Roadkill Cafe September 4, 2010
Sept. 4, 2010: WHAT’S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK? Mmmmm. Lots of red meat on the grill for you…
STOP THE PRESSES! In case you missed it, the Diamond Resorts International purchase of bankrupt ILX Resorts is a done deal!
On Sept. 3 ILX Acquisition, Inc. announced its successful acquisition of a substantial portion of the assets of ILX Resorts Incorporated. ILX Acquisition, Inc. will set in place a plan for the future strategic growth and value of the organization as a whole, and for the more than 25,000 timeshare owners and ten resorts located in the United States and Mexico.
What I didn’t see mention of in the press release is the property ILX was developing in Puerto Penasco (aka Rocky Point) Mexico. ???
Get the details here: ILX Acquisition, Inc. Successfully Completes the Acquisition of a Substantial Portion of the Assets of ILX Resorts Incorporated
Getting BIGGER!
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BUDDY CAN YA SPARE A DIME? Good old CFI/Westgate is in trouble again.
It hasn’t been a good year for David Siegel and the gang. The economic Big Bang hit them so hard they were forced to put a lot of assets up for sale last March to raise money (including Siegel’s unfinished mansion and the timeshare project across from Disneyland). In May, Tutor-Saliba Corp. filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Westgate Planet Hollywood Las Vegas LLC, asking the court to force the sale of the PH Towers Westgate in order to satisfy a $19.3 million lien Tutor-Saliba has against the company. In August, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $868,443 in back wages for 1,065 employees of CFI when it was determined that employees who scheduled tours of timeshare properties for the company were not paid at least the federal minimum wage for all the hours they worked.
And now CFI/Westgate/David Siegel (and other company executives) are on the hook for another $600,000. It seems that more than 3 years ago some 300 or so sales reps sued CFI Sales & Marketing Ltd. in South Carolina for their unpaid reserve funds– and they won! Well, sort of. A settlement was reached last January wherein CFI agreed to pay $650,000 in past-due commissions to the workers within 180 days. Payments of $25,000 were made in February and March, but CFI but missed a July 14 deadline to pay the balance. The sales reps went back to court (a couple of them picketed the Myrtle Beach Resort late last month), and won again when an Horry County, SC judge gave them the right to go after Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel, other company executives and related corporations in an attempt to collect the past-due pay.
Among other excuses posited by attorneys for the company’s failure to pay: CFI doesn’t have the money. (That one’s almost believable)
And get this: Richard Epstein, a CFI attorney, said that the company never actually promised to pay the money.
According to an article in the Sun News: “All CFI has promised to do is to allow a judgment to be entered against them,” Epstein said. “There has never been a promise to pay. We have a final judgment. This case is over.”
The judge disagreed.
It looks like one way or another they’re gonna have to pay up. Said Kitre Pugh, one of the reps involved in the suit, “I did what they asked me to do, and they owe me $80,000, and I want it.” Pugh was laid off in 2009.
Stay tuned…
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FRACTIONAL OUCH!: Fractional Life sponsored an industry conference in Miami recently, and Kevin Brass wrote an excellent article about it in The Real Estate Channel. The paragraph that really caught my eye was this: “Sales for fractionals in North America fell to $860 million in 2009, down from $2.3 billion in 2007, according to Ragatz Associates. Numbers for 2010 will likely slip even further, predicted Sarah Rezak of Rezak Resort Consulting. She doesn’t expect shared-ownership sales to grow until 2012.”
That just about took my breath away. It wasn’t all bad news, though. Follow the link above to read the whole article.
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DON’T PANIC: Regarding the widely reported news about a violent attack at a nightclub in Cancun recently, Royal Resorts (and others) wants to put the incident in perspective and allay fears. On August 31 Royal Resorts posted this on their website:
We would like to give you an update on the arson incident that took place in the Cancun area and has been widely reported by the international media. In the early hours of Tuesday, August 30, an armed gang attacked a bar in the working class district of Región 229 on the outskirts of Cancún, several miles away from the Hotel Zone. They threw homemade Molotov cocktails into the building and set it alight before fleeing the scene. Unfortunately eight Mexican citizens died in the fire. A police investigation is underway and media sources are linking the incident to organized crime, also suggesting that the building did not comply with fire safety regulations.
It is important to stress that such incidents are isolated in Cancún. The bar is nowhere near the Hotel Zone or the City Center and tourists were not at risk.
It is safe to travel to Cancun, the Riviera Maya, other parts of the Mexican Caribbean and the Yucatán. Indeed, in the first six months of the year, 5.1 million tourists enjoyed their vacation in the Cancún area and Orbitz recently reported that it was the most popular destination requested for Labor Day getaways.
Well, this is Labor Day Weekend. I hope Cancun (and other Mexican resort areas) does well in spite of the hysteria the American press encourages about the danger of visiting Mexico. Thumbs up…
Email: woodysvpg@gmail.com (or leave a comment below)
NEW COMPETITION IN THAILAND: Phuket’s West Sands resort has partnered with Interval International to make its debut in the timeshare market with West Sands Vacation Club.
The 48-acre West Sands Phuket Beach Club is situated on Mai Khao Beach on Phuket’s favoured west coast. The studio, one-, and two-bedroom units range from 92 to 167 sqm, and the three-bedroom units measure 335 sqm. The residences have been designed to have minimal impact on the environment and all feature European-style kitchens and bathrooms, as well as balconies with views of the pool, gardens or the Andaman Sea. Owners and guests also will have access to West Sands Water World, one of the largest water parks in Asia with seven themed ‘worlds’.
Barry King is the Project Director of West Sands Vacation Club.
Bill Barnett of The Phuket Insider in his story about West Sands’ move into the timeshare sector, said: “Using a points based versus time/week interval scheme, the new entry looks to provide alternative to Laguna Holiday Club, Marriott Vacation Club and Absolute World. There remains speculation that a large scale Thai based hospitality group will be launching their own program in the near future as well.”
This will be interesting to watch!
Email: woodysvpg@gmail.com (or leave a comment below)
LET’S MAKE A DEAL: There are all sorts of issues that can arise any time anyone wants to do something with any given piece of land. Eventually these can usually be worked out, via lawsuits or other means of negotiations. In the case of Silverleaf Resorts and Berkshire Wind, it started out with lawsuits some 3 years ago or so but has apparently FINALLY been settled by negotiation.
Berkshire Wind wanted to build a 10-turbine, 15-megawatt wind turbine facility on Brodie Mountain, near Hancock in Massachusets. Silverleaf Resorts said Whoa there! Silverleaf contended that the sight of three of the turbines would negatively impact the sales potential for the $62 million, 324-unit timeshare project its been promising to build for some time at the base of Brodie Mountain, directly downhill from the northern-most turbines.
About a year’s worth of hard bargaining has finally resolved things. The two companies have agreed that 1) Berkshire will relocated the 3 turbines objected to and 2) Silverleaf won’t sue them any more. The resolution now goes to the Lanesborough Zoning Board of Appeals for a new special use permit.
You may remember that Silverleaf bought the Brodie Mountain ski area for $2.6 million in 2004. Does this mean that at long last they’ll actually develop it?
Email: woodysvpg@gmail.com (or leave a comment below)
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: In the the immortal words of Doctor Senor Love Daddy from “Do the Right Thing”: “Whoa! Y’all take a chill! You got to cool that shit off. And that’s the double-truth, Ruth!”
Email: woodysvpg@gmail.com (or leave a comment below)
DEAD SKUNK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AWARD: Craigslist. If you’re a salesperson looking for a job that isn’t MLM, a total scam, where you stand a chance of actually getting paid and you don’t have to worry about the Feds pouring in one day to shut the operation down and arrest everyone, forget about Craigslist.
And if you’re a closer, a REAL closer, you can especially forget about Craigslist, because the folks who are looking for CLOSERS there (especially in areas where the ads are still free, like Las Vegas) don’t have the slightest clue what a closer actually is and if you let them know you ARE one (by asking all the wrong questions, like: What’s the name of the company? How often do you pay? What’s the average commission? Spiffs?), they run like the ignorant scammy lowballs they are.
I’ve seen lots of complaints about Craigslist ads from experienced sales reps who are looking for a real deal but can’t find one. My favorite so far wins the Dead Skunk Award this week, and you’ll see why when you read it. First the actual ad (which sounds pretty good), then the applicant’s response to the ad, and finally the response to the applicant from the clown who placed the ad.
THE AD:
Great opportunity for those that have been in the financial industry.
If you have experience in oil & gas investments, raising private equity, or anything in this field, you should not have a problem hitting six figures in less than a year.
This is a unique opportunity for those that have the drive and desire to obtain an income of this level in this economy and do not possess the experience mentioned above.
We will provide training for those that show a solid commitment and desire to learn. Must be trainable.
Most lucrative commission structure in the precious metal business.
Gold and silver will be your products, and smart money is looking for something that does not have the potential to go to zero. Can’t get a better product than this!
Put your sales skills to work and get paid what your (sic) worth
Reply to this post for a quick phone interview!
No telecommuting; commissions only.
THE RESPONSE:
Sounds like a great opportunity. A closer with the Bona Fides, impeccable references and a precious metals background (and other investments) is available!
What is the name of your company?
THE AD PLACER’S RESPONSE:
Good luck buddy,
you’ve already killed any chance with us.
I’m pretty sure we are the most reputable metal dealer in Vegas, if not, we have yet to meet the others.
Huh?
All I’m sayin’ is if you’re still working in the biz, don’t quit your day job. It’s deadly out there for job seekers! And especially forget about finding something legitimate on Craigslist.
Folks like the guy who placed the ad above are real stinkers!
And that’s it for this week’s Roadkill. See ya next weekend, and keep your eyes on the road… Oh, and if you enjoyed this, tell a friend!
Published every Saturday.
Got some roadkill you’d like to toss on the grill? Send it on in, I’d LOVE to sample it! Don’t keep it to yourself, share your roadkill with the rest of the TS community! Your confidentiality is guaranteed; just make sure it’s a real deal and verifiable… Email: woodysvpg@gmail.com
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Tell a Friend
It’s almost impossible to find a clean deal on craigslist if your looking for a sales job, it’s a joke!!! They’re all scams, they don’t want real closers or anyone who knows what they’re doing, they just want goofs who think they’re salemen and desperate enough to try anything for a lousy 20 bucks a deal, that makes them easy to screw over!!!! Read this story in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the craigslist jobs are all like this. http://www.lvrj.com/news/eurasian-syndicates-target-car-dealers–credit-cards-in-las-vegas-104231794.html Don’t waste your time on that BS site!!!!!!