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Hard-sell approach by company 'henchmen' sometimes leads a bad taste in owners' mouth.
Kept getting phone calls from Silverleaf Vacations in Irving (?), TX, trying to get my wife and I out for a 'complimentary' stay at The Villages Resort near Tyler, Texas. Kept telling the telemarketer(s) that we didn't 'need' any update about Silverleaf since we had been with them since 1997. Apparently, I was wrong because the telemarketer(s) kept insisting (and calling back that we 'needed' the update.
1. Last year (Jan 2009) we completed paperwork with Allison Mowery at Holly Lake Resort to sell our 'Lodge' week at Holiday Hills Resort (Branson, MO) and buy a 'Presidential' week at Seaside Resort (Galveston, TX). After dealing with her about mailing the paperwork to our four grown children (who were on the deed)--2 lived in Colorado, 1 lived in Arkansas, and 1 lived in Germany--we received a letter from Silverleaf telling us that the 'deal' had been cancelled since we hadn't turned in our completed paperwork. Surprisingly, we couldn't contact Allison Mowery at Holly Lake, despite leaving several messages for her to contact us. We tried to contact her since we had been dealing with her about the correct way to send mail to an APO and she already knew the problems SHE had been experiencing trying to get the paperwork mailed and signed and returned to her.
2. Bottom line is that we 'lost' our Presidential week..however, we really were not sure about our previous 'Lodge' week at Holiday Hills Resort in Branson, MO.
3. We went back to Holly Lake and tried to talk with Owner Services...and started 'new' paperwork for another Presidential at Galveston. Allison was there, but she basically blamed 'Corporate' for the cancellation and paperwork screw-up (her words). So, again, we started out with the paperwork that Allison was going to mail to all our children, getting them to sign the 'release of deed' for Holiday Hills and signing paperwork for the 'new' contract for Galveston. Suffice it to say that it took my wife to call down to Corporate and asking for their help...we made two or three separate trips to their Dallas location and FINALLY got all the paperwork done (NOTE: We eventually had to send copies of paperwork OURSELVES and had our kids sign and notarize them and send them back to us so we could collect them and take them to Corporate.
4. In March 2010 we went to The Villages Resort...we were offered $100 to attend a meeting so that we could have our 'owner options' explained to us. The 'salesman' drove us around for about a half-hour, then took us to his office and explained why we needed to buy another vacation week. After telling him several times that we couldn't afford to buy another week, especially if Silverleaf was not going to give us ALL CONDITIONS (Endless Escape AND zero maintenance fees) that we currently enjoy with our current week, he left for about 15 minutes. He returned with his boss, who was the 'money man.' This man spent another hour trying to twist our am and cajole us into buying another week. We told him 'NO' several times. Then he left for about 15 minutes and came back with 'a really good deal' with XXX dollars down and XXX dollars a month. Then he tried to get us to sell our Presidential week and buy two RED weeks. After telling and explaining to him why we couldn't afford to pay any more than what we were paying, he finally 'released' us.
We spent more than two hours for this (initially) 'brief' update on owner options. The salesman and his boss seemed to be very disappointed (disgusted?) in us because we didn't buy the 'good' deals they were offering. They seemed to try and shame us because we couldn't afford to buy any more.
I think that's their secret...trying to shame owners into buying additional weeks even if the owners could not afford a down payment or additional monthly payments. Their disgust and scorn of our failure to afford to buy more weeks/property was almost humorous.
AND, that's the SECRET to beating these salesmen and their bosses.
(1) Tell them that you can NOT afford to pay additional down payment.
(2) Tell them that you can NOT afford additional loan payments.
(3) Tell them that you want Endless Escape...if they say it's not available, tell them that this is a deal breaker.
(4) Tell them that you want ZERO MAINTENANCE FEES.
IF Silverleaf won't give you Endless Escape and ZERO MAINTENANCE FEES, tell them, "NO DEAL!"...and WALK AWAY.
My wife and I went to Silverleaf on Tuesday, 18 May 2010, for an Owner's Update meeting (standard 1 1/2 hour (right!)). The draw? $150 (one hundred fifty dollars) CASH!
Dana was our 'initial' contact (tag-team member). She said that we HAD to tour the property, so we spent about a half-hour riding around and ooohing-aaaahing. Then we went into her office. She put us at ease by asking questions...when we said that we could NOT afford to buy, she said that she was required to 'explain' some stuff to us. So we allowed her to continue.
She said that ‘DIAMOND’ owners represented 10% of all Silverleaf owners while the other categories (Presidential, Lodge, Condo, and Cabin) represented 90%. Then she asked us WHO (which category) would get first response back from Customer Service. We said, “Diamond?” and she replied, “Yes. That’s why it is SO IMPORTANT to be a DIAMOND owner.”
She also went through ‘PLUS’ program….blah, blah, blah. We kept trying to tell her that we couldn’t afford it…the ONLY way we could get an extra week is IF Silverleaf would give us the property AND zero maintenance. And more blah, blah, blah. We explained that we had a Presidential with ZERO maintenance fees and would NOT buy any property with any type of maintenance fee.
She finally came to her LAST couple of points. If we wanted to get a RED-week Lodge, Silverleaf could let us have one for $36K (thirty-six THOUSAND dollars!)…50% down ($18K) and $500/$600 per month (PLUS maintenance fee of $69).
But, if we wanted a RED Presidential, we could buy one for $68K (sixty-eight THOUSAND dollars), with 50% down payment ($34K) and monthly payments of $1000/$1100 per month (PLUS maintenance fee of $89 per month).
NOTE: Monthly payments are given as rough approximations, only.
We told her again, NO, we can’t afford it. So she said that she would get her boss and have him ‘talk’ with us.
After about 15 or 20 minutes (it seemed longer), Mr. Dave Cortez, Member Services Sales Manager, came in. He basically restated all the stuff Dana had told us, albeit somewhat more concise. We again said, “We can’t afford to buy. The ONLY way was if Silverleaf gave us a property for FREE to include ZERO maintenance.” He sort of scoffed at the idea, and said (more or less) that Silverleaf doesn’t give out ZERO maintenance. Then we told him that we had ZERO maintenance. He looked disbelievingly at us and then turned to the computer. I’m guessing that he pulled up our account ‘cause he then looked at the computer disbelievingly. He asked us how we managed to get ZERO maintenance. We told him that a Member Services person at Holly Lake was so intent (desperate?) on upgrading us from a cabin at Lake O’ The Woods that she offered us ZERO maintenance fees AND ZERO percentage rate on the loan if we upgraded to a condo at Holly Lake (which we really couldn’t refuse). AND, that we had insisted on and kept ZERO maintenance fees ever since. Finally, he said that he wanted to check the computer to see if there was any way he could find us property so that we could become DIAMOND.
Another 15 minutes or so passed. He returned, saying that he thought that he found something that might interest us. He opened with a RED Lodge for $9999 ($5, 000 down payment and $300/$400 per month…with maintenance fee). We again stated that we couldn’t afford it.
Then he came out with the piece de resistance (or so he thought). He said that Silverleaf had a property (BLUE Cabin) that had been returned to inventory because the owners had passed away and the non-payment of maintenance fees caused the property to come back to Silverleaf (or something similar). He said the property was priced at $8000 ($4000 down payment, $XXX monthly payment, with $46.50 maintenance fees). However, he said, if we would buy the DIAMOND Plus Program for $5995, he would throw in the property. AND, he brought out a magazine for ? (Camp Out America or Go Camping America or ?), a camping program where you can rent sites for $4 to $8 a night. He said that if we would pay the $89 to transfer the ‘program’ ownership from the dead couple to us, that he would also throw in the membership (unfortunately, I can’t remember specifically which camping program/magazine was proffered, but I remember the $4 to $8 per night for sites).
OK, we again told Mr. Lopez that we couldn’t afford to buy any additional property. We were in the process of liquidating our assets (selling our house and getting rid of our stuff), buy a pop-up camper, and becoming road gypsies. He said that the DIAMOND ownership was imperative for us to guarantee that we could really enjoy using Silverleaf’s RV sites (not all resorts) and combining it with our Endless Escape. Again, we said, No. He then gave us his business card, wrote Dana’s name, and told us that when we had sold our house, we should give him a call and see what was available at that time.
They finally let us go. Our “90-minute” owner’s update meeting had turned into a 2 ½ hour meeting. We went to the front desk, retrieved our voucher, and then went to the Registration Desk (check-in) and exchanged our voucher for $150.
So, there it is, folks. YOU must remember that these sales people are NOT your best friend and they do NOT have your best interests in mind. The ONLY way they get paid is by COMMISSION; the only way for them to get COMMISSION is to SELL property—at any cost (NOTE: You will pay the cost, so they really don’t care as long as you BUY!). Remember that YOU are in the driver’s seat and YOU control their pay. As long as you say, NO, they do NOT get paid. NO matter how many times they ‘push’ you to buy, NO matter how many ‘deals’ they tell you---JUST SAY NO!
Just make it through (perservere?) the 90-minute (or 2-hour, 3-hour and sometimes longer) presentation (a typical ‘dog and pony’ show). The SECRET to getting a 'short' meeting is NOT to engage the salesperson in conversation...answer their questions in vague, monosyllabic phrases if at all possible...NO, YES, DON'T KNOW, NOT SURE, etc.
The idea is for you to get YOUR money...then walk away. Just make sure you’re not ‘tricked’ into buying!
My wife and I are sooo FORTUNATE that we have ZERO maintenance fees.
AND, with our ENDLESS ESCAPE, we do not have to pay a dime for bonus time (maximum of 6 days and nights, space available).
I really feel sorry and sad for all the HORROR stories I've seen and wish that there was some way for Silverleaf to admit to their 'hard-sell' tactics and unscrupulous (sp?) acts by their employees.
Since they are going to re-sell any foreclosed or other property they get back, why do owners have to SUFFER a loss?
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Unfortunately I am too late. I purchased a timeshare in June 2009 so I'm a new sucker! I ABSOLUTELY HATE this place. The only reason I visited this website today is because I was trying to find an address to put into MapQuest. The only reason I'm going this weekend because I feel that I should at least get my money's worth and besides it's supposedly a "free" weekend. When putting in SILVERLEAF RESORTS into a Google search, the first thing that pops up is SILVERLEAF RESORTS SCAM so I clicked on this website and her I am, complaining like the rest of you. Silverleaf is a joke, a rip-off, and anything else you want to call it. My first "free" stay was a joke! It took us over 2 hours to get a room because they claimed it had to be cleaned. Those low lives knew for 2 days that we were coming so why would they wait until we got there to clean the room. After that took too long, they decided to put us in a different room, but then couldn't find the key and couldn't get a locksmith out there at 9:00 at night, go figure. We finally got settled in after 10 p.m. only to get a nasty, filthy, disgusting room. All of the appliances were old. They were nothing like the model that the young snake-in-the-grass had shown me when I went for the 90 minute (which actually turned out to be 3 hours) visit! The oven didn't even work and the stove was missing some knobs. The microwave looked like it was one of the originals. I wouldn't dare put a year on it. I was VERY disappointed. After my visit, they kept calling me wanting me to give them some names of friends or family members that I thought would be interested. On several, and I do mean several occasions, I told them that I had no one that I would like to refer to them. They kept calling so finally I had to tell them that I think this mess is a scam and I would never put anyone I cared about in the same situation I'm in. Now I will be very cautious when I go to this so-called “update” meeting now that I know that it is really an "upgrade" meeting. I have nothing else to offer Silverleaf and they have nothing else to offer me! I just want to pay my account off and run like hell! I'm thinking about jumping ship like the other guy and taking my chances with the credit report. Like one person wrote earlier, you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip!
Once you own a Silverleaf timeshare, you never pay it off and then jump ship because of the maintenance fees so sadly you are stuck for life and your children, etc. Best bet, is stop paying and complain, complain, complain, complain and maybe you will get a Deed in lieu of foreclosure.
I use to work for The villages in East Texas, I worked in the housekeeping Dept in 97, 98 the units were old then. They were building new units by the recreation area. I can actually say the cleaning crew we had then, cared about the cleaning, and about how we cleaned, we had a great Manager. The house keepers and the van drivers cared, we worked hard and always had good remarks from the customers, they even left us tips.
I am so sorry for the way this place has changed . I my self would never work there again.
Good luck to all the new owners of timeshares, that they may be able to get out of there contarcts.
REMEMEBER YOU CAN'T TRUST A SALESMAN, THEY ARE ALWAYS ON COMMISISON AND ONLY CARE FOR THE SALE AT THE TIME.
Hello,
I have had my timeshare since 2006. I paid cash for it. I wanted to ask you if you know how I can sale it? Silverleaf will not help me only to buy. I will never buy from them again. My life has changed and now I work three jobs. I dont have time to go and have fun. Do you know of anyone who would like to buy my Lake of the woods cabin is what I have. I will sale very very very low. I wanted to ask you since you already had one yourself. If you can e-mail me back. Thank you for your time. Raluca.Saturn@Gmail.com
We went May 23, 2010 for our member update meeting and spoke with Robert King. We currently have a bi-annual red week. He told us that we were duped and that we need to upgrade immediately because right after we bought our package (which we bought it on May 1, 2010), they ceased the option to upgrade packages. He then asked if we got the "letter". I told him that we had not received any notification of this and he went to get the "money guy" Michael Welch. Michael told me that he looked in the computer and that it showed a letter stating that upgrades were no longer available was sent to our home, but that they would offer me a "one-time" offer to buy an annual package to be "fair" since we just purchased the package. The whole sales pitch took over 2 hours and I realized he had literally LIED about the upgrade (I got him mixed up with questions and figured out that they flat out LIED about the letter and upgrade). I can handle the sales pitches, I can handle the pressure...but I can't believe these 2 men flat out LIED to me about the upgrade and a letter that I should have received. I wonder what else they lied to me about. Needless to say, I got a little heated during the salespitch and they got me out of there REALLY quickly. Good luck, be careful and enjoy!
Im almost free from Silverleaf. I gave it back to them to no longer have it over my head. Im done paying for something I dont use.
My husband and I signed up for a tour and presentation of the Silverlearf Resorts Villages in Tyler, TX on October 4, 2009. We paid the $20.00 to reserve the spot and get the 2 nights 3 day free stay. When we got there they checked us in and set up a time for us to hear the presentation and tour the resort. They gave us room #600. When we got to the room and used the restroom the pipes rattled so bad after flushing the toilet the walls shook. Then when it got dark the outside lights did not come on and we had to go upstairs to get to the parking lot. I called the front desk and complained about everything and they said they would take care of it, but they never did. The next day at the presentation our rep, Wild Bill, went through his usual spill and took us around the resort. What was only suppose to be a half hour thing turned into a long four hour presentation. We keep telling Wild Bill there was no way we could afford the kind of money they were talking about and we just wanted to go. He ended up bringing over another lady who tried to sell us another package that was more affordable. We told her the same thing we told Wild Bill, we could not afford it. Then they brough in another lady that she could give us a really good deal where it was a prepaid vacation package and we could use the resort anytime we wanted over the next year and it was only $795.00 and we would get a 5 night/6 day stay for free. Well, we figured we would spend that much just taking small vacations in the next year if not more so we signed up. Mostly to get them to leave us alone. The lady's name was Kathleen Hargrave. After that weekend I called to make the reservations for the free stay of 5 nights/6 days and I had a certain week in mind. But, they told me they did not have anything available for that week and that we could only stay from a Monday to Thursday, no weekends. That was not what we were told and I explained that to them and they said there was nothing they could do and maybe we could pick another date. Well my husband started back to work and we could not stay during the week only on weekends and could we split the stay in between weekends. They said no. Then about a month later we got a call from them and they said we had been chosen to receive another 2 night/3 day stay for free. Well we took it. When we got there they scheduled us for another presentation and tried to sell us an upgrade to our package. They said that if we did not upgrade now we would not be able to because they had discontinued the upgrade package. We told them that we were not going to buy anything until we got what we were promised the first time we were there. They said they would do everything they could to try and fix it and get our stay. They never did. All they could push was the upgrade on our package and we did not want it. My husband got really upset because they kept pushing and pushing us to buy this upgrade when we told them over and over we did not want it. We finally got up and walked out we were so discusted. They have not called us back and I have not called them, but I am going to and find out if they will give us what we paid for. All we want is our money back. We paid almost $800 for something that we never got to use because they won't let us go when we are able, and their service is terrible. Their rooms and condos are terrible. The whole thing is a rip off and they need to be shut down.
You are so lucky to only have lost $800. Others have lost so much more. Try to call your credit card and see if you can get a refund that way. Once Silverleaf has your money there is nothing you can do for them to help you. The only way they help is by helping themselves. I cant belive this sort of business is alowed to be open. The push junk on us. Try to get your money back. Silverleaf will not do anything for you. I have a few numbers I would love to give you to try to get some help. One is there office number in Irving, TX [protected] & [protected]. What you got sounds like what give the members. You stay Monday - Thursday for free then pay $50 a day for the weekend. This is what they call bons time. Just another BS if you ask me. I lost $15, 000, when it was all said and done. Im never going to pre-pay for vaction time. EVER. If you want to go some place nice, save up for it then go on line and pay for what you want when you want it how you want it. Not on there time. On our time. Best of luck to you all out there and feel free to e-mail or call me. ;)
I would be too. You paid for your timeshare and get to enjoy it. Not like the others who pay and pay and pay some more. Im glad we can warn people to be very sure what they get themselves into when buying a timeshare. Read into timeshare before you buy one yourself world. Take care
i got suttin funny for ya. I went to silverleafs resort called oak n spruce for a time share presentation, which wasnt to bad cause i knew they were gonna try to suck me in, but i went on my tour with a kid my age right around 26, we did some crazy boring stuff with numbers inside (which was pathedic, cause they were telling me what i spend and what im gonna spend on future vacations, they were telling me, i was like no, but ok your a idiot) it was by far the worst salesman i mean sales kid, cause this idiot was by far so stupid it wasnt even funny. Then we proceed to go hop in his 2 door car. now i had 3 people with me so we had to climb over seats and car seats, it was unherd of. Then outa no where this kid pulled out a blunt. ( a empty cigar rolled with Marijuana) now i smoke weed ( kill me for it) but i would never do suttin as stupid as this kid was about to do. he asked me and my friends if we wanted to smoke it with him. Im a pot head so i said yes, why not it was good pot. I couldnt believe he was actually doing this with me #1 we didnt know each other so he was stupid to do this with me, and then #2 of all things when we came back and he parked his car, he pulled out a bag that was like a pound and asked me if i wanted to buy some. It was good pot so i said yes, why not? i wasnt the silver leaf employee as far as i was concerned i could do whatever i wanted, it wasnt my job on the line. so i bought it, then he pulled out a pill container with Oxi-cotin, perkaset 30's and numerous other drugs and asked me if i wanted any. I said NO way to that, i have never messed with pills. so i took the weed and finished my tour. i went to gifting and was owed a trip, etc... but i was also owed a $40 AMEX card, so the girl that did my gifts was flirting with me, and i was flirting with her. she was a good looking little girl, so i flirted back, and then i walked out with 10 $40 AMEX cards, so i was the big winner for the day, i got good pot $400 dollars and a bag of good weed. If ur a pot head or a drug addict get yourself on tour with these kids down there, the kid that took me told me everyone that works there sells something or uses it and can get it for you. This place was crazy, i couldnt actually belive what actually was going on at this place. they should fire everyone and hire new people, or do car checks cause this kids weed was in like a pillow case under his cars seat. or they should do drug testing. as far as im concerend Silverleaf is a joke, and should be reprimanded by the goverment and not be allowed to take anyones money nevermind sell property! what property? if u wanna spend more and get less go to silver leaf, if u wanna save money do what ur doing, if its not broke why fix it?
hahahahahaha ... that was too funny. It made me cry...
How they are still in business I just dont know.
I am in the same boat you are or were. Did you stop paying or did you just keep paying? I don't know what to do either?
I got my dumb waste of time share from Silverleaf back in 2006. I just now was able to give it back. I tried to list is with yet again another let us help you for sale by owner junk and more money for nothing. I have now learned to not pay up front for something you HOPE to see later on in life and to just pay for my trip when I want to go on one. :) So im happy to not have to see a letter from the dumb Silverleaf no e-mail no calls to update no nothing from no one. I t cost me a lot of money but boy did I learn from it. So now I hope folks take the time to write what others have gone through and to not follow in our mistakes.
I had a time getting rid of my Silver Leaf timeshare week. I was frustrated at the rising fees and no one
Is buying them for close to what they are worth and I’m spending too much trying to get rid of it. So I
Was reading on pissed.com and there was a post from a girl at a Company and they were taking
Silver Leaf timeshare weeks and can have them out of your name in six weeks and you pay nothing
Out of pocket and get a tax donation write-off in addition (so it’s like selling- get money back)-
Well I’m a skeptical person but I figured I should give it a try so I emailed the girl in the ad/comment-
Nanette and she mailed me a small welcome packet of information on donation and I faxed in
Information and sure enough the week was out of my name in six weeks and I had a $5000.00 tax
Donation to file with my taxes. They were honest courteous and reliable so I wanted to let everyone
Know. (And also wanted to help Nanette she was wonderful.) Good luck getting rid of your Silver Leaf.
Go to www. trejesto. Com and fill out donation form –please put Nanette in referral – she’s a big help.
Thank you for this awesome information. A lot of help.
You shouldn't use people s full names, it just seems that you are on a smear campaign. However that all sounds very stressful. I had a similar experience with Rci.
We were some of the original owners at Holly Lake back in the 80's. We have used the facilities quite a lot thru the years, appreciated that they were kept clean altho they have, of course, gotten pretty old just like we have but that was okay. We have bonus time which worked well for us since we work shifts, farm, etc and don't have regularly scheduled vacations like some people. We felt the maintenance/tax fees were reasonable. HOWEVER, since selling out the Holiday Inn Resorts things have changed drastically...they no longer work with you on scheduling, essentially tell you to talk to the computer, leave us alone. Ex: Our daughter is not on our deed (she was born after we bought) but they have always let us use one weekend per year at The Villages for her to use during a yearly business trip she makes...no problem. This year, I made the reservation, put her name on it as usual, and when she went to check they would not let her in since her name was not on the deed. She called me, I talked to the desk...nope, no way, Holiday won't let us do that any more. They turned them away (late at night, little children, middle of nowhere) then said I would be charged $50 no-show fee and could make any kind of reservation after that until it was paid. ALSO...the maintenance fees have gone up astronomically...I now pay $90 a month. It's more than we can afford now that we are retired; besides that, we are no longer able to travel. If our kids can't go there without us standing at the desk vouching for them, it's useless to them. We had wanted to keep the property for our kids/grandkids to continue using...they've grown up there...but we are now trying to figure out a way to get out of this without ruining our credit.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Put them on the deed. $100 fee to do this but you have to go through the deed dept.