A phrase that is often quoted to me by Irene is “timeshare never sleeps”, there is always something going on, today we have a few updates and have a look at what some other information websites have been publishing. We begin with Westgate and the “Hostages” protest.
At the end of last year, we published “A New Year Save the Date: Westgate Orlando Protest January 5”, by Larry Lobbyist, this was followed by a report from Irene, “Westgate Resorts January 5th 2023 Protest Report”. The next article to feature the Westgate protest was “Timeshare: From Sales to Exit, a Litany of Lies Awaits” closely followed by “Why is There a Westgate Resorts Hostages Facebook Group?”.
The latest protests staged outside of Westgate Lakes have been followed on the group’s page Westgate Timeshare Hostages, these are individual protests by members and not an organised mass protest. It would appear they are getting the attention of Westgate as the photographs they have published show, Westgate even erected a sign saying “I love Westgate” and parked a bus to block any view.
The “small” bus didn’t do the job so they decided to go bigger.
From the placement of this bus, it is evident they are trying to block any view of the protest from the reception, well they don’t really want their “guests” to see the truth do they?
One of the group members also posted some information for other members, it is yet another round in the belt of ammunition which should be used:
“Report the sales representatives to the DBPR! All you need is the name and last name and click search, then you can do a claim. The DBPR will call you or email you very quickly so you can do your claim. If all of us submit claims then they will remove their Real estate licence. No more salespeople for Westgate = no business”
Here is the link.
If you have any issues with your Westgate purchase and are not already a member of Westgate Timeshare Hostages you may not be getting all the facts.
Staying with social media groups, one name which has appeared on several, not just Europe but US groups as well, is the name Quality Assurance, using many endings such as Centre, Commission, Agency etc. Whichever is being used it is one of those names that defy any search on the internet without getting a whole host of hits, none of which have anything to do with the cold call received.
Our friends at the TCA published “Manchester Quality Assurance Centre – Let’s go fishing” yesterday with a “sales” pitch that is pure fantasy.
Staying with the TCA, earlier this month they asked what had happened to Carl James Associates, another name that has cropped up on many scam alerts. The TCA article was published on 8 February, now according to company records yet another “Compulsory Strike-off” order was entered on the records the day before, and then on 11 February the “Compulsory Strike-off” was discontinued. So the company is free to carry on trading. You can read the TCA article at the following link “What has happened to Carl James Associates?”
Another link of interest is this one to the Mirror, the article is about a publication called The Parliamentary Review, whose logo appears on the home page of Carl James Associates in another attempt to give themselves “credibility”. Andrew Penman gives the low down on this publication.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/threats-sue-mirror-parliamentary-review-20921896
https://carljamesassociates.co.uk/
Another piece of information which has yet to be verified also involves Carl James Associates and the new player we announced last week, James Yardley and Ceafoot Ltd. One eagle-eyed reader claims that much of the text on both websites is exactly the same or very similar, without going through both websites with a fine tooth comb this as we say, cannot be verified.
It is not uncommon for text to be cut and pasted from one website to another, especially when it comes to scammers setting up another sting operation, but it is also a sign that they may be the same people in the process of changing the company. Food for thought.
To finish this roundup, two forums for UK timeshare owners have now gone, Timeshare Talk, which had been going for years and was then discredited when it was taken over for “nefarious” purposes is no longer available and the name is for sale. The forum which was organised by a breakaway group from Timeshare Talk, the Timeshare Independent Forum, also appears to have gone, with the website no longer coming up.
That is all for today, due to various appointments over the next few weeks, we will be a little short on articles, join us on Friday for a Wyndham owners story in “Our Wyndham Maintenance Fee Scare” by Les from New York and edited by Irene Parker.
