| The Florida Attorney General has heard from THOUSANDS of people who have suffered greatly from the high-pressure sales tactics and deceitful promises made by Westgate sales agents … … all done to get people to buy timeshares they can’t afford…can’t use…and can’t resell. Which is why we were a bit heartened to find among the 4,256 pages of complaints against Westgate a message from Moondip from Toledo, Ohio. Moondip and his wife actually survived their Westgate ordeal without buying a timeshare. But his experience wasn’t pretty, and Moondip felt strongly enough to catalog all the tactics Westgate used in its attempt to con them into a deal. His opening line pretty much sums it up. “Westgate Resorts should be investigated because their business practices are both deceptive and predatory.” “My wife and I would like to share our most recent experience in an effort to protect unsuspecting consumers from falling victim to their schemes.” “My wife and I recently visited one of Westgate’s Resorts…we were expected to attend a 2-hour presentation on account that our stay would receive both a discount and a gift card.” “So what could go wrong?” Wait for it. “Well let’s begin;” “(a) Blindside – When my wife and I booked our room, we were offered the room at a discount and the promise of a gift card if we attended a 2-hour presentation…So when the proposition came up for a 1-time deal on timeshare (marketing)we knew we were in trouble…” “(b) Time Quoted – The agreement we had for attending stated that the presentation was 2 hours…the overall time it took to complete the presentation was roughly 5 hours” “(c) Rejection & Pitting My Wife Against Me – I had kindly and politely said, “no thank you, I’m out” five times…The guy just wasn’t happy being rejected…[he] made the joke that my wife has a secret stash and every woman does...Needless to say WE didn’t appreciate this.” “(d) Condescending/Belittling Remarks – “…without really knowing anything about my wife or I (goals, finances, occupation, dreams, etc.) [he] had no problem sharing his views of me which were; that I’m close-minded, I’ll never get to where I want to be in life with the way I’m living at the moment, and that I’m going to die in a bed (just like that photo he shared with me from his tablet) wishing I had lived…which is just despicable.” Sorry, we just have to pause here. This last point seems way out of bounds, even for Westgate! Now…back to the list. “(e) Pressure tactics – pushing my wife and I to sign on a condominium within 90 minutes.” “(f) Disbanding – After the final offer was pitched and rejected, he said he would be back in a moment, but never came back.” “(g) Final Offer – …we were approached by another individual with another proposition and my wife was the target once again with a “final offer.” As enticing as it sounded, my wife and I consensually agreed not to invest…” See, this is actually a good news story! “Final Thoughts; These business practices are predatory and deceptive. The imprint left on my wife and I is a bit of a scar and scars don’t ever fully heal.” Thanks, Moondip. We hope others will be informed by your helpful warning. It would be nice if Westgate CEO David Siegel were one of them. Let’s email him at david_siegel@wgresorts.com and see if he’s doing anything to stop the “predatory and deceptive” practices Moondip listed above. We could ask the same of Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), which represents timeshare companies in Washington, DC. Let’s email him at jgamel@arda.org. Want to see if your timeshare company’s executives are doing anything to help? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to find their contact information. Have a predatory experience you want to add to the list? Let us know at info@timesharefacts.com. PS: Follow us on social media. Twitter Facebook Instagram |
