Westgate Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

I received quiet a few phone calls from GMAC TIMESHARE DIVISION, asking if I was interested in renting or selling my timeshare. I own a 4-bedroom at Westgate in Kissimmee, Florida. After repeated phone calls, I finally agreed to rent 2 of my 4 bedrooms out, after the person promising me they have plenty of buisiness people, families, who are interested(a long list), also they have listings at the Orange Convention Center with prospective clients.I gave my cc #, and the charge was $495.00 for them to rent either my 1 or 2 bedroom out. After receiving my money for the rental, never heard from GMAC again. I have called them a few times about the rental, was told no one was interested, after guaranteeing my unit would be rented. GMAC IS A SCAM. Its been since Jan. 2010, and nothing. I am going to file a complaint with the BBB, And the Florida Attorney Generals Office,

yes.. they are horrible... they have no customer services at all... McDonalds is better than them... they should not be allowed to be in business... they need to be sued ... and I never want anyone to do that... but... I would hope it would close them down forever and not allow them to hurt anymore people... I would love to help and get out of my contract... I was young and foolish and I believed them... they are liars!

please contact me at cothrenjulie23@yahoo.com... if you can tell me what I need to do..

Westgate is a waste they don't report on your credit like they said.You are dishing out more money than its worth.I have had timeshare almost 2 years and the deed is still not recorded.I am filing bankruptcy and the treasurer may take timeshare and resale it because of this.I feel like I was ripped off!

We made the mistake of buying a one week time share back in the early 2000's. We never stayed there but did trade for another week stay somewhere else several times in the early years of our ownership. There was always a fairly hefty fee to trade. We paid off the "mortgage" in just a couple years and continued to pay the yearly fees. We have not used our place nor traded in years. Not much was available when we wanted it and the fees were too high. Eventually, the calls began (sometimes 10 a day), which we ignored. We've paid two companies fairly high fees to get us out this mess with, of course, no results. One of the companies was actually recommended to us by the company that arranges the trades (I forget the name). Recently we received a letter from Westgate that said "call us, let's get this settled" or words to that effect. So I called and told them I would never send them any money and I didn't want the timeshare. They replied that they had a warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure that we could sign and, apparently, give back the timeshare. The only catch was we had to send or give them $550 to get the form. We have to contact them by Jan. 31 to arrange this. I have to admit I am tempted to do this just to finally be rid of the timeshare. I hope it is legit. Not sure how the foreclosure would have worked, but I wasn't worried about their threat to do that and report it to the credit bureau. Credit ratings are not that important to me at my age. Any advice?

We want out! We were approached in Gatlinburg, Tennessee about the Westgate Resort. We attended the seminar and of course folded under the high pressure tactics. We fully intended to use the resort but life happened and for ten years we were unable to vacation anywhere. We paid the increasing maintenance fees, and mortgage payments. We finally got an opportunity to spend four days at Westgate, Gatlinburg in 2018. Nice room but there was instant pressure to upgrade our timeshare. On the fourth day of our stay we attended a meeting and because we felt our life could sustain an occasional vacation (Like idiots), upgraded our package. My wife and I discussed later how everything was smoke and mirrors during the presentation. We feel scammed, we have begun trying to unload this money pit and the great investment that was portrayed to us by the salesman is worthless. I called Westgate trying to get the cheapest way out and was told they don't have any return policies. Of course they said we could transfer ownership to someone else but to be honest I value my friends and family and don't want them to be screwed over. So, we are modest people looking for a way to get out of this horrible situation, that has s
o far cost us about $5, 000 a night to use. Please help.

I have been an owner in Gatlinburg for many years and have had many occasions where we were unable to use the property. We went to Florida and stayed at Westgate. I had reserved three 2-bedroom condos and requested they be next to each other. When we arrived, the rooms were in different buildings. Several hours later and many different conversations with management, I finally got everyone in one building but different floors. We did not get keys to the last room until 11pm after I again walked back to the reservation center and complained to management. (we arrived at 4pm). The water park was constantly closed due to potential bad weather threat even though all the other pools remained open. One day we were planning on taking the kids to the pool and I put our towels in the car as I was loading other items in the car. My son got arrested for "stealing towels" when security saw him take the towels out of the car. As an owner I have the right to use all the amenities so why was my son arrested. They put the pool towels in the bathroom - how are you suppose to get them to the pool? It cost $1, 000 to bail him out and another $4, 000 for the attorney. The case was eventually dropped but we then had to pay an additional $2, 500 to have his record expunged.
Total this vacation cost almost $10, 000 plus the monthly cost of buying the property, yearly taxes and fees. Additionally - why did the property fees go up in Gatlinburg when the property burned down and half of the property has not been rebuilt? Just more fees I am required to pay.

YES, I want to sue.

We are so unhappy with Westgate .They have lied to us so many times. I would love to be a part of a class action lawsuit.

I would like to join a LEGITIMATE class action suit against Westgate Resort Florida TOWERS for their predatory lending and sales practices. I could go on for days.

My ex-wife and i purchased a timeshare at Westgate Vacation Villas in Kissimmee back in 2000 for every even year. The timeshare we purchased, along with the resort, have not been maintained since. We just want out of a very bad investment.

I have received no help in trying to sell my timeshare after being told that it would be sold in about a month. It has been more than six months and not a single offer has been made. I have received several phone calls asking for more money to advertise another way other than just on the internet . How can anyone logically believe that a magazine may be more effective than the internet?

find out more about timeshare sales rip offs at
www. TUG2.NET

the Florida attorney general has started proceeding against one of the rip off sales sleaze companies...

see more here..

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=814535&posted=1#post814535

I also got trapped with Westgate and their terms, I feel alone and scammed how do we fight these people?

Hey Derek,

Check this out: Timeshare Traps and Your Legal Rights on the utahstories.com website. Read the article, scroll all the way down to the bottom, post a comment (tell your story) and submit. They will reply to you quickly and you won't be sorry!

Westgatehater

Be glad you didn't buy into Westgate. We purchased in 2003 and they never have availability if we wish to trade to a different Westgate location...and if they do have something (never right dates), it's an arm and a leg in fees to transfer (far more than it's worth). Originally, they promised us no fees to transfer within Westgate. That changed in a hurry! Plus, their cleaning fees keep going up each year and the property we own is NOT maintained. They use high pressured sales pitches and wish that we were never suckered into it.

I was referred to Westgate by a friend who claimed that it was so great. It was supposed to be a 90 min presentation it wind up being 5 hours long. After feeling obligated by a little nice old salesman and his fast talking manager we purchased Got home and now have changed our minds. I am going to write 2morrow to cancel hope all goes well with canceling.

West
WestGate properties are a scam. Here is what you do? When they contact you to offer you to stay at one their properties for a low low price (something that sounds good) - ask them to vie you the price without the presentation. This may be $100 more. If you can't get the no-presentation price then do what I did. Sit through a presentation and ask for the cheapest plan they have. You have 30 days by law to cancel anything. Write a letter to them stating you want to cancel the plan and send it return receipt. Option #3 - when they contact you to stay at one of their properties and prequalify you on the phone tell them you don't qualify for the special but would like the no-presentation price. If they lie and state they don't have a no presentation price than remind them of their unethical business practices well documented with the Federal Trade Commission. Works every time. My wife and I stay at all Westgate Properties and NEVER attend presentations.

a timeshare is buying a week or weeks. not whenever u want to go.

I to feel like my husband & I was lied to. We were told that we could split a weeks vacation into 4 days 1 week-end & 3 days at another time. When we call to make reservations, we was told that we could not do this. We just paid $800.00 for a 2 night stay. They will tell you anything to make a sale!

OMG...I honestly cant count the number of lies. First off our salesman swore that he was in the NFL and the injury list, since I have no clue who is won in the NFL I had not reason to doubt him. He promised us 2 extra nights on the vacation that we was on, show tickets, dinner tickets. Well when we found out he couldnt do this and they wouldnt honor his promise, I called the sales dept there in Branson to cancel, it had only been a day and a half since we signed the contract...and after sitting there for 8 hours, I think I would of signed ANYTHING. Well they informed me that it was ok and that they would go ahead and cancel it, I asked for something in writting but of course there was no one there that could do that...that happened twice, both my husband and myself had called to ask, then they said they couldnt give us our refund, but they will be mailing it to us...a week after being home we got a call stating that they will be sending us our refund and for our "troubles" they will send us another free vacation...NO FREAKING thank you. Well 3 weeks has gone by and still nothing in the mail, I called to check up on our refund and I find out they didnt cancel and it was to late, and they will still withdraw a payment out of my account. The lady had the nerve to tell me " I"m one of THOSE people that wants all the free stuff ", then they tell me about the number of show tickets, dinner vouchers was worth ALOT more then my deposit, so I find out he had put in my records that he had given me all these free things, which we ONLY received 1 breakfast. They lied ALOT, they think I"m going to just sit back and let it go away...but I WONT. They even told me they NEVER have anyone complain...then I get onto this website and realize there are ALOT of complaints. I'm wondering about a civil lawsuit, if enough of us get together, I'm sure we could do SOMETHING

http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/profile.php?id=1332424354

We have been owners with Westgate Lakes in Orlando, Fl for approx 7 years, and we have very good experiences with the company. We have always been treated as five star owners as it is a five star resort. The only complaint we have is that we have to pay an exchange fee when we want to stay in another WestGate owned resort. I understand a fee if we book outside of WestGate ownership and pay a fee to Interval International for that service, but I don't think it is right to charge a fee for exchanging to another "WestGate" owned resort. Of note, the other WG owned resorts that we have stayed at also are five star. The ones we have exchanged to are Las Vegas, Branson, and Gatlinburg with great experiences at all. R.Williams, Mississippi

I try getting out from under my timeshare at the Westgate Resort in Kissimmee Florida. We have been have problems keeping up with our own home since the Hurricane Katrina damages our home. We explained to them that we could no longer afford to pay for the resort they wanted us to pay for them to sell it. By the way my maintenance fee was $699. If we can barely pay for repairs of our own home how in the world we could pay for a resort that we cannot not go to . So one day I was checking our credit and they put us in foreclosure on something that we never use but once. How in the world could they do this? If anyone have any idea of how to fix this please write back to me! Thanks!
SSLumar

Is anybody interested in my Timeshare in Orlando. I'll give it away for free. You will only pay the change of property cost involved. Obviously you will have to pay the maintanance fee for this year . I have the last week of August every other year, on even year. Mainatance fee will have to be paied only for the even year. My child has already passed the age to go to Dysney World and it's getting more and more difficult to go for me. It's true if you don't pay the maintanance fee (around $500) you get charge with these collection agency but if you think you really would like to go to Orlando every other year, it's a great deal for 500 or 600 dollar! No agency please only private paties.

I purchased a WestGate timeshare at the very end of 2006 so I had no fees due for 2006
in 2007 I was the one calling them to see when fees would be due
I was told it would post online as soon as everything was due
It did not post online till around June ( I paid it )
so this year in 2008 I just assumed that fees would be due around the same time
NOPE they were due a few months earlier this year
and so they did fall behind and I started gettting unreal amounts of phone calls
from Pinnacle and of course wanting an extra 300.00 from me
I do like my timeshare I think they are a great place
but I money wise they will screw you over if givin the chance

This is very true I initally got my timeshare for the Florida location and the mait and taxes was at $160 its now currently at $700. They also have a bigger scam with the collection company Pinnacle that the hurriedly pass you acct to for late payment. This company will add an additional $300 to you balance and they are very aggressive..

We just went through the same thing we just got back from Orlando. We did the whole 90 min tour bs that turned into 6 hour beleive it or not. We went in the off season and the parks only stayed open til 6pm. We got to WGL at 7am to take out tour and we didnt see a rep til 9am. The breakfast was horrible. They kept pressuring us to buy one and we kept telling them no even after 4 ppl came to talk to us. Well the 5th guy talked us into taking a vacation package with them and it would cost $795 didnt sound so bad...so we signed the contract and got it home and decided we didnt wanna do it bc we knew how it was gonna be...once we got down there we would be hounded into buying one and we didnt want it...we sent a certified letter today along with the membership thing they gave us saying cancel it...so i know how u feel just the sucky thing was our whole day was ruined bc of them the parks closed at 6pm we got there at 7am and didnt get to leave til 1pm. Oh and we got a free breakfast buffet in the Smokehouse Grill and we figured we would go and beleive it or not we was hounded again on trying to buy saying he was from corprate and the price we got was way to low and our agent shouldnt have even gave it to us for that price...ITS ALL A BUNCH OF BS! NEVER WILL I DO A TOUR AGAIN!

Me and my husband were pressured into a timeshare purchase. We are going broke with this timeshare. Wish it were gone. Purchased in late October 2008. Tennessee

i read your email. and found that I feel the same way. I feel like my vacation was ruined and i was pressured into this timshare purchase. I feel like I didn't really know what I was getting to. Can you still cancel. How long do you have to cancel this contract. Do you know?

This dept must be racist because 98 percent of them don't speak English. And if they do? It's broken and very bad English.

I stayed two nights the last night room exit door had a Dog in it .the dog barking all night got no sleep the front desk refund me 50$please 56,72$ I have not got back. I check out before 9am 11/23 I have video dog barking

I cancelled a vacation package due to medical problems . I emailed them . They told me I couldn't cancel on the phone. I would have to email them. So after I email them. They keep calling. I'm tried of them harassing me. I will get a lawyer to look into it. Thanks: Deborah Gholston

Shower was full of mold. Dryer broke, twice, and was never fixed the second time. Broken mirror in closet door and the dust above the kitchen was visibly collecting.

I was treated very rude by the Bar & Grill mannager named Israel. He was not able to put the payment bill to my reservation account, as I asked him. He embarrassed me because I had no money or credit card in hands. at the end he called his boss and easily solved the issue. Treated me like a criminal.

Hello, my name is Nadeem Butt. Currently We are at westgate resorts in Kissimmee. Very very bad house keeping. It's been more then 24 hrs when I make first request for needed comforter . So far 9 times requested housekeeping and 5 time at front desk. Every time they said they ate on their way. Just 15 to 20 minutes.
But another night no comforter

Received a promotion for a vacation, book the vacating with my credit card and was told that westgate would not honor the reservation because I was from the state of Georgia.

Wow! everything here sounds so familliar. we stayed at the branson westgate woods resort. oct 2007. we were expected to wait for 45 min for our 'scheduled' appt. i asked to talk to someone b/c i was promised the presentation would only take one hour and i was holding them to it! they were very high pressure - bringing in several reps after my husband said no. do not go! it is not worth the headache!

I hate to say it, but I purchased a timeshare in Gatlinburg, TN. It has been a nightmare trying to exchange. I can never get a unit where I want to go. I can only go where there is a unit available. And the problem is when someone deposits their week, the week is backdated several months and not made available for other owners. It is used for non-owners to reserve and pay. So when I try to exchange there's never anything available.
DO NOT BUY ANY TIMESHARE AND DO NOT USE INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL.
I got stuck.

My husband and I foolishly bought into Westgate Historic Williamsburg. It has been nothing but sheer frustration, they don't hesitate to take your payments and maintenance fees. Just try getting your week, the free week we were given for buying in cost us just shy of $500. We were told our week was a floating week and it was in the prefered/premium category. However, when we try to book a week, we cannot book the weeks of July 4th, Thanksgiving week or Christmas week unless we pay some outlandish fee for those "special" weeks. We try to book the week on our deed, and were told sorry, but no can do, but we can accomodate you for a 5 night stay, although your paying for a week. No offer to compensate us for the nights we weren't allowed to have. So I told them to stuff it. We called back several days later, and now are told there is nothing available until the week before Christmas, well we have already booked and have arranged to go down the week of Jan 4th, so once again, every week we tried to book, we were told there was a lock out on and a member of senior management had to open it up. Again today, I was trying to book the first week of May 2009, and again met with it was locked out and only senior management can approve it, so I said this is the 4th or 5th time this has happenned we call, we can't book anything. You guessed it, Sr. Mgmt is not availble on weekends. I am still waiting for the call from the last phone call in Sept, this is now Nov, you can bet I am not holding my breath. But by not allow us our scheduled week per our contract, they now insist it will cost me an additional $130 to use the week in the future.

While this totally naive individual could not comprehend was that by not booking my reservation equalled telling me it was unavailable, he insisted it was but that upper mgmt have to open it up. Well frankly I am more than tired of having to spend hr after hr on the phone with these script reading ###s. I said to my husband while on the phone with this rep, that if we had purchased the 2+ bedroom unit we would be accomodate, but because we purchased a smaller unit they were in essence telling us to go to H*LL.

This is all in addition to being told they were building new units and an indoor water park. You guessed it neither have been done. We have heard and read where people are shuffled to Heritage Inn, which is the equivalent of a city dump. I was smart, I took photographs of the unit we were supposed to get, if I don't get that when I finally am able to get a reservation I will be contacting the BBB, our Attorney, and the Atty for Va, and NY.

In essesence it's virtually too late for us, but please do NOT purchase, its nothing more than a high price scam used to get you to virtually give up and give in. This was our 20th anniv gift to each other. Do yourself a favor and seek out fairfield resorts, from all I see and hear people are alot happier their. The sales tactics here are simply strong arming and wear you down techniques that go far beyond the 90 min.