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 skeptical as they had recently finished paying for the first one. We were given the same runaround 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 "maintanance 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?
they have ruined my credit because we did not want to get anyone fired. they gave us a deal that we could not keep because it was based on a job increase well it did not go. so we tried to cancel it and he said they could not do it because it would cost him his job
I’m not sure. I suggest you speak with your lawyer. When you find out post the information for others to see. Maintenance fees is the cash cow for all timeshare companies. I heard they will do all kinds of dirty tricks to scare you into keep paying monthly fees.
I wonder how many timeshare owners got the notice in the mail that there bonus time is no longer transferable which is something they could have used to help them get ride of that thing. Silverleaf changes the rules anytime they get ready, but when people start to want there money back they want to know what’s the problem. That is if you can get in contact with anyone.
I don’t think that donation will help with some people. Someone pays $13K for a timeshare they think will gain equity and the only thing they can get out of it is a $5K tax deduction. I understand it’s something and you can get out of those maintenance fees.
I hear the same complaints everyday that you have on your site regarding Silverleaf Timeshares. The maintenance fees keep going up, the bonus times keeps changing for the worse and due to the oversaturation of the resale market you can’t even seem to give them away and people keep paying companies more and more to only end up disappointed again and again.
What I have to offer is definitely not for everyone but I wanted to let you know that I work on behalf of a Charity that is looking for Silverleaf Timeshares and unlike other charities we are approving all Silverleaf Timeshares, no matter where, season, size etc…. the only stipulation is that it is mortgage free and current on maintenance fees.
The donor will receive a tax deduction of up to 5000.00 and it cost nothing, we pay for everything including closing cost and the transfer fees.
Again, this is not for everyone but for those that just want out from underneath their ownership this might be a solution and it is definitely a win win for the owner and the charity.
If this is something you might consider advising the owners on your site, please have them go to www.trejesto.com for more information. On the website it states that your timeshare will have to go through a market analysis but I wanted to let you know that ANY Silverleaf Resort is automatically “APPROVED” right now.
Thanks for your time
Andria
P.S. Just for your information, Silverleaf’s Bonus time has changed AGAIN….. If you sale it, the new owner gets limited bonus time and if they sale or transfer it the Bonus Time DOES NOT transfer. This means that they will have 1 week a year period !!! This is going to make the sale of Silverleaf timeshares even harder to sale, and this is why the market is saturated with these timeshare now for resale.
I feel your pain!! I was told the same lie about selling my timeshare. When I asked about selling my timeshare back Silver leaf (SL) rep said they couldn’t do that because it would be a conflict of interest. And the lie about you can use your current timeshare after it gains value is all bull. They will tell you they can only use the amount you paid for it. They don’t use equity you gain because that’s for other markets or if your selling it to someone else.
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they have ruined my credit because we did not want to get anyone fired. they gave us a deal that we could not keep because it was based on a job increase well it did not go. so we tried to cancel it and he said they could not do it because it would cost him his job