Westgate Timeshare Hostages

[Benn]

90% of sales proceeds from timeshares go to sales and marketing, not developer profit.

I do not think that is the case here- they are real estate agents- they typically get 3% of the sale, maybe 6% since they represent both the buyer and seller. I did google and it looks like it could be as high as 15-20% for timeshare sales.

 

[goaliedave]

I do not think that is the case here- they are real estate agents- they typically get 3% of the sale, maybe 6% since they represent both the buyer and seller. I did google and it looks like it could be as high as 15-20% for timeshare sales.

Salespeople i know make up to $1 million, appointment setters up to $300k - ts industry pays well.

 

[Benn]

Salespeople i know make up to $1 million, appointment setters up to $300k - ts industry pays well.

Yes, corruption can be very profitable.

 

[LannyPC]

Calling all Westgate Timeshare Owners that are Hostages with no legitimate options for exit. There will be a protest at Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa on January 5, 2023...

So how did the protest turn out?

 

[Benn]

So how did the protest turn out?

Excellent! When you read the article, keep in mind that the protest event was posted on Facebook December 9 and the shooting was December 14 so our group was in no way attempting to use the shooting for our benefit. Also, Mark Waltrip’s comment about us harassing Westgate is wrong. He was talking about a comment that was supposedly made in a private Facebook group that was only for unhappy Westgate Owners. The only comment I could find only asked if it was David Seigel that got shoot NOT that they wished he had been. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...Q_ZWhkH918F-y1mtyDAKvO6918i1I&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

 

[TUGBrian]

did see a note that 2 of the 3 protestors actually were able to negotiate a surrender back to westgate?

at least thats a great outcome for them!

 

[Benn]

did see a note that 2 of the 3 protestors actually were able to negotiate a surrender back to westgate?

at least thats a great outcome for them!

Yes!

 

[Carolinian]

I used to enjoy the accounts on the old UK-based TimeshareTalk site, on which I served as a moderator, concerning similar and well organized efforts to publicly shame Sunterra, a previous incarnation of Diamond Resorts, over their sales practices and lack of exit ability in the UK. In that fight, there was a website set up, which if memory serves was sunterror.com or sunterrorized.com. Then some of the activists bought an old ambulance which they repainted with anti-Sunterra slogans and called it the Scambulance. That was used as a prop for public demonstrations outside Sunterra sales venues. About the time Diamond took over Sunterra, they found a way to buy out the leaders of the protesters. Many owners who had qualms about Sunterra initially thought Diamond would not be so bad and in the beginning there was lots of happy talk on TimeshareTalk about the new owner Diamond. UPDATE: In thinking more about the anti-Sunterra website, if memory serves there were two of them, the first Sunterror.com (or might have been .co.uk) and Sunterra did a deal with the owner of the site to take it down. The second which stayed up longer and the owner of the site was affiliated with the protest group and had more far reaching demands was Sunterrified.com (or .co.uk) and its start page featured a snowman melting in the sun.

When I was an HOA president, I heard a rather creative way to force a deedback. My own HOA was always willing to allow deedbacks because we found that cheaper for the HOA than a foreclosure and it got the week back where we could hopefully resell it much quicker. Her HOA felt that if you started allowing deedbacks it would snowball. She told me of one member who threatened to deed their timeshare week to North Korea's dictator, mail it care of one of their embassies and get a post office certificiate of mailing to prove delivery. Her HOA caved on that one.

 

[BewBew23]

Yes, corruption can be very profitable.

I wish I had found this group sooner!!! I sent a request to join the FB group. I am beside myself with this company! I have read your posts and hope to read more! I am in a terrible place because of their lies, deceit and misrepresentations. The Hambacker et al v. Westgate class action law suit outlined perfectly what this company knowingly perpetuates without care. I consider myself an intelligent person and cannot 'forgive' myself for being swindled. Crime shows, especially reality/documentaries are my favorite genre and until 11/6/21 I never understood why innocent people confessed, it made no sense. Do you think there would be interest in another class action? I am very interested in discussing further, help is needed. The repercussions are overwhelming and may potentially affect my employment.

 

[BewBew23]

Yes, and you need to figure how much it costs to build a resort. Easily in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Then you're paying for marketing/advertising, and of course the salespeople themselves. That money from initial sales isn't just sitting there in a bank account, and while some of that is profit (that's why businesses exist after all), not all of it is. Not even half. And the maintenance fees, well, I can only keep saying over and over again that is what is meant to cover the annual cost of running the resort: paying employees at the desk, room cleaning and maintenance crews, electricity, water, renovations every so many years, etc. The fees for banking, exchanging, etc., yes that is mostly profit.

I know I am late joining this post, just joined. You are correct about why businesses exist, this one, in my opinion is comparable to the pharmaceutical companies involved in the production of opioids. They knew what they were doing and continued doing so because of money. The owner/developer of Westgate has a net worth of $500M and condones the lying, fraud, misrepresentation, manipulation and aggression perpetuated by his employees. Annual revenue from MFs is in the neighborhood of $14M. As far as the costs to build, developers, at his level, don't pay as much as one might think, because of the scale. There should be a middle ground, where the business makes money without causing harm to their consumers. Unfortunately, greed surpasses honesty and integrity almost ALL of the time.