JEJ Never Buy a Timeshare at a Direct Sale
Westgate Timeshare Resort Issues



Date of Incident: 8/17/2003

Your timeshare experience with Westgate was as awful as ours was. The ONLY defense I have toward Westgate is that it's not the only place that sells timeshare that treats people like that. Other places are just as bad!!

My husband and I have gone to several timeshare presentations (sometimes for the tickets, and most recently to seriously purchase a condo for 2 weeks at Westgate). We travel every year, mostly to Florida, and we usually stay at Westgate. You're right, it is a gorgeous place, however, the service stinks, and several of the people that work there can be very rude and inconsiderate most of the time. Since I have vacationed there about 5 times out of the last 6 years, we pretty much know how the place operates and most of what goes on there. The last time that we were there, we were invited to listen to the all popular 90 minute timeshare presentation, and since we've been traveling there often, we were seriously considering it. Both my husband and I have our own businesses in sales, and I could not imagine ever treating anyone the way those sales people who sell timeshare treat others. They would go through any lengths to sell you a week, even if it means lying to a person, and treating them horribly. My husband and I promised ourselves that we would NEVER go through another timeshare experience again, even if they were giving away the first week for free.

We found that dealing with the original sales people wasn't too bad, in fact some could be very kind, however, when it looks like they can't make the sale, and they direct us to their superior, that's when the unbelievable rudeness begins. It's like a nightmare. All we had said was that we wanted to think about it to make sure that we wanted to go through this route. They just kept putting the pressure on. They could not accept anything we had said to them, and frankly we were getting tired of it since it seemed that they were only doing things for their best interest rather than ours. Finally, just like you, we said that if they can't handle the decision we've make by having us think about it, then our answer will have to be "no". By saying "no" to purchasing their timeshare, they have made us feel dumb for not purchasing, and that we were not worth talking to and that we've just wasted their precious time (even though they had taken more than 3 hours of our precious vacation), and then they simply dumped us like garbage. The ironic thing about it is that my husband and I could afford to purchase 6 weeks without financing. THEY LOST BIG TIME!!! All they had to do was give us some time to think about it. After we left them, we spoke to others about the timeshare, and we learned many interesting facts about why we should not buy from and timeshare salespeople.

My only advice to anyone who is considering purchasing a timeshare week is to do your homework, AND NEVER PURCHASE FROM THOSE SALESPEOPLE. You can purchase a week from those who are selling through the Century 21 in Orlando, Florida or off of e-bay for a small fraction of the cost. You would get everything going that route that you would get from the salespeople at the timeshare (even though they will try desperately to talk you out of it and lie about the reasons why you shouldn't purchase from a real estate agency).

My husband and I are grateful that you have taken action toward warning fellow consumers. We felt just as you and your boyfriend did, and it's not a good feeling. We truly believe that you were not exaggerating about your experience at your timeshare presentation, because we went through something similar. We hope that many people will take a close look at your web site before they are pressured into purchasing something they may regret later. We will NEVER go to another timeshare EVER, no matter what they are giving away. We are worth too much to have to deal with that garbage!!! And so were you!!

Thank you for caring.

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