Comments on: Martin Lake Resort – Ocean Springs, MS

By: kate

kate — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:31:47 +0000

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

By: Judy

Judy — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:34:41 +0000

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.

By: James & Angela

James & Angela — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:14:20 +0000

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

By: Ryan Canon

Ryan Canon — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:15:25 +0000

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.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:25:34 +0000

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.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:54:10 +0000

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.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:49:38 +0000

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.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:58:59 +0000

If anyone has successfully taken legal action against MLR please contact me by email.

By: Tushanna

Tushanna — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:36:30 +0000

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!

By: Eva

Eva — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:48:59 +0000

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.

By: Toni

Toni — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:54:04 +0000

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!

By: Mark E

Mark E — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:55:31 +0000

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.

By: Kathy Bowman

Kathy Bowman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:56:50 +0000

I have contacted an attorney. Will keep you posted.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:29:59 +0000

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!?!?!?

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:34:32 +0000

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?