Can't afford to keep timeshare anymore! Westgate want to take legal Action

[outatime80 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close outatime80]

Hi All

Need a little help please, I have a timeshare at Westgate in Orlando that I can't afford to keep anymore, its a great time share but the way things are I just can't afford to keep paying the mainternace fee of $900 each year.

I spoke to Westgate who were chasing money and told them I can't afford it anymore hoping they would take it back but they said they will send a hardship package to me.

Anyway I have the hardship package but they want to know all sorts of personal and private information like how much I earn and bank details and statements to show I can't afford it anymore which I am not really happy about giving to them. They said they will take legal action against me if I don't pay and it could stop me coming into the US in future. I don't live in the US I live in England so I don't have any social security numbers or things like that.

I just don't know what to do right now, I can't afford the timeshare, can't afford legal action and can't afford not to be blocked from America as I have family there who I visit now and again.

Can anyone please offer any advice for me?

Thank you

Stu

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

They can not stop you from coming into the US. They can how ever damage your Credit score. Since you live out of the US that is the most they can do.

[Steamboat Bill Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Steamboat Bill]

Offer it for sale on eBay for $1 or here for free. I am sure someone will want it.

What location, what season, what size unit do you own?

What did you pay and do you owe any more payments?

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Westgate is perhaps the worst outfit in timesharing. They cannot stop you from coming into this country. Refuse to give them any personal information and don't believe anything they say unless you can confirm it from another source.

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Anyway I have the hardship package but they want to know all sorts of personal and private information like how much I earn and bank details and statements to show I can't afford it anymore which I am not really happy about giving to them.

Thank you

Stu

Stu,

I also live in the UK so am all too keenly aware of the financial problems some people are experiencing. Leave the actual company out of the equation for a moment because their reputation does precede them somewhat.
The bottom line is that you are claiming to be unable to fulfil a contractual commitment so it isn't unreasonable for the other party to want hard evidence to support your claim.
With the markets as they are it's entirely probable that some will see it as an opportunity to plead poverty to escape their commitments, even without justification. Any company has an obligation to its members/shareholders and can't simply accept every statement on face value.
Please note that I am not in any way trying to suggest that your situation is not exactly as you describe it and wish you well in gaining a resolution to the problem.

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

Wow, would the King of Sleaze and his band of merry thieves be telling 50000 folks a year that they have the greatest thing since sliced bread, and at the same time claim that one of their own might attempt shadiness to get rid of it?

Even if that was the case, the shadiness of an owner trying to jettison their Wastegate would pale to the shadiness employed hundreds of times daily to get owners.

But, Wastegate is no stranger to the courtroom, That is just the way they do business, expecting to be there sooner of later, normally sooner, if not for business reasons then for a certain someone's personal excesses.

Surely they do not have a stranglehold on British citizens, do they? I would show force . . . tell em you can't pay any more . . . they can take your week back or not, and let it go at that.

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

IMHO, it speaks volumes that Wastegate will not assist owners who want out.

It is a potential cash cow for them, reselling weeks they don't own, for a fee, and even as greedy as they are in turning everything in sight into a cash cow, that's one they will not touch.

The third rail of timeshare.

Why?

Because it would confirm their lies.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Now here we really could get baffled, because Westgate has tried to exercise right of first refusal (even on units that didn't have it). Maybe if you sent them paperwork showing that someone would buy your week for $ 1, they would try the ROFR ploy.

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

Good idea . . . but need to have a real buyer, don't they.

It's been said before, but one of the cash cow items that Wastegate added was a transfer fee, just after we jettisoned our last link to the sleaze. That way they opened a toll booth for those leaving, without having to admit their lies.

In doing so they told their owners, "We will not help you, but we will collect a fee from you when you help yourself."

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

Ooh, at last report, they were working on the King's money, since lines of credit had disappeared. The King may not be willing to waste his money on ROFR.