My wife and I are Silverleaf timeshare owners since 2006, and I regret the day I signed the note.I would like to express how Silverleaf has managed to basically strip my family of thousands of dollars. I have to admit that it was partly my fault for letting this people "*** in" into buying one of their properties. I should have taken the time to think things thru, but that's just it, once you're in the closing booth, you don't have a chance against their very well put together sales pitch that they use to confuse even the smartest buyer.At first I was really reluctant to sign, but i was reassured by smiling faces and sound explanations that there was nothing to worry about. I thought I asked all the right questions [or so I thought]. So, It all started when we received a letter in the mail saying

that we won won a free vacation of 1 of three presents including a brand new car. They say all you need to do is come for a free 1.5 hour presentation on their resort. They also promise a $40 gas card from Spirit Incentives. These guys are a total scam. The presentation is a high pressure sales job preying on what appeared to be uninformed and unprepared families. Our sales rep was so eager to close the deal that he offered to drive back with us (a 2 hour drive) just to pick up a check for our down payment. Feeling pressured by this "army" of sales people that kept coming to the desk, we finally cave in. Just 24 hours after we signed the documents we drove back to the office, and asked to talk to the sales rep that sold us the package, after waiting for 3 hours this person finally showed up. After we told him that we wanted to cancel the whole thing, he told us that that wasn't an option, and the only thing we could do for us was to downgrade the initial package he had offer us, so of course we accepted ($200 for 7 years, how stupid was I).

We bought the "deluxe package" with access to over 13 different resorts, but every time single time we wanted to use the resorts, everything was taken. Its been almost three years and I was only able to use the resort three times, both times for only a couple of nights. On top of my $ 200 a month I had to pay an extra $ 50 / night to stay there, a small detail that wasn't disclose at the time we signed the contract. Not to mention, that the resort where we stay in Galveston, TX was dirty, the customer service people extremely rude, the room was dirty, the bath tub nasty, there was hair all over the bathroom sink and bath tub.

Their customer service people are plain rude and sometimes they get belligerent on the phone when they we try to get some explanations regarding our membership, and we always get the same answer.. " read your contract". In order to use some of the amenities inside the resorts we are asked to pay extra. another thing they forgot to mention during the sales presentation.

To recap, we got so fed up with this company, their poor and rude customer service, their lies, etc, that we decided to pay them off. We called twice to let them know that we were planning to pay off the account and we need it to know the exact pay off amount, instead of just giving me the pay off amount they transfered me to another sales rep. who tried to sell me an upgrade instead of paying them off. After i said no, they simply hung up. I specifically told them not to take any more money from my account as I was planning to pay them off. They told me "no problem". But, right after the check for $ 6400.00 cleared to took the monthly membership of $ 200 from my account, which I had to close afraid that they would try to take more money out. I was right, and they cost me an extra $ 70 in NSF charges. It took me 2 weeks and several phone calls to get my money back. Just today i got a call from the billing department saying that i still owed them $ 77 to pay off the account, this is 2 weeks later after I received a letter from them telling me that the account was paid off and the lien released. They tried telling me that that letter was mailed by mistake and that if i wanted the lien released i had to pay the remaining balance. So, after 45 minutes on the phone with them they finally agreed to credit my account the $ 77.

I just want to warn other people about Silverleaf resorts, and to do their "homework" before they rush into buying any properties from this company. I recently researched this company and across thousands of complaints.There are hundreds of complaints posted on the BBB website alone, and lots more all over the internet. Let this be a warning to everybody not to buy from this company, unless of course you don't mind throwing your money away and having to deal with a company that cares nothing about its members.

We have been Silverleaf owners since 1991 and I can honestly tell you they have gone to *** in a hand basket. We recently stayed out at the Villages for "complimentary" stay as long as we attended the meeting. Well fine sure we needed a short getaway. So we get there on a Friday around 9:30pm, as we had to work all day, and low and behold they put us up in one of the oldest condos they had and we were specific we told them we wanted a lodge unit, not a condo unit. So we check in and get to Unit 71 and OMFG it was a dump!!! First sign we got to high tail it out of there was an unlocked, ugly ***, sliding glass front door. Boy that was so inviting.

My husband called the front desk and told them they better find an open lodge unit or he was packing up and heading back to Dallas. They gave some song and dance about how they didn't have lodge units available at that time (we found out later it was a first come, first serve basis). So, we toughed it out for the night as the kids were tired and cranky from the 3 hour drive. While we had the chance we wrote a list of all the things we found wrong with that one condo (surly the same things wrong in all the other older ones):

1) Right away, unlocked front door

2) Musty, moldy smell

3) Footprints, handprints and pencil marks on the walls throughout

4) Water stains on walls and ceilings

5) Water damage to sheetrock, behind 30 layers of paint

6) Appliances dated back to 1978

7) Carpet was stained and dingy

8) Handles missing off nightstands

9) Ice maker did not work

10) Awful cable reception

11) Insignificant light switches that served no purpose

12) Shabby, torn bed linens

13) Vertical blinds missing slats and pull rods

14) Walkway up to Condo was dangerous

15) 2 washcloths for 4 people

16) Sagging mattress

17) Kitchen floor was rotting out

18) Broken kitchen cabinets

You get the idea right...

Next day, we get a phone call from one of the managers explaining that a lodge unit would be available by 11 am, go figure (they sucked up because they thought we were potential upgraders to their Diamond Club, fat chance). We get into the nicely decorated and much more up to date lodge unit and kids want to take advantage of the water park (which Silverleaf maintenance fees paid for because they obviously aren't being used for maintenance). Now this water park was a neat idea, but my problem with it is this, members have to pay $20.00 per person to use it...and it's open for the public to use as well ... the PUBLIC!!! Since when have Silverleaf amenities been open to the public?

Another thing that bothers me is the meeting we had to attend. First of all, as members were coming in they had to fill a survey. Most of that information was NONE of their business! They had no business knowing such personal information like which credit cards you used while at the resort, your occupation, where you worked, income and children's names and ages. Once the form was turned in they offered up tickets to the BBQ...we never got any and weren't even offered any. Was it because we chose to only write out names on the form and nothing else? Regardless, the service was rude!!!

Once they got us into their office to go over their 2 hour sales pitch and tour of what we CAN'T use currently, we proceeded to tell them what was WRONG with the current condos, built in 1978. They grabbed a maintenance sheet and pretended to act like they cared and when they thought we weren't looking they secretly slid the maintenance request form into the garbage. Of COURSE they don't care, they're there to sell, not listen to members.

Now that leads me the *** 'n bull story the salesmen have to tell as to why all the new Presidential, ambassador and wife else grandiose crap they're building is being built. They say "Silverleaf members have spoken", my *** they've spoken. Which ones did they speak to? The ones who have more money than brains? You can't say a handful of surveys represents ALL Silverleaf owners, because that's BS!

Ok, so as we start the tour of the beautiful Beach Resort at the Villages, btw did you know they trucked in white sands from Florida for the private beach? Yeah, we Endless Escape owners can't use that either, unless we spend another $8, 000 on top of what we already spent the first go round to buy into the Diamond Plus Club. We're escorted into this beautiful 1200 sqft condo and they think it's gonna wow us into buying ... WRONG. We were not falling for their horse 'n pony show. I tell the young salesman, with the smug attitude, to stop at the condo they put us up in the night before and he acted as though his hearing aid battery fell out...turned a deaf ear mind you. They're not interested in the old condos, NO, they want you to buy a new one. We're not stupid!

He then proceeds to tell my husband, who at one point said he got to stay at a presidential condo in Galveston, that it'll never happen again ... why do you say that you effin punk, gonna fix it so he can't ... smug bastage. Any who, after we get back to the member services building he takes us to a showroom of floor plans and photos of the new condos, the ones we can't use, and I ask "Why aren't there photos of the old condos on here, you know the one we got stuck in Friday night?" Again, no response. Why they wouldn't sell condos at the rate they are if they had photos of the old condos.

I then asked, "So how come you don't walk potential owners through one of the condos you put us up in Friday?" Again, dead air. When he couldn't seal the deal, they brought a closer in ... he made the upgrade seem so cheap and easy. He figured he'd give us a deal ... $5, 620 plus a $1200 down payment with payments as low as $88 a month for life... bet you're thinking man that's a sweet deal!! NO EFFIN WAY!!! Here's the catch though, he wanted to make our home resort in Massachusetts with a white week. Why the *** would we want a white week in Massachusetts, when we already own a red week at Holly Lake, where the PGA golf course is? BTW, they're now building presidential condos at Holly Lake.

When the closer started talking all I heard was blah blah blah horse 'n pony show blah blah blah. This smug *** then says, "I own 3 weeks, " well la de da jack ***, who cares. He also goes on to say that he is taking his kids to places he grew up going to and wants them to learn what a good vacation is all about. Shoot, I must be doing it all wrong cause I'm trying to teach my kids how to earn a dollar. What a hole he was. He couldn't seal the deal either and walked out completely defeated and huffy.

We did learn a vital piece of information...RCI members have more clout at Silverleaf Resorts than Silverleaf owners... Yeah you saw it right here. The reason we couldn't get into a lodge condo the night we got there is because Silverleaf "HAS" to leave a section blocked out specifically for RCI members. Ain't that a kicker. We got screwed because RCI takes precedence. Sorry POS!!! No offense to RCI members, but uh HELLO Silverleaf owners made Silverleaf, not RCI.

Anyway, we went back to the condo, checked out a day early and went the *** home. We traded our red week for a week in Branson next summer. And we were grandfathered in where we get to use all the Silverleaf resorts ... like it matters. Silverleaf Executives are crooked bastards.

My parents are Silverleaf timeshare owners in Oak N’ Spruce, Massachusetts. They have been since 1999 when they were pressured into buying this worthless timeshare. They are so unethical. My family moved to United States in 1995 from Slovakia. Neither one of my parents spoke English in 1999, so the sale was basically made to me when at the time I was only 15. The information was given to me and I was advised to translate all of it to them. I myself did not speak English that well either let alone understand the legal language and what we were getting ourselves into. I do not remember a lot from that day since it was so long ago, but I do remember the sales person pressuring us so bad that he was willing to drive to our house, 2 hours away, just to get a deposit out of us to put as a down payment on the timeshare. We kept saying we do not have money to put a down payment of any sort. Needless to say we did not see a way out of this, and ended up purchasing the timeshare with a down payment of about $90.00 which at first they wanted thousands. We never filed a complaint against them because we did not know we were able to do so nor did we know it was a scam until I recently researched this company and saw lawsuits and complaints. In 2006 while using their June vacation time, my parents were asked to see a sales rep to talk about their timeshare. While speaking to the sales rep my parents were asked if they wanted to upgrade by buying another week. We said we rarely use the week we currently have and said “no thank you”. He insisted that the resort is growing and the value of the timeshare is going up every year. The current sale of the red week (what my parents own) was apparently selling on the market for $25, 000, so we were told. The sales rep offered to sell it to us for a very “special” value of $14, 000. We were sceptical as they had recently finished paying for the first one. We were given the same run-around as the first time and it was made almost impossible to leave there without agreeing to the purchase. We mentioned also that we like to vacation in Slovakia visiting family and would rather use that money toward flying there. The sales rep told us about the RCI program that we can use and whenever we want because Silverleaf is a participating member and we can exchange our weeks with them anytime. I recently learned we need membership with them which we need to pay for. I do want to say the second purchase was somewhat easier only because we were led to believe that we are investing in something wonderful. I remember asking about selling the timeshare and was told as stated earlier the value of the timeshare is increasing every year and that it is a very desirable timeshare and would have no problem selling it. We made the purchase based on a lie that we may sell it whenever we want to and make very good profit.

I would like to express how Silverleaf has managed to basically strip our family of thousands of dollars when we could not have even known all the facts about the resort because of the language barrier. Secondly we were made to believe we were purchasing something that will eventually be worth a lot more than we invested or would invest. It was not until recently I started researching selling the timeshare that I learned of the real value and the scam. There are thousands of postings from people all over United States trying to sell them. I have even seen postings on Ebay, selling value being $0.01. I also came across thousands of complaints. We want to sell it but as I stated earlier it is close to impossible to sell since there are so many listing. I am not letting my parents spend another dime. They and I understand this will most likely affect their credit, but we will much rather pay money to either fix it or take them to court, than throw money away into a company that tricks, manipulates, lies and steals from its customers. They have most certainly taken advantage of us as they state on their website in order to qualify you must make at least $45, 000 and speak English. At the time of purchase my parents did not make anywhere close to that. We also did not speak English well and they state in order to sell anything they would provide a translator that would help translate everything, which they had not. The sales rep misrepresented the timeshare. So needless to say stay away, we convinced ourselves we were doing a good thing by buying it, but in all honesty it is worthless and basically the only way to get rid of it is to donate it because you have to pay the "maintenance fees" every month for the rest of your life! And I will admit fault to being fooled but I was young and didn't know any better and we came from a country where things like this don't happen so anyone who is going to write "you should have known better" yea it's true we should have but we didn't think it was a scam...who ever does?

We have been scammed by Silverleaf Resorts as well. We purchased one of the sampler vacations. We've requested a refund. All they have been telling us is that they will honor the week vacation that we have paid for.

I called their Corporate office today. At 5:03 I was told everyone was gone for the day. I told the representative that I was not an idiot and there's no way that she was the only person left in the building. A few minutes a later a supervisor came on the phone. I requested that she direct me to the portion of the contract that stated no refund of deposit or moneys applied. No where does it state that.

The legal department is supposed to be calling me tomorrow. Maybe I can get some resolution with them tomorrow. If not I guess I will take the week vacation and for a portion of each day I will sit in the waiting room and warn everyone I can of the scam that Silverleaf Resort really and truly is.

Maybe I won't get my $1, 000 deposit back but I will force them to spend much more than that to get customers that I have just scared away. I will be sure to direct them all to this website as well.

I will inform them exactly the type of organization that Silverleaf Resort is.

I happen to be in school online right now in a Marketing class and this happens to be the week that we write about a good customer service experience and a bad customer service experience. I will certainly be writing tonight that this is bad customer service. I will be touching some people that are right here in this area, Atlanta, GA, I have classmates from Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles.

Wow, I had no idea that there were students from so many different places. I may have to direct personal at Silverleaf to this website myself and let them know how many people I may be able to affect. Nothing like negative advertising.

Not only do I have access to the discussion board for the assignment we have a virtual commons area that I can post a warning to students. I don't know how many students attend this campus but I certainly have the ability to tell at least thousands and thousand of people in many different parts of the world. This can be seen by everyone. But school is a community and you are more apt to listen to someone who is part of your community like students at AIU.