Has anyone dealt with Americap International Corp.?

jayjay wrote:

I'm still waiting for an explanation of what a GIFT CERTIFICATE is with this company?

So far, virtually everything involving this "company" seems to be just "vaporware" and empty promises, so I'm not sure that an answer to this question yet exists.

I DO hope that the unfortunate handful of people involved in this matter will undertake the time and effort to make the Florida Attorney General's Office and Real Estate Board aware of it, with or without any success at being belatedly reimbursed. I also hope that RedWeek makes certain that Chris Wood and/or other "Americap" players are NEVER again allowed to participate in this site.

ken1193 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

I'm still waiting for an explanation of what a GIFT CERTIFICATE is with this company?

So far, virtually everything involving this "company" seems to be just "vaporware" and empty promises, so I'm not sure that an answer to this question yet exists.

I DO hope that the unfortunate handful of people involved in this matter will undertake the time and effort to make the Florida Attorney General's Office and Real Estate Board aware of it, with or without any success at being belatedly reimbursed. I also hope that RedWeek makes certain that Chris Wood and/or other "Americap" players are NEVER again allowed to participate in this site.

I'd be curiious to know if this company is renting out exchanges using the wording GIFT CERTIFICATES instead of GUEST CERTIFICATES.

jayjay wrote:

ken1193 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

I'm still waiting for an explanation of what a GIFT CERTIFICATE is with this company?

So far, virtually everything involving this "company" seems to be just "vaporware" and empty promises, so I'm not sure that an answer to this question yet exists.

I DO hope that the unfortunate handful of people involved in this matter will undertake the time and effort to make the Florida Attorney General's Office and Real Estate Board aware of it, with or without any success at being belatedly reimbursed. I also hope that RedWeek makes certain that Chris Wood and/or other "Americap" players are NEVER again allowed to participate in this site.

I'd be curiious to know if this company is renting out exchanges using the wording GIFT CERTIFICATES instead of GUEST CERTIFICATES.

Jayjay- if I get a gift certificate, I'll let you know what it is. According to Chris, it is a way that the owner gifts the week to me. That is what I am supposed to be able to confirm with the resort.

lisam500 wrote:

Jayjay- if I get a gift certificate, I'll let you know what it is. According to Chris, it is a way that the owner gifts the week to me. That is what I am supposed to be able to confirm with the resort.

Ahhh, after lisa's explanation, it would seem this company is renting out exchanged weeks FOR PROFIT using 'guest ceritficates' but wording them as 'gift certificates'. This is totally against RCI, II and all the independent exchange companies' rules.

I thought the word 'gift certificate' sounded fishy. So if this company is caught doing this by the exchange companies, they will be in much more hot water than they are with just their disgruntled clients posting here.

Rentals of exchanges for profit is a big NO-NO.

jayjay wrote:

lisam500 wrote:

Jayjay- if I get a gift certificate, I'll let you know what it is. According to Chris, it is a way that the owner gifts the week to me. That is what I am supposed to be able to confirm with the resort.

Ahhh, after lisa's explanation, it would seem this company is renting out exchanged weeks FOR PROFIT using 'guest ceritficates' but wording them as 'gift certificates'. This is totally against RCI, II and all the independent exchange companies' rules.

I thought the word 'gift certificate' sounded fishy. So if this company is caught doing this by the exchange companies, they will be in much more hot water than they are with just their disgruntled clients posting here.

Rentals of exchanges for profit is a big NO-NO.

I was able to get through to Americap office phone today. Chris actually answered the phone and said they were experiencing phone problems last couple of days. He said they mailed my $720 refund on August 15th, 2007 and was surprised I had not received it yet. He promised me that he has canceled that check and will reissue another check tomorrow and I should receive the $720 in about 4 days.

My earlier dealing with Chris when I booked was Americap lists Timeshares for sale. However they take a week or two if seller is not using and would in turn rent to one of us. This helps covers sellers cost of maint fee until sold. He also stated that when a client (You or I) returns from vacationing @ a rental through an Americap transaction that we would be contacted about a Timeshare presentation. Terry

Terry, glad to hear you got a hold of Chris again. I sure hope you get your refund.

Here are some other things to consider in any rental situation:

All the renters should confirm the reservations with the resort are in their names. Any fraud or theft should be reported to your local police to take action and contact the Florida authorities.

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.

Keep us posted on any developments.

Thanks,

Marty

I have read this thread through in its entirety and came to the conclusion how absolutely necessary it is to have a search function on this site; for example, there is another thread under Buying, Renting and Selling Timeshares - entitled "Anyone have experience with Preston Green or Americap International Corp?" - see Pg 5 of that topic - presumably the very Preston Green mentioned earlier in THIS thread - and, unless I am missing something, he was/is apparently with the SAME COMPANY being discussed in this forum. Additionally, I note that you, Janeh3, wrote in a different thread about Chris Wood (again under Buying, Renting, Selling timeshares topic; thread - "Be VERY WARY about who you rent from" - pg 2 of that thread - but thankfully, you found your way to this thread. The whole thing is disburbing to me that a good site like this one has no search function - where a pattern of behavior, action (or lack thereof) could not be identified earlier with a simple search - and all you (5) among others might have avoided what you are dealing with now? Who knows how many other threads are "out there" in these forums about these very individuals - short of spending days sifting through them ? I myself came up with two related threads complaining about the same issue (from recollection) and I have only been reading these forums for a couple of weeks - so how many others are there gone by? Marty, while you do a fantastic job following up on specific issues, you keep saying "we are working on it" with respect to the search function but no "ETA" or specifics ? I would like to specifically ask redweek when might this search function be up and running ? Is it a cost issue or what is the delay ???? I see it is as absolutely critical to helping fellow users here. As for all the potential "victims" of Chris Wood, et al - I am so sorry and do hope it gets resolved for each and every one of you. I know I for one would be a whole lot more comfortable as a first time renter using redweek if I could search for both all the information on one specific topic and/or all complaints about one specific company/individual. Marty - again, thanks for all your good work but can you provide something more "concrete" about the search function and/or an ETA ? Thank you !

Donna, I received a test link for the search feature on Monday so it's definitely getting close. I love the capability and I think all of you will like it too. I've not been given a date it will launch on our forums but after working for internet websites for almost 10 years I've learned that launch dates are never on time. There's always glitches at the last minute or whatever so please just be patient a little longer. I promise you all will find the search feature very useful.

On another note, I'm not sure that Chris Wood and Preston Green are working together. Chris Wood is in Florida and Preston Green is in California. Preston Green's company is called Vacation Homes Only rather than Americap International Corp. So at this point I don't think they are connected.

Thanks, Marty

Re: >> On another note, I'm not sure that Chris Wood and Preston Green are working together. Chris Wood is in Florida and Preston Green is in California. Preston Green's company is called Vacation Homes Only rather than Americap International Corp. So at this point I don't think they are connected. << =======================================

I too believe that Chris Wood and Preston Green are NOT connected. That said, however, my own theory and belief is that their respective "modus operandi" may be quite similar --- having little or nothing actually in hand, but then taking money from people to then be motivated to try to FIND a purchase or rental for them (maybe even successfully sometimes, according to some posts I seem to remember, but those "successful" posts might have been "shills"). Whether this m.o. also included (or if it includes now) the rental of exchanges, which is in direct and obvious violation of both RCI and II rules and terms of use, I do not claim to know.

I was contacted (unsolicited) by Preston Green a few months ago. He had apparently found my contact info from a very specific "Want to Buy" posting which I had placed on other Timeshare forum site. Although he did not have what I very clearly and specifically described in my "want to buy" posting, and also appeared to know very little (maybe nothing at all) about the geographic area involved, where I had already owned timeshare for over 20 years by the way, his smooth but completely unconvincing introductory claim was "I can find you what you are looking for". I didn't actually believe him, not for one second, since I'm well familiar with my own timeshare area and I had already been looking for what I posted for a few years already, without success --- and I knew every single resort in my own (admittedly small) geographic area of interest. I quickly formed the opinion that Mr. Green was just a "BSA" ("Bull S--t Artist", for those who might be unfamiliar with that particular acronym). I wanted nothing further to do with him --- and politely told him so, then asking that he never contact me again. Since I then immediately and permanently "blocked" his email address from ever possibly getting through to me in the future, I don't know (or care) if he ever tried to reach me again.

CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware).

jayjay notes, quoted only in directly pertinent part:

>> Ahhh, after lisa's explanation, it would seem this company is renting out exchanged weeks FOR PROFIT using 'guest ceritficates' but wording them as 'gift certificates'. This is totally against RCI, II and all the independent exchange companies' rules. << ======================================

You're right about the rules, but so far there is NO evidence of ANY "certficate" of ANY kind having yet been actually, physically produced to the folks involved here.

terry, don't hold your breath. They've had telephone problems the last few days ????? Evidently they've also had mail problems since the first check sent you just seemed to vanish in thin air.

terryh64 wrote:

He promised me that he has canceled that check and will reissue another check tomorrow and I should receive the $720 in about 4 days.Terry

ken1193 wrote:

You're right about the rules, but so far there is NO evidence of ANY "certficate" of ANY kind having yet been actually, physically produced to the folks involved here.

Some of the folks here keep mentioning 'gift certificates' being mailed along with their rental agreement. To me this is explanation enough.

jayjay wrote:

ken1193 wrote:

You're right about the rules, but so far there is NO evidence of ANY "certficate" of ANY kind having yet been actually, physically produced to the folks involved here.

Some of the folks here keep mentioning 'gift certificates' being mailed along with their rental agreement. To me this is explanation enough.

Unless I'm mistaken, NONE of those folks have actually RECEIVED ANY form of "certificate" of ANY kind. Could those folks involved maybe weigh in make that fact clear to jajyjay for yourselves?

The references mentioned (and I searched once again to see if I missed something -- and I don't believe I did) refer to PROMISES of a certificate of some kind. I don't see any instances of anyone claiming to have actually RECEIVED any such "certificate". So, one last time, I see a clear distinction between an "empty promise" and a "certificate" (regardless of its type or flavor). Yes, the whole "gift certificate" concept is certainly suspicious, and may just be a cutesy name for an illegally rented exchange, but NO certificate at all (of any kind) is even more suspect. Hence my description of the (so far non-existent) mystery "certificate" as being "vaporware".

lisam500 wrote:

Jayjay- According to Chris, it is a way that the owner gifts the week to me. That is what I am supposed to be able to confirm with the resort.

Evidently you failed to read lisa's post above. The owner is socalled gifting the week to lisa in return making a profit for himself and the rental broker. You are allowed to give or gift a week to someone (friends or relatives), but that's evidently not the case here as there is profit being made by the owner and the broker. Why would you gift a week to someone you don't know unless money/profit was involved?

I stand by my statement that this 'gifting' is fishy.

It seems Americap International Corp has no web address. They evidently phish Redweek's ads and Redwishes for business opportunities. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it must be a duck.

Donna, Until the search feature is finished you can go on Google or Yahoo and type the search criteria "Americap site:Redweek.com" The "site:[website address]" instruction tells the search engine to focus on a specific site. Since I apparently suck at dealing with timeshare companies I thought I'd offer up something I do know ; )

Mike, thanks for the searching tip. I plugged in what you indicated into google and low and behold, it all came up. Thank you ! Sure hope you don't have to "sweat it out" much longer.......

jayjay has incorrectly offered: >> Evidently you failed to read lisa's post above. << ======================================

On the contrary, I read it, I fully understood it and, to repeat myself (just one more time) what I have read indicates clearly that NO CERTFICATE OF ANY KIND HAS BEEN DELIVERED. Accordingly, no actual "gifting" of any kind has occurred at all. Is my vision flawed here?

It's understood and agreed that it is against both RCI and II rules and terms of use for anyone to rent out an exchange --- period. That's not at issue and never was. My point was (and remains) simply that these folks have NOTHING in hand in the way of ANY form of "certificate". I invite THEM (i.e., those folks directly involved in this Americap mess) to correct me if I am mistaken on this clear, simple and straightforward point.

I finally found the internet address of Americap International Corporation from another post here relating to that company.

www.americapint.com

marty8084 wrote:

mikef72 wrote:

I did get a hold of Chris Wood finally. He stated that the contract should be here in the next few days. I'll let everyone know.

Thank you, Mike. Keep us posted.

Marty

Carl here. I'm new at forum participation, but here goes. I have an Americap International Corp. tale to add to the mix.My wife sent AIC an advance of $699 to advertise the sale of our timeshare in Austin, TX. We received a contract, a receipt for the money, and a signed guarantee that we would receive 100% or our money back after 180 days if the timeshare didn't sell. The 180 days was up August 26. I have not heard from Chris nor AIC. E-mails to AIC are not answered, nor are calls to Chris Woods cell phone. Any ideas as to how I can make contact with either Woods or the company to get our money returned?