Sandcastle P'town owners -Festiva

[Classylassy523]

no i am not a 1 bedroom has 1 m/f and a studio has 1 m/f

So the MF for a 1-bedroom is the same no matter what the week and the MF for a studio is the same no matter what week? That is the rule in the Dunes Bldg.? What is the rule for the Coachman Bldg.?

 

[mayorpw]

you probably need to call the resort and speak to someone in the office to tell you. i dont want to give wrong info

 

[Classylassy523]

Interesting post from "Sandcastle P'town Weeks Owners - please check here" thread

Scare tactics

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We were threatened by both the angry woman in the lobby and the salesman. When we turned down their offer of a meeting, the woman said that we will lose rights by not going to the meeting. Later, the salesman told my husband that we will never be able to exchange for July and August weeks if we didn't buy points.
The woman in the lobby is hurting Sandcastle's reputation; she sits there, glaring at everyone that comes in, no identification as a time share rep, and someone may well believe that she is a Sandcastle rep, when she is not.
Our assessments are going up to pay for these underhanded, aggressive con artists to destroy our resort!

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Last edited by chark : August 16, 2009 at 08:26 AM.

Read this post from yesterday. Interesting activities at Sandcastle.

Oh sure, the aggressive sales people have been reined it.

 

[strummer]

Regarding NEVMS mailing address: If they get mail they ignore it anyway. The Outfield reps ignore emails and regular mails. NEVMS has no letterhead of any kind that I have seen. As I have asked before, what honest, legitimate business person would not have a letterhead and published address, phone or email contact. Offering one-way responses while fighting back and forth with timeshare owners on this site is juvenile.

 

[ChrisH]

OOPS! It's OCTOMAN

you probably need to call the resort and speak to someone in the office to tell you. i dont want to give wrong info

Put in a few cents worth,

then it got a little more complicated - or maybe conflicting?:whoopie:

Did something get let out of the bag?

Now it's call the office - HMMMMMMM??

Could this be a persona of

OCTOMAN!!! :ignore:

:hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical:

 

[mayorpw]

Put in a few cents worth,

then it got a little more complicated - or maybe conflicting?:whoopie:

Did something get let out of the bag?

Now it's call the office - HMMMMMMM??

Could this be a persona of

OCTOMAN!!! :ignore:

:hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical:

just because someone comes on this site and helps to answer a question that is not in your click you automatically accuse them of being someone else just to conflict that is why so many people probably dont respond because of fools like you who if we dont agree with you we are wrong.

 

[ecwinch]

Put in a few cents worth,

then it got a little more complicated - or maybe conflicting?:whoopie:

Did something get let out of the bag?

Now it's call the office - HMMMMMMM??

Could this be a persona of

OCTOMAN!!! :ignore:

:hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical:

Even if it is, what purpose is served by continuing to bring it up? There was no biased information in the post. As we have seen from a similar thread, not every person understands the background involved, and can interpret your comment as being mean and hostile. It just demeans the tone of the discussion.

Can we keep the posts to the issue being discussed, rather than speculation that this is an alias of another person? If you have specific concerns about TUG rules being violated then report it to the mods.

 

[Sou13]

Hear! Hear!

I agree with Eric on this one, even though we haven't always agreed on everything. We are trying to keep these related Southcape and Sandcastle discussions informative and near the top of the search engines so that we can be found by those owners who need info about what's been going on since NEVS bought the "developer's rights" (which by law should no longer exist) to the Southcape and Sandcastle resorts.

Many of us never realized we had anything in common until we discovered the discussions on TUG. Now that we realize that we are "sister" (or "brother"?) resorts, we need to all hang together or we'll all hang separately (that's part of our New England heritage).

 

[Sou13]

Back to the MF discussion

For Sandcastle owners who are wondering why the MF isn't the same for all units, it's probably based on the unit size, not the week. We Southcape owners were told at our annual meeting that Massachusetts law does not allow a timeshare resort to charge a different MF for different times of the year.

This is another big downside of Festiva. The prime summer weeks are worth more points, which makes the Festiva MF for those weeks higher than the deeded owners are paying. So the only way for Outfield Marketing to continue to scare deeded owners into converting to FAC is for Festiva to demand upgrades and renovations which require special assessments. And of course NEVS will comply because it's 75% Outfield Marketing controlled, and the other 25% is NEVMS!

This might not be allowed by Massachusetts law, just another point to make in all those complaints to the AG!

 

[Pat H]

For Sandcastle owners who are wondering why the MF isn't the same for all units, it's probably based on the unit size, not the week. We Southcape owners were told at our annual meeting that Massachusetts law does not allow a timeshare resort to charge a different MF for different times of the year.

Let me say it again! The m/f for white weeks in the Coachman building is half the amount of a red week for the same size unit.

 

[ChrisH]

For those of you hoping to hear from Cliff by email - he's back in town

NEVMSLLC
Status: Guest
Last Activity: August 20, 2009 04:11 PM
Viewing Forum US - Eastern @ 04:11 PM

 

[mayorpw]

maint fee

For Sandcastle owners who are wondering why the MF isn't the same for all units, it's probably based on the unit size, not the week. We Southcape owners were told at our annual meeting that Massachusetts law does not allow a timeshare resort to charge a different MF for different times of the year.

This is another big downside of Festiva. The prime summer weeks are worth more points, which makes the Festiva MF for those weeks higher than the deeded owners are paying. So the only way for Outfield Marketing to continue to scare deeded owners into converting to FAC is for Festiva to demand upgrades and renovations which require special assessments. And of course NEVS will comply because it's 75% Outfield Marketing controlled, and the other 25% is NEVMS!

This might not be allowed by Massachusetts law, just another point to make in all those complaints to the AG!

these fees were put in place by the old owners not nevs and noone complained before. why now?

 

[Sou13]

Reply to mayorpw

Well, mayorpw, you don't appear to be an owner either here or at Southcape, so if you are, why don't you stand up and be counted?

If you knew anything at all about the history of the Sandcastle and Southcape Resorts you wouldn't be asking "why now?"

 

[Sandy VDH]

So what are people doing about the SA?

 

[ChrisH]

Festiva Resorts - eliminates use of OUTFIELD at Peppertree - why not at the Cape???

http://www.festivaresorts.com/pvtc_generalinfo.php



Outfield Marketing

Outfield Marketing is a third party company hired by Festiva to present and sell the Festiva Adventure Club to various fixed week owners along with members of the PVTC. Outfield Marketing predominantly sold the Festiva Adventure Club by setting up appointments to come to members’ homes. On May 6, 2009, Festiva made a decision to restrict Outfield Marketing from contacting PVTC members from that date on.
You should no longer receive calls from Outfield Marketing sales personnel who wish to come to your home to discuss the Festiva Adventure Club. If you receive such a call please take the person’s full name and contact the Festiva Owner Services department at 866-933-7848. Festiva sales or marketing personnel may contact you and ask you to visit a resort for a sales presentation or may contact you while you are at the resort; however, you will not be asked to allow someone to come to your home.

They just don't learn - do they!

 

[ChrisH]

See how good your FESTIVA - FAC points REALLY ARE!!!!!

Festiva Resorts - Rangeley Lake - Points Chart - check out this chart

http://www.festivaresorts-rangeleylake.com/index.php/points-chart.html

Think you're going up to MAINE with your FESTIVA POINTS?

NOPE

Your 4th of July holiday, 1 BR oceanfront unit at Sandcastle FAC points WON"T get you

a 'red' week in Maine

a 'gold' week in Maine

a 'holiday' week in Maine

but you can go in the 'OFF SEASON" - isn't that special

 

[Classylassy523]

Festiva Resorts - Rangeley Lake - Points Chart - check out this chart

http://www.festivaresorts-rangeleylake.com/index.php/points-chart.html

Think you're going up to MAINE with your FESTIVA POINTS?

NOPE

Your 4th of July holiday, 1 BR oceanfront unit at Sandcastle FAC points WON"T get you

a 'red' week in Maine

a 'gold' week in Maine

a 'holiday' week in Maine

but you can go in the 'OFF SEASON" - isn't that special

Ask Outfield about that and they would put a spin on that would make you think that everyone goes to the beach in the middle of winter in Maine.

 

[Classylassy523]

The annual meeting in April

Timesharemogul ...

How many owners were at the annual meeting? From conversations I have had, most people didn't get a notice of the date and time. I sure didn't. Did the management company, that is costing us $10,000 a month, make an executive decision to only notify people within a certain limited number of miles from the Cape? Did they think that owners wouldn't drive? Or, were they trying to control the number of people who would show up? Cliff brags about the number that attended compared with previous years. What he fails to say is why that number of people were there. It certainly wasn't because they were happy owners and content with what was happening.

I know, they limited the notifications to save postage. That's it, that's the ticket. Some great mind at NEVMS decided to save postage. Doing that probably allowed them to purchase an upgraded version of the 'security cameras' that are now in place around the resort. You know the cameras I am talking about. The ones that are watching what is happening because management wants to know just who is leaving notes under the doors warning people about Outfield and everything else that is happening at our resort. NEVMS has their priorities and unhappy owners at the annual meeting didn't take precedence over the ever watchful eyes of the 'security' cameras.

Do you have any idea how many of those people who attended that meeting post on TUG or know about TUG? I can imagine there are many who read the posts but don't necessarily post their own thoughts or questions. It would be nice if we had a copy of the owners list, then we could contact them and let them know about TUG. Of course, management and the Board of Trustees wouldn't want that to happen. They don't even like owners talking among themselves while they are at the resort. Cliff even threatened one owner with the police if she didn't stop talking.

Does Cliff where a uniform? Does he patrol the grounds with a large dog and a whip? It is sad, very sad, that our resort isn't the comfortable, peaceful, restful place it has been for so many years. All because a few miserable people are greedy and don't care what they do or who they hurt, as long as they get their way.

We have got to stop them, some how, some way.

 

[Classylassy523]

They have control

http://www.festivaresorts.com/pvtc_generalinfo.php



Outfield Marketing

Outfield Marketing is a third party company hired by Festiva to present and sell the Festiva Adventure Club to various fixed week owners along with members of the PVTC. Outfield Marketing predominantly sold the Festiva Adventure Club by setting up appointments to come to members’ homes. On May 6, 2009, Festiva made a decision to restrict Outfield Marketing from contacting PVTC members from that date on.
You should no longer receive calls from Outfield Marketing sales personnel who wish to come to your home to discuss the Festiva Adventure Club. If you receive such a call please take the person’s full name and contact the Festiva Owner Services department at 866-933-7848. Festiva sales or marketing personnel may contact you and ask you to visit a resort for a sales presentation or may contact you while you are at the resort; however, you will not be asked to allow someone to come to your home.

They just don't learn - do they!

How can Festiva tell Outfield they can't sell at Southcape or the Sandcastle? They (Outfield) controls the Board of Trustees at each resort. And, isn't that convenient? Gets Festiva off the hook, they can look the innocent party, and Outfield continues to spew their lies, half truths and threats. And, we have Cliff walking around telling people that they (NEVS and Outfield) just want to make the resorts better for the owners. Yeah right! That is why they are taking away the deeds every opportunity they get.

 

[Sou13]

Martha Coakley for Congress?

Are you a MA voter who's happy with what Martha Coakley has been doing for timeshare owners? Here's your opportunity to express your opinions!

When I learned that Martha Coakley had filed for replacing "Ted" Kennedy I had to wonder how an AG who doesn't seem to be enforcing Massachusetts laws or even investigating lawbreakers can possibly be fit for making laws for the entire country!

 

[Classylassy523]

This could be positive or negative, depending on how we approach it

It goes without saying that AG Coakley is going to be very busy the next few weeks. She has a lot to accomplish is a short amount of time. Maybe if we make enough noise to the politicians who oversee that part of the state, and we get their attention, they will have a talk with her about how they like to keep their constituents happy, and unhappy voters don't help someone win an election, unless it is the opposition. Maybe if she knew how many people are being terrorized by NEVS, NEVMS, Outfield and Festiva she would have second thoughts about brushing us aside. Newspapers, radio stations and televisions stations will be poking into her record, background and history. We could always give them something to look at. We certainly have enough proof that we have been trying to get her to help us.

If we work at it hard enough, maybe we could get this to work to our benefit.

 

[Corky]

If you go to the Festiva web site, Southcape is listed as one of the Adventure Club resorts but Sandcastle isn't. I called and ask the Festiva rep to explain this. She had to check with her supervisor who explained that Sandcastle has "limited" inventory at the moment (meaning not enough deeded 'weeks' owners have signed on to pts), and won't be on the web site until more owners convert to points.

Until the inventory increases, only Sandcastle owners who converted to Festiva will have access to the limited Sandcastle inventory. And to do that, they will need to phone in.

Does anyone know the percentage of Southcape weeks that have been converted? The number of Sandcastle units?? The rep couldn't tell me how many more are needed.

 

[Sou13]

Well you may ask!

Back in November 2008 when I met with Greg Hughes at Southcape Resort there were only 30 registered Southcape conversions on record at Barnstable County Capeview Internet Access yet Southcape Resort was already listed in the "Festiva Family of Resorts"! Even if all the conversions were recorded at once, there were only 60 recorded by 12/10/2008. That's 60 out of a total of 51x55 timesharing weeks at Southcape Resort!

I can't help but question the answer FestivaRep gave you, especially since I was under the impression that Sandcastle can't be officially affiliated with the FAC until 2010, and it involves substantial necessary improvements to the resort.

 

[Sou13]

Previously posted by Eric

Hopefully some of the owners, even those that opt out - run away - will still be able to file complaints with the AG based on MGL 93A Consumer Protection - Chapter 93A: Section 2. Unfair practices; legislative intent; rules and regulations

Section 2. (a) Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful. (includes fraud, deceit, misrepresentation of facts, pressure sales tactics)

RE04R08: Chapter 93A, Consumer Protection and Business Regulation for Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons

V. ILLEGAL PRACTICES UNDER 93A

A. Fraudulent or willful intent need not be proven.

B. Heightens licensee responsibility for statements and omissions

C. Licensees responsible for everything they know

D. Grey area of responsibility is what a licensee should have known

E. "Puffing’ is now illegal. 93A does not distinguish between opinion and fact.

F. Other illegal actions and misrepresentations

1. Any oppressive or otherwise unconscionable act or statement

2. Failure to comply with laws meant for the protection of the public's health, safety or welfare

3. Fraud or misrepresentation such as misstatements of facts in negotiations that lead to a contract

4. Seller provides a licensee false information and licensee relates this to buyer, without identifying seller as licensee's sole source of information, then broker is liable.

5. Making false claims about a property's construction, durability, safety or strength

6. Making false claims concerning the ease with which a property can be repaired or maintained

7. Making false claims about financing terms or availability

8. Substituting something different than what is advertised ("bait and switch")

9. Offering guarantees without disclosing the nature and extent of the guarantees

10. A broker may be held liable for a misstatement in advertising even if the broker later informs a prospective buyer of the error.

11. Claims or representations concerning any real or personal property which directly, or by omission, serves to deceive a buyer in any material respect.

12. Failing to disclose to a tenant or prospective tenant any fact that may have influenced the tenant not to enter into the transaction

13. Even though the true facts are subsequently made known to the buyer, the law is violated if the first contact or interview is secured by deception.

G. Generally, a violation of M.G.L. c. 142A (Regulation of Home Improvement Contractors) is automatically a violation of M.G.L. c. 93A,

"A practice may be deceptive if it reasonably could be found to have caused the plaintiff to act differently than he otherwise would have acted...."

"It is an unfair and deceptive act under Chapter 93A for real estate sellers to affirmatively misrepresent the truth if they are aware of it."

Fraudulent acts include false advertising; high-pressure sales tactics; “bait and switch schemes” (where one product or service is offered but another actually delivered); billing fraud, and use of contract language that misleads consumers.

The Law
Both Massachusetts and United States laws prohibit the use of "unfair or deceptive" practices by businesses. These practices are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission at the federal level and by the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection at the state level.
Both the federal and state laws prohibit a series of specific practices and, in addition, prohibit any other practice that is determined to be unfair or deceptive to the consumer. These laws typically provide both for enforcement by the government to stop the practice and individual actions for damages brought by consumers who are hurt by the practices. This article will describe the kinds of actions that are prohibited by these laws and how consumers can use these laws to their advantage.
Who is covered by the law?
The Massachusetts Act limits coverage to unfair and deceptive acts "in the conduct of trade or commerce." This means that to be covered, the person committing the unfair or deceptive act must be in business. Sales between two private individuals, neither of whom are in the business of regularly selling are generally not covered by the Act. Therefore, a sale of a used car by the owner of the car wouldn't be covered if the owner is not otherwise a car dealer. Other than this basic category of exceptions, however, the law applies very broadly to most commercial transactions including real estate rentals and sales, to service businesses, and to any type of commercial sale of goods.
The Massachusetts law is also limited in its coverage of phone solicitations and other kinds of transactions that involve out of state sellers. These kinds of transactions are covered by the Federal law because they involve actions in more than one state. The federal law is very much like the state one and generally prohibits the same.

Unfair and Deceptive practices are just what they sound like. They take place when someone in the position of a seller acts unfairly to or deceives a buyer. In Massachusetts the common types of unfairness and deception are specifically prohibited by Attorney General regulations but even if not mentioned specifically in the regulations, any other act that meets this definition is unlawful. In deciding whether a practice not specifically mentioned in the law is illegal, the courts consider whether it violates some established concept of fairness, whether it is immoral or unethical, whether it is likely to cause substantial harm to consumers and whether it is dishonest and/or violates the general notion of fair dealing between sellers and buyers.

Some Examples of Unfair or Deceptive Practices
Massachusetts regulations provide some specific examples of actions that are considered unfair and deceptive. Below are some examples of these actions:
False advertising and other misrepresentations - advertising and statements which have the tendency to mislead are illegal. These include:

actual false statement in advertisements about a products quality, ingredients, or effectiveness
fake testimonials and endorsements
pictures of the wrong merchandise in ads trying to sell some other item that imply the picture is of the item being sold
faked pictures of the product performing in a way that it cannot actually perform
Use of prices in ads that are not the real price of the merchandise described or pictured
Advertising sale items that are not actually available to convince people to visit the sellers store or business or sending flyers with some sale items and some sale items where the actual items that are on sale are not clearly identified.
"Bait and Switch" advertising - this is a technique by which the seller advertises an item for sale at a particularly good price or on particularly good terms but does not really want to sell that item. When the consumer comes to their business after seeing the advertisement the seller discourages the purchase of the advertised item and instead tries to convince the buyer to purchase a different item for a higher price or on less favorable terms. The seller's techniques for discouraging the purchase of the object can vary and can include refusing to demonstrate, show or discuss the advertised item, representing that the item is not a good product or it has a poor guarantee or doesn't work properly, demonstrating a defective or poorly performing example of the product, and failing to have the item available to purchase (unless the advertising accurately and clearly stated the limitations on availability).
Deceptive statements of guarantees in advertisements - the statement must identify the nature of the guarantee and who is offering it (the manufacturer, the seller or someone else), what parts of the product are covered and what is required of the consumer to make a claim under the guarantee.
If an ad says that a product is "unconditionally guaranteed" or says "satisfaction or your money back" or words to that effect, the use of the term is deceptive unless the seller will refund the full purchase price, replace the product or repair the product and the BUYER has the right to choose which of these alternatives he or she wants.
Deceptive Pricing Practices - The law also regulates the use of price representations and practices. Below are some of the common pricing practices that the law prohibits:

Claiming that the item is on sale by artificially and untruthfully pretending the product usually sells for a price higher than its normal price. The price represented to be the products "regular" price must be a real price that the product in fact sold for during some significant time in the recent past in the seller's own stores.
Misrepresenting the price that the same product is sold at by competitors
Placing fake price stickers on merchandise with higher than actual prices so that the product appears to be marked down when in fact it isn't
Claiming that a product may be purchased for one price when in fact the actual price is higher
Advertising an item at a very good price to induce customers to come in and then only selling the item at that price if the purchaser also buys another more expensive product.
Using the terms "special price" or "priced for sale" or "clearance priced" or similar terms when the items are not being sold at reduced prices and without clearly disclosing the actual former price or the percentage reduction from the former price that is actually being offered.
Charging for good or services at higher rates than the marked, published or advertised price;
Giving an unrealistically low estimate for a job in order to get it and then charging for a variety of "extras" to increase the price of the job when those extras should clearly have been included in the regular price of the job.
This is by no means a complete list - these are only examples of the kinds of conduct that are covered. If you think the average person would consider a practice unfair or deceptive, it probably is.

 

[Classylassy523]

Just what are Festiva's plans for Sandcastle

Back in November 2008 when I met with Greg Hughes at Southcape Resort there were only 30 registered Southcape conversions on record at Barnstable County Capeview Internet Access yet Southcape Resort was already listed in the "Festiva Family of Resorts"! Even if all the conversions were recorded at once, there were only 60 recorded by 12/10/2008. That's 60 out of a total of 51x55 timesharing weeks at Southcape Resort!

I can't help but question the answer FestivaRep gave you, especially since I was under the impression that Sandcastle can't be officially affiliated with the FAC until 2010, and it involves substantial necessary improvements to the resort.

The Outfield rep I was subjected to in October 2008 told me that Festiva hadn't committed itself to Sandcastle, and it would be a year before they did, and only if significant remodelling and renovations were completed. So Cliff and his cronies are trying to collect just short of $3million to make Festiva happy. In the meantime, Festiva continues to collect deeds. For a company that may or may not affiliate with Sandcastle, they are certainly working hard to get deeds. Do you think they have other plans?