# Need help writing ANGRY letter to Starwood



## RoverJohn (Mar 20, 2007)

Today, one month after signing a Contract to purchase a Developer week following our taking an Explorer Tour, then having to rescind the contract, and after stewing over our terrible and inexcusable treatment, I want to raise a protest with the necessary and influential officials of Starwood. So I ask TUG users – to whom can I send letters that will be read and noticed? I would like to know names, addresses and positions of important people involved in sales. Thanks.


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## mariawolf (Mar 20, 2007)

I know a VP but can you provide more info as to what you are upset about.


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## DeniseM (Mar 20, 2007)

Please tell us what happened?


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## LisaRex (Mar 20, 2007)

I don't know any names, but I have worked for the Marketing Department of a Fortune 10 company.  Occasionally we'd get complaint letters personally addressed to the Marketing Director, which we'd screen on his/her behalf.  (No upper level manager opens his own mail.) 95% of them were sent down to be handled by lower level managers.  Directors just don't have time to handle day to day complaints. 

However, if the complaint is so egregious (e.g. "My dog went into renal failure a half hour after eating your chunk dog food"), then we'd send it on to the Director.  Assuming your complaint is major, explain it as clearly and as succinctly as possible, offering up facts, not emotions.  And stick to one key complaint or two; don't dilute your message by listing every complaint under the sun. Directors don't have time to read 3 page treatises.  

Finally, skip the sarcasm.  Angry, sarcastic letter writers are quicky dismissed as being unreasonable.  It's okay to say, "Because of the treatment I received, I'm reconsidering my loyalty to Starwood," but not okay to say, "I've seen more receptive customer service at the BMV." or "A trained monkey would be an improvement over John Q. Salesman." 

Good luck.


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## falmouth3 (Mar 20, 2007)

1.  Keep to the facts.
2.  Tell your story in a logical order.
3.  Tell them what you want them to do to fix the problem.


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## LisaRex (Mar 20, 2007)

See how Falmouth3 beautifully illustrated my point?


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## RoverJohn (Mar 20, 2007)

I must be clear – I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THERE WAS INTENTIONAL MISREPRESENTATION in this matter. 

Earlier in February I posted some questions about a Starwood Developer purchase I made. What I didn’t post was that eight days after signing the Purchase Contract, during which time my wife and I twisted slowly in the wind and were emotional wrecks, we had to rescind the purchase. The terms of the purchase as presented by the team leader and sales person, and the basis of the contract we signed, would not be honored. We had been told by the sales agent and team leader that we would receive 148100 Options on requalification of our one week two bedroom floating 1-52 Desert Oasis ownership, and together with our new purchase, we would become Elite 3 members. At home and following a more careful reading of the signed Sales Contract, we found that this was not written in the contract. On the eighth day, and after many frantic emails and phone calls about the amount of Options to be given and confusion about the rescission date, we were officially notified that the 148100 Option statement made to us was a mistake. 

As the dust has settled, we believe this mistake should have been caught immediately. Simple communication between the company’s agents should have been sufficient notice of a problem. The Contract Compliance officer told us that it was policy within their office that requalification of a Desert Oasis week would receive 81000 StarOptions. Because we signed the Purchase Contract the day after the Explorer Presentation, there was sufficient time to review this purchase and cancel it then and there. And to complicate the matter, I believe, although I am not sure, that it was the Compliance Officer who presented us the papers to sign. (I recognized her voice when she phoned to officially let us know that we would not receive the 148100 StarOptions.) So for one frantic and anxious week, we phoned and emailed everyone involved, worrying constantly about the number of StarOptions requalification would bring us, and the rescission period - not knowing whether it was 7 days for Arizona, where we signed the contract, or 10 days for Florida – (we purchased Vistana Village Amelia and found out on TUG that unlike other Vistana Village units, Amelia is not a mandatory resort, and to my mind, would not have a mandatory resort’s inherent price/value protection.)  Also, neither my wife nor I can recollect any mention of rescission at our signing, and certainly no notice as to whether Arizona or Florida rules would prevail.

We have since emailed and talked briefly with the sales person, Compliance Officer and Sales manager, but we have come to believe that it has become just another day in the life of a sales organization. They have moved on, and we are obviously upset. “Mistakes were made” by the company, and my wife and I paid a price. We are both disappointed and angry. We lost the value of our Explorer package in any future requalification (and probably will not try again), and we certainly have lost respect for the company. By writing letters to important functionaries, we would like to put the Sales Organization on notice, and in so doing, both let them know how angry we are and hopefully for them, to tighten up their sales operations to the benefit of other purchasers.

Sorry for this long-winded diatribe.

John


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## DeniseM (Mar 20, 2007)

RoverJohn;303893[/quote said:
			
		

> At home and following a more careful reading of the signed Sales Contract, we found that this was not written in the contract.



John, I am truly sorry for the miserable experience you've had.  It is obvious that Starwood was sloppy and unprofessional.  But, on the otherhand, you have to take some responsibility for leaving the sales office with a contract that you either did not fully read or did not fully understand.  Let me add here, that *I am completely guilty of the exact same thing*.  When we bought our first timeshare from Starwood, we were on vacation on Maui and bought on impulse without a CLUE of what we were doing.  We were very lucky - we spent too much money, but we ended up being very happy with the product.  I know how disappointed you are.  I hope this doesn't sour you on timesharing, entirely.  I think it's a good thing that you are airing it out here, because Starwood does read this board.

Best!


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## Transit (Mar 21, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your situation.The few who have been succsessfull in dealing with requal have a better than average knowledge of sales contracts and have practiced extreme due dilligence in following the procedures neccesary to go foward with this type of transaction. I thought I would also try this route but changed my mind after reading the variables involved.*Starwood is in no way shape or form supporting resales of anykind .*This is obvious with the mandatory/voluntary situation and the lack of ROFR.Consider the explore package a vacation taken and at least you were able to recind.


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## Denise L (Mar 21, 2007)

Hi John,

I am sorry to hear about your frustration and situation.  We like Starwood a lot, and like DeniseM, we love our first, very expensive developer purchase (well, not the price but the resort itself  ).  I hope that something can be resolved to your satisfaction, and I'm sure that others will insist on everything in writing in future requal contracts.  We thought that we were getting more Starpoints as incentive with our purchase and it turned out it wasn't in writing, so I was a bit miffed at the time, but I got over it and bought anyhow!

I am confused as to what actually happened in the end (it's late, I'm tired:zzz: )

Did you get your money back from your developer purchase?

Did you use your Explorer Package for 5 nights and get your 50K Starpoints?

It sounds like this might be the case?  If it is, then the money you paid for your Explorer Package paid for your 5 nights and your 50K Starpoints, which is a pretty decent deal even without a purchase "rebate."  If you paid, what $1995 for the package, 50K Starpoints supposedly cost the sales staff .02 each or $1000, and you had 5 nights at $200 a night. You can probably get more value out of your Starpoints than .02 each, so you didn't, in theory, lose anything. I know it would be nice to have the price applied to a purchase, but if you didn't really want the purchase in the end, think of it as not really losing anything.

If you indeed got your downpayment back or got out of the developer purchase contract, then you didn't lose anything there either.  You have all your money!  Perhaps you didn't really want to own there and might find relief in not buying?  I know that you have been losing sleep, making yourself and your wife sick over this timeshare purchase/requal business, but you did learn a lot and can use that knowledge to double and triple check everything when and if you do decide to jump in the water again.

You still own your Sheraton Desert Oasis, which you bought at a bargain price, so you are way ahead already!  At least you could still requal if you ever wanted to...81K SOs is a LOT of SOs!  People paid over $30K at WKORV for a 1 bedroom to get 81K SOs....

Anyhow, I'll stop trying to look at the positive side  if you are just looking to vent!  Sorry for your ordeal!


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## harzim (Mar 21, 2007)

Denise,
Your travel pages say email you with any questions, but I don't see your email address.  Thanks.


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## Dave M (Mar 21, 2007)

Click on Denise's name to the left of her post. You'll see a line that states, "Send email to DeniseM". Click on that and you'll be on your way to sending her a message.

Or click on the Link for "Private Messages" under your user name at the top right of this page and create a PM to send to her.


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## Dave M (Mar 21, 2007)

Adding....

Most people don't show their personal e-mail address anywhere on the Internet where it might be readily accessible. Spammers and scammers harvest such addresses and the result is a never-ending increase in the clutter in our inboxes!


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