LETTER TO THE EDITOR
People invest in, not donate to timeshares
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Dear Sir,
I’d like to take issue with a few of the incorrect and/or misleading
statements made in your editorial “The trouble with timeshares”.
You apparently misunderstand how the timeshare trading organizations (such
as RCI, of which Indies Suites was a member) work. If you decide that you
don’t want to spend the week at your home (say Indies Suites) resort, you may
“bank” that week with the organization so that someone else in the
organization may use it. You then can trade for someone else’s “banked” week.
In the case of Indies Suites, there are NO weeks to be banked; hence RCI
members can’t use a week somewhere else.
“The developer usually retains the right to sell or transfer the property “
- yes he does, but the “Rules of Indies Suites Club” specifically says that
“The Company may sell the Facilities subject to the rights of the Members”;
these same rules also state that “The Company shall ensure that all Facilities
are covered by insurance in amount customarily carried for such Facilities to
replace the [Facilities] in the event of destruction.”
Now, I can believe that Ronnie might not have been aware of the problems of
under-insurance, but certainly his insurance agent, the bank, and the mortgage
company that held his mortgage are more than aware of the problem of
under-insurance and what it does to claims!
People invest in (not donate to) timeshares with the idea of coming back
year after year - that’s certainly what we did. To say that “Those who have
been members for more than a decade, ... have certainly benefited far more” is
undeniably true, but there is relatively little difference between using it
for 5 years or 10 years, when the term of the Right to Use is 99 years!
Also, would Cayman Net News care to comment on information that
Ronnie Foster has engaged a PR firm that is linked to the parent company of
Cayman Net News? If this is true, then in the “interest of openness and
integrity”, not to mention journalistic integrity, I believe that a disclaimer
needs to accompany any editorial or news report concerning this issue.
Thank you,
Al Sorrell
(Former Indies Suites Owner)
Editor’s note: Any relationship between Cayman Net News and other Group
companies and/or their customers has no bearing whatsoever on editorial
content or decisions. All Indies Suites members should take note of the press
statement published in Cayman Net News on Monday, June 13, 2005, which sets
out the terms of a proposed settlement with such members.
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