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Festiva Development Group
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3.2 112 Reviews

Festiva Development Group Complaints Summary

61 Resolved
51 Unresolved
Our verdict: While Festiva Development Group has an above-average resolution rate, there’s room for improvement. Investigate common issues reported by customers and understand how they were resolved. Be prepared to follow up on your queries if needed, and keep detailed records of all interactions.
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Festiva Development Group reviews & complaints 112

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1:02 pm EST
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Festiva Development Group advertising/marketing

Beware Charleston tourists! Festiva representatives stationed at tourist/visitor attractions throughout Charleston in an attempt to get you to sign up for a vacation timeshare. The lure used are free restaurant/sightseeing tour tickets in exchange for a $20 cash deposit and your agreement to listen to a 120-minute sales pitch at the Church Street Inn. Here's what happens: you get your $20 back, but the presentation is ~3 hours, at the end of which you will have 3 pushy marketers telling you that timeshare price packages are good "today abd today only!" Things take a sharp turn for the unpleasant if you arent jnterested in buying: that gets you three sales people berating you for not wanting to invest in their "valuable product" that will "build equity for your and your family for generations." Repeating "I'm walking away now" gets you to a 4th representative claiming to be a customer service rep who offers to extend the pricing for 18mos. Not worth the "free" tickets!

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Festiva Development Group scam

Shocker... why am I not surprised! Festiva Adventure Club has more complaints than I could read in one lifetime. Tried calling the sales office where we purchased our so called 'Fabulous Vacation Membership' to ask them the best way to go about selling our scam of a purchase. The woman from sales in Charlston said there is a third party individual they use for all their suckers looking to sell their money sucking scam of a purchase. Recommended a Tim Bricker who supposedly handles the sales for all Festiva timeshares. She clearly stated he is not represented by us and has no affiliation or relationship with Festiva, he simply is a contact they refer all their unsatisfied-looking-to-sell members to. You would think that if a customer calls saying they are unhappy with their purchase and looking to sell they would discontinue with scam serving antics. But no, don't count yourself that lucky yet. Good old Tim the sales guy says so pleasantly 'Sure I'd be happy to help. Average time for a sale turnaround is about 3-5 months'. I'll get yours listed for sale right away, for just a one-time fee of $499 I will list you timeshare for sale. What is your credit card number?'

I'm sorry WHAT?!?!?! What part of I've been scammed enough by you thieves and want out did you not understand? Why yes, let me give you my credit card so you can charge me more money for some invisible service with no guarantee that you will ever sell my timeshare. Why yes, I do have an extra $499 I was looking to just throw away after all the other money I've lost to you folks. Yes take more of my money with a return to me of nothing!

Are you kidding me! I'm not even into the first year of my purchase (having just bought it 2 months ago) and you want to scam more money out of me? Can't you just wait until the New Year when I'm forced to pay the $985 in annual membership fees! My god, where do you hoard all your millions you scam from all us innocent folks? Hope you have a nice fat timeshare membership that sucks all your savings dry too! Perhaps if you worked a bit more on your customer service and ensuring happy customers you would have to spend less money housing office facilities for all your calls from unsatisfied customers and put even MORE money in your pockets.

Sincerely,
Unsatisfied Festiva Customer who can't even cut my losses and get out of this scam of a membership

P.S. Seriously though, has anyone out there sold their timeshare and what was the average turnaround time to sell and your experience in the end. DISCLOSURE: not looking for festiva employee commentary to help butter up your business model.

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lauren floyd
, US
Aug 24, 2016 12:03 pm EDT
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we have the exact same issue. please contact me at lauren_kept@yahoo.com. they have robbed my parents of over 8300$$$. i want to help them.

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bunnyhop58
, US
Jun 27, 2016 11:20 am EDT

We purchased the Peppertree at Atlantic Beach NC. We were told our yearly maintenance fees would ensure us the resort would always stay looking as good as it does the day we purchased. Also the annual dues hasn't raised in over 5 years. With everyone joining, they don't see them ever raising over 2% every few years. Our salesman was ever so sweet and convincing.
He also informed us, we were making an investment in prime ocean property. And in the event we wanted out Festiva would buy it back, we just would have to understand they would only give us the amount they were selling for at the time we wanted to sell.
Once back inside the sales office the cost of the membership was just to much for us. 27, 000 dollars. Kent called over his sales manager and explained we loved it but just couldn't afford it. The sales manager worked his magic (for 2 hours, we're hungry) and got us down to a very reasonable price. So we ask him about the maintenance fee. Check (not going to go up over 2%) Real Estate Investment? Check..(you are getting a good deal, you could turn around tomorrow and sell it back, wait 6 months and make a profit). Your sure (Oh yes, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, the deal you're getting is from an owner who just sold it back to us).
Well color us stupid. Not only has the maintenance fees gone up every year and when we tried to sell it back they pretty much laughed at us. We were billed for a special assessment because the resort needed repairs!
We tried to sell through sellmytimeshare and some other yahoo. What a complete joke.
We have finally gotten out thanks to another gentleman. If anyone is suing Festiva or wanting more info you can reach me at bunnyhop58@cheerful.com
Best advice...stay far away from Festiva. The guy who helped us did find our our wonderful salesperson had multiple drug and drinking arrests.
I plan to plaster my story all over the internet

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6:51 pm EDT

Festiva Development Group never, ever room available

People please out there do your home work. Use your technology to do your research when a charming sale rep approach you promising you earth and sky, please do your research!. You work so hard for your money and those companies can mess-up your credit really bad. I was on Florida on vacation and I was invited to a nice presentation, guess what they were so charming that convince me and my husband into buying a system of point, I want to go way for the weekend of July 4, to coconut Malorie anything thing is available not even on thank giving, i try to see if was because maybe is was to close two months before, but I try to book next year nothing, nothing . what scam! why you play with people feeling. It is our fault for not doing our research. Help anyone who is the same circumstance of me please give idea in how to get out of this fraudulent business [protected]@yahoo.com

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Festiva Development Group special assessment

Special assessment charged in 2012 of $1200, this years special assessment is $2000. the company has spent nothing to upgrade the facility. Have owned there for over 20 years, since festiva fees have become excessive. I believe they are trying to drive us out. The money we have paid to fix the facility has gone elsewhere. the company did not conduct due diligence when hiring a contractor and supposedly lost all funds paid to this contractor. I believe Festiva needs to go. I am willing to commence a class action suit to make this happen. Any one else?

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Trish Link
, US
Dec 29, 2015 9:20 am EST

The problem is as an owner you have a proxy each year that you own, and no one utilizes it as they should. This proxy allows us as owners to vote for what is best for Festiva. I think that Festiva needs to look at their mismanaged problems and fix them. This should be out of the company's pocket if it is an error on their behalf. You don't pay for something that isn't done. You pay materials upfront and pay for the job after it is inspected and done. Timeshares are governed under real estate laws and complaints can be filed in each state owners have an issue.

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Wilsontops
Murfreesboro, US
Mar 12, 2014 2:53 pm EDT

I am willing to be a part of anything that would get Festiva out of control of our timeshare. This company is a complete RIPOFF. They have NO customer service skills. They have no value of the owners; they are pathetic! Any suggestions on what to do to move forward or who we can complain with. I have even tried to file a complaint with BBB and have gotten no where. Festiva simply DOES NOT CARE. They act like because they think they have deep pockets that they can treat owners any way they want with no regard because we have no recourse except to give up our units or do what they say when they say and how they say. I AM FED UP! BethW

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RandyLS
, US
Dec 02, 2013 2:26 pm EST

I agree, I have written emails, letters and phone calls and have gotten no wheres. I do not have the money to pay the excessive assessment fees and maintenance fees. Since they do not seem interested in listening or responding to my request I have decided to default and I offered to send them my deed. Any help or ideas from other owners?

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bronco1
, US
Aug 06, 2013 12:28 pm EDT

WOW! I was just searching to see if anyone else felt as I did that this resort has fallen into the wrong hands and is being completely mismanaged. I can't believe I am the first person to respond to this posting. I have spoken to several members and they are all outraged as to this situation. The management of this resort has hidden themselves and contacting them is near impossible. I watched as the rehabbing of this facility was mismanaged and even the folks who manage it on a day to day basis was amazed at the poor construction going on. No one from this management company nor the board paid any attention BUT now they want more money to fix it. Also in this assessment is lots of money for them to pay their friends to get in on this bonanza of fixing this facility. What a major waste of our money. Only choice is to default and then they win.

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Festiva Development Group reservation not processed

We contacted Festiva Platinum Rewards on several occasions beginning of Feb. regarding accommodations to Wild Dunes Resort for the Coopers Bridge Run in Charleston, SC April 4th-7th. We finally decided on the number of people staying with us and called them back to book the room. We received an email indicating "reservation request confirmed" and assumed that this was our reservation confirmation. I left it in my inbox and decided that I would print closer to the trip. My mother recently called and inquired about also staying with us at the resort we had booked. We decided to call Festiva Platinum Rewards to find how our rooms were set-up before allowing my mother to also stay in our resort room. Upon speaking to the CSR, we found that "no reservation existed" for us in their system. We were told to read the email that we received. When reading the email we found that it states that this is a "reservation request confirmation" and our "order is currently being processed". However, this does not guarantee our reservation. If we do not receive a reservation confirmation within 5 days to call them back. Since this was now two weeks prior to the vacation, the rooms were all fully booked and no accommodations could be made for us. We were also told that we were unable to speak with a Supervisor until that Wed which was 5 days from the day we called. We are extremely upset and irrate about the situation! My husband and I are small business owners and we are taking several clients down to Charleston for the Coopers Bridge Run for them to all participate in their first 10K. One of the clients was actually to be staying with us during the trip. We have not been offered any type of resolution or reconciliation towards this situation, accept an I'm sorry which when we are actually paying a good amount of money to be provided with a high level upscale service than some kind of accommodations need to be made for us concerning our trouble.

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Fachelp
Murrells Inlet, US
Mar 27, 2013 1:16 pm EDT

We apologize for any misunderstanding or mistake with your reservation. If you would, please email your name, contact email, contact phone & any other information to us at fachelp@gmail.com so we may assist you

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Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Festiva Development Group - fraud

!!!EVERYONE CHECK YOUR WARRANTEE DEEDS!!! My husband and I bought "an Upgrade to a platinum membership" from Celebrations World Resort. We were told buying 8, 400 more shares would benefit us by lowering our maintenance fees and therefore off set the cost of the additional shares. What we didn't know is that we were tricked into signing over our original...

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Festiva Development Group rci points lowered by 90%

Upgraded my Celebration World Resort weeks to RCI points with the promise in writing (contract) of lower maintenance fees and enough RCI points to spend several weeks and any resort. Everything was going as planned for about 4 years. Now CWR has been "acquired" by Festiva and they are not going to honor those contracts which we traded our weeks plus enough money to buy many vacations for. And only send about 10% of the points to RCI, leaving us in a much worse position than before when I could trade my holiday week for three weeks. What to do? I know there are more people that did the same. Reply to this post and search for a remedy.

Read full review of Festiva Development Group and 32 comments
Update by timeshare sceptic
Mar 10, 2013 2:53 pm EDT

This has happened to many people including me. Check the blog in the previous post. I'm sure you noticed the push to join RTX included in the maint. fee. We are all left with enough RCI points to do nothing and enough Festiva points to do nothing. In essence, we all own a totally useless timeshare.

Update by timeshare sceptic
Jan 18, 2013 1:27 pm EST

Maybe Festiva should have done their due diligence prior to acquiring CWR. Instead, they change the terms of our contract. Agree, they waited to inform us after we paid the maintenance fees but they let RCI know prior to letting us know. Also, the are pushing their own exchange company (RTX), so it would not surprise me that they drop out of RCI, making our share totally useless. The state of Florida regulates the timeshare industry but somehow contracts don't matter. Good luck, let us know of anything new.

Update by timeshare sceptic
Jan 16, 2013 11:10 am EST

I imagine there are many of us. Festiva lowered my 133, 500 RCI points to 31, 000, not enough points to stay a week at Festiva.

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nursetiff
St. Paul, US
Jul 13, 2015 10:57 pm EDT

Any new news on the Festiva Orlando/CWR situation? I was with CWR, and after going through a bad divorce and all I was wanting to get things straightened out the use my Timeshare and get Maintenance fees caught up, but I don't know if it's worth it after seeing some of what people have had to say! Any new information?
Thanks
Tiffany T

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fristr
Sandusky, US
Jan 17, 2015 12:41 pm EST

In the same boat. I would just like my money back. fristr@gmail.com

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hmacjimo
Dubuque, US
Jul 12, 2014 5:43 pm EDT

We are dealing with the same situation! How do we get either our points or our money back? jump4jimo5@hotmail.com

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Josè A. Villegas
, MX
Mar 10, 2014 2:41 pm EDT

my email josevil!@hotmail.com I ive in Jalisco Mexico and I have the same problem, Am 64 and I have a very bad desease but when I try to Talk with anybody just to try to solve how to get at least part of my money back nobody answer, I would like you add me to the list of the wounded please help me.

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Maxinesmith32
Thornton Heath, GB
Feb 27, 2014 4:19 pm EST
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I am in total shock and only realised that our points had been reduced from 106500 to 3700 when I received my 2014 statement from RCI. I immediately spoke to Festiva who confirmed the above and that a litigation law suit had been filed. I logged a complaint about CWR several years ago with FLA Financial Leasing Association as at the time the Financial Ombudsman did not deal with timeshare owners. My complaint was based at the time of sale we agreed to pay off the loan within 7 years, we were not given the opportunity to read the contract and later found out that we had in fact signed a loan for 15 years. Luckily for us CWR had provided us with an illustration chart showing payments totalling over the 7 years plus the finance company was UK based called GE Money. FLA later referred our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman in 2012 as they now deal with timeshare complaints. If anyone took out a loan from GE Money or any UK finance lender then they can be held responsible. I am so looking forward to speaking to the financial ombudsman tomorrow to update them further. I have already emailed Michael Finn and await his response, I will also be logging onto the timeshare blog. I can't state this enough, if anyone took out their loan and the company was based in the UK please log your complaint immediately with the Financial Ombudsman based in London.

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eamon ONEILL
ANTRIM, GB
Jan 11, 2014 12:58 pm EST

I want my points even though I have been cut by 40%. I have offered the Maintenance Fees less 40%.. Be interesting to see the results. Amazing to see that some owners are still paying Maintenance Fees even though their points cut by 90%. Any comments

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Tomsan
Coventry, US
Jun 24, 2013 10:43 pm EDT
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All owners need to join the potential class action law suit. I have contacted Michael finn@Finn law in Florida. Please add your names the list of people willing to take part in the class action by contacting the Finn law group. Blog at Celebrations/Festiva/RCI/conitmued will provide you with more info.

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Not so Savy
37 Crocus Avenue, US
Jun 24, 2013 6:34 pm EDT

PRESS RELEASE
Tues April 30, 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Finn Law Group Announces Class Action Suit on Behalf of Timeshare Owners
Wed Mar 13, 2013
Florida lawsuit alleges unfair and deceptive practices in the sale of timeshare upgrades
ORLANDO, Fla.
The Finn Law Group P. A. has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of timeshare owners at Festiva`s Orlando Resort, formerly known as Celebration World Resort, alleging that the resort`s developers and managers have engaged in unfair and deceptive practices in the sale of timeshare upgrades and reservation point allocation.

The class action lawsuit, Reeves, et al. v. Zealandia Holding Company Inc., et al., case no. 2013 CA 000886 MF, was filed March 1 in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, in Osceola County.

The suit alleges that, beginning in 2004, approximately 900 parties purchased timeshare interests in Celebration World Resort Owners Association, located in Kissimmee, Fla., from B. L. Vacation Ownership Inc. Between 2008 and 2011, representatives of B. L. Vacation Ownership sold upgrades to existing timeshare owners that would increase the number of points they had to apply to timeshare reservations.

After the homeowners purchased the upgrades, B.L. Vacations sold the resort to Festiva Hospitality Group, now known as Zealandia Holding Co., and the resort`s name was changed to Festiva`s Orlando Resort. After the sale, the lawsuit alleges, the reservation point system was changed and the upgrades that had been purchased by the timeshare owners were not honored.

The suit names the Orlando Homeowners Association, B.L. Vacation Ownership Inc., Zealandia Holding Co. and its subsidiary and affiliate companies, and RCI LLC as defendants. The suit alleges that one or more of the defendants:

* Violated the resort`s declaration of covenants by improperly reallocating reservation points
* Violated the resort`s declaration of covenants for failing to give proper notice of the reallocation
* Breached the fiduciary duty owed to the timeshare owners * Violated Section 721.18(5) of Florida`s timeshare law

The timeshare owners seek a refund, rescission of the upgrade sales contracts, attorneys` fees and other relief the court deems proper.

The Finn Law Group, which has offices in Florida and Michigan, represents consumers in timeshare and fractional real estate matters. For more information, contact Michael D. Finn by calling [protected] or michaeldfinn@finnlawgroup.com.
Call the Finn Law Group - Toll Free [protected]

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Tomsan
Coventry, US
Apr 16, 2013 8:31 pm EDT
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I have posted comments and complaints on [redacted].Com and I have asked for input from others who have had points cut by Festiva. The comments on [redacted] are under Celebrations World Resort(Fesitva Orlando Resort). I have been in contact with other owners and I am willing to participate in a class action law suit. I can be contacted at bowdertom@cox.net. Anyone who wants to to move forward with getting together to fight this, is who I want to talk to. For detail iformation about my issue, go to [redacted].com. We need to find a central place on the web to oganized our complaints. I suggest a facebook blog. I am listed on facebook at TT Bowe. I also have posted on Twitter under Celebration World Resort. I need one of are owners who is mort savy than me with internet organization to help set up a central location. We can make a difference if we stick together.

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Jeff/Karen
, US
Apr 14, 2013 2:10 pm EDT

How do they get away with this kind of stuff? How can we get the value of what we paid back to us. Why didn't we get a notice in advance. Just great!
Jeff

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Festiva Development Group website down, no one answers phones

We have had trouble contacting the group since their initial contact to us. Now 1 month later, their website is down and their auxillary websites are down (not just pages but the complete site according to Google and FIrefox). Their pages don't show up on Facebook as promised. No one answers their phones.
Great scam.

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Sep 24, 2012 7:27 am EDT

Dear Sir or Madam:

On Saturday September 22nd, 2012, our websites were down. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. If you would please write to us at www.festivareviews.com and give us your contact information, we will be happy to have a Member Services representative contact you.

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Festiva Development Group total misrepresentation

In January of 20111 We were on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina, we were approached by a person posing as an information booth...same old story I've read here. We were convinced to purchase this product with total and complete lies told by a very "charming" sales rep named James! He totally convinced us that this would even save us a fortune on a vacation we were already planning on with our family friends to Destin, Florida. We made a partial down payment and made the final portion of it in march as scheduled. James had instructed us to call him personally to book our trip 30 days after our down payment was made. I did so, and the first words out of his mouth were..." i don't book these trips" WOW! he showed us text messeges from people on his phone he had booked trips for or so he said...Long story short, there was absolutely no way to book a trip, Number one this late, as it was April and we were going in June, and two they didn't even in advance have ANY PLACES that would hold nine people which is how many were in our party! Both the time frame and the amount of people in our party was discussed with James WHO literally PROMISED us he could do this for us! I ended up booking a place myself, outside of this stupid company, and we ended up paying 1200.00 more in additional air fair for the late bookings than we would have if we had stuck to our original plan for this trip outside of this BOGUS company! I immediately tried to contact various parts of the company to aquire some sort of resolution to this, as now we don't want ANYTHING to do with this AT ALL! I did talk to a very nice customer service rep who tried to help me. She wrote notes and had me write a letter explaining what happened to see if we could be released for misrepresentation. SHe said she would contact us in a week or two, when she did not I called back to check on it and she "was no longer with the company" hmmmmm funny isn't it as she was sympathetic and sounded like she had heard this before...after many phone calls and a demand for some sort of resolution we received a letter stating that James had represented the company correctly...wow! They def all stick together! Now they are offering to release us for 18 hundred dollars or they will ruin our credit! What an expensive scam! STAY CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY!

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Aug 06, 2012 1:39 pm EDT

Dear Sir or Madam:
We are sorry to hear that you are having difficulty booking reservations. Please write to us at www.festivareviews.com and we will be happy to review your account.

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Festiva Development Group beware of the dishonest promotions you receive from festiva!

I received a promotion from Festiva by mail to attend their presentation for 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs max. and then receive an Android tablet without having to purchase anything..
Here is how it went, the 2 hrs turned to 4-5 hrs with enormous amount of pressure. They present to you a 29, 000 dollar vacation package that would otherwise cost you 40, 000, . And if you reject that package, they will come back with another one and another. Basically, they drill you to death trying to make you sign up right there and then. And here is the kicker, they claim the Android tablet costs $400! What a crock of [censored]! When I received this piece of crap, I realized how antiquated it is, Android 2, .2! without the ability to upgrade it;. This thing costs online brand new $69?. But guess what, it is refurbished and did not charge after the 2nd time around. The customer service for this piece of crap is full of more [censored]. They were supposed to send me another charger over a month ago that has never arrived and I could not get a response from the, so called, customer service inquiring about the charger. Festiva bought these refurbished products in bulk. So they probably spent no more than $20 on the tablets. Then they lie to you and claim this product costs $400. This is only the beginning of the lies. What happens when you really fall for the purchase of their b.s. package. I am ever glad I caught early on and escaped buying into that big scam. This translated into a total waste of my precious time. Luckily, it stops here. People that was a COMPLETE waste of time. Spare yourself form wasting your time and your money if you fall for the scam. Believe me!

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NHgirl13
sanbornville, US
Oct 22, 2012 4:09 pm EDT

Wow. Thank you for posting these comments. We just received the tablet offer to go to Portland Maine (which is not terribly far). So my hubby calls and I know it was a sales pitch as we had attended something like that a long time ago but hey...if we got a new tablet then maybe it was worth the presentation. Glad I did my research and found out many stories such as yours. Thanks again!

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Fouled by Festiva 2012
Beaufort, US
Aug 11, 2012 7:41 pm EDT
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Wish I had seen your post before wasting my Saturday morning. We were actually considering their offer. Have been discussing timeshares for a few years now. And when we received the offer, it seemed like the perfect time to learn more about it. I'm certainly glad that we told the sales reps that we needed some time to think about it and would get back in touch - because the quality of their "gift" certainly says a lot about the company. And it certainly means that we will not be purchasing our timeshare from them. Our experience was identical to yours, one offer rejected led to two others brought over by a second salesman. You definitely get the idea that this is the guy who is supposed to step in and close the deal. Thank goodness we knew we should discuss the matter off the premises. We get home - open the tablet, turned it on... browsed through it for 10-15 minutes and it shut off never to start again. We won't be contacting them for another one. We just won't be contacting them for anything. A sad state of affairs considering we live in a town where one of their resorts are located. Their botched marketing campaign certainly won't find us singing their praises around town!

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Jul 10, 2012 11:47 am EDT

We have received your www.festivareviews.com post and are currently reviewing your situation. Someone will be in contact with you shortly. Thank you for your patience.

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Festiva Development Group completely ripped off

A few years back while visiting our children in Charleston, we were approached on the street and were hoodwinked into buying into the system It sounded like such a great deal since we were interested in travel and planned to do much. After the first year of trying to get a reservation any where in any state for any week, we gave up and now are stuck with a worthless contract that we keep paying higher and higher fees each year. What a big loss of money from the start that continues each year. We have learned a painful expensive lesson. Please do NOT buy into this company. It is a rip off and you will NEVER see any benefit. Susan Van Zile

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jamison12
Anderson, US
Jan 13, 2014 9:30 pm EST
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I need a good lawyer based in anderson/greenville sc area to get me and my wife out of this contract and our money back. Recommendations greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Feb 13, 2012 5:17 pm EST

To: The Van Ziles
We have e-mailed you regarding your concerns to the e-mail address we have on file.

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Festiva Development Group misleading

My husband and I just went to Charleston, SC on vacation and as we were walking through downtown, we were pulled aside by what seemed to be a nice gentleman in a Visitor's Information office on Meeting Street. At first he told us of all the great restaurants and asked if we were interested in any specific tours and we told him that we were. The gentleman then proceeded to tell us that there was a place called the Church Street Inn and they offering $75 in vouchers towards sightseeing excursions or dinner for free as long as you toured their property which would just include a 90 minute tour of their history, their grounds, their rooms and enjoy free coffee. We had to give them $20 to hold until we got there but we would get it back. The gentleman at the visitor's office told us that this was just an "Open House" promotion by Church Street Inn to get people in to look at their hotel and have you recommend it to anyone you knew. We thought this was too good to be true. We get to the Inn where they proceeded to ask us for ID, they wanted to see a major credit card but did not write anything down and then we had to fill out a questionnaire stating that we made more than $50, 000 per year. My husband got a little weirded out by this question and asked the girl why they needed to know this information and she told us that our "tour guide" would fill us in on all of that. We start seeing people getting herded out like cows individually with their "tour guide" and not in a group and we got even more concerned but by the time we were getting up to leave, our guide convinced us to start the tour. We could tell within 5 minutes that this was a timeshare or vacation club sales pitch and we were not interested in it whatsoever so we told the guide that we were lied to on the street about what it was that we were really walking into, which was a sales pitch to buy into Festiva Adventure Club which was a vacation club based on points.
Now the funny thing is we told him we were going and he begged us to stay and listen so that he did not get in trouble and he would make sure we got our $75 in food vouchers if we just listened and then at the end he told us to fill out a form stating that the reason why we were not buying is because we were lied to by the gentleman at the visitor's office. We felt like cattle being poked and prodded into a cage and cornered. The person at the visitor's office is just a ranch hand who helps rope the cattle in. These people need to stop using the visitor's centers as their recruiting stations, looking for any couple who is younger and looks as if they have money because this is what we saw in the waiting room, no one single and no one over the age of 50. To make matters worse, they gave us the $75 in vouchers but never gave us our $20 back.

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Nathan M Gardner
South Portland, US
Jul 29, 2016 4:56 am EDT

I have submitted the following letter out lining my complaint and request to make good on the contract. But as of today i have not received a reply.

I feel I have been misled.
One year ago, my wife and I attended a presentation at your Portland office. We found it interesting and wanted to look into it closer.
My kids are getting to the age where we could utilize your services to travel. I like the idea of trading points to travel around the world.
I quickly learned that the cost was too high for me to bear at that time. We continued to work with the new sales person assigned to us. As we reduced the package, one promising option stood out: The Adventure Nights package.
We were particularly interested in the Rangeley resort offered as part of the package. Being from Maine, it was close by and easy to get too. We would be able to have a short little vacation but still remain close to home.
On several occasions we talked with the sales person and explained what we were interested in. The package he put together for us was called the Travelers Club. This package offering enabled us to stay at a few predefined resorts on the east coast including one in Florida. The black two ring binders given to us even had Rangeley listed with detailed pictures included. This package was great but still did not offer access to the Rangeley resort that we were primarily interested in. To help make the sale and satisfy our needs, the sales man offered to add Adventure Nights to the package. This as he explained would give us the ability to stay for no less than two nights at a time at any resort provided there was available space at the resort we chose. He explained that booking the resort online would not be possible and that we would have to call “them” for availability. he explained that we could book up to one month ahead of time but no earlier. The sales person name here] ensured us there would be no problems booking the resort of our choice.
I first attempted to use the Adventure Night’s package a little over a month after signing up. I was not able to reach the head sales person at that time. In August of this year, I attempted to contact South Portland’s office by arriving during sign-up hours. Upon discovering that I was an “owner”, they told me I had to request a meeting with the office manager. They took my name and number and informed me the office manager would be in contact with me within a few working days. I never received the call. Ten days later I called the office explaining the situation which they had no knowledge of. They then went on to explain that I needed to call members service. At that point I was disgusted with the customer service in the Portland office. I called members service as they advised. On three separate calls no one I spoke with knew anything about “Adventure Nights” and informed me I could only reserve at resorts that were listed on the website.
After the third, call I did speak with a lady nice enough to research my account. She explained that I did have the Adventure Nights package, but the only available resorts were listed on the website.

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Yarbs
Frot Mill, US
Nov 12, 2014 10:05 am EST
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I agree with all these comments, I'm paying for this and now they are hounding me for the fees that have gone up since the first year. Has anyone found a way to get out of this scam? The BBB maybe? Can't afford this anymore.

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Jperks
Albany, US
Aug 18, 2014 9:07 pm EDT

My wife and I have been to many of these. We always decline at all of the presentations. This time we stopped at a fake visitor center and got roped like everyone else. They give you individual attention, the strong sales pitch and act as if they are genuine. Our one on one sales guide told us what we wanted to hear. They gave us the usual sales game but don't ask me why but this time we fell for it. It is really pathetic but what's worse is that we took them at their word when they gave us all of the usual sales games. We decided after we saw all of the negative comments to cancel immediately. We could not afford to gamble with $10, 000 then not be able to book a vacation. This is truly where the government should step in!

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Nathan M Gardner
South Portland, US
Jul 29, 2016 4:56 am EDT

I feel I have been misled.
One year ago, my wife and I attended a presentation at your Portland office. We found it interesting and wanted to look into it closer.
My kids are getting to the age where we could utilize your services to travel. I like the idea of trading points to travel around the world.
I quickly learned that the cost was too high for me to bear at that time. We continued to work with the new sales person assigned to us. As we reduced the package, one promising option stood out: The Adventure Nights package.
We were particularly interested in the Rangeley resort offered as part of the package. Being from Maine, it was close by and easy to get too. We would be able to have a short little vacation but still remain close to home.
On several occasions we talked with the sales person and explained what we were interested in. The package he put together for us was called the Travelers Club. This package offering enabled us to stay at a few predefined resorts on the east coast including one in Florida. The black two ring binders given to us even had Rangeley listed with detailed pictures included. This package was great but still did not offer access to the Rangeley resort that we were primarily interested in. To help make the sale and satisfy our needs, the sales man offered to add Adventure Nights to the package. This as he explained would give us the ability to stay for no less than two nights at a time at any resort provided there was available space at the resort we chose. He explained that booking the resort online would not be possible and that we would have to call “them” for availability. he explained that we could book up to one month ahead of time but no earlier. The sales person name here] ensured us there would be no problems booking the resort of our choice.
I first attempted to use the Adventure Night’s package a little over a month after signing up. I was not able to reach the head sales person at that time. In August of this year, I attempted to contact South Portland’s office by arriving during sign-up hours. Upon discovering that I was an “owner”, they told me I had to request a meeting with the office manager. They took my name and number and informed me the office manager would be in contact with me within a few working days. I never received the call. Ten days later I called the office explaining the situation which they had no knowledge of. They then went on to explain that I needed to call members service. At that point I was disgusted with the customer service in the Portland office. I called members service as they advised. On three separate calls no one I spoke with knew anything about “Adventure Nights” and informed me I could only reserve at resorts that were listed on the website.
After the third, call I did speak with a lady nice enough to research my account. She explained that I did have the Adventure Nights package, but the only available resorts were listed on the website.

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fernjack
Englewood, US
Nov 22, 2013 1:08 pm EST

I agree. Went through same thing. Signed on dotted line; but after further research, including comparing to that of their competitor Time Share "Club" down the street, I cancelled within 5 day rescission period.

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tourist trap
Washington DC, US
Jun 26, 2013 9:27 pm EDT

OMG! This is unreal! Just two days ago (June 25, 2013) I, along with two friends were in Charleston, SC for a mini-vacation. We were walking to City Market via Meeting Street when a young man asked if we needed "information" and we walked into what seemed to be a "Visitor Center." After giving us directions, he proceeded to ask us how long we'd be in Charleston and sites we intended to visit. He promised us three free passes to a carriage ride, a visit to Ft. Sumter and entrance passes to Magnolia Plantation if we agreed to visit the Church Street Inn for a "tour of the property" so that the next time we visited we could stay there and recommend the Inn to our friends. What happened next is word for word identical to the experience written by cattle call. It was the slickest and most deceptive approach to make us listen to a "presentation" for two hours, and then a very strong sales pitch from a young lady "Sarah." We were pressured to sign a contract for only $7, 000+ excluding maintenance costs, and we HAD TO SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE THEN AND THERE, or we would lose some of the "benefits" and "privileges" if we decided we had to think about it and join later. We walked out without signing anything much to the disgust of the sales reps, as we were tired, hungry (we had to get to the Inn well before the 9:30 am tour as it filled up very quickly) as we had no time to eat breakfast, and simply flabbergasted at the audacity of the owners/representatives. Festiva should be investigated, and the practice of pulling visitors to an office and duping them should stop.

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cats1220
Scarborough, US
Mar 18, 2013 6:20 pm EDT
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i just got a letter form festiva adventure club saying that i could have a free touch pad computer with android to just call and what a hassle me and my boyfriend got but lucky my boyfriend went to law school so he knows how to deal with them

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Aug 29, 2012 7:36 am EDT

Dear Mr. Wilson:

We are sorry to hear that you did not find the tour conditions acceptable. Please write to us at www.festivareviews.com for further assistance.

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NickWilson
LONGMONT, US
Aug 15, 2012 7:56 pm EDT
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My wife and I experienced exactly the same, on Meeting Street, in Charleston, SC. Much later than you though, this happened to me last week, 8/6/2012.
Get over it 15 seems to have a problem with your statement:
"The gentleman then proceeded to tell us that there was a place called the Church Street Inn and they offering $75 in vouchers towards sightseeing excursions or dinner for free as long as you toured their property which would just include a 90 minute tour of their history, their grounds, their rooms and enjoy free coffee."
I can confirm that is EXACTLY what happened to us. No mention of timeshares whatsoever was made by the guy at the Visitor's information office. This is obviously a highly misleading sales practice.
At the time however, my wife seemed very interested in the 'tour', and I paid the guy the $20 and said we'd be there at 3:30 that afternoon. Once we'd left, I explained to her my concerns. She said what about the $20? I said it was the best money I've ever spent if it meant I'd persuaded her not to attend the meeting.
Based solely on my experience, I would not recommend anyone talking to Festiva adventure club, regardless of what fabulous offers they might make.

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Get over it 15
, US
Mar 09, 2012 9:29 pm EST

My husband and I were recruited in the exact same fashion (off the street by someone by the Visitor's center). We were told straight up that it was going to be a sales presentation. If you went there thinking anything else, you are naive. All of those questions about income, etc. were asked to us when we were pulled off of the street and asked if we wanted to participate. Why would they want to present to someone who cannot afford their product? They are looking for viable leads. When we showed up and checked in for the presentation, the very first thing that they did was give us our $20 back without us ever mentioning it or asking about it. Also, everyone in the room was over 50 except for my husband and I. People need to have realistic expecatations. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. But if you are willing to give up about 2 hours of your day to get some free tickets to local attractions such as Fort Sumter or Plantations, then it is worth your time. If they don't give you your money back, ask for it. Do something about it rather than just complaining about it online.

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Festiva Development Group ripoffs property owners

I am very disturbed and angry how Festiva treats its owners. I have been a platinum owner at Paradise Harbour Club & Marina since 1992. Prior to Festiva taking over this property I never had any problems with securing time at the resort to deposit or exchange. However, since Festiva has taken over this resort, the maintenance and special assessment fees are outrages and the harassment to an owner to pay these fees is to say the least irritating. But what has sent me over the top is after paying these outrages fees to not be able to secure a time at the resort so that I can deposit my time in RCI. This past weekend (11/12/2011) I talked with not only a rude customer rep, but also an even ruder manager stating I should plan better so I will be able to secure a week earlier in the year so that I can deposit to RCI. Really, I don’t think I need to be chastised about how I need to plan earlier. Festiva, makes it very hard to plan or budget, since you never know when you will be hit with special assessment fees that must be paid prior to requesting a week. Also, I think the management of Festiva is oblivious to the economy and the fact that people are struggling to meet many financial obligations. In addition, I never had an issue under the previous management because my platinum membership allowed me to obtain any week available in the year Christmas and New Years, so I find it fascinating that there are no weeks still available. So I decided to see if that were truly the case and lo and behold the Festiva travel organization is renting out one bed room units throughout the month of November and December. I also wanted to see if I could rent one of these units at Paradise Harbour Club & Marina and wouldn’t you know it I could see my reservation below in the attached document. In addition, my reservation below costs less than the maintenance fees and special assessment fees I paid this year, which means to me, it is much better to be a renter. Also, this shows the greed of Festiva, I am paying the maintenance for this organization to rent to others. Finally, I also own a business so I understand very well customer care and so I know this organization cares nothing about its owners and the only thing Festiva’s Resorts’ CEO Don Clayton and President Butch Patrick have truly figured out is how to rip off consumers.

Disgruntled Owners

Tamara Chisim

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John Arrington
, US
Oct 11, 2017 8:16 pm EDT
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I totally agree same thing happened to my family we own in Banner Elk NC and are paying over $1500.00 in maintenance fees for a 1 bedroom unit that is a total ripoff

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Nov 17, 2011 8:07 pm EST

To: Tamara Chisim
We are having a manager review your situation and someone will be in touch with you soon.

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CarolinaBeachBum
Mount Olive, US
Nov 17, 2011 3:08 pm EST

You have validated everything I said in my last post "Owners, Be Wary". Loyalty to the owners is long-gone, and so is my pride in ownership and loyalty to Festiva.
Jerilyn Lee

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Festiva Development Group owners, be wary!

This is a follow-up to my complaint of last week, indicating that I was a Thoroughly Disgusted Owner. I am somewhat calmer this week after having received a call from their office, so I'll change my byline from Thoroughly Disgusted to Permanently Wary. Not surprisingly, they were able to accommodate me on the dates I wanted after I submitted my complaint. Whether this was done to appease me or not, the fact remains that now, suddenly, they were able to "find" a unit for me. Of course, I was told this was an exception and not the norm (and I should be grateful). I still stand by my previous statement that Festiva is in the business of generating as much revenue as possible, even at the risk of driving their long-time owners to the point of frustration that I reached last week. Our satisfaction is simply not their priority. Our annual maintenance fees are a pittance compared to the weekly revenue they can generate from renting their units during peak seasons (and peak seasons range from summer at the beach properties, to winter at the mountain/ski properties, to year-round golf at the Myrtle Beach properties). And WE, the owners, pay the price of the condition in which those units are left by renters each year in ever-increasing maintenance fees and "special assessments".

Some of our best and most memorable family vacations over the last 20 years have been at Peppertree properties. We purchased at Atlantic Beach when our children were small because of the variety of activites on-site, and the fact that the property was secured with full-time security guards. There was even a General Store on-site. You could spend a week on the property without having to outside the gate for anything. Since Festiva took over the store is gone, I rarely see a security guard posted at the front entrance, the back gate leading to the beach no longer has a coded security entrance and anyone off the street can enter the property. The Banner Elk property has somehow managed to stay above the fray and retain their original attractions. The Myrtle Beach properties have gone to pot (with the exception of Sand Pebble). They are poorly maintained and sorely in need of renovations. Some of the elevators smell of urine. They are an embarrassment to owners. I used to rave about Peppertree properties to all of our friends. Now I rarely mention that we own a timeshare with Festiva, and if I do, it's because the conversation has led to timeshare dissatisfaction in general. The pride went down the drain with my satisfaction.

I am still looking into other options with Hilton Vacation Club and Holiday Inn Club Vacations IF I can manage to sell my Festiva membership. Perhaps I'll become one of those Festiva renters in the future, and I'll probably stand a greater chance than the unfortunate owners of getting the dates and units I want. It's a pity, Festiva (I know you're reading this). You're letting loyal, long-time owners slip through your greedy hands.

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David C V
Ft Myers, US
Jul 25, 2012 3:55 pm EDT

I have a time share in St Augustine at Ocean Gate and paid my dues then called to get my reservation and they told me they didn't have any units available for the whole year. I wish I could prosecute them and actually I plan on looking into how I can most damage them. They are a completely unethical firm. I went on their web site and saw the unit I have was available for rent for $3, 500 for a week. Do not buy anything from them

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Festiva Development Group - a thoroughly disgusted owner

I sent the following letter to the Festiva Board of Directors today: To whomever is listening (or pretending to be), We have been owners since 1990. First through Peppertree, then Fairfield, then Wyndham, then Equivest and now the greatest curse of all -- Festiva. Do I sound disgusted??? You have no idea. We switched from the fixed-week plan to the...

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Festiva Development Group out of control fees

Festiva/Atrium Resort would not let us out of our contract which we have had for years. They increased the maintenance fees, then added Special Assessment fees and we could not afford it any more. We asked them to take the weeks back, we would give them to them, but they would not even do that. All they wanted was the money and did not care about us the owners what we were going through. I hired an attorney in Orlando, Roberts Law Group, and although it took them some time, they got us out. I would recommnet this law group. Feel free to contact me with questions.

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Festiva Development Group poor customer service

My family went to a "timeshare" appt and was late because the address given would not come up on my Garmin. When we finally went to the timeshare address, we were told to go to another address at this point we were told we would not be seen since we were late. Then we explained that we were given bad direction which would not come up on our GPS they did not care nor were they sympathetic to the other couple who was late for the same reason. This company did not give the exact directions to the hotel we were staying at either. I asked for my money back since the experience so far was HORRIBLE and they gave me a number to call to complain. NO ONE answers the phone NOR RETURNS CALLS! Stay away from this group they don't kn ow what CUSTOMER SERVICE IS or WHAT CUSTOMER RECOVERY MEANS!

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Festiva Development Group rip-off

Festiva Resorts sold Stormy Point Village in Branson Missouri to Summer Winds Resorts - February 2011. Today, I was told that about 3000 owners didn't convert to Festiva Adventure Club per Summer Winds Resort customer service. I'd read other complaints and I see some people were asked to pay additional $5K to join to elite group (Festiva Adventure Club). I know I was told that I'd have to pay $20K last year when I visited in September 2010. Maybe they bumped up the price because I'm African American. Well I'm sure everyone has heard that we can only go the Summer Winds Resorts and no other place. We can pay additional money to bank our weeks. EVERYONE CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE NOW

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KarmaCruise
Aliquippa, US
Jun 06, 2011 11:30 pm EDT

Michael Flowers was extremely unprofessional with my complaint. He could not make me see eye to eye with him and could not satisfy my needs. He was rude and sarcastic with me. For a manager I was really shocked with his attitude. I will never use Festiva Resorts and I will spread the word!

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Andy Kerr01
Marionville, US
Apr 06, 2015 2:15 pm EDT
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With all the problems they are having with Attorney Generals, it is easier to get out of their contracts.

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Festiva owner
Cincinnati, US
Dec 21, 2012 12:33 am EST
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Festiva will always try to up sell you. The problem is there is never any availability when you want to travel. They will hold rooms for paying customers and not give rooms to members with points. You can pay a discounted rate since you're a member, and get the rooms that you want. You pay maintenance fees each year, but you can't use your points because there is never availability. They say you need more points and that’s why you need to spent more money. If you can manage to get a room in the middle of the winter at the beach, they want to talk to you to explain your benefits, so they can tell you how they did you a favor by bailing you out of a sinking ship and you owe them. Even when you don't owe them the time of day they will try to get you into the sales office to pressure you into buying more points and promise you the moon. They claim that they can rent your points and make you tons of money that will pay you back ten fold. The things they tell you are not in the contract. Read the contract, you are just agreeing to pay them more money and that’s it. I don't know how these people can live with themselves.

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Jul 06, 2011 7:48 pm EDT

To: pbdy
We offer a number of different point packages all at different costs and there were most likely a number of different options presented to you at your presentation. We do apologize if you feel as if there was any wrongdoing in this matter. If you could write to us at comments@festiva.travel we would be more than happy to have a manager review your account.

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Festiva Development Group horrible

Do not buy a timeshare at all, but if you do, don't buy it from Festiva. You will be locked into an iron-clad deed just like owning a house - and you can't just get out of it. You can't sell it, and you will leave the debt to your children when you pass. It doesn't go away. All around it is a bad deal. You can travel just about anywhere every year for the price (less really) of what you end up paying between your mortgage and your fees for the next 30 years. You can go to any travel website and book someone else's unused timeshare for a week for 1/2 the cost of what the poor owner has paid and can't even use due to the scams the resorts are running. Why would you ever buy one when you can just do this? Festiva is considered one of the worst out there. They are rude when you call, they pull no punches. They want your money and will go to ruthless lengths to get it. Late fees, interest, collections fees, negative credit marks. They are upside down with these things, so getting your $ is their #1 priority. If you are trying to get out of your timeshare, you should also be wary of the companies claiming to take them off of your hands. They too are out to make a buck and will take advantage of your desperation. Be very careful, or you could end up being ripped off - again!. I can only hope that one day there is a class action suit against these companies (especially Festiva) handled by someone who really knows the industry and can stop this senseless robbing of people who lose their way for a couple of hours and end up in a mess as one of my family members has?. We are still trying to find a way out for them/. Very difficult?. You can buy all the dinners, cruises, tv's, computers, vacations, etc, . and still come out cheaper than buying one of these things". Trust me on this/. Don't do it, just say NO!

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Jun 22, 2011 4:33 pm EDT

We do apologize for the difficulty you have had in using your membership. If you could write to us at comments@festiva.travel with your contact information we would be happy to have a manager review your situation and get in touch with you.

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Festiva Development Group absolute scam!

I purchased a timeshare with festiva in November of 2010 and they promised so many things that were all lies! I have yet to be able to book anything anywhere and when I go to ask another question about anything they throw more stipulations at me! This company has done nothing but lie to me from the get go and has basically stolen 10, 000 dollars from my husband and I because we havent been remotely close to being able to make use of this waste of money and we wont be able to because of there stipulations. I am looking for a great lawyer so if you know of one that might can help me with a situation like this please let me know because i would love to sue them for all I can for all the stress they have put me under.

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Festiva Rep
Asheville, US
Jun 14, 2011 6:00 pm EDT

Ms. Smith & Mr. Autry,
We do apologize that you have had trouble in using your membership. If you would like to write to us at comments@festiva.travel we would be happy to assist you with using your membership.

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