| When someone sells you something they own, it is called a legitimate transaction. But if someone sells you something that already belongs to you… …well, that is called a ransom. Read through the 4,256 pages of complaints against Westgate Resorts on file in the Florida Attorney General’s office and you might come to the conclusion that Westgate sales agents can’t tell the difference. That’s where we found the story of Om Prashad and Katherine from Winter Haven, Florida. Katherine included her letter to Westgate in their complaint to the Attorney General. “We were approached by a representative of your company offering us discounted tickets to the attractions in the Miami area…The discounts were dependent on us attending a 90-minute presentation regarding Westgate timeshare ownership.” “Our meeting was scheduled for July 24, 2018, and our sales representative’s name was Maria…Once everybody was comfortable with each other, she proceeded with the meeting.” “The process continued well past the 90 minutes we were told, and our children were getting antsy and wanted to leave…After some more conversing back and forth, we decided it was a good vacation plan and purchased a 2 bedroom villa.” Sounds like a standard purchase. So far, so good. Just two months later, Katharine and Om Prashad took their first Westgate vacation to celebrate their son’s birthday. “We arrived on August 31 and at check-in, the front desk representative asked us if we were new owners. We told her yes and she invited us to a 30-minute new owners’ breakfast meeting at 8 am the following morning.” Sadly, we all know where this is going – again. At breakfast, they were introduced to their sales agent, Oriana. “Oriana proceeded with the conversation, asking us many personal questions, and then wanted my husband’s State Identification card and Westgate Home Owners Card so she could check the information on our July purchase since we were new owners.” And this is where the line between a purchase and a ransom begins to blur. “For the next 4 hours, we listened to the same sales pitch we heard in July and had countless offers made to us, which we declined.” “At this point, Oriana started getting rude and abruptly left the table and returned with her manager for assistance. He was very persuasive and kept on insisting we upgrade and told us we weren’t leaving until he had a signed contract from us.” This is beginning to sound more like hostage negotiations than a sales presentation – and Katherine and Om Prashad were the hostages! “When my husband heard his remarks, he started to curse at him and wanted his ID back. The gentleman totally ignored him and kept on insisting it was in our best interest to upgrade.” “We reluctantly agreed to upgrade our July purchase just to get out of there…Once we signed the papers and the upgrade was finalized, they gave my husband his State ID back.” Just like paying ransom! “I’ve never seen such intimidation and high-pressure demonstrated to coerce a couple into an agreement less than 2 months after their original buy, but it says a lot about your company and the lengths you’re willing to go to in order to secure a contract.” It certainly does. And what it says is not good. It suggests that this type of hostage-taking and ransom collection might just be part of Westgate’s business model. Let’s email Westgate’s President and CEO David Siegel at david_siegel@wgresorts.com and ask if that’s true. Let’s also ask Jason Gamel. He’s the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the trade association for timeshare companies. His email is jgamel@arda.org Feel like you’ve been held hostage by your timeshare? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to email its leaders and demand to be let free! Finally, if your timeshare purchase seemed more like a ransom negotiation, send your story to us at info@timesharefacts.com PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
