Festiva Development Group
Reviews and Complaints

we have the exact same issue. please contact me at lauren_kept@yahoo.com. they have robbed my parents of over 8300$$$. i want to help them.

We purchased the Peppertree at Atlantic Beach NC. We were told our yearly maintenance fees would ensure us the resort would always stay looking as good as it does the day we purchased. Also the annual dues hasn't raised in over 5 years. With everyone joining, they don't see them ever raising over 2% every few years. Our salesman was ever so sweet and convincing.
He also informed us, we were making an investment in prime ocean property. And in the event we wanted out Festiva would buy it back, we just would have to understand they would only give us the amount they were selling for at the time we wanted to sell.
Once back inside the sales office the cost of the membership was just to much for us. 27, 000 dollars. Kent called over his sales manager and explained we loved it but just couldn't afford it. The sales manager worked his magic (for 2 hours, we're hungry) and got us down to a very reasonable price. So we ask him about the maintenance fee. Check (not going to go up over 2%) Real Estate Investment? Check..(you are getting a good deal, you could turn around tomorrow and sell it back, wait 6 months and make a profit). Your sure (Oh yes, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, the deal you're getting is from an owner who just sold it back to us).
Well color us stupid. Not only has the maintenance fees gone up every year and when we tried to sell it back they pretty much laughed at us. We were billed for a special assessment because the resort needed repairs!
We tried to sell through sellmytimeshare and some other yahoo. What a complete joke.
We have finally gotten out thanks to another gentleman. If anyone is suing Festiva or wanting more info you can reach me at bunnyhop58@cheerful.com
Best advice...stay far away from Festiva. The guy who helped us did find our our wonderful salesperson had multiple drug and drinking arrests.
I plan to plaster my story all over the internet

The problem is as an owner you have a proxy each year that you own, and no one utilizes it as they should. This proxy allows us as owners to vote for what is best for Festiva. I think that Festiva needs to look at their mismanaged problems and fix them. This should be out of the company's pocket if it is an error on their behalf. You don't pay for something that isn't done. You pay materials upfront and pay for the job after it is inspected and done. Timeshares are governed under real estate laws and complaints can be filed in each state owners have an issue.

I am willing to be a part of anything that would get Festiva out of control of our timeshare. This company is a complete RIPOFF. They have NO customer service skills. They have no value of the owners; they are pathetic! Any suggestions on what to do to move forward or who we can complain with. I have even tried to file a complaint with BBB and have gotten no where. Festiva simply DOES NOT CARE. They act like because they think they have deep pockets that they can treat owners any way they want with no regard because we have no recourse except to give up our units or do what they say when they say and how they say. I AM FED UP! BethW

I agree, I have written emails, letters and phone calls and have gotten no wheres. I do not have the money to pay the excessive assessment fees and maintenance fees. Since they do not seem interested in listening or responding to my request I have decided to default and I offered to send them my deed. Any help or ideas from other owners?

WOW! I was just searching to see if anyone else felt as I did that this resort has fallen into the wrong hands and is being completely mismanaged. I can't believe I am the first person to respond to this posting. I have spoken to several members and they are all outraged as to this situation. The management of this resort has hidden themselves and contacting them is near impossible. I watched as the rehabbing of this facility was mismanaged and even the folks who manage it on a day to day basis was amazed at the poor construction going on. No one from this management company nor the board paid any attention BUT now they want more money to fix it. Also in this assessment is lots of money for them to pay their friends to get in on this bonanza of fixing this facility. What a major waste of our money. Only choice is to default and then they win.

We apologize for any misunderstanding or mistake with your reservation. If you would, please email your name, contact email, contact phone & any other information to us at fachelp@gmail.com so we may assist you

Any new news on the Festiva Orlando/CWR situation? I was with CWR, and after going through a bad divorce and all I was wanting to get things straightened out the use my Timeshare and get Maintenance fees caught up, but I don't know if it's worth it after seeing some of what people have had to say! Any new information?
Thanks
Tiffany T

In the same boat. I would just like my money back. fristr@gmail.com

We are dealing with the same situation! How do we get either our points or our money back? jump4jimo5@hotmail.com

my email josevil!@hotmail.com I ive in Jalisco Mexico and I have the same problem, Am 64 and I have a very bad desease but when I try to Talk with anybody just to try to solve how to get at least part of my money back nobody answer, I would like you add me to the list of the wounded please help me.

I am in total shock and only realised that our points had been reduced from 106500 to 3700 when I received my 2014 statement from RCI. I immediately spoke to Festiva who confirmed the above and that a litigation law suit had been filed. I logged a complaint about CWR several years ago with FLA Financial Leasing Association as at the time the Financial Ombudsman did not deal with timeshare owners. My complaint was based at the time of sale we agreed to pay off the loan within 7 years, we were not given the opportunity to read the contract and later found out that we had in fact signed a loan for 15 years. Luckily for us CWR had provided us with an illustration chart showing payments totalling over the 7 years plus the finance company was UK based called GE Money. FLA later referred our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman in 2012 as they now deal with timeshare complaints. If anyone took out a loan from GE Money or any UK finance lender then they can be held responsible. I am so looking forward to speaking to the financial ombudsman tomorrow to update them further. I have already emailed Michael Finn and await his response, I will also be logging onto the timeshare blog. I can't state this enough, if anyone took out their loan and the company was based in the UK please log your complaint immediately with the Financial Ombudsman based in London.

I want my points even though I have been cut by 40%. I have offered the Maintenance Fees less 40%.. Be interesting to see the results. Amazing to see that some owners are still paying Maintenance Fees even though their points cut by 90%. Any comments

All owners need to join the potential class action law suit. I have contacted Michael finn@Finn law in Florida. Please add your names the list of people willing to take part in the class action by contacting the Finn law group. Blog at Celebrations/Festiva/RCI/conitmued will provide you with more info.

PRESS RELEASE
Tues April 30, 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Finn Law Group Announces Class Action Suit on Behalf of Timeshare Owners
Wed Mar 13, 2013
Florida lawsuit alleges unfair and deceptive practices in the sale of timeshare upgrades
ORLANDO, Fla.
The Finn Law Group P. A. has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of timeshare owners at Festiva`s Orlando Resort, formerly known as Celebration World Resort, alleging that the resort`s developers and managers have engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in the sale of timeshare upgrades and reservation point allocation.

The class action lawsuit, Reeves, et al. v. Zealandia Holding Company Inc., et al., case no. 2013 CA 000886 MF, was filed March 1 in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, in Osceola County.

The suit alleges that, beginning in 2004, approximately 900 parties purchased timeshare interests in Celebration World Resort Owners Association, located in Kissimmee, Fla., from B. L. Vacation Ownership Inc. Between 2008 and 2011, representatives of B. L. Vacation Ownership sold upgrades to existing timeshare owners that would increase the number of points they had to apply to timeshare reservations.

After the homeowners purchased the upgrades, B.L. Vacations sold the resort to Festiva Hospitality Group, now known as Zealandia Holding Co., and the resort`s name was changed to Festiva`s Orlando Resort. After the sale, the lawsuit alleges, the reservation point system was changed and the upgrades that had been purchased by the timeshare owners were not honored.

The suit names the Orlando Homeowners Association, B.L. Vacation Ownership Inc., Zealandia Holding Co. and its subsidiary and affiliate companies, and RCI LLC as defendants. The suit alleges that one or more of the defendants:

* Violated the resort`s declaration of covenants by improperly reallocating reservation points
* Violated the resort`s declaration of covenants for failing to give proper notice of the reallocation
* Breached the fiduciary duty owed to the timeshare owners * Violated Section 721.18(5) of Florida`s timeshare law

The timeshare owners seek a refund, rescission of the upgrade sales contracts, attorneys` fees and other relief the court deems proper.

The Finn Law Group, which has offices in Florida and Michigan, represents consumers in timeshare and fractional real estate matters. For more information, contact Michael D. Finn by calling [protected] or michaeldfinn@finnlawgroup.com.
Call the Finn Law Group - Toll Free [protected]

I have posted comments and complaints on [redacted].Com and I have asked for input from others who have had points cut by Festiva. The comments on [redacted] are under Celebrations World Resort(Fesitva Orlando Resort). I have been in contact with other owners and I am willing to participate in a class action law suit. I can be contacted at bowdertom@cox.net. Anyone who wants to to move forward with getting together to fight this, is who I want to talk to. For detail iformation about my issue, go to [redacted].com. We need to find a central place on the web to oganized our complaints. I suggest a facebook blog. I am listed on facebook at TT Bowe. I also have posted on Twitter under Celebration World Resort. I need one of are owners who is mort savy than me with internet organization to help set up a central location. We can make a difference if we stick together.

How do they get away with this kind of stuff? How can we get the value of what we paid back to us. Why didn't we get a notice in advance. Just great!
Jeff

Dear Sir or Madam:

On Saturday September 22nd, 2012, our websites were down. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. If you would please write to us at www.festivareviews.com and give us your contact information, we will be happy to have a Member Services representative contact you.

Dear Sir or Madam:
We are sorry to hear that you are having difficulty booking reservations. Please write to us at www.festivareviews.com and we will be happy to review your account.

Wow. Thank you for posting these comments. We just received the tablet offer to go to Portland Maine (which is not terribly far). So my hubby calls and I know it was a sales pitch as we had attended something like that a long time ago but hey...if we got a new tablet then maybe it was worth the presentation. Glad I did my research and found out many stories such as yours. Thanks again!

Wish I had seen your post before wasting my Saturday morning. We were actually considering their offer. Have been discussing timeshares for a few years now. And when we received the offer, it seemed like the perfect time to learn more about it. I'm certainly glad that we told the sales reps that we needed some time to think about it and would get back in touch - because the quality of their "gift" certainly says a lot about the company. And it certainly means that we will not be purchasing our timeshare from them. Our experience was identical to yours, one offer rejected led to two others brought over by a second salesman. You definitely get the idea that this is the guy who is supposed to step in and close the deal. Thank goodness we knew we should discuss the matter off the premises. We get home - open the tablet, turned it on... browsed through it for 10-15 minutes and it shut off never to start again. We won't be contacting them for another one. We just won't be contacting them for anything. A sad state of affairs considering we live in a town where one of their resorts are located. Their botched marketing campaign certainly won't find us singing their praises around town!

We have received your www.festivareviews.com post and are currently reviewing your situation. Someone will be in contact with you shortly. Thank you for your patience.

I need a good lawyer based in anderson/greenville sc area to get me and my wife out of this contract and our money back. Recommendations greatly appreciated. Thanks

To: The Van Ziles
We have e-mailed you regarding your concerns to the e-mail address we have on file.

I have submitted the following letter out lining my complaint and request to make good on the contract. But as of today i have not received a reply.

I feel I have been misled.
One year ago, my wife and I attended a presentation at your Portland office. We found it interesting and wanted to look into it closer.
My kids are getting to the age where we could utilize your services to travel. I like the idea of trading points to travel around the world.
I quickly learned that the cost was too high for me to bear at that time. We continued to work with the new sales person assigned to us. As we reduced the package, one promising option stood out: The Adventure Nights package.
We were particularly interested in the Rangeley resort offered as part of the package. Being from Maine, it was close by and easy to get too. We would be able to have a short little vacation but still remain close to home.
On several occasions we talked with the sales person and explained what we were interested in. The package he put together for us was called the Travelers Club. This package offering enabled us to stay at a few predefined resorts on the east coast including one in Florida. The black two ring binders given to us even had Rangeley listed with detailed pictures included. This package was great but still did not offer access to the Rangeley resort that we were primarily interested in. To help make the sale and satisfy our needs, the sales man offered to add Adventure Nights to the package. This as he explained would give us the ability to stay for no less than two nights at a time at any resort provided there was available space at the resort we chose. He explained that booking the resort online would not be possible and that we would have to call “them” for availability. he explained that we could book up to one month ahead of time but no earlier. The sales person name here] ensured us there would be no problems booking the resort of our choice.
I first attempted to use the Adventure Night’s package a little over a month after signing up. I was not able to reach the head sales person at that time. In August of this year, I attempted to contact South Portland’s office by arriving during sign-up hours. Upon discovering that I was an “owner”, they told me I had to request a meeting with the office manager. They took my name and number and informed me the office manager would be in contact with me within a few working days. I never received the call. Ten days later I called the office explaining the situation which they had no knowledge of. They then went on to explain that I needed to call members service. At that point I was disgusted with the customer service in the Portland office. I called members service as they advised. On three separate calls no one I spoke with knew anything about “Adventure Nights” and informed me I could only reserve at resorts that were listed on the website.
After the third, call I did speak with a lady nice enough to research my account. She explained that I did have the Adventure Nights package, but the only available resorts were listed on the website.

I agree with all these comments, I'm paying for this and now they are hounding me for the fees that have gone up since the first year. Has anyone found a way to get out of this scam? The BBB maybe? Can't afford this anymore.

My wife and I have been to many of these. We always decline at all of the presentations. This time we stopped at a fake visitor center and got roped like everyone else. They give you individual attention, the strong sales pitch and act as if they are genuine. Our one on one sales guide told us what we wanted to hear. They gave us the usual sales game but don't ask me why but this time we fell for it. It is really pathetic but what's worse is that we took them at their word when they gave us all of the usual sales games. We decided after we saw all of the negative comments to cancel immediately. We could not afford to gamble with $10, 000 then not be able to book a vacation. This is truly where the government should step in!

I feel I have been misled.
One year ago, my wife and I attended a presentation at your Portland office. We found it interesting and wanted to look into it closer.
My kids are getting to the age where we could utilize your services to travel. I like the idea of trading points to travel around the world.
I quickly learned that the cost was too high for me to bear at that time. We continued to work with the new sales person assigned to us. As we reduced the package, one promising option stood out: The Adventure Nights package.
We were particularly interested in the Rangeley resort offered as part of the package. Being from Maine, it was close by and easy to get too. We would be able to have a short little vacation but still remain close to home.
On several occasions we talked with the sales person and explained what we were interested in. The package he put together for us was called the Travelers Club. This package offering enabled us to stay at a few predefined resorts on the east coast including one in Florida. The black two ring binders given to us even had Rangeley listed with detailed pictures included. This package was great but still did not offer access to the Rangeley resort that we were primarily interested in. To help make the sale and satisfy our needs, the sales man offered to add Adventure Nights to the package. This as he explained would give us the ability to stay for no less than two nights at a time at any resort provided there was available space at the resort we chose. He explained that booking the resort online would not be possible and that we would have to call “them” for availability. he explained that we could book up to one month ahead of time but no earlier. The sales person name here] ensured us there would be no problems booking the resort of our choice.
I first attempted to use the Adventure Night’s package a little over a month after signing up. I was not able to reach the head sales person at that time. In August of this year, I attempted to contact South Portland’s office by arriving during sign-up hours. Upon discovering that I was an “owner”, they told me I had to request a meeting with the office manager. They took my name and number and informed me the office manager would be in contact with me within a few working days. I never received the call. Ten days later I called the office explaining the situation which they had no knowledge of. They then went on to explain that I needed to call members service. At that point I was disgusted with the customer service in the Portland office. I called members service as they advised. On three separate calls no one I spoke with knew anything about “Adventure Nights” and informed me I could only reserve at resorts that were listed on the website.
After the third, call I did speak with a lady nice enough to research my account. She explained that I did have the Adventure Nights package, but the only available resorts were listed on the website.

I agree. Went through same thing. Signed on dotted line; but after further research, including comparing to that of their competitor Time Share "Club" down the street, I cancelled within 5 day rescission period.

OMG! This is unreal! Just two days ago (June 25, 2013) I, along with two friends were in Charleston, SC for a mini-vacation. We were walking to City Market via Meeting Street when a young man asked if we needed "information" and we walked into what seemed to be a "Visitor Center." After giving us directions, he proceeded to ask us how long we'd be in Charleston and sites we intended to visit. He promised us three free passes to a carriage ride, a visit to Ft. Sumter and entrance passes to Magnolia Plantation if we agreed to visit the Church Street Inn for a "tour of the property" so that the next time we visited we could stay there and recommend the Inn to our friends. What happened next is word for word identical to the experience written by cattle call. It was the slickest and most deceptive approach to make us listen to a "presentation" for two hours, and then a very strong sales pitch from a young lady "Sarah." We were pressured to sign a contract for only $7, 000+ excluding maintenance costs, and we HAD TO SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE THEN AND THERE, or we would lose some of the "benefits" and "privileges" if we decided we had to think about it and join later. We walked out without signing anything much to the disgust of the sales reps, as we were tired, hungry (we had to get to the Inn well before the 9:30 am tour as it filled up very quickly) as we had no time to eat breakfast, and simply flabbergasted at the audacity of the owners/representatives. Festiva should be investigated, and the practice of pulling visitors to an office and duping them should stop.

i just got a letter form festiva adventure club saying that i could have a free touch pad computer with android to just call and what a hassle me and my boyfriend got but lucky my boyfriend went to law school so he knows how to deal with them

Dear Mr. Wilson:

We are sorry to hear that you did not find the tour conditions acceptable. Please write to us at www.festivareviews.com for further assistance.

My wife and I experienced exactly the same, on Meeting Street, in Charleston, SC. Much later than you though, this happened to me last week, 8/6/2012.
Get over it 15 seems to have a problem with your statement:
"The gentleman then proceeded to tell us that there was a place called the Church Street Inn and they offering $75 in vouchers towards sightseeing excursions or dinner for free as long as you toured their property which would just include a 90 minute tour of their history, their grounds, their rooms and enjoy free coffee."
I can confirm that is EXACTLY what happened to us. No mention of timeshares whatsoever was made by the guy at the Visitor's information office. This is obviously a highly misleading sales practice.
At the time however, my wife seemed very interested in the 'tour', and I paid the guy the $20 and said we'd be there at 3:30 that afternoon. Once we'd left, I explained to her my concerns. She said what about the $20? I said it was the best money I've ever spent if it meant I'd persuaded her not to attend the meeting.
Based solely on my experience, I would not recommend anyone talking to Festiva adventure club, regardless of what fabulous offers they might make.

My husband and I were recruited in the exact same fashion (off the street by someone by the Visitor's center). We were told straight up that it was going to be a sales presentation. If you went there thinking anything else, you are naive. All of those questions about income, etc. were asked to us when we were pulled off of the street and asked if we wanted to participate. Why would they want to present to someone who cannot afford their product? They are looking for viable leads. When we showed up and checked in for the presentation, the very first thing that they did was give us our $20 back without us ever mentioning it or asking about it. Also, everyone in the room was over 50 except for my husband and I. People need to have realistic expecatations. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. But if you are willing to give up about 2 hours of your day to get some free tickets to local attractions such as Fort Sumter or Plantations, then it is worth your time. If they don't give you your money back, ask for it. Do something about it rather than just complaining about it online.

I totally agree same thing happened to my family we own in Banner Elk NC and are paying over $1500.00 in maintenance fees for a 1 bedroom unit that is a total ripoff

To: Tamara Chisim
We are having a manager review your situation and someone will be in touch with you soon.

You have validated everything I said in my last post "Owners, Be Wary". Loyalty to the owners is long-gone, and so is my pride in ownership and loyalty to Festiva.
Jerilyn Lee

I have a time share in St Augustine at Ocean Gate and paid my dues then called to get my reservation and they told me they didn't have any units available for the whole year. I wish I could prosecute them and actually I plan on looking into how I can most damage them. They are a completely unethical firm. I went on their web site and saw the unit I have was available for rent for $3, 500 for a week. Do not buy anything from them

Michael Flowers was extremely unprofessional with my complaint. He could not make me see eye to eye with him and could not satisfy my needs. He was rude and sarcastic with me. For a manager I was really shocked with his attitude. I will never use Festiva Resorts and I will spread the word!

With all the problems they are having with Attorney Generals, it is easier to get out of their contracts.

Festiva will always try to up sell you. The problem is there is never any availability when you want to travel. They will hold rooms for paying customers and not give rooms to members with points. You can pay a discounted rate since you're a member, and get the rooms that you want. You pay maintenance fees each year, but you can't use your points because there is never availability. They say you need more points and that’s why you need to spent more money. If you can manage to get a room in the middle of the winter at the beach, they want to talk to you to explain your benefits, so they can tell you how they did you a favor by bailing you out of a sinking ship and you owe them. Even when you don't owe them the time of day they will try to get you into the sales office to pressure you into buying more points and promise you the moon. They claim that they can rent your points and make you tons of money that will pay you back ten fold. The things they tell you are not in the contract. Read the contract, you are just agreeing to pay them more money and that’s it. I don't know how these people can live with themselves.

To: pbdy
We offer a number of different point packages all at different costs and there were most likely a number of different options presented to you at your presentation. We do apologize if you feel as if there was any wrongdoing in this matter. If you could write to us at comments@festiva.travel we would be more than happy to have a manager review your account.

We do apologize for the difficulty you have had in using your membership. If you could write to us at comments@festiva.travel with your contact information we would be happy to have a manager review your situation and get in touch with you.

Ms. Smith & Mr. Autry,
We do apologize that you have had trouble in using your membership. If you would like to write to us at comments@festiva.travel we would be happy to assist you with using your membership.