Ocean Beach Club/Goldkey resort review: Timeshare week forfeited because of missed maintenance payment 53

Ddi you file a complaint with Better Business Bureau or Consumer Complaint with Virginia Attorney Genral's Office? Have you settled this issue yet?

I have been Gold Key owner (Villas at the Board Walk then Ocean Beach Club) for about 6 years. I 'vehad two family members in two different hospitals at the same time: my husband and his mother. We upgraded our unit at OBC in October 2008. Because of that I had been unable to get on line to care for the maintenance fee for the new unit which was due January 2009. On 3/17/09 I again tried to access the site and was successful but I found that my unit had been forfeited for the year, I owed a $50 late fee and collection charges of $264. I understand having to pay the extra charges, even though I was practically living at two different hospitals, the paments were my responsibility. What I am very upset at is that my week has been forfeited. They not only get the late fees but they also get the benefit of renting out my week or whatever they do with "forfeited weeks" which I believe is unjust enrichment. I intend to file complaints with the BBB and any other agency I can think of. Any suggestions?

Pay what you agree to or lose

We purchased a 2 bedroom lock-off at the Ocean Beach Club, while on vacation in Virginia Beach in September of 2004. They were promoting the construction of a new tower, so we bought in at a pre-building price of $8500.00. We honestly have to say, that we bought it on a whim, and this was our first timeshare purchase. We bought week 6, which is our anniversary week, but it is still in the dead of winter. We pay the maintenance fees every January, and have yet to stay there. We have been trying to sell this timeshare for the past four years, and cannot get rid of it. We have wasted over $2000. trying to sell it. The only good thing, is that it trades well with the exchange companies, and since we can't get rid of it, we can atleast benefit from it's exchange value. We now own three timeshares, and two vacation club memberships.

With today's declining economy, home foreclosures, lost jobs etc... I don't think that Gold Key resorts is going to make any profit from your forfeited week. Gold Key and all the other timeshares companies, only care about their bottom line, and that is getting our money, by any means necessary. If you told them you were dying of cancer, they would want your spouse or your heirs to continue to pay your maintenance fees on time, after you death.

I am sorry, for your situation, but when it comes to timeshares, we are swimming with the sharks.

Regards,
PJT

yea well if u didnt buy a timeshare in the first place, u wouldnt have to deal with this ###. how ###ed can u be to sign a deed entitling you to own time?!
and OF COURSE they will make money from the unit! it is available and they WILL occupy it. there is no mercy in business.
good luck.

We bought a 2 bedroom lock off as well, with Ocean Beach Club for January with the intention of EXCHANGING it with Interval International. We have now found out... Interval never has anything available anywhere we want to go! We tried to sell our $13, 450 timeshare on E-Bay for $1.00 and there were NO TAKERS!

My friend who is a Contract Lawyer in New York City recently called Ocean Beach Club on our behalf because we want out of it, he was told that we have to pay the Maintenance Fees in perpetuity, even after we are dead they will come after the estate!

Can we form a group and fight them ?

It looks like the Attorney General in Virginia is not doing much to look into it because it brings a lot of revenues to the state!

Attention Gold Key Resort Time sharers,

We brought into week #13 dates 3-27-10 to 4-3-10 at Turtle Cay, 1081 19th Street, unit #105, Virginia Beach, Va. 23451.

I would like to add that after numerous attempts to acquire an exchange of week #13 for two short stays, their system of exchange difficult and frustrating. They want you to give up your week no later than January 26, 2010 to acquire short stays, if we wish to exchange for two short stays. Yet we cannot get a confirmation of the weeks we wanted 5-21 2010 to [protected] and 9-3-2010 to 9-8-2010 more than 60 days of when we want to book. I am not a gambler. We were also duped into thinking we acquired a fluctuating one week a year vacation, during what their sales personnel, told us was a “red zone”, leading us to believe that our deeded week was actually giving us an availability of a vacation from March to September if we made our choice before [protected]. We have since found out that this was a lie. The slick sales tactic that was used to sell us real estate in their organization was well below the belt.
Be advised that we will never recommend our friends or relatives to invest in Gold Key Resorts, ever! We are more that capable of paying our membership yearly dues, $542.00 and monthly mortgage, without selling our friends down the river. We will never give them any more names to processing as a way to eliminate the yearly dues of $542.00. The names initially given to them have all been notified of their deceptive practices. The members of our church, St. Matthews with a membership of over 3000 will read this letter that I will post on our church bulletin board and website. I know this will not put a dent in their productivity, nor do they even care. But be advised that this angry owner is networking with others to brainstorm on ways to get the word out, including local newspapers in Virginia Beach of their sales tactics, i.e. this website is just the beginning.

Sick in Sicklerville, N.J.

Sad to say, but my husband and I feel we were flim-flammed. We lost use of our week #1 because our dues weren't paid by 1/1. However, as you know, we still had to pay the dues and the late fee. How horrible.

We just got a call this week inviting us to come down for the weekend. My husband said "No way! After they jipped us out of a week, they can forget it, and they'll never get a referral from me again!" They probably don't realize the negative power of disatisfied members.

Ambler, PA

GOLD KEY IS THE WORST...I just got a deeded week timeshare at Boardwalk Villas and tried to deposit it into interval international. I sent all the paperwork in and they forfeited my week even after I paid the yearly maintenance. They didnt offer any sort of compensation (free weekend or week in the off season). The customer reps are rude and should be unemployed because their sense of customer service is bar none THE WORST. Everytime I speak with one of them I feel like I am inconveniencing them, but as I can see from these complaints, I am not the only one having trouble. This experience has mad me want to sell my timeshare...and I havent even been there yet!

Craig V
New York, NY

GOLD KEY SUCKS! i don't recommend anyone ever buy from them. they always find a reason to forfeit you week even it is their fault. I paid everything on time and my week was also forfeited. I tried to find out why only to find out they put the wrong account number. I had the canceled check that had the right account number. I also had when it cleared & it was in time. After that I said screw them.

Funny, you all complain about your ownership at Gold Key and I bet not one of you know how to use it. Try reading the fine print and learning how to use your timeshare and you may actually be happy. I am but I learned the hard way, just like all of you fools who think you just have to make a phone call. Learn how to use what you bought!

what did u find in fine print, , can u please tell us ./that would be helpfull

RCI just settled a Class Action Suit with millions of their customers for the same reason, the fine print was FLAWED !
Otherwise RCI would have not settled or made restitution to all their millions of customers.

Gold Key Resorts -Ocean Beach Club, Virginia Beach, Va and Interval International are being sued in Federal Court in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Plaintiffs bought a timeshare with Ocean Beach Club with the sole purpose of using the time share as an exchange with Interval International .

We all know by now that there is never anything available because they sell our deposited weeks, (that's how they make their money) rather than exchange them to Interval Members !

STAY TUNED !

My husband and I were stupid enough to fall for the timeshare sales pitch with Gold Key and after 5 hours we signed on contract at 9pm on a Wednesday night. We realized the mistake we made that night and called them as soon as their offices open the next day and said we wanted out. There was a 7 day cancellation clause in the contract. At first they said we should come in and talk to the sales person again but I said no. I said we just need to cancel everything and I had already written the cancellation notice and wanted to hand deliver it. They connected me to the business manager and he told me to come in to the office (where we did the contract) with the cancellation letter. We did that and he stamped it received with the date, signed it, and we gave all the sales related material back. He said we would get our deposit back in 45 days. That was it - we thought we were done. When we got home we also sent another letter of cancellation to the address stated in the contract stating that we had already canceled the contract but were being extra sure and included the cancellation notice again. The 2nd cancellation notice was also within the 7 day cancellation period (sent certified, returned receipt). Now 2 weeks later we are getting letters from them asking for things as though nothing was canceled. What should we do? This is extremely stressful.

call and complain to Attorny Genral office ...

hey listen i think we may have something in comon i think i might have bought your time share. We where doing the paper work to buy it but then we got out of it. However after the fact about 2weeks later they took out money from my account with out any authorisation. and now we are in the process of fighting it. i need to speak with you can you email me. it the same week and i need to talk to you.

Hi I have just made the same mistake by signing a contract to a timeshare and would like to cancell it.
Can anyone please give me some advise on how to go about cancelling the contract it has ben 3 days since signing what should I do And if so how has anyone handled this

seend them certified mail.keep all paper work ..or have lawyer do yr work ..

I will send them a cancelation letter certified and its within 3days of signing contract I'll let you know how things go thanks

This is Lisa222. I am following up with my posting from about 3 weeks ago. I called down to gold key and they said our contract was cancelled – so that was a major relief. We still haven’t gotten a refund on our credit card. It has been about 36 days since I canceled. I am going to give it a few more days and then do a charge dispute with the credit card company.

Hi lisa2222 I have just send the letter and all there sales material back certified and return notice of receipt to cancel agreement and called my cc to put a stop on the payment toward the deposit I made.I will be waiting to here back From them that they have canceled because I am still within the allotted time period stated in the agreement.
Did they send you a cancelation letter back or fax back stating contract was cancelled? it would be smart to have for future ref

I just got a canceled from my timeshare with this fraudulent company. I want to join the class action suit in Allentown, PA. Does anyone have the info that I can get to join to close this fraud down! This is horrible, I too won't recommend anyone to this resort. What a scam!

Well we are now in the same boat at Luke Li. My husband lost his job and although I have made the monthly payments on time for 5 years, I could not pay the maintenance fee until February 20, and included the $50 late fee. Two days later I get a notice from a collection agency that I owe them $259. For what? I paid Gold Key the exact amount they billed me and yes, I was late, but I also paid their $50 late fee. Seems like in the meantime although they received my check and cashed it, they decided to turn me over to a collection agency. They have not taken my week away yet, but I am looking for that to happen next as I am fighting with the collection agency and as you all know, they hold all the cards. I will never purchase another timeshare with Gold Key, I will never recommend them to anyone and I will do my best to tell everyone about my experience. Yes, business is business, but we are all humans and none of us expected the economy to tank or for so many people to lose their jobs. If I knew of a way to sell this rock hanging around my neck I would do so. I do not know why I should pay a collection agency $259 for making a phone call AFTER my fee was paid.

I recently did a timeshare tour with Gold Key Resorts. Like you all, I have heard the horror stories of not being able to trade out and of the maintanance fees. I was not impressed with the resort and politely told the sales rep. "This is not for me, but maybe I will refer some people who may like this." The sales rep. became very aggitated (Craig Dean is his name) and at the end of the tour he became a smart ###. OMG! It took all I had within me not curse him out. They are rude when they don't make a sale. My belief is this - if you have a product worth buying, even if one potential buyer decide not to buy, you should know someone else would. I feel his actions speaks for the resort as a whole - NO CLASS. Usually the behavior of a companies employee's represent the company as a whole, especially in this case. When I talked with his manager, they put on this sincere apology, BUT at the same time made excuses for him by saying things such as "he is young and new." Sometimes these people act like a used car salesman tying to pass of "lemons" and when you don't buy they get an attitude.

Back to the losing a week. I believe that if you pay the maintenance fee and the late fee and still don't get your week and Gold Key rents the week that they are asking for unreasonable profit. Still trying to decide if I will take them to small claims court which I believe is up to $1200.

Hi, I also need some advice... My husband and I fell into this trap as well with Gold Key Resorts! On July 3 of this year we got sucked in to buying a timeshare a Turtle Cay. We were excited being that we love VB, and I believe my husband and I were still "high" on marriage since we had just recently got married on June 25th on this same year- we thought why not? Well, these sales people made arrangements with us to make arranged payments for the deposit because we did not have what they were requesting as a down payment. We paid $200 up front and agreed to pay $495 on July 22 and the remainder balance of $495 on Aug 5. Well, even though I lost my job- we would do what we can to keep up with the payment BUT on July 22nd Gold Key Resorts tried to debit our account twice for the $495. I could see that my account's available balance had been deducted the $495. the very next day Gold Key calls to say that our card had declined... Well we thought that was odd and stated to them that we could do nothing at the time because our bank was closed on Saturdays and we resassured that we would resolve this on Monday. That is when I found out that they tried to retrieve the funds twice. NOW I am very dis satisfied with them and do not want to continue the contract with them. Other then all this- our unit will not be available until February... When I called Gold Key- we are not even in there system as owners... What can I do? Can I cancell?

Jcortes, i am worried with you, i signed papers on july 25th this year. ive paid 300 down and now ive read all this im scared to death. it sounded great to exchange the time with interval. did you find out anything? please let me know! thank you

My husband and I bought ours at Ocean Beach Club on a whim last year while on vacation there. Big mistake. We never use it and have never used it. I know the economy is in the tank but we'd still like to put it up for sale but have no idea how to do that. Can anyone offer any suggestions? We were told they wanted first chance to buy back but guess what, nobody knows why we were told that. haha Now maintenance fee's are $745! Yes, this is our own fault for falling for the sales pitch. We just want to get rid of it. Thanks for any suggestions.

I agree with everyone. This is a money pit. Maintenance fees going up, and Interval never has anything for exchange. There must be someway to sell this thing. Please post some legitimate ideas. Posts that say "You should never have bought" are useless and a waste of type. I will gladly join a class action lawsuit to get out of this.

After reading these complaints, I feel so fortunate that we searched after we got sucked into buying a timeshare at turtle bay and sent a cancellation form last friday.
Buyers beware!

HI, I HAVE BEEN WITH GOLD KEY 5YEARS AND I AM A CO-SINGER TO MY EX-FIANCE AND NOW I CANNOT GET OUT OF THIS CONTRACT.. HE STUCK ME WITH ALL THE FINIACAL BURDEN.. I AM VERY UPSET BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN TERMIALLY ILL AND OUT OF WORK AND THEY KEEP HARRASSING ME ABOUT THE PAYMENTS. IT DOSENT MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME.. MY EX IS IN THE MILITARY AND I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CANT GET THEIR MONEY FROM HIM INSTEAD OF KEEP HASSLING ME. THIS COMPANY IS FULL OF IT... I JUST WANT MY NAME OFF THIS CONTRACT.. I FEEL LIKE I HAVE PAID MY HALF OF THIS DEBT HE NEEDS TO BE HANDLED FOR THE REST..

This just happen to us we have paid the monthly mortgage payment timely but fail to pay the maintaince fee timely and were told we foriet our week even if we pay the fee now, my husband is so upset he want to cancel the whold thing he said over a fee and they are getting paid monthly how RUDE

I'VE HAD TIMESHARES since 1998--thought i knew it all until i ran up against obc/goldkey ! They tricked us with our week/fee, MAINTENANCE FEE and now, i've just found if i don't continue to pay them--they'll take everything i've got! I had 2 family members as witnesses--they get you by yes, answering all your questions! but when you sign that huge stack of closing papers--not reading each page, which would take HOURS, (and you've already been there FOREVER) --THEY GET YOU THAT WAY! We said over and over we wouldn't do this unless our maintenance fee was around $350 total--we got our bill and it was $665 ! It included Reserve for Replacement and taxes. I've N E V E R HAD TO PAY R4R OR TAXES before while owning a timeshare! I'm looking for my papers now - but am SURE THEY COVERED THEIR BUTTS! It'll be in the fine print somewhere... we're screwed! anyone successful in fighting them- count me IN ! (i THOUGHT I'D SELL TOO- but after reading all the comments, I realize FORGET THAT ! ) linda [protected] Richmond, VA

.We have a timeshare at gold key resort and that was the biggest mistake I have ever made. These people told me when I got the timeshare that I could change it to anywhere in the world, and every time we call to interval word they do not have anything available. I’m really disappointed with these people. Interval word charge you for everything… we have to buy a membership, and pay for booking, and they only allow you to book with them 60 days, so your chances of finding something are less. We pay $140 every month and $500 for association and $60 to interval word and $170 for booking…that’s like $ 2300 dollars in a year. I could go any where for that money. I have not even use our timeshare because all they have is or out the county or in another state far from us…please if someone read this don’t buy anything from these people. They just one gets your money and than you got to deal with it… we have tried sell it but no one wants it. And we don know what to do….

We just bought ours yesterday. What is the proper procedure to get out of this contract and also I gave them cash for a our 10% downpayment?

We went to the sales pitch in Va Beach. During the 4 hour wrong pitch, I got a bad feeling from the manager. He ended up being very rude and mean. We stuck to our guns, Got our coupons, and left. I feel so sorry for you all. Gold Key are nothing but scammers !

I want to get out of this timeshare. ocean beach club will not help unless you intend to upgrade. cannot afford to continue. am thinking about defaulting since I see no other way. if there is another way what is it. must get out

GoldKey is a scam bigger than Bernie Madoff. The next time you're at VB, take a guess at how many employees work for GoldKey and the number of properties they own (or rent?). There are literally dozens of people on every block on the sidewalk trying to lure people (not to mention the travel shops) for the free gifts that come with a presentation. Then think of the cost of all the meals, rooms, and gifts that they give out every day. On top of all of this, I was told that they own over 80% of the oceanfront at Virginia Beach. GoldKey (with the help of local government) has transformed Virginia Beach as we know it. I'm not going to say this is all bad because actually, it is much nicer place to visit now than even ten years ago, but the amount of money that is being spent by GoldKey is MIND BOGGLING! Who pays for all of these salespeople, gifts, support, mailings, etc. Who audits a company like this to ensure that the fees we pay every year aren't spent on selling other properties. Someone should check out the money trail to see how a company can buy a city.

Oh my gosh.. Am getting frustrated bout this timeshare with Goldkeys so I searched on the net and find u all owners who are in thse same mess. I couldn't try to explain myself how stupid we were buying this thing called timeshare. We own this over 2 yrs ago buy never used it since interval doesn't have anything in any place we want to go to and we are international travelers..Asia, Europe, north and South America. We pay $800 for maintenance, $150 for interval membership, then $154 to exchange. Hell thats $1100 a year that I could go anywhere to book a hotel. And if u split ur one week, interval would charge u $154 each time. They also give is extra " free " stay certificate that u can only book it 45 days before u travel and they charge $300 when u book this cert.. This is totally a rip off company n this people who are selling them should be in jail! Oh and we paid $16k for OCB WEEK 40.. Cannot even give it away.

I'm sorry for you guys but Goldkey is known for being a scam. You should get together and do something against those crooks. If it helps, here you will find some good advices about timeshare scams:

http://www.timesharescam.com/

Don't let them get you, they're doing this every day