Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:14/11/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Since we've owned, we have NEVER used this timeshare. We were given a general explanation of how to use our points. Many vital details were omitted from the presentation. We feel that those details would have altered our decision to make this purchase. We have tried numerous times to reach out to learn more about our timeshare and how to use it, however, the only response we have ever received was the offer to purchase more points.
  ** ******** ** ***** ** **** **** * *********** ****** ** *** ****** *** ** ****** ****** *** *** ******** ********* ** ****** ****** ******* ** *** ****** *** **** ** ****** ** ** *** ** ****** **** *** ******** ********** ***** ** **** **** ****** ** *** **. We know that there are better vacation options available elsewhere and at a better cost. We explained all of this to member services and they have refused to have our situation reviewed by upper management unless we pay them. *** **** ** ** *** **** ** *** ******* ** *** *** ******* **** *** ********* *** ** **** ***** **** *** ***** ** **** ** **** ***** ****. We need our concerns and request reviewed by upper management so we can know what the resolution will be before paying any more to Vitality Vacation.

  Business Response

  Date: 29/11/2022

  Good afternoon *** and *******, sorry that you have not had your request for a managers review answered but as I can see in your last email thread the Manager of Member Services was saying that your account would need to be brought current - however she also suggested that you attend a Member webinar which is a short, light education session on the ******** ************* website and how you can best utilize your points.  I can understand that if you have been unable to use the program thus far that you would be looking for help and possibly hesitant about paying more, however the membership contract binds you to the usage fees annually as these are every members share of the resort upkeep, common expenses, insurance, taxes, property management etc.  When members reach out to the resort, if they have had any change in their lives we are more than happy to work with them on payment plans/installments or skipping a year of usage if that is what is needed.  I can see that your 2017 usage fees were paid in your purchase but then you did not pay 2019/2020/2021/2022 and now 2023 is also past due.  We completely understand that through 2020 & 2021 members were not able to use their vacation membership in most cases so the company has been extending the vacation credits and working with lots of families on interest free installment plans if that is needed - so in the end everyone gets the vacation time that they paid for, despite not being able to use it in those 2 years.  In your case you stopped paying a full year before the pandemic hit, I cannot see any emails or notes in your account to say that you reached out to the us for help in any way.  

  Your complaint references the company asking you to spend more money - you agreed to come up to the resort on a free (or heavily discounted) stay and the condition of that basically free stay was to attend a Fractional ownership sales presentation.  Our resort sells Vitality vacation memberships and we also sell deeded real estate, many of our members move from a Vitality membership to the deeded real estate product but only when or if the time is right for them.  The  manager that you have been dealing with most recently has invited you to attend a new member session with our of our member services agents.  That is not a sales presentation, it is a helpful option for members that just bought or need a refresh on the benefits and privileges given with their memberships. I realize that you say you may have also attended on of those but it cannot hurt to do it again, especially if you have not vacationed in a few years, there are likely some changes or updates that may interest you - and even if that is not the case, it will remind you how to utilize your program.  There are approx 7000 Vitality members, many of them are families that are using this program to take more affordable vacations in nicer accommodations then they might otherwise do on their own.  
  We can appreciate that folks sometimes have a change in their circumstances and we try to work with each family if that is the case.  Unfortunately in this case I cannot be sure if we were given the opportunity to talk about installments or other options - it appears to me as if you just stopped paying.  Hence why the accounts have been sent to a 3rd party collection agency.  I can see numerous calls and email correspondence to you regarding the outstanding fees, encouraging you to reach out to us before we had to use a collection company - we do everything to avoid that since it is not good for us or you but at a certain point, delinquent accounts have to be passed on to be collected.  

  I can see that you got 2 free vacation weeks as an incentive with your purchase, plus you were entitled to vacation time annually, corresponding with your usage fees.  I can work with you on cashing in those incentives, we would prefer that you use the Dream weeks for travel but we could discuss a monetary amount for those if you are not in a position to travel.  I could also make the exception for you to use the Dream weeks here locally, again - only if travelling further afield is not in the cards right now.  I am sure you bought this membership with the best of intentions for your family to experience some great times and memories, I would highly encourage you to think about that again and see how we can get the money part back on track.  You are welcome to call the resort if you like or send an email to set up a call, ultimately we will have to clear up the outstanding balance with the collection companies but we can discuss what the plan would be once that is taken care of and there may be a way that you could settle with the collection agency for a slightly lesser amount than what is due based on your circumstances.  So the plan would be to come to an agreement on that but you know that the resort will still honour your purchase incentive free weeks as well as some or all of the past years of time.  We do not want you paying for something that you are not using, we will help you use it.  As mentioned, we have a revised New Member Webinar and team that assists our new members, I would want you to start back at the beginning with them to get re-oriented with the membership.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/12/2022

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: We are not interested in learning more, because as we've stated previously, each time we sought out help to use our membership, we were pushed to buy more points. It's a ******* cycle that needs to stop. *** ********* ****** ** *** ***** ** *** ****** ** **** ************ *** **** ************ *** ****** *** ****** *** *** ********* ** *** ******** **** ** ** ********* ** ***** *** * ********* **** ** ***** **** ***. We cannot be convinced to remain owners, so we need a solution to part ways.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  *** ***