We have been Silverleaf owners since 1991 and I can honestly tell you they have gone to * in a hand basket. We recently stayed out at the Villages for "complimentary" stay as long as we attended the meeting. Well fine sure we needed a short getaway. So we get there on a Friday around 9:30pm, as we had to work all day, and low and behold they put us up in one of the oldest condos they had and we were specific we told them we wanted a lodge unit, not a condo unit. So we check in and get to Unit 71 and OMFG it was a dump!!! First sign we got to high tail it out of there was an unlocked, ugly *, sliding glass front door. Boy that was so inviting.
My husband called the front desk and told them they better find an open lodge unit or he was packing up and heading back to Dallas. They gave some song and dance about how they didn't have lodge units available at that time (we found out later it was a first come, first serve basis). So, we toughed it out for the night as the kids were tired and cranky from the 3 hour drive. While we had the chance we wrote a list of all the things we found wrong with that one condo (surly the same things wrong in all the other older ones):
1) Right away, unlocked front door
2) Musty, moldy smell
3) Footprints, handprints and pencil marks on the walls throughout
4) Water stains on walls and ceilings
5) Water damage to sheetrock, behind 30 layers of paint
6) Appliances dated back to 1978
7) Carpet was stained and dingy
8) Handles missing off nightstands
9) Ice maker did not work
10) Awful cable reception
11) Insignificant light switches that served no purpose
12) Shabby, torn bed linens
13) Vertical blinds missing slats and pull rods
14) Walkway up to Condo was dangerous
15) 2 washcloths for 4 people
16) Sagging mattress
17) Kitchen floor was rotting out
18) Broken kitchen cabinets
You get the idea right...
Next day, we get a phone call from one of the managers explaining that a lodge unit would be available by 11 am, go figure (they sucked up because they thought we were potential upgraders to their Diamond Club, fat chance). We get into the nicely decorated and much more up to date lodge unit and kids want to take advantage of the water park (which Silverleaf maintenance fees paid for because they obviously aren't being used for maintenance). Now this water park was a neat idea, but my problem with it is this, members have to pay $20.00 per person to use it... And it's open for the public to use as well... The PUBLIC!!! Since when have Silverleaf amenities been open to the public?
Another thing that bothers me is the meeting we had to attend. First of all, as members were coming in they had to fill a survey. Most of that information was NONE of their business! They had no business knowing such personal information like which credit cards you used while at the resort, your occupation, where you worked, income and children's names and ages. Once the form was turned in they offered up tickets to the BBQ... We never got any and weren't even offered any. Was it because we chose to only write out names on the form and nothing else? Regardless, the service was rude!!!
Once they got us into their office to go over their 2 hour sales pitch and tour of what we CAN'T use currently, we proceeded to tell them what was WRONG with the current condos, built in 1978. They grabbed a maintenance sheet and pretended to act like they cared and when they thought we weren't looking they secretly slid the maintenance request form into the garbage. Of COURSE they don't care, they're there to sell, not listen to members.
Now that leads me the * 'n bull story the salesmen have to tell as to why all the new Presidential, ambassador and wife else grandiose crap they're building is being built. They say "Silverleaf members have spoken", my * they've spoken. Which ones did they speak to? The ones who have more money than brains? You can't say a handful of surveys represents ALL Silverleaf owners, because that's BS!
Ok, so as we start the tour of the beautiful Beach Resort at the Villages, btw did you know they trucked in white sands from Florida for the private beach? Yeah, we Endless Escape owners can't use that either, unless we spend another $8,000 on top of what we already spent the first go round to buy into the Diamond Plus Club. We're escorted into this beautiful 1200 sqft condo and they think it's gonna wow us into buying... Wrong. We were not falling for their horse 'n pony show. I tell the young salesman, with the smug attitude, to stop at the condo they put us up in the night before and he acted as though his hearing aid battery fell out... Turned a deaf ear mind you. They're not interested in the old condos, NO, they want you to buy a new one. We're not stupid!
He then proceeds to tell my husband, who at one point said he got to stay at a presidential condo in Galveston, that it'll never happen again... Why do you say that you effin punk, gonna fix it so he can't... Smug bastage. Any who, after we get back to the member services building he takes us to a showroom of floor plans and photos of the new condos, the ones we can't use, and I ask "Why aren't there photos of the old condos on here, you know the one we got stuck in Friday night?" Again, no response. Why they wouldn't sell condos at the rate they are if they had photos of the old condos.
I then asked, "So how come you don't walk potential owners through one of the condos you put us up in Friday?" Again, dead air. When he couldn't seal the deal, they brought a closer in... He made the upgrade seem so cheap and easy. He figured he'd give us a deal... $5,620 plus a $1200 down payment with payments as low as $88 a month for life... Bet you're thinking man that's a sweet deal! No effin way!!! Here's the catch though, he wanted to make our home resort in Massachusetts with a white week. Why the * would we want a white week in Massachusetts, when we already own a red week at Holly Lake, where the PGA golf course is? BTW, they're now building presidential condos at Holly Lake.
When the closer started talking all I heard was blah blah blah horse 'n pony show blah blah blah. This smug * then says, "I own 3 weeks, " well la de da jack *, who cares. He also goes on to say that he is taking his kids to places he grew up going to and wants them to learn what a good vacation is all about. Shoot, I must be doing it all wrong cause I'm trying to teach my kids how to earn a dollar. What a hole he was. He couldn't seal the deal either and walked out completely defeated and huffy.
We did learn a vital piece of information... RCI members have more clout at Silverleaf Resorts than Silverleaf owners... Yeah you saw it right here. The reason we couldn't get into a lodge condo the night we got there is because Silverleaf "HAS" to leave a section blocked out specifically for RCI members. Ain't that a kicker. We got screwed because RCI takes precedence. Sorry POS!!! No offense to RCI members, but uh HELLO Silverleaf owners made Silverleaf, not RCI.
Anyway, we went back to the condo, checked out a day early and went the * home. We traded our red week for a week in Branson next summer. And we were grandfathered in where we get to use all the Silverleaf resorts... Like it matters. Silverleaf Executives are crooked bastards.
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