posted 09-03-2004 12:47               

- Royal Club International, A World of Timeless Vacations
** this company runs the Chateau Canmore timeshare units and the 'other' Banff Gate Mountain Resort & Spa, between Canmore and the Banff Park gate **
- Resort Condominiums International LLC
- RCI Canada Inc.
- Royal Club Resorts Inc.
- Andre Muran, director of Royal Club Resorts

Charges range from operating without a travel club license to misleading consumers (gasp!) and refusing to provide refunds when consumers attempted to cancel their contracts.

First provincial court appearance is in Canmore, October 13th.

I thought people might like to know about this, and maybe someone else out there knows more about it. All I know is from this one news article. I know that Royal Club International manages the two Canmore-area resorts, and they also do the usual timeshare sales thing (you've won one of FOUR FABULOUS PRIZES - just sit through our 2-hour information session to claim your prize) here in the Edmonton area and likely Calgary as well...maybe others as well.

Maybe this is better-suited to a different forum?

posted 09-03-2004 14:36              

I posted it on the Buying & Sellling board under Check This Out and someone else posted on the Exchanging Board under Consumers Beware. There is also a reply from RCI on the timesharebeat. I think it is on Street Talk International News.

posted 09-09-2004 12:42               

I have been researching the companies involved (BTW Royal Club International, Royal Club Resorts Inc., Royal Crown Resorts Inc., The Banff Gate Lodge & Spa and Chateau Canmore Resort are ALL run by Andre Muran and his staff. They are all intertwined)
The extrordinary lengths Andre Muran has gone to deceive people and take their money is phenomenal.

posted 09-13-2004 20:01               

Since there aren't any details, really, of what kind of behavior by Muran et al has resulted in the charges, could you give some examples of what problems you encountered?

I'm also curious as to how RCI (not Royal Club but Resort Condominiums) and RCI Canada are named as well - can you shed any light on that?

I've managed to avoid going to any of Royal Club's presentations in Edmonton since we're not likely to buy there and we have better things to do (for some dinky little prize, I'm sure, if anything)... I've stayed at both Chateau Canmore and Banff Gate Mtn. Lodge through exchanges and thought they were "OK", although CC is due for a facelift, but have always been less than impressed by the staff at BGML.

Anyway, any further details you can share would be appreciated!

posted 09-15-2004 01:13               

I guess I will just post point form and if anyone would like details, you can ask.

-Misrepresented Royal Club International as being RCI
-Misrepresented services
-Promised we could travel at any time as long as our payments were on time (we financed our membership) When we contacted them for the first time to book some time away we were informed that we could not use our membership until all financing was paid out in 2007
-We were told by the sales Manager that our copies of the contracts were bound in our "Members Album". Once we started having problems, I pulled it out to see what the specific terms were and, although there were copies of contracts in the album- they were blank.
-We tried contacting the sales Mgr. for two weeks. He would not return our calls and administration staff (all of them) were more than happy to give us the run around.
-It took almost 6 weeks, a written complaint to Muran cc'd to RCI before I heard from Muran who also gave me a royal run around.
-When I insisted that he deal with my complaint, he emailed me saying that someone from the accounts dept. had just brought my file to him because I had outstanding club dues (Must be company policy that whenever someone has outstanding club dues it is taken straight to Muran...) He said refused to deal with my complaint until they were paid, told me to contact 'Ana'.
-Ana could not explain why I had never been contacted about these outstanding club dues prior to that day. [Gratuitous references to Ana's age and intelligence deleted. -- mg] As I asked her about why I had not received an invoice or a phone call regarding the dues she started blurting out statements like "I only deal with Club dues and maintainance fees so I can't deal with promissory notes!" (one of the issues with Royal Club has to do with a signed promissory note- but I didn't tell Ana that, nor had I asked her to deal with it)
-Ana also blurted statements at random like "Look, I'm not lying I don't make things up!" and my favorite: "I just don't want you to think that I am like the people in the other departments! I'm not like that!"
- Ana Faxed me 2 invoices totalling $406.44 and a statement of account that was very suspiscious. This occoured on March 29. The Statement of account seemed to have been "created" on March 29. The amounts were due on March 29. The statement of account had 2 dates listed for the same invoice. It all seemed like they had invented the whole thing to make me go away. After all, what moron would agree to pay them another $400? (I did, then demanded Muran deal with my complaint)
-6 weeks later, I emailed Ana and asked her to fax me the invoices again...and she did. The dates were different, the due dates were different and the amount still showed as owing. So, without mentioning anything about it, I asked her to fax me a statement of my account. Days went by without a response. I emailed her again suggesting that maybe she had not receivd my mail. She responded saying "I don't know why you think I didn't get your email. I got your email. I have been reviewing your account. The reason that the amount is still owing is that your credit card was declined"
-My card had not been declined. There was more than enough room on the card to process that little payment. So I responded to her saying "My card was declined and nobody contacted me to obtain payment by another method?" Then I outright accused her and muran of forging invoices and representing them to me as being true and accurate. I have not heard back since.

There is more. Lots more but you get the idea.

Royal club has been charged with operating without a travel club license. Muran claims they are not a travel club but they fit the legal definition of a travel club and as the old saying goes, if it walks like a duck...
They are charged under the Fair Trading Act for misleading consumers, and a number of unfair trade practices.
They are charged because they have not only refused to refund money to consumers when they have cancelled their contracts within 7 days but when customers would call and say "We changed our minds and want to cancel" Royal Club would cheerfully say "No problem! Just return all of your paperwork and materials we gave you and then we will cut you a cheque" Ofcourse, once they receive all of the materials they just ignore the customer after that. I suspect that this is why the Gov't did not have enough evidence to go after them until I came along. Although they had many complaints, nobody could even prove they ever had a contract with Royal Club.

Royal Club is incorporated under the Societies Act. (groups organized under this act are non profit groups and clubs...like chess clubs) I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would have incorporated under that act (societies are not to operate as businesses) I think I have figured out why though. If Joe Blow paid a deposit of $900 to Royal Club, then cancelled and sent all of his evidence back to Royal Club, then the only evidence he might have to prove that there ever was a contract with Royal Club is the cancelled cheque. Not too many people will go to court over $900- but if he did, Muran could argue that the cheque for $900. was a donation to his society and it would be Joe Blow's word against Muran's. (that is just my theory, but I think it is a sound one)

I was contacted by a gentleman who found my name in the paper. He said that he signed up with Royal Club last year and still has not received a membership card. He said that Muran claimed it was because RCI was dragging it's heals but he said that someone on the staff at Royal Club told him it is because the Edmonton office has not been sending the money to RCI. (I can not confirm that, but it is what the man told me)

As for RCI Canada, I don't know what the details of that are. I can tell you that I contacted RCI shortly before the Government laid charges to let them know that 4 lawsuits had been filed against Royal Club in the last year and that Muran was making a bad name for RCI in Alberta. They have not responded.

Oh, I think I have rambled on long enough now.
I hope that information is helpful!

posted 10-05-2004 21:53            

Bev