Westgate Resorts


Country United States
State Florida
City Kissimmee
Address 4000 westgate blvd
Phone 407.396.4500
Website www.westgateresorts.com

Westgate Resorts Reviews

  • Jul 24, 2015

I want to add my voice to the dissatisfied Westgate owner. Let me tell you my story. I brought into Westgate Town Center after one of those 3 day promotional offers. Originally, I brought into the 3 bed room lockoff every other year (or something to that effect). The unit was actually very nice and spacious. That particular unit we enjoyed. The next year, we returned, things went down hill ever since. Never did I exspect to incur more debt than I already needed to. I met with them for a scheduled owner's breakfast to supposably to discuss any maintenance issues which was actually a front for the high powered, high pressure, fast talking sales pitch to which they eventually had to breakout the HEAVY HITTER SALES REP being that I was a hard sell. They wanted me to upgrade to a two bedroom every year at the town center but in a building that hadn't been constructed yet, but led to believe it would be in the 5000 series units where we were already.

And during this high powered, high pressure, fast talking Sales Pitch, these Jive time sales reps made claims that these units in the yet to be constructed building at the Town Center were supposed to be nicer than the unit I originally purchased. To retell how this whole fiasco went down pains me. But I was so disgusted, the next year I stayed away from Westgate and did the Marriot. So fast foward to the future, its been two years since our last stay at Slickgate.

When we (My wife and I) came down that year..... to our surpise they put us in the newly constructed 4000 series at the Town Center. WEll.....to our shock and dismay these units are no way as nice as they were hyped up to be. They did the OL- switch-a-roo on us!! These units are not as spacious as the units in the 5000 series. The closet spaces in each bedroom are a joke. They are actually free standing units that look like they came straight from Target. No wardrobe mirrors to be found no where throughout the unit. ONE(1)....ONE BATHROOM!! They eventually moved us to a unit with two bathrooms only because I had to lean on them a little but everything else remained the same.

The location of the balcony is inferior to 5000 series units. But the biggist disappointment by far was that the second bed room had BUNKBEDS!!!!! I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR BUNKBEDS!!!! Nobody at these sales pitches said anything about bunkbeds. What am I to do with bunk beds??? My son is grown, and on his own. I'm hard pressed to have any adult guests there. As far as I'm concerned, except for the amenities, the whole layout of these units are crap!!! The previous units we originally brought into are far superior.

Westgate has yet to make things right. When I was there in 2014, I reluctantly went to one of jive sales pitch meetings only to bring up the issue and to see what they were going to do, but......slick is as slick does. They want me to invest more money....AGAIN... to upgrade to a simular unit we originally brought into, something I absolutely refuse to do.

So now....I too, am stuck with a time share unit I don't particuarly care for, but at this point I have to make the best of a bad situation. So if you know like I know..... if you're open to buy into a time share and you happen to be driving on 194 east or west in kissimmee FL and you see a sign that says SLICK...oops... I mean...Westgate Resorts.....KEEP ON DRIVING!!

  • Jun 1, 2015

My wife and I visited Branson to buy a timeshare and to vacation. We liked Westgate and went through the tour.We were shown a large single bedroom with balcony which we could use every year and it connected with another bedroom which we could use every other year if we had our kids along. The first year we came expecting the large one bedroom but were put into a motel-like room. When I complained they moved us to a handicapped room. Another complaint from me finally had us moved into the room we were supposed to be in (our third day). When I finally talked to the manager he showed me our contract and it showed a small letter "d" by our timeshare unit which meant the motel room. I wasn't aware of this practice at the time of our signing, we just expected we would get the room the salesman showed us. That's the "bait and switch". He offered us the big unit if we paid more. I told him to shove his unit where the sun don't shine. $10,000 gone! Never again will I visit Branson or have anything good to say about Westgate Properties.

  • Mar 12, 2015

Over ten years ago, We had the misfortune of responding to an offer for a three or four nights, don't really recall, at Westgate Resorts, for attending a 90 minute no obigation presentation of their timeshare program. After attending the more than three hour high pressure presentation, we ended up signing the contract for a two bedroom with a loft condo (sleeps 6-8 not sure), I wont even go into the lies that we were told during the presentation, The promise of being able to exchange for anywhere in the world, which never worked out, unless you wanted to trade your luxury condo for a hotel room, after paying maintainence fees, exchange fees and Interval dues, if there was availability at all. But the simple fact that after paying off the mortgage, of over 10K. The maintenence fees are now upto over 900 dollars per year. After researching the Internet many superior properties are available for seven days for less money for the same week. So where was the value, that they promised? They basically, just take your money, and make the same money if you were to rent it outright. And now I have a contract that is indefinite, can't get out of it. If I refuse to pay, I get turned over to the collection agency. I am open to suggestions on how to get rid of this nightmare. But forget the scam artists that offer to sell your timeshare, but you have to put up $400 to $700 up front, then you never hear from them again.

My advice to anyone that reads this if you have received such an offer don't take it, if you did take it RUN after 90 mins.

DON'T BUY IT WILL BE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE. Thats my experience, take it for what its worth.

  • Feb 16, 2015

My family and I signed up for a vacation package with West Gate Town Center in Kissimmee, FL. The only stipulation was that we needed to attend a 90 minute presentation regarding time shares. The lady I was assigned to, Elizabeth, cancelled our appointment 30 minutes prior to the appointment time. Then I spent the next 4 days trying to track her down to reschedule. Once rescheduled, she showed up 45 minutes late for our meeting! No apologies or anything.

After 30 minutes of eating and being intterrogated about my vacation needs we were dismissed from the presentation. Two days later, a $650 charge showed up on our credit card bill. I called the resort and the corporate center and they flat out called me a liar. They are making up lies about the situation to justify illegally charging me the $650.

Finally, "upper management", said they would split the difference with me. I agreed, she processed it, and then gave me a confirmation number. I informed her I was going to file as many complaints as I could about this company. That's when she turned ghetto on me! Said "Oh, well you're going to do all that?! Let me just reverse this refund now then." She was recoreded and witnessed saying she was going to refund the money and then reverse the refund. This is not the way you treat people! I plan to tell everyone I know and write as many reviews as I can to let people know that these guys will get your money any way they can.

  • Feb 9, 2015

I bought a Westgate Vacation Club membership in June 2013. I was told I could book a full week (7 days) at ANY Westgate Resort. I was told the fee would be a flat $500 for a two bedroom condo. What was supposed to be a 90 minute presentation turned into 3 plus hours of a very high pressure sales pitch.

Since that time, I have not been able to book any $500 weeks because of one reason or another. Any time I call and try to, I am told they are already booked for the week. I go online to try and book as a non owner and they have rooms available at much higher rates. I've also been told that my $6,000 doesn't cover "prime vacation times" (Spring Break, Fall Break, Summer!!). I was very upfront about the fact that I'm a teacher, and the guys that sold it to me talked about getting to travel with my kids during school breaks. I specifically asked if there were any restrictions as far as times I could use the condos. They said, and I directly quote here, "No, of course not. You can use these weeks anytime at all."

I was told the last time I spoke with Westgate that I could "upgrade" my membership for 20 plus thousand MORE dollars, and then I could book whenever I wished. Ths was basically a very expensive lesson for me. I just really wish they would buy my membership back. The $6,000 I spent has gotten me nothing at all, other than a loss of faith in the general good of people.

Stay far away from any Westgate if you value your hard earned money and / or vacation time!!

  • Jan 24, 2015

My husband and I were suckered into a Westgate Resort Timeshare that was offering Free Disney tickets. Not only was it a scam that I should have saw right through from the moment I walked in, but it's a scam that works!

We were on our honeymoon when we went to Westgate in search of Free Disney tickets and walked out with a never ending nightmare! We were promised beautiful relaxing vacations at unbeatable prices, promised eye opening rates for international travel, and promised discounts equivalant to AAA discounts with rental cars, hotels, and flights. You are walked through the best-kept MODELS of rooms (these are not the actual rooms), chauffeured around like royality, treated with respect, laugh and joke; your "Westgate professional" will seem like a friend...then they will basically reach into your pocket and bank accounts, take your money, and push you face first into a mud puddle.

No, No, and NO! We have shelled out thousands of dollars over the past year to Westgate and have NOTHING to show for it! We tried to rent a car with our "2000 points" and were informed that the location, date, return location for the rental, blah, blah, blah were not in the "point plan". Later we tried to do this again and were informed that you can't even use your points on car rentals.

We tried to book a cruise at their "unbeatable owner discount" prices and it was MORE than buying the tickets straight from Carnival!! How can you call something a "deal", "discount", "Benefit" when its thousands of dollars more than I can get something right from the source?? Yes ladies and gentlemen I said THOUSANDS! The exact cruise ship, exact destination, exact dates, etc was THOUSANDS of dollars more on Westgate than on Carnival.

Ontop of your monthly rate you have to pay yearly "fees" that are about $400 a year or more!!. We have paid more to Westgate in a year than in ALL OF THE VACATIONS THAT WE HAVE TAKEN PUT TOGETHER!

Then, of course, if you want to get out of the hell hole they continue to put you through more hell. "You can't sell until someone buys", "You can't just give it back", ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? So you lie and deceive to suck thousands of dollars out of people who (under the impression) just want somewhere nice for their family. You are the worst type of people! I can't believe you even have employees, knowing that you THEIVES are just stealing from hard working people to pad your bank accounts, I would NEVER work for such a HORRIBLE company!

Anyone who may be thinking about Westgate...RUN and RUN fast!! You will spend 100x less just paying for your vacations as you take them! Not only do I want to shove this "Deed" back in their faces but I want ALL of our heard earned money back. We have not used the resort a SINGLE time, becuase, like I said, it was WAY CHEAPER through Carnival, Royal Carribean, Enterprise, Orbitz, and so on.

P.S. If you decline and the Westgate employee "Really tries to work out a deal for you" (and they will) by talking to a manger or the person in charge and they come back with a lower price and you decline so they talk in private some more and come back to you with an even lower number, and you decline again and they come back with an even LOWER number...DO NOT GIVE IN!!!!! They came back to us 5 times with lower and lower amounts, becuase I knew something wasn't right so I kept declining, until that 5th time... we gave in and we've probably spent 5x that inital amount. JUST WALK OUT!!!!

  • Jun 27, 2014

WESTGATE MYRTLE BEACH is a joke they don't pay their bills or their employees. The Myrtle Beach office os a bunch of criminal drug addicts who will say anything to get your money. The company doesn't pay it's bills or their employees. I hope every person who reads this uses your right to cancel if you have recently bought a timeshare from them. The resort has been incomplete for years because the company is going out of business. The owner is a jerkoff who has a "reality show" called "queen of Versailles" I personally wouldn't call that pig a queen but whatever. Companies like this get rich off of lies and bullshit don't buy into it and if you have be sure to cancel it.

  • Apr 22, 2014

This company lied to us multiple times to get the sale. First they told us we can write it off on our taxes, we cannot according to my accountant, he actually laughed. Second they did not tell us that breaking down our lockoff would cost $150 each time it is broken down, for us this can be $600.00 more dollars to do so. Third they did not tell us it had to be used within the year or there will be another fee to use broken down weeks the next year. Third they told us and showed us online how they help to rent the timeshares out for members. Fourth they told us that we had unconditional uses of their other resorts in the westgate family, guess what that's a lie too without paying another $150.00. This could again total another $600.00 for us to do this. Fifth they were supposed to send our paperwork to our house and they knew we were on vacation for two weeks, which is why I am sure they were going to send it to us, because you only have ten days to cancel. We never received our paperwork anyway and had to call to get it and it still took almost two weeks from when we contacted them. Sixth they said I had to take the deal right then and there or it would not be available ever again so they do not even give you the time to ask questions or research it on your own in time to cancel. Most people are on vacation for at least a week and will not spend their vacation researching the timeshare, as people have a tendency to trust professionals, but of course if they are lying to you, how are you supposed to know if it is real. Seventh they have terrible customer service as it takes days to get a response from them for anything, from the sales rep to the administration, not just one person but everyone. After we tried to speak with them reqarding this, the lady refused to give me a manager and they told me they are sorry but there is nothing they can do and that it is our responsibility to know. I don't understand how the government can protect a huge, wealthy company that is supposed to be professional and trusted to tell the truth to intentionally practice behavior regularly that deceives the average person, who is a laymen and does not know the laws, and not help us when the truth comes out. I feel that these people should be put in jail for this fraudulent behavior. I am a plumber and if I give the wrong information or do something wrong against a customer's best interest I can be sued, which is why insurance is mandatory, but timeshare companies cannot be sued successfully. I guess I should just tell my customers that everything I sell has a lifetime warranty and then when they go to validate the warranty, I tell them that thereis no warranty and they should have known better. Thousands of people go to jail every year for doing much, much less criminal activity and they can make millions of dollars on this and not even have to go to court or much less be fined. The legal system is supposed to protect not destroy people's lives by protecting illegal activity. This activity is so blatant and regularly practiced that I am amazed that nothing has ever been done about it. Buyer beware is bull if they do not tell you, a laymen, what the actual deal is you are getting. How am I supposed to know what to ask if they lied to me and left out vital information that would have allowed me to decide for real instead of based on lies. They should be fined hugely and some people should go to jail as this practice destoys people's financial futures and lives.

Write a Review about Westgate Resorts