So how screwed am I?

[jsharlan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jsharlan]

Hello, I bought a timeshare a couple years ago in Westgate Williamsburg. Like a dumb dumb I didnt do my research before going to one of their torture sessions. Life got in the way as far as getting married and having a kid so we never had a chance to use it until this year. Everything I have read so far tells me that westgate is the devil. So just how screwed am I? Will I still get some enjoyment out of owning? Is it possible at all to unload the timeshare even at a loss?

We bought it with the promise that we could easily exchange it anytime we wanted to go anywhere else. This year will be the first time I try to do that. We bought a 1 bedroom floating week that is good on odd years. We paid it in full and at the time we paid $7500.

Our maint. fees are $586 and they charge $130 for exchanges. Is this even worth it or is that what I would pay just renting a place from someone else anyway? Lesson learned, never buy something without doing some research first.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Other than buying at developer prices, I wouldn't say your screwed. You only spent $7,500 so it's not as if you bought from the developer for $35,000.

If you learn how to use your purchase, you can get great enjoyment out of it. Granted Westgate is not the most owner friendly outfit there is but, they generally have a decent and consistant product.

Exchanging isn't all that difficult depending on what your expectations are. Williamsburg is one of those area's that is somewhat overdeveloped. One of the important things will be to deposit a week during the higher demand times for this area. If you deposit a Febuary week, there's not much demand and you won't get a decent exchange. If you deposit a summer week demand is higher and you'll get a resonable exchange.

Of course, your satisfaction also depends on what your expectations are. The salesman lied if he told you that you could exchange for anything, anytime and anywhere. For instance, you may find it difficult or impossible to pull a high demand summer Marriott week in Hawaii with your Westgate Williamsburg week. On the other hand, if you allow for a broad range of acceptable dates and allow for any resort and any size unit, you might have better luck getting a week in Hawaii.

Overall you could have done worse for your first purchase. Now you need to do some research and find out how to make the best usage of what you own.

Yes you can sell it but, you won't get much out of it ($1 to $100). IMHO, you ownership is worth far more than you could sell it for in this market unless you just absolutely can not use it and the MF's are killing you. I'd suggest learning how to plan and take timeshare vacations long before considering dumping your ownership.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I own in Williamsburg, but not at Westgate. Try to reserve July 4th week or a week sometime from July 1 to August 15. Does your week exchange in II or RCI? My resort is dual-affiliated, but I use RCI (mainly because we like to vacation in the Northeast and they have more resorts in that area).

II might be better for you than RCI. My Williamsburg week gets us to some nice places in RCI, but from discussions with II members, I think II would value a high-season Williamsburg week more than RCI.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

If it's a Westgate resort and they purchased only a couple of years ago, the assumption would be that their week exchanges through I.I. Westgate and RCI cut ties several years back although there are still Westgate resorts that have dual affiliation.

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

I own a Williamsburg unit (at Kings Creek). Every Other use Year (EOY) float. I call II in September and ask them what weeks they want in order to give me a bonus week (AC). They always tell me summer weeks. I call Kings Creek and book my summer weeks and give to II. I get the week in II, plus an AC. I have been able to use both to get into the New England ski and summer weeks I want with the AC, just used it to book a week in Vero Beach and in the past Disney resorts. I find it very useful - just do your homework - make a summer ressie and then start playing with what you can see.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Sounds promising after all! There is so much you can learn here by reading the posts and ask questions too.

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[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

If you've used the Search function, you've probably read that we started the same way, with a Wastegate EOY, 20 years ago. We did a tour Christmas 2006, and based on what they offered us, everyone around us, and from posts like yours, they have not changed their pitch in 20 years.

I will say what the others aren't:

Although you are less screwed than you could be, you are still screwed

ya coulda bought it for a buck on eBay

Wastegate does not have that much to offer, exchangewise, even if what you have has any weight with them, and even if it did happen to work for you the way they told you

Count on fees to continue to increase, and nickel and diming on whatever they can

There is no market for it as a resale

II would be your best bet, but then you would likely be chasing bad money with good

To my knowledge the only RCI Wastegate resorts are the original (WVV) and ones they purchased

Mr. S is a Sleazebag, and ---- rolls downhill.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...wastegate.html

Still, it may be that all is not lost. That is the route me and mine took to get here, and I consider me to be a reasonably sharp guy.

We now have more than 100 exchanges under our belt, so something good musta come out of it.

There, now you know what you have, and the possibilities.

[jsharlan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jsharlan]

about what Ive heard then. Thats disappointing. Well theres really no use getting rid of it then, I guess the best thing I can do moving forward is to try exchanging it. I will do like mdurette said and try to book summer weeks way in advance since its a floating week room. The resort itself was fairly nice so hopefully people will be interested in it.

I did call westgate last night to ask about exchanging for a week at another westgate resort because we were interested in going to the Smokey Mountain one in TN. They said they had availability, but I could only do an exchange 30 days or less prior to when I want to stay. Does this sound about right to everyone else or are they about to take a dump on me when I call back?

There should be some kind of westgate owners support group here so we can cry on eachothers shoulders now that we are stuck with them.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

about what Ive heard then. Thats disappointing. Well theres really no use getting rid of it then, I guess the best thing I can do moving forward is to try exchanging it. I will do like mdurette said and try to book summer weeks way in advance since its a floating week room. The resort itself was fairly nice so hopefully people will be interested in it.

I did call westgate last night to ask about exchanging for a week at another westgate resort because we were interested in going to the Smokey Mountain one in TN. They said they had availability, but I could only do an exchange 30 days or less prior to when I want to stay. Does this sound about right to everyone else or are they about to take a dump on me when I call back?

There should be some kind of westgate owners support group here so we can cry on eachothers shoulders now that we are stuck with them.

There are Westgate owners groups out there. Just use google to search for them.

Westgate likes to change things around, often to the detriment of their owners. The easiest way to get into Westgate Smokey Mountains would be to set up an I.I. account and learn how to search using that account. I see good availability at Westgate Smokey Mountain most of the time. I've been by that resort and it's a very nice looking resort with a decent location IMO. While I'm not a big Westgate fan, it's one of the resorts I'd consider exchanging into when we travel back to Gatlinburg at some point in the future.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

As far as here, and other Internet timeshare forums, some Wastegate owners do not appreciate the whiners, so you don't find groups of that nature here and OY.

But like Doug says, just google it and you will find plenty of whiners. Mr. Sleaze and his team of attornies have done their best to beat them down, but they are still there.

There should be some kind of westgate owners support group here so we can cry on eachothers shoulders now that we are stuck with them.

[jsharlan Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jsharlan]

I have an II account, I was just hoping to exchange thru westgate themselves and save myself having to pay to renew my II membership this year.


PS. Question for other owners, do I have to have a reservation to exchange my week within a westgate resort? When I called last night I havent reserved my home resort week this year, but the operator didnt mention about needing to do it before exchanging.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

You should probably google to find a Wastegate Owners Group.

Somehow I was fortunate enough to have stumbled into a friendship with the lady who became Mr. S' admin assistant. I'm not quite sure how that came to be, but when we had problems, and we had plenty, I would wind up calling her. Shortly thereafter I would get a call from the precise person I needed, who could never be reached any other way.

Even after all these years I still remember her name, and the names of the people she had call. I was able to get things done to our favor that very few others have, and we were very fortunate.

Most have reported a similar experience, always getting the run-around, but they didn't have someone to call like us.

Even with that good fortune, it ultimately became a situation of spiraling costs for very little benefit, when we could do much better for much less elsewhere. That and the fact that we got harassed and abused when we stayed there. We dreaded going there, hearing the name, or seeing one of their envelopes in the mail.

At the end we had 2 full consecutive weeks and two EOY weeks. I was lucky to find a buyer for the 2 consecutive weeks (Peak summer 28 & 29) because that was exactly their annual vacation time, and a buyer for one of the EOY. We got a pittance for them.

The last EOY I gave to charity.

Now that the sleaziness has been confirmed, and more than once, we're glad we got out. As I've posted recently, we still get illegal, unsolicted phone calls saying they are calling about our Wastegate timeshare, so they sell lists, too.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I have an II account, I was just hoping to exchange thru westgate themselves and save myself having to pay to renew my II membership this year.


PS. Question for other owners, do I have to have a reservation to exchange my week within a westgate resort? When I called last night I havent reserved my home resort week this year, but the operator didnt mention about needing to do it before exchanging.

II has specials quite often lately. You can renew three years for the price of two. We received one recently so ask them if they have a special for you. They can only say no.

I don't know anything about Wastegate but I have read that they have a very nice ski resort somewhere. They don't seem to treat their timeshare owners well and that will backfire one day as the word will get out.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Yes, one person has been on the forums I am familiar with saying he likes their Park City resort.

Kinda funny, yesterday I was sorting through insurance policies, those little accident and dismemberment ones you get with credit cards and affiliations. I had about a dozen going back 20 years, and many are administered by the same company(ies) at the same toll-free numbers. They can look you up by name and address.

I still have one through II!

I don't know anything about Wastegate but I have read that they have a very nice ski resort somewhere.