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SVC lacked transparency about their offers and put up great obstacles to ameliorate the situation.
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May 12, 2008 Shell Vacations complaint |
We spent seven hours at an SVC presentation. Upon signing, we were offered a reimbursable dinner. We ended up canceling at our financial advisor's advice, and were told we would not be reimbursed for dinner. We complained, stating that we were never told the circumstances under which the dinner would be reimbursed - on top of not being forewarned about "hidden" fees with membership, despite explicitly asking, "Are there any additional costs associated with this $26,000 membership other than annual membership fees, which may be waived by attending an SVC presentation, and HOA fees" (yearly property taxes, essentially). There was an additional $100 fee plus $2-$3 per payment "maintenance fee." Meanwhile, the person who handled our paperwork wasn't even an owner, and all of the workers with whom we spoke (to get verification of answers to our questions) had only been with the company for six to nine months. Although claiming to compete with the Marriot and others, I had never heard of SVC - and only had heard bad things about timeshares. In any event, we were upset about the $120 dinner we paid for, expecting reimbursement, particularly since we sat there for seven hours and there was no Subway garbage left when we were done and starving; it should have been available all day.
A whole slew of calls ensued, during which we were told the salesman would have to pay it out of his pocket if he reimbursed us, as it is "not a company policy, but most of our employees choose to reimburse new owners up to $50..." Although it was not a company policy, they seemed to have a lot of unwritten rules. And, one debate with a manager actually came down to, "Did the salesman say 'he' would reimburse you or that SVC would?" I told him I was in an SVC place of business with an SVC employee in an SVC shirt and name tag, who was next to another SVC employee listening to our conversation when he offered to reimburse us. Even if he said 'he' would reimburse us, I took it to mean he would take care of the administrative processes to get the check out, not that it would come out of his pocket... Another manager claimed it was not proper 'etiquette' for me to assume we would be reimbursed after canceling; furthermore, it would have been 'rude' for the salesman to tell us we would not have been reimbursed if we canceled. I told him I thought it would have been honest and would have prevented the whole conversation. In the end, I spoke with several managers, all with the same story (though, this was supposed to be a matter between me and the salesman, right? Not the company...), and was told to call the Corporate Office. I got a call back immediately from someone who handles legal matters, and she was wonderful and offered me gift cards approximating the value of the dinner. It wasn't the blank reimbursement I wanted, but it was a nice alternative to taking the matter up with the Better Business Bureau (though I may still do that) and the State Attorney General (who I may prewarn anyway). Assuming we get the cards swiftly, I will transform from pissed to pleased... to be a never customer of them again!
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