Complaint Review: Orange Lake Resorts/Holiday Inn Club Vacations - Kissimmee Florida

 Gina Sheppard and Teresa Miles 3405 Sweetwater Rd, Apt 736 Lawrenceville, GA 30044 Holiday Inn Club Vacations (Orange Lake Resorts) – South Beach Resort OLCC. South Carolina, LLC [what is OLCC?] 8505 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy Kissimmee, FL 34747 South Beach Resort Attention Resort Owners Association 3000 South Ocean Blvd Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 Member number: 6241507, Contract number: 6502012 We first signed a timeshare contract with Holliday Inn/Orange Lake June 2, 2015, for 79,000 points at the Las Vegas Desert Club in Las Vegas, NV. We signed an upgrade contract Nov. 12, 2016, at South Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC, for 136,000 points and used equity from the first as a down payment. We expected so much more from this ownership because the sales representatives made us believe there was so much more. We found ourselves at a timeshare presentation by answering the phone at home. The caller offered us a 5-day, 4-night vacation for $179 at the Desert Club Resort in Las Vegas, which we accepted. All we had to do was listen to a 90-minute talk about a timeshare that was being offered for sale.

Daniel Tamayo was the sales agent who told us about all the benefits of owing a timeshare. He said that our property value would increase, and quoted previous and current property pricing to us. He said that we could travel anywhere in the world with this membership and use the timeshare points for cruises, airfare, and rental cars. We love to cruise and thought this would be a great way to cruise often. Daniel said that there was limited property available to purchase because the property was selling quickly. We needed to buy now or miss out. After more than 6 hours, we were convinced. However, we have not been able to take any cruises, rent cars, or fly using the timeshare because the points required are extremely high, and we didn’t have enough. We did reserve a unit in Myrtle Beach for Teresa’s birthday.

When we arrived to check in, we were told that we had to attend a 60-minute owners update meeting that would inform us of all the updates and information that was going on with the company and property. We were promised free items if we attended the meeting. We went as scheduled only to find out that there was no meeting at all. It was another one-on-one with us and a sales agent by the name of Gary Milliken. We were never told of any updates or new information regarding the company or property. We were asked questions about our current timeshare and about why we missed out on our "price freeze,” which was offered to the members. We never received any such offer meaning the time period where we could have purchased and received the same points value that we currently owned. Gary and his manager said that they could give us the same value points that we currently had, but we had to make an upgrade.

After many, many, and many more hours later we were hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and emotionally drained. The manager continuously beat the table with her hands and kept saying "c’mon, let’s make this happen.” We were intimidated and bullied into buying a timeshare that was never shown to us. Teresa was not feeling well and didn’t want to attend the meeting. We were told that Teresa had to come. When we arrived, Teresa told them that she didn’t feel well; she had to excuse herself several times. The salesperson repeatedly told us that if we wanted the freeze reinstated that we had to purchase that day, and if we were to leave, the offer would not be available. Teresa had to be there, she could not leave. We were held hostage for over 6 high-pressured hours. We have come to realize that we were lied to, as we are not able to cruise, use airfare, or go anywhere in the world because we would never accumulate enough points unless we continued to upgrade, for a lot more money. We are unhappy, frustrated, and angry with Holiday Inn for pressuring us into purchasing. We were promised wonderful vacations, which were not available to us. As to the rising value we were promised—the internet lists hundreds of timeshares for sale at $1 or even free. This timeshare is no investment.

We were told that we could rent out the timeshare for double or triple in what we pay for the mortgage, because people always want to visit Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach. We do not want to take the responsibility of renting. It is too much stress and pressure for us. We later discovered other FALSE, DECEPTIVE or MISREPRESENTED pieces of the timeshare program.. We were not told that we had to pay a fee to stay at different resort locations. We were not told that the maintenance fees would increase. We were never told about the membership fees. We could never get ahold of our sales agents again, who promised to be our personal representatives and would help us. We were never told about a rescission period at either signing session. Some things were confusing to us, but never explained, such as RCI, transferring points, rolling over points, losing points value and purchasing points. We were under the impression that we could always purchase points; it was not made clear to us that we would always have to upgrade in order to accumulate more points. We were told that the timeshare was an investment, which it is not. They showed us statistics of property values increasing and how our property would double in value. We were told the meetings would last 60-90 minutes but they actually lasted over 6 hrs. They told us the points we purchased would give us certain amenities and they did not. They told us we would be able to book more bedrooms than what we purchased at no extra cost, we could stay anywhere without extra fees, showed and told us that we could stay in the signature collections. None of this is true. We felt pressured and highly intimidated at the presentations. It felt as though we were held hostage and could not leave until we purchased the timeshare. In fact, they would not give us the promised free items until we purchased. This is extortion.

Now we have a financial hardship because Gina lost her job. She has another, but at a huge decrease in pay. So now we cannot pay for the timeshare. We just don’t have the resources. We have paid Holiday Inn $12,921.05. That is enough for the grief we experienced. Please take this timeshare back and cancel our membership. You can sell it to another naive couple. Gina Sheppard and Teresa Miles