitments.