Although I have ideas on this owners website and like many am understandably concerned by these issues, I am not in a position to put myself forward for election to the Committee but I will continue to review and make suggestions if that’s OK.

I too would be interested to hear the answers to the queries raised by tifkat. The comment made by Peter Allen of ”May I remind you that the Club has no responsibility to sell weeks for owners but attempts to help as it is in its interest to secure income. There are many private sites that can be used by owners” concerns me considerably. Is this WHY we’re unable to sell our properties as we’re a cash cow for HoL and no real effort is being made to help us? If owners do venture to other agencies to sell their properties for them (which can be fraught with issues / scams); do HoL still take their 20%? Also, if there are recommended sites, can we pleased be advised to enable those who are keen to sell their properties can act accordingly please.

There seems such apathy regarding assisting Owners, the Management Fees are hiked without due consideration of all the membership (and let’s not forgot the 20% rise due to the VAT element being added) and I also notice looking at Langdale’s website, their management fees seem to be considerably less than those of Underscar.

I too would be interested to hear the answers to the queries raised by tifkat. The comment made by Peter Allen of ”May I remind you that the Club has no responsibility to sell weeks for owners but attempts to help as it is in its interest to secure income. There are many private sites that can be used by owners” does raise a couple of questions us? If owners do venture to other agencies to sell their properties for them (which can be fraught with issues / scams); do HoL still take their 20%? Also, if there are recommended sites, can we pleased be advised to enable those who are keen to sell their properties can act accordingly please.

There seems such apathy regarding assisting Owners, the Management Fees are hiked without due consideration of all the membership (and let’s not forgot the 20% rise due to the VAT element being added) and I also notice looking at Langdale’s website, their management fees seem to be considerably less than those of Underscar.

Before the comment is made, yes we know the Board are volunteers, we also know you have other jobs / families / commitments etc. However, you are elected members appointed to represent the Owners and whilst we fully appreciate the work you do, we’d like help and support in dealing with the numerous queries being made via this message board.

What does ’above average’ mean in this context? How many sales enquiries would Creation expect per 1000 views of the site, and what is their expertise in Timeshare resale to say what is good and bad? I am concerned that the Board is not taking a proactive approach to the resale (and rental) issues, saying they are only there to attempt to help. I’m not convinced that this is enough. I’d also be interested in what ’too expensive’ means for a proper web site, from a Board that has hiked management fees without the consultation they promised in their own meeting (see Jan 2017 Board minutes regarding fully costed report before increasing fees)

Sorry for the delay in replying. I have been talking with our web site management company, Creation, and with Heart of the Lakes/Fisherbeck Management, both of whom are involved in our sales promotion. The people who are looking to purchase a timeshare will be accessing our general website and will not be entering the Owner’s Area. The latter does not give much detail about Underscar as those reading it are already owners. The general website has excellent information. It has top line headings of ’Welcome’ (about Underscar, Ownership, calendar and site map), Cottages (descriptions with photos, for sale listings and enquiry form), Facilities ( Bistro, Oxley’s spa, concierge service) Rentals(availability , enquiry form) Things to do around Underscar and Contact us. The person looking at the site can download an excellent brochure about Underscar. Creation advise me that an above average %age of hits on our site make an enquiry re purchase. Enquiries are passed to Heart of the Lakes/FML for follow up and completion. The success record at this stage is not what we would hope for. There are a variety of reasons for this which we are addressing. We have looked at Langdale’s web site and spoken to them. It is expensive to set up and maintain. May I remind you that the Club has no responsibility to sell weeks for owners but attempts to help as it is in its interest to secure income. There are many private sites that can be used by owners.
Mark, the Board would be delighted if Anne put herself forward for election. Nominations will be called for soon. Perhaps you, too, are willing to put your skills to work for the Club. Best wishes to you all. Peter Allen, current Chairman.

This is all a pile of ’pony’ (rhyming slang work it out). I say Annie Simpson for Chairman or whatever our leaders call themselves!! They appear to be doing nothing to help the many owners either wishing to sell, rent or basically concerned with the spiraling annual costs.

There seems to some great ideas being put forward in the interests of improving and helping but being ignored or pushed back. We’re obviously a bunch of idiots in the Committee’s mind and failures in business… lol.

Annie could you email me at [email protected] please

Could Peter please advise if these concerns are being fed back to the web design team as a matter of urgency?
Also please could we have some feedback re not compromising sales and rentals by forwarding potential clients on to other properties elsewhere in the Lakes so long as Underscar lodges remain unsold and unrented?
Many thanks.

I have raised a number of issues about the internet presence of Underscar, including an offer to help the rental side, to be told that it was under review and help wasn’t wanted. Completel agree that the development is not ranking highly enough and the layout is poor

Goodness, I have just reviewed a couple of timeshare websites (Langdales and Lakeland village) and their clarity and ease of use appears incomparable to Underscar.
So the uncomfortable question now remains how can we compete with others and how can this current website meet our growing ( and urgent ) needs?

There is no doubt a problem here where sales and rentals are concerned, both in terms of profile and a simple means of accessing information about Underscar via the internet.
I thought that the new website was supposed to have addressed this?

Those unfamiliar with Underscar need to know as a basic starting point that Underscar is a 5 star development with glorious aspect sitting a mile from the convenience of Keswick, is at the base of Skiddaw with spa facilities pool and bistro on site.

Thereafter the website should be sufficiently user friendly to provide
1. A clear pictorial overview of the development showing the basic layout of the development, the name of the lodges, their relative position and aspect in relation to gardens/ lake/mountains/spa, so that potential renters/purchasers can at the very least comprehend from this pictorial overview where each lodge sits within the development.
2. The website should also provide an easy means of assessing dates associated with weeks for a particular year.
3. The website could provide an easy means of thereafter comparing a basic list of available properties with this pictorial overview and as a top down approach allow the ”user” to look into the detail of each lodge in terms of number of bedrooms and people it accommodates. Perhaps a coloured representation depicting 1bed, 2bed, 3bed could be accommodated on the pictorial overview to speed up the ease of assessing this detail, all in the one place?
3. The ”user” should then have a simple means of linking to each lodge from that coloured pictorial layout to
a) see the views front and rear from the specific lodge and be able to read the more comprehensive detail associated with each lodge.
3). Users could then be provided with the pricing of rentals or sales via relevant links to either an expansive list of all lodge prices or specific pricing detail associated with a particular lodge ( or week ).

But all of this needs to be kept as user friendly as possible to ease their journey through the website. Being directed/ requested to phone or fill in forms too early in this ”educative process” is sadly off-putting.

IMHO to direct ”users” under the assumption that they have prior knowledge of the development layout is wrong, plus to provide too much early complex detail will put off the user of the website from continuing to use it.

The complex detail of each lodge could be provided at a later stage in their usage, but most users will want to gain a swift appreciation of the development of Underscar, its lodges, their aspect and views and pricing structure.

Which brings us back to the sensitive question of realistic management fees, the relative value they provide, the aspect re containing rentals and sales to Underscar alone rather than direct users to other developments or properties elsewhere in the Lakes ( until such time as sales and rentals significantly improve) and the flexibility to attain other 5* exchange options and ease of swap facility where required.

To price ourselves out of the market in that process appears a downward spiral so surely we all need to listen to one another’s views and assess a viable realistic forward strategy to realistically address these uncomfortable realities asap?

All of the above appears relevant to the economic well-being and viability of the Underscar development.