Fairways of the Moutains Issues

Hello, I am staying in my timeshare in Lake Lure, NC this week since 2013. Upon arrival they made me put down a credit card for a $250 deposit and sign 4 new pages agreeing that I would not smoke, no pet policy, fireplace issues and if anything is missing from my unit they will charge me. I initially questioned this but after a two day 18 hour ride signed and gave and told her I would get in touch with the manager. Yesterday I contacted the manager and the woman who called me to set up the meeting with management said as an owner I can refuse but the manager said she was going to write up the girl for saying that to me and she was going to be reprimanded. The manager Alonso continued to tell me three different exercises as to why the $250 in addition to my maintenance was important and each one contradicted the next. She treated me so awful on the phone that I told her I was shocked and very upset at her treatment of an owner and wouldn't be returning until they figured this out. She told me "oh well, take it up with your board president." Her three reasons were as follows:

1) I was a new owner (I'm a three year owner) but my mother is with me and she has been an owner since they opened.
2) all owners are charged this because of missing TVs from the units and it doesn't matter if your an owner for 28 years or 1 year) contradiction one. I pointed it out by the way.
3) one owner ruined it for all owners and have been bringing their pets and they can change what they want and not notify any of the other owners of the changes. And she said a $250 hold on a cc was "peanuts" and said my $700 maintenance fee only covers me for a broken dish and if anything else is wrong they will charge me. They have been having carpet fraying from animals in the units.

I can tell you upon arrival the dishes were dirty, my downstairs bedroom hadn't been vacuumed and the wasp nests are so bad between the siding that my son can't even go out and play.

What are your feelings? Do you feel paying $250 extra fee for anything being out of place in your unit upon checkout is reasonable? I received a card of what I will be charged the $250 for upon checkout. Should I post this list here too?

I have been asked to put down deposits at many timeshares, even the ones I own. I would like to see the list to see if it seems like your resort is trying to extort money vs. covering losses. I would definitely address your maintenance/housekeeping issues with both the manager and your HOA.

The list is as follows:
Pets in unit
Wood burning (Duraflame only allowed)
Damper in open position (if closed will have to pay fee)
Disposing Hot Ashes outside
Burning Candles in Villa
Smoking in unit (only allowed in designated outdoor spaces)
No grilling in condo area (must in designated outdoor spaces)
No skateboards, rollerblades, roller skates
No motorcycles, mopeds, ATV
Dish liquid in the dishwasher
Having guests in units that they are not aware of
Checking out after 10 AM, Checking in before 4 PM (use to be 2 PM)
All keys must be returned that were provided and any lost keys will be subject to the fee
Feeding the wildlife
Removing towels and/blankets. Any removal, damage and loss will be subject to fee.
Trash pick up outside of Monday's and Saturdays will be subject to fee.
Missing, damaged or misuse of TVs, appliances and furniture.

This is the new list.
Thank you!

It's a hold on your cc in case of damage. These types of holds are normal in the TS world. The alternative would be to charge the owner directly and withhold further usage until paid regardless of who was checking in. Having the CC makes it much easier to charge for damage beyond wear and tear. While $100 is probably more the norm there are reports of some resorts that hold $500+ .

Some of the items on the list seem a little nitpicky but certainly within the range of what I have seen elsewhere. Some resorts expect the owner or the person staying to do a fair amount of the hk to get the unit ready for the next person. Others don't. Presumably the ones that ask you to do more are paying less for HK than a similar one where you don't have to do anything when checking out.

Older timeshares are more likely to have the laundry list of do's and don'ts. Some just leave them on the refridge or on the table, others include it with the check in material.

A careful owner is likely to never be charged anything in addition but because not everyone is careful and/or considerate instead of charging an additional $50-100 to each owner in additional MF for bad behavior they are putting a hold on a CC and only charging if there is a problem.

Now if you check out and you find they charged you $40 because they think you fed the wildlife from your porch when you did no such thing, etc then the complaints would be justified.

It seems difficult to believe that they would charge you for roller skating or feeding the birds, but some items on the list are legitimate.

I used to do the inventory lists faithfully at all the resorts, but have not do so for a while. Not even sure if they look at them? Deposits are usually taken at most hotels and timeshares. They even take cc for reservations now too!

As owners are you usually notified of the changes?