Reba Management; Coral Reef Resort; Sun and Seas Deceptive sales practices by Sun and Seas/Reba Management/Coral Reef Resorts Hilton Head, South Carolina

On Feb 16, 2009, while vacationing in Hilton Head, we purchased Sun and Seas' license for their travel software - so we wouldn't have to deal with the high maintenance fees that plague many resorts. The Sun and Seas asking price was $2495, but dropped to $1500 after they agreed to a trade-in of our Coral Reef Resort timeshare (http://www.(((REDACTED)))com/?p=1913), which is either managed or owned by Reba Management. They agreed to take care of our outstanding 2009 maintenance fees of $968.53, that included a $25 late fee (I hadn't paid the 2009 maintenance because I never received any bills until Jan 21, 2009, when a statement came that include the $25 late fee. I'd written to Reba requesting that they adjusted the late fee, to which I never received a response). Ms. LeighAnn Hoppe, Director of Owner Services at Coral Reef, came to have us sign a few documents to expedite the buy-back of our unit.

As an incentive, Sun and Seas threw in a free week long vacation in Hilton Head in a two bedroom condo with free golf. They have been calling me to schedule this for many months. When I asked the caller why they were pushing so hard to schedule this, she replied that Sun and Seas wants to get us there to sell us a full time share. I found this contradictory: they sold us the 'license' based on the idea that we wouldn't have to deal with a full time share again.

In the meantime, I continued getting bills from Reba Management that we were past due (3/25/2009 $1440.30, including the 2nd late fee of $471.77) on our Coral Reef Resort maintenance fees. On June 17 2009, the timeshare exchange company, RCI, had taken the Coral Reef Resort points out of account since we hadn't paid the maintenance fee. Hoping to resolve this matter as soon as possible, I complained about this to Tari Weiland, the saleslady at Sun and Seas, since I couldn't get any response from Hoppe. I then exchanged many emails with Mellisa Healy at Reba, who finally sent me this on Nov 3, 2009:

"Hi Irene- Leigh Ann Contacted me and is sending over a copy of your buy back paper work. In the meantime I have removed your account from collections and noted it. Sorry for the confusion. This should be taken care of now. Thanks, Melissa Healy Reba Management Inc."

I got a copy of the buyback agreement from Hoppe eventually and thought the matter was resolved. In January 2010, I received a new past due bill in the amount of $2,662.30 (including 3rd late fee $1,222.00). I had a few more email exchanges with Mellisa who said the Ms. Hoppe's buy-back agreement is incomplete.

On Feb 19, Mellisa called/sent certified mail to inform me that Reba had set a deadline for us to pay $2,662.30 by March 20, 2010 or they will forward our account to an attorney's office for foreclosure and repossession.

Meanwhile, I contacted Sun and Seas' service department since I could not get Ms. Hoppe to respond to my repeat requests to confirm the buyback. After a few emails, Rodney Yurco replied to state that the buy-back was never executed. He emailed me the following on 3/2/2010:

"Irene, I have spoken with Leigh Ann Hoppe at Coral Resorts. According to the records from REBA, you had an outstanding balance between $900 and $1000 prior to the date that Coral Resorts agreed to buy back your week. Then two months later, (which is still within the time that buyback paperwork is typically processed) apparently late fees were applied leaving a balance owed of approximately $1400. She said that at that point when applying the buyback amount to the balance you owed, the difference was still approximately $190.00 owed by you. Ms. Hoppe suggested to Reba management that we just take in your Island Links property, apply the buy back money to the outstanding balance with Reba and waive the additional fees. She has relayed this to Melissa at REBA, so if you agree to this then you would need to speak with her. Please let me know if this is how you want to proceed, and I will let Ms. Hoppe know and follow up to make sure they are processing it.

Respectfully,

Rodney Yurco

Resorts Anytime Customer Service "

I immediately forwarded this email to Mellisa, asking if this would be satisfactory to her. She replied:

"Please review the letter sent to you via email, regular mail and certified mail for our position on this matter."

At this juncture, I'm very confused by the entire ordeal: Reba Management owns or magages Coral Reef, is pressing hard on us to pay while they refused to exucte the agreement that would relief us from the mess.

I would greatly appreciate any help in resolving this matter with Reba Management.