Has anyone had dealing with ARC American Resort Collection?

My husband received an email from ARC offering an opportunity to get out of our TS by deeding the property over to them. I think it is a scam but was hoping I could reference someone's first hand experience from this forum to convince my husband. The following is an excerpt from that email. Thanks!

The Freedom 365 Platform gives you unlimited weeks of travel in timeshare accommodations for $299, any size, any season, anywhere. Additionally the ARC Platform gives you access to inventory not available through RCI or II at great rates! Our future retirees love the fact that they will have travel dreams fulfilled in their retirement with our RENEWABLE CURRENCY (Savings Dollars)! A currency that not only allows them to get GUARANTEED best rates on hotels and cruises but restaurants, and thousands of everyday products and services!! Additionally we offer the opportunity for you to discover Europe without paying for your accommodations through our Heritage Program! Let's take a look at your options. Do nothing, keep your unit, and in ten years you will pay over $12,000 (without inflation or assessments) and get 1 week of vacation every year. You will have an expensive week of vacation, a liability that will continue to get more expensive and difficult to opt out of. Trade in your unit and replace them with the Freedom 365 platform and a Deed to a 2 bedroom at Magic Tree, our ARC resort in Orlando if you are interested in continuing to own a deed or have RCI points (the maintenance fee is $600 per year but is given back to you in Savings Dollars to use for future travel or to purchase products and services 365 Days a year) Trade in your unit, have no deeded liability and use the unlimited weeks through Freedom 365 for $299 for all of your travel needs. Additionally you will enjoy $2000 savings dollars per year to travel to hotels, take cruises, purchase products, entertainment and even restaurant cards using your renewable currency.

It's a SCAM !!!

ARC has had majority interests in the Americano beach resort since 2016 it has since been hit with hurricane Mathew and Irma....reopened 3 weeks after Mathew but has been shut down since Irma (Sept. of 2017)....Many owners have paid 2 years maintenance and no rooms available....ARC has taken time and money from owners and has denied them their contracted time and room.....they have lied many times about the point system and have stripped owners of the points they purchased....they expect the ts owners to financially support their vacation club and give up our deed and pay them $3-6 thousand....they have already gone thru any reserves that were there and asssessed all owners anywhere from $1000-6000....they are developers who only care about the bottom line and not the people they are dealing with.....STAY AWAY FROM ARC....Dishonest company....high pressure sales people who will say anything to get you to sign up....

We just got off a conference call with ARC and more confused than ever. It sounds like they want us to give up our deeded week and also pay over 6500.00 to join 365. So my question to JOHN is what did you do with your TS at Americano?

We just bought into ARC today and gave up our timeshares at Americano. Are you saying its no good? We can't do another assessment next year and our maitainance fees have gone sky high! They aren't even gonna be ready to use til August 2019...maybe. Should we cancel n get our money back?

If you can still cancel then run to the post office and get a receipt return notice to them immediately . It's just a SCAM to sell points .

How do we get out of this

pennyw102 wrote:

How do we get out of this

Get out of what? Timeshare ownership? If that is the case, there are a few suggestions and a few things to keep in mind. First and foremost, never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, market, or "cancel" your timeshare. those are usually scams.

The next thing to determine is what you own? Is it deeded property or a Right-to-use (RTU)? If it is an RTU (something that you will likely find in Mexico or the Caribbean), then the method that is usually easiest is to just stop any maintenance fee payments and the company will just end your membership. You might face a barrage of threatening collection calls or letters and perhaps a negative mark on your credit score, but, in the end, they will just likely end your "ownership" and try to sell to someone else.

If you own deeded property, then there are some factors to consider. Is the mortgage or loan paid off? Are your maintenance fees up to date? If so, the next thing to determine would be with what timeshare company you own. If it is with Wyndham, Diamond, or Westgate, you can check out each company's individual program for taking back certain properties. For instance, Wyndham currently has the Ovation program. More information can be seen in the thread under the forum Timeshare Companies.

Other options would be to advertise your unit for sale or giveaway here on RedWeek. You can also try My Resort Network, E-Bay, Craigslist, or Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) where they have a Bargain Deals section that allows owners to advertise for free that they want to give their unit away. If you're serious about giving your unit away, offer to pay closing costs and maybe even the next maintenance fee as an incentive for a new owner.

Also, you could try asking the resort if it will take your unit back. Make sure you contact the correct people there about this. Mention in no uncertain terms that you are not going to pay another penny in maintenance fees so it will be best for everyone involved if the resort amicably takes the unit back. This will save the resort the rigors and expense of foreclosure.

Don, I'm not sure why you would think ARC is a scam. They are the NEW property management company at the Americano. The old property management company is the company that screwed all of us owners. The ARC website is very useful and has allowed me and my wife to travel again - which we were not able to do with a non-operational property @ the Americano. I suggest to anyone who owns at the Americano - to get out! I visited the property in October of this year and the place still smells like mold/mildew and is all boarded up. The only way I have found to get out was to go with the ARC 365 website and I was quitclaimed out of my deed. I hope this helps everyone and please disregard Don's comments as he seems to not know the truth about ARC resorts and the options that they are actually giving their owners - which include opting out of the timeshare - which no other timeshare does!

I just went to the americano beach resort today to hear their pitch. I got them down to 3K and they will quitclaim the deed back to the resort. hope this helps but right now I am a little skeptical about this.

danield417 wrote:

I just went to the americano beach resort today to hear their pitch. I got them down to 3K and they will quitclaim the deed back to the resort. hope this helps but right now I am a little skeptical about this.

Why pay ARC $3000 to do something you can do yourself for a lot less money. Try contacting the resort's Homeowners' Association (HOA) in writing and say that you want to give your unit back. Mention in no uncertain terms that you are not paying another dime in maintenance fees and it would be in everyone's best interests for the HOA to take the unit back amicably. The HOA might ask you to pay closing costs and maybe even the next maintenance fee. That would still work out to a lot less than the $3000 ARC wants to fleece you for.

Another option would try to find another owner. List your unit for sale or giveaway here in RedWeek's Bargain Basement. Perhaps offer to pay the closing costs and maybe even the next maintenance fee for the new taker. Again, that will work out to a lot less than what ARC wants to charge you. You can also list it on E-Bay, Craigslist, My Resort Network, and/or Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) where there's a Bargain Deals section that allows you to advertise for free that you want to give your unit away.

Is you unit with Wyndham, Diamond, or Westgate? If so, each of those companies has a program that is allowing owners to surrender the ownership back to the company for a small fee (eg., Diamond is charging about $250).

This should work if you have deeded property. If yours is Right-to-Use, like what is usually in Mexico, then you can likely get rid of what you have by just stopping payments. You might get a barrage of collection calls and letters, but those can usually be ignored. Eventually, the resort/club will terminate your membership.

You can't just quit claim a deed back to a resort . The resort has to accept it . This company has no magical power to force any resort to accept a deed back . Why would anyone give $ 3,000. to company " heard about " on the internet ? It's your money not mine .

suew336 wrote:

We just got off a conference call with ARC and more confused than ever. It sounds like they want us to give up our deeded week and also pay over 6500.00 to join 365. So my question to JOHN is what did you do with your TS at Americano?

Hello, we are going thru the same dilemma with the Americano Beach Resort. We have owned since 1993, one of the first owners. We hardly have used the resort, 5 times but have maintained the fees. We have not paid the additional assessment fee of $1,087, which I have read is for paying for a Phase I Opening, but it is still not open. We would like to get out of this Timeshare Mess, but the 4 options given us do not allow us to completely rid ourselves of a Timeshare. I do not want to transfer to another one of their timehare sites, as I live in Mexico and do not want to purchase anything I have not seen and cant make the trip to do so.

The Americano Hotel in conjunction with Arc/RCI? states they are trying to keep as many of the owners as possible, but in the research I have been doing it appears to me Arc is trying to hustle the Americano Owners out of their timeshares so they can remarket and sale them again. and obligate owners to pay heavy fees in order to get out of the timeshare.. We own the Atlantic, 1 bedroom. The Arc representative on the conference call told me that most of the owners were taking the #4 option, rid themselves o f the Tiimeshare and purchase into their Arc 360 Freedom Club. They told me the fee was $15,000 and they would give me a credit of $7000 for my Timeshare leaving a $6000 payment to them for joining the club. Then I would pay $299 a year to use the club. I am wondering where the $15,000 fee is coming from and if all people joining the club pay this astronomical fee. As far I as know the fee to join the club is $299 a year and they are trying to charge us $15,000 to join.

It is against the federal law to raise prices or take advantage of National Disasters. The ARC proposal certainly seems to be within those perimeters and I think there should be intervention by the Board of Directors. I want to contact Randall Thomas, Vice President, to answer many of my questions. I want to talk to an owner and not anyone affiliated with Arc. to give me facts and not trying to rob me. From what I have read, the President, Scott? is chosen by Arc, so his position and decisions are probably biased towards ARC. I contacted Alice Grace, in charge, and told her I wanted to contact someone on the Board of Directors that was an owner. She politely told me the Board had given Arc and her authority to deal with the Owners. I am going to try one more time to get a contact number for Randall Thomas, Vice President and Owner.

I realize this is a lengthy response, but I think the Owners that are dealing with ARC and the Americano Timeshare need more information before being robbed out of their Timeshare and paying out more money on top of it. This is December 12 and I must decide what to do by the end of December. I would appreciate some input if you are having the same problem. Thank You for reading my response and any input. Ida Gallardo

I have been a Americano owner since the 90s and with the recent hurricane issues, rising maintenance fees and special assessments costs, i am considering going for the 365 program. I dont have any title or deed hanging over my head and still able to travel and have more weeks with less money in the long run over the next many years. My ? is this is supposed to be able to will to someone at death but what is there to actually will? A 365 prorgram brochure! has anyone already done this program and what do u have to show for the expense of it?

My husband and I just got off a long phone conference with ARC. We hold a deeded time share at the Americano in Daytona Beach, Florida. Yes, you can switch from Americano ownership to Freedom 365 by quit claiming your deed to the Americano and paying an additional fee to join. Our fee is $6, 995 in addition to the quit claim of our time share. The options they showed me of where we could stay were limited and not at all what we want. When my husband expressed reluctance, the "Manager" got on the phone and the conversation went from casual information sharing to a hard sell. Here is my question, why are they so interested in having all Americano members switch? Out of the goodness of their hearts? I don't think so. They are obviously not going to repair the Ameicano. Their plan is to tear it down and build a new resort. My guess is that they cannot do that until they buy out a certain percentage of the people who hold deeded time shares there. My next call will be to the Florida Attorney General's Office and the Florida Better Business Bureau about ARC and the phone call I just had with their representatives.

They want to switch everyone to points . They can charge higher maintenance fees and sell more points . You would be at the mercy of the resort whether you can get an exchange or not . If you own a deeded week you can visit your home resort every year . I have a deeded week in Las Vegas and I go there every year . I wouldn't sell it for any money . I love going there and I never trade it . I got rid of two timeshares in 2011 because of the hassle trying to get an exchange .

If you find out anything from the bureau please let me know.

deborahk306 wrote:

My husband and I just got off a long phone conference with ARC. We hold a deeded time share at the Americano in Daytona Beach, Florida. Yes, you can switch from Americano ownership to Freedom 365 by quit claiming your deed to the Americano and paying an additional fee to join. Our fee is $6, 995 in addition to the quit claim of our time share. The options they showed me of where we could stay were limited and not at all what we want. When my husband expressed reluctance, the "Manager" got on the phone and the conversation went from casual information sharing to a hard sell. Here is my question, why are they so interested in having all Americano members switch? Out of the goodness of their hearts? I don't think so. They are obviously not going to repair the Ameicano. Their plan is to tear it down and build a new resort. My guess is that they cannot do that until they buy out a certain percentage of the people who hold deeded time shares there. My next call will be to the Florida Attorney General's Office and the Florida Better Business Bureau about ARC and the phone call I just had with their representatives.

I was given the price of 1500 down and 1500 over a 12 month period. I was also told that only the top two floors were going to be available for time share owners. the rest of the floors are going to be for regular hotel guests. my guess is that they need the time shares back since they will only have two floors available for owners and the irony of all this is that even though they need these deeds back they are going to charge us. let me know if you file a complaint because I was thinking of doing the same thing.

I gave back two timeshares in 2011 and got nothing for them . It was the best decision I made in a long time . Since then my savings account has grown very large . Look at the big picture . You don't get any money now but the savings in the future will make up for that and then some . Remember all those costs associated with having to travel every year also go away .

Pick your best option. It’s all about numbers and budget. I went to the Americano Resort face to face and they explain all the details of every option and I choose the best one for me and my family. By the way we spend five hours before we make our final desicion. Good luck!