Anybody Heard of Timeshares United?

Anyone have an opinion on this company?

They contacted me recently by phone about listing my Sheraton Vistana Resort week for sale through them... for a $499 fee, of course. Such phone calls are usually cut short when they use the f word (fee) but this lady was prepared.

Having been burned by resale scams before, I'm now a harder sell when they ask for money up front. She proceeded to give me their company background and bio's along with their ongoing effort to help clean up a tarnished industry. They donate 5% of gross profits to charity. The company's founder volunteer coaches a lacrosse team in Tampa, etc...

She gave me her phone extension number, their website address (www.timesharesunited.com) and invited me to do some further research on my own. They seem to have nothing to hide.

I've found only one negative hit toward them via BBB Orlando, which is surprising for that type of business. But they are relatively new, having started in August, 2005. The caller was careful not to guarantee success with the sale, citing government regulations, but did guarantee my satisfaction with their company, money back. I have visited their web site and find nothing to cause alarm...so far.

Anybody been there, done that, got the t-shirt?

Again - NEVER EVER pay an upfront fee to any company to sell your timeshare. If they are a legitimate business they will take the fee AFTER the sale, not BEFORE.

The upfront fee companies take your money and put your timeshare on a list, that's all they do, they don't market it. You can do the same thing here at Redweek where there's a lot of internet traffic, or other listing sites, and save yourself a bundle of money.

The upfront fee salespeople are very good at what they do - persuading a desperate seller to list with them, much like a developer salesperson - they are very convincing. They will also tell you that your week is worth much more than it actually is. I honestly don't see how these people sleep at night.

Ask this nice lady if she will take the fee after the sale and see what she says.

jayjay wrote:

Again - NEVER EVER pay an upfront fee to any company to sell your timeshare. If they are a legitimate business they will take the fee AFTER the sale, not BEFORE.

The upfront fee companies take your money and put your timeshare on a list, that's all they do, they don't market it. You can do the same thing here at Redweek where there's a lot of internet traffic, or other listing sites, and save yourself a bundle of money.

The upfront fee salespeople are very good at what they do - persuading a desperate seller to list with them, much like a developer salesperson - they are very convincing. They will also tell you that your week is worth much more than it actually is. I honestly don't see how these people sleep at night.

Ask this nice lady if she will take the fee after the sale and see what she says.

My guess is the niceness would soon disappear. I have no intention of listing with them, But their methods were different enough to separate them from the pack of would-be scam artists that call me monthly. I still might e-mail her for mere entertainment purposes... Since I once fell for the listing scam, paying hundreds of dollars to Vacations R Us Online for their "market analysis" and phony offers to buy our week, I would have to be hard pressed to fall for that scam again.

I'm thinking about listing it for rent on redweek to cover the maintenance expenses, at least. I might've messed up this year since I own week 5...