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New WKORVN Owner need help

klxld

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Hi all,

Just came back from my honeymoon for a week at the WKORV. Book for a island studio with flight and car rental on expedia for total of $3K. Good deal?
I stressed to them that I was on my honeymoon and they free upgraded us to a lockoff studio Ocean Front.

You are probably why I'm on this board since I just came back from Hawaii.
Well, I was sold to WKORVNorth Phase 1 - Ocean Front - EOY for $39,900 with option to add the other half of the year for $29,500 within the next 12 months. They also threw in 120,000 SPG point and I'm Gold Preferred Starwood. Sounds pretty good with the points incentive. Everything seems so perfect during the presentation and on the flight back.
My concern is now that I've come back to reality, and after a reality check, my financial status will not allow me to live my life to the dream vacation, forget about even owning a vacation home. Yes, I know I was stupid for being sold (too much Mai-Tai.)
Bottom line is I want to rescind. Right after I got back, I googled timeshare and did lots of research and found TUG. This is one great board, very informative. After hours of reading and reading some more, I'm aware that in order to rescind, I have 7 days to send the "NOTICE OF MUTUAL RIGHT OF CANCELLATION OF TIMESHARE PURCHASE." It does state that a refund will be issued within 15 business days after notice of cancellation. My question is, is this a "FULL" refund? I was charged 10%, $4,303 on my credit card. I don't mind if I lose the $313 closing cost, but I don't want to lose the deposit of $3900.

And if I do decided to get a timeshare, If I ought to purchase another timeshare, I'll definite get resale for 50% less.

Thanks in advance my fellow TUGGERS!

KLXLD
 

seenett

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Hopefully a moderator can move this to the "Hotel Based" forum, where the poster will get specific advice.

My guess is that if you follow all instructions EXACTLY, you will receive a full refund of everything, inclusing deposit and closing costs. Be sure to do it in time, though.
 

klxld

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Oops, I'm sorry about the wrong section of the forum.

Yes, it stated on the contract I have till Midnight of Sept 27 to send it in.

Thank you.
 

Denise L

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Congratulations on your honeymoon and upgrade to oceanfront!

I'm sure that if you follow the instructions carefully on how to rescind, you will get all of your money back, including closing costs. I've never heard of anyone not getting that back...nothing has closed yet, so there should be no costs.

Be warned that they may try to lure you back with a Starwood Explorer's Package, where for $1995, you get a chance to go back for 5 nights, plus 50,000 Starpoints, if you listen to another presentation. No obligation to buy, but they really would like to sell you something :D . You'd have 18 months to use the package, I think.

Don't think yourself stupid for being "sold." We love the WKROV, purchasing sight unseen from the developer in 2003. No regrets. It's a great resort!

Glad that you have found TUG. I'm sure after some research, you'll figure out exactly what you can afford and what to buy. Even if after rescinding you decide that you want to buy from the developer, the same deal will probably be there, or at another Starwood resort. Resale, you won't get the Starpoints incentive and every other use year Starpoints conversion option, but you will save some $$.

Have fun learning about timeshares!
 

Time2Ponder

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You should get back the entirety of your deposit. We attended the WKORVN presentation, purchased, and then rescinded within the allotted time, and we got it all back. Be sure to follow the directions to the letter, and send it FedEx.

If you're interested, you can get an EY OF deluxe (i.e., larger) 2BR LO at WKORV for about $55K at resale -- that's $15K less than what they're offering you now. You miss out on the Starpoints conversion, but unless you travel and stay at Westin-related properties a whole lot, they're not regarded as the best use of your TS week. If you're interested in resale, check out the TUG classifieds, Advantage Vacation, or myresortnetwork.

Kim
 

taffy19

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You are so lucky to find TUG in time and come back to reality. I would buy a primary residence first before spending so much money on a timeshare condo, or even for a re-sale unless you have your home already taken care of. JMHO.

Thank you TUG for being here and that people can find you so easily today! It's a wonderful service to people who are on cloud nine while on vacation. :)
 

klxld

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Thanks so much for the informative responses my fellow tuggers!
I've learn so much from TUG.

Yes, I guess I am very lucky, I signed up for the presentation on the very last day of my stay so I can get $75 gift cert off my resort bills. I figure 90mins wouldn't hurt. It turn out to be a 3 1/2 hours presentation. Too much questions, the salesman said. But I have to admit, they did a heck of a job on the presentation, because I was making plans to stay all over the world using II. Dream vacation that I never would have dream of having.

Had I signed up any earlier, there wouldn't be enough time to rethink this thru. Well, the cancellation form has been signed and will be sent out with FedEX / UPS on Monday. And now, I've to cancel my free 2 weeks Hong Kong trip that I have planned during the flight home using the 120K starpoint that bribe me with.

Again, thanks so much from all you help!

I'll continue to read on this forum so I can learn some more about TS and help other with what I've learned. hopefully sometime in the near future, I can be a proud owner too.


Oh, I've read somewhere on this forum but just wanted to confirm this,
does Resale = no starpoint conversion? Any other way to join starpoint when buying resale? Because one of the reason I bought is because that they let you use II. Can someone please confirm Resale = Starpoint, therefore, no II, or RCI?
 
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Denise L

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klxld said:
Oh, I've read somewhere on this forum but just wanted to confirm this, does Resale = no starpoint conversion? Any other way to join starpoint when buying resale? Because one of the reason I bought is because that they let you use II. Can someone please confirm Resale = Starpoint, therefore, no II, or RCI?

Resale = no Starpoints conversion
Resale can use II, or a private exchange company, to make exchanges to other properties. Resale at a Starwood mandatory resort can use the internal Starwood Vacation Network to exchange to any of those resorts.

Starwood uses II (except for Vistana Villages, that uses RCI and will go to II soon). Other timeshares that you might consider will use RCI to exchange, or internal systems.

What fun! You have a lot of research ahead of you to figure it all out! Good luck!
 

Time2Ponder

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And remember not to confuse Starpoints with Staroptions.

While I and others have noted that you do lose the Starpoint conversion option in buying resale, if you purchase a resale at a "mandatory" resort, like WKORV, you retain the ability to trade your Staroptions within the Starwood netwok (SVN).

And regardless of the type of purchase, you can use II for trades (though some might argue you'd do better trying to get a direct exchange [with an owner of the desired resort], or renting your week and using the cash to go whereever you want]).

Kim
 

klxld

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I've finally got it.
Thanks so much for guiding me thru this!

I'll post an update when I get the refund, or not.

Until then, I shall keep reading... = )
 

DeniseM

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klxld said:
And now, I've to cancel my free 2 weeks Hong Kong trip that I have planned during the flight home using the 120K starpoint that bribe me with.

In general, converting your week to Starpoints is a poor value, so don't lose any sleep over this. When you factor in the upfront cost, and your yearly MF, you don't get equal value when you convert to Starpoints. For example, we own a 2 bdm. at the WKORV which we can split and use for 2 consecutive weeks on Maui. If we convert to Starpoints (81K), we can't even get a week in a standard room at the Sheraton or Westin Maui Hotel. Buying a TS to stay in a standard hotel room makes no sense.

Edited to change StarOPTIONS to StarPOINTS - sorry for the confusion!!!!!
 
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klxld

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I was reading some other thread on this BBS stating that you can get requalify to SVN (with the Starpoint conversion)with resale. But only if you get another TS thru the developer and only if they allow you. I'm pretty clear with the staroption and starpoint now, and just thought that starpoint might help me down the road if I travel a lot to different country. Yes with the WKORVN I get 141,000 StarOption, but there are only limited resorts I can exchange from. And on the II website they don't tell you how to exchange weeks with them. However, they tell you how many starpoints are require to get a night stay.

Here's what I've been debating in my head so far factoring in everything I've learned from TUG:

1. Buying thru Developer - 39,900 EOY, OF (lockoff 2brm) 141,000 staroptions, or 80,000 Starpoints, 120,000 starpoints signing bonus, Gold prefered Starwood member.

2. Resale - $? , EY, OF (141,000) staroptions, NO starpoints, no signing bonus, regular member. (savings of roughly 20K)

3. Resale then use the 20K to buy Developer and hope to get the previous resale to requalify and allow me to convert to starpoint.

What do you think? I like the 3rd option better if it works.
 

Denise L

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Third option is better if it works, yes, and if you will be happy having two timeshare intervals.

So you are thinking, a resale $55K (as someone posted) for an EY OF at WKORV, worth 148,100 Staroptions per year. Then use the "extra" 20K to buy a developer week (not sure which ones are in that range...I don't know if an EOY would qualify or if you'd have to buy an EY to requalify your EY), and get requalified so that your WKORV resale is worth 80,000 Starpoints every other use year if you want to convert.

Remember that you will miss out on your 120K Starpoint bonus, but you'll have more timeshare time, and another set of maintenance fees for the second interval you buy.

Check out developer prices in your range and see what you can find!
 

klxld

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What am I doing here???
This TS thingy is addictive.
At the beginning of this thread I wanted to cancel because I have no money.
Now, I'm thinking of buying two... What is this???
I must say the TS does bring luxury if one can afford.
haha... let me just send out my rescind letter tomorrow and maybe I can
start with something small, lets say 10K... = (
But I'm learning so my next purchase wouldn't result in another cancellation.

Thanks my fellow tuggers for all the help!
 

Denise L

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klxld said:
What am I doing here???
This TS thingy is addictive.
At the beginning of this thread I wanted to cancel because I have no money.
Now, I'm thinking of buying two... What is this???

Welcome to the world of timeshares :D ! It is an addiction!

You may want to think about whether you really want an OF or can be happy with an OV. And if you don't need to travel during peak times, then you might not need to buy such an expensive Starwood interval either...resale or developer. Look at the other locations that Starwood has, and the ones in the works (Cancun, Aruba, Kauai). Look at the other top systems...Hyatt, HGVC, Marriott.

Also, there are plenty of owners to rent from first, so you can always spend your anniversary at WKORV or WKORV-N if you want to, by renting a studio or 1 bedroom from an owner for a lot less than renting through Starwood or a travel agent.

So much fun ahead!
 

Time2Ponder

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klxld said:
3. Resale then use the 20K to buy Developer and hope to get the previous resale to requalify and allow me to convert to starpoint.

Right now, Harborside at Atlantis EOY Gold 1BR deluxes (basically comparable to the studio you stayed in at WKROV) are available from the developer for about $20K.

$55K (resale I mentioned previously) plus $20K from developer (you can try to have resale requalified; people have reported differing success based on EY/EOY combination characteristics) = $75K, which is pretty close to the original WKORVN developer asking price for a 1BR.

If the requalification doesn't work, you can always go resale again (they'd be about $8 - $10K for the unit I quoted above).

You say you'd like the Starpoints "in the event" that you decide to travel more. It seems to me that saving and banking the initial principal savings (about $35K for both properties) will yield much, much more than a few thousand Starpoints will in a lifetime. JMO, of course. Good luck.

Kim
 

klxld

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I've sent out the rescind letter on 9/25 and confirm receipt with signee's name. What do I do now? Just wait?

Oh btw, my salesman from WKORVN called me today. Not knowing that I had
sent the rescind letter, he was just checking to see how the rest of our trip went an all. All in all, he seemed a really nice guy, I hate to strip him of his commission. I told him I was thinking about cancelling. Before I know it, he threw me the sales pitch again, on and on. Then I told him, I need to talk to my wife about it. He asked me to really consider the package and there aren't many this kind of deals left out in the market. He called again 30mins ago and left me a message. I feel terrible for wasting his time, but it's my $$$ we are talking about... I'll tell him tomorrow that my wife had send out the rescind letter and we couldn't do anything about it.

Sigh... If only I had more saved up, I definitely would keep the package....
 

Denise L

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A nice sales exec

It's nice that the sales executive called you up to follow up. We didn't have any kind of follow up, ever, after we bought both of our EOYs. It's good to see that Starwood is working on its customer service, or else you just got a very nice salesperson (or he reads TUG in his spare time :D and figured out it was you...).
 

klxld

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maybe he does, who knows?
he's a timesharer also as he told me.

if you are reading this, i'm sorry!
i need to do it to the best of my interest.
like i said, if you come to NY, i'll definitely
treat your for drinks.

anyway, i guess i should just wait for the cancellation letter right?
how long does it usually take? is there a SVN number in FL i can call
to verify?
 

DavidnRobin

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If you paid by CC - they will refund to your CC. They will not notify you (at least they didn't for us) - I actually called to find out the funds had been deposited back to my CC.

Don't feel bad about rescinding - our TS salesman was a really nice guy, but once I rescinded - he didn't return my emails/phone calls - off to the next sale I guess. There is a reason that they are so nice/helpful - they work on commission. If they were smart TS salesman - they would read TUG - If would if I were one - I would never tell a prospective buyer about TUG. :)

Side note: it was good of our friend in Kauai - after finding out we entered contact with SVN for WKORV-N during our stay in Poipu - to tell us to goggle timesharenightmares.com when we got home - this is how we found TUG. He had a good friend working for SVN at Poipu - so he felt he couldn't be more direct - like 'GET-OUT NOW!'

Also, I came to find out (after finding TUG) - that the very nice TS salesman gave us a series of untruths and misinfo - like the 'buy now because prices are going up next month '(when they dropped about $5K from our original purchase price).

Glad I found TUG, glad I bought resale, and glad to own some nice SVO TSs (resale...) - but of course more expensive than others would spend (if at all...)
 
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DavidnRobin

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klxld said:
What am I doing here???
This TS thingy is addictive.
At the beginning of this thread I wanted to cancel because I have no money.
Now, I'm thinking of buying two... What is this???
I must say the TS does bring luxury if one can afford.
haha... let me just send out my rescind letter tomorrow and maybe I can
start with something small, lets say 10K... = (
But I'm learning so my next purchase wouldn't result in another cancellation.

Thanks my fellow tuggers for all the help!

One idea - would be to buy VV (a SVN mandatory resort) resale in order to get 81K SOs at the lowest cost possible - also buy the unit that gives you the lowest MFs (be patient in this purchase) - I think this is the 2bd unit (not LO). Then use those SOs, to exchange for 1 week at other SVN mandatory resorts - Hawaii (WKORV, WKORV-N, and WPORV), Kierland, Harborside, and WSJ (once the new BayView units are built) EXACTLY at the 8-month point - OR, stay at VV as your home resort.

From what I have been able to ascertain - this is the cheapest way to get into the SVN system. The downside - is not having the 'Home' resort preferences - but if you spend a little effort - and are not concerned with getting the absolute best location or the prime weeks - this is not hard to overcome.

My opinion...
 

klxld

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Noted. Thanks Blujahz!

The salesman called again today. Talk about no sales pressure, yeah right.
Anyway, he tried to convince me that I can still change my mind if I wanted to do so. He can void my rescind letter. I apologize to him for many times and he said this TS is for my own good. This is going to be a FOREVER investment, for my children and grandchildren and so on, that it'll be my lost if I rescind. yadiyadiyada... I told him I need more time then he finally gave up.

Anyway, I'll keep checking my CC bill check on my refund.

By the way, has any of the WKORV owner's value actually gone up from developer purchase?
 
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DavidnRobin

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No problem - and nope... {perhaps WKORV OF has stayed the same...}
 

DeniseM

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klxld said:
By the way, has any of the WKORV owner's value actually gone up from developer purchase?

Pre-TUG, we paid $44K for a 2bdm. ocean view, about a year before the WKORV opened, and those units are going for $30-$35K, resale now! :eek:
Oh well, we love the resort and it's paid off. If I was making payments, it would be painful! :D
 
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