Silent Valley is a BS SCAM! When you sign up with them for a membership, they MAKE you pay and be a member FOR ALL OF YOUR LIFE! You have to pay the yearly membership fee FOREVER. How in the world is it that no law has been put into effect for scams like this? And they say that they are NOT a TimeShare, but a MEMBERSHIP. If I decide not to be a member of my gym anymore, I just don't pay my yearly dues. If you decide you don't want to be a member of Silent Valley in Banning, CA, they will try to take you to court and get money anyway!
We found an ad on Craigslist for someone selling their membership to Silent Valley WITH A 29ft. 1984 Trailer, for $250. Yes, that right there should've put up red flags. I was just intrigued. I called the man and talked to him and he (a lawyer of all things!) did NOT tell about the membership scam (and yes, it IS a scam even if the law hasn't stopped them yet, it is dishonest and a big SCAM!) and so we decided to go up and meet them and check out the place.
Went up there and toured the place and checked out the trailer and decided that we'd at least take the membership until it had run out and then we'd take the trailer and just quit. We went into the admin office and filled out the paperwork and gave them a check for $250 (another SCAM!) for a credit check and a background check. The man 'giving' us his membership was going to have to pay $745 to transfer the 'scam membership' to us! That was weird, but I thought, "Well, another reason for us not to transfer, but to just quit and not pay after the membership is up." Not knowing that the membership is never up!
So, we get all that done (it was a Saturday, thank goodness!) and we said goodbye and decided we were going up to Idyllwild to play around and eat and check it out. While we were eating in a restaurant up there with our kids, and had all the paperwork with all the things to do in Silent Valley, someone at the next table heard us say the words "Silent Valley". They both came to us and immediately asked us if we'd signed up and were members, and we said, "No, we just toured the place and put in for our background and credit check." They told us not to do it, they'd been members for years and had tried to back out and that Silent Valley threatened to take them to court and all of this kind of stuff. They were harassed by creditors and calls and then, when they were talking to us, another couple walked by and heard what was going on and they to had been members and told us not to. A THIRD group was walking by and heard all of this and had also been scammed by this place and tried to get out and had all kinds of problems!
Now I don't know about you, but being in a place where we knew nobody, and had 3 random groups come up and tell us NOT TO GET INTO THE SCAM OF SILENT VALLEY, well, that freaked us out! We went home and got onto the computer and yup! Problems, harassment, scare tactics, you name it and they are shown to do it. So, I got online with my bank and put a stop on the check, and then next morning, I called the people who we had been going to get the membership from and told them we were backing out. They asked why and I told them it's a scam. They tried to tell me it isn't 'really' a scam, but honestly, it is.
The definition of scam in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:
a fraudulent or DECEPTIVE act or operation.
They are deceptive, because no one tells you the real deal and you hand them over a check for $250 to run a credit and background check on you (thank goodness we didn't give them a credit card number or cash!!) Holy shnikees! If you hear the words "Silent Valley" run for a KOA campground! There is one down the mountain, and you can camp there for a fee per night with all the hookups, but no scams. Then just drive up the mountain to enjoy all of the area without getting reamed in the end.
Yes, Silent Valley is a pretty place, and seems to offer a nice way to camp. But remember the movie "Stepford Wives"? It's all creepy and behind the prettiness up there is a money making scam that makes you cringe. RUN WAY!!! DON'T DO IT!!
We called the Silent Valley the next day and left a Voice Mail for the lady we filled out paperwork with and left our check with telling her we were backing out and we'd put a stop on the check. Then I talked to a a lady in admin who was very rude and told me that the check was non-refundable (there was nothing in writing that said this and I have 72 hours by law to back out anyway, and no one said this to us), and I just told her the check was stopped, it wouldn't be cashed and not to bother running the background check because we were onto their scam.
We'll see how that goes. Very interesting. I'll remember to re put the hold on that check every year at this time. Or maybe I'll just close that account and let it be done. Yeah, I think that's the safest route so it will be dead. Good luck people! read more