Anyone have experience with Preston Green or Americap International Corp

ken1193 wrote:

marty8084 notes: >> We can't stress enough how important using the escrow company is exactly for this reason... scammers don't get your money when it's being held in escrow. <<

While I agree with this logic in theory, in my own limited observations and experience, First American Title has been either very slow to respond to inquiries or, in other instances, entirely unresponsive at all.

I'll check with First American Title and find out what's going on but no one is limited to using First American. Our concern is that an escrow service is used, no matter what company it is.

Thanks, Marty

patrickm96 wrote:

jeffs152 wrote:

I've got a redweek ad posted out to rent a unit, and received two prompt responses from a Preston Green and another from someone representing Americap International Corp. Just wondered if anyone had any experience positive or negative with either of these individuals or groups. Its not like Ebay where you get feedback scores, but figured the user community could help out

I contracted with americap for a rental in Cabo they debited my credit card $800 and I have heard very little from them I have left 3 messages and they will not return my calls. I am dealing with Chris Wood. I am about to go the legal route to get my money back. Amercap appears to be a very poor business if not an outright scam Stay away from them

marty8084 wrote:

lisam500 wrote:

No one who has posted to this board has received any actual timeshare rentals from Americap. They are no longer supposed to be using Redweek - Marty - is there a loophole somewhere that allowed Chris to contact this latest person?

Chris Wood's account was cut off in August 2007 so he has not been able to do any more damage since then. The above posting was contacted by Chris in July 2007.

Thanks, Marty

juliannm2 wrote:

patrickm96 wrote:

jeffs152 wrote:

I've got a redweek ad posted out to rent a unit, and received two prompt responses from a Preston Green and another from someone representing Americap International Corp. Just wondered if anyone had any experience positive or negative with either of these individuals or groups. Its not like Ebay where you get feedback scores, but figured the user community could help out

I contracted with americap for a rental in Cabo they debited my credit card $800 and I have heard very little from them I have left 3 messages and they will not return my calls. I am dealing with Chris Wood. I am about to go the legal route to get my money back. Amercap appears to be a very poor business if not an outright scam Stay away from them

I also have had a bad experience with Americap. In early August I sent them $900 for a week in Orlando. I have not heard from them and they have not returned my messages. Can you tell me if you've had any luck since you've posted this message? Any advice?

In regards to Americap International, Are there enough folks out there that have been scammed by this company that we can something legally. Any lawyers out there that could help??

I reponded to a member re: re Chris and Americap. I too have beentaken. I agreed and have a "contract" for 3 weeks at Coconut Bay resort in Fort Lauderdale. I placed an ad on reweek and was contacted by C.Wood. I haven't received received any response to my many calls. I did speak with his brother at another number. He is not involved in business with his brother. I'm at a loss of what to do.

juliannm2 wrote:

patrickm96 wrote:

jeffs152 wrote:

I've got a redweek ad posted out to rent a unit, and received two prompt responses from a Preston Green and another from someone representing Americap International Corp. Just wondered if anyone had any experience positive or negative with either of these individuals or groups. Its not like Ebay where you get feedback scores, but figured the user community could help out

I contracted with americap for a rental in Cabo they debited my credit card $800 and I have heard very little from them I have left 3 messages and they will not return my calls. I am dealing with Chris Wood. I am about to go the legal route to get my money back. Amercap appears to be a very poor business if not an outright scam Stay away from them

I also have had a bad experience with Americap. In early August I sent them $900 for a week in Orlando. I have not heard from them and they have not returned my messages. Can you tell me if you've had any luck since you've posted this message? Any advice?

(Back from Europe) I've had some dealings with Preston Green. He contacted me regarding my offer of an Ocean Walk, Daytona 500 week. He represents a travel agency and needed something for a customer. However, it developed that the customer in question wanted a 2BR Deluxe, not a 2BR lock-off, so the deal fell through. There was no up front fee involved. He, naturally, wanted the lowest price he could get, but the problem was his customer. Can't remember the name of his company, though I have it around somewhere. MD

adahiscout wrote:

(Back from Europe) I've had some dealings with Preston Green. He contacted me regarding my offer of an Ocean Walk, Daytona 500 week. He represents a travel agency and needed something for a customer. However, it developed that the customer in question wanted a 2BR Deluxe, not a 2BR lock-off, so the deal fell through. There was no up front fee involved. He, naturally, wanted the lowest price he could get, but the problem was his customer. Can't remember the name of his company, though I have it around somewhere. MD

The name of Preston Green's operation (located in California) is Vacation Homes Only. I don't believe that his operation is actually a "travel agency" per se, but is instead a form of brokerage. Mr. Green evidently trolls for ads placed in the various timeshare websites (TUG, MyResortNetwork, etc.) trying to find prospective rentals, then negotiates one price with the owner, another with a renter, with the difference being his business profit on the transaction. He also claims to buy and sell "distressed" timeshares and he responds to various "want to buy" and/or "want to rent"postings. I personally had no use for (or trust in) the man during the one time he contacted me, but your mileage and opinion may vary....

Here are items you should do: 1) file a billing dispute 2) the BBB of Florida has already been contacted so Americap's rating has been downgraded to an F due to customer complaints 3) File a report with the Florida AG - here is the website:

myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/ContactOpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes - this will get the FBI involved. 4) file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center - here is the website: http://www.ic3.gov/

ken1193 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

(Back from Europe) I've had some dealings with Preston Green. He contacted me regarding my offer of an Ocean Walk, Daytona 500 week. He represents a travel agency and needed something for a customer. However, it developed that the customer in question wanted a 2BR Deluxe, not a 2BR lock-off, so the deal fell through. There was no up front fee involved. He, naturally, wanted the lowest price he could get, but the problem was his customer. Can't remember the name of his company, though I have it around somewhere. MD

The name of Preston Green's operation (located in California) is Vacation Homes Only. I don't believe that his operation is actually a "travel agency" per se, but is instead a form of brokerage. Mr. Green evidently trolls for ads placed in the various timeshare websites (TUG, MyResortNetwork, etc.) trying to find prospective rentals, then negotiates one price with the owner, another with a renter, with the difference being his business profit on the transaction. He also claims to buy and sell "distressed" timeshares and he responds to various "want to buy" and/or "want to rent"postings. I personally had no use for (or trust in) the man during the one time he contacted me, but your mileage and opinion may vary....

lisam500 has stated:

>> Here are items you should do: 1) file a billing dispute 2) the BBB of Florida has already been contacted so Americap's rating has been downgraded to an F due to customer complaints 3) File a report with the Florida AG - here is the website:

myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/ContactOpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes - this will get the FBI involved. 4) file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center - here is the website: http://www.ic3.gov/ << =================================

I admire and applaud your initiative and your activism and I wish you success in hunting down these parasites and hopefully achieving a recovery of any and all lost funds.

That said, having some personal career experience in the arena of Federal investigation, I can state with some confidence that the FBI is NOT going to take any interest (or action) in a handful of isolated complaints regarding upfront fee companies who have not actually violated any exisiting federal statutes or regulations. This is strictly a state AG / state consumer protection law matter, until and unless there is interstate crime or actual fraud committed --- and even then a dollar threshold would have to be reached in order to elicit any Federal investigation or Federal involvement of any kind. I would venture to guess that this "threshold" is likely in the neighborhood of $10,000 (maybe higher). I would be delighted to be mistaken, but don't believe that I am. In any case, the Florida state authorities are certainly better positioned and motivated to act upon an entity operating within their own state.

The BBB is, unfortunately, a completely powerless paper tiger with no legal authority whatsoever. However, if numerous complaints get registered with the BBB (a process which the BBB does not make particularly easy) the statistics may at least help to prevent the unwary from conducting business with an entity with numerous filed complaints.

Hey Ken, Thanks for the info. Believe it or not, someone from one of the agencies I contacted did pass this on the FBI. The person from the FBI contacted me for more details and he has also been in contact with Americap. The reason I suggest the rest of the people contact the same agencies is because in total we have lost over $10000 - not in upfront fees but in actual purchases of rental weeks which we've never received. Also, from what I heard from the person from the FBI, Americap advertises themselves as a corporation but is no longer doing what is necessary to be a corporation. The FBI person told me that is against the rules and an arrestable offense - independent of the trouble we've had.

Way to go lisam! The FBI SHOULD be involved in such socalled corporate thievery. Keep up the good work and please keep us informed on this situation. Lisam''s FBI contact information is below:

myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/ContactOpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes - this will get the FBI involved.

Hope others that's been scammed by these people (or the like) contact the FBI. Consumer activism is the key to getting these thieves put behind bars.

lisam500 wrote:

Hey Ken, Thanks for the info. Believe it or not, someone from one of the agencies I contacted did pass this on the FBI. The person from the FBI contacted me for more details and he has also been in contact with Americap. The reason I suggest the rest of the people contact the same agencies is because in total we have lost over $10000 - not in upfront fees but in actual purchases of rental weeks which we've never received. Also, from what I heard from the person from the FBI, Americap advertises themselves as a corporation but is no longer doing what is necessary to be a corporation. The FBI person told me that is against the rules and an arrestable offense - independent of the trouble we've had.

Well......then it appears that Americap may indeed have managed to reach the magical threshhold to warrant federal attention. If so, this is a development which they will surely regret --- and never forget. Federal investigators tend to have the resolve of a determined pit bull. Once their bite takes hold, they just plain don't let go. Congratulations on doing your part to change these thieving parasites' lives.

November 12, 2007

BEWARE OF 2 CON ARTISTS CHRIS WOOD AND JERRY WOOD!!!

In mid May, after searching around for several timeshares locations in Waikiki, I opened an account with Redweek.com and see if I can find a good deal/exchange for a condo for my family and my friend’s family in August 14-22/2007. Once I opened an account and posted a so-called “Red Wish”, I immediately got an email from a guy name Jerry Wood from Americap International Corp. The email was forwarded from Redweek.com as followed:

Jerry Wood <jerry@americapint.com> wrote: We have several rental weeks available that meet your criteria starting as low as $398. Call Americap International Corp. at 888-834-7464.

I called the above number and got connected to Chris Wood who introduced himself as Jerry’s brother. Chris also said that Jerry handled the selling of timeshares and he does the rental part. As Chris indicated that he has so many points from Wydham Waikiki Resort that owners had accumulated so Americap wanted to rent out the unused portions to cover the fee for owners. He said he had rent out so many places and they worked out very well as for owners and sellers.

Chris looked around all his condo and said that he had a couple available one bedroom and 2 bedroom units etc. I agreed upon the 2 bedrooms for my family with 2 toddlers and my friend’s family with 2 toddlers for $800. He charged my Visa for that amount and he said he would send me the contract. I knew I paid him because I was so desperate for a place to stay since I did not plan well for this trip and eventually ended up this way. Once I received the contract, I signed and sent back to him. He also mentioned once the contract is in place, he will contact Wydham Waikiki and within 1 month of my arrival, the Wydham will sent me a certificate from “owners” for my check-in purpose. I got the contract within a week from Chris. It was sent from 4747 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 174 in Florida (FL 33021). After that I was at ease and wait for the certificate to arrive. 4 weeks before my departure, I still did not get the certificate, I contacted Wydham Waikiki and they did not know anything about this. I ended up called everywhere that I can have a lead. I started to worry not only for my family, but I am responsible for my friend’s family as well because we all will be staying at the same location. I contacted Chris and he said, “That’s weird that he never received the contract. He even asked me if I had put down the suite number right or maybe the mail man put in mails so fast that he might slip and put in others’ mail box slot” He said he would call Wydham for me and so and so...I gave him a week which I only have 3 weeks left until my departure. I called and called him again, and he called me back that he would look around for other owners and see if there is something available and he said he is good in finding something in the last minute! Another week came by which I only have 2 weeks left until my departure…During this time, my friend also called me from LA and see if everything is in placed so she can pay me. I did not dare to say anything to worry her, instead I continued looking elsewhere for plan B and in the meantime, keep on contact Chris… On Thursday of the second week, I called Chris and left him an ultimate message…Yes or No he must contact me so I can make a final decision as it is a rental pending on the other end for me. Chris called me back and said “I am still waiting to hear from the owner. I left several messages for the owner, but did not hear from him yet, so I guess it’s not promising! And he is so sorry!” Chris said he will refund my $800 in the mail, and it may take up a couple weeks to process. He also told me “To keep all the expense receipts of my trip and send to him so he can present them to the “BOARD Of DIRECTOR” and have them share/refund a portion of the expense to me since this happened to me that I did not get the renal in place and I had been patient enough all these times!” During this time I had exactly 2 weeks before my departure. I turned around to another offer that I found and nervously negotiated with the owner until I got what I wanted the last minute. After I made the deposit on the same day of negotiation, I called my friend up and told her that the vacation is on. 2 weeks before my arrival, I just have a peace of my to enjoy what is called “vacation” spirit. It haunted me until this day that what if I did not find anything to accommodate my family and my friend’s family with 3 babies and a teenager Well, two weeks after I got back from Hawaii I contacted Chris about the $800 refund and he said, “Oh, let me see how come you did not receive it yet. Let me call the department and find out” then I never heard from him for a couple of weeks so I started to call him again. He returned my phone call and said, “The paper is still buried on his desk here. How could that happened again to me and so forth.” He said he will talk to the refund department and let them speed up the process. I don’t think there are any “Department” aside from him (Chris) and his brother Jerry Up until this point I never heard from him. I called him several times last week but never heard back from him. I sent Redweek. com an email and notified them. They sent me several links so I can file complaint with the FBI. I know it happened to me and to many other innocent people out there, but we got to stop these nice con artists before they get around further. I will file further complaint if it is necessary. If anyone in the same situation like me and had done filing any paper works with Florida BBB or the FBI, Please advise me on both processes. Last but not least, Redweek.com should go after these nice con artists and stop them before they hurt more people!

Thanks so much for reading this and thanks ahead for any help sending my way!

maid4:

Don't waste valuable time bothering with the BBB. They have no legal authority or power whatsoever and the BBB is completely useless for anything except compiling statistics on complaints. Compiling statistics does not solve or correct anything. BBB even makes the process of reporting complaints difficult. In any case, there are enough BBB complaints on file about Americap already.

Elsewhere in these forums you will find specific links to enable you to report your situation directly to the Florida Attorney General's Office, which should be your FIRST point of contact. Your report should be detailed, factual, specific --- and in writing. Phone calls alone to a busy investigative office really just don't cut it.

I know from personal work experience that the FBI usually has no interest or involvement in such matters. In this particular instance, however, "Americap International" has reportedly reached the dollar threshhold ($10k) to warrant federal intervention (a most unfortunate development for Americap, I assure you). You apparently already have the link to initiate a report there as well, provided to you by RedWeek.

In all fairness, RedWeek cannot possibly "go after" Americap (or anyone else, for that matter), RedWeek being just an Internet business site with no legal authority or law enforcement standing whatsoever. All RedWeek can do is exclude scammers from using the RedWeek site. Unfortunately, however, such scammers do not identify themselves as such to RedWeek in advance --- they must be discovered and reported to be scammers before they can then be banned from RedWeek and prevented from scamming anyone else (at least through the RedWeek site, anyhow).

Report your situation factually, chronologically and in writing to the appropriate authorities, whose points of contact are already available and provided in these very forums. You may not ever get any money back (although I certainly hope you do), but you can at least personally assist in the investigation and successful prosecution of these thieves. With luck, someday there will be court ordered restitution included as part of their conviction and subsequent sentencing...

Because you paid by credit card, you can get your money back through them. File a billing dispute with your credit card company. I found the Citibank billing dispute contact information under the billing section on the internet, or you can call the company and they'll send you to the right place. At least with Citibank, the money was refunded to me immediately - they just take it back from Chris.

lisam500 wrote:

Because you paid by credit card, you can get your money back through them. File a billing dispute with your credit card company. I found the Citibank billing dispute contact information under the billing section on the internet, or you can call the company and they'll send you to the right place. At least with Citibank, the money was refunded to me immediately - they just take it back from Chris.

Most card issuers impose very specifically identified time limitations in which to file a billing dispute. Perhaps with some compelling evidence of outright fraud being presented, there may be some flexibility (depending on the individual card issuer), but keep in mind too that the recipient may have since closed his own accounts. In that case, "taking it back" may well no longer be an option. All that said, however, it certainly can't hurt to try....

ken1193 wrote:

lisam500 wrote:

Because you paid by credit card, you can get your money back through them. File a billing dispute with your credit card company. I found the Citibank billing dispute contact information under the billing section on the internet, or you can call the company and they'll send you to the right place. At least with Citibank, the money was refunded to me immediately - they just take it back from Chris.

Most card issuers impose very specifically identified time limitations in which to file a billing dispute. Perhaps with some compelling evidence of outright fraud being presented, there may be some flexibility (depending on the individual card issuer), but keep in mind too that the recipient may have since closed his own accounts. In that case, "taking it back" may well no longer be an option. All that said, however, it certainly can't hurt to try....

Just an update for all who used a credit card to book with this scum Jerry Wood and Americap. My credit card co. refunded my $800. I applied 58 days after americap took my money. The credit card co. first said they were closing the dispute for some bogus reason. I contacted them by phone and had the dispute reopened and did a followup call 2 days later. I rec'd an E-Mail today stating my account was being credited $800. If you haven't gotten your money back keep trying. Make sure you speak with someone in disputes. Good luck to everyone. I have also lodged complaints with the Florida states attorney, and internet fraud;. Thanks for the link....

FYI...Right after I posted the complaint on Redweek, I turned around and filed a dispute with my credit card. Yesterday (Dec.03/2007) I got my statement and quickly glanced and saw indeed they credited $800 back to my visa. I later went back and double check on who did the credit and it was from "Americap Intl". I looked at the number on the bill provided by Visa and compared to those numbers I have, they weren't the same numbers. I was curious and dialed the number from the statement (1-954-786-0521) at 11pm Pacific time, and still someone picked up the phone after several rings and that person sounded like Jerry Wood ( I just guess...), so I think that is the number still in operation and I hope that they are NOT in any kind of scam business again! Thanks for reading... Maid4