I worked at a timeshare SCAM....I want to tell you about it.

Your in the wrong business dude! These people start by telling you that they have a buyer for your ts. This is BS.then they tell you that you can get your money back after 120 days if they dont sell your ts. Thats BS. Now they dont want to talk about it! Thats BS. Whats right about bilking a handicapped, retired man who is far from rich out of his money? If you can tell me a way to get any part of my money back please email me at luvrus99@verizon.net!!!

jimc273 wrote:

If someone wants to buy advertising from me and I sell it to them, how is that a scam? How are you going to sell something without advertising it? I get where you are coming from. I talk to owners every day, I have for six years. I know all the stories. But, you can't just sit there and tell me I am scamming people with no knowledge of how I operate my business or who I am. I am not going to sit here and play forum tennis with you. If anyone wants to take advantage of my knowledge and expertise, you do not have to do business with me but you can feel free to call me. I promise I wont sell you anything LOL. I will shoot you straight, I will tell you that not every timeshare sells, and I will tell you what to avoid and what works best. Jim Casey

Pure BS .... talk all the dribble you wish but it will simply be ignored .... sorry your business is drying up due to the fact that the word is getting out about scammers like you ... ALL upfront fee resale companies that charge hundreds/thousands upfront are SCAMS, period .... and all the lies you tell ..... I really don't see how you sleep at night.

larryw242 wrote:

Your in the wrong business dude! These people start by telling you that they have a buyer for your ts. This is BS.then they tell you that you can get your money back after 120 days if they dont sell your ts. Thats BS. Now they dont want to talk about it! Thats BS. Whats right about bilking a handicapped, retired man who is far from rich out of his money? If you can tell me a way to get any part of my money back please email me at luvrus99@verizon.net!!!

jayjay wrote:

jimc273 wrote:

If someone wants to buy advertising from me and I sell it to them, how is that a scam? How are you going to sell something without advertising it? I get where you are coming from. I talk to owners every day, I have for six years. I know all the stories. But, you can't just sit there and tell me I am scamming people with no knowledge of how I operate my business or who I am. I am not going to sit here and play forum tennis with you. If anyone wants to take advantage of my knowledge and expertise, you do not have to do business with me but you can feel free to call me. I promise I wont sell you anything LOL. I will shoot you straight, I will tell you that not every timeshare sells, and I will tell you what to avoid and what works best. Jim Casey

Pure BS .... talk all the dribble you wish but it will simply be ignored .... sorry your business is drying up due to the fact that the word is getting out about scammers like you ... ALL upfront fee resale companies that charge hundreds/thousands upfront are SCAMS, period .... and all the lies you tell ..... I really don't see how you sleep at night.

Obviously you don't.

jimc273 wrote:

If someone calls you and tells you that you have a buyer, and you have not already advertised with them, then don't deal with them because that's a false hook.

It doesn't matter if you have advertised with them or not .... upfront fee resale companies outright lie to people telling them they have a buyer for their timeshare when they DO NOT ... all they want is that upfront fee, then all of a sudden that socalled buyer can't get financing or changes their mind but the upfront fee scammers still keep the upfront fee.

This is how they operate ... ALL of them ... there are NO LEGITIMATE upfront fee resale companies that charge a fee in the hundreds/thousands of dollars ..... NONE, ZERO, NADA .... THEY ARE ALL SCAMS.

Somebody probably knows a way to get our money ,or some of it back! Is there an honest American out there? This is the only way to stop this tragic story,and beat these crooks at their own game !!!

larryw242 wrote:

Somebody probably knows a way to get our money ,or some of it back!

These parasites are in business to TAKE peoples's money. Rarely (...if ever) does anyone actually ever get any money BACK.

The one and ONLY effective way to deal with the upfront fee parasites is to always ignore their lies and tall tales and empty promises and simply REFUSE to EVER give them a single penny in the first place...

jayjay wrote:

jimc273 wrote:

If someone calls you and tells you that you have a buyer, and you have not already advertised with them, then don't deal with them because that's a false hook.

It doesn't matter if you have advertised with them or not .... upfront fee resale companies outright lie to people telling them they have a buyer for their timeshare when they DO NOT ... all they want is that upfront fee, then all of a sudden that socalled buyer can't get financing or changes their mind but the upfront fee scammers still keep the upfront fee.

This is how they operate ... ALL of them ... there are NO LEGITIMATE upfront fee resale companies that charge a fee in the hundreds/thousands of dollars ..... NONE, ZERO, NADA .... THEY ARE ALL SCAMS.

jimc273 wrote:

They are not "all scams."

Have the decency and honesty to acknowledge that no "upfront fee" entity ever actually SELLS a timeshare. It doesn't really matter how the "business model" is labelled (such as calling it, not inappropriately, a "scam"). The critically important, fundamental FACT is that NO upfront fee entity actually SELLS timeshares. They merely collect money from desperate, uninformed owners to ADVERTISE timeshares, which is something that any timeshare owner can do on their own at a tiny fraction of the cost, reaching the exact same pool of potential buyers. Period, amen, end of story.

Nah not all said! The intent is what we are talking about here! People who do not represent their intent. Maybe you havent been scammed by these crooks,huh? Then send me 2400.00 and I will try my damndest to forgive you !!!

jimc273 wrote:

They are not "all scams."

Yes, they are ALL scams.

larryw242 wrote:

Nah not all said! The intent is what we are talking about here! People who do not represent their intent. Maybe you havent been scammed by these crooks,huh? Then send me 2400.00 and I will try my damndest to forgive you !!!

jimc273 wrote:

What I am saying is that not all companies out there working in the timeshare resale business are scams. .... But not everybody is out to get you.

It's not about the "label", it's about the RESULTS.... 27 years of ownership, experience and observation in the timeshare industry tells me this --- plain and simple:

Upfront fee parasite companies do NOT sell timeshares. Smart buyers DON'T even consider obscure or unknown reseller "companies" when sincerely looking to purchase a timeshare. Upfront fee companies sell ADVERTISING, not timeshares.

People should save their hard earned money and if they want to sell, do THEIR OWN advertising (for free or for TENS of dollars instead of paying some parasite HUNDREDS of dollars to do the same thing). If people want to buy, direct from a private seller is almost always the smarter and literally ALWAYS the much less expensive way to go. Who needs or wants to deal with a "middleman" when you can very easily find and buy what you want without one???

ken1193 wrote:

jimc273 wrote:

What I am saying is that not all companies out there working in the timeshare resale business are scams. .... But not everybody is out to get you.

It's not about the "label", it's about the RESULTS.... 27 years of ownership, experience and observation in the timeshare industry tells me this --- plain and simple:

Upfront fee parasite companies do NOT sell timeshares. Smart buyers DON'T even consider obscure or unknown reseller "companies" when sincerely looking to purchase a timeshare. Upfront fee companies sell ADVERTISING, not timeshares.

People should save their hard earned money and if they want to sell, do THEIR OWN advertising (for free or for TENS of dollars instead of paying some parasite HUNDREDS of dollars to do the same thing). If people want to buy, direct from a private seller is almost always the smarter and literally ALWAYS the much less expensive way to go. Who needs or wants to deal with a "middleman" when you can very easily find and buy what you want without one???

If you can sell it yourself, then by all means do it! It has been my experience though that my clients generally are unable to do this and need some assistance. If I think someone can sell their timeshare by themselves I will tell them so. Seriously, I will. Generally I find that owners using Craigslist and Ebay are not getting very much money out of them ... or good, legit, responses to their ads. You wont do any better off there on the internet (with your average "parasite company") than you will anywhere else on the internet - unless you want to let it go for cheap, then go there ... and keep trying. It might take a while to get $1000 out of your $28,000 Westgate on Ebay or Craigslist. If you can talk directly to people who have been to your resort recently as renters or as those who have been through the presentations you can usually get a pretty good price.

I had two and paid a company to take one off my hands.Considering my fees at the timeshare it didnt hurt so bad. The other I called the timeshare and asked if they sell ts for owners. They charge a arm and a leg but any money back is great! They said it takes two to three years to resell it through them.So im going to try this approach and see if it works. There are no upfront fees but they will take out their fees if sold.

larryw242 wrote:

I had two and paid a company to take one off my hands.Considering my fees at the timeshare it didnt hurt so bad. The other I called the timeshare and asked if they sell ts for owners. They charge a arm and a leg but any money back is great! They said it takes two to three years to resell it through them.So im going to try this approach and see if it works. There are no upfront fees but they will take out their fees if sold.

It's none of my business, but I'll ask the obvious question anyhow:

Why would you not just undertake the limited time, effort and minimal expense required to sell the timeshares yourself, on your own, rather than unnecessarily forfeit all this money to OTHERS to do so???

I'LL answer! The reason is: because it is nearly impossible to sell a timeshare yourself. Timeshares are sold originally with high pressure, to people on vacation in a relatively exotic place, in a luxurious setting, and they are seduced with fancy sales pitches, promises, donuts, whatever. The pressure is incredible. A simple "no" does not stop the saleperson at ALL. And once it's sold, the obligations NEVER stop for the poor buyer.

I've personally tried to sell my timeshare several times (Sheraton's Vistana Resort, a nice enough place), and NO ONE has shown any interest except people who want to sell my TS for a fee, in advance. Now, I get phone calls and postcards several times a week promising me "relief" from the expense of owning a timeshare I no longer want. And I REALLY want to believe their stories of their having a "buyer" waiting for my unit, that they are experienced in sales, that they CAN sell my TS. I am often tempted to list my unit with them. But eventually I realize it is useless. I try to offer them my "valuable" timeshare for free, but they NEVER EVER accept it. If they thought it had value, they could have it, free. But they won't take it, ever. I've tried this maybe 25 times, and never had a taker. I've offered my TS FREE in several ads, papers, etc. No takers.

I am now being dunned by my TS because I've stopped paying maintenance fees, and refuse to pay for "upgrades" that they made to a unit that didn't need upgrades. I don't know how this will end up, but I refuse to ever spend another cent on this or any timeshare-associated gimmick. I told them to take it out of my estate after I die. And I'm sure they will.

josephb172 wrote:

I'LL answer! The reason is: because it is nearly impossible to sell a timeshare yourself. Timeshares are sold originally with high pressure, to people on vacation in a relatively exotic place, in a luxurious setting, and they are seduced with fancy sales pitches, promises, donuts, whatever. The pressure is incredible. A simple "no" does not stop the saleperson at ALL. And once it's sold, the obligations NEVER stop for the poor buyer.

I've personally tried to sell my timeshare several times (Sheraton's Vistana Resort, a nice enough place), and NO ONE has shown any interest except people who want to sell my TS for a fee, in advance. Now, I get phone calls and postcards several times a week promising me "relief" from the expense of owning a timeshare I no longer want. And I REALLY want to believe their stories of their having a "buyer" waiting for my unit, that they are experienced in sales, that they CAN sell my TS. I am often tempted to list my unit with them. But eventually I realize it is useless. I try to offer them my "valuable" timeshare for free, but they NEVER EVER accept it. If they thought it had value, they could have it, free. But they won't take it, ever. I've tried this maybe 25 times, and never had a taker. I've offered my TS FREE in several ads, papers, etc. No takers.

I am now being dunned by my TS because I've stopped paying maintenance fees, and refuse to pay for "upgrades" that they made to a unit that didn't need upgrades. I don't know how this will end up, but I refuse to ever spend another cent on this or any timeshare-associated gimmick. I told them to take it out of my estate after I die. And I'm sure they will.

I am genuinely sorry for your situation, which apparently (and unfortunately) began with an overpriced "developer-direct" purchase.

Orlando is so grossly overbuilt with timeshares that the supply FAR exceeds the demand and the "value" of virtually ANY timeshare ownership there is frankly very low, even in the best of economies or circumstances. If you owe unpaid special assessments and maintenance fees, as you evidently do, then clearly you CAN'T even give it away, since your debt must be resolved in order to even transfer ownership title --- unless you find someone willing to take over your debt (there is little or no chance of that, as you've surely already discovered).

There is good (relatively speaking, of course) news, however. Assuming that you DON'T also have an unpaid loan on this ownership, what will ultimately happen is likely a straightforward foreclosure. The resort will simply take back the ownership through the legal process and it will no longer be yours at all (nor will any money you ever paid to purchase it in the first place). If their ARE unpaid loans, however, that will NOT be the case. There are no "estate" issues to worry about if there is no unpaid loan, since they will likely foreclose on you long before that. However, they WILL certainly ding your credit report if they have to foreclose. Depending on your age and the likelihood of your seeking other loans anytime in the future for home mortgage, car loan, etc., this development may or may not be of significant concern to you.

It's not accurate to say that no one can sell a timeshare on their own. Every situation is different. Every timeshare I have ever owned was purchased at low cost in the resale market ---and I sold off SIX of them in the past 2 years or so, ALL of them entirely on my own. Certainly no profit, but no big losses either. However, trying to "unload" a high priced "developer direct" purchase, particularly one with associated loans or unpaid back fees, is another kettle of fish entirely.

The moral of the story for others here is to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy "developer direct". I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year to all.

josephb172 wrote:

I'LL answer! The reason is: because it is nearly impossible to sell a timeshare yourself.

That's probably true in this economy unless you own a very desirable week at a very desirable resort and you ask a reasonable price.

Have you heard of Commercial properties and a man name Bill Clark? They are suppose to be out of Florida. THey say my up front fee will be refunded once they search the property to see no leans are on it.