Lifestyles denies they sell timeshares in the DR

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts denies that they sell “timeshare” in Dominican Republic



PUERTO PLATA.- The company Esmiralda S.R.L., expressed its concern about the negative impact that the Puerto Plata destination, can have on the international projection from the unregistered activities run by the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts chain.

In a meeting with the media, Mrs. Esmeralda Borodi, who is the director of Esmiralda SRL, accompanied by her lawyer Nelson Jaquez Suarez, denounced that Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts denies that they sell “timeshares” in this country, but that it’s known that since 2014, Austria has issued two bond issues for such practices.

“If Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts is not registered in the Dominican Republic as a company that sells timeshare, here we show legal documents where it is verified that Austria in 2014 and 2016 launched two bond issues with the Wiener Privat Bank that presides over Mr. Gunter Kerbler, who in turn is a shareholder of the company, “Borodi said.

Likewise, he said that for such actions Lifestyle is claiming a debt of $ 31 million, since they can not prove that they are the owners of the property located in the area known as “The Peninsula of Cofresi” located in the west part of the municipality San Felipe de Puerto Plata.

They explained that it is time for the Dominican authorities to start investigating the activities of the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts, owned by Tisha Investment Overseas, since according to their own information 80% of their customers are in the United States and Canada.

They warn that a failure to fulfill their responsibilities with the 30 or 40 thousand timeshare customers would generate a major scandal that would liquidate the significant presence of timeshare holiday clubs in the Dominican tourism industry specifically in Puerto Plata.

Finally, they denied that she has a dirty campaign against Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts because they are only demanding that the chain fulfill its responsibilities of accountability and pay Esmiralda SRL who is the legitimate owner of real estate such as buildings and the land of the Peninsula of Cofresí in Puerto Plata.

Source: Puerto Plata Digital

Oct 11, 2017
 

oriole100

Bronze
Oct 9, 2005
807
18
0
All I know is that when our friends stayed there a couple years ago. They have other time shares. Lifestyles tried to sell them more.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
They call it a Vacation Club. Not a timeshare.

A rose by any other name.....

We were hounded for days when we stayed there.
 

Birdman

Active member
Jan 29, 2013
238
33
28
Their salespeople assure people who own timeshares that Lifestyles can take over the payments if they cannot afford to invest in Lifestyles. They are based in the Virgin Islands so think that they cannot be sued. Once the person has signed onto the Vacation club they phone up when they are still getting billed for the timeshare where they are told that they must have misunderstood the salesperson. Some people are distraught as they cannot afford the high fees etc.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
They have been doing this ever since they opened. Another scam in the DR.
 

jstarebel

Silver
Oct 4, 2013
3,330
333
83
They call it a Vacation Club. Not a timeshare.

A rose by any other name.....
timeshare.
We were hounded for days when we stayed there.

Exactly. "Vacation Ownership". The new term for timeshares, but they will argue that "it's a completely different concept".
 

jd426

Gold
Dec 12, 2009
9,513
2,782
113
I think these are the same clowns who tried me at an Ahmsa Marina Resort ...
Started with the soft " Hola ,my Freng, chu first Time here ? " when we were exiting the Dining Area after a nice meal.
offered ... a free T Shirt, Free Romantic Dinner. to "just listen to a great offer" lol
I was bored, we went along with it.. wanted to see how good their "Closers " were.

The sales woman I got was being trained with a senior salesman pretending to be on his laptop next to her listening to every word , but she had to go through the motions soi got to hear the whole Pitch . It was pretty SAD. Not polished at all. SHE was smooth , personality wise, but her English was way off, and it was all Canned talk so it was like she was boxed in to FAIL . Any question I had, she was stuck.
The Closer came in and spoke Perfect English, but I must have rolled my eyes...cuz withing 3 minutes she is asking me to write a check for $10,000 .. after that she sounded like that noise you heard when the Teacher was speaking on Charlie Brown Comics .. I tuned her out completely and just smiled in her face .
Like gtfooh.
I never got my Romantic Dinner either ... lmao
These people are just Pure Comedy if you asked me ..

If you are bored, i would do a SIT with them.. You might find it amusing, as i did, at least for a little while.
 

rice&beans

Silver
May 16, 2010
4,293
374
83
I think these are the same clowns who tried me at an Ahmsa Marina Resort ...
Started with the soft " Hola ,my Freng, chu first Time here ? " when we were exiting the Dining Area after a nice meal.
offered ... a free T Shirt, Free Romantic Dinner. to "just listen to a great offer" lol
I was bored, we went along with it.. wanted to see how good their "Closers " were.

The sales woman I got was being trained with a senior salesman pretending to be on his laptop next to her listening to every word , but she had to go through the motions soi got to hear the whole Pitch . It was pretty SAD. Not polished at all. SHE was smooth , personality wise, but her English was way off, and it was all Canned talk so it was like she was boxed in to FAIL . Any question I had, she was stuck.
The Closer came in and spoke Perfect English, but I must have rolled my eyes...cuz withing 3 minutes she is asking me to write a check for $10,000 .. after that she sounded like that noise you heard when the Teacher was speaking on Charlie Brown Comics .. I tuned her out completely and just smiled in her face .
Like gtfooh.
I never got my Romantic Dinner either ... lmao
These people are just Pure Comedy if you asked me ..

If you are bored, i would do a SIT with them.. You might find it amusing, as i did, at least for a little while.



So funny.....

I did it for the same reason at the Hamaca.

Years ago when I was on a bender..
...

Hilarious....


I burst out laughing after 10 min..


When he asked for 5000.00 dollars.....

Total IDIOTS!

TIMESHARE LOOOOOOOOOSERS.....!!!
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
It comes down to the definition of a timeshare. That definition as it is currently used donates that a person purchases the use of a vacation property (and potentially other benefits) for their use during a prescribed period of time each year. Lots of different agreements offer different options and usually document an additional mandatory payment each year commonly called a service/maintenance fee. This additional fee is often required whether the customer uses their allocated time that year or not. For these privileges, a customers pays the timeshare company an upfront fee when they signup for the offered products and services.

Lifestyles does collect an upfront fee that they call a membership fee. After this is paid, there are no further ongoing payments required unless the customer wishes to use the facilities. Joining the "Club" secures the customer access to the accommodations and services they contracted for. Further visits are charged like any other vacation reservation anywhere else at the price specified in the contract for the term of that contract with no accommodation cost increases over time.

Customers can go to Lifestyles anytime they want (not just during their defined time period as in a traditional timeshare), they can stay at Lifestyles for as long as they wish and they can secure reservations for as many guests as they wish to bring for the same contracted price.

If we agree that Lifestyles is a timeshare, then it is a new type of timeshare that does not look much like what most people recognize as being a traditional timeshare per se.

Whether the Lifestyles product is actually a tomato or a tomatoe will need to be sorted out in the courts or by some regulator I suspect.

It looks to me like the Esmiralda SRL claims are a bargaining ploy to bring some pressure to bear over a land purchasing dispute between them and Lifestyles. Based on my knowledge, many of the general claims by E. SRL are factual. Lifestyles does not own tangible assets itself. The existing resort properties are leased, future resorts under construction or development are owned by others and will be managed by Lifestyles. Individual villas, apartments are privately owned, having been sold, constructed and furnished by Lifestyles with a 20 year service contract which sees the individual property owners paid 5% of their investment in cash each year for 20 years in addition to usage rights for their properties as defined in the contract. These real estate purchases are supposed to come with clear and free title of the building and the land to the owner except for the conditions of the purchase agreement which is the contract I mentioned above.

If lifestyles has sold and built $1.5 - $2.0 million dollar villas on property it does not have the right to transfer, that could be a problem.
 
Apr 10, 2014
168
5
18
I think these are the same clowns who tried me at an Ahmsa Marina Resort ...
Started with the soft " Hola ,my Freng, chu first Time here ? " when we were exiting the Dining Area after a nice meal.
offered ... a free T Shirt, Free Romantic Dinner. to "just listen to a great offer" lol
I was bored, we went along with it.. wanted to see how good their "Closers " were.

The sales woman I got was being trained with a senior salesman pretending to be on his laptop next to her listening to every word , but she had to go through the motions soi got to hear the whole Pitch . It was pretty SAD. Not polished at all. SHE was smooth , personality wise, but her English was way off, and it was all Canned talk so it was like she was boxed in to FAIL . Any question I had, she was stuck.
The Closer came in and spoke Perfect English, but I must have rolled my eyes...cuz withing 3 minutes she is asking me to write a check for $10,000 .. after that she sounded like that noise you heard when the Teacher was speaking on Charlie Brown Comics .. I tuned her out completely and just smiled in her face .
Like gtfooh.
I never got my Romantic Dinner either ... lmao
These people are just Pure Comedy if you asked me ..

If you are bored, i would do a SIT with them.. You might find it amusing, as i did, at least for a little while.

Could never be that bored or tolerant of their BS sales approach
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
What about the free t-shirt?



LOL, we got a TWO T-shirts, a bottle of mamajuana and a bottle of rum.  Two hours we'll never get back.  Presentation was all in Spanish, afterwards he asked Mr AE where he was from.  He answered "New Jersey" and the guy laughed. He said "No, you speak Spanish, where were you born?"  Should have seen his face when he said he was born in SD.  Said he doesn't speak like a Dominican (which we both took as a compliment, haha).   The sales guy actually looked like a gringo, it was our turn to be surprised when he said he was born in POP.  
 

oldschool

Active member
Oct 9, 2004
536
22
38
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts denies that they sell “timeshare” in Dominican Republic



PUERTO PLATA.- The company Esmiralda S.R.L., expressed its concern about the negative impact that the Puerto Plata destination, can have on the international projection from the unregistered activities run by the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts chain.

In a meeting with the media, Mrs. Esmeralda Borodi, who is the director of Esmiralda SRL, accompanied by her lawyer Nelson Jaquez Suarez, denounced that Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts denies that they sell “timeshares” in this country, but that it’s known that since 2014, Austria has issued two bond issues for such practices.

“If Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts is not registered in the Dominican Republic as a company that sells timeshare, here we show legal documents where it is verified that Austria in 2014 and 2016 launched two bond issues with the Wiener Privat Bank that presides over Mr. Gunter Kerbler, who in turn is a shareholder of the company, “Borodi said.

Likewise, he said that for such actions Lifestyle is claiming a debt of $ 31 million, since they can not prove that they are the owners of the property located in the area known as “The Peninsula of Cofresi” located in the west part of the municipality San Felipe de Puerto Plata.

They explained that it is time for the Dominican authorities to start investigating the activities of the Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts, owned by Tisha Investment Overseas, since according to their own information 80% of their customers are in the United States and Canada.

They warn that a failure to fulfill their responsibilities with the 30 or 40 thousand timeshare customers would generate a major scandal that would liquidate the significant presence of timeshare holiday clubs in the Dominican tourism industry specifically in Puerto Plata.

Finally, they denied that she has a dirty campaign against Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resorts because they are only demanding that the chain fulfill its responsibilities of accountability and pay Esmiralda SRL who is the legitimate owner of real estate such as buildings and the land of the Peninsula of Cofresí in Puerto Plata.

Source: Puerto Plata Digital

Oct 11, 2017



Tick, tick, tick, tick......
 

southern

I love Hillary!
Dec 13, 2016
1,561
1
0
Time shares are the biggest scam since Mary K. They prey on the lower sophisticated, lower educated traveler. The all inclusive type. It has hurt many lower middle class earners. Now there is even a scam to get you out of a time share if you just pay more money, RIPOFF!
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
Actually it is a timeshare, but the way it works is they are selling weeks or days at the hotel for a price in advance . It is clearly a scam, as usually the price you pay comes to more than one you can find shopping around on the internet.

And they promise you things that you never get. Like ocean front rooms, etc. Good luck when you book at getting this. Also they restrict dates on busy holidays.

Stay away...................
 

Ecoman1949

Born to Ride.
Oct 17, 2015
2,806
1,309
113
Why bother getting a membership when you can go to the discount travel sites and book anything you want at LHVC Cofresi. If you book the lower end accommodations they give you the option of paying a few dollars more to get the VIP bands and access everything the members do. Stayed there twice doing it that way. 
 

champ

New member
Dec 2, 2006
193
4
0
post edited by dv8.

my fren, beware of your wording. you may be stepping over to libelous ground.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
2
0
I went there because someone told me i could get a sales job selling Timeshares. I listened to their recruitment speech for maybe 15 minutes and said "No thanks." and walked out.