[2009] Seeking Class Action Partners - Westgate Resorts

[ecwinch]

I sense that Werner expected to be flooded with posts from people sending him their e-mails rather than any questions about his qualifications.

It probably is for the best if that is the amount of time he was willing to invest in the issue.

 

[timeos2]

Westgate is one of the very worst

I would guess this week 4 in Orlando is an incredibly low demand week, perhaps one of the lowest of the year as the last week of January is pretty cold in Orlando and it is not during a school holiday.

If Westgate is charging you more to trade into a much more popular (i.e. more in demand) Summer week or holiday week when the kids are off school, then I don't see a problem, let alone a class action lawsuit.

I would also guess that a non-owner could rent a Week 4 for less than the annual dues of an owner.

Also, if II allows trades of a Westgate week 4 Orlando for a week 4 at Westgate Park City or a Christmas week in Westgate Orlando or July 4 in Westgate Miami or a summer week at Westgate Smokey Mountains, I would just be extremely happy with II (and your Westgate purchase) and pay the small fee.

I am not trying to rain on your parade, I just don't see a problem, let alone a class action suite here. Heck, I would be happy if Marriott consistently allowed me to trade a bad week for much better week at any Marriott.

All of that would be OK IF it was sold that way. But for over a decade - and specifically during the 90's sales pitch - ALL WEEKS IN ORLANDO WESTGATES were equal for internal trading. All. And that was what they delivered for over 10 years. Suddenly it changed and it's $500-$700 MORE to simply change your use week? And you don't see the devaluation? No wonder Wastegate gets away with it as most just don't have a clue. Werner has given up I guess but he had the base problem correct. Of course the overall, underlying problem is the conniving, cheating, convicted organization that operates the whole scheme on the fringes of legality. Stay away from Westgate and for you there is no problem.

 

[Vacation Dude]

Deleting all my prior posts.
I give up.

Are you PerryM in disguise?

It will take more perseverance than that to (A) get a strong attorney to take the case & (B) prevail against the onslaught of opposing counsel's aggressive legal maneuvers if the case ever gets off the ground.

Good luck.

Absolutely, lawsuits are expensive, time-consuming, and drag on for years.

Sore another victory for Westgate and put werners in the deadpool.

Werner has given up I guess but he had the base problem correct. Of course the overall, underlying problem is the conniving, cheating, convicted organization that operates the whole scheme on the fringes of legality. Stay away from Westgate and for you there is no problem.

I am not sticking up for Westgate by any means, I am just a realist when it comes to using the legal system.

Class action cases are intense and if you can't stand the heat, don't go there.

 

[ecwinch]

Suddenly it changed and it's $500-$700 MORE to simply change your use week? And you don't see the devaluation? No wonder Wastegate gets away with it as most just don't have a clue. Werner has given up I guess but he had the base problem correct.

But is what they did illegal or in violation of the underlying contract?

I am not defending them either, and clearly changing internal trading policies is not the right thing to do. There is a huge difference between what is Right, and what is Legal.

Lawsuits only are effective when a contract has been violated. The number of examples where an company has changed the rules of a program are too numerous to mention. In most cases they have that right.

 

[Vacation Dude]

Lawsuits only are effective when a contract has been violated. The number of examples where an company has changed the rules of a program are too numerous to mention. In most cases they have that right.

B-I-N-G-O!!!

 

[Moodyblues]

Was this his general opinion based on your description, or did he actually review the purchase documents?

Are you looking to form a group to "explore" the issue with an attorney? Just not sure what you mean by "then present the full information".

Do you have a rough estimate of what type of $$$ you need for your group to move forward?

I am not suggesting that your claims are without merit. But before the mob forms and pitchforks/torches are issued, everyone should have a general idea on what they are getting into.

I think the poster is just upset about Westgate. I have been a member on this site for a couple of years and I think this is only my 9th post. I read the site but don't comment most of the time.

I have the same complaints. I bought into the Westgate resort for $18,000 for one week, was told I could trade my week for any during the year that all weeks were the same. A couple of years ago I called and wanted to take my 5 year old grandaughter to Disney second week in April, but was told on the line that was "Easter week"and it would be an additonal $750, then another rep told me $700 when I complained. After a brief back and forth with the rep, I found out they even have a bike week. Well, I know about "Bike" week we stayed at what we thought was a Westgate resort in Daytona. Wow, this place was a DUMP, I called the Westage reps on site with NO help. I got some response when I called the local health department and they came out to my unit (hotel room, they are not units). We arrived sunday at the daytona location and had to leave on "Friday because of bike week", yep no one told us until thursday night.

The bottom line is Wastegate is as crooked organization as there is. I have been paying monthly for 5 years on my unit with never a late payment. Something is very wrong with this crooked organization and if it is ever brought out there will be millions paid out by Wetgate.

I think it is out of line to attack this poster since you don't know the whole story. I know I work and don't have time for 5,000 posts, glad some do.

Russ Hood, TN

 

[beentaken4afool]

Westgate branson Woods lied!!!!!

I'm so glad to see that others have problems and complaints about their timeshare properties. I went to one of those "Come to our resort, take a tour, and we'll give you free tickets" ploys at Westgate Branson Woods in Branson, MO. I had planned to say "NO" to any and all advances that they made but after much pushing and making us feel like butts for saying NO, we caved. It has been about a year and a half since signing the papers, never have used the property even once, tried to stay at a resort in Florida that westgate was associated with and they wanted more than I was told by the salesman in the beginning, well, I've been lied to time and time again. They tell you that you can come and stay for this certain dollar anytime there is an opening, that opening never comes to the dollar is a lot more. I tried to schedule a weeks vacation in Florida through Westgate, they said I needed to make those reservations at least 3-6 months in advance. Ok, I stayed somewhere else. I tried to make a reservation through them for next summer which would be 12 months from then. There was no rooms available in the city I was going to. Ok, again another lie. There has to be a law about selling more memberships than there are rooms available somewhere. I just feel like I've been cheated, lied to, screwed over royally by Westgate Resorts. I'm out $2600 so far and have never stayed a night on their property. I'd like to sell it and be out from their grasp once and for all. They need to take the property and put it where the sun doesn't shine. Like they did me.

 

[beentaken4afool]

I think the poster is just upset about Westgate. I have been a member on this site for a couple of years and I think this is only my 9th post. I read the site but don't comment most of the time.

I have the same complaints. I bought into the Westgate resort for $18,000 for one week, was told I could trade my week for any during the year that all weeks were the same. A couple of years ago I called and wanted to take my 5 year old grandaughter to Disney second week in April, but was told on the line that was "Easter week"and it would be an additonal $750, then another rep told me $700 when I complained. After a brief back and forth with the rep, I found out they even have a bike week. Well, I know about "Bike" week we stayed at what we thought was a Westgate resort in Daytona. Wow, this place was a DUMP, I called the Westage reps on site with NO help. I got some response when I called the local health department and they came out to my unit (hotel room, they are not units). We arrived sunday at the daytona location and had to leave on "Friday because of bike week", yep no one told us until thursday night.

The bottom line is Wastegate is as crooked organization as there is. I have been paying monthly for 5 years on my unit with never a late payment. Something is very wrong with this crooked organization and if it is ever brought out there will be millions paid out by Wetgate.

I think it is out of line to attack this poster since you don't know the whole story. I know I work and don't have time for 5,000 posts, glad some do.

Russ Hood, TN

Russ, you aren't out of line at all. I had called Westgate to ask about rooms and they told me I had a "Bonus" week for being a new owner that I was due and it was "Bonus", not cheap. I had planned a trip to Florida for the summer and I found a room online by myself in a beautiful condo for $400 cheaper than they hit me for their room. They are ripoff artists to beat all others. They lie about availibility, price, and the whole deal in general. I hope some day there is a lawsuit against them because I'll sign my name on that paperwork.

 

[wcfr1]

Westgate resort in Daytona. Wow, this place was a DUMP,

Yup that's Daytona. Most places here suck.

 

[gmarine]

I own Westgate and I cant stand WG, so dont misunderstand this, I'm not defending WG.

As long as you have use of the actual week you purchased there isnt a violation of your deeded ownership rights unless the contract specifically states that you have the right to exchange your week for a specific price and that price can never go up.

And the worse part is yet to come. Even if your contract stated this, it would have to clearly be consumer fraud for a law firm to take it on a contingency basis. Not just a real estate contract violation, but consumer fraud.
Why? Because without a clear consumer fraud case, a law firm cannot get paid its expenses in a class action lawsuit. Without 100% clear consumer fraud, law firms will not take the case on contingency but instead will want payment up front and you will need to prove what your damages are.

Westgate isnt even the worse timeshare company out there.

 

[timeos2]

It's that bad

I own Westgate and I cant stand WG, so dont misunderstand this, I'm not defending WG.

As long as you have use of the actual week you purchased there isnt a violation of your deeded ownership rights unless the contract specifically states that you have the right to exchange your week for a specific price and that price can never go up.


Westgate isnt even the worse timeshare company out there.

I think most here that have read even a few of my Wastegate posts will agree I'm no fan of the organization. And what you say is true - if you get your use of the week you purchased where is the fraud? Yet there is a lingering issue that, when purchased, all weeks were treated equal - you really could swap internally at no penalty for over a decade. Then suddenly there were "values" (a term that Wastegate themselves are not to be associated with in any form). But it gets worse. If I want to DEPOSIT my week to II then they DON'T allow me to simply use my fixed, deeded week but give me whatever junk week they feel like. So I really am not getting my deeded time and, here it is again, the ugly fraud term again rises up. But who has the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to fight them over a $700 week?

These people seemingly live on the very edge of criminal action as the SOP. They appear to depend on the near impossibility of owners to raise enough money to seriously challenge them. It has worked for them so far and unfortunately is not likely to change. The best hope owners have is that natural process and the bad economy will force changes. It has started as the King has been forced to sell off his ill gotten gains and appears to be struggling with the albatross named Planet Hollywood Tower of Terror. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of the collapse and hopefully a more ethical operation will at some point step in and clean things up. Or someone even worse (and yes, I agree there are a few but none on this large scale - yet) comes along and we'd wish for the "good old days" of the King.

I hope I've shed myself of any involvement with WG by then but who knows. Right now you almost have to pay someone to take a deed there (even as more unsuspecting suckers get roped in to buy at inflated retail) and I refuse to do that. For me this is the worst timeshare group there is as I have to deal with them. The operation is so sleazy that you feel dirty just stepping on the grounds. The slickest and most underhanded used car operation in existence looks like a saint next to these guys. Bernie Madoff a mere piker as he got caught - these people are doing it everyday to customers yet the regulators and watchdogs are seemingly powerless to stop it. WG has IMO perfected the art of scamming the public just under the radar and made billions doing it. Quite a feat in this day and age. PT Barnum would love them. The King and his minions are that good at what they do.

 

[JudyS]

...
I think it is out of line to attack this poster since you don't know the whole story. ..

I think most of us are familiar with the sort of complaints against Westgate that you raise. Westgate has an exceptionally poor reputation in an industry where a lot of companies have poor reputations. (And although I respect Denise's opinion that Starwood has gotten very bad, I'd buy a Starwood timeshare LONG before I'd buy a Westgate!)

The thing is, we've seen the class action attempts before, and they don't work. Rather than starting off by saying he wanted to do a class action, I wish the Original Poster had just described the problem, and asked for suggestions.

There was a similar thread on another timeshare forum back in February -- a couple of new posters came on, and in their very first posts, said they wanted to do a class action. They got very angry when they were told it wouldn't work. Why come to a forum of timeshare experts if you won't listen to what they say?

I would guess this week 4 in Orlando is an incredibly low demand week, perhaps one of the lowest of the year as the last week of January is pretty cold in Orlando and it is not during a school holiday....

I know this is off-topic, but as someone who exchanges to Orlando a lot, I'd say that Week 4 is not particularly low demand. It should be higher demand than just about any fall week (September through late December) except the week of Thanksgiving. It would be higher than Weeks 1 & 2, and probably higher than all of May and maybe higher than the end of April, depending on the timing of Easter. It's probably higher demand than the last two weeks in August. It would be lower demand than February, March, most of April, most of summer, and Christmas, making it a low-to-average demand week.

 

[dougp26364]

Wow, an April 2009 post comes back to life in 2010. I often wonder why a first time poster digs so deep to find these old threads. I suspect it's someone who does a google search, in this case about Westgate, and bingo, this thread pops up in the search.

The OP's last post was 4/1/2009. The only posts I find from the OP were to this thread. I wonder if they even know it's still alive anymore? For that matter, I wonder if they ever got anywhere with the class action.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Small Claims Court ?

But who has the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to fight them over a $700 week?

When the value of the junk week they deposit in your name is substantially less than the value of the paid-for week you own, the difference could still fall within the dollar limit of cases eligible for Small Claims Court.

Just think of the impact if a Small Claims judge brought the timeshare company to heel via injunction. Wouldn't that be something ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Is This A Great Web Site Or What ?

Wow, an April 2009 post comes back to life in 2010.

Just 1 of the many endearing features of TUG-BBS.

Keep those Moldy Oldies going !

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

 

[edwinmeyer]

[Deleted - out of compliance post]

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[AwayWeGo]

Grievances, Shmeevances.

People come here with grievances...predominantly what this site exists for

I don't think so. Not at all.

People come here looking for information about timeshares & timesharing.

Sometimes they're newbies hunting for the basics.

Sometimes they're old hands boning up on details.

Often they providing information, rather than seeking it.

Many participants share their findings about bargains, advantageous exchange opportunities, & I don't know what-all.

Grievances are very small in the overall TUG-BBS scheme of things.

Stick around & click around & you'll see.

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

 

[lablady412]

I would like to know if anyone has or is still thinking about the class action lawsuit. Does anyone know of an attorney who has been successful against them?? Why hasn't any agency put a stop to this???

 

[dougp26364]

There's always someone thinking about legal action against nearly every timeshare developer in existance. The problem is, those very same people never read the contracts they have signed and most reputable lawyers won't take the case.

 

[DeniseM]

I would like to know if anyone has or is still thinking about the class action lawsuit. Does anyone know of an attorney who has been successful against them?? Why hasn't any agency put a stop to this

You should click on Werners blue user name and send them an email - they haven't been back since starting this thread more than [18] mos. ago.

 

[crisby]

"You should click on Werners blue user name and send them an email - they haven't been back since starting this thread more than 6 mos. ago."

Actually, it was more than 18 months ago - March of 2009.

Every time I read about Westgate I feel grateful that we drove on by and settled for Orange Lake and Vistana.

Chris

 

[Moodyblues]

I have been told in the last week or two that folks are hiring an attorney to file a quick claim deed back to the resorts of the time shares.

Anyone heard of this. Of course, I guess I could google and find some info.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Quitclaim Is Not An Automatic Quick & Easy Out.

I have been told in the last week or two that folks are hiring an attorney to file a quick claim deed back to the resorts of the time shares.

Anyone heard of this. Of course, I guess I could google and find some info.

Click here for information.

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

 

[DeniseM]

I have been told in the last week or two that folks are hiring an attorney to file a quick claim deed back to the resorts of the time shares.

Anyone heard of this. Of course, I guess I could google and find some info.

A resort doesn't have to accept a quit claim. (Not quick claim.)

 

[marcus2469@comcast.net]

I have the same issue with Westgate

I am looking at starting or joining your cause. I to was misled by Westgate. We purchased a fixed week over 10 years ago with the understanding that we could exchange that week anytime during the year within the Westgate properties at no charge. Now I can not do that without paying some ridiculous fee for an "upgrade" week. Let me know what help I can led to your cause.

Has Westgate Resorts effectively de-valued your timeshare with their little "invention" of "value season"?

When we purchased our timeshare, it didn't mater what week it was (in our case, week 4) because all of Westgate was "red time". There was no such thing as "value season".

Interval and RCI still treat all weeks at Westgate as "red" or "prime" time. Only Westage now refuses to do an internal exchange for 90% of available weeks without asking an insane ($700+) upgrade fee. This forces us to use interval for every exchange - even those going BACK into WESTGATE! (Yes, that's right - if I deposit my "value season" week to Interval, it trades for ANY week at ANY Westgate property, and without the $700 "upgrade" fee).

Have you been screwed by this also? Do you know someone who has? Please respond to this thread, or contact me directly. I am assembling a list of participants for an initial class action suit against Westgate.