Pine Lake Resort by Diamond Resorts
Let Mercantile Claims assist you with Pine Lake Resort Complaints, Claims & Compensation
Let Mercantile Claims assist you with Pine Lake Resort Complaints, Claims & Compensation
Owners of Pine Lake Resort by Diamond resorts timeshares often find themselves trapped in infinite contracts with rapidly increasing maintenance fees which ultimately stems from a mis-sold timeshare contract. Over recent years there have been a number of ground-breaking rulings regarding mis-sold timeshares by many timeshare groups and resorts which have resulted in refunds and compensation. An example of this is diamond resorts carnforth
Many owners of Pine Lake Resort timeshare contracts are entitled to, or have already made claims citing reasons such as high increases in fees including timeshare resort annual maintenance fees, Aggressive fee collection procedures enforced by the timeshare scheme, and contracts committing owners to paying fees for “timeshare agreements in perpetuity”
Disgusting service and taking money out of bank
Me and my partner recently stayed at pine lake for three nights, we gave them my bank card details on arrival as they request so they can put a £100 hold on my money incase of any damages etc. Can’t complain about staff while we were there, they were all friendly to us on arrival and departure. We didn’t use any of the facilities such as restaurant or spa/gym while we were there as we spent our days exploring the area.
We stayed in a studio apartment which was clean and tidy. Upon leaving we were told that we had no charges and the £100 would be released immediately back into my account. Upon checking the following day £80 had been taken from my account.
We had an email saying that the resort had taken out this money for ‘deep clean due to dog hairs’. We did not have a dog or any other pet for that matter in the room as it is a no pet resort.
The resort and customer services have told us that we had a pet in the room but will not check CCTV to prove this and are refusing to send the money back to me.
To access our apartment we had to drive past reception and walk past 9 other studios that were able to see us, if we had a pet accessing the room there would have been someone that had seen this. Pine lake sent me three pictures of one of there carpets that has hair on it.
These pictures do not show what room they were taken in nor do the show a date or time of when these were taken. These photos could have been taken 4 months or 4 years ago from a completely different room but they are trying to pass them off as the studio we stayed in.
Customer services also can’t explain what a deep clean entails to justify the £80 that they have charged! We left the room in an acceptable condition on departing, we even cleaned the kitchen before leaving and they still charge us for hoovering the room when they would have done that anyway!
We have received disgusting customer service from them regarding this matter considering they have no proof that a pet was in the room despite them arguing with us that there was! They have essentially stolen £80 straight out of my bank.
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Our team here at Mercantile Claims are always on hand to help you with any issues, concerns or questions you have regarding your Diamond Resorts timeshare contract. Below we have listed the most common questions we receive on a regular basis. If you have a more specific question please contact our team of experts and we will respond with an answer as soon as possible.
Piyush Kumar
Based on my previous experience with Diamond resorts, I decided to stay at Pine Lake Resort. But the standards of their Lodges are poor here.
Especially the cleanliness. Stayed at their lodge (No. 252). The floors in bathroom and kitchen were filthy. Seemed they have never been cleaned. Had marks on the carpet. Totally outdated interiors that were in contrast to their resort in Devon.
NYE let down!
So we’ve been to pine lake many times and always enjoyed our stay.
We decided with friends to book for New Year’s Eve. Booked back in August, everything ok. My husband contacted the venue 3 days before (Thursday) to confirm and was told everything was good to go. Then we received an email late on the Friday evening, under 2 days before we were due to arrive to be told our booking had been cancelled.
Very very disappointed, nothing we could do that evening as the email was so late so we called the next day. Nothing they could do for us. We completely understand that the site was flooded and this was way out of anyone’s control but to be told less than 2 days before and after already confirming it was disgusting to say the least. And then for my husband to ring the day before we were due to arrive and be past from person to person as no one seemed to want to deal with us or have a clue what was going on, then told he would be called back but wasn’t, so he kept calling to be told the lady who was dealing with us was on a lunch break call again, he did, she was on another break.
The customer service was awful.
We were then told we could be moved to Thurnham Hall but at the same price, same conditions this was not what we had booked or planned. Unfortunately as we had been messed around so much and so late on we weren’t happy with this but accepted it.
My husband pushed for a discount, which they honoured. After all that we arrived at Thurnham Hall, they gave us an earlier check in time and a bottle of wine upon arrival and I have to say our apartment was stunning and so much better than we had imagined. So from now on we will visit Thurnham Hall and will advise anyone else to do the same, their customer services skills surpass anything we dealt with at pine lake. We probably won’t be returning to pine lake unless the customer service improves.
Voucher
Further to my review in April I need to add this post script.
On checking out we were offered a voucher to book a return holiday The original holiday was my family in one lodge and my friend and her family in another lodge. The cost of the voucher was £99 which we paid there and then.
My friend and I both bought a voucher.
We had to meet certain eligibility criteria and we understood it was a promotional rate and we would be required to attend a presentation.
We asked about bringing children and was assured we would be able to for a small extra charge.
We tried to redeem this voucher this week.
The accommodation was a one bedroom studio and the upgrade was £87 to bring children…..There was a further restriction being my friend and I could not use our vouchers at the same time.
Suffice it to say have a lovely holiday at Pine Lake but don’t buy this voucher on the way out.
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Shoddy customer care for promotional vouchers
Totally disgusted. We bought a three day break on Wowcher for the family, six of us. I had heard so much about Pine Lake and the photographs looked awesome, so when I was called by the sales team the day before we left and invited along to find out more about club membership I jumped at the chance. They had no need to bribe me with the free breakfast and restaurant voucher, but that was an added bonus.
Let’s start with the good. The good things about the resort are the linen is clean, the beds are comfortable and kitchen equipped with most of what you would need.
When we went along to the presentation on Tuesday, 8th September 2015. Just qualifying that because I want to be sure that the staff I mention are the correct ones. Our representative introduced us to a man who said he was the Sales Manager. He asked what we thought of the cabin so I told him:
It was grubby. There were signs of disrepair all over the cabin. Work surfaces broken, the bathroom looked as if the mop had never been introduced to any corner of the floor. The blind was filthy and there was even a pubic hair on the wall. This was not my biggest issue though, the one and only bathroom that our family of six were to share for three days did not have a working lock. I would have been mortified if my 18 year old grandson walked in on me in the toilet or shower.
One of the handles on the toaster was broken off and the “breakfast bar” was loose from the wall. There were broken pieces of Formica on work surfaces and cupboards.
When I leaned over behind the tv to plug in my laptop I noticed a huge cobweb and the corners were filthy.
“Oh, that’s because you’re here on a promotion,” said the sales manager. “We only offer the best to full paying guests.
I think it was about that point when my mind was made up that no matter how good their offer was, I probably wasn’t going to buy in without full assurance that not all Diamond Resorts are like this.
He then promised to show us a “refurbished” apartment after the presentation. He left us with this poor saleswoman who had to sit with the family while we ate breakfast. The so-called sales manager brought a key for the “refurbished” apartment and left again. Another sales rep (this one had come in from one of the Spanish resorts we were told) came along to chat for a while we ate. Then the sales manager came back and took away the key to the “refurbished” apartment saying he had to show someone else it.
Eventually, I was told that I had to sign up for the deal that day and was not allowed to go away and think about it. I said I wouldn’t because I would never make a decision like this on the spur of the moment. By this time my husband had gone back to our cabin as he was filling ill. The “saleswoman from Spain” came over and tried to insist that I sign that day. She tried everything, even making us feel bad about the sales lady who would not get her commission if I didn’t sign.
Finally, she told me to go and get my husband, implying that I was clearly not able to make such a decision being just the little woman. My heckles got up and I said, “I am not signing, I was thinking about signing up, but now I will not” Their pressure, their lack of customer care and lack of decency, telling someone to get out of their sick bed to come and buy a product that they could not be bothered in the first place to impress me with had just turned my blood cold.
On the upside, all of the other staff in the resort were really lovely, the receptionists, restaurant staff and the leisure centre staff were all very friendly and faultless.
I had mentioned at our meeting that the equipment in the gym had not seen a duster in possibly months and was told that “it probably doesn’t get used a lot”. Good excuse for lack of hygiene.
Moving on to the public areas, the public toilets in the games area were equally as dirty as ours in our cabin. The showers in the leisure centre were filthy around the taps and again there were areas where the formica was broken.
I can’t help but think that if you are making an effort to refurbish your resort you may want to start with the areas that people will see even if they are not staying there?
I have photos to back up my experience. They will be put on trip advisor, facebook and Youtube in an effort to save others from thinking they may get a good deal from their Wowcher deals with Pine Lake.
Incidentally, we got a similar deal with Moness last year and I could not fault it. The standards were high overall and they did not discriminate on the basis that you had bought a promotional deal. Pine Lake may want to take a leaf from their book.
Misleading advertising & poor customer service
My stay at Pine Lakes was very disappointing due to the fact that on the advertisement when clicking on accommodation pictures for a studio room it should exterior shots of what turned out to be 2 bedroom apartments. As you can imagine arriving at the Resort to find that you are staying in what can only be described as terrace shed instead of the lovely detached log cabins you see when clicking on studio apartment accommodation.
I portrayed my dissatisfaction to Diamond Resorts directly only to be told initially I was wrong all pictures clearly illustrate the accommodation provided as you can see below a small part of the response to my original email
“I have viewed the information on the booking.com site and they do in fact specify different photo’s for each type of accommodation – clicking on studio unit shows a photo of the studio apartments.”
It was only when I provided screenshots of the website did in fact Diamond Resort accept that what was shown was not a studio apartment however did not accept this was their fault. The customer service for a company within the hospitality industry was the worse I have even encountered and hope will ever encounter, I would urge anybody considering this Resort to choose and alternative that does provide what is advertised and stay clear of Diamond Resorts as a whole.