Pro-rated fee added to WM maintenance fees?

[DaveNV]

So I received my first maintenance fee bill from WM last month. It included an extra fee that was not explained. Since the Seller was supposed to cover all fees until closing, I paid just the quarterly maintenance fee amount, because I had never used the account.

Today I got a call from WM saying I was past due on that other amount. I called WM back, and asked how I could responsible for a fee that didn't apply to me, since it had to be for something owed by the previous owner? The lady on the phone kept repeating the same sentence over and over, about pro-rated maintenance fees added onto the account in the March statement. I explained I had only just taken over the account two months before, so how could I owe something that was assessed before I was the owner? She said if I was paying maintenance fees monthly, it wouldn't include the fee. But then she said I wasn't eligible to pay monthly unless I had Travelshare, which I don't. So quarterly is the only option for me, unless I want to go on autopay, which I don't.

The conversation went around and around, and I seriously tried to understand what she was saying the fee was for, but I still don't get it. She said the March maintenance fee every year includes this pro-rated maintenance fee, but the maintenance fee is the same for each quarter of the year. (What???) At the end of it all, I went ahead and paid the amount, it was just a few dollars, but I still have no idea what I was paying for.

Can anyone explain it to me? What is this all about? I feel really dense.

Dave

 

[CO skier]

One possible explanation is that the previous owner was paying dues quarterly and the last payment was made in December, 2017. Maintenance fees increased January 1, 2018. The pro-rated amount would be the monthly increase for January and February 2018.

Someone paying monthly would pay the higher dues beginning with the January billing.

 

[DaveNV]

One possible explanation is that the previous owner was paying dues quarterly and the last payment was made in December, 2017. Maintenance fees increased January 1, 2018. The pro-rated amount would be the monthly increase for January and February 2018.

Someone paying monthly would pay the higher dues beginning with the January billing.

Ok, I think you hit on something. When you pay a maintenance fee, is it for the time just past, or for the quarter coming up? If I paid in March, did I pay MF for January through March, or for March through May? If it was for March through May, the pro-rated fee makes perfect sense, that it was for the extra due for the previous two months, which would have been paid in December at the previous year's rate.

And if that's right, why didn't she just explain it that way?

Dave

 

[CO skier]

When you pay a maintenance fee, is it for the time just past, or for the quarter coming up?

I would think maintenance fees are paid in advance. How else would WorldMark have the money to pay the bills as they roll in during the quarter?

 

[DaveNV]

I would think maintenance fees are paid in advance. How else would WorldMark have the money to pay the bills as they roll in during the quarter?

I have no idea. That, I think, is the problem.

I'll go back and look at the statement they sent, and see if it says which months the fee covers. The website doesn't say. And it's all a moot point anyway, but it was just strange.

Dave

 

[geerlijd]

If you bought from an individual seller they should be able to confirm their last payment amount and date.

It's possible the account was transferred during the quarter, and you both were partially billed for the quarter.

I split off a portion ofy account last year and this is how it was handled. My last quarterly payment for the 27k account was less than normal 27k maint fee and more than 20k.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[DaveNV]

I bought through a reseller, and never directly dealt with the previous owner. And I got such a great deal, this extra fee is not a big deal. (It was less than $8) I'm just saying they could have explained it, rather than just adding what looks like a late fee onto the amount of the quarterly maintenance fee. The printed bill doesn't say what months the bill covers, or what the extra amount was for.

I've decided it has to be a payment for the difference in maintenance fees for January and February, which would have been paid back in December, at the previous year's rate. (It makes as much sense as any.) But now that I know the March bill will include this extra amount, it won't be a surprise next year.

I just wish they would make the bill more explanatory, for the benefit of new owners like me. So it goes.

Dave