Original Message:
Re: Assessment by Fairfield's Sea Oaks Resort, Edisto Island (by Joe L.):
It all comes down to GREED. There is NO Excuse for these 'Special Assessments'. We, as timeshare owners, pay PLENTY of money on a yearly basis through our Maintenance Fees to manage the resorts, and all that is necassary, AND have PLENTY of money left over to put into a fund for future repairs/replacements. The average Maintenance Fee for a WEEK in a Resort unit is $500 - $1000. If you multiply that by only 50 weeks per year, on the LOW side that is $25,000 PER UNIT PER YEAR! Now, multiply $25,000 times the number of units your resort has, and you see the MILLIONS of dollars they are making EVERY YEAR on the maintenance fees. Yes, they have to pay the staff for cleaning, reservations, amenities, etc... but there is NO EXCUSE for not taking at least $100 per year of the Maintenance fees and placing in a 'Special' Repair/Replacement fund for the Resorts' future repairs.
This is the first I have heard of a Fairfield Resort doing this! I have both Fairfield AND other resorts. One of my other resorts charged a $1000+ 'Special Assessment' in 2006, and I was LIVID!, BUT that resort had a Lower than average Maintenance fee each and every year. Fairfield on the other hand has a MUCH higher Maintenance fee than ANY of my other fixed weeks properties. Your notification of a FAIRFIELD resort starting these 'Special Assessments' REALLY CONCERNS ME since I already pay RIDULOUSLY high fees for the weeks I own at Fairfield. We, as Fairfield Owners, need to band together and get to the bottom of these special assessments. Are there ANY OTHER Fairfield Owners that have had to pay any Special Assessments in the past? If so, please let us know the following: What year you were assessed?, What location you own?, and How much was the 'Special Assessment'? Thanks! Let's get to the bottom of this and see if there is anything we can do about this! Joe