Hidden Charges

Was wondering if anybody had run across this before. I recently traded to a place in Florida, all was fine except on check-in, the resort demanded an EXTRA fee of about $11 per day. This fee was to cover succh things as parking, a shuttle bus (that was owned & operated by local merchant assoc.), access to ONE computer for the entire resort and some other bogus charges, whether I wanted these services or not. After travelling 4,000 miles and all day to get there, I had little energy to argue with a desk clerk who was in no position to do anything anyway. $55 is chunk of change on any vacation. Interval was even less helpful when I complained when I got back.... at first they dismissed me completely saying this is included in incidental charges like electricity charges in some Eurpoean destinations. I wrote back and said those charges are clearly outlined when you exchange, this was not mentioned anywhere. If it was mentioned, and there was a choice between two similar facilities, obviously I'd choose the one that didn't charge me.

There are some resorts that charge extra fees for utilities, however most are in the Caribbean or Mexico. But there are some USA resorts, such as the Disney property resorts, that charge a one time $90 extra fee at check-in.

I sincerely hope that this is not the beginning of a trend for resorts to nickle and dime check-ins to death. I would definitely check with a resort before booking in the future to see if they charge extra fees.

I would also continue to voice my displeasure to II that these charges were not mentioned on the confirmation. Call customer service at 1-888-784-3447 and email customer relations at customerservice@intervalintl.com

Just remembered one of the things was for "FREE" local calls. I think with the widespread use of cell phones, the past practice of gouging customers for telephone calls in hotels and timeshares has dried up those revenue streams. In order to claw back some money, I'm sure I'll see more of this type of charge in the future. I was disappointed in the esort but more disappointed In Interval's non reaction. 2nd email said they would definitely look into it and that was that. I'll have to go thru records and see if I still have response and follow up. Thing is, it's not a huge deal, and the more I pursue these things, the more it becomes that becomes my memory of the trip instead of the good times I had down there.

daves250 states in relevant part: >> ... the resort demanded an EXTRA fee of about $11 per day. This fee was to cover succh things as parking, a shuttle bus (that was owned & operated by local merchant assoc.), access to ONE computer for the entire resort and some other bogus charges, whether I wanted these services or not.<< =================================================

I don't know why you chose not to openly and specifically identify this resort, which so shamelessly "nickel and dimed" you, but with due respect it seems to me that a better way to discourage such practices is to put their name right out there in the open, for all to see. Perhaps the embarassment of public (i.e., Internet) exposure of such penny ante practices would help to discourage them (and other resorts) from being so petty. Escaping unnamed, however, is completely harmless to them and gives them no reason whatsoever to not just continue such practices unabated, if they can just get away with it without any consequences (and without even being openly identified).

daves250 wrote:

Thing is, it's not a huge deal, and the more I pursue these things, the more it becomes that becomes my memory of the trip instead of the good times I had down there.

It would be a huge deal to me to have to hand over $77 ($11 a day for a week's stay) if I knew nothing of the charges beforehand. Glad you had good times to remember on your vacation, but others must be warned of such charges.

Happy to. Celebrity Resorts, Kissamee Florida. Obviously there is whack of choices in the area, if I knew of the charge, it would have been easy to choose somewhere else. Also, they offered wireless service at outrageous prices. I forget how much, but it was crazy. This also seems something a lot of places are gouging you with recently, I just drove down the street with my laptop and go an unsecured connection for free.

From their current website......my memory is a bit fuzzy, I thought it was more than the $3.99 listed, maybe wtih tax. I just remember it being around $55 and saying to myself, damn, that could have bought me a nice dinner.

For your convenience, a $3.99 Resort Fee will be applied to your nightly bill. The Resort Fee includes the following conveniences: Unlimited Local Calls, 30 Minutes Domestic Long Distance, Business Center (Internet Access*, Copier, Fax), In-Room Safe (Lock – off Only), a Crib/Rollaway (Limited Availability), Self-Parking and Shuttle to Lake Buena Vista Outlets * Does not include in-room wireless access

daves250 states : >> Happy to. Celebrity Resorts, Kissimmee Florida.<< ===============================================

Ahhh....,this explains quite a lot in my opinion.

Celebrity (not at all well or highly regarded in general) has taken over some Florida facilities which were in financial trouble. I'm personally well aware of one in particular, located in Gulf coastal Florida (fortunately, not a facility at which I own weeks --- I wouldn't personally touch ANY Celebrity facility, even with a long stick). So far, Celebrity seems to have made no particular headway, progress or any discernible improvements (but promptly increased maintenance fees quite a bit), so it comes as no surprise to me at all that the culprit in your experience was Celebrity. That would actually have been my very first guess (my second guess would have been a Westgate property).

Frankly, I think your experience, although unfortunate, does not really indicate any kind of growing trend. In my personal opinion, it merely reflects the inept and non-customer service nature of Celebrity itself. I'm also a bit surprised that II would actually allow ANY Celebrity property to be II affiliated at all. I'd be willing to guess (...even bet) that within a year or so, there will be NO II affiliated Celebrity properties.

That's funny because my only requirement when booking in Orlando was that it was not a Westgate property. Still don't know how I made thru without punching out any weasels who work there when I went. I had no idea that Westgate and Celebrity were 1 and 1A.