Our resale experience

[isilwath]

Back in 2011, we bought our first timeshare on the resale market. We’ve been DVC owners since 1993, and we love it, but we wanted more time and options. We bid on, and won, an EOY Even 231,000 pts at Wyndham’s Kona Hawaiian Resort. It was a private sale and thankfully everything went smoothly.

This September, my husband and I went to Hawaii, and we loved Maui. When we returned home, we decided that we wanted to look into buying a Maui timeshare, preferably in the Lahaina/Kahana/Kaanapali area. I searched ebay listings, and ended up following a link to the main page of a well known timeshare reseller. On the page for their Maui listings there were 3 classifieds with identical photographs for the same resort. The only difference was the size of the unit and the time interval. One was for a studio, EOY ODD, one was for a 1-bedroom, EOY ODD, and the third was for a 1-bedroom, EOY EVEN.

My husband and I looked at the listings, did research on the resort -Kahana Beach Vacation Club (KAH), and looked up information about the resale company to make sure they were reputable. We liked Kahana Beach’s location and reviews. It wasn’t a high end fancy resort, but it was Premiere beachfront, all the 1-bedrooms were ocean view, and the MF were reasonable.

We decided on the 1-bedroom, EOY ODD to complement our Kona, EOY EVEN. My husband was beside me when I clicked on the link. I had to be certain I was choosing the correct listing because, as I said, all 3 were identical as far as name and images. When I was sure it was the right one (1-bed, EOY ODD), I clicked to buy, and we began the purchase process.

That’s when things began to go hinky. I got the confirmation email, and I skimmed over it because I was getting ready for work, and I was in a rush. Looking back, I think I did notice that something wasn’t quite right with the resort name on the receipt, but I was hurrying, so off I went.

It just so happened that I had to rush down to Philadelphia the following day because of a family emergency with my mom. I got the notice from the resale company and the documents to sign on-line. I put them aside to wait until my husband could join me Saturday night. When I finally had a chance to look everything over, I noticed that the address listed on the papers was not the same as the address I had remembered reading when I was researching the resort. I copied the resort name and address, did a web search, and I was shocked to find a resort I had never seen before. The resort, Kahana Villa Vacation Club (KVV), was managed by the same company as Kahana Beach, but was not ocean front, nor did all the units have ocean views. I scrolled through the pictures and looked at the reviews and ratings, and I knew this wasn’t the resort I thought we were buying. I went to the resale company’s website to look up the original classified, but it was gone. The only Kahana Beach listing left was the EOY ODD studio. I immediately raised a red flag and emailed the company resales rep asking her what was going on.

My husband joined me, and I showed him the resort and pictures. He, too, was shocked, because we were 100% certain that this was not the resort we thought we were buying. He wrote an email to the resales representative, stating that this wasn’t the resort we wanted, and we wished to cancel the sale. The representative was very nice and agreed to cancel the sale and issue a full refund, but at no time was what happened explained. The rep sent us a “copy” of the original listing, but it wasn’t the listing we’d seen (the pictures were different.)

I still don’t know what happened. All of my browser history shows me researching Kahana Beach. I would not have agreed to purchase a resort that I hadn’t researched. My husband was with me when I clicked on the link to purchase. His memory matches mine about the resort and its location. We have no idea how we thought we were buying one resort, but were really buying a sister resort across the street instead. I am very glad I caught it, and we were able to cancel without any penalty, but the only explanation we can come up with for what happened is when I clicked the link to purchase Kahana Beach Vacation Club, Kahana Villa Vacation Club was put in the cart instead. Was this an HTML error? Was the ad mis-labeled? We don’t know. The sales rep insisted the ad was listed correctly.

The resort names were only one word apart, Kahana Beach Vacation Club vs Kahana Villa Vacation Club. Could we have misread it? Possible, but both my husband and I are 100% positive that the photos for all 3 listings were the same. Did they put up the wrong pictures? I don’t know. The ads were taken down & I couldn’t cross reference. The ad the sales rep sent had the correct resort name and images for Kahana Villa Vacation Club, but that could’ve been fixed.

We are still looking for a west Maui timeshare, but I am now wary of that resale company. Even though they were cooperative and cancelled the sale, their explanation for what happened was that we made a mistake. We’re still baffled as to how that happened.

 

[theo]

Who???

Was this an HTML error? Was the ad mis-labeled? We don’t know. The sales rep insisted the ad was listed correctly.
<snip> Did they put up the wrong pictures? I don’t know. The ads were taken down & I couldn’t cross reference. <snip> I am now wary of that resale company. Even though they were cooperative and cancelled the sale, their explanation for what happened was that we made a mistake.

Despite the very lengthy report above, actual identification of the "well known timeshare reseller" involved is nowhere to be found.

For those who might now look more closely at the listings of this as-yet-unidentified "well known reseller", it would be more helpful to identify them by name, no?
After all, you're not slandering anyone, you are merely relating a personal experience. Identifying the entity would frankly be far more informative and helpful.

Just a thought...

 

[isilwath]

In the very long report above, I find no actual identification of the "well known timeshare reseller" involved.

For those who might be inclined look more closely at listings from this as-yet-unidentified but "well known" reseller, it might be more helpful to identify them by name, no? After all, you're not slandering anyone here, you are merely relating a first hand personal experience. Identifying the entity would frankly be far more informative.

Just a thought...

It was Sumday.

 

[csxjohn]

... The ads were taken down & I couldn’t cross reference. The ad the sales rep sent had the correct resort name and images for Kahana Villa Vacation Club, but that could’ve been fixed.

....

What ever the reason for the mix up, your mistake or theirs, they cancelled and returned your money. That's all you can ask for.

I tell everyone I can to print out auctions on eBay and ads from sellers to be able to double check everything you thing you saw on the screen. This would at least told you where the confusion came from and would be an easy way to check the details when the purchase agreement came your way.

If Sumday comes up with what you want I would not shy away from them.

 

[JeffBrown]

??????

Mrs. Imparato,

I've spent a few hours researching this and the only thing I've determined is that the pictures which were displayed on the listing were of Kahana Beach because the listing agent wasn't able to locate any of Kahana Villas. But, the description was correct and shows in the tag line, description and purchase line as Kahana Villas. I know you can't see that anymore as the item (once purchased) is removed from the viewable inventory on our website so that it doesn't get purchased twice.

This is how it was displayed:
Product ID: SV40031-29761
Product Name: Free 2015 Usage Kahana Villa Vacation Club II KVV
Quantity: 1
Unit Price: $549.00

So, I apologize for the error we made with the pictures but we were not trying to deceive you in any fashion. So, I would hope that you consider us in the future and if you have any questions I'm always available.

Jeff Brown
Sumday Vacations

 

[benyu2010]

no harm no foul...

 

[Talent312]

IMO, these sorts of errors are almost inevitable in the digital age.
The trick is to catch them before they become too difficult to fix.

I once purchased airline tickets but managed to reversed the dates.
Thus, we were scheduled to return prior to our departure.
Another time, I made a payment on a CC that had a -0- balance.
One time, I made the same mortgage payment twice.

Thankfully, the merchants & banks fixed each one.

I try to obey the adage: "Measure twice; cut once." But nobody's perfect.

.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I have bought quite often from Sumday and they are not immune to listing errors and oversights. There are thousands of resorts and tens of thousands of specific units types. Occasional errors are nearly impossible to avoid, especially when the resorts themselves make estoppel errors. I trust Sumday 100% to make it right but to make sure I have something to look back on I copy the entire listing into a word document and save it before I make the purchase. Sometimes I forget and when I do I can hit the back button on the browser because the listing will remain with an "unavailable" status for a short while. You can't search for it after purchase but you can still "back", history, or link into it for a very short while.

 

[isilwath]

Yes, exactly, and that is a great idea to copy everything into a Word document. I don't think anything was done deliberately, but it drives home the advice to always, always double, triple, quadruple check things and always read the paperwork carefully. If I hadn't noticed that the address was different, I may have never discovered the error.

I have bought quite often from Sumday and they are not immune to listing errors and oversights. There are thousands of resorts and tens of thousands of specific units types. Occasional errors are nearly impossible to avoid, especially when the resorts themselves make estoppel errors. I trust Sumday 100% to make it right but to make sure I have something to look back on I copy the entire listing into a word document and save it before I make the purchase. Sometimes I forget and when I do I can hit the back button on the browser because the listing will remain with an "unavailable" status for a short while. You can't search for it after purchase but you can still "back", history, or link into it for a very short while.