Sundance Film Festival Lodging Scam
November 10th, 2008
How to prevent being a victim of lodging scams during Park City's Sundance Film Festival.
The Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah is now an international event. Holywood moguls fly their private jets into Park City, descending on Sundance to find the next big break-out independent feature film. The most unique aspect to Sundance is that it takes place in a small high mountain town of Park City in the middle of winter. Because Park City is so small, rooms are in much greater demand than supply. These conditions allow for lodging rip-off artists to flourish.
With the barrage of stories and comments we have received from our previous stories on Westgate Resorts, its comes as no surprise that Westgate appears to be practicing the same con-job in Park City that they do all over the Unites States: including Miami, Orlando and Las Vegas (which is where we were originally ripped -off).
The purpose of this article is to prevent Sundance Film Festival attendees from being ripped-off by lodging scams. There are predatory timeshare operations that will try to con trusting vacationers out of their money, wrecking plans for attending the best international film festival in the US- Sundance. I can attest to the great time you will have, I've attended Sundance three times, it is a blast! But beware, I recently received the following story from Elin:
After purchasing a timeshare being told that she would be able to book her week during the Sundance Film Festival. Eli says that Westgate decieved her and now she is left with a recurring $2,300 per year bill, on top of the $30,000 she paid for the week in Park City.
Westgate utilized a high pressure tactic selling us the timeshare. All the promises and stories turned out to be untrue. It was a total rip-off. We should be allowed to sell our shares back to them at the original cost.
Elin did nothing wrong other than trust her sales agent. This was the same mistake thousands of others have made (including me and my wife). I've come to the conclusion that either the Westgate sales people either do not know how to read, and have never read the contract they encourage buyers sign without reading. Or these sales people are some of the most blatant liars you will ever come across. Utah Stories is now organizing a class-action lawsuit against Westgate's fraudulent activity, in effort to return some of the millions of dollars they have ripped-off from customers who actually believed the words that were coming out the sales agent's mouths.
Five Tips for Finding A Room During Sundance
- Book your room directly with the Hotel you intend on staying at. Park City is too small to find a great deal through Travelocity or Expedia. Your best bet is to search Park City Lodging in Google and book directly with the Hotels and/or condo owners
- Try finding a room on Craigslist by booking directly with a condo owner. There are hundreds of owners of homes, condos and even businesses who want to cash in during Sundance, by taking a short leave and booking their space. This can be a good option for finding a room. But do not give out your credit card information over the phone! If they require a deposit, ask to pay through Paypal or a secure verified e-commerce web site. Also, double check their ownership with the HOA for the condominium. The owners shouldn't hesitate to provide this information if they are legitamit.
- Book early. Park City is usually full months before Sundance begins, so book today for 08, if you plan on attending
- Already too late? Good news Salt Lake City is 30 minutes from Sundance and rooms are in much greater supply and much cheaper. There are also many Sundance films playing in Salt Lake City throughout the festival. Granted Salt Lake City doesn't provide the same ambiance and craziness as Park City, and certainly if you stay in Salt Lake City you will want to go to Park City still for some screenings, but if you are on a budget, SLC is the way to go.
- Find a group of good friends and pay the obscenely high prices in Park City while packing 8-10 people into a two bedroom condo. Certainly the condo owners won't be appreciate this, but just don't trash the place and you will be fine. I did a series of video shoots in Sundance with a New York Producer and she was staying with four other women. They were all out on the town most of the time so it wasn't a problem. Take a good sleeping bag and an air mattress and enjoy the best of Sundance with some good people! Just be careful not go with people you can't trust.
Eli's Sundance Rip-Off Story in Entirety
I bought a one-week one-bed-room timeshare at Westgate in Utah in 2004. There are three aspects of their misleading in sales advertisement. They said:
- We could use our week except for the Christmas and President's Day weeks
- The maintenance fee was stable year over year;
- We can exchange our week for other resorts in the intern-continental network.
The truth is:
- Owners are given the least priority in booking. In other words, an owner can get his/her week only if fee-paying customers do not want them.
- Owners cannot book the week directly on their website (we have to call or fill out an application form) but non-owners can book rooms on-line because they pay $300-$400 per night.
- Maintenance fee goes up about 10% a year, way above the national inflation rate; I was never able to exchange to a non-Wesgate resort in the intercontinental program. In addition, when I bought the Westgate ownership, I was told that I got a permanent membership in the intercontinental program. The fact was that I had to pay the membership due the following year for abo ut $220. The intercontinental program told me that only the first year was free for Westgate owners.
When I tried to book the Sundance Film Festival week many months in advance, I was told all rooms had been booked. But when I went to Westgate's website as money paying customers, I was able to book the week I wanted. Yes, rooms were available but just not for owners!
Here is the deal I got. I paid $30,000 for a one-week one-bed room in UT for the ski season. However, I am NOT able to book any winter holidays or weeks that have big events such as Sundance Film Festival. I am only able to get my week when the fee-paying customers do not want them. In fact, my on-going cost for this "one-week ownership" is $2,300 per year in addition to the original cost of $30,000. If I invest this $30,000, I can get at least 5% return, which is $1,500 (annual opportunity cost). The current maintenance fee is $800. So, the real cost is $2,300 (1,500+800) a year. Besides, the maintenance fee goes up about 10% a year and owners have no say about the cost control. This is a heavy cost but my booking right is behind the non-owners or fee-paying customers. Where is justice???
Reader Comments
Brad Nelson
We bought a studio timeshare from Westgate Park City in 2006. They had renderings and info about the golf course all over the place. We were told that if we bought that we would get discounted golf and basically be treated like a country club member because we were owners. This was why we bought. The golf course has never been built, never even had an approval to be built, and today they don't even bring it up. Of course the contract states that only the amenities listed are applicable. But come on! If any real estate agent in the country misrepresented facts like that on any transaction, then said "read your contract, tough luck, they would be sued, license revoked, and possibly thrown in jail. I would love to start a class action law suit here in Utah for the time period they represented the golf course. Anyone else get this pitch and would like to join in?
