Manhattan Club Lawsuit

my opinion:

the reservation time extension request should be sent to TMC BOARD OF DIRECTORS, both management directors and owner directors (non-sponsored) with a copy to the TMC reservation department. consider referencing your specific reason for the extension, i.e, the specific requirements of owners' and employees' health, safety and welfare as specified by the CDC regulations regarding the CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

Thank you

Well I guess it is time to share my story. I purchased a 1 bedroom unit in 2006. Enjoyed the 7 nights a year for about 5 years and after moving to Colorado from Princeton decided I had enough of Manhattan. I started trading my 1 week for points with RCI and after 10 years and over 15 vacations to resorts all over the country, sometimes making use of the points for 2 or 3 bedroom units or two individual studio units I became tired of RCI slowly increasing the resort fees. I split the RCI points with another couple we travel with and collectively my 10 years with RCI cost me an average of ~$120.00 /night including the TMC fee, the RCI membership fee and the RCI resort fee's. I started reading the Redweek Forum about five years ago and for the most part it provided great comic relief. I don't understand how everyone feels the need to restate how they feel they have been victims of fraud and were cheated out of their investment every time they post a comment. Did you really think the timeshare was an investment, instead of just a purchase? I have never seen one resell for any amount anywhere near its original selling price. Nor would I have expected to. On May 2nd, I received the TMC bill for past owed annual fees in the amount of $7000.00 plus. I filed it away. Last week I received the offer to sell the unit back to TMC for $100.00 and I signed on the dotted line and returned it immediately. By comparison I own a 2 bedroom condo timeshare in Vail, purchased it in 1981 for $1700.00. The annual fees have skyrocketed from $270.00 to $320.00..

Life is good.

roger s, your "story" is interesting, personal, resourceful and with strategies for other timeshare owners to consider. you apparently had the time (and perhaps the timeshare ownership maneuvering ability) to help you ease out of a financially poor investment at TMC.

"Did you really think the timeshare was an investment, instead of just a purchase?" YES, most of us accepted the fraudulent sales department's investment pitch which led us to believe that this purchase was, indeed, a legitimate investment as well as a getaway opportunity to the BIG APPLE. and obviously, YES again, it was a purchase, as is a stock transaction that assumes an investment goal. rather than a stock investment, many TMC purchasers/owners saw it as a possible real estate investment. this real estate obviously became a poor purchase investment due to how the unscrupulous distractions of the sale were presented.

not too many stock purchasers have the expertise of their brokers/advisors. therefore, they seek investment guidance from them. also, unsuspecting TMC purchasers depended upon their real estate salesperson to advise them honestly, an admittedly big mistake based on an initial trust.

your comment about reading redweek.com providing you with "comic relief" is insensitive to owners who had misguided trust in sellers whose initial effort was to defraud us. if that scenario makes you laugh and if your motive was to gain comic relief, then your degrading need was accomplished. until then, we TMC owners will continue to show dismay and reluctance for the fraud inflicted upon us. if you accepted the fraud, perhaps you consider that even so-called white-collar crime pays.

stay healthy, and good luck in vail.

This is the first time that I have heard someone on this site speak about using their timeshare in exchange for points. The biggest misrepresentation that was made to us during the sales presentation is we were sold a "Gold Flex Point Contract" Jr. 1 bath for $37,269, which they told us we would get 74,100 points per year to use towards exchanging thru RCI to stay at hotels all over the United States and Europe. We invested in this predominately to use for staying a couple of nights at a time in other states and overseas. What they failed to tell us is that we were limited to only exchanging 25,600 points a year in hotel rooms (that equates to a 2 night stay) and none of the resorts were willing to break up a week. The balance of the points 48,500 were carried over in RCI for 3 years (at a cost to us) then were dropped if not used. Our whole purpose for buying this was not to use the timeshare in Manhattan (we were living in NY) but to use for hotel stays elsewhere after showing us a catalog with an abundance of hotels available in differtent states and countries that we were interested in visiting. Has anyone else that bought a point plan experienced this problem?

No personal disrespect was intended. That being said it is interesting to note how different each set of circumstances are. I paid $27,000.00 for the tmc unit. When I decided to trade with RCI I was getting 20,000 to 25,000 for my week. RCI definitely works best when booking a full week. I stayed in Cabo San Lucas twice, Palm Springs, Sedona, Hilton Head three times, Rockland Maine, Gatlinburg Tennessee, Upper Michigan, California three times and gulf shores in Alabama. Some of these full weeks only cost 12,000 points. My Vail condo is now only worth about $1000.00 if I could find a buyer.

Good luck with the lawsuit....

owners, the following is an email I just received from TMC:

Dear Chris

I wanted to reach out to you right away as our records indicate that you have 7 night(s) remaining that expire on 8/14/2020.

Please contact us via phone at 800-891-3570 so we can assist you with your reservations or answer any Ownership questions you may you have. Please contact us at your earliest convenience as we have limited availability. Member Service Specialists are available Monday-Friday 9 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 9AM to 1 PM.

We value your Ownership and look forward to speaking with you soon!

We encourage you to visit your owner website and stay connected.

Your owner website www.tmcny.com is your connection to us!

Thank you,

Member Services Dept. The Manhattan Club

112 N. Courtland St., East Stroudsburg, PA 18301

200 West 56th St. New York, NY 10019

T: 800.891.3570 F: 212.453.8107

the following is my response:

to Timeshareboard, Patricia, BBB174@aol.com, jdunphytmcny, Jean-Marc, Steve, becky, reservations

i have (within the past 2 weeks) contacted TMC reservations dept and TMC board of directors, management and non-sponsors, to determine the CDC-required extension reservation of usage time due to the life and death COVID-19 PANDEMIC. i expect that the decision has been made to offer a generous reservation time extension to TMC OWNERS.

please inform me of this reservation extension decision which i assume will be available to at least the end of december, 2020.

i appreciate your thoughtful, appropriate, necessary and required consideration.

a timely response is expected. thank you.

chris

You did good, Chris. Persistence paid off. Guess I need to revisit the expiration of my 2 penthouse weeks.. One is fixed in early December but my floating one is due to expire in August, perhaps. I know I received notification regarding payment of my maintenance fees. I haven't paid them yet - have you paid yours?

here's my email to TMC and TMC'S subsequent response:

to Timeshareboard, Patricia, BBB174@aol.com, jdunphytmcny, Jean-Marc, Steve, becky, reservations

i have (within the past 2 weeks) contacted TMC reservations dept and TMC board of directors, management and non-sponsors, to determine the CDC-required extension reservation of usage time due to the life and death COVID-19 PANDEMIC. i expect that the decision has been made to offer a generous reservation time extension to TMC OWNERS.

please inform me of this reservation extension decision which i assume will be available to at least the end of december, 2020.

i appreciate your thoughtful, appropriate, necessary and required consideration.

a timely response is expected. thank you.

chris

Gabrielle Dzwonkowski May 22, 2020, 10:54 AM (23 hours ago)

Good Morning,

Thank you for contacting Member Services. Please contact us directly at 800-891-3570 in regards to your inquiry about your usage extension. We are available until 5PM today.

Thank you,

Gabrielle Dzwonkowski

Member Service Specialist

200 West 56th St. New York, NY 10019

T: 800.891.3570 F: 212.453.8107

cid:image001.png@01D42B4C.2970BC70

Electronic communication disclaimer:

From: chris Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 8:24 PM To: reservations <reservations@ManhattanClub.com>; Timeshareboard <timeshareboard@manhattanclub.com>; Patti Soltys <patti.tmcny@gmail.com>; Robert Ballot <bbb174@aol.com>; jdunphytmcny@outlook.co

NOTE:

there was no EMAIL RESPONSE to my request for a reservation time extension. instead, TMC's reservation response to me was to phone TMC regarding my reservation time extension request. it's decidedly obvious that TMC doesn't want to leave a paper trail regarding its response. the response was from only gabrielle, member service specialist............and from not one board member who i cc'd.

this leads me to believe that TMC will allow a meager or no reservation time extension, but they will reveal that to me only by phone and not via EMAIL, which would leave a permanent record of my request and TMC's response. that's a predictable guess on my part, but seemingly par for the course regarding TMC. i'm considering a notification to the CDC's GUIDELINES requirements regarding the CORONAVIRUS/COVIS19 PANDEMIC.

further suggestions from all other affected owners?

tulipblossom wrote:

You did good, Chris. Persistence paid off. Guess I need to revisit the expiration of my 2 penthouse weeks.. One is fixed in early December but my floating one is due to expire in August, perhaps. I know I received notification regarding payment of my maintenance fees. I haven't paid them yet - have you paid yours?

Chris. FYI: According to several owners that are not part of this RedWeek site “Sal” from The Manhattan Club has called them to inform that the Board of Directors has decided not to extend reservations for this year. “Sal” has recommended that they either try to “sell” their days or go to RCI. You can imagine how the owners responded to this nonsense.

hello,

ohhh, yes, the famous (in my opinion infamous) "sal" aka a board member, SALVATORE REALE.

i had many unpleasant conversations with sal. in particular, during the devastating hurricane sandy, i had to cancel a reservation about 75 hours rather than the required 72 hours prior to the actual reservation. i live on long island where from there and throughout most of ny state and the tri-state area, fallen trees and other debris, including house roofs, blocked many roads, primary and secondary, and rail tracks (i usually drive to nyc/TMC for a couple of days' stay per month...there was no way to do that). anyway, dear sal said that i did not abide by the cancellation cutoff time, therefore i would be charged the usual cancellation fee. about an hour later, mayor bloomberg (at the time) declared a state of emergency. good ol' sal quickly changed his disgraceful cancellation "ruling" fee.

the current PANDEMIC has far worse effects than hurricane sandy, and sal and his board's nonsensical, insenitive and, i assume illegal decision must be overturned to suit the severity of this devastating health issue. action must be taken to have TMC take the necessary coronavirus health risks addressed appropriately. owners must be offered extended reservation time, at least until the end of december, 2020 for owners within the timeframe affecting usage of their legally-deserved reservation time without the risk of health and possibly related coronavirus death.

i will write (not call) another email requesting a reservation time extension, due to the PANDEMIC, and request an email response.

any one of us who have upcoming reservations that are or will be affected by the PANDEMIC should email TMC requesting appropriate individual time extensions and ask them to EMAIL their response.

if that results in negative effects such as the "sal phone call" described above, those of us affected should then contact the CDC HEALTH/SAFETY GUIDELINES ABOUT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND ABOUT WHEN IT WILL BE A SAFE TIME TO GATHER MORE THAN 10 STRANGERS AT TMC. consider getting into one of TMC's elevators and practicing social distancing to the 33rd floor! WE DESERVE THE TIME EXTENSION DURING THESE DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES. it is unconscionable not to accept and agree to our request for this extension.

i have a mega hard time with sal's snide, unscrupulous and unreasonable suggestion that we....... "sell” their days or go to RCI........ is he trying to sell a subscription to RCI in addition to being totally unreasonable and irresponsible? further consideration should be made by affected owners to notify mayor de blasio and governor cuomo of these totally unsafe TMC's health actions. i realize that they both have more important issues to deal with, but this problem could affect us owners very adversely healthwise. keep in mind that there are between 14,000 and 18,000 of us both domestic and foreign. if TMC prefers to have its name and reputation poorly reviewed by travel sites, it's their poor judgement that will prompt the unpleasant and irresponsible description of its accommodations, especially due to disregarded considerations for current health issues.

kevin631 wrote:

Chris. FYI: According to several owners that are not part of this RedWeek site “Sal” from The Manhattan Club has called them to inform that the Board of Directors has decided not to extend reservations for this year. “Sal” has recommended that they either try to “sell” their days or go to RCI. You can imagine how the owners responded to this nonsense.

hello,

perhaps more owners should subscribe to redweek.com. it would be helpful if more did or if they quit, come back. but, by the response or non-response noted on this forum, owners seemed to have (for want of a better description) GIVEN UP. if that's the case, why should others of us carry the ball and make various recommendations regarding our many legal rights (totally disregarded by TMC) and various suggestions on how to conquer them, without a response? it seems (somewhat understandably) that many are sick and tired of being beaten down by TMC, and have given up trying. you appear willing to let TMC be the scum winners they have become known to be. there is little good to be found among any of the members of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS, managerial or non-sponsored

lady and gentleman owners, if that's the situation you subscribe to, good luck and health bestowed on you all.

Chris, just because we don't write everyday on the forum, doesn't mean we have given up. We know it takes time and you make enough comments (almost daily) for all of us. At times, this appears to be your own personal forum and that is what it should be renamed to.

My husband and I have owned our timeshare for 20 years. We have a reservation for July 1 to July 8, and with the present circumstances and our at-risk ages, we won’t be going. Our contract is up on 7/31. I called member services, and I emailed all board members AND member services, asking for an extension on our contract or our maintenance fees to be carried to the next contract. The phone call was returned, and we were told there would be no extension or carryover. My husband asked her to send her response in email form, and she did. Tomorrow I will contact the Mayor’s office AND my attorney.

cliff,

"At times, this appears to be your own personal forum and that is what it should be renamed to." that's quite a snide remark.

my remarks are meant to be helpful for other redweek responders' consideration. i claim no fame or expertise nor do i want a forum renamed for me.

this redweek.com forum, MANHATTAN CLUB LAWSUIT, was created for all of us owners who adhere to the fact that we were defrauded by TMC and seek appropriate remedies regarding that issue. i merely offer my ideas toward that end.

all, of course you included, are encouraged to consider adding helpful advice as appropriate.

welcome to MANHATTAN CLUB LAWSUIT.

be healthy and well.

We have weeks to use and yesterday called to schedule a week in early May of 2021. We were told, "There is no availability. Sorry." We've always loved staying at the club but have just about had it. I feel we've been lied to and treated so unfairly. I feel helpless. I'd like to stand outside the entry wearing a sandwich board!

I suggest EVERYONE inundate the AG forvNY state with complaints about TMC issues and cc the governor’s office!

Chris, sorry that wasn't being totally fair. I don't think it is also fair to think that everyone has given up, because they don't do daily messaging on the redweek forum "Manhattan Club lawsuit". I purchased my first (of three) MC timeshares in 1996 and have been a member of redweek years before then. What MC did to us is criminal, I agree 100%. I know you are trying to be proactive in sharing your thoughts and ideas on the website. I do keep up with website forum, usually every few days or so. To be fair, you do have considerable more comments than everyone else, and I get your passion. But, so much of it is rehashing everything you have said earlier- many times over and over. Hopefully, others will have an opportunity for comments also. Be safe!

..........super idea. be sure to remind the current nysag, leticia james, of the last disastrous "settlement" "won" by the former nysag, eric schneiderman. i think, if anything, she'd prefer a better outcome than the last one. and yes, cc the govs office.

BUT we need to be mindful of the covid-19 issue which takes precedence over our complaints. however, read earlier comments about reservation time extension in connection with the coronavirus. my understanding is that TMC won't budge in our favor.

rosemaryg64 wrote:

I suggest EVERYONE inundate the AG forvNY state with complaints about TMC issues and cc the governor’s office!

got your gist, cliff.

by all means, i am proactive, and often wordy, but all in the context of offering some considerations to our fellow owners who are continuously caught up in the TMC FRAUD. if we don't OFTEN try to give new perspective to solutions to TMC issues, no new ideas for mitigating TMC's fraud will come forth.

by no means do i apologize for offering my suggestions here. if readers object to them or don't wish to follow them, that is their choice and left with whatever consequences follow.

i do ask that if other owners have ideas that we might not have thought of, to combat TMC's treatment, they should display these ideas here. as you implied, i do not own this thread of redweek.com. i only contribute ideas herein.

i ask that others, perhaps with ideas sounder than mine, come forth and share their ideas which may prove to be very helpful to us all. i hope we're all up to that.