Urgent - Summer Winds - Stormy Point Village - rescind?

We are on vacation in Branson and took the timeshare tour with Summer Winds for their Stormy Point Village condos to get free tickets. We did purchase the 2 bedroom every 3 years for 8900 no financing with the VIP Charter Membership Program offering unlimited "Family Weeks" ONLY because they "Guaranteed" to sell our Royal Sands unit in Cancun (for $28k) and they guarantee to never have to pay the maintenance fees as long as we returned the base week and only used the family weeks which seem like a good deal with the cruise options as well. Glancing through the paperwork, there is no mention of them selling our unit, only a copy of the fax they sent to their reseller. When questioned on this, they claimed it would be illegal to comingle funds but they have NEVER not had one sell. It's illegal to put a time period on the resale, but most have sold within 6 months and none have gone over 1 year. I can live with a year, but do NOT want 2 timeshares! It's almost midnight and we are on vacation, so research time is limited but from the little I have been able to do, it looks like we need to rescind this deal. I gather I have 5 days, but is day 1 today, the day we signed the papers, or is day 1 starting tomorrow. Do I have 5 business days or do the weekends count also? How do I go about the rescission process? The program did sound nice, so I'd like to know if I bought resale would I still have access to all these benefits of the VIP program? Especially liked the cruise program and the $529 MF is much less than our current $1000+ MF, but the biggest benefit to me is not paying the MF unless we choose to use the week - is this truly how it works? Experts, please help me, as the 5 day period looks like it will be during our vacation and travel time back home (10+ hrs).

Since you have questions about your purchase and since the salesman has made some outlandish promises that are not clearly written into your contract, you need to rescind ASAP. Look at your contract papers for the instructions about rescinding. There should be an address to mail your rescission letter and it should state what method you should use.

The letter can be very simple. Just state that you are exercising your right to rescind within the time period allowed. Be sure that everyone who signed the contract signs the rescission letter. Send it certified mail and get a receipt from the post office showing the date that it was mailed.

If you paid by credit card, you might want to notify your credit card company that you are rescinding the contract and disputing any charges made to your card.

Once you have rescinded this purchase do some more research on resales. The deal will still be there if, after doing your research, you still think it's something you want. But, you have just this one chance to rescind and once the time period passes you won't ever have this chance again.

sdcantrn said:

We are on vacation in Branson and took the timeshare tour with Summer Winds for their Stormy Point Village condos to get free tickets. We did purchase the 2 bedroom every 3 years for 8900 no financing with the VIP Charter Membership Program offering unlimited "Family Weeks" ONLY because they "Guaranteed" to sell our Royal Sands unit in Cancun (for $28k) and they guarantee to never have to pay the maintenance fees as long as we returned the base week and only used the family weeks which seem like a good deal with the cruise options as well. Glancing through the paperwork, there is no mention of them selling our unit, only a copy of the fax they sent to their reseller. When questioned on this, they claimed it would be illegal to comingle funds but they have NEVER not had one sell. It's illegal to put a time period on the resale, but most have sold within 6 months and none have gone over 1 year. I can live with a year, but do NOT want 2 timeshares! It's almost midnight and we are on vacation, so research time is limited but from the little I have been able to do, it looks like we need to rescind this deal. I gather I have 5 days, but is day 1 today, the day we signed the papers, or is day 1 starting tomorrow. Do I have 5 business days or do the weekends count also? How do I go about the rescission process? The program did sound nice, so I'd like to know if I bought resale would I still have access to all these benefits of the VIP program? Especially liked the cruise program and the $529 MF is much less than our current $1000+ MF, but the biggest benefit to me is not paying the MF unless we choose to use the week - is this truly how it works? Experts, please help me, as the 5 day period looks like it will be during our vacation and travel time back home (10+ hrs).

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RESCIND NOW! They pulled a bait and switch on you regarding the sale of your other timeshare.

Do NOT wait... Do NOT split hairs. This should not get past Day 3 so you don't have to worry about counting the signing day or not. In any case, be as conservative as possible: consider "5 days" to be calendar days (personally, I would use 5 calendar hours!) and include signing day as Day 1. You are at the beginning of the window, so ignore any business day language to force yourself to act quickly.

See this current thread (post #52) as a cautionary tale about a buyer who procrastinated too long, despite TUG advice to the contrary, and missed the rescission window (partially because of the calendar vs. business day issue):
http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213501&page=3


It's too bad you did this at the beginning of your vacation, but it doesn't take long to write a letter on your laptop (assuming that is how you are writing this post), email it to yourself, and then print it out at THE RESORT'S OWN BUSINESS CENTER! :rofl:

Then put it in the mail (follow the advice in the link I gave you) ASAP. Do NOT hand it to anyone at the resort to process. Follow the rescission instructions to the letter (and then some).

Do NOT talk to the salesperson who sold you this crock. They will say anything to get you to delay and hem and haw until it is too late to rescind.

I repeat, rescind now!!! Sort it out later. You have 5 days and it doesn't matter when it starts or whatever, DO IT TODAY.

BTW, there is no way they will sell that unit you own for $28,000 dollars. It's not in your contract and it's not going to happen.

You will own 2 timeshares, RESCIND NOW!!!!!!!

I think you would be lucky to get even 10% of $28K for a Mexican TS.

I was at Stormy Point last May and for around $28K cash could have bought a 2BR. What did you buy?

Anytime I have been offered trade-in I simply write on contract and that ends it.

If one can trade in a car sure can trade in TS. In fact I had Wyndham offer to take mine as trade-in/upgrade/consolidation and it is written in contract.

Rescind NOW and avoid experience of another victim referenced above.

Shoot, just tell salesperson you will sell to him for $10K and pay cash for SP and he can pocket $17K difference.

Paying more than $1,200 for any deeded timeshare in Branson is nuts. We own two Marriott Branson weeks, and that is about what we paid, Platinum season, 2 bedroom lockoffs go for about that price.

Buy on eBay from a reputable seller and save thousands of dollars.

Rescind ...

It is a USED Branson timeshare - eBAY is where you buy USED (Branson) TIMESHAREs for $1.

TODAY --- not tomorrow.

And selling your Mexican TS for $28K --- who here fell off the turnip truck? You seriously know it ain't going to happen, RIGHT?

Thank you all. I realize that our Mexican Timeshare will not sell for that, which is why I wanted to jump on the "Guaranteed Deal". I am typing up a rescission letter to get to the Post Office tomorrow. I am familiar with the resale market and swore I would never buy from the developer. Their plan of no maintenance fees seemed to good to pass up, which keeps me wondering about the program that was presented to us. We were buying a 2 bedroom Triennial-B, which currently has maintenance fees of $529/yr. We could choose to pay these maintenance fees and use the week for exchanging or cruising. The cruising was more attractive to us with the prices given to us to view which didn't have any restrictions on them. (We cruise at least once a year from New Orleans so are familiar with the prices and categories). If we didn't want to use the week, we could deposit it with Summer Winds and have no maintenance fees. We would still be able to travel with their Unlimited Family Weeks that were not restricted to their resorts, but included II resorts and a few RCI resorts for a set weekly price - I think it was $399 for a 2 bedroom and $499 for a 3 bedroom. We could also go to All-Inclusives for $799 for a 2 bedroom, covering a maximum number of people that the unit sleeps (most are 6 for a 2 bedroom). If we could travel in 60 days or less, the fee dropped to $299/wk. There were no exchange fees or membership fees to do this, which I have learned add up! None of this information seems to be in the fancy information binder we were given, although it may be covered under VIP Charter Membership that has limited information. So my question to those that are familiar with the Summer Winds group, is this REALLY how it works if we buy resale, or are all of these benefits limited to developer sales, or were these benefits UNTRUE?

I may not know nothin' 'bout Summer anything, but I DO know that if it ain't in the contract, its just salesman' lies. They cannot be helgd to whatever the salesweasel says. If their promises are in black and white, you know where you stand. If not, rescind until they can produce hard copy.

Jim

Likewise, I am not familiar with SP contract.

However, I do know on first page on all contracts I have read in legalese it states we know our sales people are compulsive liars and we accept no responsibility for any of their verbalization, doodling, pictures, illustrations, etc. Anything not herein in is null and void.

I have checked out Wyndham, RCI and II cruises, etc. and always found better than their best.

TSs are in lodging business and other travel items cost them cash.

HOAs have to collect MF to pay bill s. If you do not pay who does???

I doubt anyone can guarantee a cruise, plane fare, etc, without a deposit.

Many Developers do restrict some bennies on resale. Wyndham does not allow VIP credit and Plus Partners. Others restrict day use. Have to check contract/governing documents for restrictions.

And there are taxes, fees, booking charges, etc.

well you can read these:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/stormy-point-village

or the comments on this one:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/stormy-point-village-branson-missouri-c311134.html

Sounds like they only refer you to someone who you have to pay to list your other timeshare and then never hear from again.

You can only book the bonus weeks 30 days or less and the only time they have availability is the dead of winter.

You do have to pay your MF's whether you use your timeshare or not.

They'll never sell that unit. They'll never even try. They'll put it in some website and it will linger there for years. You'll be stuck with both timeshares.

Rescind now and never go on another timeshare tour again.

Update. Reading through my contract, I noticed they had a stipulation that the enrollment fee may be kept if the "Collateral Package" was not returned, so I inquired as to what this package involved. First guy I talked to, a sales manager, didn't seem to have a clue and talked about how sometimes people put up collateral as a down payment. So I asked to speak to someone in their contracts department and was told it was the binder they had given me. To avoid the $400+ fee, we returned the binder today in person. Of course they wanted to know the "problem" I was having and I just kept it simple and said the things we were told were not written down and we decided to rescind the contract but wanted to return the binder to avoid any fees. He noticed I was holding the envelope with the copies of the contract they had given us upon our purchase and insisted I give them to him also, saying that the contract wouldn't be void until I turned them over. I offered to make copies for him but said I would be keeping them in case my money was not returned. He wanted my credit card, which I didn't have on me at the time, and told me it could take 60 days to give us a credit. If I don't see a credit before my next statement, I guess I will dispute the charges with the credit card company., I did have him sign a statement saying we had returned the collateral package and had the rescission letter above. We also went to the post office and sent a certified letter with return receipt, so hopefully I am covered no matter what. Has anyone heard of having to turn over your copies of the paperwork in order to cancel the contract?

sdcantrn said:

Has anyone heard of having to turn over your copies of the paperwork in order to cancel the contract?

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That's a new one. I haven't heard that before. But, since you mailed your rescission letter and have proof of the date, you should be fine.

I think I'd go ahead and notify your credit card company that you've rescinded your contract and will be disputing any charges. That seemed highly unusual for him to ask for your credit card--good thing you didn't have it with you. Maybe you should cancel it and get a new one.

Nonsense...

sdcantrn said:

He noticed I was holding the envelope with the copies of the contract they had given us upon our purchase and insisted I give them to him also, saying that the contract wouldn't be void until I turned them over. I offered to make copies for him but said I would be keeping them in case my money was not returned. <snip> Has anyone heard of having to turn over your copies of the paperwork in order to cancel the contract?

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You were handed a little crock of pure, unadulterated bull$#!t by this individual, plainly and simply stated.

Applicable state law (not developer benevolence) gives you the right and option to cancel, within a specifically defined time frame (5 days in Missouri). The only thing(s) that a developer can require a rescinding buyer to "return" are any and all "owner materials" and any and all "new owner gifts" which may have been provided at the time of contract execution. This legally uninformed (and likely just disappointed and frustrated) weasel was just unnecessarily giving you a hard time.

P.S. Despite what this individual may have told you, they don't have 60 days to issue your credit. They have a maximum of 45 days. You, on the other hand, may very well have only 60 days to dispute the credit card charge from the original purchase. Do so (in writing, citing your cancellation, providing a copy of your rescission letter) to fully protect yourself from any potential developer shenanigans if you don't see the credit reflected on your next credit card statement.

sdcantrn said:

... He noticed I was holding the envelope with the copies of the contract they had given us upon our purchase and insisted I give them to him also, saying that the contract wouldn't be void until I turned them over. I offered to make copies for him but said I would be keeping them in case my money was not returned. He wanted my credit card, which I didn't have on me at the time, and told me it could take 60 days to give us a credit. If I don't see a credit before my next statement, I guess I will dispute the charges with the credit card company...

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I usually say to make sure you keep original copies for everything including the contract and post office material and only send copies if required.

I somehow failed to do that in your case and I am glad you were smart enough not to turn it over. It contains the contract number and other things you may need until this is over.

The advice here is usually to not have any personal or phone contact with the sales people after you decide to rescind. Now you can see why.

Congratulations on the rescission. We're glad you found us, and took the advice. It sounds like this developer has taken a few lessons from those scumbags at Wastegate about making unrealistic promises, then 'forgetting' to put them in the contract. Then putting on the pressure to sign while you are in a 5-day rescission state early in your vacation. It makes one wonder how they sleep at night.

Now you have time to look into how best to sell, or give away your unwanted TS, and move on.

All the best!

Jim

Listen to these experienced TUG members. Rescind now and move on. You have learned a huge lesson. Do your due diligence with regards to owning resale timeshares, relax and start to enjoy your vacation.

Thanks everyone! I found TUG years ago, AFTER I bought our first timeshare from the developer and have found PLENTY of useful information. In our case, resale probably wouldn't have gotten us what we needed at the time (specific week in specific unit adjacent to my parents unit), but would definitely go the resale route if we ever get another one and caution others the same. I have always gotten good information in a timely manner. We are currently staying in a 3 bedroom unit (3 connecting one bedrooms) at Grand Crowne and plan on putting a report here in an effort to help others.

Karen G said:

The deal will still be there if, after doing your research, you still think it's something you want.

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This advice is gold. It's what everyone should heed whenever these salespeople say the deal is only right now. Yeah, no one will take my money tomorrow? Ha, they will.