Complaint Review: Spinnaker Resorts- Palace View

Like the guy with Spinnaker Resort- French Quarter, my girlfriend and I have not recieved our member benefits. In August of 2001, we purchased and paid in full a lockout time share from Spinnaker.

On July 23, 2002, we went to bank our time and were told by RCI that they had no record of us. We contacted Spinnaker customer service where we were told to fax a copy of our contract to them. After 2 weeks of not hearing from them, my girlfriend left several e-mails and voice mails with the manager, Lance.

She finally got a hold of someone in the office the same time he was in but Lance refused to talk to her. I then tried to contact him and after several attempts, he did the same to me. After several demands, I finally was given the name of his supervisor, Tom Williams.

He directed me to a Don Duenes who told me that our information was lost due to a "worm" in the computers and the problem would be corrected and we would have the new deed in a couple of days. A month of phone calls later, on September 9, I told Don that we wanted our money back. He directed me to their attorney, Maria Parker, stating that she would be able to refund us our money. She told me she had no authority to do so and she would forward my request to her client.

Four weeks and numerous phone calls later, she recieved her first reply back stating that they are looking into it. I then contacted the Minnesota and Missouri Attorney Generals' Offices and the Better Business Bureau. Their letters were not returned. This went on until Thanksgiving when I called Tom Williams back and explained the situation. That got me another couple weeks of waiting. We finally were offered a different unit and had the fees for 2003 waived.

We wanted out and I contacted Mr. Williams again. He finally told me that under no circumstances would we get our money back and our only choices were accept the offer, remain in limbo, or take them to court.

I asked to speak to someone higher up and Mr. Williams told me that this was company policy and he was all the higher I was going to get. My girlfriend and I discussed this and finally decided all this was not worth the bother and we would take the unit.

When the new contract was sent to us, we found several major discrepancies like only one year membership paid to RCI instead of 3, totally different complex, higher cost of usage for bonus weeks, fewer bonus weeks offered, etc. We sent back an E-mail to the attorney asking for clarification and are still waiting after 2 weeks. E-mails and voice mails are often not returned for days if at all.

To those buying a timeshare, check with the BBB and the Attorney General of both the state the complex is in and the parent company before you purchase. It may save you a lot of money and headaches.

Allen
Chisago City, Minnesota
U.S.A.

STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, its paid for!