Sudwala fees

[Sudwala2013]

Hi, I welcome advice from fellow owners please. I received an email on 9 Jan that my fees were due, Niky used to ask for them in Sep, which means I've now lost 25% of the trade in value from RCI. I chased Tajrish up and have just been notified that they want a refurb contribution of 2684 rand on top of my usual fees. No explanation why and no paperwork to justify where this money goes. Is this a scam?

Can all the owners get together to contest this with the management company? Who represents the owners? How do we challenge the management company or maybe try and get them replaced?

If I want to sell what is the best way to do this please? Any advice very gratefully received.

Many thanks
Vanessa

 

[guitarlars]

I had to fight to pay my last year billings and get my unit deposited, but after two months I finally managed to make this happen. I had hoped this was only a lapse while the new management team learned the ropes. I received a similar e-mail this morning and was surprised to see a refurbishment fee (equal to the 2013 levy). I don't recall seeing anything about this in the management report so it is a complete surprise. How this was voted on without any of the owners being involved or notified is an interesting development.

I'm now waiting for the next shoe to drop with Sudwalla - things certainly seem to be going downhill since Niky left. I suspect we'll soon see something that reveals that the management firm is one of the timeshare crashers (AKA a Bullfrog Lamont Company) and will have to either sell or abandon our timeshares since they will now only trade through some new SA vacation club.

Lars

 

[MuranoJo]

Oh great. I haven't received notice yet, nor did I get a warning.

 

[Beefnot]

Why not just walk away from the timeshare?

 

[Sue]

Received this message just now


12 February 2013
Dear Member

We would like to alert you that we have experienced a technical anomaly which, most regrettably, has led to us issuing you with a pro forma statement / invoice, in respect of your Refurbishment Contribution, which reflects an incorrect amount.

Please accept our sincere apologies; we are rectifying the situation as a matter of urgency. Please be so kind as to disregard the pro forma statement / invoice received, you will receive the correct one shortly.

We are grateful for your understanding and for accommodating our intention to make amends, as a matter of priority.



Yours sincerely

Royal Hospitality Services








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[catwgirl]

It will be interesting to see what the correct "refurbishment contribution" turns out to be.

 

[pal]

Sudwala Lodge

I received this property from my Sis who didn't want to timeshare anymore. I don't pay any "Refurbishment Contribution" on my other Suntide Beach Club property so I don't know what this is. Is this an annual thing? And what have you paid in the past??

 

[MuranoJo]

In the 10+ years I've owned at Sudwala, I've never had to pay a refurbishment fee. I never received any mention of this fee, until today, when I received the same note as Sue's (post #5), which says there was a mistake in a previous message (which I didn't get) and that they will re-send with the correct amount.

Whatever, sounds like there will be a follow-up with a fee charge. Not sure what I'll do when/if that happens. Will probably try to get rid of it.

 

[Sudwala2013]

I've just got an updated invoice through. I own 2 weeks. The refurb contribution is 3998 and 3598.72. My fees are 2684 and 2983. This equates to 1528USD or 971GBP. Wow. Also note that the refurb fees are 34% higher than the invoice they sent last week. Wait another week and they could go up again.

34% increase in their calculations which indicates that they have no grip on what they are doing. No explanation of the reason for the fees. No vote on it. No evidence of due process being followed. Looks like a complete scam to me.

I have asked for evidence of a breakdown of the fees, whether process has been followed, whether owners have been consulted. They have been unable to do any of this. I am therefore unable to deposit my week in RCI.

We have 2 options. We all club together and either vote them out or pursue a legal solution OR we walk away. Lets also write to the respective South African embassies and let them know how the rest of the world see them.

 

[stevedmatt]

Overnight, I received a corrected invoice also. My refurb fees are slightly lower than yours...2799R on 1 unit ans 3198R on another. My 2013 fees were previously paid and units deposited with RCI, but they haven't been traded yet. I'm concerned they may try to pull them back if I don't pay.

I'd like to know other owners take on this. Essentially, it's going to cost me $700US for the right to pay $600US for my 28 RCI Points lite in 2014. I've been close to trying to remove these from my portfolio as my vacationing has slowed and become more consistent. This will likely throw me over the edge.

Does anyone know if they have a deed back program? they never responded last time I asked via email.

 

[Sudwala2013]

150% increase in fees. Help required please

Hi everyone, I've owned a couple of weeks at Sudwala lodge in South Africa for about 10 years. The fees have increased by around 10% every year. The management company changed last year and the new company has sent me an invoice for refurbishment fees which amount to 150% of my levies (in addition to my levies). They gave no warning of this, its not clear whether due process has been followed, its also not clear what the fees are for. People are also getting charged different amounts. They sent me an invoice last week, recalled it because of an error and sent a new one this week for 35% more. Despite numerous emails they haven't replied to my requests for transparency. I can't deposit my weeks with RCI until this is resolved. No-one will buy the weeks until this is resolved.

I'm sure that this isn't the first time that a management company has taken control of a timeshare and tried to extract a huge amount of money from the owners without explanation. I'd really welcome your advice on what I can do.

Is it possible just to walk away from it and email the management company that they have frustrated my ability to utilise my week. Or should the owners club together and mount a legal challenge?

It sounds very dodgy and I would really welcome your help and advice.

Many thanks in advance
Vanessa

 

[Rent_Share]

Unless you reside in South Africa, why would you have second thoughts about walking away?

Based on certain spellings and word choices, you are not from the US

150% of my levies
they haven't replied to my requests for transparency
frustrated my ability to utilise
It sounds very dodgy and I would really welcome your help and advice

 

[klynn]

I am so glad I just sent off my paperwork for the sale of my two Sudwala ownerships.

 

[Passepartout]

These 'Refurbishment Fees', what we call 'Special Assessments' are relatively common in the world of timeshares. It happens when a resort has suspiciously too low MF. That attracts owners, but the resort gets run down and either the HOA wakes up, or the place sells and new ownership needs an infusion of cash to bring the place up to standards.

What you have to decide is if you have faith that the new owners have the owners best interests at heart, that you want to keep the refurbished resort,
or sell, deed back, or walk away.

It's a conundrum only you can answer.

Good Luck!

 

[Sudwala2013]

Could all owners of Sudwala who believe that the action of Vacation Recreational Services is at best unethical and at worst illegal, please visit this website http://www.voasa.co.za/ which states that it assists with complaints against timeshare agents. You may wish to email them explaining your grievance.

Other avenues of complaint are via the South African DTI using the following email contactus@thedti.gov.za

You may also wish to write to South Africa embassy officials via your home country.

We need to mount pressure together to ensure that something is done to ensure such sharp practices are not allowed to continue.

 

[Passepartout]

If you think your special assessment is outrageous, take a look here: http://www.orilliapacket.com/2011/10/18/outlandish-bill-leaves-timeshare-owners-steaming

 

[Sudwala2013]

I'd be willing to consider paying the extra fees if it affected the trade power of the resort. But:
1. I received an invoice for refurbishment fees with no explanation. A week later I got an updated invoice for 35% more, with no explanation.
2. There is no explanation regarding what these fees are for and how they will be spent.
3. There is no transparency at all regarding how these were voted for.
4. Different people appear to be paying different fees and its not clear why.

Its all very frustrating and looks very suspicious.

 

[Sudwala2013]

Could all owners of Sudwala who believe that the action of Vacation Recreational Services is at best unethical and at worst illegal, please visit this website http://www.voasa.co.za/ which states that it assists with complaints against timeshare agents. You may wish to email them explaining your grievance.

Other avenues of complaint are via the South African DTI using the following email contactus@thedti.gov.za

You may also wish to write to South Africa embassy officials via your home country.

We need to mount pressure together to ensure that something is done to ensure such sharp practices are not allowed to continue.

 

[Rent_Share]

IMHO didn't the viability of the cheap South Aftrican timeshare units go into the toiet around 2005, the last time the stickies in the SA section were updated

 

[stevedmatt]

David, I had relatively good trade power until "points lite" was introduced by rci. Now I have to pay extra to combine weeks to pay extra to get a decent trade. Add the special assessment and I think my time is done with SA.

 

[TSTex02]

I received a special assessment for "refurb fees" this morning like the rest of you. Additionally I received another invoice - 20 minutes before the "refurb fee" invoice - showing the 192R credit balance that I have from last year. 20 minutes later the "refurb fee" invoice drops my previous credit balance to zero. I had a good trust in Royal Host Services (Nicky) but VRS appears to be trying to pull something on the owners. Either that or they flunked college accounting.

The board of directors under Royal Host Services included owner representation with full visibility to the owners. That seems to have been thrown away under VRS management. Does not look good to me. Does our previous board of directors even exist, or has it been locked out by VRS?

 

[glenmore]

I have 3 Sudwala and have been happy with the trades I get. I received three letters via email with the refurbishment assessment. I also received three individual invoices from Tarish showing the credit balances on my accounts. If you have a credit balance, you may want to check with Tarish and have him send you an invoice showing the credit amount. I combined the credit amounts, deducted them from the total refurbishment and gave them a credit card only good for the amount of the difference between the two. We shall see how that works.

 

[5finny]

sudwala

http://69.16.236.4/~tugbbsc/forums/showthread.php?t=180252 See #6
I think I smell froggy

 

[Suebe]

Refurb fees

I, too, have been receiving the same confusing emails from VRS. Original refurb levy was for the same amount as our 2013 levy (which I had to chase to pay!!) and then another refurb levy for a higher amount again. I sent an email after receiving the first one, questioning why this had been sent and when it had been agreed, and that surely members should have been informed of the intention to charge this - before we paid our 2013 fees!!! Still waiting for a reply!! I intend to telephone them tomorrow to see what they have to say and will let you all know.

I did have a look at the VOASA website link posted by someone else and, if you check members, VRS are listed. It may well be worth sending in a complaint.

Did anyone receive any AGM 2012 information? Was an AGM even held?

Niky and Cameron were managing to regularly refurbish the resort when they were in charge - and on annual levy only - and had improved its rating to Silver Crown. We were there March 2012 and stayed in a large 1-bed unit which had been updated with new furniture, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

I know that VRS were refurbishing the reception area and making a restaurant there. There were supposed to be big plans for the resort but what I don't know as the ordinary shareholders have not been privy to VRS's plans. :annoyed:

Sue

 

[Sydney]

There is no way we are paying. It's ridiculous that they think they can just invoice us and expect us to fork over the money.
I am quite happy to walk away from what seems to me to be akin to a scam or at the very least, a new management company taking advantage.