Despite having the official liquidation of Indies Suites Ltd. stayed pending appeal, club members say they are resolute in their will to fight for a fair resolution to the matter through the courts.
Rod Broome, who has helped organise the club members and who, along with his wife, filed the petition to liquidate Indies Suites Ltd., said the group is determined to see the matter through.
‘We have quite a war chest now, having paid all our legal bills,’ he said.
Mr. Broome said his group now has 180 club members, one third of the estimated 540 who purchased a week or more at the now-sold timeshare property.
More people are joining the effort every week, Mr. Broome said.
The Indies Suites was severely damaged during Hurricane Ivan.
Although the company initially indicated the property would be rebuilt, it was sold last December to St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine.
Club members were only informed in May of the sale, when news of the purchase of the property by St. Matthew’s was about to be released.
It was later revealed that Indies Suites was underinsured by about 50 per cent.
The deception concerning the sale of the property has left many club members very angry.
Club member Melissa West from Minnesota is particularly upset with Ronnie Foster, one of the shareholders of the company that owned Indies Suites Ltd.
‘Mr. Foster has turned what was a wonderful time and great memories into my worst nightmare,’ she said. ‘It is the outright lying that was done and intentionally avoiding contact with members that is the worst. I just can’t believe that people can live with themselves when they are so dishonest.’
Many club members say they will never return to Grand Cayman unless the court action is resolved satisfactorily.
Club member Bob Reynolds took his family vacation in St. Croix this year.
‘We love Cayman, but the bad taste this event left prompted us to look elsewhere for the time being,’ he said. ‘We are planning to buy another timeshare, and would prefer Grand Cayman, but will not do so unless the court action produces a settlement favourable to the owners.’
Mr. Reynolds said most Indies Suites club members feel strongly about the matter because they feel ‘robbed of our home away from home’.
Only a small percentage of club members came to Cayman this year for their holiday. Most went to other places in the Caribbean or Central America.
‘We spent our summer vacation in Bonaire,’ said club member Craig Wood. ‘The diving was fantastic, we felt unthreatened – even appreciated – by the local population, and the cost was a fraction of the outrageous costs of food and dining on Grand Cayman.’
Mr. Wood estimated his family normally spent $4,000 a week during visits to Grand Cayman. He said the outcome of the court action would probably determine if he would ever come back here.
‘Without a fair settlement, it is extremely unlikely my family would ever return to Grand Cayman, though we may visit Little Cayman and/or Cayman Brac.’
Mr. Wood said he would not support an island or government that allowed investors to be taken advantage of.
Mr. Wood’s sentiments were echoed by many other club members, some of whom also blame the Cayman Islands Government for not having more control over timeshare properties.
‘All of us felt we had protection for our investments based on the contracts,’ club member Gerald Tatera said. ‘If the legal system of Cayman does not hold (Indies Suites) accountable, we would not purchase another timeshare in Cayman, and we would be very verbal in our message to others considering timeshare purchases.’
With many club members saying they would not even return to vacation here unless they received a fair settlement, Cayman stands to lose a lot of tourist spending, conservatively estimated by one club member to be $1.5 million per year.
Many club members reported spending more than $3,000 per week during their vacations here on groceries, dining out, watersports, souvenirs, jewellery, car rentals and hotel taxes. They appear to be willing to take that spending to other Caribbean destinations.
Club member Marc Weiss of Ohio said he went to Turks and Caicos this year.
‘We plan to return to Turk & Caicos, instead of Grand Cayman, on future vacation trips,’ he said.
‘As someone who used to recommend Grand Cayman to all my friends, I would be the first person to return to the island if this is fairly settled,’ Mr. Weiss said. ‘But if not, I will not spend another of my vacations… in the Caymans and will tell everyone I get a chance to do the same and the reasons why.’
There was a sense of betrayal expressed by club members like Mary Horn, who came and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in May.
‘Even after Ivan, knowing the island was suffering and Indies Suites was not operational, we felt loyalty to the island and were willing to spend vacation weeks at other hotels on the island until Indies was reopened for business,’ she said.
‘Now, since learning the truth about Ron Foster and of our timeshare being forever gone, we are planning our trips elsewhere until we see how the government handles this… situation.’
Though angry, not every club member intends to shun Cayman.
‘My wife and I continued and will continue to vacation on Grand Cayman,’ said Gordon Walker of Minnesota, who said they stayed with friends in West Bay this year.
‘The value of the friendships and relationships we have established far exceeds the inconvenience of having to find another place to stay.
Mr. Walker, however, expressed a concern about the rising crime levels on Grand Cayman, something a surprising number of other club members mentioned as well, including Richard Thwaites of England.
‘We will continue to come to Cayman until we decide that the crime and violence that seems to be increasing becomes too much,’ he said. ‘The Indies situation alone won’t stop us because we have also made friends on the island.’
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