| They say the tone of an organization is set at the top. So that’s where Maikel went to complain when Westgate Resorts reneged on its offer to take back the timeshare he and his father owned for 15 years. Maikel also turned to the Florida Attorney General’s office. His is just one of the hundreds of stories that can be found among the 4,256 pages of complaints in the Westgate file there. “I am writing to you in hopes of resolving an ongoing issue with Westgate Resorts. I bought into this timeshare with my father in 2004. I paid off our entire mortgage for this contract and a ton of money in maintenance and taxes.” “We sent letters to Westgate. And we were approved for a Voluntary Deed Back and I paid $750 to finally be rid of this contract, in April.” Makes sense. After all, Maikel and his father had paid everything off. “And then for some reason, they rescinded the offer and refunded the money back to my account.” Now that doesn’t make sense. Maikel contested the “about face” – and how. He went straight to the top – to Westgate’s CEO, David Siegel. “I sent a letter to David Siegel and the Executive Team…” And…? “…and my response came back from an Account Manager, not any sort of Upper Management.” So disrespectful. “With all of the issues that I have had with Westgate, it is only the right thing to do for David Siegel or his Executive team to respond with an approval to cancel.” Exactly right. After all, what kind of tone does it set when the CEO ignores a customer’s concerns? “Westgate gave us an option to get out and then they took back the offer.” “Why would they do that? We were not given an explanation.” Well, Maikel, you know what else they say happens at the top: “Fish rots from the head down.” David Siegel and Westgate would seem to owe Maikel and his father an explanation. Maybe we can push them along a bit by emailing David Siegel at david_siegel@wgresorts.com and asking him to answer his own mail, for once. We should also email Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the organization that represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. Let’s see if HE can explain how one of his most important members operates. Jason’s email is jgamel@arda.org How responsive is your timeshare company’s leadership? You can use this list of ARDA VIPs to find out. Has your timeshare company done something they can’t (or won’t) explain? You can always share it with us at info@timesharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
