When I posted my TRUE experiences at Westgate Resorts in Orlando Florida of April 3, 1998, I got hundreds of email messages from readers all over the world that had similar stories.
I contacted the Florida Better Business Bureau on May 24, 1998. They were at: 1011 N Wymore Road, Suite 204, Winter Park, Florida 32789-1736. You can visit the Central Florida Better Business Bureau Website. Peggy McCormick was assigned to the case and on June 3, 1998 she wrote a letter to the company in charge of Westgate Resorts.
On June 5th, 1998, Carole Hayes from the CFI parent company responded. This is her response. Note that her letter incorrectly named Ms. McCormack as the filer of the complaint.
Dear Ms. McCormack:
We are in receipt of your letter regarding a complaint filed with your agency by Ms. Elizabeth McCormack. Please allow us to respond on behalf of Central Florida Investments.
As a company doing business in the Orlando area for over 25 years, we have always been committed to providing a consistent, quality vacation experience for all of our owners and guests. This commitment extends throughout every aspect of our company, including the our [sic] sales presentations.
Our sales staff is selected from hundreds of applicants. They are then thoroughly trained in both product knowledge and customer courtesy. The sales presentation is admittedly aggressive and persistent and we apologize if Ms. Shea was offended. We are, however, justifiably proud of our staff and believe that they contribute significantly to our unprecedented success in both the local business community and the international timeshare industry.
Our invitations specify a 90 minute tour time. Beyond the 90 minutes, a guest is welcome to leave the property. We have numerous exits from which to do so.
As Ms. Shea gives us no names as to who offended her, we are not able to investigate further.
I have a few comments about this letter. First, it says we should have just left after 90 minutes. We continuously TRIED to leave WITH OUR TICKETS. They refused to give them to us. As we held up our end of the bargain, I find it amazing that their retort is that we should have left without our tickets.
Second, every person we talked to was signing off on our presence. WE did not get ANY copies of these records. We barely got our tickets. THEY kept all that paperwork, so if anyone should have known who was involved, THEY should have. Why would they have had to get names from me?
This was the only real response made from Westgate despite me writing back to complain again. They considered the matter resolved with this letter. On December 31st 1998 they sent a letter saying "we considered the matter resolved" and referencing the June 5th letter.
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