Steinar Andersen
newbie
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2019
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Resorts Owned
- Fox River Resort (Silverleaf)
Ok, so yesterday... I had my first sit down with the Holiday Inn staff at the Fox River resort.(my first visit to to the resort since September of 2015 when my wife & I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary). The meeting happened because my monthly maintenance fee had stopped being deducted from my bank debit card at the end of August & I had to call them to fix the problem last week. It was then I told them I haven't used my Silverleaf week or bonus time for 4 years (and that I believe I needed to fix my deed to reflect my wife's passing). Also, since I received no notice/reminders of my week.... (apparently, emails were sent to my wife's email address - an account I had no access to), I had missed my Week 25 in 2017 and again in 2019 (my timeshare is every other year in Week 25) so I essentially had "lost" that week since it was not banked one month prior to when I was to use it. As my wife was the one who handled this one thing, it was the last thing on my mind after she had passed away (and since the maintenance fee was automatically deducted, I never really gave it much thought since I had been told I would have to pay maintenance as long as we owned it - that I couldn't walk away from it), I thought there was nothing I could do about it (as I really didn't use the timeshare, my wife was the one that did). So, in the past 4 years - I have essentially paid about $2,400.00 in maintenance fees and have no time spent at a Silverleaf resort during those 4 years.
So I was told I could amend the deed at Fox River & they made an appointment for me to visit the resort so they could go over what I can or can't do still with my Silverleaf timeshare (they said I would need to also go over the Holiday Inn club info since they now owned Fox River resort). I was asked to bring my wife's death certificate also (to amend the deed). And they indicated they'd pay me $200 for my time (which told me I would be going into the "hard sell" hurricane). Since I wasn't interested in spending any more money on timeshares (besides the already expensive maintenance fees), I figured I'd suck it up, tell them at the end of the session I am not interested, and just change the deed (and get $200 for my trouble).
So yesterday, I was there to get my Deed amended (my wife was primary & she passed away February of 2016). I had never received any email or documentation regarding the Holiday Inn purchase of Silverleaf. They indicated they had a year and a half to 2 years to deal with Silverleaf owners to migrate them to HIC ownership and to take into consideration the original moneys used to buy the Silverleaf timeshare) and they were surprised I had never been approached.... and they said it was out of their hands now to do anything about it. He mentioned that I would need to deal with the Texas Silverleaf office to deal with the 2 lost weeks.
He then said he would call a VP (his boss) to see if there was anything they could do as he did not have the authority to get me credit for my 2 weeks lost and credit towards a new HIC timeshare. I was then given the whole tour/overview of HIC. When that was done, he came back and told me that he was given permission to offer me credit and he broke it down this way.
He first showed me what the 200,000 point and 300,000 point would "normally cost" if I was just walking into HIC for the first time. The 300,000 point offer was normally about $98,000. and the 200,000 would be $89,000. I almost fainted (I was gobsmacked). He then went into his ("I have been authorized to do the following").... so he states the 300,000 point tier would cost me $49,000, and that he would use the value of my Silverleaf timeshare ($8,100) as the down payment (leaving around $749 a month for 120 months at 15.9% apr - simple interest). He would also give me a one time additional 200,000 points to make up for the 2 lost weeks from SIlverleaf. When I balked, he showed me the 200,000 point offer ($40,000... with the $8,100 silverleaf credit for the down payment and $550 a month for 120 months at 14.9 % simple interest - but no additional one time 200,000 point credit for my lost 2 weeks.
He pushed the 300,000 point tier as the "best value/biggest bang for the buck" and then we went back and forth for 30 minutes with him using every variation of how this would be an incredible vacation solution that would benefit my extended family and I.
I asked for 24 hours to get back to him as I was not expecting to be committing to a large monthly payment given I had just paid off 8 credit cards and reduced my debt (I have gone to the Financial Peace University/Dave Ramsey "avoid debt like the plague" seminars). He said that because the VP authorized this one time accommodation to be a one time offer (because they thought they had reached all Silverleaf owners and they wanted to not penalize me for not having been there until now)...he said this was a one time offer (that if I returned, the cost would be back at $98,000 for the 300,000 point tier or $89,000 for the 200,000 point tier with no credit for the original cost of my silverleaf timeshare or my lost two weeks). He also indicated that he understood if I wasn't ready to commit (that he wasn't trying to force this on me or something to that effect), but he was trying to make sure I got the best deal and didn't walk away from such a good offer).
I told him I needed 24 hours to make such a large financial commitment, and if that meant I lost the credit/accommodation for my Silverleaf timeshare.... I was willing to do so. We then parted ways and I went to pick up my $200 for the pressure selling experience.
So, I am wondering what other Silverleaf owners went through in the hard sell.to migrate to HIC. Are the figures they gave me in the ball park what was offered to other Silverleaf owners (was this offer better or worse than other's offers)?
Also, my bonus time document (that I signed in 2012) did say it could could be changed.... I had to look 3 times before seeing the one line squeezed in there which allowed Silverleaf to eliminate the reason why we got the Silverleaf timeshare in the first place. But I'd rather pay the $25 per day on that bonus time and get access to whatever Silverleaf resorts are left... than have to pay through the nose for a timeshare that costs as much as the price of a decent RV.
Also, they said they could not change my Deed into another Silverleaf Deed that reflected me only. That the only way to get a new deed was to migrate to HIVC.
Thoughts? Comments?
So I was told I could amend the deed at Fox River & they made an appointment for me to visit the resort so they could go over what I can or can't do still with my Silverleaf timeshare (they said I would need to also go over the Holiday Inn club info since they now owned Fox River resort). I was asked to bring my wife's death certificate also (to amend the deed). And they indicated they'd pay me $200 for my time (which told me I would be going into the "hard sell" hurricane). Since I wasn't interested in spending any more money on timeshares (besides the already expensive maintenance fees), I figured I'd suck it up, tell them at the end of the session I am not interested, and just change the deed (and get $200 for my trouble).
So yesterday, I was there to get my Deed amended (my wife was primary & she passed away February of 2016). I had never received any email or documentation regarding the Holiday Inn purchase of Silverleaf. They indicated they had a year and a half to 2 years to deal with Silverleaf owners to migrate them to HIC ownership and to take into consideration the original moneys used to buy the Silverleaf timeshare) and they were surprised I had never been approached.... and they said it was out of their hands now to do anything about it. He mentioned that I would need to deal with the Texas Silverleaf office to deal with the 2 lost weeks.
He then said he would call a VP (his boss) to see if there was anything they could do as he did not have the authority to get me credit for my 2 weeks lost and credit towards a new HIC timeshare. I was then given the whole tour/overview of HIC. When that was done, he came back and told me that he was given permission to offer me credit and he broke it down this way.
He first showed me what the 200,000 point and 300,000 point would "normally cost" if I was just walking into HIC for the first time. The 300,000 point offer was normally about $98,000. and the 200,000 would be $89,000. I almost fainted (I was gobsmacked). He then went into his ("I have been authorized to do the following").... so he states the 300,000 point tier would cost me $49,000, and that he would use the value of my Silverleaf timeshare ($8,100) as the down payment (leaving around $749 a month for 120 months at 15.9% apr - simple interest). He would also give me a one time additional 200,000 points to make up for the 2 lost weeks from SIlverleaf. When I balked, he showed me the 200,000 point offer ($40,000... with the $8,100 silverleaf credit for the down payment and $550 a month for 120 months at 14.9 % simple interest - but no additional one time 200,000 point credit for my lost 2 weeks.
He pushed the 300,000 point tier as the "best value/biggest bang for the buck" and then we went back and forth for 30 minutes with him using every variation of how this would be an incredible vacation solution that would benefit my extended family and I.
I asked for 24 hours to get back to him as I was not expecting to be committing to a large monthly payment given I had just paid off 8 credit cards and reduced my debt (I have gone to the Financial Peace University/Dave Ramsey "avoid debt like the plague" seminars). He said that because the VP authorized this one time accommodation to be a one time offer (because they thought they had reached all Silverleaf owners and they wanted to not penalize me for not having been there until now)...he said this was a one time offer (that if I returned, the cost would be back at $98,000 for the 300,000 point tier or $89,000 for the 200,000 point tier with no credit for the original cost of my silverleaf timeshare or my lost two weeks). He also indicated that he understood if I wasn't ready to commit (that he wasn't trying to force this on me or something to that effect), but he was trying to make sure I got the best deal and didn't walk away from such a good offer).
I told him I needed 24 hours to make such a large financial commitment, and if that meant I lost the credit/accommodation for my Silverleaf timeshare.... I was willing to do so. We then parted ways and I went to pick up my $200 for the pressure selling experience.
So, I am wondering what other Silverleaf owners went through in the hard sell.to migrate to HIC. Are the figures they gave me in the ball park what was offered to other Silverleaf owners (was this offer better or worse than other's offers)?
Also, my bonus time document (that I signed in 2012) did say it could could be changed.... I had to look 3 times before seeing the one line squeezed in there which allowed Silverleaf to eliminate the reason why we got the Silverleaf timeshare in the first place. But I'd rather pay the $25 per day on that bonus time and get access to whatever Silverleaf resorts are left... than have to pay through the nose for a timeshare that costs as much as the price of a decent RV.
Also, they said they could not change my Deed into another Silverleaf Deed that reflected me only. That the only way to get a new deed was to migrate to HIVC.
Thoughts? Comments?