I own 1 week in late Oct-early Nov of beachfront timeshare property in
Broward County, south Florida. My annual maintennce fee of $427, due
by Jan 1, was, and has always been, paid in full, on time. After the
last hurricane Wilma in mid-Oct , I became anxious about damage and
the status of my impending vacation. I began calling every phone
number I had for the resort, including the 1-800 #, the after-hours
emergency #, and the off-premises management group. I called at all
times of day for several days. For some #s  the phone would just keep
ringing. For another I would hear the message "All circuits are busy.
Please check the # and try again later."  I never did get through.
Finally, 48 hours before my family and I were due to board a plane,
the management group called me and said "Don't come." She said that
although the resort received no damage, the whole area was affected by
a power loss, they have to boil water, obey a curfew, few restaurants
were open and fewer gas stations. I asked if I would be compensated
for them cancelling my vacation. She said No. I asked if I could
receive a different week, any week. She said No. Now, I understand
that a hurricane is not their fault but it seems to me that it would
be good business sense for them to offer me another week in my
paid-for unit. For the 7 years I've owned this I have only seen 100%
occupancy once (it's a very small motel-like resort with only 13 units
so I would notice this). To add insult to injury, this week I received
2 pieces of correspondence from them: the 1st was to notify me of a
substantial hike in the 2006 maintenace fee, from $427 to either $460
or $625 dependent on an upcoming Board of Directors meeting, and the
2nd was a request to let them know now of my 2006 intentions to: a)
use my 2006 week, b) exchange it (via RCI exchange company), c) allow
a guest to use my week, or d) agree to pay the resort a 25% fee to
rent out my unit. No apology or even acknowledgement that a potential
of 13 families lost out on their vacations. I'm frustrated and feeling
ripped off and it doesn't sit well with me to just say "Oh well,
better luck next year" and accept this without a fight. So, my Google
question is "What would you do?" (Is "Business and Money" the
appropriate category for my question or should I have selected "Sports
and Recreation/Travel?")

What type of timeshare do you have?
http://homebuying.about.com/cs/timesharebasics/a/ownership.htm
http://homebuying.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=homebuying&zu=http://www.tug2.net/

In response to "smelt-ga" who asked what type of timeshare I have, I'm
not sure what you mean. I own a fixed week, week 44, which begins on
the 44th Saturday of every year, which falls somewhere between
Halloween week and the early part of November. It is a 1 bedroom,
ground floor, oceanfront unit with maximum capacity of 4 (sleepsofa in
livingroom). The resort is affiliated with RCI (Resort Condominiums
International)as #0849. Did that answer your question??

The first link talks about different types of time-share. Yours seems
to be the type described below.   I believe this would mean that you
own the unit for a fixed week each year that can?t be altered.

http://homebuying.about.com/cs/timesharebasics/a/ownership.htm

?Fixed Unit, Fixed Week, Deeded Time-Share
You receive a deed that states you own a specific time-share at a
specific time each year.?

Is this the type you have?

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You may want to try contacting the Department of Business and
Professional Regulation Division of Florida to see if there are any
regulations concerning the amount of notice you were given concerning
your cancellation.

http://www.myflorida.com/dbpr/lsc/division/divcontact.shtml

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Check your agreement for any mention of cancellation by the property
managers.  What are the specific rules governing cancellation?

Contact the company again.  You might be able to speak with someone
more sympathetic.

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Is this the place?
http://www.pyramidresorts.com/index.html
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I'm not a google researcher.  Perhaps one of them will provide
additional info.   Good luck with your situation.

to smelt-ga: Thank you for your helpful comments and links. I will
look into all of them.