# I am Disappointed Exchange Unit Dirty at High End Captiva Resort



## Panina (Feb 2, 2019)

I was so looking forward to this week.  I traded into it over a year ago.  Getting a prime winter week was a treat. I arrived a day late to South Seas as my prior week overlapped. 

I am resting now before continuing to clean the unit.  It was disgusting.  Only once before in all my years of timesharing was a room this dirty. The difference was the other timeshare sent a cleaning crew to the unit at 9 pm at night.  Here the front desk told me there was nothing they could do as it was a timeshare and they could connect me to the voicemail of the management company but someone probably wouldn’t get back to me today as they left a few minutes ago at 4:30.   What happens if there is a real emergency?  So I decided to just clean it myself,  I always have cleaners with me.

There was hair in the bathroom sink. The faucet had toothpaste on it  and the drains had that pink junk on it. The  shower had this large brown stain  and black particles on the floor tile.  The stove top was dirty. There  were hairs and dirt in the kitchen cutlery tray. There were crumbs, big ones too,  on the counters and the paper towel came up with black dirt.  Some of dishes were dirty, put them as usual in the dishwasher, still have to check the pots.  The tea kettle was rusted.  The sliding glass doors were streaked with a oily film. The baseboards were dusty with grime.  All of this was easily seen and got cleaned  with my cleaning. Of course I cleaned everything else.  What surprised me were the floors were clean, that is usually where the problems is. 

I am tired now and disappointed.  I will follow up with the management company.  I will also let II know.  I took pictures thanks to my other half.  I was cleaning awhile and when he got up from his nap he said take pictures, there was still enough dirt to take photos of. Even though I traded through II this is an hgvc affiliate and being an hgvc owner a unit shouldn’t be this way but more importantly you should have a way to contact management.  Thinking now I should have called hgvc as I am a member, they might have been able to contact management.


----------



## breezez (Feb 2, 2019)

Hope you took pictures - Tell them you will post these disgusting photos on Trip Advisor unless they compensate you for cleaning your own villa in some way.    

I have been is some places that were not cleaned the best but funniest one was WorldMark Pine Top.  I start dishwasher and water goes every were around the door of unit.    I call front desk maintenance guys shows up and said damn not another one.   They had just fired a cleaning lady because she was lowering all the dishwasher doors and standing on them to put dishes in the cabinets and spring the doors of dishwashers in the process.   Maintenance had it changed in about an hour.

At Reunion outside of Orlando,  I go in my unit to find a toddler in the unit, with a Thomas the Train shirt on.    I look all over and don't see anyone appearing to be missing a kid I knock on doors around our unit.  Not their kid.    We left our unit main door open in hopes some parent would see it and stop by.   I am on the phone with the sheriff department when the mom finally shows up.   I still am not sure how he got in the room unless he some how walked in their when the cleaning lady was in their.


----------



## silentg (Feb 2, 2019)

That’s just terrible, you should check with HGVC and II. No excuse for the treatment you are receiving.
I would be upset too!
We had a nice timeshare in Fort Myers Beach recently. But I too was worried it might not be what it looked like in the photos.
We always leave our timeshares clean or cleaner than when we arrive. Even though the housekeeping is supposed to clean when we leave. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, let us know what HGVC and II do for you?
Silentg


----------



## rapmarks (Feb 2, 2019)

Horrible,I have had this happen too.
At least we have some nice weather again.


----------



## Theiggy (Feb 2, 2019)

That’s so awful! I’m sorry this happened and I don’t understand how they don’t have housekeeping available!!  Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## BJRSanDiego (Feb 3, 2019)

Most of the timeshares that we've stayed in were fairly clean.  And we've stayed in perhaps more than 50.  The ones that were not acceptable were :

Worldmark Big Bear (Ca.) - My wife wiped things down with a Sani-wipe and she went through a half dozen and all were black.  The spa was cloudy and we got a rash.  It was closed AFTER we got the rash.  Bacteria issue.   WorldMark gave us a small tube of anti-biotic ointment.  Wahoo! 

Point at Poipu - We originally had a unit with water intrusion problems.  One bath had no light and the interior wall was wet, the door jamb was wet and rotting and the room smelled like sewage.  The second bathroom had a toilet w/o a wax seal so when the toilet was flushed liquid would come out from the base of the toilet.  There were coffee cup rings on the floor next to the toilet.  So we knew that the floor wasn't mopped.  The next unit they moved us to had a dead AC unit (or were both of them dead?), a dead overhead lamp fixture that had to be replaced, sand on the floor, debris left in the fridge, etc.   We had people working in our unit for perhaps 6 to 8 hours.  So we lost a day of vacation.  Diamond gave us a free week in Tahoe as compensation.

Welk Northstar (Truckee/Tahoe) - The carpets and floors were both absolutely filthy.  The AC in the master didn't work the entire week.  The engineers were in our unit perhaps 5 or 6 times for several hours over perhaps 4 or 5 days. They ended up putting a portable AC unit in the master only 3 feet from our bed.  It sounded like a vacuum cleaner ALL NIGHT.  It vented out an open window with flex plastic drier vent.  I later found out that someone who posted on Tripadvisor had the same unit ONE YEAR EARLIER and had the EXACT same problem with the carpet and the AC.  I wrote a review for TUG.  They offered us a replacement week. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this time we won't have any similar issues.


----------



## CalGalTraveler (Feb 3, 2019)

Wow @Panina Sorry to hear about your issues. That just sucks. You go on vacation to get away from this.

Good idea to take photos and contact HGVC. This is not up to their standards. You should be compensated by management.

Is there a reason they couldn't they move you to a different unit?

I had similar cleaning issues at an AirBnB once - disgusting. The problem with AirBnB is that there are no other similar units to move to.  Usually the ability to change units if you are dissatisfied is a benefit of timeshares.


----------



## DannyTS (Feb 3, 2019)

Gross. This should certainly be brought to the attention of HGVC. Poor maintenance is one of the reason an affiliate can loose the contract with HGVC. I hope both sides will take this very seriously. I also hope you will receive a very decent compensation, I imagine this is not how you envisioned spending the first day of vacation.


----------



## WinniWoman (Feb 3, 2019)

Just wow! So sorry!

This happened to us only once when we had exchanged into Powhatten Plantation and arrived there near midnight. We had the road trip from hell and then to come into a situation like that in our condo was the icing on the cake. We called the front  desk and they did send someone- but that person only vacuumed all the cereal that was all over the rug and then left. We were so exhausted that we just had to go to sleep at that point so we let it go.

This was long ago before the popularity of smartphones. Now if this were to happen to me today I would be snapping pictures and immediately be on Trip Advisor with them and my review!

But- unlike you, I would not do any cleaning. I would be demanding another unit, calling hgvc since you can't reach management. I am not for these places that have no one on staff should an issue arise. Just ridiculous.

I hope the rest of your stay goes much better.


----------



## Panina (Feb 3, 2019)

BJRSanDiego said:


> Most of the timeshares that we've stayed in were fairly clean.  And we've stayed in perhaps more than 50.  The ones that were not acceptable were :
> 
> Worldmark Big Bear (Ca.) - My wife wiped things down with a Sani-wipe and she went through a half dozen and all were black.  The spa was cloudy and we got a rash.  It was closed AFTER we got the rash.  Bacteria issue.   WorldMark gave us a small tube of anti-biotic ointment.  Wahoo!
> 
> ...


Point at Poitou, how disgusting, sewage smell.  The closest I came  to that disgusting was what looked like a feces stain on the bathroom floor, again at a high end resort.  Thinking about it my most modest resorts I own never had a cleanliness problem.


----------



## Panina (Feb 3, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> Wow @Panina Sorry to hear about your issues. That just sucks. You go on vacation to get away from this.
> 
> Good idea to take photos and contact HGVC. This is not up to their standards. You should be compensated by management.
> 
> ...


I couldn’t get moved, there was no one to talk to. Front desk where I checked in told me there was nothing they could do as it was handles by timeshare management, who were gone.  No call back from them this morning. I doubt there were any units available as it is prime time.

Compensation from HGVC I doubt, this is an affiliate but I will pursue and not let it go so hopefully they resolve the problem for the next guest.  I believe this is an ongoing problem based on how dusty the door ledges and baseboards were.


----------



## Panina (Feb 3, 2019)

DannyTS said:


> Gross. This should certainly be brought to the attention of HGVC. Poor maintenance is one of the reason an affiliate can loose the contract with HGVC. I hope both sides will take this very seriously. I also hope you will receive a very decent compensation, I imagine this is not how you envisioned spending the first day of vacation.


That’s my goal, for them to take this seriously.  I am sure they will say we had it inspected by a supervisor after it was clean.  A visual walk-in without really looking it would seem okay.  My guess is there were lots of complaints previously on the tile floors as they were very clean and that is probably a focus, just a guess.


----------



## Panina (Feb 3, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> Just wow! So sorry!
> 
> This happened to us only once when we had exchanged into Powhatten Plantation and arrived there near midnight. We had the road trip from hell and then to come into a situation like that in our condo was the icing on the cake. We called the front  desk and they did send someone- but that person only vacuumed all the cereal that was all over the rug and then left. We were so exhausted that we just had to go to sleep at that point so we let it go.
> 
> ...


I was so tired by the time I arrived I did not think of calling HGVC. They might not have done anything since it was outside their trade circle, they use RCI.  This affiliate also uses II.  I could have called II, they probably have a number for problems.  I thought of all this after I cleaned.  I was so grossed out no way I could stay and sleep without cleaning.  Passed out after into a deep sleep.

This place is really nice and I will follow up but will not let it ruin this vacation.  It just might have been one lousy cleaner, the others might be great.


----------



## dsmrp (Feb 3, 2019)

So sorry. Hope you will enjoy the remainder of your stay. And Captiva resort or exchange co. should comp you something. Sounds like an uneasy (uncooperative?) relationship between hotel and TS operations.  Good you will let HGVC know of this issue.


----------



## Panina (Feb 3, 2019)

Never went back last night to checking the pots and pans, too tired from cleaning.   Of course the dirt waited for me, they were dirty, both stainless steel and non stick.  All the non stick were greasy to touch and even if I clean them unusable, scratched and worn.  

They need to get their act together here.  It’s a beautiful place to be and decorated beautifully.  I am sitting on the screened in porch watching the golfers.  Some one is hammering now, it’s Sunday,  why??? At least the lawn mower noise is blocking the hammering noise, at least I think it’s a lawn mover.  Got to laugh and smile, can hear the birds too.


----------



## WinniWoman (Feb 3, 2019)

Panina said:


> Never went back last night to checking the pots and pans, too tired from cleaning.   Of course the dirt waited for me, they were dirty, both stainless steel and non stick.  All the non stick were greasy to touch and even if I clean them unusable, scratched and worn.
> 
> They need to get their act together here.  It’s a beautiful place to be and decorated beautifully.  I am sitting on the screened in porch watching the golfers.  Some one is hammering now, it’s Sunday,  why??? At least the lawn mower noise is blocking the hammering noise, at least I think it’s a lawn mover.  Got to laugh and smile, can hear the birds too.



OMG! This is really a shame. 

The only way I would be laughing would be with alcohol. LOL!


----------



## Jan M. (Feb 4, 2019)

Is this an HGVC property/unit? We've stayed at 5 different HGVC resorts here in Florida and have never had anything even remotely like your experience! The Plantation House and Plantation Beach Club at the South Seas Resort both on Captiva, Casa Ybel on Sanibel, Charter Club of Marco Island and twice for two weeks each time at Plantation Beach Club at Indian River in Stuart, FL.

The unit didn't get that dirty in just a week's use by other people. Most resorts have a checker who is supposed to look over the units before they are cleared for guests and he or she certainly didn't do their job! Makes me wonder if the previous occupant reported that the unit wasn't very well cleaned and no one made sure that information was passed on the resort manager. When you call if you don't get satisfaction make sure you get the name of the highest person in charge and let it be known that you will be posting on the appropriate Facebook page and Trip Advisor about your experience. That ought to get their attention.


----------



## Sugarcubesea (Feb 4, 2019)

I'm So sorry you had to deal with this mess @Panina .  I would have been so mad if that's what I would have walked into...


----------



## mdurette (Feb 4, 2019)

Certainly not what anyone would expect at a high end/brand name affiliated resort.   What you described is almost as if they didn't clean at all.    I commend you for taking a deep breath and just dealing with it, instead of letting it ruin your vacation as other's would.

In never traveled with cleaning supplies - but a few years ago I started bringing a tube of Lysol wipes on every trip.   It always amazes me that the majority of the TS we stay in don't have a single product for use just to clean up after ourselves.

Curios - have you checked reviews of the resort now that you have been there - any complaints about cleaning.   Wonder if it is a fluke with one employee having one bad day.


----------



## Panina (Feb 4, 2019)

mdurette said:


> Certainly not what anyone would expect at a high end/brand name affiliated resort.   What you described is almost as if they didn't clean at all.    I commend you for taking a deep breath and just dealing with it, instead of letting it ruin your vacation as other's would.
> 
> In never traveled with cleaning supplies - but a few years ago I started bringing a tube of Lysol wipes on every trip.   It always amazes me that the majority of the TS we stay in don't have a single product for use just to clean up after ourselves.
> 
> Curios - have you checked reviews of the resort now that you have been there - any complaints about cleaning.   Wonder if it is a fluke with one employee having one bad day.


I never checked reviews at it was a hgvc affiliate.  

I just got a call from housekeeping to offer me a cleaning service and an apology.  Did they really think I would stay in the dirty unit waiting for them for two days?

What gets me is housekeeping called me, not management.  I had to call management myself this morning.  All I got is I’m sorry and they also offered me a mid week cleaning which I told them I don’t need as it’s clean because I cleaned it.  What irks me the most is I was told the front desk had their emergency number plus housekeeping was here on Sunday and could have cleaned my unit.


----------



## Panina (Feb 4, 2019)

Jan M. said:


> Is this an HGVC property/unit? We've stayed at 5 different HGVC resorts here in Florida and have never had anything even remotely like your experience! The Plantation House and Plantation Beach Club at the South Seas Resort both on Captiva, Casa Ybel on Sanibel, Charter Club of Marco Island and twice for two weeks each time at Plantation Beach Club at Indian River in Stuart, FL.
> 
> The unit didn't get that dirty in just a week's use by other people. Most resorts have a checker who is supposed to look over the units before they are cleared for guests and he or she certainly didn't do their job! Makes me wonder if the previous occupant reported that the unit wasn't very well cleaned and no one made sure that information was passed on the resort manager. When you call if you don't get satisfaction make sure you get the name of the highest person in charge and let it be known that you will be posting on the appropriate Facebook page and Trip Advisor about your experience. That ought to get their attention.


All the places you visited  I love.  Indian River was a nice surprise that I didn’t expect to love so much.

I believe it was a bad housekeeper because I was here before and it was fine.  What upsets me most, not that it was  dirty but the response to the situation was non existent.  Calls today just got I’m sorry can’t change what happened to you but can make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.   I was offered a cleaning service. Ironic considering I cleaned it already.


----------



## Laurie (Feb 4, 2019)

Sorry to hear that!

Our place at South Seas this past Dec was absolutely spotless (unlike the timeshare the following week at Ft Myers Beach). So the cleanliness problem isn't resort-wide, but maybe lack of responsiveness is.


----------



## WinniWoman (Feb 4, 2019)

Panina said:


> All the places you visited  I love.  Indian River was a nice surprise that I didn’t expect to love so much.
> 
> I believe it was a bad housekeeper because I was here before and it was fine.  What upsets me most, not that it was  dirty but the response to the situation was non existent.  Calls today just got I’m sorry can’t change what happened to you but can make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.   I was offered a cleaning service. Ironic considering I cleaned it already.




They should have given you some certificates for free dinners in the area at some nice restaurants to make up for it at the very least.


----------



## rapmarks (Feb 4, 2019)

I will never forget arriving in englewood, Florida Resort.  Only set of four of everything and dishes were covered with wet spaghetti stains, silverware greasy, one cup had an inch of grease in it, dishwasher would not work.  Place reeked of smoke, towels had stains, the vent in bathroom was covered with dust and mold.  We had no balcony but awoke to sound of people on their balcony, the small window in bedroom opened onto neighboring balcony and we heard everything they said.  
We left on Tuesday and went to naples, bought local paper and ended up finding our home, so at least we made lemonade.......


----------



## Panina (Feb 4, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> They should have given you some certificates for free dinners in the area at some nice restaurants to make up for it at the very least.


Management just sucks.  I had water pouring out of the shower door and told them.  A couple of hours later heard nothing.  Tried calling the maintenance department, answering machine, left message, no call back.  Tried calling management again, answering machine.  Actually got help from  housekeeping.  The manager there was able to tell me everyone was out on lunch but he got management and they will follow up and call me, no call. Asked that they call me before someone come, they show up at the door. 

Funny story.  Yesterday I heard banging that I though was a hammer for a long time. .  This morning I heard  it again for a long time. Finally got up to figure out where it was coming from.  The next building adjacent to me, on the overhand, a woodpecker created a hole and I saw him go in.  At least his job is finished and no more hammering.


----------



## Panina (Feb 4, 2019)

Whereas the management here was not responsive as they should be and the front desk is not helpful at all this is a nice place that even with all my aggravation I might give it another chance in the future as my past visits were good.  

I did speak with Mark at Interval and he already got in touch with the resort.  A little birdie saw my post here on tug.  I forwarded some of my pictures to him.  II did right by me by giving me a gratis of one of my trade fees.  I did not ask for anything.  My reason to contact II was so somewhere there is a history of issues.  Nothing changes unless you try to do something.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t but if you don’t try nothing will change. Bottom line Interval International rocks.


----------



## WinniWoman (Feb 5, 2019)

Panina said:


> Management just sucks.  I had water pouring out of the shower door and told them.  A couple of hours later heard nothing.  Tried calling the maintenance department, answering machine, left message, no call back.  Tried calling management again, answering machine.  Actually got help from  housekeeping.  The manager there was able to tell me everyone was out on lunch but he got management and they will follow up and call me, no call. Asked that they call me before someone come, they show up at the door.
> 
> Funny story.  Yesterday I heard banging that I though was a hammer for a long time. .  This morning I heard  it again for a long time. Finally got up to figure out where it was coming from.  The next building adjacent to me, on the overhand, a woodpecker created a hole and I saw him go in.  At least his job is finished and no more hammering.




Wow. LOL! You just can't make this stuff up. Me- I would never go back there again.


----------



## geist1223 (Feb 5, 2019)

Several years ago we stayed at WMSP Coffs Harbour in Australia with some friends for a week. We were very disappointed in the condition of the Unit. It turned out they were about 5 years past the time to Update the Condos. We first contacted Owner Care WMTC and got no response. So we then contacted both BOD's - WMSP and WMTC. This time we did get a response. They returned all our Points, apologized, and instituted a Policy to warn anyone that made a Reservation about the condition of the Units.


----------



## silentg (Feb 5, 2019)

Laurie said:


> Sorry to hear that!
> 
> Our place at South Seas this past Dec was absolutely spotless (unlike the timeshare the following week at Ft Myers Beach). So the cleanliness problem isn't resort-wide, but maybe lack of responsiveness is.


Can I ask what resort in Ft Myers Beach? We stayed at Tropical Sands and it was wonderful.


----------



## Laurie (Feb 5, 2019)

silentg said:


> Can I ask what resort in Ft Myers Beach? We stayed at Tropical Sands and it was wonderful.


It was Mariner's Boat House. Not as bad as what Panina is describing, but the bedroom had a giant diagonally striped wall mirrors right next to the bed - the kind that's supposed to make the room seem bigger - and the whole surface looked like it hadn't been dusted in many months. I didn't bother complaining, probably I should have notified the desk - nor did I bother cleaning it myself. (I still enjoyed our stay, for view and location.)


----------



## Panina (Feb 5, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> Wow. LOL! You just can't make this stuff up. Me- I would never go back there again.


It is just such a nice resort.  Once a problem I try again , twice a problem never again, third time I only can blame myself for going back.


----------



## silentg (Feb 6, 2019)

breezez said:


> Hope you took pictures - Tell them you will post these disgusting photos on Trip Advisor unless they compensate you for cleaning your own villa in some way.
> 
> I have been is some places that were not cleaned the best but funniest one was WorldMark Pine Top.  I start dishwasher and water goes every were around the door of unit.    I call front desk maintenance guys shows up and said damn not another one.   They had just fired a cleaning lady because she was lowering all the dishwasher doors and standing on them to put dishes in the cabinets and spring the doors of dishwashers in the process.   Maintenance had it changed in about an hour.
> 
> At Reunion outside of Orlando,  I go in my unit to find a toddler in the unit, with a Thomas the Train shirt on.    I look all over and don't see anyone appearing to be missing a kid I knock on doors around our unit.  Not their kid.    We left our unit main door open in hopes some parent would see it and stop by.   I am on the phone with the sheriff department when the mom finally shows up.   I still am not sure how he got in the room unless he some how walked in their when the cleaning lady was in their.


Scary, where was the mother?


----------



## breezez (Feb 6, 2019)

silentg said:


> Scary, where was the mother?


This was my thought at the time.   Expected a frantic mother to be looking around for him.   But didn’t see anyone.   We left door open and then called front desk who thought we were joking then called Orange County Sheriff’s office.

While I was talking with dispatch mom finally shows up saying they had been looking for him over a hour.   But they were not frantic like you would have expected.


----------



## Jan M. (Feb 6, 2019)

breezez said:


> This was my thought at the time.   Expected a frantic mother to be looking around for him.   But didn’t see anyone.   We left door open and then called front desk who thought we were joking then called Orange County Sheriff’s office.
> 
> While I was talking with dispatch mom finally shows up saying they had been looking for him over a hour.   But they were not frantic like you would have expected.



After that length of time I would expected frantic, bordering on hysterical. Most people would have been on the phone to resort security after 15 minutes, 20 minutes tops, of not being able to find their child. If anything had happened to the child how would you explain to the police that you hadn't notified anyone that your child was missing. Did you ever find out if they were guests or if it was a housekeeping staff member who didn't want her bosses to find out she brought her child to work?

Thirty years ago when our son was just a little over two years old he got down off a moving four child carousel in a McDonald's play area and disappeared in the time it took me to walk just the 8-9 steps to retrieve my purse which was lying on our table. He took off for the carousel as soon as I got him out of the high chair and I was worried he would try to get on it while it was moving and get hurt so didn't take the time to grab my purse before chasing after him. I had specifically told him not to try to get down on his own before I went over to our table to grab my purse. He was off that moving carousel, out into the main part of the restaurant then out into the mall that fast. It was fairly busy at lunch time so it wasn't easy to try to spot a small child with the number of people. As soon as I couldn't find him anywhere in the main part of the McDonalds I found a security person right outside the McDonalds. Only a few minutes had passed by that time but I was frantic because one of the entrances to the mall wasn't far from the McDonalds. I'm envisioning someone abducting him. The security guard immediately put out the call that a child was missing. Within no more than a couple of minutes the head of security showed up. They asked what he was wearing and how long I had really left him. I showed them where our table was with the remnants of our meal and our jackets. They really didn't believe that in those few steps when my back was turned he could have climbed down from the moving carousel and disappeared that quickly. At this point I could barely breathe I was so scared. To make matters worse my husband had been working out of town for several months and was only home for all of 48 hours on the weekends. This was before cellphones so it wouldn't have been easy to reach him. As they were escorting me to the office the call came that a child had been located. I'm praying that it's him but the head of security wasn't certain because of where this child had been found. Think of the mall as a cross with the McDonalds in one of the arms. He had gone back to the center, clear down to the base of the cross and was playing in the fountain in front of the Penneys at that end. The missing child call goes out to the stores and the woman who took the call in one of them saw him there by himself and took him to the information desk. So not only did he run off, he then went with a complete stranger. As we got closer I can see that it is definitely him sitting on the counter of the information desk happy as can be with everyone paying attention to him. As soon as he spotted me coming he immediately started calling out "I'm sorry Mommy" as he knew what he had done was wrong. That made the head of security and other guard escorting me crack up laughing and the head of security apologized for not believing me about how quickly he had disappeared. In that moment I truly knew the meaning of the phrase "weak with relief". I remember the head of security asking me if I needed to sit down for a minute.  Thirty years later and I still remember this vividly. How was this woman not frantic?


----------



## pedro47 (Feb 7, 2019)

Panina, suggestion only I would write a review with photos to II and HGVC Corporate detailing your timeshare stay with all the names of the employees at these resort.

Please write a TUG Review.

Good luck.


----------



## breezez (Feb 7, 2019)

Jan M. said:


> After that length of time I would expected frantic, bordering on hysterical. Most people would have been on the phone to resort security after 15 minutes, 20 minutes tops, of not being able to find their child. If anything had happened to the child how would you explain to the police that you hadn't notified anyone that your child was missing. Did you ever find out if they were guests or if it was a housekeeping staff member who didn't want her bosses to find out she brought her child to work?
> 
> Thirty years ago when our son was just a little over two years old he got down off a moving four child carousel in a McDonald's play area and disappeared in the time it took me to walk just the 8-9 steps to retrieve my purse which was lying on our table. He took off for the carousel as soon as I got him out of the high chair and I was worried he would try to get on it while it was moving and get hurt so didn't take the time to grab my purse before chasing after him. I had specifically told him not to try to get down on his own before I went over to our table to grab my purse. He was off that moving carousel, out into the main part of the restaurant then out into the mall that fast. It was fairly busy at lunch time so it wasn't easy to try to spot a small child with the number of people. As soon as I couldn't find him anywhere in the main part of the McDonalds I found a security person right outside the McDonalds. Only a few minutes had passed by that time but I was frantic because one of the entrances to the mall wasn't far from the McDonalds. I'm envisioning someone abducting him. The security guard immediately put out the call that a child was missing. Within no more than a couple of minutes the head of security showed up. They asked what he was wearing and how long I had really left him. I showed them where our table was with the remnants of our meal and our jackets. They really didn't believe that in those few steps when my back was turned he could have climbed down from the moving carousel and disappeared that quickly. At this point I could barely breathe I was so scared. To make matters worse my husband had been working out of town for several months and was only home for all of 48 hours on the weekends. This was before cellphones so it wouldn't have been easy to reach him. As they were escorting me to the office the call came that a child had been located. I'm praying that it's him but the head of security wasn't certain because of where this child had been found. Think of the mall as a cross with the McDonalds in one of the arms. He had gone back to the center, clear down to the base of the cross and was playing in the fountain in front of the Penneys at that end. The missing child call goes out to the stores and the woman who took the call in one of them saw him there by himself and took him to the information desk. So not only did he run off, he then went with a complete stranger. As we got closer I can see that it is definitely him sitting on the counter of the information desk happy as can be with everyone paying attention to him. As soon as he spotted me coming he immediately started calling out "I'm sorry Mommy" as he knew what he had done was wrong. That made the head of security and other guard escorting me crack up laughing and the head of security apologized for not believing me about how quickly he had disappeared. In that moment I truly knew the meaning of the phrase "weak with relief". I remember the head of security asking me if I needed to sit down for a minute.  Thirty years later and I still remember this vividly. How was this woman not frantic?



It was a guest.  They were having a family get together at pool area behind unit.  He had wondered off with out anyone noticing.


----------



## Larry M (Feb 9, 2019)

Panina

Why not simply send a link to this thread to HGVC? That will not only inform them of the problems but let them know that lots of people are learning about it.
Given all the food and crumbs you found, it's surprising that you weren't plagued with ants for the week.
Larry


----------



## Panina (Feb 9, 2019)

Larry M said:


> Panina
> 
> Why not simply send a link to this thread to HGVC? That will not only inform them of the problems but let them know that lots of people are learning about it.
> Given all the food and crumbs you found, it's surprising that you weren't plagued with ants for the week.
> Larry


I will send an email to hgvc this week as you suggest.  Aside from the uncleanliness as it could have been a one time issue, the lack of managements responsiveness and  being they never even followed up to see how things were just do not live up to hgvc standards.  

I am currently at another hgvc affiliate this week Eagles Nest on Marco Island.  What a difference in a great way.


----------



## amycurl (Feb 9, 2019)

I really hope the acquisition of II by MVW will not change the culture of II, and that we don't lose Mark as a contact. I've never needed to contact him, but I have been very impressed by II. I have been tempted to advocate that our resort become dual-affiliated, and II has showered the HOA board to help ensure that it doesn't happen. If the culture of II changes significantly, it would make it the decision to dual-affiliate easier.


----------



## Panina (Feb 9, 2019)

amycurl said:


> I really hope the acquisition of II by MVW will not change the culture of II, and that we don't lose Mark as a contact. I've never needed to contact him, but I have been very impressed by II. I have been tempted to advocate that our resort become dual-affiliated, and II has showered the HOA board to help ensure that it doesn't happen. If the culture of II changes significantly, it would make it the decision to dual-affiliate easier.


That is why I wrote the email with Tugger comments to Mark’s boss.  I wanted them to know how valuable we feel Mark is to II and our Tug community.  The sad part is Mark’s boss never acknowledged getting it.  I hope he acknowledged Mark and didn’t ignore it.


----------



## Marvin (Feb 9, 2019)

Panina said:


> I was so looking forward to this week.  I traded into it over a year ago.  Getting a prime winter week was a treat. I arrived a day late to South Seas as my prior week overlapped.
> 
> I am resting now before continuing to clean the unit.  It was disgusting.  Only once before in all my years of timesharing was a room this dirty. The difference was the other timeshare sent a cleaning crew to the unit at 9 pm at night.  Here the front desk told me there was nothing they could do as it was a timeshare and they could connect me to the voicemail of the management company but someone probably wouldn’t get back to me today as they left a few minutes ago at 4:30.   What happens if there is a real emergency?  So I decided to just clean it myself,  I always have cleaners with me.
> 
> ...




Please post your experience at Tripadvisor. com and everywhere else you can think of so other travelers can take advantage of things like this before they book.   I always search all reviews available because I have found that there are problems to be found at many hotels and resorts.  If you do check Tripadvisor for this resort you will see a number of bad reviews for this resort.


----------



## lockewong (Feb 9, 2019)

I am so sorry your experienced that situation.  Hope your stay in San Marco Island is relaxing.  You are a trooper.  I would never go back.  At the very least, I would send a Certified letter the the CEO of the management company and HGVC,  The Certified letter would allow you to track it if you requested a Return Receipt to make sure they received it.  I second the post to Trip Advisor with pictures.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your Winter excursion.


----------



## Panina (Feb 9, 2019)

Just sent my email with pictures to hgvc asking to know who it will be handling.


----------



## Panina (Feb 19, 2019)

Follow up
I sent my pictures and letter through the hgvc portal.  I initially got one of those canned letters stating it would be forwarded to the right people.  Of course I replied to that.  

Yesterday I finally got a response from the main manager who I had no access to before.   II was pro active and forwarded everything to their contact  at the resort before I contacted hgvc.  I decided to contact hgvc as I heard nothing from the resort after II forwarded my pictures and issues.   The letter I received said he was responding to my hgvc correspondence so kudos to hgvc to deal with this even though I did not get this week from my hgvc points account but a II trade.

The letter was lengthy and I believe the deficiencies will be addressed.  My goal was met.  I asked for nothing and to my surprised they deposited a substitute week into my II account.  Not sure how well it will trade as it is the lowest tdi week but it really doesn’t matter whether I use it or not.  The thought was  nice and I finally got to the person that can fix the problems.

I had a bunch of requests in for Captiva that I removed because I felt to ignore my correspondence just would set me up for a bad experience again.  I will add them back in and give it another chance as now I have a contact.


----------



## pedro47 (Feb 19, 2019)

Panina, thanks for posting and good luck. At least now your written complaint is on file with II and HGVC. All written complaint should results in some form of corrective actions IMHO.


----------



## lockewong (Feb 22, 2019)

Panina said:


> Just sent my email with pictures to hgvc asking to know who it will be handling.



HGVC is very good once the right person can respond to the issues.  Congrats.  Hopefully, Captiva will be somewhat responsive.


----------



## cbs2 (Feb 25, 2019)

Who do we get a hold of at HGVC about a complaint. 
  My wife and I were stuck on an elevator for 90 minutes at the Tortuga Beach Club on Sanibel Island.  We received no help from the office after hour numbers or the security guard.  It was 100 degrees outside and hotter in the elevator.  Finally we communicated with our friends that were with us that had taken the steps to call 911.  My wife was laying down in the elevator, not doing very well and the fire department had a hard time finding where to shut down the elevator and/or electricity.  Finally they were able to force the doors open. My wife was not doing very well, the paramedic checking her pulse wanted to take us to the hospital.  She spent the next few days in bed at the resort.  This happened Sunday and on Thursday the resort finally called and asked if we were OK.  All the emergency phone numbers in the booklet in the room did no good.  Our friends either had left messages or no one picked up.  The phone line in the elevator finally responded and said they might have someone there in an hour.  I felt bad that the fire department had to come with there big hook & ladder truck but very grateful for there help in getting us out.  Tortuga Beach Club is affiliated with Hilton and they need to come up with a better emergency system for a resort being 24/7 a week place. I sent an email to all the office personal & board of directors explaining our fiasco.  Not that we were asking for a monetary refund but just to acknowledge that they had a problem with there emergency call response system and need to do something about it.  This happened September 9, 2018 and to this date we have not heard back from Tortuga Beach Club or Hilton.  It was a trade with II and even II's customer service was surprised that Tortuga was not offering anything or commenting.  
  We Like Sanibel but will never stay at the Tortuga Beach Club or probably any HGVC affiliate resort.


----------



## SmithOp (Feb 25, 2019)

Sorry to hear about your experience.  Here is contact info:

Club Member Services

PHONE NUMBER	LOCATION
800-932-4482	From U.S. and Canada
+65-6324-9449	Asia / Pacific
+44-845-608-6385	From Europe
+1 407-613-3141	Worldwide
Other Club Member Services Contact Methods

Email
input@hgvc.com


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Panina (Feb 25, 2019)

When you email them make sure you say you want this elevated to higher management at hgvc as tortuga management has not handled.

I had a trade with II at an affiliate where I had problems but am also a member of hgvc and was happy how hgvc handled once I emailed them.

Who at II have you dealt with.  Have you contacted our liaison MarK?

And do not rule out affiliates.  Most are runned well and worth visiting.  Seems more that the person on call that night was not doing their job.


----------



## cbs2 (Feb 25, 2019)

Thanks you for the replies on our Tortuga Beach Club elevator incident.  I have sent an email of to input@HGVC.com.  
  At II we dealt with Richard and Charlie in Customer Service.  They were surprised that Tortuga Beach Club and not offered anything..
Will see if I get a response from HGVC.
thanks again


----------



## rapmarks (Feb 25, 2019)

Truly horrifying story


----------



## Shankilicious (Feb 26, 2019)

If/when you get stuck in an elevator, as happened to me on 4 occasions in college, you can usually pry the inner door(s) open without much trouble. The outer doors are designed to stay locked shut unless the automated system opens them, OR you manually release the restrictor hook. You can usually reach one of the hooks either the one for the doors below where you stopped or the one above. Above is better because it eliminates the possibility of falling back down the elevator shaft after climbing out. If you have to go out the lower one, just make sure you don't fall backwards after climbing out. Or at the very least getting both doors open will get better airflow in there.
I was shown this by an elevator serviceman and have had to open a couple as a first responder. Several different models, the basic mechanism is very similar in each.
The article the images above are from is below.
https://www.fireengineering.com/art...strictors-what-firefighters-need-to-know.html


----------



## exyeh (Mar 28, 2019)

I have a question: If we check in a resort and have the situation like the op posted. The II is not available especially during the weekend, can we find a hotel to stay and expect the II will pay for the bill of the weekend? It surly looks like I am not going to clean the room like the op did. She is marvelous! But I couldn't.


----------



## Talent312 (Mar 29, 2019)

Panina said:


> All I got is I’m sorry and they also offered me a mid week cleaning which I told them I don’t need as it’s clean because I cleaned it...



I send them a bill for your cleaning services...
Either an hourly rate or pro-rated by point-value for your stay.
.

.


----------



## TheTimeTraveler (Apr 2, 2019)

Talent312 said:


> I send them a bill for your cleaning services...
> Either an hourly rate or pro-rated by point-value for your stay.
> .
> 
> ...


----------



## TheTimeTraveler (Apr 2, 2019)

Easier said than done.  You can send a bill but the question is will someone honor it and will you be paid!



.


----------

