| What are the five most terrifying words in the English language? Here’s our nomination: Westgate sells more than timeshares! That’s right. Frightening as it may sound, Westgate also sells vacation booking services. We found out about Westgate’s side hustle when we read Roger’s email to the Florida Attorney General. Roger hails from Palm City, Florida, and his experience with Westgate’s vacation services sounded very similar to all the reports about Westgate timeshares we’ve come across in the 4,256 pages of complaints against the company in the Florida Attorney General’s office. Different product. Same Westgate methods! You know the drill… …take advantage of senior citizens …rescission period shenanigans …lower prices t be found outside the Westgate system. Well, let’s let Roger tell you himself. “9 months ago, my wife Sylvia and I were vacationing in Orlando, Florida, with two of our friends.” “While there, we went to a vacation presentation at Westgate Resorts.” “The 4 of us were shown into a room and told that if we signed up with them, any and all of our vacation needs booked through them, would automatically be reduced by 50%. They emphasized that meant for ALL hotel stays, airlines, cruises., et. cetera. In order for us to obtain their services, our cost was $4000.” Paying thousands to “save” money? That sure sounds like Westgate! “The salesman giving the presentation repeated his 50%-off claim dozens of times, to the point that our patient friends said, “ALRIGHT ALREADY, we get it. 50% OFF OF EVERYTHING!” Constant (and lengthy) badgering? Classic Westgate. “Please understand, my wife and I are 79 years old…We thought that this would be a great opportunity to cut our budgeted-vacationing costs in half.” Targeting the elderly? Check! “The contract we signed with them gave us a 3-day window to cancel. That was bogus because for 4-6 weeks, we couldn’t even view their website to book our vacations…So there really wasn’t ANY window of opportunity to cancel.” Cheating you out of your rescission period? That’s the Westgate way! “We’ve not used any of the Westgate Resort’s ‘deals.’ The cruises and hotels we tried to book through them ALL COST MORE than if booked through a travel agent, or by ourselves directly to those same-vacationing venues on the internet!” Paying for the privilege to spend more than you had to? Westgate in spades! “For the past 9 months we’ve tried to make this come to fruition, but unfortunately, we realize IT WAS ALL A SCAM!!” David Siegel is Westgate’s CEO and president. Let’s email him at david_siegel@wgresorts.com and ask him why Westgate’s vacation services adopted the WORST practices from its timeshare business. Jason Gamel should want timeshare companies to be on their best behavior. He’s the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. Let’s email Jason at jgamel@arda.org and ask how he’s promoting BEST practices in the industry. Is your timeshare company picking up some bad habits? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to tell its leaders it would be best if they didn’t. Have a story about your worst of times with a timeshare company? Share it with us at info@timsharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
