Hi,

Just came back from 10 days at Sapphire... We never received our bill for maintenance or SA.. Towards the end of our trip, we got two bills, one for maintenance and one for SA quietly slipped under our door.. When I tell you that flames were shooting out of my ears I am not kidding.. I marched right down to the office - which by the way if you have ever been there you could understand why records of maintenance fees getting lost happens so frequently - it was a mess -

They told me I had to speak to the manager, which I did promptly.. I told him - (don't remember the name, but he is short, has blond frosted hair and wears high heel cowboy boots) I refused to pay anything additional to our yearly maintenance fee/ I told him I refused to pay the special assessment and any additional extortion fees..I told him that I wanted a breakdown line per line where the dollars would be used for the special assessment.. He told me that perhaps then next year, they wouldn't allow me to come back to the hotel.. I had to use all of my patience not to reach across the desk and strangle him.. My daughter was with me, so I restrained myself.

Finally, I was able to speak to someone else a few days later and get them to remove the late charges for the maintenance fee (which has gone up nearly $100 since last year) - so I paid it.. She said she would call the collection agency and have them remove that delinquency.. But she told me she couldn't do anything about the special assessment.. I did not pay it, but I don't want to get harassed by a collection agency either.. At this point, I'd like to just sell our unit and be done with Sapphire.. The whole thing seems like a scam.. In the 10 years that we've been there, our maintenance fees never seem to maintain anything, yet the fees keep on rising.. SO why should I pay to upgrade a unit that has fallen into disrepair? Our contract doesn't state anything about having to pay to remodel.. I feel like we have been scammed.

I HAVE RECIEVED PHONE CALLS AND LETTERS.. FROM A COLLECTION AGENCY RE SBC... I HAVE CALLED AND EMAILED AND THE CALLS AND LETTERS KEEP COMING CAN ANY ONE HELP ME I AM A VIETNAM ERA VETERAN WITH AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE. CAPTAIN US ARMY SIG C & MI 10 SEP 1971 TO 10 JUNE 1977.. I NEED THIS TO STOP IT IS UPSETING ME AND MY CAREGIVER... AGNES M BRESNAHAN I WRITE IN CAPS BECAUSE THE NERVE DAMAGE EFFECTS MY ARMS AND HANDS AND IT IS EASIER FOR ME....

Agnes....I've called the Collection agency and requested a breakdown of the fees they are trying to collect. I also sent a certified, return receipt letter requesting the same thing. To date, I haven't heard anything from them or Sapphire regarding this matter and it has been well over a month now.
I told them that I am part of the litigation group and it is illegal for them to request the Supplemental Fees (per the SXM court) until the matter has been resolved in the SXM courts.
Your Maintenance Fees are still due. Don't let this matter upset you. Sapphire does this sort of thing. They are the worst management I've ever dealt with. Let me know if I can be of further assistance to you. I can give you their mailing address, etc.

-Gloria

A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a 'true' friend will be sitting next to you saying...'damn that was fun'!

In january,february,march... and august..we have send mails, letter, we have phone messages to the saphire beach club( we speek french and it is difficult for we because no body speek french when we phone)and today maintenances fees 2008 are not paied and we have no reponse.( we have send 3 N° carte visa°We have always paied with visa carte before with no problems). Can you help-me and send reponse in french if it is possible.

I, too, have been receiving abusive, harassing calls since July from the collection agency, Meridian Financial Services. I've sent three letters to them, certified/return receipt, instructing them not to telephone me, to only communicate with me in writing, and requesting a breakdown of the "delinquency charges". Pam from Meridian continues to call (she denies getting my letters, for which I have the signed receipts). I've never received a breakdown of charges.

I paid my 2008 maintenance fee by credit card in a fax directly to SBC in July, which they told me they received, but have not to date charged my card.

In my last letter to Meridian (which they received Sept. 19), I included a check for the maintenance fee plus $50 for the late fee, as "payment in full". I cancelled my credit card so that I couldn't be charged the same payment twice! I stated that I was reserving payment of the assessment until the current litigation is resolved (I am not in the litigation group--found out about it too late).

I've filed a complaint against Meridian with the North Carolina Attorney General's Office for their verbal abuse and continuing telephone calls.

We'll have to see if any of this does any good.

Does anyone know anything about Robert Paisola at www.mycollector.com? He supposedly investigates fraudulent timeshares and illegal collection agency practices. If he's legitimate, maybe we should contact him.

I don't know anything about the issues with Sapphire, but I just wanted to let you know that writing "payment in full" on your check accomplishes nothing. I'm a retired banker who spent 30 years in the credit administration function of my bank, and I know that placing such a notation on your check does nothing to extinguish the collectibility of a valid debt...here in the US. Not sure how it would impact anything in St. Maarten, but it doesn't work here.

Is there anyone out there that has requested a copy of the candidates bios for election on Sept. 26th. I did receive a copy and have no idea if these candidates are all for real. Some do mention where they live, but there is no way to contact anyone for their views and concerns about the Resort. Does anyone know any of the candidates.

It now seems that we were getting calls from Meridian because we did not pay our maintance fee's. We thought it was the special assessment. The people that call at Meridian are very rude and talk to you like a criminal they also charge 25% for collections. It also seems like our weekly maintance fees went way up. Any advise... They seem completely unreasonable to talk to when we explained we never got a bill from Sapphire for our maintance fee. They just didn't care!!!

I e-mailed Sapphire, and called regarding this collection agency. I also, never received any billings for the maintenance fees, nor the 06 assessment. Yet the sales office calls me and sends solicitations to my correct address. The accounting office has acknowledged they mailed all statements to the wrong address, and that Meridian refuses to remove us from collections,even though they received a letter from SBC requesting removal.
Meridian's pursuit to damage my credit after being told to remove me from their account will be considered harassment, and slander.

Kevin

I suggest filing complaints with the FTC (phone # on their website) and the North Carolina Attorney General's office: [www.ncdoj.com].

I've filed these complaints, and have received letter from the NC Attorney General's office that they have contacted Meridian for their response.

You can also write to Meridian instructing them not to call you (this is your legal right). Send the letter certified/return receipt.

Dear Bloggers,

I've booked the Saphire Beach Club for my daughters honeymoon April 18th 2009. I just found this blog, I guess I should have looked earlier. 1) Are there better rooms (updated) that I should be requesting? She has a studio. 2) Any information about beaches, nightlife, resturants, saftey issues, money issues, sightseeing etc..would be helpful. Thnaks in advance for your responses.
Ralph Deldon

There are many restaurants and beaches in her area but she should make sure she rents a car. Up the road back toward the airport she will find a plethera of restaurants and activities. There are 2 major casinos along that route. Mullet Beach which is a very popular beach is near there are well (between the Atlantis Casino and Maho).

Heading in the opposite direction she can go to the French side where there are also more beaches to visit and a different lifestyle. Marigot is in that direction as well as Grand Case, Friars Beach, Baie Rouge Beach, and a popular beach called Orient.

Because your question is so general, maybe pinpointing each question as a new topic would help others to answer you better, especially since this thread is too long to begin with.

[www.vrbo.com]

Life is not a child's game of follow the Leader. Instead, life is more about finding one's own purpose in life....your life's plan, and then making a positive difference on earth.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2008 10:14AM by John.

Thanks John,

1) Best Bar/with view (walking distance)
2) Best Bar period (walking distance)
3) Best place to view sunset
4) Best beach within 1-5 miles/or on bus line

Unfortunately, we don't drink so we don't go looking for the first 2 but there is a pool bar right on premises. If they walk down the path to the water they should get really great views of the sunset. But if they want to really get a great view, they should hop in the car and head back to the airport because right behind the airport closest to the Caribbean are 2 wonderful bars to view breathtaking sunsets.

I would recommend they try to upgrade to a Caribbean view room. I am not sure if the studios face the water but the chances are they may not. It is well worth the money to upgrade and have a gorgeous view every night at sunset.

They way you are describing things, they may not rent a car? I would advise they do because they will miss out on lots of things. The island as a whole has so much to offer that not seeing it would be a big disappointment. This island is not like the others where the hotels line the beaches. It is totally different. The hotels are usually by themselves and the beaches are not always "there" depending on the tides and the conditions of the water, especially the Sapphire.

The Sapphire is in a slightly isolated area so at night they would have problems walking anywhere. People have walked from the Sapphire to the Atlantis Casino complex where there are great restaurants BUT I am not going to be the one to say that it's safe at night.

There is a beach just before they reach the Sapphire (between Maho and Cupecoy) called Mullet Beach that is close by (about a 10 minute walk) and it really is quite beautiful. They would really enjoy that one. Cupecoy has a beach but it comes and goes so every day is a different story. I would not depend on that beach to be there when I wanted it.

Hope this helps.

[www.vrbo.com]

Life is not a child's game of follow the Leader. Instead, life is more about finding one's own purpose in life....your life's plan, and then making a positive difference on earth.

Well, they've done it. They have stepped on my credit. I've paid in full, however, they have reported to the credit agencies. Now I cannot get financing for anything.
This is happening to a lot of people. If this has happened to you. We must join together to scream to Windham. They have put their name on our resort, they must answer for their actions. I will initiate communications, but I need involvement from any of you who have struggled with the same problems I have.

1. I never receive my maintenance invoices in the mail on time. I get second notices, months later with late fees.
2. I never received an assessment bill in the mail. Since I have not been to the island in 4 years, I never found out about it until Meridian sent me a collection letter for a large sum, that they would not break down or explain. I had to call Sapphire to find out what the billing was for.
3. Sapphire sales office calls us directly this last year to sell us another week, however, no one from the accounting office bothers to phone to ask about monies due.
4. We issued an address change letter and phoned many times to insure we would receive our invoices on time, however, our address on all invoices still have an old address from years ago.

I will blob again, as I gain ground on this dilemma.
Please feel free to e-mail me if you've experienced similar problems.

thank you,
Kevin M.
ezmokmm@aol.com