Ready for my first negative comment on my blog? Well here it is….
May 14, 2008
In March Anthony & I visited a campground/resort called Martin Lake Resort alone, no children. It was very peaceful, quiet and beautiful. It had a great pool, baby pool and Jacuzzi, new putt-putt golf course, and not to mention this beautiful clear lake with paddleboats. So we decided to join after being so welcomed with polite caring considerate employees. Boy did the owner Jerry do a wonderful job of selling us on buying a membership to his “Resort”. He wanted so bad to meet our kids and was just extremely personable. We loved it to say the least. You’re probably thinking right now, how could this be negative, right? Keep reading….
About a month later we took our kids back with high hopes they would love it too. To my surprise (not Anthony’s) no one remembered us, and wasn’t as nice & polite as they had been the first time we visited. It was still rather chili as a cool front had passed thru the weekend of the trip. The kids weren’t happy; they were bored to say the least. There is a small, rundown, and old playground not worthy of using at all. The water was cold and anytime we did something the grounds keeper/maintenance worker was right there watching every move we made and telling us about the rules we apparently had broken. Not to mention the kids couldn’t go by the lake or pool without an adult. (They are 8,8 and 11) I found it terribly uncomfortable to have someone watching over me like I was a child and telling me what I can’t do on a consistent basis. So maybe it was just a fluke? We decided to give it another chance…and considering we had become members…
We planned another trip over Mother’s Day weekend which included Anthony’s mom, my mom, my brother his wife and his young children and of course my family. Hoping this would be wonderful and we would all have a fabulous time. It was warmer what could go wrong. I reserved 3 cottages #3, 4 & 5. On Wednesday, May 7th before we were to arrive, I received a phone call from Martin Lake saying they had over booked the cottages and could we please switch cottage 3 & 4 to cottage 7 which had a loft to accommodate two of the families. I happily agreed and requested my trailer be put on a larger site because we have a Ford F350 (my daughter refers to as a “Monster truck”). She told me they would put the trailer on “Dogwood Street” and it was $1 more. I told her great and that was no problem. Everything was set and the employee who called me was so thankful I was very willing to make the change.
We arrived Friday, May 9th at about 8:00 pm to find our request of where our trailer was supposed to be was not where we were told it would be. Anthony had to get on his bike and drive along each road of the campground in the dark to find our trailer. It was located on a different street not where it was supposed to be. Very distraught, we hooked up our camper and were thankful the truck fit in the spot they put us in.
The next morning, a business decided to have a company picnic in front of the lake, they had a lot of people, and loud music, a far cry from the peaceful, relaxing Martin Lake we had envisioned our family members to enjoy with us. Around 10:00 am the owner Jerry came to cottage #7 (my brother and mother’s cottage) and asked if he could show the cottage to some prospective members and it would only be 3 more times today. My brother told him he wasn’t comfortable with that because he has 2 small children that nap off and on during the day and he didn’t want them woken up. Understandable right? Well Jerry begins to get pushy and says, “it will be only 3 times today and it wouldn’t be a bother. My brother says again politely, “Well, I’m sorry we really aren’t comfortable with that, someone already came at 9:00 am trying to show off the cottage and we were getting dressed for the day and it was very uncomfortable.” This is when Jerry cops an attitude with my brother explaining in an arrogant manner, “that we make $6000 dollars on our memberships and this is what sells it and we’re so proud of it, I need to show this cottage off.” My brother says again, “no, it’s not going to work.” Then jerry says, “Your guests of which members?” at that point I step in and say, me I’m Kate….and my husband is Anthony….and he storms off.
I then go to the office to pay & check in for all of my guests who are staying there. He comes marching into the office saying, “I just told (can’t remember the person’s name he said) there will be no guests staying in cottage 7 ever again, only members who will let us show it off and who are those people anyway?” At that point I really was so irritated (beyond mad might be more appropriate) I couldn’t bite my tongue any longer, as politely as possible, I told him that it was my brother and my mother and the only reason they are in #7 was because your employee’s over booked the cottages and I so graciously switched cottages to obliged your mistake, not to mention that our trailer wasn’t where I was told it would be. When we got here at 8 pm last night, we had to look for our trailer in the dark. Would you like to know his response? Well everything’s ok now isn’t it, in such a manner as he could care less and his “Resort” did nothing wrong….
Now mind you this was Saturday morning and we weren’t checking out until Sunday afternoon, so, I had no choice but to bite my tongue really hard and leave the office immediately. Had nearly my entire family not have been there I would have packed up my camper and left right then and there, and would not have bit my tongue.
Yes, there are more problems, Jerry told us that our membership to Martin Lake Resort included a membership with Coast-to-Coast and that would take four (4) to six (6) weeks to process our application with them. I spoke with Coast-to-Coast on May 12th to see if MLR was still in good standing and to see if my information had been turned in by MLR for me to be set up in the Coast-to-Coast system. I found out that MLR is in good standing and that my information has not been given to them to be set up. It has been seven (7) weeks since I have signed up with MLR. Jerry, Martin Lake failed to make available the use of the reciprocal usage program in a timely manner. He broke section 5 of his contract.
If you notice I put quotation marks on the word Resort throughout this review for a reason. There are many sites occupied by old run down trailers with wooden decks in front of the trailers therefore, unable to move. To my best estimate, at least half of the 140+ camper sites are occupied by full time live in renters. This would mean that Martin Lake Resort should not be considered a resort or even a campground but rather a trailer park is a more fitting term. Had this been disclosed to me at the sales proposal, I would have chosen not to join in the first place. Jerry explained and ultimately deceived us into believing those occupants were “snow birds” that would be leaving in mid April.
Section 3 of the contract -Use Privileges, it states that Members use Martin Lake Resort for up to fourteen (14) consecutive nights and then must have a seven (7) day waiting period before Member can resume overnight camping. Once again the contract has been broken.
One more thing, in Section 1 – Purpose, the first line states that, “This membership grants a right to use campground facilities and services solely for Member’s recreation and enjoyment.” I have not enjoyed the last 2 experiences at Martin Lake Resort based on the problems I have stated.
Ok, so, at this point the Membership Agreement we signed to join Jerry’s “resort” is now void. We sent a certified letter to Jerry stating our displeasure with his so called “resort” and explanations of how he had broken our contract agreement. We requested we be released from the contract and we sent an Amendment to the agreement, which in turn he had 10 days to respond to us. As of my posting date for this review, we have never heard back from anyone at Martin Lake Resort regarding this manner. We do however have a return receipt signed by a Tara B.
My disgust in this manner is overwhelming, I really don’t understand Jerry’s position in all of this other than to make as much money as possible and he is nothing more than a mere con man. I know that there has to be other people who are unhappy with this campground.
My suggestion is to stay away! Definitely not a place worthy of visiting unless of course you are willing to be treated disrespectfully and feel like dealing with situations like these.
I will be contacting any and all campground review’s available on the Internet of my displeasure, The BBB, and Coast-to-Coast about this situation. As they become available I will have direct links posted on this site.
The BBB has 6 complaints against Martin Lake Resort…
http://ms.app.bbb.org/codbrep.html?wlcl=y&id=5001037
UPDATES:
I notified Cost-to-Coast on 7/3/08 of the situation and I am waiting their response. They were no help at all, said they spoke with Jerry and I was to call him. If nothing else Coast-to-Coast was still notified of problems I have encounered with MLR.
I filed a report with the BBB of Mississippi on 7/8/08 because I still have never heard anything from MLR. I will find out the status of my report in about 30 days. I will update the info when it becomes available. The BBB sent a letter to MLR which their response was to call them. At least there is now a negative report filed against MLR that will not come off their record.
Below are the following links to different websites I have posted review’s regarding my problems MLR.
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/may/22/22.htm
http://www.merchantcircle.com/bulletins/Martin.Lake.Resort.228-872-0362
http://www.yellowbot.com/martin-lake-resort-incorporated-biloxi-ms.html?yp_ts=1215448117
http://www.rvcampsitereviews.com/Campgrounds_RVParks/Martin_Lake_Resort_Ocean_Springs_MS/
http://www.americaonwheels.com/Mississippi/Martins_Lake_Resort_Inc
http://www.wheretostayusa.com/accommodation/15258/review.php?zoom=680
http://www.rvhelp.org/camping/martin-lake-resort-inc-biloxi-13305.htm
http://national.citysearch.com/review/6018910
37 responses so far ↓
1 Charles Weaver // Sep 19, 2008 at 11:24 am
I stopped at Martin Lake Resort in my motorhome as it was a Coast to Coast Park. I liked Biloxi area and was talked into buying a membership for $1500 plus $249 annual dues. I only stayed one winter but paid a 2nd annual dues before cancelling my membership in writing and forfeiting my $1500. This was in June 2002. Now I find that Martin Lake turned me over to Bayside Recovery (collection agency) stating I now owe $1371 in back annual dues. It appears they want me to pay annual dues forever even though I forfeited my membership fee and cancelled the membership in writing. Bayside had put this on my credit report and I am unable to get it removed as I refused to pay what they want. Martin Lake is a deceptive company and will scam anyone they can.
2 Rick Poole // Dec 3, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Hi Kate,
I get the idea that you don’t like the people at Martin Lake RV resort too much. I live in Kiln, MS and was thinking of taking a tour there this weekend but not for the reason that most people would. All I want is get acess to the swimming area. I’ll keep my reasons for wanting to do this to myself. It’s nothing harmful or illegal I assure you. What kind of cost would I be looking at to just use the swimming area? I have no intention of using any other ammenities there. Especially after all of the bad reviews I’ve seen. Your’s wasn’t the only one. I couldn’t get a straight answer from the people at Martin Lake on the phone as to how much it would cost for use of the swimming area only but it says on their website that some people use this option. Can you give me any more insight on the cost or how I should handle these people?
Sincerely,
Rick
3 Not a Happy Camper // Dec 4, 2008 at 8:22 am
I am having the same problem with MLR and they say they will be sending me to collections on Dec 5. I want to fight them and need people who will help prove their deceptive practice and forever-binding contract. Please contact me so I can put together a list of character witnesses regarding their practices. Thanks, (Ocean Springs, MS)
4 kate // Dec 4, 2008 at 9:04 am
Rick,
My suggestion to you is to stay away from this place. They have no one in mind and could care less about anything more than making money. I promise you, you will endure way more problems than is worth it just to use their pool. I have no idea how they would work that out with you, my best suggestion is DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!
5 w.e. // Mar 31, 2009 at 11:49 pm
I AGREE JERRY IS A CON MAN EVERY BAD REVIEW I’VE READ IS THE TRUTH I GREW UP IN THAT PARK BECAUSE MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED THEIR OVER HALF OF ANYONE WHO GOES THERE LIVES THERE ITS A FAMILY THING TO GET ALONG YOU HAVE TO BE A PART OF THINGS THERE FOR A VERY LONG TIME ANYONE INVOLVED FOR A WHILE DOES’NT HAVE THOSE PROBLEMS BUT WILL ADDMIT THERE IS ALOT OF CON MEN AND WOMEN
6 Anthony and Felecia // Apr 23, 2009 at 4:21 pm
My husband and I visted MLR because they sent a card in the mail saying if we visted the resort we would receive a new computer. We got scammed my husband gave the sales person $20.00 cash and wrote 2 checks for $154.00 each. The sales person said we will receive a card in the mail saying when to pick up the computer They cashed one of the checks, then a letter came in the mail, we had to pay $2,000 for the computer.I immediately stopped payment on the other check.We went back to MLR and demanded to speak to the owner. He took his own time getting there,but we waited .He came, we told the owner we could not afford a time share at this time, we talked and he reimbursed us the check for $154.00 plus the $20.00. Now after talking with this man he tore the contract up. Now I think he tore the contract up because we are black, and while we were there I did not see no other color there. Now that was over 10 yrs ago,now check this out,this is April of 2009 this month Bayside Recovery put on our credit report we owe MLR $9,328.
7 Gary // May 13, 2009 at 6:44 am
My wife and I also purchased a membership at MLR. We are charter members of the original MLR which was only a campground. Three or four years ago we received a letter to go back and discuss the new arrangements with them. We found out that this was nothing more than a scam to get us to spend more money with them to get into the new resort with full membership. They also informed us of the fact that our maintenance dues are forever and ever amen and that there is no way to get out of them without selling or dying, and I would expect them to come after the estate if that happend. In any event, we too are stuck with a resort that is not what we signed up to and we cannot see a way out of it. I find it hard to believe that they are able to continue in business. But I guess if you look at the government in the rest of the country this is mild.
8 ben // May 22, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for the heads up, I was actually going to look at this place. This stuff will catch up with the shiester soon enough. He’ll either get busted or con the wrong the guy.
9 Ali // Jun 10, 2009 at 8:45 pm
That place has always been a redneck swimming hole and a dump. Invest your money in a quality resort where you can be proud to bring your family and friends. $2.00 to swim is about all it’s worth to “belong”.
10 Dorothy // Jun 18, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I have worked with Martin Lake generating tours. Needless to say, I do not generate tours for them anymore. Questions? Email me.
11 monte` // Jul 8, 2009 at 10:06 pm
true story, back in the day early 90′s when the park first opened, it was a beautiful place to visit. there were lots of pine tree’s and it actually felt like you were getting away from all of your problems, and having a good time. a place where u can make new friends, and life long memories. Jerry Snow ruined this camp ground i know this for a fact because he was my uncle by marriage. my family “grand parents, aunt, and another uncle” were owners as well. after Jerry ruined the business and family ties, my grand parents quickly sold their shares. not only that but my aunt divorced him shortly after. i grew up on that camp ground every summer for nearly 13 years and wouldnt have traded one day for anything. some of my best memories came from their. so i feel obligated to apologize for all the crap that Jerry snow put yall through…
Jerry Snow is worthless human being that shouldnt be trusted…
kind regards
Monte` Mayeux
12 kate // Jul 9, 2009 at 7:27 am
Monte,
It makes me so sad, because that is what we invisioned for our 3 children. Now all of that is shattered because of Jerry.
I am so sorry he ruined it for you too, thank you for your comments.
Kate
13 Dusty // Jul 12, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Dusty//July12,2009 9;00 pm
We have been members of MLR for eight years,and we are tired of talking to Jerry Snow about improvements.We have had salesmen tell us that even our chrilden would have to pay for our membership if something happened to us.The skinny redhead that works for Jerry called my grandson a F—- lairer what a word for a RESORT EMPLOYEE TO USE FOR A PAYING MEMBER.When comfronted SHE said SOOOO. Jerry refuses to take care of the park or discipline his employee’s.WE ALL NEED TO CALL OUR ATTORNEY GENERALS AND LET THEM INTERVENE.Maybe as a whole group we could get something done. He has made it impossible to either sale or drop our memberships, and we don’t wont to pass this burden on to our children.
14 Michael // Jul 23, 2009 at 10:48 am
We have a long time membership at MLR. It is not worth it. I am trying to terminate the contract. Don’t join, it is a life time membership. I am moving to another country. I don’t need the membership. I still have to pay forever. I’ll be contacting a lawyer. Tie up MLR in court. Only life in prison has a life time membership you can not get out off.
All of the bad things said are true.
The trailer park is full of people who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.
Too many rules, too many cons.
The lake water is not clear and the biggest fish we caught was adout 4″.
Do you know a child died there? Yes I believe it was one Mother’s day.
If anyone knows how to get out of a life time contract, speak up.
15 kate // Jul 26, 2009 at 6:54 am
Michael,
As you can see I/we totally agree with you. If you do take MLR to court please keep me informed.
I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO HAS A PROBLEM WITH MLR TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE BBB IN MISSISSIPPI. If the BBB gets enough complaints maybe they will take action against MLR..???…or someone can use it in their defense.
Thank you for speaking up!
Kate
16 Jesse Gearhart // Aug 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm
DO NOT HAVE MAIL FORWARDED TO MLR. THE OFFICE PERSONNEL DO NOT KEEP THEIR EYE ON THE PEOPLE PICKING UP MAIL IN A COMMON AREA OF THE OFFICE. THE DIRTBAGS FROM KATRINA LIVE IN THE PARK AND WILL STEAL ANY MAIL THAT HAS MEDICATIONS IN THEM. IT HAPPED TO ME AND SEVERAL OTHER RVERS. I LOST A 3 MONTH SUPPLY OF MEDICINE ON 8/01/09.
17 KC // Aug 17, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I received an email about Coast to Coast. Glad to have found this blog before going any further. Needless to say, I am deleting the email and thankful to find out about this place.
18 Tara // Sep 10, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Kate,
I was the old office manager for martin lake. I was there when this happened and was appalled at Jerry Snows behavior. Not that this is anything new. His behavior is always appalling. Anyway, please contact me if you need any legal help against this company. I am considering both a sexual harassment and wrongful termination suit. Would be happy to help you in any way.
19 Preyear // Sep 14, 2009 at 10:53 am
Anyone with any information on legal action taken against Martin Lake Resort please contact me at fpreyear@hotmail.com.
20 Daniel Moree // Sep 16, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I am also a victim of Martin’s lake resort. Me and my wife visited the park around November of 07 and decided it would be great for the family. Our payments were not to start until Feb 08. However, at the beginning of the year we found out we were going to have another child and we decided that the park membership was not a good idea. I called and spoke with Jerry well before our first payment was even due that we didn’t want the membership. He wouldn’t let us out of the contract. We decided to go ahead and pay on the membership until it was paid off and cancel it. The payments were supposed to be direct debited from my wife’s account all this time. But I recently found out that they haven’t been taking the payments and I just got a bill in the mail for over $600 for Membership fees. From what I read on here, this place is definately a rip off. Please email me with any info on how to get rid of these crooks. Maybe if we can organize several families together to go and protest at the BBB at the same exact time, we might get their attention.
21 kate // Sep 17, 2009 at 8:33 am
Daniel,
That is horrible, and as expected Jerry won’t let anyone out of a contract that he coned them into. Unfortunately, the membership dues are “perpetual” which I don’t think anyone realizes until after the problems start. There is absolutely NO getting out of MLR as far as I can tell you. I have yet to find anyone with a solution to the problem. I just pray that anyone who goes over to MLR and interested in a membership finds my website prior to signing the contract and chooses not to join & I/we have saved someone the misery we all have had to endure. I believe in life, what comes around goes around and he will get his in due time. (not as soon as we all would like, but he will get his)
Please keep me posted, and as always I suggest everyone file a complaint with the BBB, the more complaints the better!
22 kate // Sep 17, 2009 at 8:38 am
I am sooooooo glad you found my website and saved yourself agony! You are blessed.
If you still have the email in your delete folder could you please forward it to me, or let me know what it said. I think Jerry has coast to coast coned too into believing he is legit.
Thanks,
Kate
23 Deborah // Sep 20, 2009 at 12:34 pm
How many injuries have been reported here at this lake? I was told several children have died there and there was a report of an alligator which no one at Martin’s Lake will admit to, just avoid. Can you advise?
24 Jane // Sep 21, 2009 at 1:29 pm
My husband and I have been members of MLR for almost 20 years. We moved from the area about 13 years ago and STILL pay annual dues to the “resort”. I wrote once to see how to terminate the contract, and was offer a buy-out for payment of $1,800.00. Reading the above, I don’t think that would end it. I’m afraid I’d still be turned over to a collection agency. Any thoughts!?!?!?
25 Kathy Bowman // Oct 15, 2009 at 8:56 am
I have contacted an attorney. Will keep you posted.
26 Mark E // Oct 16, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Sign me up to join a Class Action suit against MLR. Joined with the promise & understanding that Coast to Coast membership was included with MLR fees & membership. I haven’t received anything from Coast to Coast in years. Tried to cancel membership several years ago, but MLR said it would cost $800-1600 to cancel or retain a “broker” to sell my membership. I couldn’t afford that then. We transferred out of the area on military orders years ago with little prospect of returning. Chances of using MLR are minimal and I apparently don’t have Coast to Coast membership either. I’m done with MLR. I’m contacting a lawyer and the Mississippi Better Business Bureau.
27 Toni // Oct 22, 2009 at 10:54 am
Kate, thanks for taking the time to list all this. I was looking at surprising my husband with this place.
I’m thinking you not only saved me a lot of money, but a lot of headaches!
Again, thanks so much!
28 Eva // Dec 13, 2009 at 3:48 pm
A suit for reimbursement in Small Claims Court may be your best answer. He broke the contract, so it is voidable. Therefore, he needs to reimburse your money to you. (-; If that works, you can all line up and do the same. Then just send your settlement results to the credit bureau and they will remove it from your credit history.
Also, have you all looked at the Federal Trade Commission’s laws? They control contracts for sale of goods and service if I remember right. Check it out.
29 Tushanna // Feb 24, 2010 at 12:36 am
Thank You SOOO Much, Kate! You have probably just saved me untold misery. I was literally only a few mouse clicks away from signing up for the Coast to Coast “free peek inside the gates” for Martin Lake Resort in April. They are offering a “free 3 day, 2 night stay” in exchange for the 90 minute sales pitch on the Coast to Coast website. Saw MLR on the web previously, and thought it looked nice. Something just told me “too nice, do some digging”. That’s when I found your blog. I am so sorry for what you and everyone else here has been through with these shady characters! Has anyone filed complaints with RPI and Coast to Coast? I wouldn’t think C2C would continue to “sponsor” them and be affiliated if they really knew how many unhappy customers there are against MLR. Seems a shame C2C is HELPING them and farthering the PROBLEM with these “free stay” ads they are running. Always thought Coast to coast was more reputable than that! Good luck to you all in your wars against MLR!
30 Kathy // Mar 7, 2010 at 9:58 pm
If anyone has successfully taken legal action against MLR please contact me by email.
31 Ryan // Apr 8, 2010 at 8:49 am
Tushanna and all others:
I am an attorney and they have sent me the “free 3 day, 2 night stay” offer. I am going to check it out and look at the contract and see if any legal action can be taken on this.
Best of luck to all others.
32 Ryan // Apr 8, 2010 at 8:54 am
Eva:
The contract is not necessarily void if he breaches portions of it. It depends upon the materiality of the breach. Also, small claims courts are essentially courts of equity with one side arguing against the other because the judge, is many times, not an attorney.
Everyone, please feel free to email me on my personal email at canonballa@gmail.com and I will keep everyone updated on what I find out.
33 Renee // May 12, 2010 at 3:25 pm
We joined back in 95 and had a provision in the contract if we left the area our maintenance fees would never go up as we were members of the military. Well needless to say they raised our fees and then when we tried to sell the membership to them or give it back, they wouldn’t take it. We then disputed our fees as they were charging us more and they sent us to a collection agency. If a class action suit is filed, we would be interested in being active in that.
34 Ryan Canon // Jun 3, 2010 at 9:15 am
I am preparing to file suit against Martin Lake Resort on various contract, fraud, and bad faith claims. I would appreciate any witness statements from those of you who have also have fallen victim to this scam. I am attempting to prove a pattern of this behavior. Please contact me at ryan@thesharplawfirm.com if you have any information that might be helpful.
35 James & Angela // Jul 5, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Wow!….we just visited this place today! We could tell he was a con within minutes of speaking with him. We were took on a tour of the place. He overly mentioned many times of the new $125k playground which was promised years ago when other people we know bought into MLR, which was 15 yrs ago. Also many other things were promised as far as upgrades. He told us all these “big dreams” that this place was going to be. We toured the place. Also I remember someone saying in one of the long list of complaints about him showing off the cottages an so forths while still occupied. Yes he walked right up to the ppl there an told them he was showing us their cottage. I thought that was a lil rude to myself. He stated many times that he didn’t want “trashy or stupid ppl” in his “resort”. He wanted ppl like us. (whom he didn’t know from Adam) When we had first walked in he asked if the car in front was ours. We have a sporty looking nice car so I guess this fueled the con act. Think he must feed off ppl he thinks he can con the most money out of. (upside…lol..boy was he fooled…we just hard working tax payers like the rest) Anyways… he parked the golf cart an walked to his office as we viewed the rec room before heading back to his office. The rec room was so “run down” that you would think they would’ve started on it first. Okay so we are back to his “dump” of an office to sit down to talk price. To start things off he tells his whole story of how he obtained the property an how “good” of a deal he had for us. He stated he had a timeshare that was a result of a bankruptcy that was around $3k a steal! The original price of one was around $8k. He wrote everything he was telling us on a piece of notebook paper. I soon asked for broshures an an information he had that stated info. with prices an things like that. He denied my request to that stating he didn’t have any paperwork. Hello…if you are saying you run a “Resort”…hmm you would think you would have legitimate paperwork for potential buyers to read an look over. That was a red flag for me! Well anyways the meeting went on an he asked us to meet with him after lunch to potentially “buy”! May I remind you he was very pushy to sell. During the little meeting he kept going back an forth on prices saying oh you can just give me $100 now an that would be like a deposit or something towards the price of the membership. I thought that sounded a little unprofessional as well. He insisted that as soon as we paid our membership dues he would give us a week in a cottage to bring friends or family an all we had to pay was one nights stay. Anyways we left had lunch an came back. (wasn’t planning on coming back but I just had to see what he would say next…an see if he ever would come up with some kind of paperwork) Okay we back…walked in office, another lady had just walked in so he was meeting with her in the back an we were asked to wait a moment. He also told us we had “one hour” to make up our minds to buy. We walked around giving him time to meet the the lady. He comes out an tells us this lady just bought the “deal” (bankruptcy price) he had been trying to sell us this whole time. Then this is where more Con sets in. He says that since we came back an was interested that he would still honor that price to us as well. We told him we would have to think this over an get back with him. He told us we just had that day for that deal. Well we went on with our business an waited for another member of MLR to get there so we could spend a little time there an explore a bit more as guests with them. They advised us Not to sign Anything! I’m not sure if this will help in anyway but I thought it couldn’t hurt to share our experience to show how he works his magic to con ppl out of their money. I have been ripped off in the past an yes I learned some bought experiences in the process so I seen this coming. I would compare this experience to buying a car…hope this helps an also so sorry for everyone who is having to go through this…hope justice will get served. I urge all to keep posting to help get something done. There is power in Numbers!!! Good luck All
36 Judy // Jul 11, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I joined Martin Lake resort in 2005. I too joined the smaller membership for 1000.00 with added yearly fees of 259.00 I Was victim of Hurricane Katrina and was there about 1 year or less. I moved , but then called Tara and told her I was by myself and could not afford the membership fees since I would no longer be in the resort. She told me it would be taken care of, she said she would talk with Jerry and have it cancelled. I was under the impression that was done, so went about my daily business. Now 3 years later I get a call from a conyers collection agency, and nothing before this time, telling me I owe over 900.00 She was very rude . When I told her I was not employed she said “Well dont you care about your credit”?I ended hanging up on her.I spoke with her once again and asked for a copy of my contract. I was sent a very blurred copy that was not legible at ALL. I faxed them again and asked for another, no response, I did this two more times, Nothing… Then I called twice and got a voicemail both times, left a message, and no response. I then called Martin’s lake, and asked to speak with Tara who no longer works there I was told. So i Asked the other lady , Think her name Kathy, she is the head lady for daytime in the office. She would not answer any question I asked her, just kept referring me to Conyers Collection agency. I asked to speak with Jerry and every time I get the response He is not here, or not available. Has anyone else had any resolution to this same problem.
37 kate // Jul 12, 2010 at 7:31 am
Judy & everyone else,
Ryan Canon (a lawyer in MS) is now taking on MLR. I am praying he can take care of Jerry Snow so no one else gets screwed! Please feel free to continue to post comments or email him at ryan@thesharplawfirm.com
Thanks Ryan!
Kate
Leave a Comment