Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club [LHVC]
Reviews and Complaints

We know the owner and the truth of this scam artist, if anyone needs help to get this delinquents contact me asap.
[protected]@aol.com we use to work for them, lets give them what they deserve, we know exactly how to zink their boat.

I want to take the time and talk about lifestyle holiday vacation in. This company has such a bad reputation for their membership scam. I'm sorry I didn't know about this scam before we signed up for it. My hubby and I purchased the jr suite membership for $5, 000 down and many monthly payments for years to come. We were promised many things such as hotels anywhere around the world at their "sister resorts" for the low price of $199 per week. This was a big lie. I've tried inquiring about rooms in Ontario, New York, Cuba, and many more and the prices were through the roof. It's even cheaper to book these rooms from the hotel itself. What's the point of paying all this money for these discounts and it's not even a discount! They have lied about many things and I'm wondering if anyone else had this experience as well and manage to get back any money.

Here is our story: we were on vacation when one of the LHVC representatives, Alfonzo, cornered us on the morning of July 2, 2013 while sitting by a pool. He was coming to remind us that we had a tour set up for 10 a.m. that morning. Despite our telling him that I had been sick overnight and was not in condition to discuss any business transaction, Alfonzo was very pushy and would not let us cancel the appointment. After meeting our sale representative, James Salmazor, we spend the next seven hours visiting different places on the compound while been wined and dined every step of the way and promised all sort of specials, such as an helicopter ride, the possibility to move to a private villa if we signed the contract that day, limo ride to the airport and all the drinks we wanted. During the presentation, we made it known that we already had two timeshare properties. James told us that was not a problem; they would transfer the two properties to LHVC. We were skeptical that that was true and told James that we really were not interested in getting involved with another timeshare/vacation club. James was failing the sale pitch as we pushed back so he went inside to get a supervisor. The supervisor did not give us a business card so we do not recall his name. The supervisor repeated several times that LHVC was a great investment that timeshares are a thing of the past, that our family of four could travel all the times in different places and whenever we wanted without limits. He then gave us a beautiful book with wonderful pictures of the Punta Cana resorts and mentioned that every time we travel that would be the type of resort in which we could stay. Again, we expressed concern because we have a daughter who is college-bound and we need to be careful with our finances so that we could pay for her college tuition. The supervisor reassured us that there wasn’t any risk because we could sell the membership back if we were not satisfied, no questions asked. In the meantime, James, our representative, kept bringing drinks and food to the table for us to consume. The supervisor went back to his office and gave us a quote for our two other time-share properties mentioned above and told us that, with those two discounts, the total (additional) cost to join would be $54, 000.00. We choked at the number and told him that that was still too high and that we were not interested. At that point, the supervisor told us that he would reimburse us our airline tickets for the trip that took us to the DR in the first place, for a total of $6, 000.00. We again told him we needed time to review all the paperwork but he told us that the offer was only good while we were there and that we had to make a decision right them and there. We can’t emphasize enough about the pressure that they put us under. We never had a chance to read the Rules of Occupancy because they were never handed out to us. We just found out this past week (from Ms. Skinner via email) that the Rules of Occupancy were on a CD tacked in the pocket of a folder that they gave us after we signed the contract. These are deceiving sales tactics to prey on tourists. Upon our return to the States, we immediately started working with LHVC to transfer our two time-share properties. The first transfer went through in few weeks. The second transfer turned into a seven-month ordeal which is not over yet. We got in touch with our timeshare upon our return from DR the second week of July 2012; it took seven months to finally receive the letter with the first right of refusal so that we could transfer the property to LHVC. [Apparently, LHVC neglected to tell us that Westgate Resorts is very hard to deal with when it comes to transfer or sale, something that would have helped us decide against purchasing the LHVC contract.] During the seven months, LHVC never missed an opportunity to ask if they could remove the time-share property from our contract, that would relieve them of any obligation and place the burden on us as we would have to continue pay the maintenance fee . We kept replying no because, as we had explained during the sale presentation back in July, the LHVC purchase was contingent on the sale/transfer of the two time-share properties. This was the first red flag that things weren’t as good as the presentation claimed.
The second red flag occurred in early January 2013 when we started planning our vacation for the summer. We got in touch with LHVC and requested a list of the other resorts (“sister resorts”). After reviewing the list, it was clear to us that the quality of the “sister resorts” was, at best, subpar to the resort we stayed in Punta Cana. After several communications back and forth via email with the LHVC group that handles reservations for the sister resorts, it became quite obvious that we were not going to be able to go to our selected destination when we wanted and in a reasonable resort. We then contacted RCI, the company that LHVC signed us with to check their inventory and possible trading our place in the Dominican Republic. Once again, there was nothing available for us and a considerable cost was involved if we traded our LHVC, once again the promise that the trade was going to be one for one, proved to be incorrect. We ended up making our summer reservations through a travel agency and paid extra money since we could not use our new LHVC membership benefits.
We became concerned that LHVC was not going to be what they promised so we started asking questions to the customer service representatives that we had been assigned; Mr. Vance Paul, Ms. Bally Skinner and Mr. Nicholas Adderledy. Their “customer service” was to tell us that we are bound by the contract and there is nothing that we can do. We are seeking assistance to help make this working right and maybe help stop this unfair trade practices. We would like to have our membership cancelled and get our money back.

My father purchased an UNLIMITED Platinum VIP membership in Oct. 2006 for 46 YEARS membership. He traded in a timeshare at Lehigh Acres in Florida. Lifestyles gave him a $4000 "credit" so his purchase cost $16, 000 instead of $20, 000. My father had a hand-written clause added to the original contract that all his guests would receive VIP benefits whether he was there with them or not. That clause was initialed and signed by the Lifestyles Rep. Dad had only been there that one time in 2006 when he purchased the membership. My husband and I went to the resort in Jan 2007 and we had a nice time. 3 months later in Feb 2007 my Dad died of melanoma. He never got to use this membership after he bought it. When settling Dad's estate, we discovered that the Lehigh Acres timeshare was still billing him monthly maintenance, and had no information about being 'traded in" to Lifestyles. Somehow my brother-in-law (who is an attorney) managed to have the Lehigh Acres claim dismissed. After 5 years, in May 2012, I contacted Lifestyles to book a week reservation for myself and 2 guests. No one in my family has ever used the 46 year membership in all this time. I was given the run-around, and even yelled at by a customer service manager, who accused me of trying to make a fraudulent reservation under my father's name! I had to send them the death certificate and all the wills and trust documents which prove I was the heir to his estate, including all real estate properties. Then they become happy to make my reservation, but in order to put my name on the contract, they tell me I need my step-mother's permission to do so! Regardless of the fact that in Dad's will nothing was left to her, including the house they lived in on Long Island. So I go down in May and have a nice vacation, but I am kept waiting in the "VIP Tower" 30 mins to see a representative from their "Legal Dept". The only person I end up seeing is the same customer service rep who I had been dealing with all along. She comes out with a new contract with my name and my step-mother's name on it (which I had requested since I have no desire to take anything away from her). I was about to sign it and then I thought maybe I better wait and read the whole thing. She would not give me the entire document, only the signature page! Naturally I refused to sign it and left. Upon returning home, I handed the case over to my attorney. After months of my lawyer sending emails and letters (sent certified mail) and being completely ignored, he finally received a reply from an Yvette Almodovar in the Lifestyles Legal Dept. They had attached a copy of the new contract with my name and step-mother's name on it, and included a typed addendum which states that indeed there was a hand-written clause on the original contract that all my guests would receive VIP benefits whether I am with them or not. I signed both the contract and the addendum and have not heard anything since. I didn't send it to my step-mother for her signature and wrote them a letter telling them that if they want her signature they should send it to her themselves. I again made a reservation for myself and 4 guests to go to Lifestyles around Oct 30th 2012, which is the day Hurricane Sandy hit the NY/NJ area where I live. The flights were all cancelled for days so we couldn't go. The airline gave me a credit, and much to my surprise (although they said it was against their policy) Lifestyles also gave me a credit! I was still charged on my credit card, but they assured me that my Lifestyles account has an "accreditation" on it. So we re-schedule the reservation and the 5 of us go there in Dec 2012. They were actually running a Member's Only FREE WEEK if you booked before Thanksgiving, so we took advantage of that, and actually were not charged any service fee for the time we were there (only the all-inclusive $50/day meal fee). Plus I still had the "accreditation" on my account. So now I am making a reservation for my two nieces to go down there for a week in mid-April. They are deducting the service fee for their room from my "accreditation", which is great, but they are NOT providing them with GOLD wristbands. They are going to be given Blue wristbands, claiming that guests only receive Gold bands when the member is traveling with them. First of all, there is nothing in their original contract or the revised one that says anything about Blue wristbands, or the "level" of VIP membership being different for guests. Secondly, this seems to ignore the addendum I received and signed about my guests receiving ALL VIP benefits whether I am traveling with them or not. They have proven to be fraudulent and dishonorable and evidently make decisions willy-nilly which terms of the contract they will honor and which they won't arbitrarily. One would think that from my membership I have brought 7 additional people to their resort that they would like to keep me a satisfied customer, no? Evidently not. I have argued with the customer service rep for days and cannot get anywhere with her, and cannot get access to any manager or legal representative. So again, I will turn this case over to my attorney. I think we have to sue them for breach of contract for the full purchase price of $20, 000 plus legal fees plus damages. I will give this Complaint Board link to my attorney and if he advises pursuing this further, maybe we can all join a class-action suit against LHVC. Thank you for sharing all your experiences, as I had no idea this was such a widespread and routine problem with this company. Barry Nevins, Guttenberg, NJ

What was originally planned to be a 2nd honeymoon for us ended up as
the worst endangering experience of our lives. The level of corruption and Anti-American hatred is
without equal within the prison compound of the Lifestyle Holidays Resort Cofresi. We were abused,
harassed, robbed, detained, arrested, stalked, intimidated, verbally assaulted, yelled at, sworn at,
threatened, and above all threatened with the use of deadly force should we not comply with hotel
staff.

The first problem with our room was that they entire building smelled like raw sewage. This is due to
exposed sewage and sewage pipes in and around our building. It was a very nauseating smell.

There are no food standards in the Dominican Republic and there is a guarantee of food borne illnesses
due to mismanagement of food. The food was inedible. Food was covered in flies, cooked in vats in pots
that were not washed. We witnessed a pot that was cooking alfredo sauce, and they started cooking
tomato sauce in it without washing the pan. We saw hundreds of health food code violations by
American standards. Items requiring refrigeration were not afforded such. This is in 80 degree 80%
humidity jungle-type weather. There are only two restaurants available to non-VIP guests, Casablanca
and the Pearl. At the Pearl, Kelsey ate a quesadilla and choked on chicken cartilage. There was hard
bone and spongy chicken cartilage in the meat that my pregnant wife choked on and spit up all over our
table. There was clearly no food standards at this resort.

White sands and clear blue ocean? Not even close. Brown dirty sand with trash all over the beach. The
ocean in this particular part of the Caribbean is not clear blue and is full of algae and other ocean loose
plants. For starters, 90% of the beach is VIP only. The tiny section of beach we were allowed on was full of aggressive peddlers trying to get you to buy something every 5 minutes, and they won’t take no for an answer.

We were given yellow wristbands. Yellow is the target bulls eye color for innocent travelers. We also
noticed that were no Americans staying at the resort. During our entire trip we could not find more than
a handful of Americans. Out of thousands of people we came across, most were from Europe, Canada
and the Dominican or other Latin countries.

We were approached by a member of the hotel staff and stated that it was hotel policy that we come with him for a short tour for safety. He stated, we could be removed from the resort if we did not comply. We politely declined and were met with a sharp “You f***ing rich white Americans come here and think you are entitled, you don’t understand our ways and don’t understand what is expected of you here. You aren’t safe unless you are a VIP”

Complaining to the manager only aggravated the situation. We were harassed even more heavily by the
white shirts. We at one point barricaded ourselves in our room because there was so much anti-American speech being used against us outside.

White shirts on Day 3 began to make terrible Anti-American comments such as “You will never leave my
island alive with that attitude boy.” This was in response to me replying a polite “No thank you.” This gentleman wanted to fight me, he was so aggressive and intimidating, he threatened me with physical violence over and over. Here he is swearing and pointing at me. He told me that “Americans have no respect for the Dominican way of life” and he chased us for quite a ways.

When we left, we were detained and robbed by the fake police that worked for Cofresi.

This company uses false and deceptive practices and there Club membership is a SCAM. Everything that I was told about the Vacation club turned out to be a lie. They kept information about the cancelation period which is 4 calendar days and did not mention that even if you were to cancel within the four days they get to keep about $3000 of you money in fees. They lied about the amount of resorts they own in countries around the world, in fact they only are affiliated with the one in Dominican Republic. The prices for the rooms that they say is guaranteed is false and they would end up charging you a lot more for a lot less accommodation than the suites they promise. DONT BELIEVE THIS LIFESTYLE HOLIDAY VACATION CLUB ITS A FRAUD.

My fiance and I vacationed at Lifestyles Vacation Resort 4-20-11 through 4-25-11 and joined to obtain a V.I.P. joint membership for a junior suite using our credit cards to pay the upfront costs. This morning, my fiance saw charges on the credit card he used to pay for his half of the membership for airline tickets and told me to check the cards I used to pay for the membership as I used two of them to pay. One I maxed out and put the remaining balance on another credit card. The maxed out card had no unauthorized charges but the card where I charged the remaining balance has over $2, 000.00 of unauthorized charges for hotel reservations placed with Hotels.com which I did not make.

It is no coincidence that both of the cards we used to purchase the membership have unauthorized charges. It appears the personnel at Lifestyles Vacation Club are credit card fraud artists and someone within the organization needs to be notified ASAP. I attempted to contact Mr. Geooff Ballotti as CEO of Lifestyles Vacation Club/RCI but I could not locate on the internet any direct contat to advise him of his underlings activities.

I have also alerted CheapCarribean.com as they have the all-inclusive trips to Lifestyles Vacation Club Resorts and have the relationship to funnel prospective buyers of memberships to Lifestyles so they will look into this as well.

I am totally upset and angry of these occurrences with regard to the illegal activities that the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club personnel are participating in and causing undue stress on unsuspecting vacationers.

The slaes peoplpe at LHVC mislead you in what they are offering and what you actually get. On the second day after your arrival at their resort, you will be hounded by
specific staff telling you to come and recieve your welcome gift. These people target you by what color bracelet you may have on ( the color identifies you as a RCI member, regular traveler, VIP Gold member or VIP Platinum Member). They take you on a tour and show you nothing but the best rooms and at the end try to convince you that if you puchase one of thier levels of membership, that you can rent theses places out anytime you want and unlimited weeks. They promise that you can book a villa a month in avance, then you find out it is a year in advance. They also promised limo service for our ride to the airport in which we recieved a beat up old taxi.I have requested a refund in which they will not allow.

This summer my wife and I took a trip to Lifestyles Hacienda in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We had traded our timeshare in Myrtle Beach for a small studio in their hotel - like section of their resort. We paid a healthy fee for all-inclusive privileges to eat and drink in their bars and restaurants. Only two hours after arriving in the Dominican Republic we were whisked out of a restaurant and escorted into a meeting with liquor drinks being put in our hands while we were given a sales pitch concerning buying our existing timeshare and enrolling us in their vacation club. We were upgraded to a villa and received some comp gifts such as a helicopter ride, a day trip to Paradise Island, a BBQ and the use of Serenity Beach. Needless to say we took the bait.

I was unsure so I continuously inquired about cancellation possibilities. We were assured NUMEROUS TIMES by the salesman (Miguel) that if we thought we had made a mistake then we could get out of the contract with no strings attached. When we got back home and sobbered up and reality and buyer's remorse set in, we informed Lifestyles that we would like to cancel our membership. Our information and request was forwarded to a Ms. Yvette Aldomovar, who is the Arbitration Manager. At this point we were informed we could cancel but Lifestyles was going to charge us in excess of $18, 000 (for a villa that rents for $1300.00 a week) for a weeks stay and the gifts. At this point without any communication or warning, the company posted charges to our credit cards in the amount of $16, 000.

We were then emailed a statement claiming we owed an additional $2000.00 for the balance. We were shocked. That money (16, 000.00) was earmarked for a down payment on a vacation membership - not for a week’s stay. This is a fraudulent charge. Let me restate this. This $16, 000.00 was intended as down payment for a vacation club membership; not a week’s stay. Even though this point should be mute the grounds of these inflated charges are incongruent and grossly and falsely misrepresented. No where in any paper or agreement does it state that if we were to cancel our membership would we be responsible for any upgrades or gifts at an escalated price. NOT ONCE were we told by any member of the staff that if we accepted any gifts or upgrades that we would be responsible if the contract was canceled.

Also, nowhere in the contract or agreement does it state anything to the like, nor does it state that if we were held responsible, that it would be at a much inflated price. Also there is no date or time period that states the cancellation period has expired. Lastly, we were told by Miguel that only members or guests of VIP members were allowed to rent or even use the villas. We are now being asked to pay an exorbitant amount of money that is almost 9 times more than the advertised price (on a villa we were told could only be rented to members; that people “ off the street” could not just call up and rent these). The other much inflated charges are nothing more than a “fleecing” of a trapped customer. We were charged four-hundred dollars ($400) for a fifteen-minute helicopter ride. We can take the same trip in Myrtle Beach for $50 for both of us. The only restaurant that we were not allowed access to as a non-VIP member was Azul.

We ate there one night, but had we not; we would have eaten at another restaurant. We paid over $1000 for all inclusive rights to eat and drink as much as we would like. Comparing “apples to apples”, food is food. Regardless of what restaurant we would have eaten in, Lifestyles still would have had to provide food. Alcohol was delivered to our romm as a complimentary service. We were also charged for this. If it was not there when we left, maybe they should check with their staff. This brings me to the other things on your list of “upgrades” the BBQ at the villa, Paradise Island, and the use of Serenity Beach. We can throw out Serenity Beach because it is not a tangible product. We walked on the sand and swam in the water. At the most, we told them we were responsible are responsible for the helicopter ride, an excursion to Paradise Island and the use of the chef at a BBQ. We offered them $1000.00 dollars and to return our money that was charged on our credit cards (16, 000.00). So far we have heard nothing. Has anyone out there had any solutions? You can contact me at [protected]@richland2.org.

I was sold this as a business venture. I was suppose to have excess to these villas to sell people to stay in on vacation. Well, I got home and you guess it, there all book up until march of next year 2011. There is nothing to book. I was told at the signing of this contract, that the united states gives you three days to cancel a contract. The d.R. Gives you one year its the law, there no risk to you. When I was signing the contract I did ask what does this mean you can sell this contract if I cancel with in a year if I am not satisfy. I was told that was for them, so if I cancel with in a year I would get my money and they have the right to sell my contract and recoup there money. Ok that made sence. Now that I want to cancel, and I was told it was the law. Its a whole different story. Nothin he said was true. That signing under false pretenses and thats against the law. You can't put a clause in a contract that allows you to break the law and say in that clause you can be sued or held liable for it. Thats against the law. I took his word, that was the law and the contract meant what he said. I never would have sign it if any of that wasn't true. This is a huge scam. Everyone should call the number on top and get on barod.

made the same mistake. drinks were mixed out of our view. I was way too agreeable. signed up on a friday, went home saturday. opened our mail on sunday morning. medical bills from wifes surgery that I thought were paid were not. tried to call LHVC to cancel but did not have intl calling. called bank of america to cancel charge, I was told they would contact LHVC for me. thought it was taken care of. a few weeks later I was told to send an email to cancel with LHVC. thought it was taken care of again. I receive a letter saying charge will stand because I didnt cancel within 5 day window. meanwhile icalled bank of america within 3 days. the bank sends me a copy of LHVC response.in it they state they offered to sell my membership at no cost to me but I refused. if I was looking to get out why would I say no to that offer. once I read response from LHVC I knew they were not legit. I am more pissed at b of a because they have an open credit agreement with LHVC. I wonder over the years how many people put this in dispute with b of a. any lawyers out there HELP.

We paid a substantial amount of money for the "Timeshare" even thou they deny. I was told that if we was not happy they could reslae in hours because the deal was so good. They even said they would take back if we changed our mind.
Within 5 days we decided we had done wrong and emailed to ask them to take back or sell on. That was April 2008, now NOV 2009 still no response and no money back either.
This is a massive fraud, I see also that people dont get to use it like they say you can.

I want my money back they have had enough interest on it, can anyone help?

We have been unable to get resolution with LHVC over an upcoming reservation. We made the reservation almost 2 years ago and were told in writing that we would be put in the new villas for our stay. Upon checking on our reservation in September I was told that there was no guarantee. Since that time I have tried to contact the Jackie Bramhill, Customer Service Manager, to no avail. She will not answer my calls or emails. When I contact the resort they will not tell me who is in charge and get me to that person. The runaround continues and the trip quickly approaches. Does anyone know how to contact the President/CEO of LHVC?

Thanks,
Trudy

I am hoping you can assist my family, we do not know what to do at this point.

On March 23th 2009 while on vacation in the Dominican Republic at the Lifestyles Holidays resort (as a rental guest of a member, we paid the member for the week's stay) we attended a sales presentation for membership in the vacation club of the resort. After much alcohol (they kept the glasses full of alcohol and served champagne at several tour stops) and high pressure sales, we signed a contract and two credit cards through Bank of America were charged with high amounts.

We immediately the next morning expressed regret, but again experienced high pressure sales.

Immediately upon our return home I contacted our assigned customer service representative, Vance Paul, via email and requested a full cancellation. He attempted to give us alternative financing options, but we declined fully and requested a full refund and cancellation, confirmed with email. I also contacted Bank of America on this day and spoke with Reggie in billing disputes who stated I should send immediately a certified letter via postal mail requesting a refund, which I did.

I then exchanged several emails with a Mr Rountos, who again tried to offer us financing options, but I have always responded with a firm request for cancellation.

I have received an email from Mr Rountos completely denying our request to cancellation any portion of this membership and it's fees.

There is not any reference to cancellation terms in the contract.

I have requested contact information beyond Mr Rountos and have not been able to receive anyone additional to contact.

I am willing to provide any other information you seek, please do not put yourself or your family through this hell, the resort itself is not worth it.

I am a single mother with one child. I saved to go to the Dominican Republic and was there from Dec 30 2008 to January 5, 2009. On the last day there I too was taken on a tour by a sales man named Dominico. He also applied pressure. He also told me that I can choose any sister resort with no black out days and that this was not a time share. He also told me that the price will be going up and this opportunity is not available anywhere else. He indicated Lifestyle vacations is in Toronto but I could not join this club there as they only have a sales office in the Dominican Republic. He told me and another couple that the owner of this business is German. I checked everywhere on the website and found nothing. I did request a copy of a contract which he was unwilling to do. He indicated that this contract would be available once the financing went through and I signed the paper as an initial application. He was even willing to sell me 25 weeks for $4000 U.S. but I had to come up with $2000US. He sat there while I made a phone call to my credit card company to have my credit limit increased even after I told him I would not be able to get it. He asked if I had another card but I told him no.

He even told me I could make extra money by selling weeks at a higher amount for villas including Hawaii.

I can be reached at: [protected]@hotmail.com

My name is Eve.

At the time of purchase it was repeated to me (and my girlfriend who was with me) many times that I could get a full refund for the LHVC Gold Package for any reason within the first 12 months. Since the 3 times that I tried to book a vacation for a friend, for work and for myself were either too late in the response, not the size unit (a 3-bedroom villa, which I did not need as it was more expensive than the hotel), or no response at all to this date, I decided to request a refund. They had suggested I have a friend or family member put up a website to rent as many weeks as I could right when I returned home to try to recoup my expense. If I couldn't get my first few requests, how could I make money with a website?

Of course they have it all figured out. There was a fine print clause saying that I agreed that there was nothing else presented than what was in the written contract. The sales representative did a great job explaining everything in a manner that made me feel comfortable in the fact that I had nothing to lose. Of course I repeated my understanding many times and was reassured by him, as well as a customer representative the next day, or I wouldn't have gone through with it.

Would everyone like to get together and go after RCI, who owns LHVC? Together maybe we could get somewhere.