New Owners

I did go to the MO attorney general and nothing was done and was told they couldn't do anything, doesn't say much for the State of Missouri. They took my parents for a wild ride and have not been able to get any help from anyone regarding the time share. My parents are in their 80's and this company took total advantage of them.

When I bought Stormy Point 2 yrs ago I was told they would sell my other timeshare within 6mos..that has not happen. I was also told that I would never have to pay yrly dues, because we could use bonus weeks..Well try and sched. bonus time there are never any openings..I am now just done after dealing with your company for 2 yrs and want just to get out of my contract and eat the cost that I have already paid but no one will help me..what I am I to do Very Unhappy

any information would be appreciated ltdnurse@att.net

If the Ag gets enough complaints about the same business they will take action. Jay Nixon, the former Ag and now governor, did something in 2008 to get some timeshare owners' money back. Go to the Missouri BBB and in your complaint state that you were lied to and tell it in as much detail as you remember. Demand a complete refund and the contract cancelled. People who have done this have gotten refunds. You can read the complaints and how they were resolved online if you check out Summerwinds Resorts. Those people who were scammed but only complain about not being able to book time are only helped to book time.

We too were not told that you cant get any reservations for the 299.00 and have tried 3x in the last 18mos to get in..We are not very happy but as of yet can not seem to find any way to get out of our contract..If you know of any please let us know as we would like to cancel as soon as possible. ltdnurse@att.net

There are people who have complained to the Missouri Better Business Bureau who have gotten refunds and the contract cancelled. You can look up the BBB on the internet. Click on the link to check out a business. Type in Summerwinds Resorts in Branson, MO. Click on Summerwinds in Branson. Scroll down to Customer Complaints Summary. At the bottom there is a link for complaint details. You can read all the complaints in the last couple of years or so. Find the ones who were issued a refund and who had their contract cancelled. I think you will find that these people said they were lied to and wanted a refund and wanted out of the contract. They described their experience in detail and were specific about what lies were told. It is worth a try to go this route. If this doesn't work, you might try to find a lawyer who will get you out of the contract because of the salesman's fraud. If they lied to get you to buy, you could press criminal charges. You might also try writing a letter to Pat Joyce, the president of Summerwinds and tell him in detail what lies the salesman told you and that you want out of the contract. I don't know if you know yet, but another lie they told you is that they can sell your timeshare. Some people can't even sell them for $1 on e-bay.

Well, this coming summer is the first chance we have to use the time share we bought three years ago, so I'm really disconcerted to read these complaints now. I, too, tried to a reserve a family week so that our entire family could take a vacation together and found out the 21 day out rule -- a rule I had not known about. Then I was told to see if I could go online and "rent" a unit. "It would be a little more money, but...." Right. Try $900 compared to $299! Then when I did find a unit available for rent the last week of June and made an offer, the owner came back with a counter -- said he called the resort and they offered him more! Talk about stabbing us in the back. I have agreed to a price, but once we are done this week, I'm thinking I'll put the damn thing up for sale. We've not been able to take advantage of any of the promos they pitched to us.

We bought under considerable pressure and a bagful of lies last March with high hopes that this would help us travel to different areas and the investment could help with costs. Of course, this was not true. We are now going to try to sell this back to Stormy Point with the info gathered here. We will take a discount just as long as we get out of this mess.

candig3 wrote:

Stormy Point Village is one of the newest developments in the area. The timeshare there is actually a 2-3 bedroom HOME not the typical condo operations you see. All complaints thru the BBB and AG are reviewed by our company and handled in a timely manner.

Candig3...We have been trying to sell our Stormy Point timeshare for several years with no success. We were told when we bought that we were in fact purchasing "vacation ownership" not a timeshare and that from that day on we would be able to stay at any hotel anywhere in the world for only $38 per night. We were also told that we would be able to purchase airline tickets for 60% off. None of this was true and we are out almost $15,000 for nothing. We have not been able to get even one discount on our travel costs! We do not even live in the US!! We live in Asia and our work takes us all over. But for us to travel back to the US to take advantage of a timeshare does not work for us, it's just not feasible. We tried selling our Stormy Point timeshare. The company that supposedly helps people sell their timeshare is another hoax. They said they could get ours sold within a few days. That was several years ago and we haven't even had an offer! We've even discounted it to less than half price. At this point we don't know what to do about it. We feel every effort we make only ends up costing us even more money. If anyone has any advice, please let us know. Thanks.

I am starting the process myself at this time. I'll be sending them a certified letter very soon.

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The Summerwinds sales rep lied to me to make the sale. They told me that they would set me up with a company (RSI) that would sell my other timeshare. "You should have no problem getting $18,000 for that property," and "We do this all the time," and "They do a good job there." the sales rep kept reassuring me that this would not be a problem. I was hesitant because I was still paying on the other timeshare, and I told the sales rep that I could not afford both payments for long. Now my savings account is depleted. I'm going broke. I never would have bought this timeshare if the sales rep had not lied to me. I have written to the BBB, MO attorney general, FTC, and MO Governor, Jay Nixon. Are there any other organizations that I can write to?

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Did you file a complaint with the BBB and tell very specifically what lies the salesman told you? They have given refunds to people who were lied to, but it needs to be lies that were not contradicted by the contract. Our salesman told us we could book hotel rooms, condos, etc at a great discount, but this is not true. He told us we could use our unit twice a year if we paid the maintenance fee, but the truth was we could use it only once every two years. He said our unit would increase in value and they would buy it back, plus uncountable other lies. You could file criminal charges with the District Attorney. I think you have to file a police report first. Or you could get a lawyer to sue them. It is against Missouri law to use misrepresentation to sell merchandise. Timeshares are considered merchandise. You can look this up in Missouri law on the internet. I would keep after the AG and the governor. Try to find other owners who will join with you to demand the AG take action or will go in with you to get an attorney. You might declare to Summerwinds that the contract is null and void because the salesman committed fraud to get you to buy; then stop making payments. It might ruin your credit for a few years, but there may be no other choice. There is something in the law about an implied covenant of good faith. A consumer has the right to depend on the person selling merchandise to describe it accurately and to assume they are telling the truth. You might research this and use this to get out of the contract. Mr. Eliott told us to write a letter to Pat Joyce (President of Summerwinds) describing in great detail our experience of misrepresentation. WE did and he gave us a refund and cancelled the contract. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Thank you for your response. I did get a call back, from Floyd, within 24 hours after making the post here and emailing all of my letters out. Floyd called me with the good news an hour or so after I left a message for Pat Joyce to call me. He said my refund is on the way, but to give him 90 days. I am considering removing / revising my posting here from two days ago. I'd like to get something in writing, some real confirmation that I am truly getting refunded. Thank you, AmyD, for your help and advise. I will keep you posted.

I am sorry to hear of you have had a hard time booking dates. Please send dates wanted with your name and contract number to info@summerwindsresorts.com. If you would like a conference call with an in-house owner service member, also that maybe arranged, so you can benefit from your ownership.

We have been a timeshare owner with Roark Resort for over 25 years and been a regular visitor to Branson. We have been very happy with Roark but not happy with RCI when trying to exchange our week because availability. We were vacationing at Roark in August of 2010 with our twin seven year old grandsons. They wanted to go to Silver Dollar City so in shopping for tickets in order to get half price tickets we would have to go to a short presentation and tour. Since we had the boys, we ask if they would be able to stay with us during the presentation and the answer was yes - LIE #1 soon as we got to the salesroom the boys were taken to a play room and out of our site. LIE #2 was the presentation would not be over two hours. We were there over 5 hours. We met sales rep Heith S. and listened to his pitch and he took us on the tour. The items that he told us to make us want to purchase was as follows: 1. We were not buying a Timeshare but a “Vacation Ownership” 2. Our week could be used at any time of the year 3. A 3 bedroom unit would always be available (we asked Heith at least 5 times) 4. Heith told us that he could get us out of our existing timeshare at Roark by selling it for $12,900 5. Heith then called RSI and the RSI representative spoke with us taking down our information and confirming that our unit with Roark would be sold within 6 months to a year at the most and Heith said that Summerwinds would pay for the listing. When we listed with RSI he stated we needed to pay the listing fee and they were very unhappy and rude when we refused. 6. Heith also stated that we could have pontoon rental for $150 a day whenever we were down on vacation. 7. Heith said that we would not have to pay our Maintenance Fee if we were not planning to use our week by letting them know to rent it out with a simple phone call, no time specifications given. 8. Heith also said that we could use “Bonus Time” which would be cheaper than the Maintenance Fee for the year. 9. Heith also told us that we could book hotel rooms, condos, etc. at a great discount anytime anywhere using our unlimited additional "Family Weeks".

Last year, 2011, when we went to use “Bonus Time” and get a 3 bedroom unit for the last part of July we were told there was none available but a 2 bedroom unit was. However, we would have to call back a month in advance of vacation and hopefully a 2 bedroom unit would still be available. At that time, no one said that we should use our “Vacation Ownership” since it had not be placed in the Reimbursement Program (which we were under the impression that it had been) so we paid $75.00 a night from July 27 to July 30, 2011 which equaled $239.57 with taxes. While we were at Stormy Point during the above mention time, we went to rent a pontoon boat and were told none were available. Our losses for 2011 included our Maintenance Fee $469.00 and loss of our “Vacation” for a whole week. This year, 2012, we attempted to “book” our week online for our 3 bedroom unit for the Week of July 8-15 and none was available. We were under the impression it would be available at any time. So we then called Floyd Elliott, to check on availability and this is when he stated we would have to “book” a year in advance. Also when we tried to put our week in the Reimbursement Program we were told it could not be done since we had not done it soon enough. So this year, 2012, we lost everything – our Maintenance Fee $469.00 and our week of “Vacation”. Also, this year we took a trip to the east coast and tried to "book" a 3 bedroom condo using our "Family Weeks" through Summerwinds and said nothing was available and ask if there was a discounted price on hotels and they said they would check and get back with us. Never did. So the 2 main factors for the reason of buying into this “Vacation Ownership” was the selling of our existing Timeshare at Roark and being able to have the flexibility to use our week anytime at any notice. So there is NO way that we would have agreed to this… since we cannot plan our lives a year in advance as well as own 2 TIMESHARES. We sent this information to Floyd Elliott and he did not respond to one of our concerns. Now we are out $25,384.00 and have nothing. So we are taking your advice and send our complaints to the BBB and to the Missouri Attorney General and to whatever else it takes to get our money back.

Wow, this is so familiar I had to comment again.

Heath was our salesman too. It was all lies. Our child was whisked away to play out of sight.

Thankfully, I smelled a rat and at 5:30 we finally left. I believe the presentation started at 1:00 or 1:30.

He just kept saying we could afford it and I knew that we couldn't. He didn't care that we couldn't afford it of course, he just wanted his commission.

How do people that work at this company sleep at night? I'm really curious.

thanks for support. If you want to read something funny go to ARDA code of ethics that Pat Joyce is a member of.

I was one of the few lucky ones. I did get my money back from them, and I had a similar situation. I took one of those promo trips to Branson. I owned a Wyndham timeshare and was not satisfied with it, that's how they reeled me in. It is illegal to LIE to make a sale in the state of Missouri. I would keep after them, send a letter to Floyd Elliott and Pat Joyce. Go to RSI's website and take a look at ALL the property listings, they are YEARS old on that list. Try to be specific about what you were lied to about. I would not bother listing all the petty things like whisking the kids away or the presentation lasting longer than it should. One of the BIG things they lied to you about is getting $12,900 for your first timeshare. Timeshares sell on eBay for a dollar, even at hot locations like WIS Dells. One dollar! I watched the sale, and printed it out. As far as not getting your pontoon or 3 BR condo... it always says 'based on availability' in the fine print, so again, I wouldn't bother with the petty stuff. They have their butts covered on a lot of those issues. Pick out one or two of the most bold faced lies and roll with that. Good luck to you. I am sure it was with the help of fellow posts on this forum that I was able to get my point across and was able to get my money back. My big issue was that I was ASSURED that my other timeshare would sell, for $18,000 would you believe!!! I told them that I was still making payments on that loan and could not afford payments on both for long. After I was near the brink of bankruptcy, Floyd and Pat finally agreed to refund my money. Good luck to you. I wish I could broadcast to people early enough to JUST DONT DO IT! Get your money back within the first 5-7 days!

I have been dealing with the financial stress of the "bait & switch" scam Summer Winds also did to me on the selling of my old time share at the remarkable price to cover the costs of my Summer Winds purchase. They definately have a scam going here. This person called "Ed" is also a part of this well rehearsed, practiced slick pitch of their's to trap people into into financial debt. This business has no consicous & obviously the State of Missouri doesn't care about businesses in their State who abuse the elderly, disabled, tourists and any one else who Summer Winds gets their hooks into to drawn into this scam. It has been 8 months with me struggling under now 2 high interests loans & not a bid in sight for my old time share! It is obvious that this business believes in screwing their customers!

We are still in process of bbb and will go to what ever level it takes to get our monies back. Has anyone filed a complaint with the ARDA which Mr Joyce is so proud he's a member of?