The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) irresponsibly launched a bogus product, a vacation club called Leading Residences of the World (LRW) in July 2005, which became fully operational at the end of 2005.

http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_3rd/July05_LRWBrand.html

LHW marketed and sold LRW to LHW patrons at a cost of $325,000 on the strength of their brand and now, not even a year into full operations, they are changing entirely the procedures and systems of LRW AND merging it with an entirely different club, Quintess. LRW offered unlimited usage of one-week periods and an insurance policy for the bulk of the investment, while Quintess only offers 30 days and no insurance policy. LRW was also marketed as a more international club in terms of future properties because of the LHW brand while Quintess is decidedly US-centric. LHW and LRW have now left members in a lurch, pushing them into the new merged club and not providing any satisfactory exit options for those who do not wish to do so. Members deserve to get 100% of their money back if they do not wish to join Quintess, because Quintess is not the club they joined and LRW is changing itself over within only a few months of operation and taking members' money. Most of the 40 or so members have joined the LRW club for
 only a few months and they are now being told that if they do not move into the new (and very different) club, they will lose 20% of their $325,000 investment in the refund -- although they are neither resigning voluntarily from the LRW club they joined, and in spite of the fact that LRW has been in full operation for only about eight months and is now changing itself over completely.

Well-known hotel chains should not be allowed to market and sell such products so irresponsibly. It is unthinkable that such an expensive and high-profile product launched very publicly by such a reportedly reputable company will have floundered within months of operation and refuse to refund members for the entirety of their six-figure investment. In addition, once the merger plans were informed to members, the senior managers of LRW have literally disappeared, and calls and emails to them have remained unanswered for weeks. Instead, members are being passed back and forth between personnel at LHW and personnel at Quintess, with inaccurate and inadequate information about what is happening and what can be done for LRW members.
Received on Thu Sep 21 4:37:28 2006