Help with my HGVC timeshare

[Vbig67]

Hello All,
Have a question about a pretty unique situation that we are having with our timeshare .
Hopefully, someone out there can offer some guidance to help us find a resolution .
Last year we purchased a HGVC timeshare and really like it.
In December, we paid our annual maintenance fees via personal check....or so we thought and never gave it a second thought .
Fast forward to middle of last month(May)....we receive a letter from a collection company representing HGVC....I called them, and they proceeded to tell me that they never received any payment from us, and our account in in collections. Told the gentleman that we sent a check and he asked if the check had cashed. Checked online and low and behold, it hadn't been cashed .
Had it written down in logbook, I personally sent it out, yet it hadn't been cashed.
As soon as I told him that, he immediately changed his tone and condescendingly told me that I needed to pay $500 additional in fees in order to get the account back to current, but he could give me a discount, etc, etc, etc. I asked to speak to a manager, and he said someone would call me back, gave him my contact and heard nothing else from them.
While I was waiting for the call back, went through our old mail and found out that back in January, Hilton had damaged the check and sent it back to us with a letter stating that the check was damaged during processing and to send another check.
Called collections back, and they refused to acknowledge the letter and are still demanding that we pay the late fees!

Been calling every extension that I can find at HGVC, and no one wants to help.

Where do we go from here?
Anyone have any ideas?
Is it time for me to find a lawyer? If yes, anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

 

[RX8]

What do you mean exactly when you say no one at HGVC wants to help? What do they say? Can you log into the HGVC website and if so does it show the delinquency? Does HGVC not have valid contact info for you?

It seems odd that they may have sold this debt to a collection agency without so much as a letter or phone call to you. I would think logging into your account that a message would pop up that you are delinquent.

I don’t think paying a lawyer is the thing to do. There must be an easy solution here.

Sorry for all the questions.

 

[alwysonvac]

Yes, I would log into your HGVC account and see what it states online. Perhaps you can pay the outstanding maintenance fee online.

 

[Vbig67]

Thanks for the quick replies.
Last logged on in February, and no mention of delinquency. Will do that later this evening.
Evidently HGVC has their own in house collection agency .
The people Ive been talking to(about 10) when I call the 1800# all refer me back to the collection agency.
As far as my contacs, that have all my info, but I haven't received any emails, just snail mail correspondence, which I hardly pay attention to now a days.
I'm really suprsised that they didn't at least send the check back via some sort of registered mail.

 

[Talent312]

1. How can someone not realize that their account was never debited for a check they for several (4) months? Did you not notice that your bank's balance was much higher than it should'a been? Do you never reconcile your bank statements to your own register? BTW, Quicken can do that for you.

2. Where has the letter from HGVC that you got in January been all these months? In a pile in a corner collecting dust? Why would you ignore but save letters from peep with whom you do business. I either open and look at my snail-mail or I toss it becuz its junk. I don't save it for posterity.

BTW, they'd also send a letter threatening these penalties ~10 days before the end of the grace period in February or March. I know becuz I've gotten one. You must've somehow missed that as well.

I say all this, not just to sound snarky or harsh (I know it does), but to point out that deliberate indifference to your own finances is what landed you in this predicament. It seems that you've been hoisted on your own petard (Shakespeare).

If you can get some relief from the penalties, great. But if not, there's no use "weeping for shed milk" (Howell, 1659).
.
.

 

[Panina]

While I was waiting for the call back, went through our old mail and found out that back in January, Hilton had damaged the check and sent it back to us with a letter stating that the check was damaged during processing and to send another check.
Called collections back, and they refused to acknowledge the letter and are still demanding that we pay the late fees!

Been calling every extension that I can find at HGVC, and no one wants to help.

Where do we go from here?
Anyone have any ideas?
Is it time for me to find a lawyer? If yes, anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

I just want to state the obvious even though I feel for you and think the extra fees are excessive.

You admit they did notify you by mail in January. You just didn’t go thru your mail and see it. You also probably didn't proof your checkbook or you would have noticed it was not cashed. It is not their fault you didn’t see it.

Paying a lawyer will cost you lots and if you tell the truth there is probably nothing he can do. Any discount they would give you I would take. Hopefully you will get someone in the company that is sympathetic and helps you. Good luck.

 

[Vbig67]

I somewhat agree with both of you above as both have valid points .
My major concern/issue is that we are both culpable in this situation, but because I don't have a collections department, I am being forced to pay fees that they say I owe.
Bottom line was, a check was sent in on time for the proper amount, received by HGVC, THEY distroyed the check, and sent it back to me.
At the minimum they should have sent it via some trackable method FedEx, ups, USPS priority, etc.
Also, this is a vacation rental.... I don't want to stress about vacation.....this is my time to relax, unwind, and escape from the real world.
Customer service seems to be dead. Some understanding, from HGVC would go a long way to assure me that my money has been spent with the right company. Always been told thay anyone can be nice when everything's going well, but true colors are shown in times of duress.

 

[tompalm]

I have to say that if I had made the same mistake as you of not following up to see that I still had an extra $1000 in my checking account and that I didn’t read or respond to the mail that Hilton sent me, I would be embarrassed to tell anyone about it. I would have paid the late fee and called it a lesson learned. That is what you need to do. Pay the fee, forget about it and go enjoy your vacation.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Agree that they mangled the check, but they sent you a notice that you received, and you never bothered to read it. IMO I would expect several notices to catch your attention if it was 6 months past due.

Pay the MF online or by phone but not the fee. $500 sounds steep. Keep calling or call a VP listed here on TUG and say that you paid the MF in good faith but the fee is unfair and should be removed. One notice buried in your junk mail is not sufficient notice.

In the future, pay online and take a screen shot so this doesn't happen again.

 

[Talent312]

... if I had made the same mistake as you of not following up to see that I still had an extra $1000 in my checking account...

I noticed when my check to a club for $10 didn't clear for 15 days.
It boggles my mind that this fellow didn't notice his MF's hadn't cleared for months.

.

 

[SmithOp]

Agree that they mangled the check, but they sent you a notice that you received, and you never bothered to read it.

We don’t know for a fact that an HGVC employee mangled the check, it could very well have happened while en route with USPS.

We do know they sent it back and requested a replacement, a request that was ignored for months.

If its gone outside HGVC to a collections agency then the status of the original payment is irrelevant. Its beyond HGVC now.




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[PigsDad]

I noticed when my check to a club for $10 didn't clear for 15 days.
It boggles my mind that this fellow didn't notice his MF's hadn't cleared for months.

Honestly, I could see myself not noticing a check not clearing as well. I don't use a check register anymore as so few of my transactions are actually checks -- I just manage the account online, so I can see how this could happen.

I think there should be some special consideration by HGVC here. Vbig67 did in fact send the MF payment on time, but s/he is now being treated the same as someone who never sent any payment and is 6 months overdue. I think in this circumstance HGVC should waive or at least reduce the very punitive $500 late fee, as the OP made the original payment in good faith and on time but due to some circumstances beyond their control, the payment was not posted. JMHO.

Kurt

 

[hurnik]

Odd. HGVC sends me at least 2 more additional notices if I don't pay my MF on the due date (I think it's 45 day grace period, or 60 days, forget which, I usually try to stretch it out sometimes to time the credit card billing cycle).

But I've never had them just send me on invoice and the nothing for 6 months. I'm pretty sure I get one at the 30 days and another at the 15/30 again.

 

[Talent312]

Odd. HGVC sends me at least 2 more additional notices if I don't pay my MF on the due date (I think it's 45 day grace period, or 60 days, forget which, I usually try to stretch it out sometimes to time the credit card billing cycle).

I wonder if the OP didn't toss 'em, or if they're still sitting in pile somewhere.

My CC bills close on the 21st, so I charge MF's on the 22nd of Jan, Feb & March.
... any earlier, I'd bump up against R/E tax season and Christmas bills.
Waiting to near the end of the grace-period has earned me reminder-letters.
The first time, I kind'a freaked and rushed payment. Now I won't be cowed.

.

 

[bogey21]

Here is what I would do. I would write VOID in marker on the mangled check and mail it along with any letter that came with it back to HGVC with a new check in the exact amount. Add a note that you just received the mangled check and are replacing it. Send it Certified Mail and make copies of everything you sent. My guess is that they will cash the new check and hopefully mark your account as current. If you get any more phone calls after the new check clears the bank, just tell anyone who calls what happened but be fuzzy on the timing. If there is a balance on your account after the new check has cleared your Bank, call HGVC, play dumb and explain that you did just what they asked, again being fuzzy on the dates and see if they will remove any service charge.

George

 

[Talent312]

...Add a note that you just received the mangled check and are replacing it...

I'm not sure that lying about it is a good idea.
But then, maybe I'm not pragmatic enuff.
Just don't copy the envelope that says "Jan" on the postmark.

.

 

[SmithOp]

I'm not sure that lying about it is a good idea.
But then, maybe I'm not pragmatic enuff.
Just don't copy the envelope that says "Jan" on the postmark.

.

its an automated billing system, there are copies and transaction records for all correspondence.

We are getting one side of this story, i’m sure there are more letters in the ignore pile.


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[alwysonvac]

Please share the final outcome so we can let others who find themselves in the same predicament what to expect.

 

[frank808]

You definitely get more than one notice. I have a kohala suites unit that is not attached to my account. Forgot about it as I paid the mf and thought I was done.
I got a snail mail notice in early Feb that I did not pay mf. Surprised that OP did not get that letter.

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[EagleEye]

Come on folks. $500 penalty is outrageous. Not surprising though. I have no sympathy for these folks who sell timeshares (not TUG folks, but the original sales people). I think they're all crooks, so I'm not surprised if they have an in-house collection agency that there is a $500 fee. Just more piracy from these people, another way to 'steal' from folks who are not warned of their tactics.. I completely understand the OP's feelings on this. OK, he missed it. Who hasn't missed something? The punishment they are trying to impose is egregious.