Westgate Rescind Refunded to another account, Non-US Citizen

[Tplatt80]

Hello,

I am writing this thread on behalf of my sister-in-law looking for advice. She is from Chile and does not speak very good English. I have browsed the forums, but can not find the exact situation that has happened to her.

This past summer (2019) she stayed at a Westgate Resort in Orlando FL, bought in to the timeshare and within 10 days she had rescinded. Once she had rescinded she waited to receive her money. This never came. Week afterwards she contacted Westgate inquiring about her refund of a few thousand dollars. This all was done via email since she cannot call from Chile to the USA without spending a large amount of money on a phone call. She has been going back and forth with Westgate for months via email and only receiving responses every few weeks at best. I have tried to call Westgate on her behalf, but as I suspected, they would not give even the slightest bit of information to me. All the while Westgate assured her that her refund was processed. Recently, she replied to them that she would have to resort to seeing a lawyer because she had checked with the bank and the funds left her account but never came back on or around the date that Westgate said that they had refunded her. Almost immediately she received a response with a "proof of refund". This proof of refund has no card or bank information that corresponds to the debit card that she paid with or with any bank account that is hers. She has told me that she never gave them any bank account information. She has double checked with the bank just in case and they assure her that the funds never arrived and that it has something to do with the refund on the Westgate end of the refund and not theirs.

At this point in time, the only advice I can think of is to actually find a lawyer who speaks Spanish in the state of Florida in order to see if they are able to help us out. It has been about half a year since she had actually rescinded and the refund was made to her account, so I am not sure what can actually be done.

Has anyone heard of a similar situation or can direct me to a thread where this may have been discussed? We would appreciate any advice on where to seek help!

Thank you!

Tim

 

[CPNY]

@Grammarhero ever hear of west gate not refunding?

 

[Grammarhero]

Hello,

I am writing this thread on behalf of my sister-in-law looking for advice. She is from Chile and does not speak very good English. I have browsed the forums, but can not find the exact situation that has happened to her.

This past summer (2019) she stayed at a Westgate Resort in Orlando FL, bought in to the timeshare and within 10 days she had rescinded. Once she had rescinded she waited to receive her money. This never came. Week afterwards she contacted Westgate inquiring about her refund of a few thousand dollars. This all was done via email since she cannot call from Chile to the USA without spending a large amount of money on a phone call. She has been going back and forth with Westgate for months via email and only receiving responses every few weeks at best. I have tried to call Westgate on her behalf, but as I suspected, they would not give even the slightest bit of information to me. All the while Westgate assured her that her refund was processed. Recently, she replied to them that she would have to resort to seeing a lawyer because she had checked with the bank and the funds left her account but never came back on or around the date that Westgate said that they had refunded her. Almost immediately she received a response with a "proof of refund". This proof of refund has no card or bank information that corresponds to the debit card that she paid with or with any bank account that is hers. She has told me that she never gave them any bank account information. She has double checked with the bank just in case and they assure her that the funds never arrived and that it has something to do with the refund on the Westgate end of the refund and not theirs.

At this point in time, the only advice I can think of is to actually find a lawyer who speaks Spanish in the state of Florida in order to see if they are able to help us out. It has been about half a year since she had actually rescinded and the refund was made to her account, so I am not sure what can actually be done.

Has anyone heard of a similar situation or can direct me to a thread where this may have been discussed? We would appreciate any advice on where to seek help!

Thank you!

Tim

You may want to contact the FL AG or tell Westgate that you may. Westgate is supposed to process your refund.

How to Protect Yourself: Timeshare Sales & Resales | My Florida Legal

myfloridalegal.com

 

[Grammarhero]

@Grammarhero ever hear of west gate not refunding?

I’ve heard stories and am not surprised.

 

[dioxide45]

You could also file a complaint with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. It looks like they have plenty, but a good track record of responding.

Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

www.fdacs.gov

 

[sue1947]

You could also file a complaint with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. It looks like they have plenty, but a good track record of responding.

Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

www.fdacs.gov

I had an issue with a mortgage provider headquartered in FL and of all the agencies I contacted (both Federal and 2 states), this was the one that worked. Give them a try.

 

[dioxide45]

I had an issue with a mortgage provider headquartered in FL and of all the agencies I contacted (both Federal and 2 states), this was the one that worked. Give them a try.

This is one agency that has the ability to revoke their license or levi fines. I am sure Westgate pays attention to these complaints.

 

[Grammarhero]

Hello,

I am writing this thread on behalf of my sister-in-law looking for advice. She is from Chile and does not speak very good English. I have browsed the forums, but can not find the exact situation that has happened to her.

This past summer (2019) she stayed at a Westgate Resort in Orlando FL, bought in to the timeshare and within 10 days she had rescinded. Once she had rescinded she waited to receive her money. This never came. Week afterwards she contacted Westgate inquiring about her refund of a few thousand dollars. This all was done via email since she cannot call from Chile to the USA without spending a large amount of money on a phone call. She has been going back and forth with Westgate for months via email and only receiving responses every few weeks at best. I have tried to call Westgate on her behalf, but as I suspected, they would not give even the slightest bit of information to me. All the while Westgate assured her that her refund was processed. Recently, she replied to them that she would have to resort to seeing a lawyer because she had checked with the bank and the funds left her account but never came back on or around the date that Westgate said that they had refunded her. Almost immediately she received a response with a "proof of refund". This proof of refund has no card or bank information that corresponds to the debit card that she paid with or with any bank account that is hers. She has told me that she never gave them any bank account information. She has double checked with the bank just in case and they assure her that the funds never arrived and that it has something to do with the refund on the Westgate end of the refund and not theirs.

At this point in time, the only advice I can think of is to actually find a lawyer who speaks Spanish in the state of Florida in order to see if they are able to help us out. It has been about half a year since she had actually rescinded and the refund was made to her account, so I am not sure what can actually be done.

Has anyone heard of a similar situation or can direct me to a thread where this may have been discussed? We would appreciate any advice on where to seek help!

Thank you!

Tim

Did she rescind after reading TUG? If so, mind sharing how much she rescinded? As half of all tuggers initially bought retail or developer TS purchases, there is no shame.

 

[HudsHut]

Did she follow the instructions and rescind in writing? Did she keep a copy? To what address did she mail the rescission?
Did she save all of the emails?

Does she still have the same debit card she used for the purchase? Was it a VISA/Mastercard? Did seek their help in voiding the transaction?

Has she scanned the "proof of refund" and sent it to you? What does it show?

 

[Tplatt80]

Hello! Thank you all for the responses, I didn't expect so many. We will be looking at the FL AC and the Florida Attorney General this weekend when we sit down.

To respond to some questions, she rescinded just due to getting a bad feeling/changing her mind. She did rescind within the 10 day time frame for the amount of about $5,500 and we have a copy of the Fedex tracking that shows it was received and signed for within this time. She also gave back the "gifts" that were included in the packet. So everything was done as instructed as far as rescinding goes. We have copies of all correspondence.

What we think Westgate has done is put the money on a different card or has not give it back to the correct location. I found out yesterday by my wife/sister in law that it turns out with a Chilean card you can not refund the money directly back on to the card, but you need to refund it to the person's bank account. My sister-in-law left specific instructions for this in the letter to rescind the timeshare. She provided all the information needed to provide a wire transfer back. In the Proof of Refund that will be attached to this, Westgate did not send the money to the correct card. I've compared her card info and the "card #" on the proof of refund and only the first 5 digits are the same. Also, there is no information regarding a wire transfer to any bank.

I have showed this Proof of Refund to multiple people but we can't seem to read in to it too much besides it looking like some sort of transfer was done, but not to the correct account.

I have attached the proof of refund, the title is in Spanish but the document itself is in English. When we approach these agencies in order to take some sort of action, should we be able to tell them our story and they will be able to take it from there or should we ask for specific things in order to be more efficient?

Again, thank you for all of the responses!

Tim

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Hello! Thank you all for the responses, I didn't expect so many. We will be looking at the FL AC and the Florida Attorney General this weekend when we sit down.

To respond to some questions, she rescinded just due to getting a bad feeling/changing her mind. She did rescind within the 10 day time frame for the amount of about $5,500 and we have a copy of the Fedex tracking that shows it was received and signed for within this time. She also gave back the "gifts" that were included in the packet. So everything was done as instructed as far as rescinding goes. We have copies of all correspondence.

What we think Westgate has done is put the money on a different card or has not give it back to the correct location. I found out yesterday by my wife/sister in law that it turns out with a Chilean card you can not refund the money directly back on to the card, but you need to refund it to the person's bank account. My sister-in-law left specific instructions for this in the letter to rescind the timeshare. She provided all the information needed to provide a wire transfer back. In the Proof of Refund that will be attached to this, Westgate did not send the money to the correct card. I've compared her card info and the "card #" on the proof of refund and only the first 5 digits are the same. Also, there is no information regarding a wire transfer to any bank.

I have showed this Proof of Refund to multiple people but we can't seem to read in to it too much besides it looking like some sort of transfer was done, but not to the correct account.

I have attached the proof of refund, the title is in Spanish but the document itself is in English. When we approach these agencies in order to take some sort of action, should we be able to tell them our story and they will be able to take it from there or should we ask for specific things in order to be more efficient?

Again, thank you for all of the responses!

Tim

Sounds like they did in fact issue you your refund, but was directed to an account not affiliated with your name. Basically your funds are out there electronically in the vast electronic la la land.

So now the question are many; how did this happen? Who is responsible for it? Does the Banking System have some type of checks and balances to track it down and reverse it? Was it a keypunch error when entering the account number? Does the incorrect recipient have the financial means to cough up the funds or have they already been spent? What are the legal implications of such? And so on, and so on, etc.

I hope you are actually able to get to the bottom of this, and post the eventual results.

And it goes without saying; wishing you luck with tracking this down!



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