Complaint Review: Westgate Resorts - Orlando Florida

My husband and I agreed to purchase a timeshare from Westgate Palace in April 2012. The first couple of months, everything went well with our monthly payments. However, he lost his job and we missed a few payments. Wetgate sent our account to a "collections" company called ICA - which is really a subsidiary of Westgate. After 7 months of harrassing phone calls, 6-10 a day - we were able to try and get the account back on track.

I called and spoke with a rep of ICA who told me that we were in arreas $303 and of that amount $187 was due to Westgate and the rest ($116) was collection fees due to ICA. They charged us $46 in collections fees and $70 in LATE FEES!! Our account is assessed $10 a month in late fees (WHILE IN "COLLECTIONS")  and the rep said this will continue until we bring the account current!

I argued with the rep for over an hour telling them that they can not charge late fees on accounts that had been sent to collections, however, Westgate tucked this small bit of unsavory information deep in your contract. THEIR collection company can charge you for trying to collect!!!

This company is a scam and was unwillinG to work with us even after we made it known that we wanted to bring the account current, but paying $116 in fees on a balance of $187 should be against the law!! In addition to that, they told us that we could settle the account that day for $795 - the kicker is the cost of our vacation was ONLY $750 and we had already paid $250!! Our balance should have been around $550!!

This company is a scam and I do not recooment anyone purchase a time share from them at all!! I wish we had done our homework first!! We would have loved to work this out, but they are being ridiculous and rude and unwilling to help!! I will be reporting them to every agency that I can!!

BE SMART!! DO NOT USE WESTGATE OR ANY COMPANY REMOTELY ASSOCIATED WITH THEM!!

Our business partner, Hotels Corp, offers phenomenal discount packages that have, as a caveat to get the discounted price, a requirement to attend a timeshare tour with one of our representatives. We hold high standards for our partners-if you preferred that it not be a timeshare, you could have let them know and they would gladly discuss a refund with you. They are trained to make sure on the phone that you are qualified-this is so there are no surprises at a later time for not qualifying. If a person answers at the resort the same way that they did on the phone, there should be no problem whatsoever. 

Our timeshare tours are a minimum of 90 minutes and, depending on our guests' interaction with the salespeople, might go longer.

If you are working with someone on your refund, we suggest calling shortly after faxing to advise the rep that you have sent it. They can then retrieve the fax and get that reviewed and processed right away. It should not take more than 2 weeks just to get a decision if there will be a refund or not if you have already provided the necessary paperwork.

Regarding our resort, cleanliness and the comfort of our guests are priorities. We maintain beautiful grounds and have Housekeeping go top to bottom in cleaning our spacious and luxurious units for your wonderful vacation.

We look forward to expediting this issue resolution for you.

I think the fact that you took a 4 hour tour is rediculous. Perhaps you should have your watch checked. As far the hotel being a "Rats Nest" there have been no reported rat infestations and the rooms are very nice. Perhaps you were mad because you didnt buy? I would be if I was stuck in a hotel for the rest of my life.