[ 2016 ] Help with westgate timeshare

I just purchased a westgate time share for the Gatlinburg smoky mountain resort. I paid 22,000 for 4 bedroom deluxe, able to be split in units. I have until Wednesday to cancel this. I'm having second thoughts after reading things about timeshares. Any suggestions on westgate would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

Crutland said:

I just purchased a westgate time share for the Gatlinburg smoky mountain resort. I paid 22,000 for 4 bedroom deluxe, able to be split in units. I have until Wednesday to cancel this. I'm having second thoughts after reading things about timeshares. Any suggestions on westgate would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

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Did you find the rescission instructions in the secret hidden pocket in your portfolio? If so, use them immediately. The fact that they hide the instructions from you should tell you everything you need to know about them as a company.

Then spend time learning what you are getting into before buying (resale) or not.

Absolutely, RESCIND. you REALLY want nothing to do with Wastegate. They are lying thieves. You can get wonderful timeshares that will give you and yours a lifetime of great vacation memories, but not, EVER Wastegate.

If you are curious read through ant of the rescinding Westgate threads here. Use the search function in the blue stripe above.

Do it today. Don't wait until Wednesday.

Jim

This post is not about the bulletin board itself.

Moving to the Buying. Selling. Renting forum.

Do cancel as Westgate is one of the more difficult timeshares to get rid of later on. Cancel right away and then spend some time on here learning about all the different timeshare systems and find the one that is best for you. You'll be able to save thousands of dollars by buying on the resale market. You do need to cancel your current purchase first, though, as the clock is ticking.

Definitely rescind. There is no reason to pay that kind of money. We own at Westgate and love the resort and the service, BUT the resale policy is ridiculous! If you buy resale there are so many restrictions it is not easy to use.
If you like that resort you would be better off renting from an owner or use a Travelocity type service to reserve a week. except for the lack of owners perks your stay will be enjoyable.

Rescind immediately before its too late! Once your time passes you will never have this opportunity to get rid of this liability so easily again.

I bout at Westgate Smokey Mountains earlier this year and then discovered this site as soon as I got home and completed the recession. Follow the instructions exactly as spelled out in the contract.

I hear an echo, echo, echo...

I will gladly add my voice to the "rescind" chorus. Cancel this purchase immediately (and correctly) while you still can and don't go anywhere even remotely near Westgate again for any reason at any time in the future.

Let me put it in very blunt terms. You probably could not give away for free tomorrow that which you are paying $22k for today. Need I say more?

Crutland, since every poster has counselled you to rescind, just so you know there is an alternative, for many people who live in your neck of the woods, Wyndham has a large network of very nice resorts- including in the Smoky Mountains, as well as access to RCI's network of thousands of resorts. You can buy in to that system with a usable size bucket of points on the resale market for just a few hundreds of dollars, instead of $22,000!

First things first. Rescind from Westgate. NOW. Then we'll talk.

All the best....

Jim

congrats on finding us in time, you just saved $22,000 dollars =)

heres to hoping you can find the cancellation instructions in the secret pocket of the new owner binder!

TUGBrian said:

congrats on finding us in time, you just saved $22,000 dollars =)

heres to hoping you can find the cancellation instructions in the secret pocket of the new owner binder!

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Be sure to check on the CD as well. When we purchased in April we did not receive a paper copy of the rescission instructions at all. It was only in a file on the CD of documents we were given. This is their latest trick to make it even harder for you to find it in time!

Check out this thread: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73564 The address to send the rescission letter to is in post 245 and if you need to find the secret compartment in the binder, look at post 306 in that thread.

Hurry.

Jim

Run Run Run

Seven years ago my wife and I purchased a 2-bedroom and lock off with Wastegate. The worst "investment" I ever made. A year after this terrible loss of our money, we found TUG.

I agree rescind. If it's too late, you can make it work. You need to know every little rule. I am having problems with Elara/Westgateside right now. I missed a deadline to deposit with II on 9/30. I can only deposit with Westgate properties now, a much limited selection. I have owned since 2008. It has been OK till now, except for the buy in cost of over $25,000.00. What a waste!

First of all, I happen to like Westgate, but I have a vacation club, not a timeshare, and yes, you are right to be cautious about getting ripped off. When I bought my vacation club, I sweated bullets agonizing over whether I should back out during my grace period. I must have made up my mind once and for all at least 100 times before I finally decided to go through with it. I found it very difficult to find out what exactly I was getting for my money. I was constantly calling customer service and asking question, reading all the negative reviews, and looking at their website and watching YouTube videos of their resorts.

I don't know much about the timeshares, but I can tell you what happened when I agreed to convert my vacation club, which I paid $5,000.00 for, to a timeshare with an additional price of $10,000.00 and then decided I didn't want it. They told me that I couldn't do that (which was a lie) and they lowered the additional cost to $5000.00! I still decided against it, and I managed to get out of it even though they said I couldn't.

My point is, that even if you decide you want the timeshare, try rescinding anyway and see if they give you a better offer. Chances are they will. Timeshares aren't for everyone, but if you do a lot of travel, I think they actually can be worth it. Its very discouraging reading about the experiences of others, however. I would never have considered anything like this if it weren't for my cousin who owns a timeshare and actually uses it and likes it. Finding positive reviews on Westgate Resorts is very difficult to find.

If you decide to go ahead and buy, play hardball. Think about how much use you'll get out of it and if it will save you money in the long run. Also consider what to do when the day comes that you get too old to travel, but still have to pay MF.

hello, I sent in my cancellation letter to westgate in florida. I have proof of delivery. i sent it in before the 5 days givin to cancel. its been 3 weeks now and i havent recieved a response or anything from them. what should I do?

Dannyr said:

hello, I sent in my cancellation letter to westgate in florida. I have proof of delivery. i sent it in before the 5 days givin to cancel. its been 3 weeks now and i havent recieved a response or anything from them. what should I do?

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You should just wait it out patiently. Remember, they are not required to keep you informed of the process. All they are required to do is to process your rescission and issue you a full refund within 45 days. Cancellations and refunds don't usually take that long.

As long as you followed the rescission instructions to the letter and sent it within the rescission period, you have nothing to worry about. So there is no need to go calling the resort or sales people to ask. If you do, chances are they will take that opportunity to try to talk you out of rescinding. The same goes with answering your phone from unknown numbers. It could be the sales people begging or threatening you not to rescind.

As for proof of rescission, you might want to keep a close eye on your credit card activity (assuming you paid with a credit card). Your refund might show up on your CC statement.

Thank you very much. ill keep in eye on cc transactions.

When I rescinded my west gate purchase I never got ANY communication from them at all. No letters, emails, calls, nothing. Just saw the refund on my credit card statement.

And what's worse is now 2 years later I still get calls from 3rd party company that want to help me rent all my unused west gate weeks and sell my ownership in full. They clearly aren't very bright since I have no ownership to sell!

Maybe next time they call I will answer and just mess with them for a while!

Congrats for rescinding.

The calls you are getting are scammers. They bought a listing of timeshare owners and are cold calling hoping they can convince some unlucky person to fall for their scam.

O absolutely they are. That's why one of these times I'm going to answer just to mess with them!

jwalk03 said:

That's why one of these times I'm going to answer just to mess with them!

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I get those calls too long after we sold our TS. I pretend that I'm an unknowledgeable owner then start asking questions. I ask if they are licensed real estate brokers and mention that they have to be licensed brokers in order to sell TSs.

I am a Westgate owner now for 2 years. We have been unable to use it due to work schedules and unavailable times We are current on mortgage and HOA fees but are in a financial hardship and unable to afford it anymore. We want out of this TS .. the sooner the better. Any help or advice would be appreciated....

Timeshare idiot said:

I am a Westgate owner now for 2 years. We have been unable to use it due to work schedules and unavailable times We are current on mortgage and HOA fees but are in a financial hardship and unable to afford it anymore. We want out of this TS .. the sooner the better. Any help or advice would be appreciated....

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sadly as mentioned above, most WG ownerships have very little if any resale value.

best to start here with this guide:

http://www.tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_abandonment.html