Potlatch Resort review: refund wanted breached contract filthy operation 37

I agree with the review. The staff was rude and the place unkept. forget this place Thousand Trais is less then 5 miles away also 10 more RV sites within 20 minutes either direction.

I too have a timeshare with Advance Resorts of America we used it for about 4 years and then the fees started to go up and yet the promises of a pool and expansion never happened. Now they want a payment of 3094 to catch up on all their dues. I own the timeshare but refuse to pay dues for something that has never been done...I am now seeking an attorney to get out of this contract. I will write this off as a stupid investment as a loss. I will not subject myself to their letters and constant dancing around the real issue. THEY HAVE NOT UPDATED ANY OF THEIR RESORTS UP TO PAR.

Anyone know of a good lawsuit to piggyback on to get them out of my life

Did any of you find a good attorney to help you out of the contract? I have had mine since 1996. It was fine while my husband was alive, but he's been gone 9 years now. I never use it. When I didn't pay the dues, they threatened to take me to collection. Now I read in the agreement "Membership facility access is subject to termination by ARA in the event of non-payment of any monthly contractual installment or annual dues. ARA reserves the right to cancel any membership for cause if and when ARA deems the member to be in non-compliance." I have not paid dues in over a year, yet no termination. I wonder if I trashed the place, maybe that would be considered 'non-compliance.' Not that I'm that kind of person. I would love to get out of this contract however, any suggestions, recommendations or success stories out there?

I agree, This place is a total dump. My parents were conned into a membership in the nineties and after just a few visits stopped going there.
Parents are now deceased but I keep getting bills in my fathers name. I don't know where they got my address from but I just keep sending the unopened bills back marked return to sender.
Do not buy into this place they even want your money when you are in your final resting place.
Total bunch of [censor]s

I completely agree with everyone and am interested in a lawsuit if anyone else is. I have paid the collection agent, but have still not received my cancellation of the "lifetime" membership...
Here is the letter I sent to BBB, the attorney general, and the collection agent, who simply told me to either pay or be sued...
To whom it may concern,
I do not agree with the charges you noted in your statement sent to me on October 31, 2012 for account #523629-1. The amount ARA is requesting you collect from me is from supposed past due dues for a campground membership. There are several issues with this membership that give me cause to state the dues are no longer valid or due. We were coerced to buy a produce with predatory sales practices. We did not receive the product we purchased. We were not given assistance to transfer membership when we asked. The membership was not terminated in accordance with the Public Offering Statement.
My husband and I entered into this agreement after a long and coercive meeting. We in our early 20s and the very polished sales person responded to every argument we made for not purchasing the membership. We could not afford the down payment and were told we could make payments on it. We could not guarantee we would have consistent employment and they placed a clause allowing no payments to be made during time out of work. We stated we had no camper or boat and were told we could rent from the company.
We finally agreed and were told a catalog of hotels and resorts available to us would be sent to our home annually. This was never sent to us. We have never been able to find the offered hotels and never used the campgrounds at Potlatch.
We paid the entire amount of $4995 plus interest for the Charter Membership and all dues up to 2009. When the economy turned, we found we were unable to afford the dues and attempted to contact ARA to cancel the membership or transfer the membership to someone else. We were told that ARA would not help and we were required to pay the lifetime membership. Per section VIII page 9 and 10 of the ARA Public Offering, ARA "will assist a member in transferring his membership..." This never occurred, even though I requested assistance multiple times. In addition, I asked if I could just have my membership be terminated with no refunded moneys. I was refused each time I asked. Also in section VIII, ATA states, "failure to pay dues within 30 days after the required date shall be grounds for denial of access to the club facilities and in the event such failure is not cured within six months following written notice, membership shall automatically be terminated without refund..." This is exactly what I requested and was refused.
I have tried to cancel my membership, but have been refused or not had my calls returned.
I have tried to sell my membership, but could not find a buyer or any assistance from ARA.
I tried to contact ARA to make payment arrangements, but my calls were not returned.
If I owe anything to ARA, it is 6 months of membership dues worth $186. After that, my membership should have been cancelled and no additional membership fees should have been charged. I am filing a complaint to the Washington State Attorney General's Office and the Federal Trade Commission.

We don't use AT A anymore but can't get rid of it. The Oregon facility is a dump! For the last few years, they keep trying to roll out a scam to "upsell" or even extort more money. We paid the membership amount but should be able to walk away n o w. How is it legal that ARA can force us to keep paying dues when they do nothing for the facilities, don't add anything new and didn't do what they promised?

Class action suit? Is there an attorney interested in taking this on?

Paradise Cove is in bad need of repairs. Been members since the mid '90's and have watched it deteriorate. Half the road down to the river has a new concrete pad; the other half has a 4" deep excavated out area that appears to be getting ready to be filled, but hasn't been for over 4 months now. The docks are rotting; the deck at the upper clubhouse/pool area is rotting (watch out or you'll step through in places) the sites are weed filled and the pine bushes are over growing so they scrape against the RVs. Weeds, weeds, weeds everywhere! Paradise Cove is turning into a dump, and still, the bills for dues payments come. WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

Then we see that if you go to www.araresorts.com, you find that BOTH Paradise Cove AND Willow Bay are RESERVABLE BY THE PUBLIC! WHAT? We thought these were 'member only' parks?! I smell a huge lawsuit coming...

Oregon Member

We, too, have been members of this so called 'members only' system since the mid-1990's. Was shocked to find that they've opened it to public reservations. Even the sign going to the upper clubhouse/pool says it's for 'members only'. So what are they going to do when a 'charter member' shows up and the place is full of publicly paid 'guests'? We were assured at purchase that we'd always have a site. Now we, as members have to call and tell them when we're going EVEN IF WE WANT TO STOP BY AND USE THE POOL OR HOT TUB! This screams breach of contract to us. Paradise Cove is falling into horrible disrepair. Everything 'OREGON MEMBER' said is true. What Oregon Member didn't say is that the manager is a a$$. Filthy mouthed complainer. Always telling campers how 'over worked' he is. There are broken sewer vent poles; broken and exposed wires in the rv power poles and the 'fix' was to bungee cord it to a piece of driftwood; weeds, weeds, weeds so thick that you have to pull them yourself after setting up the RV; pine bushes that not only scratch against the RV but are so overgrown we have to push through them just to hook up the water and power; the lower pool, which was supposed to be for kids, is always closed because the management is simply too lazy to clean and maintain it for the summer season. The upper adult pool is now for 'everyone'. What a dilapidated joke this place has become. The son, Knute, has taken over the management of the company and in our opinion, he's simply pocketing the dues money that has/is being paid faithfully. When you email or call him to complain, he either doesn't return the call or answer the email. If you say anything to the 'membership services' they get snippy. He's letting the place his folks worked so hard to develop fall into such disrepair it's only a matter of time before a lawsuit is filed for injury to persons. Someone's going to fall through or break a leg on the upper clubhouse's rotten deck or someone's kid/grandkid is going to get shocked to death by touching exposed wires on the RV power poles that seem to never get repaired. And don't even let me get started about the falling apart roadways, the old, musty, non-working laundry machines and the rotten docks in the marina. Waiting to hear on a class action lawsuit...it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt at Paradise Cove.

UPDATE! And the dilapidation is getting worse! Now there are broken RV power poles. One also includes a sewer vent. The entire unit is bungeed up with a piece of driftwood! Exposed wires on the outside are a safety hazard. The manager is snotty, won't discuss repairs, complains about how over worked he is...the lower pool wasn't even open for the 4th of July weekend because he's 'just too over worked and doesn't have time'. WOW...it's too bad that Knute, the owner's son, has let this place his folks built fall into such disrepair. Don't bother to call to complain. Calls aren't returned. Now that LaConner/Potlatch is closed down, one can only guess where the dues monies are going. Only a matter of time before someone falls through the upper club house deck and/or someone's kids touch exposed RV pole wires and get electrocuted...then the lawsuits will come.

We too have been watching it go down hill. And now we are running out of choices where to go. With Potlatch closing. Do we get reimbursed for that? Now we only have 2 places. We will probably have to pay more.

I also agree. We just spent 6 days in one of the rental trailers. What a piece of Trash. Table falling off wall, light fixtures missing or not working. All rusted outside. Asked to have fixed by Manager, he attempted...very grumpy that he was asked. Then never came back. The road to go to the Dock is half done after 4 months, half is cement so high with a RV/Boat you will bottom out. The other half is 4 feet of dirt. Manager to busy and overworked to complete. Rentals boats not available except one, leaves 2 sitting on Dock. Again Manager too overworked. Hot Tub never is working. Pool is filthy. Upstairs Clubhouse "if that is what they call it" has wires hanging everywhere.
But Front Desk Gal is amazing with all she has to do, and listen to our complaints! Manager told us that member's were the worst compared to the open public! Hum who pays your salary?

Need to add one more comment on above complaint. Being there 6 days day NEVER saw one person/Manager repairing anything. The Boat did not even have gas for Rental had to wait for "The Manager to go get gas" And the boat was full of water. The front desk gal had to pump out herself and bring the gas down. Customer Service by On-site Manager is something to be desired.

Today, April 2016. My wife and I were strongarmed into buying this time share back in the 90's. we used the timeshare twice. Once in Paradise Cove Where we rented a trailer. The trailer was a dump and very filthy. Mice had made a nest in the oven. The bed smelled horrible. We only stayed that one night. We then used the timeshare to go on vacation to Florida with an associate company (not ARA). It was nice there because someone else was the owner and not ARA. We checked 2 years later and they are no longer associated with ARA. The fees have continued to go up with no noticeable upgrades to the properties. We have one campground here in Spokane Washington that is as about as bad as one can get. The RV sites are overgrown with weeds and the office area is very run down and old. The boat ramp is in bad need of repair. We visited the La Conner facility north of Seattle last year and found the same examples of filthy, smelly accommodations. Someone for sure in pocketing the maintenance fees and letting the facilities continue to deteriorate. We listed our membership with a company in Florida to advertise and find a buyer for our time share. I was called last week by the firm that timeshare's for ARA and selling for $1, 00 (one dollar) and they are not being bought. I was told that they are letting the public use the facilities at the same cost or cheaper than what we as members would have to pay. I was then referred to another company that will assist in getting us out of this contract for $2400. Which means that there is a way to dump this contract legally. We have not made the decision to pursue this avenue yet.as we are retired and where do you come up with an extra $2400. Has anyone found a cheaper way to get out of this albatross contract? Has anyone contacted the WA State Attorney General's Office? Has anyone reported them to the Health Department? We really feel, as stated by others above that we have been defrauded and that ARA is in violation of keeping their part of the contract. If we are to pay $2400 to dissolve this contract, I would put this amount towards a Class Action Law Suit and send the owners and staff of ARA to prison with all assets and properties to be sold and the proceeds divided amongst all members of the law suit. You can to this post and or contact me at larnold1121@msn.com. Larry Arnold Spokane, Washington.

I too want to know how to get out of this contract that I bought and paid for over and over again in Paradise Cove...Please someone must have a solution to this mad-ness ...I don't even live in Oregon anymore...I am across the nation!

dee_croteau@yahoo.com

Would like to know if anyone has been able to get out of the ARA contract.

I have heard many comments about Class Action Law Suits agains ARA. Has anyone been successful? I too want out of the contract.

I have never seen a positive comment about this organization. Seems like there should be enough people to file suit.

We too want to get out of the contract for maintenance fees. Hopefully some sort of class action lawsuit will happen.

Class Action Filing for Washington State: http://sgb-law.com/practice-areas/class-actions/

I see the link to a class action lawsuit site, but has anyone actually started the process?

Interested in a class action suit to get our 'buy in' money back. Have ALL paperwork back to 1996. This is NOT a membership only organization any longer and WE WANT OUT. Both parks have run down to the point of looking like homeless camps. Unsecure and dangerous.