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The purchase of Westgate Resorts timeshare has been the worst ill-advised decision we have ever made. The misrepresentation of Westgate only continues to get worse as more customers have come forward with the same complaints and cases even worse based on online reviews, there are some true horror stories, just like ours! We have since tried to rent out our timeshare to a 3rd party. When asked for the dates of availability for stays we were not able to get confirmation. The 3rd party scheduler has stated that Westgate Resorts would not allow them to confirm dates needed. We were told that availability would never be a problem at Westgate. That was false. We have not been able to take advantage of our timeshare even once in our 3.5 years of "ownership." We were told that Westgate resorts would be exclusive to timeshare owners. Also, false. We regularly find rooms available to the public via third-party booking platforms such as Expedia or Hotels.com. We were told we'd be able to profit and build equity with this timeshare. Not only is this false, but it has been a net negative asset for us as it is a heavily cost burdensome for us. So not only do we not use our timeshare, but we also are paying a heavy price for all sorts of lies from a greedy sales team.
Westgate Resorts employees are the most unethical of any company that we have ever encountered. We are simply astonished that we have been dealing with them for over 6 years. We were fed broken promises and misinformation, including being told that this was an investment, like a real estate purchase. One that would grow in value and could be easily resold, where we could create a passive income through. The resorts are severely unkept with dirty sheets in our room and delayed responses to our requests for clean ones after long journeys only added to the frustration. Such lapses in service are unacceptable and contribute to the overall disappointment we have experienced with Westgate. To compound matters, a personal injury in 2020 has left us with significant medical bills. Considering these unexpected financial challenges, the prospect of selling the timeshare for a profit provided relief. However, the reality is that the promises of easy resale and rental opportunities were unfounded, yet that is what we were told by the Westgate salesperson. Westgate’s answer to the issues they intentionally caused…aggressive collection agencies, threatening letters, and zero ownership of their deeply rooted fraudulent sales practices. The combination of deceptive practices, and unfulfilled promises has led to a highly disappointing and regrettable timeshare experience with Westgate Resorts. The financial abuse doled out by Westgate needs to stop NOW.
When we first encountered Westgate Resorts, we informed the salesperson who approached us that we couldn’t differentiate between Westgate and a regular timeshare. He claimed that Westgate was much better because of its global footprint. I began questioning him about trade-in possibilities for different events throughout the year, and he stated that it was an effortless process. All we had to do was deposit a week, submit a request of where we wanted to go, and Westgate would take care of the rest. Renting out the timeshare for a profit if we weren’t interested in traveling in a given year was a claim that heavily influenced our decision to buy. The sales team also applied a great deal of pressure and deceptive sales tactics to sway our decision. We rejected four separate offers from four different salespeople. Each time we declined, a different salesperson would approach us and increase the pressure. From 2008-2022, we had only used our timeshare twice and never to the destinations we were interested in. This contradicted the claims of Westgate’s global footprint that we were sold on. In addition to the lack of availability, we also found that we couldn’t rent out the timeshare like we had been promised. Whenever we called to raise our concerns, we were given every excuse imaginable. We were told that our Interval membership needed an upgrade, that we needed to make our reservations sooner, and then, finally, we were told that we needed to upgrade our timeshare. We have been swindled and victimized by this company through a series of bait-and-switch tactics. Everything that we were promised has turned out to be a pack of lies, and we have paid dearly for a timeshare that we are never able to use.
Asked to see a new hotel and it's facilities as soon on site informed how I can buy a share and have unlimited cruises and holidays for next to nothing.Showed around which looks like a hotel then the salesman kicks in with a quote of £9000 to become an owner of a 2 bedroom flat breaks everything down to around £200 per month direct debit.If this is what you want great....clearly wasn't suitable for us.
10 years +/-as a guest. Constant complaints from owner friends.! ALWAYS a fight to get a room they want (own TEN weeks!!) And rooms have gone down slightly for a 1st class RESORT!! No MORE included welcome dinners, wine tasting, moonshine tasting, Patsy Kline live revue, live music ,in house bird shows.NOPE .No more hamburger plate specials at Southern Comfort restaurant. Parking is a real challenge most of resort. Got worse as week wore on. To get resort activities for the week you must have to scan a QR code, do the password stuff with your info like its top security. NO PRINTED ACTIVITY list avail. After tons of asking NO ACTIVITIES FOR ADULTS ALL WEEK, just small list of kiddie family things.
I'm incredibly disappointed with my Westgate timeshare experience. A salesman deceived us about tax benefits, investment potential, and overall, the actual “ownership”. The ridiculous maintenance fees weren't clearly explained, and that the burden would pass to our children. We never received a public offering statement. The meeting was a sales pitch, not an orientation and they’ll lie and exaggerate to get you to buy. Financing terms were absurd, leading us to take a personal loan. We were misled about tax benefits, rental income, property value, Disney benefits, and exclusivity. Spending $40,000 and taking only 5 vacations in 11 years is a huge letdown. We are demanding that they terminate our agreement! We want nothing to do with this company and I hope that anyone who reads this is aware of what these people are doing. How can Westgate be allowed to get away with this? Clearly there are thousands of other people who are being ripped off. I look forward to the day that something is done, and Westgate is held accountable for what they are doing with these useless timeshares. I wish I had read into the history of this company and the owners. Westgate is bad news, and their timeshares are junk. They don’t deserve a single star they deserve to get shut down and everyone who’s been scammed to be compensated. Don’t be fooled by their sales agents and fancy hotels, there are far better options out there. I wish we knew before we became entangled in this. Westgate is nothing more than a tourist scam!
Please avoid Westgate Vacations Villas @ 7700 Westgate Blvd., Kissimmee in Florida! Worst Resort with outdated rooms and old amenities. I booked this resort thru VacationVIP and stayed in room 511-B, 1st floor. At the check-in we were told the room was just renovated, and I looked forward for pleasant stay. However, the studio turned out to be an old, smelly and dirty unit, sliding door did not lock, whirlpool tub was dirty, Air conditioner stopped working on 1st night. We had to call cleaning + Maintenace to fix all. unfortunately, everything was just so old that it did not help much. I asked for room change but was refused. We stayed as we had all parks booked and only returned to sleep. We had Timeshare presentation on 9/16/2023, as part of this "Great deal". Maria, who is from Venezuela, as she told us, right from the start was only concerned with my husband's demeanor, totally ignored me, and after 10 min of her very hostile behavior, left and never came back. I guess, she had decided we were probably not going to buy anything after such bad accommodations. I do not understand how they can put potential buyers/owners in such horrid rooms and then try to sell the resort package?
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