Welk Resort Group

We had a very pleasant experience with our sales presentation. We attended the presentation at the Branson, Mo facility. Yes, the presentation ran a little longer than the 120 minutes they stated but a lot of that could have been our questions, breaks etc. Our salesperson, Stella, was very knowledgeable and personable. We received all we were promised and additional perks because we did wind up purchasing. We were impressed with the flexibility of using our points and the fact that we weren't locked into a specific unit at a specific time. We look forward to enjoying all the Welk facilities in the future as well as the special "getaway" trips that will come available. After arriving home we did some follow-up research that confirmed we had made the right choice.

My husband and I visited the resort on a tour June 16th, 2017. We were happy with the rep that was providing us with the tour as well and the options offered to us for vacations. When we did not want to purchase the long term vacation package ownership, we were offer a short term trial membership called "Auditions." $2000.00 down and then monthly payments over the next 18 months to get 300,000 points to be used at their resorts over the next 18 months. Excited for the potential vacations that we would be able to take we signed up. Well when a financial issue came up in our life and having a vacation plan was more of a luxury than we needed, we tried to cancel by sending the form that was in the contract that was provided to us. We are not homeowners and this was all a new process to us. We live by humble means.

The rep stated on the 16th that our contract would go to underwriting and that once it was funded then our package would be sent out to us. When we had to make the choice to cancel we read the contract so that we could see how we needed to take care of canceling the membership. In the contract there was a form that need to be sent via fax or US Mail and we signed it on June 25th. 2017 and tried to send the form, only to get an error message saying the fax had "No Answer." After 4 failed attempts we decided that we would try again in the morning thinking that they must not have the fax machine up due to it being a Sunday.

So we tried again to send the fax on June 26th, 2017 again to only be told "No Answer." I then contacted the number that was on the front of the folder of our contract and advised the rep that the number that we were given was giving us an error message and that we wanted to make sure that the form was sent. I was placed on hold and was given another number to try to send the form and it worked on the first try. I figured that I would hear back from someone, but gave it the day and called again on June 27th, 2017 just to confirm the form was received and that our cancellation was being processed. I then was told that it was being reviewed and that I should be getting a call shortly.

I have called everyday from June 26th to July 11th, 2017 and I have spoke to a dozen people to only be told that my account was being reviewed and that I would get an answer soon. Now we are going to be filing bankruptcy and I wanted to get this taken care of prior to filing but I guess this is going to have to be included. I can not believe that a business built on the values of its namesake could treat people like this especially when they are trying to do everything right. I am reviewing this business only to hope that there is resolve for myself and my family as well that if someone else reviews this that they spare themselves the headache.

I went only for my free gifts with no thoughts of purchasing in mind! Promised two tickets to Hawaii with round trip air and accommodation, a 500 dollar gift card for spending, and two tickets to Magic Mountain in exchange for my 120 minutes of time. My husband and I arrived at 0900 and left at 1420. Our tour guide (sales rep) was wonderful telling us his whole life story, in hopes we would spill our hearts out. (DID NOT HAPPEN).

The inventory manager tried the same pitch, showing us pictures of his family and kids at the resorts... Another sales tactic! We are a family of 4. We were offered the basic; we would end up paying over $400 a month for 10 years and over $1000 in Vacation fees a year for LIFE. We politely declined only to have the inventory manager, sales rep and some other guy who I didn't catch his name return one by one to make further attempts. Worse than a car salesmen! If you go: Don't let them waste your time with chit chat. Get in and out! Buy if 1 week of vacation a year at 400 a month is good for you! The resort is beautiful and well taken care of. I have yet to book the flight to Hawaii but will write an update on that experience as well.

My husband and I were approached at a baseball game and decided what could be so bad about it. We take the option of 3 days in Mexico if we sit through the "Timeshare" offer. They say it isn't a timeshare but that is exactly what it is. It was only supposed to be 90 minute, it was 4 hours of harassment and degrading comments.

I was trying to stay friendly but the smug little man trying to sell to us was condescending and rude. The offer almost sounded good but his attitude when we asked too many questions was so bad I just couldn't be nice any longer. The stay was fun, rooms were very pretty. The place was nice but not a lot of things to do for a family with young children. Not worth the price and the fees were crazy.

The worst part was when we decided this wasn't the deal for us they continue to send other people over, offer more "trips" and even say condescending rude comments about being bad parents and spending our money frivolously, trying to either guilt you into paying or trying to get your ego. In the end we still spend over $200 just to stay the night up there since the restaurants were pricey and the closest place off the resort was 45 minutes away.

Also we went on off season and everything on the resort was closed or not working. Plus, the Mexico trip we were supposed to get just for going has yet to be given. We had to pay$300 for supposed taxes and they have declined our dates 4 times and it's been well over a year and we are still waiting for this Mexico trip... Plus it turns out it is a mid week, Tuesday -Thursday trip that only gives one full day since the flights are late on Tuesday and leave early on Thursday and again we paid the $300 upfront to book and they still HAVE NOT BOOKED the trip going on 16 months out.

I received a call from a Welks Resort agent to see if I wanted to come down to look at their newly renovated location at Northstar Tahoe. She said that they are no longer time shares but people can rent rooms like a hotel. I later learned that this isn't true-but was willing to see what they had to offer anyway. They were running a special if you booked a 2 hour and in addition we would get a prize package of either tickets to Vegas, Hawaii or Disneyland. I am always a bit leery of these type of deals but thought I would give it a shot. I was told I would get one of their two bedroom suites for $59 (Thurs.), $89 Friday. I would need to attend a two hour presentation at 9 am Friday. I agreed, if all else we would be getting a good deal on the rooms.

I gave them my credit card for the rooms and picked out our package (the Disney one). Well the next day I got a confirmation email. It did not list the room I received or the amount I paid. You also don't get something for nothing. The Disneyland package was a joke with extra fees and limited days. But I figured we would at least get to stay at the resort for a good price. I did call the agent back because I was concerned that the room was not listed on my confirmation. She returned my call saying that is just how they do it but that I did have a two bedroom suite at the hotel. I thought all was good until I got another call that night from the agent's supervisor saying that actually they had booked that room but the hotel told them it wasn't available.

All they had was another two bedroom with a little more room but it would be significantly more money, or they could put me up in sister hotel. At this point I was even more leery and told them to cancel everything. How shady to promise one thing and not deliver. If this is how they deal with just getting people to their presentations I can only imagine what a nightmare it would be to own one of their time shares/condos etc. Don't bother. It is not worth the hassle or the prizes that they offer. I feel like we escaped even more hassle once we got down there.

In Aug. 2015 Welk baited us with a round trip to Hawaii for two. The place was beautiful, however the total experience has been a costly nightmare. The 90 minute presentation lasted 4 hrs. Every time we indicated we had to attend to our children, they would send someone else with another offer. Finally, the last lady we spoke to stopped trying to sell their vacation packages and switched to a point package along with the presentation Hawaii trip. We reluctantly accepted the 300,000 point package for $2650 @ $141 per month extended for 24 months. Despite immediately returning the voucher for Hawaii, we never got our paperwork back. I called and emailed Welk for months only to be given the complete runaround, then we were told that the presentation offer had expired. (How convenient)

5 months later I lost my job and business card account, I contacted Welk requesting to cancel without a refund. They not only refused but were extremely rude. I only missed 1 payment then I got another job and started sending them cashiers checks of $150 to $400 a month. After paying $1200, I tried to plan a trip, Welk declined indicating we had to pay $1450 before using any points. On several occasions, accounting contacted us indicating I owed late fees because my payments were going to the CA office (address on the invoice) not the AZ office. I refused since the payments were in Welk's possession. Confirmed through USPS Return Receipts. Nothing else was said about it. So over the next few months I paid the account off in full then booked a Palm Springs weekend trip. It was wonderful, no issues. I tried to book a 2nd trip for Cabo Sirena del Mar but was told Cabo was booked until after Memorial Day 2017.

I booked for June 2017. No problem! In April I purchased our airfare then 6 days before departure, Welk called to advise my account had been closed and the trip was being cancelled for non-payment of the $35 late fee. As I listened to all their lame excuses as to why they waited until my trip to make such a declaration, the response was it takes time to update all our files!!! I plan to let my attorney handle this one!!!

We had a wonderful 2 night stay here at Welk's Escondido. We had some requests for toiletries that was provided right away. The accommodation is superb with view overlooking the fish pond. We were impressed with the new gym. It has everything including sauna/spa. We are locals. We plan to come for day use of the amenities in the resort. We are proud Welk owners. We will recommend to friends and family.Thanks for a wonderful weekend!!!

I didn't feel pressured to purchase additional points but I did get to learn about the new programs. I generally avoid these meeting because of the pressure to buy more. Everyone was nice and professional. There is more focus on what the owner needs. I won't avoid these updates in the future. I got so much new information.

When I first purchased with my family I did so because it is family owned, it is for family and friends. I have not been disappointed since I purchased. You are more than just an owner, you are family. If you haven't been to Cabo, oh my gosh! I went to Cabo all by myself for the first time in 30 years. I would not hesitate to recommend any woman going down there by themselves. They will take care of you and you don't have to leave the resort! They are very friendly down there, they bring you into their home and treat you like family and friends, this is how they treat you at all the resorts, like family.

Owner Services on the phone are so professional and friendly. There is really a knack they have for helping people that have no idea what they are doing. They are so helpful on the phone, like a second pair of eyes watching out for you and reminding you of things to do with your points, like rolling them over. They have been Johnny on the spot! My owner update today was fantastic, very informational and friendly. They have been sometimes a very hard sell in the past but this one was about my needs. It was wonderful.

My wife and I were approached at a Kings game about this timeshare opportunity at Welk Resort at Northstar Tahoe. We were promised Giants tickets and a weekend stay in Annehiem right next to Disneyland - and they delivered! We were a little leery about going to any sales pitch but we were presently surprised by our sales agent. His name was Mataiasi **, was very honest and straightforward from the beginning. He made us feel very comfortable and treated us with genuine respect- which is very rare when it comes to sales. I would highly recommend working with this company and especially working with Mataiasi. :)

Initially, I had a great experience. I was buying into the whole thing and how beneficial it could be to me. But the more we talked, the more upset I got. Somehow the information that my brother had died 5 years ago the day before had come up. The representative brought this up several times each time brought tears to my eyes and streaming down my face. I feel like he used this against me. I tried to explain that I was too emotional to make a decision that day. I asked if I could come back and at least be able to think about it. The rep was cold to me after that. I told him this in the golf cart drive and once we got to the property for the viewing, he rushed me through, stated it was his last appt of the day and that he would rather go home early. After we got back to the room, he had the manager come over to try to pressure me as well.

Once I said no, then another offer was made to me for a cheaper price and a week a year instead of the higher price and one week every other year. The yearly maintenance fee that was explained to me was changed several times throughout the presentation as well. They offered me 2 round trip tickets to Hawaii on top of the prizes that were already offered to me and at the end when I finally got them to take no for an answer the manager said to me..."well you will never get to Hawaii, I can tell you that." I was offended and disgusted with the way that they treated me. I feel like they used my emotional situation as a way to try to pressure me in to the deal. I told them I did not have $1500 to put down as a down payment, and they had me fill out an application to help me with this. Once they did this and saw that my credit was good they really put the pressure on. Two people pressuring me at one time.

I would not recommend this to anyone. I enjoyed my stay in the hotel on the property and I would more than likely return to that resort, but for the time share, it does not seem to be an up and up offer. If you can offer a better deal/program then why not offer that from the beginning? Please make sure you do not give them any information that they can use to try to manipulate you. They really played on my situation, single mom, wanting to spend vacation time with my daughter. Told me what a rip off the Disney experience was and that I could have had a way better experience with them. I personally believed my Disney experience was incredible. I just hope that others don't feel the pressure that I felt with these sales reps. I know it is their job to sell but not to make someone feel bad.

I'm an owner and very frustrated with my experience. I thought I was on a quarterly payment system for maintenance fees - I called in January to verify. I am now charged with a $135 late fee. There is no process to appeal a fee reversal despite never having any prior late fees. The owners lounge seems behind the technological times. There is no way to view your bill or sign up for quarterly payments. I was told I have to re-enroll each time my points renew by printing a form and mailing or faxing it in (not the most secure way to submit my credit card).

While the people I talked with were polite, I got the impression that my concern was not really a priority. In addition to this disappointing experience, the maintenance fees are high and go up each year, it has been extremely difficult to navigate the point system, and "owner updates" turn out to be a long sales pitch meeting. I feel as if what I was sold in the sales meeting does not match up with the experiences I have had.

I would not, nor would I ever again; refer someone to Welk Resorts for the purchase of a timeshare. It started out with a great presentation (which took about 6-7 hours total) from start to finish. That included the purchase of the timeshare. There were a few major points that we discovered were just morally wrong and misleading about what was said in the presentation versus what was true in reality.

1) That it was a great investment. It's not. In the 4 years and $14,000 plus dollars we've paid to Welk so far, we have been able to use it twice. Each new property that Welk acquires, the "points" needed to get a time slot for that area is so high, what you purchased seems to diminish in value. You end up needing "more" points.

2) Interest Rates. We were told during our presentation that you can refinance a timeshare. You cannot. You can get a loan from another lender, pay off your Welk Balance and pay the lender but you cannot refinance the loan. Welks Interest rates are outrageous and they keep going up. 3) Annual Dues aka: Maintenance Payments - We were told that our payment would be a certain amount. What they don't tell you is that they can be raised every year without telling you. Ours was supposed to be about 1000 a year based on the plan we owned. In the last 2 years, they have raised it by almost 30%.

4) Once you're in, you can't get out without suffering the consequences of hurting your credit for at least 7 years. Welk will not work with you, they will not offer you a buyout, you cannot offer it back to them (we tried), they will not help you in anyway financially. They will not help you with the 15+ percent interest rate. Nope, and once you start to dispute with them, the "collections staff" are rude, have insulted my pregnant wife calling her dumb, unintelligent, and irresponsible; the only happiness and pleasant experience you will get from them is if you are paying them on time. If you're not paying them or are in dispute... good luck. And yes, they actually said those things to her on the phone.

5) Every "owners update" meetings we went to, they made attempts to "hard sell us" in purchasing more points or to get a credit card. Why couldn't they just be updates, I don't know. You would think that paying Welk over $8,000 a year would buy you some stellar customer service and awesome. 6) There are so many "restrictions" on what you can use your points on and time limits and slots, it almost makes it exhausting at times trying to book anything. 7) We were told that Timeshares are tax deductible just like a regular mortgage. They are not; we checked with 2 different certified tax professionals in the State of California.

8) During the presentation at the Escondido location, they told my wife and I in multiple occasions that they own the land that the resort is built on and because of that, there's no "mortgage payment". I say that loosely as I'm not familiar with the exact terminology. They also told us that because of it, that they can be more profitable allowing more opportunity and cost reduction to their points owners. However, we have seen an increase in Annual dues, removal of non-resident privileges for the pool and fitness center, increase in interest rates and increase in points needed for the "newer" properties.

We have tried to play nice with Welk. We tried to amicably resolve our disputes with them but we have discovered that the 5+ people we have spoken to about our complaints and problems have basically (but indirectly) said, "you are screwed. You signed the contract, you are screwed and there's no way out." To my knowledge, Welk will not hold their employees accountable for misleading statements and false reports in their sales presentations and they will defend these falsities to the death.

Sorry, I wish I had better things to say. Had Welk truly and properly acknowledged our complaints and offered us a way out, I would not be writing this. They chose not to. Let me make one thing clear, we signed the contract, we made that mistake but I pray that you don't. Don't sign it until you fully understand what you are signing. You are locking yourself into it permanently.

The "Time Share" experience is worse than a car sales man. If you are unfortunate enough to buy - they forget to mention that each year you are Paying a Maintenance fee that GOES UP every year. This amount for me in Escondido/San Diego was $800 5 years ago. Now in 2017 it's over $1k. If you cannot pay for this outright (no loan) then you shouldn't be buying!!! I have used my timeshare exchange (1) ONCE in all this time with over $25k invested. =( Anyone who wants to buy is only willing to offer me $2,000. I wish I had someone that could have advised me before making such a HUGE mistake.

I'm so glad I found this website so I can tell everyone our experience last year! The "90 minute" presentation turned out to be a 3 hour ordeal. Nice tour of the facilities which were attractive and nice. Presentation itself was professional and no hard sell. It's just over 3 hours for everything. But the worse was the free stuff: We chose the "Free" Southern California Package, how can that get screwed up, right? We had no idea that we would have to pay $100 fee to stay at some local motel that you could not use on a Friday night or a Saturday night (so we couldn't take our kids because of school)--and had to plan minimum 4 months in advance as I recall.

The "Free" tablet had to pay $35 for shipping, which I found the exact same generic Chinese Android tablet on Amazon and it cost--$30 (free shipping)! It was run by a 3rd party company with bad complaints, so we never used any of the "free" gifts. Waste of 4 hours of my life (including round-trip driving). At least the coffee/soda/snacks were good!

I buy one full week at the San Diego location. When they show the resort it was nice but we didn't buy because we own already other timeshare. So I ask if there was a way to pay to stay before we buy. You know what the sales guy said? It’s only today price so we talk to his manager and he sell us one week for $3000.00 7 days. He said, "If you guys buy, we credit back the money to your down payment." I said, “Ok no problem.” When I went to check in, they talk me. “You are staying in the new building.“ So we was very happy on ‘til I hear my son yelling to his brother. The brother open the restroom because didn’t lock so we start to argue but when I check the door, the door was no locking and many other things didn't like. All doors don’t lock. No privacy. Shower drain problems. Sink faucet (lose almost falling). Stove (broken door falling). No tv and internet for all day.

We are staying two weeks at the Welk Palm Desert Oasis, in Cathedral City. This is our first visit to Palm Springs. Of course, we attended the (obligatory) sales presentation. Our presenter/sales woman, Thea **, was totally awesome. Thea was knowledgeable about the Welk products and upcoming changes. Thea was also very knowledgeable of the sites and things to do in the area. Thank you Thea ** and the Welk group.

We are staying at the Welk Resort in the original villas, they are beautiful, spacious and relaxing. We enjoy our time here. Our rep at the Owner update was really good this time, she was very informative and nice - much better than other experiences we have had in the past!

We really like Welk Resorts! It is one of the better places in town that we like to stay, especially the Mountains Villas, and we often bring people with us when we stay. The Owner Update was good, a little long but Kaiann was awesome, loved her personality and appreciate the information. Thank you!

Pedro was our tour host. He was informative and fun to talk to. He had a lot of stories to share and he was very personable. We really enjoyed him. Other than him, I know that everyone has their job to do but the other guy that came to the table was very persistent, at least he kept it short. I don't want to bring up my financial status every time I say no.

This was our first presentation so this (presentation experience) was unexpected. Our agent was nice, but the person who signed us up told us it was only a tour of the resort. We didn't know that we would be asked to buy today. Our agent worked hard and was informative and really nice.

Today's presentation went well. Brian was our host and he was very good. The experience was pleasant and he did a very good job telling us about the property and showing us around. This was just not for us today.

It (the presentation) ran longer than we were told which is inconvenient because we had other plans. Everything was great. It's just not what we were looking for. The agent was informative and personable, very professional. The area is nice.

I felt the information was presented in a clear way. Facilities were very nice and the Welk's representative was very friendly and informative. I did feel a lot of pressure to purchase by 5 different representatives which we did not enjoy.

Elizabeth was a very kind and professional lady. She was informative and answered all of our questions. We learned a lot about the program and what Welk Resorts has to offer. Overall everything was well and it was a good experience.

We had Leonardo and he was awesome. He is definitely a people person and good for this company. Everything was beautiful, everything was great. Everyone was very nice. Pola was amazing. She definitely kept you entertained. I've done presentations before where you are basically falling asleep but she kept you entertained.

Everything the agent said was very clear, very informative and she was very accommodating. We are not making a purchase today, if we did it would have been a five (star rating). Diedra was good; she was very nice.

Rolando was fantastic; he was professional and amicable. He was absolutely wonderful. He kept asking us "What can I do for you?" He focused on us more than thinking about himself. Everyone was very nice and I will definitely be recommending Welk Resorts to my friends.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a ten. Hortencia was absolutely wonderful. She was very informative and answered all of our questions about the company. I would definitely recommend this to my friends in the future.

The person should have been more informed about why we were here. We were told that we were here for something specific. There was no communication from Welk's part. We've been having great communication with Beth, she is the one that I book with. I have been getting calls from Grace to do a meeting which we finally came to. We went to Tahoe but our baby couldn't go to Tahoe to tour so we came here. The whole program is very much like, ok, you're going to stay at Welk resorts. We only have access to Leisure time Passport, so we need to think about is this something that we want? Are we going to use this to travel and trade in the future? Would like better clarification about the program because we thought we were just going to talk about our impression today.