Complaint Review: Timber Lodge RV Resort - New Waverly Texas

Several years ago my father signed up for a membership with Timber Lodge RV Resort. Since I was the only other person in the family, he convinced me to sign up as the joint owner of this membership so that we could both take advantage of the Coast to Coast campsites. It ended up being the gift that keeps on giving...and not in a good way! 

After suffering a disabling spinal injury, my father wrote to the company to cancel the membership. Neither of us had ever used it and his decline in health made it impossible for him to travel as he had planned.

At the time of purchase, he was told he could cancel in writing at any time. However, when he wrote to cancel, he was given a much different story. He was told that he could not cancel...EVER. He was told that it was a lifetime membership and that there was essentially no way out. 

While my father is older and not as concerned with the impact this will have on his credit, I am much younger and still have young children that will need to be put through college, etc. My creditworthiness is much more important to me and I can’t simply wash my hands of it like my father has.

A few years ago, I pulled my credit report and there was a collection account reporting for a company called Monterey Collection Services, based out of Oceanside, CA. That is how this issue was initially brought to my attention. 

I called the company and was told that the collection account originated with Timber Lodge RV Resort and my father’s membership that I had naively jointly signed for years earlier. (My fault for not reading what my father presented to me as a gift of an RV club membership, I know.)

The discussion with the collection agency was more like a shake down than a business transaction. I expected to have to pay the past due membership fees that were reported on the credit report and wanted to have the membership cancelled or have my name removed once it was paid. I figured that was reasonable since i had stupidly signed on the membership.

Instead, the Monterey Collection Services Representative told me I was obligated to continue paying for the membership for life! When I said that I wanted the membership cancele, they said I could only do so my paying an exorbitant amount that was about four times what they said was owed. 

I asked them them to send me a copy of the contract, but never heard back from them and never received any documentation related to the alleged debt. Five years later and it is still reporting as a collection account on my credit report. 

I am at a loss. I feel like this is a type of legal extortion. I need it off my credit report, so I might be stuck paying their exorbitant buy-out price just to get it removed. However, I’m worried that even if I pay it they won’t quit. In fact, I am worried that it might make matters worse if they think they can squeeze me for the money.

I looked into reporting both Timber Lodge RV Resort and Monterey Collection Services to the BBB. Nothing was listed for the RV resort at all as a business in TX. Shockingly, Monterey Collection Services was assigned an A+ rating, despite a plethora of complaints. I feel like this is a huge scam, with both companies working together to victimize unsuspecting customers. Sadly, I’m not the only one who’s reported this and their actions seem to be supported by the law! It is highway robbery!