# Need Lowveld Lodge contact email



## Liz Wolf-Spada (May 9, 2008)

I'm completely confused as to whether or not I paid for this year's mf. I thought I set it up as automatic.....? I no longer seem to have a contact for them.
Thanks,
Liz


----------



## Dori (May 9, 2008)

Hi Liz.  If you check a few posts down,  you will see info regarding this very topic.  Hopefully you will have better luck than the rest of us!

Dori


----------



## loosefeet (May 9, 2008)

Ditto--I used to use the e-mail I had, and tried others people have posted on TUG more recently, and no luck.  I have no idea now how to contact them.  I may try calling someday, and I'll post any info I get.  I would like to pay my MFs to get the weeks banked.  All I got from them is some form, too difficult to figure out about if our week would be banked with RCI or not.


----------



## Dori (May 9, 2008)

Me too!!  Grrr!

I'll contact Marli Dorfling at mdorfling@rci.co.za  again, as she did respond.  She sent an e-mail to Simone Sammons asking her to take care of things, but I have not had a response from Simone. This is so frustrating, isn't it?


Dori


----------



## Dori (May 23, 2008)

It seems like I'll be old and grey before anybody from Lowveld/First Resorts contacts me!!  I sent messages to Simone and Lydiah at Lowveld, using both my Yahoo account and my Hotmail account.  Neither message was bounced back, so I assume they were received.  Nada!
I contacted Marli Dorfling ar RCI South Africa, and she contacted Simone by e-mail, asking her to assist.  Still no response.

I just do not understand what the problem is.  Don't these lovely ladies want my money??


----------



## Joe L (May 24, 2008)

Try going through the management website using the "contact us" link on that site. 

http://www.firstresorts.co.za/  I did and they  contacted Simone, who then contacted me.


----------



## Dori (May 24, 2008)

Thanks Joe.  I'll try that. How did you handle the letter people got regarding trading/renting/using their unit.  They seem to want something in writing.  I'm wondering if I can fax this info to them rather than mailing it.

Dori


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (May 24, 2008)

Wow, that helps. At least I just sent a email with that link. Thanks,
Liz


----------



## Dori (Jun 4, 2008)

Yay!  My 2010 MF's are paid.  Simone finally got back to me.  Seems her computer crashed and she lost all of her e-mails. After payment, she contacted Marli , and she in turn deposited it into my account. 

 Sad to say, it is not trading as well as my 2009, which didn't trade as well as my 2008. Oh, well, such is life. 

Dori


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 4, 2008)

I got something in the mail with a couple papers to fill out, including a credit card form, but no information on the cost for the year and my week is in October and I'm NOW just getting something. I am tempted to just forget about it, it won't trade through II or SFX, I have a week deposited in DAE, but I'm having trouble keeping up with everything as it is. I emailed first resorts asking for the cost and did not hear back.
Liz


----------



## Dori (Jun 4, 2008)

Liz, try simones@firstresorts.co.za.  I worked with her, and Marli Dorfling, the RCI SA specialist.  Her addy is mdorfling@rci.com.

My estimated 2010 fees were 2362.59 zar for our 2 bedroom 6/4, week 15.  I'm hoping that it is a little high, so maybe I'll have a credit next year.

Hope this helps.

Dori


----------



## Grace23 (Jun 5, 2008)

*First Resorts - Sure I can help.*

Hi there, 

I don't know why you guys aren't getting any responses. If it helps, I know most of the ladies that work there. U are more than welcome to email me your query, and I'll go through and actually see them. Im due for a visit there early next week. Let me know?

Have a great day!
Natalie


----------



## Dori (Jun 5, 2008)

Natalie, I would be interested to know why MF's have almost doubled in the last 8 or 9 years.  Say hi to Simone for me and thank her again for all her help, would you please?

Dori


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 5, 2008)

Dori, what does that mean in US dollars, if you know.
Thanks,
Liz


----------



## Dori (Jun 5, 2008)

Liz, it's about $300.77.  Way up from the past, but still manageable for a 2-bedroom unit.

Dori


----------



## MarcT (Jun 6, 2008)

*Lowveld Lodge and First Resorts Levies*

I have found that the best email for First Resorts is info@firstresorts.co.za  they change employee's postions so often that this will get you to the proper party.  Also I do not mind helping anyone,  I specialize in S.Africa resales and First Resorts will respond to my emails the next day usually so if anyone is having trouble with levies let me know and I will be happy to help.  I have over 1400 S.Africa owners and I have to help a lot of them each year so don't feel like you are the only one having trouble. 

Marc Thomas
800-704-1455
marc@consolidated.net


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 6, 2008)

Thanks, Marc. I guess I would like to know why I didn't get anything from them for my 2008 week until now, when it will be a late deposit anywhere, and I would like to know that given all this incompetency, they are actually a company I can trust with my credit card information.
Thanks,
Liz


----------



## Grace23 (Jun 7, 2008)

*First Resorts*

Hey Dori

Email me your unit & week number & resort - and I'll take it up with them for you. No problem

Cheers
Natalie


----------



## Dori (Jun 9, 2008)

Thanks Natalie, I pm'ed the info to you

Dori


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 9, 2008)

Grace, I did email you also re: our Lowveld Lodge, hope that was OK to do.
Liz


----------



## Joe L (Jun 9, 2008)

BTW, Grace (Natalie)welcome to TUG. It is great to have a First Resorts representative on this board. I hope you continue to stay.
Joe


----------



## Grace23 (Jun 12, 2008)

*First Resorts*

Hello guys!

Hope you aren't all mad - but please will you redirect your emails already sent to me to natalie@dreamshare.info - for some reason the TUG system wouldn't let me use my normal address, so I had to insert another one which is not convenient for me. 
Liz, I managed to pick up your mail, which I have responded to... Dori, please can you resend your query? Thank you Joe L for your welcome - I really appreciate it, and hope to serve you guys in any way I can. 
If anyone knows how I might be able to change my email address reflected on TUG - please let me know???

Take care everyone

Natalie


----------



## Dori (Jun 12, 2008)

Done!  Thanks so much for your assistance, Natalie.

Dori


----------



## Grace23 (Jun 13, 2008)

*Some news...*

Hi Dori - got yr mail and responded thanks...

Hello Liz... Just had a long chat with Simone. First Resorts received your query via the website which was on the 25th May - I have posted it all here for you to go through. It appears she did return your email but has not heard back from you. 
Apparently Lowveld Lodge financial calendar runs from 1 July to end June of the following year. So, effectively, the levies should be raised in July. Simone confirmed that Management have not yet set the 2008 levies. We are uncertain as to what the delays in finalizing the figures are, but I have left a message for Mr Adams to contact me in this regard. 
I also queried with Simone the 'Compulsory Owner Instruction' document. She was feeling a bit frustrated with it, as she says a lot of the owners assume that they (First Resorts) are taking responsibility for banking the weeks with RCI on their behalf. This is NOT the case. 
Simone says there is no problem paying levies in advance, but until the figures are set they have to use estimated ones. One these levies are paid, you should be given a 'Clearance Code' to give to RCI when you bank with them. Obviously because the levies are finalised late into the year, you will not receive a statement for it. I would advise to simply mark a date in your diary in the beginning of every year to contact them, get the estimated figures, pay it, and then proceed to bank your weeks early with RCI. 
Regarding Autopay - this facility stopped years ago, for whatever reason. Simone's other frustration is that some credit cards go through, and others don't - with the banks requiring all sorts of information because the funds are coming from outside the country etc etc. 
There has to be a solution to all this - so lets put our heads together and see what we can do to make life easier for all???

Look forward to hearing your comments on this... 

Take care Tuggers
Natalie



----- Original Message -----
From: Simone Sammons
To: liz_wolf_spada@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 12:57 PM
Subject: S& E SPADA & WOLF-SPADA - LOWVELD LODGE 36/32 YR 2008 LEVY PMNT


Dear Mrs Spada


Please e-mail me c/card details for year 2008 levy payment.

Estimated amount to be paid is R1401.43 $186.85 USD + -   

Name of c/card holder
(NO DEBIT CARDS or PLUS CARDS)
Type of c/card and number
Expiry date
and last 3 digits on back of c/card
Amount to pay


If you wish, you can also make payment for year  2009, estimated amount to pay is R2072.86 $276.38 USD + - 

Once payment has been made, you will be able to bank the year paid for with RCI yourself.

Thanking You

Kind Regards

Simone Sammons
for FIRST RESORTS
LOWVELD LODGE
LEVY COLLECTIONS DEPT
Tel  :  +27 031 7177386
Fax :  +27 031 7091680
E-mail  :  simones@firstresorts.co.za
KINDLY NOTE  :  That First Resorts Management act purely as managing agents of your resort and are therefore not responsible for the spacebanking of timeshare.  The onus therefore is upon the owner to ensure that the week/s are banked with RCI themselves


----- Original Message -----
From: Sylvia Joubert
To: Simone Sammons
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 9:47 AM
Subject: Fw: Query from First Resorts website

Hi Simone, for your urgent attention.

Thanks Sylvia
Manager Levy Collections
First Resorts Management (Pty) Ltd
Tel: 031 717 7382
Fax: 031 709 1680
E-Mail: sylviaj@firstresorts.co.za
----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth and Sam Spada
To: sylviaj@firstresorts.co.za
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008 3:34 AM
Subject: Query from First Resorts website

The following person has expressed interest in First Resorts via the website. Please contact him/her urgently
Message from Elizabeth and Sam Spada
Email address: liz_wolf_spada@yahoo.com
Telephone number: 760-249-5944
Message
*We own a two bedroom week at Lowveld Lodge and the last I knew it had been set up to auto pay for yearly maintenance fees. I don\'t know why I haven\'t received contact from you. My account number is 3632, Member # 799. Sincerely, Liz Wolf-Spada*


----------



## cedars (Jun 20, 2008)

*Lowveld Fees and Service*

Hi:  I just contact Simone to pay my 2010 fees within 3 days it was completed and she contacted RCI to deposit the week. I think that was great service.  My fees for 2010 estimated were R1829.92 -$242US for 2 bedroom.  I still feel I get value for this as I trade 2 years out and make OK trades.  MaryAnn


----------



## Dori (Jun 21, 2008)

MaryAnn, what week do you own?  We have a 2 bedroom week 15, and the estimated MF for 2010 for our unit was over 2300 Rand.

Dori


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 21, 2008)

Do you have a fax number for her? I don't send my credit card information in email because it is not a secure transaction.
thanks,
liz


----------



## cedars (Jun 23, 2008)

*Lowveld Lodge*

Hi:  We own a 2 bedroom LL week 33 and maintence was R1820.92 for 2010.  I am not sure why there would be such a difference.  I don't have their fax number-I did pay by email.  MaryAnn


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 25, 2008)

I'm having trouble both faxing and calling. My phone isn't taking all the numbers and is dropping the last two. Has anyone called before? I really hate to put credit card info on a non-protected site.
Thanks,
Liz


----------



## AwayWeGo (Jul 1, 2008)

*Thank You.*




cedars said:


> Hi:  I just contact Simone to pay my 2010 fees within 3 days it was completed and she contacted RCI to deposit the week. I think that was great service.  My fees for 2010 estimated were R1829.92 -$242US for 2 bedroom.  I still feel I get value for this as I trade 2 years out and make OK trades.  MaryAnn


Thanks to everybody who chimed in. 

Using the E-Mail address provided, I got through to Simone Sammons, who responded promptly.  I think I am now well on my way to getting my Lowveld Lodge timeshare account all squared away (after pretty much losing track after we got involved with RCI Points & _Points For Deposit_ & all that).  

Ms. Sammons, however, said it's up to me to follow through with RCI on my own -- she won't be handling the actual banking of my weeks with RCI, she said. 

Now the unanswered question is whether I have to fill out & send back ever year 1 of those "compulsory" forms telling Lowveld Lodge that I'm depositing my time with RCI instead of using it myself or renting it out.  It's no major hassle to have to keep doing that year after year -- & as a retired official U.S. bureaucrat I am semi-expert at filling out forms -- but it is 1 more procedural detail I will need to remember each year if that's how they'll be doing it over there from here on out.  I repeated that question in follow-up E-Mail to Ms. Sammons.  If I get an answer to that later on, I'll mention it here once I get it.  

Meanwhile, thanks again to all you on-the-ball TUG folks who know what's what with Lowveld Lodge & spelled it out here for the benefit of us doofuses. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jul 1, 2008)

Still trying to get my levy paid. I reemailed, as I had the address wrong. I had tossed out the "compulsory" paper and am thinking about rejoining RCI and putting those weeks in, hope that isn't a problem.
Liz


----------



## AwayWeGo (Jul 1, 2008)

*How Can U. S. A. Owner Use S. A. Week Other Than Through R. C. I. ?*




Liz Wolf-Spada said:


> Still trying to get my levy paid. I reemailed, as I had the address wrong. I had tossed out the "compulsory" paper and am thinking about rejoining RCI and putting those weeks in, hope that isn't a problem.


I wouldn't know how to go about renting out my Lowveld Lodge time on my own, & it is unlikely in the extreme that we will be going there & checking in ourselves.  That leaves RCI.  And now management over there requires that "compulsory" paper before I can do any RCI deposits. 

So if you're not in RCI & you shredded the "compulsory" form they say they have to have before they'll allow a week to be banked, how are you getting any use out of Lowveld Lodge? 

(None of my business, I know -- I'm just nosy because I also own a Lowveld Lodge week.  Hey, does that make us fellow Lodge Members?  If so, what's the Secret Handshake?  They never showed me.) 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jul 1, 2008)

I don't know, actually. I had one week in DAE, guess I was thinking of just using DAE, but now I may rejoin RCI. I think I'll try asking them to email me the form I need.
Liz


----------



## Dori (Jul 1, 2008)

Hi, Alan and Liz.  After I finally got my MF's paid through Simone, I got Marli Dorfling at mdorfling@rci.com to deposit the week for me. She works pretty closely with Simone.  I asked several times about the compulsory letter thing, but no one responded to the question, and the week is in the bank, so I'm just going to ignore it.

Good luck!

Dori


----------



## AwayWeGo (Jul 9, 2008)

*Levy Payments Complete.  R. C. I. Deposits Done.  Thanks Again.*

This time round, I will see if I can do better about keeping track of my Lowveld Lodge timeshare weeks. 

I think branching out into timeshare points is what threw me off, to the point that I (temporarily) lost my place on the status of my Lowveld Lodge weeks -- not that I'm all that skilled at keeping track of my timeshare points, either.  So it goes. 

Thanks again to my TUG-BBS friends who explained how to get back on track with First Resorts Pty. Ltd. & with RCI South Africa. 

TUG & TUG-BBS are no longer luxuries.  They are necessities. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## Dori (Jul 9, 2008)

Glad you got it sorted, Alan.  It is a very frustrating process.

Now go and book something nice for you and the Chief-of-Staff!

Dori


----------



## AwayWeGo (Jul 9, 2008)

*Points?  Or Weeks?  That Is The Question.*




Dori said:


> Glad you got it sorted, Alan.  It is a very frustrating process.
> 
> Now go and book something nice for you and the Chief-of-Staff!
> 
> Dori


Thanks. 

I'm leaving 2008 in straight-weeks -- ditto 2009, at least for now (although I might decide to go _Points For Deposit_ later on -- we'll see). 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------

