Welk Resort Group

Welk Resort Group

 3.0/5 (417 reviews)

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Overall Rating3.0 out of 5
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About Welk Resort Group

Welk Resorts is a dynamic, growing, and respected leader in the vacation ownership industry. Independently owned and operated, Welk Resorts has built a foundation of innovation and hospitality.

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Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 15, 2023

Owning a real estate investment property with Welk Resort is a joke! Why you ask? Because it’s a TIMESHARE, not an investment property. Availability is scarce and when Hyatt took over, we felt there would be some hope after all. Nope…Hyatt is just as bad, if not worse. We were told we would receive a deed once this is paid off, which only reinforced the fact they were selling us a real estate investment. Another real estate investment queue was that we could rent out our unit for a profit, which in turn would help pay off the loan quicker. If you ever buy a timeshare, a house or any type of real estate, do not let the closing officer have you sign a contract off an iPad because they will skip over the most important financial details, and you won’t find out you’ve been screwed until it’s too late.

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Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 3, 2023

This was the worst purchase I have ever made. With no luck, I have tried and tried to reach someone at Welk to help me cancel my timeshare. I was taken advantage of and led to believe that I was purchasing something of value but in reality, it isn’t worth a dollar. It is becoming a financial strain and I keep putting money into it every month but never get anything in return.

There are a lot more reasonably priced and nicer trips that I can go on or I could put that money toward my newborn daughter's future instead of spending it on a timeshare that I won't utilize. Their customer service is poor and you can never get ahold of anyone on the phone that can actually help you or at least guide you on how to surrender your ownership. You are basically trapped in an agreement until someone with authority at Welk decides to let you out. Unfortunately, I haven't come across that individual yet.

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Feb. 3, 2023

    Sick and tired doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about Welk. Since 2018, they have been a constant thorn in my side. I am currently on a mission to cancel my contract since Welk employees have done nothing but lie and manipulate me. The saleswoman I worked with should be fired! The 30 minute tour/presentation went on for hours. Every time I said NO to an offer, I was given a new “better” deal. The sales supervisor even took a shot at me personally by saying I was being “too cheap”. They told me things like - They would make maintenance fees due every other year instead of annually (that never happened).

    I was shown a diagram of how the value of my timeshare would increase over the years (there is no monetary value). I could use this timeshare anytime, anywhere (in order to actually use this the way I want, I would have to spend THOUSANDS more on additional points). I was never told about important information like the financial terms or cancellation period. This whole experience has been an absolute nightmare. Welk’s sales division should be investigated and punished for what they do to consumers!

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Jan. 25, 2023

    We have told all of our family and friends and will continue to spread the message here: DO NOT TRUST THOSE WELK RESORT EMPLOYEES! Their salespeople hooked my wife and I on a Reno trip back in 2017 with free show tickets. Mind you, at this time we already owned a timeshare we wanted to get rid of, so we knew we would say no and just get the free tickets. This backfired more than I could ever imagine. We spent about 3.5 to 4 hours declining their advances. That is just plain crazy! I was 67 and my wife was 60 at the time, why would they hold us hostage for that long?

    Tired of those four walls, we ended up giving in when they said they would take our Vegas timeshare off our hands if we bought into Welk as a trade in. They threw in a free travel vacation certificate and mentioned all these luxurious spots we could stay if we signed. So, regrettably, we signed and said ‘bye-bye’ to Vegas. Turns out, their promises were not worth a thing—we never were able to book a time for the certificate and all of the luxurious spots required us to buy even more points just to cover our stay.

    This happened to us twice again over the next couple of years as we tried our hardest to decline but fell weak to their expert pitches. All this time, we were unable to book!! They did not disclose details about the availability, how we could use it as an “investment”, and flat out LIED about the amount of time we had to cancel. They make everything feel so nice and special like you are their favorite clients ever, and then turn around to ignore you once you hand over the money and sign their contract. Whatever you do, DO NOT trust these people.

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Dec. 19, 2022

    They will rope you in with promises of a 60-minute commitment in exchange for “gifts”. First, they will give you a “survey” which does 2 things. First, it sets up their “pitch” and second, they will ask about where you work to assess your income. They take you on a tour, present this as an opportunity to be “key holders” and as such would have “first choice” of rooms on the property. This was followed by talking about what we could gain access to through RCI. RCI is owned by another company, it is where you “exchange”…This is how they sold us with the promise of going anywhere in the world.

    Here is the bottom line, we were trapped for just under 8 hours and fed lie after lie. This is not real estate, this cannot be “left to your children” without them being burdened to with continuously rising maintenance fee year after year. LIES AND MANIPULATION PURE AND SIMPLE! 4 employees brow beat us for hours, saying this was a one-time deal; if we didn’t purchase it today, it would never be available to us again.

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Sept. 23, 2022

    In life, there are 2 types of decisions a person can make. A good decision and a bad one. I made a bad decision by giving my business and putting my trust into Welk Resorts. They have lied and have just committed complete fraud. It is so unfortunate that they have shown their true colors and it is not what I had hoped for. I was told they had access to Disney which was a big lie. How bad does a product and service must be for someone to blatantly lie about everything to get a sale. I really feel bad for Welk because they just seem like they cannot get it together. I have an idea, maybe instead of lying to your customers, you tell the truth. Then, more people can trust you and will have better things to say.

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    Rated with 3 stars
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Sept. 22, 2022

    You’re on vacation but I’m the middle of nowhere and all their “attractions” are out of order. Your room is in disrepair, there is one roll of toilet paper and the toilet paper holder falls off the wall upon touching it. The folding hairdryer won’t stay open and there’s no shampoo, soap, etc. You “get to” cook all your own food and do your own laundry too! No one’s gonna come make your bed or tidy up! Just like home! There’s no Wi-Fi in the bedroom so forget reading the news in bed next to your sleeping spouse. Just like a crap motel! But that’s okay because the walls are paper thin and you can hear everyone on all sides of you at all times. Just like an apartment. And all this could have been ours for $16,000 upfront and then no less than $600 a year to start for the rest of our lives and our kid’s lives and our kid’s kid’s lives. Apparently timeshares become a genetic disorder that stays in your lineage FOREVER.

    We did our tour at the beginning of our stay so we kindly asked to read the contract and circle back at the end of the trip after we got to try out the resort. We were told we couldn’t read the contract before signing and if we came back tomorrow in love with the resort and wanted to sign it would now cost $159,000! NOT SUSPICIOUS AT ALL! Nothing to see here folks! So I recommend to everyone sign up for as many timeshare presentations as possible. Get the goodies. And then ask to read the contract and sample the wares! Free vacations for life. With a price tag of free, we got our money's worth! Highly recommended!

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    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Aug. 22, 2022

    I have always heard about the horror stories about timeshares from other people, but I never quite believed the horrible things timeshare salespeople do to others. Because of Welk, I have now experienced these horrors firsthand. I was told I would have the ability to book amazing resorts across the world (including Disney), my timeshare could be inherited by my children, and I’d pay upfront cost for full suites rather than a hotel room, etc. They even went as far as telling me I was able to book using points through RCI to Disney’s Animal Kingdom (A MAJOR REASON WHY I PURCHASED). All these lies showed their true colors very soon after. Unacceptable. Everything I was told was a lie. I am disgusted with the way that Welk does business and I plan on letting the Attorney General know my firsthand experience with their deceptive sales practices. I’ve already researched, and I implore everyone who was deceived by Welk to do the same!

    2 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: July 20, 2022

    Thanks to these reviews here, we were able to escape a major modern-day calamity of having to pay 54k for the timeshare plus $1500 + a year in maintenance fees for the rest of our lives! They don’t let you keep any papers so you don’t get to keep the evidence of their lies. The rep wrote all these promises like No blackout dates, anytime, anywhere in the world. Every time I said I wanted to look at the paper he had to go get it from another room. Every time I hung on to it to refer to, like during the tour, I eventually end up setting it down on the table, he took it away. In the end he wouldn’t let me keep it or even take a photo of it.

    On the paper he said by buying this timeshare, I can get 40-70% off all airlines, rental cars, and cruises. If I lend out this discount to share with my friends, I would get points that can help pay off the yearly maintenance fees. There is no such thing as 40-70% off! He even went as far to say if I change my mind about the family member or friend that gets the said discount, if they are not using it as much, and I get to elect 5 of them, I can change the name. Each of the 5 people I elect would get their own login and password. What a load of detailed crap.

    The whole place doesn’t have internet so I wasn’t able to access these reviews until I stepped outside on the balcony. The whole place is booby trapped. From the get-go it’s been designed to keep you there. You park your car at a faraway place and they drive you down in the golf cart. You leave your kids at the Babyroom so you can’t say your kids want to go home. There are no clocks in there, and no evidence of their lies. So pretty much if you sign it you’re a goner, an indentured servant if you will, to pay maintenance fees for the rest of your life. Check on eBay there are plenty of people selling their already paid off timeshare for only $1 just to try to get out of it.

    Every time I tried to read the terms and conditions, sales rep number 2 kept talking and showing me on his phone of how easy it is to get the rooms, not even of the website itself off his phone’s browser, but a video he took of his laptop of said website. (Why didn’t he just bring his laptop instead of taking a cellphone video of it? Bad reception in here he said, which is why a renowned company should have at least some wifi in their lounge). Don’t let the “Hyatt” Vacation Club name fool you, they will literally say anything to get you to sign, and they will disappear. Usually sales reps of cars or homes introduce themselves, but our sales rep(s) did not. I had to ask him, and even then he only said his first name, if that is even his first name at all.

    In the terms and conditions, there was no mention of the generous 40-70% off all airlines, rental cars, and cruises. There was however, mention that these points cannot guarantee any availability of the timeshare and that there were blackout dates after all. When we asked them about those lines, they said said they have to put something like that there so people can’t just live in them all year round. Their final trick when we said no is that they asked us to sign an acknowledgement that if we refuse this offer this time, if we were to come back the price would be quadrupled to $160,000, according to them the price was going back up due to the pandemic being over.

    2 people found this review helpful
    Rated with 1 star
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: July 16, 2022

    I made a reservation online a month in advance for a two bedroom suite thru their third party site Vacation Club Rentals. Entered my credit card info and selected to pay in full, the payment wasn’t taken at the time but I got a confirmation it was booked. Two weeks later I misplaced that credit card and had to order a new one. I called Vacation Club Rentals to update the cc info since they hadn’t charged my card yet. The guy informed me that I can’t “modify” my reservation but I can pay for it when I check in. He swore my reservation was secure and would not be canceled. Two days later I receive an email from them stating my card on file was declined (due to being lost) and if I didn’t call to update it within 48 hrs it would be canceled.

    So I call again, the lady informs me I need to pay with the front desk of the hotel..I call the hotel and that lady tells me that’s incorrect. They can’t take payments, that I need to call BACK to Vacation Club Rentals..The rude guy (Andrew) at Vacation Club Rentals told me I can’t give them an updated card, wouldn’t let me speak with a manager or anyone else. Denied they sent an email stating to call them to update the payment which I’ve uploaded in this review to prove it was from them. He was so rude and argumentative and condescending.

    I can’t believe this is coming from a "hospitality" company. So I call BACK. To the Welk hotel front desk and get another guy named Andrew who says he’s the front desk manager. He says he can help me..What a relief I felt..BUT needed to call me back ..Well he didn’t. And today is 48 hrs now and I’m expecting my reservation to be cancelled. This has been extremely frustrating and I have no clue what to do now. I have 7 people coming to this resort for a family vacation and no one will help resolve this. Plus they’re showing booked now. I’ve traveled all over and NEVER had this type of horrible customer service. Even lower end hotels have been more accommodating than this place.

    2 people found this review helpful
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    Welk Resort Group author review by Lisa Ann Schreier

    Welk Resorts is a company that was founded in 1964 by Lawrence Welk. The company is known for providing upscale, luxury resort and hotel accommodations, and it has properties in Escondido, Palm Springs, Cabo San Lucas and Branson.

    • Selection of properties: The properties associated with the Welk Group Resorts are located in destinations known for great activities, landscapes and entertainment.

    • Flexible ownership options: The company offers customers a range of ownership options, so they can choose the purchase plan that best works for their schedule and budget.

    • Villa rentals: The properties that the company rents are villas, so guests have large size accommodations when they use their timeshare.

    • Online fee payments: Welk Resorts offers owners the ability to easily pay their annual fees online, making the process simple and convenient.

    • Platinum points program: The company has a platinum points program, which offers users the ability to take advantage of benefits the more they use their timeshare.

    by Lisa Ann Schreier Timeshare Advisor

    Lisa Ann Schreier has been involved in the timeshare community since 1998. She is the author of, ‘Surviving A Timeshare Presentation...Confessions From The Sales Table’ and ‘Timeshare Vacations For Dummies.’ In addition to her blog, The Timeshare Crusader she is also the lead timeshare advocate at Elliott.org.

    Welk Resort Group Company Information

    Company Name:
    Welk Resort Group
    Company Type:
    Private
    Year Founded:
    1964
    Address:
    300 Rancheros Drive
    City:
    San Marcos
    State/Province:
    CA
    Postal Code:
    92069
    Country:
    United States
    Website:
    welkresorts.com