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

I also was scammed by Omega Marketing and when I tried to get my money back, via investigation by my bank, all the documents appeared to be legal and I had signed etc., so therefore I lost my case. I have not heard word one from them since I gave them my $847 last April 2008. Then, stupid me, I was taken in again by Vacation Time International for another $499 just at Christmas this year, just to find out that they have been evicted from their office. I have emailed 6 times and tried to call several times and told my call is not allowed. I still don't know how to get rid of this Wyndham Timeshare, which I have only had for one year. I tried to get rid of it on Day 8, which of course was one day past their deadline, when I realized what I had gotten into was a bad deal. I want to retire but I can't because I owe the bank the money for the timeshare. Does anyone out there know how to get rid of them? I don't want to succer another person! But I want to get rid of this to someone who would actually use it. Please feel free to contact me at casperghost73@yahoo.com Thank you all for the heads up.

THank you thank you thank you for the information on how to report the scam! Now I know who to call at least.

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 You are a Godsend.At least now I know where to go.

Interesting, that is where my timeshare is, Harbor Lights in SanDiego. What a rip off. Have you found anyone to get rid of it for you? I really want to sell mine and just get OUT!

I also was scammed by Omega for $847. last April 2008. I put in a complaint with my card company but because all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed, i had no recourse. I lost the dispute. But I am not finished yet. I will at least write to all the companies to contact for timeshare scams. Who knows? Maybe someone will listen.

It will be difficult to get rid of a timeshare as long as you still own money on the loan. Even after paying off the loan, don't expect to get anywhere near the price you paid for the unit. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. That is how the scammers work.

Right now the best thing you can do is to find out how to make the TS work for you and USE IT and enjoy it. You might also be able to rent it to, at least, cover you maintenance fees.

jayjay wrote:

amy, thanks for relating your story to us. That company is typical of upfront fee resale companies.

And may those here be made aware, once again, of your last very important statement that's been reiterated over and over in these forums you should NOT ever pay an UPFRONT FEE.

amyv41 wrote:

The place is still scamming to this day and they are still raking in the cash from unsuspecting timeshare young and old alike. I am sorry for my part in this SCAM. I just want you all to be aware of the fact that you should NOT pay an UPFRONT FEE.

gmac timeshares took my money upfront and haven't done anything for me. Karen

jayjay wrote:

... that's been reiterated over and over in these forums you should NOT ever pay an UPFRONT FEE.

I agree the idea of paying an up front fee is bad. Where is the motivation for the company to get your unit rented? Please bear in mind though that newpaper classifieds are payment first, ad is published after - and few people complain when their ad doesn't result in the item selling.

I think the problem with timeshare rental listing companies is they spend too much effort (and make flase promises/statements) to get owners to list and too little effort getting customers for the owners.

What would be nice is a company with a small up front fee to list a unit, then they market the listing to find a customer and take a commission after. The owner then doesn't have to deal with customer inquiries and the company has a lot of motivation to get the unit listed. If the unit doesn't rent, there could be some type of compensation back to the owner. I'm not saying the company should refund the initial small up front fee, but perhaps a partial refund with the opportunity to list a unit later without the initial fee?

A lot of timeshare companies list units for owners for free but they take a large fee of 30-50% and they don't notify the owner when the unit is rented. They also don't guarantee the unit rental until after the customer arrives, which in some cases the customer cancels or doesn't show up and the owner loses the revenue without having any control.

Thanks for putting this on the net. My son put $350.00 on a credit card for GMAC Timeshares to sell his condo. No one will return phone calls. We would like to get this refunded if possible.

Rich Davidison and Daniel DeGade were the people we have talked to. The number is 888-672-4622 exts. 106 and 111.

Thanks, Mrs. Jarrell

dorothyj28 wrote:

Thanks for putting this on the net. My son put $350.00 on a credit card for GMAC Timeshares to sell his condo. No one will return phone calls. We would like to get this refunded if possible.

Rich Davidison and Daniel DeGade were the people we have talked to. The number is 888-672-4622 exts. 106 and 111.

Thanks, Mrs. Jarrell

Has your contacted the Credit Card Co to dispute the charges? If the promised services weren't provided, then he may be able to get his refund via the CC. However, if GMAC listed his timeshare on their website, then they may claim to have upheld their end of the agreement. These companies use various tricks to prevent CC disputes.

If you don't want to use your Wyndham timeshare, put it up for sale here on RedWeek. It is a good company so don't be ashamed to take good money for it! MD

I am truly amazed that people who amass enough money to qualify to buy a timeshare 1) do it via developers 2) then regret it 3)then fall for another scam in which they put money out to someone else to sell your property and then finally always seem to fall for the idea that some sucker is willing to pay full price for theirs vs. the prices listed on redweek, tug, myresortnetwork etc.

Most of the people on this site are past this....if you've bought from a developer, use it or walk away. Stop complaining for the bad decision you made and that you were the last person on earth to figure out that timeshare salespeople lie....and that others in the industry lie more.

The ones that have figured this out and know the system love timeshares as do I.

I think timeshares are SCAMS to & relisting companies and whats screwed up is this website is Advertising several of these Phoney! companies, that claim to sell your timeshare.

thanks for the number ill be sure to call these fools & BUG the hell out of them. Im looking into this timeshare scam crap, I just attended a "ceferance" today where they wanted 2000 Dollars to take the time share. NO WAY! I didnt fall for it beaware of apexprofessionals thats the companies Name

Quote:

Please bear in mind though that newpaper classifieds are payment first, ad is published after - and few people complain when their ad doesn't result in the item selling.

It doesn't cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to place a classified ad in a newspaper. You're comparing apples to oranges.

Hi JayJay,

I'm comparing the concept that newspapers offer classifieds which you must pay in advance and have no guarantee of selling your item. You said "... that's been reiterated over and over in these forums you should NOT ever pay an UPFRONT FEE." You didn't specify never pay hundreds to thousands - you said never. You also didn't say depending on the up front fee and the company's reputation or ability to provide verifiable evidence why their fee is justified. I am merely saying that while there are a lot of scams, there are also valid up front fee companies. Since these valid companies function very similar to a newspaper classified, it's not the dollar amount that matters, it is the volume of inquiries and bookings you achieve for the money you spend.

I know it is very difficult to determine the difference between a scam and a valid listing company. Please evaluate the company, do not believe any extravagent claims made by the sales reps. Please be careful about the contract agreement you enter into. But still be willing to admit there are valid companies charging up front fees. Perhaps when they charge too much money it is better to say they charge more than you are willing to pay, regardless of what they might be able to do for you.

Hi Peter, there has never been even one verified sale that any upfront fee company has been successful, not one, and I've been reading various timeshare forums on the internet for 9+ years. The upfront fee resale companies all gain the same mantra on all the timeshare internet forums and from other knowledgable advisors to prospective sellers.

Yes, formerly I would state to never pay an upfront fee to any company to sell your timeshare, but I have revised that with 'upfront fees in the hundreds to thousands of dollars' since many people get confused with a small listing fee on internet timeshare listing sites such as Redweek with upfront fee resale companies that charge in the hundreds/thousands.

Redweek would be comparable to classified ads in newspapers.

peterp151 wrote:

I am merely saying that while there are a lot of scams, there are also valid up front fee companies.

Be my guest and name just one company that's justified for charging customers a large upfront fee and how many timeshares have they actually sold?

The only posters that's reported any positive information on upfront fee resale companies on Redweek's forums are shills that work for resale companies and we recognize them as soon as they post as being just that, shills .... they don't get anything over on us timeshare veterans here nor on Tug's timeshare forums.

We regular posters here have saved thousands of Redweek forum posters thousands of dollars by divulging scams in the timeshare industry. My main pet peeves are upfront fee resale companies that charge an upfront exhorbitant fee ...... all they want is that upfront fee (as has been revealed by thousands of Redweek posters that have been taken by these companies) .... the proof is in the pudding and the proof is in the testimonials here and on other timeshare forums as to how they've been scammed.

If for some reason you might know of one legitimate upfront fee resale company that honestly tries to sell timeshares, then they are not the norm ..... the bad ones have spoiled the entire barrel and their repuation has followed all upfront fee resale companies.

The only fair way to selling timeshares is to take any fees after the sale and not before ..... point blank.

I have a response farther down about proof of sales when paying up front fees. In the past Marty has deleted my posts where I list my contact info. Maybe Marty will allow this post since people have to contact me thru a RW ad; anyone who wants to inquire to rent my ad http://www.redweek.com/posting/R416945 could also ask me to send proof of the sales I have completed due to up front fee transactions.

Since I wrote so much below, I want to say first I feel most companies and possibly every company charging large up front fees are not likely to result in the sale or rental of a unit. There is too much evidence these companies do not provide the services they claim to be providing. I'm not agreeing they are all scams, although I agree most are and possibly all are. Some of it depends on what the word large means. I've paid SMTN on average $100 to $200 per listing and since more than a third of my listings resulted in sales and most of my listings resulted in multiple rentals I feel SMTN is a valid site. I accept the agrument their sales staff is at times less than authentic. A first time listing now costs $200-$900 and maybe that is too much but that doesn't make the site a scam. I'll talk about UMS later as well. My experiance was touch and go. Maybe it won't work for other people. All I'm saying is that if you believe the lies and aren't careful you will probably be very disappointed. I haven't been scammed yet. I listen to what they say, and when I don't like the holes in their contract or statements I say "no". So far when I say "yes" it usually works out well and when it doesn't it is not due to the misguided statements offered by the sales staff. Although it appears I have had a few problems because I relied on direct sales timeshare people, but that is a different matter.

JayJay, thanks for recognizing a website such as Redweek who is charging small up front fees is not a scam. It sounds like you are willing to also concur most small fee companies are probably not scams regardless of whether a listing with that company results in the sale or rental of a timeshare. For the most part those companies run a type of classified listing which is dependant on how many people read the items for sale/rent and are stimulated into making an inquiry which might lead to a purchase. In many cases paying those companies will not result in the sale of your unit even though they do market the units for sale and/or rent. There are too many other factors which also affect the outcome. One important factor is the company's ability to expose your unit to potential customers, or a specific type of customer (ebay attracts a specific type of customer). Much of the remaining factors depend on what the owner does. Pricing, for example.

What then is your definition of a scam? Any company who says or implies in any way you can rent or sell your timeshare for an unrealistic price? Any company who charges too much for the listing/service? Any company who has no intention of providing the service owners pay for? Or any company who implies they can get your unit sold/rented that you pay money to and then your unit doesn't sell/rent?

I consider a scam as follows: Any company who does not intend to market your unit with the intention to work towards getting your unit sold/rented. Redweek and SMTN both work to improve their internet presence in order to bring more people to their sites to view, inquire and hopefully complete deals with owners. That's their responsibility regardless of what the sales staff says to you about what your unit is worth. It is then the owners' responsibility to price their unit, respond to inquiries, and effectively convince thru negotiation and "sales stimulation" to convince a customer to agree to a deal. It's the owners' responsibility to learn and know what to do. These are tough words. People feel scammed when they rely on the sales staff for what to do and the sales staff say things which are not entirely accurate in order to convince the owners to list. But really the owners made an error in judgement and I am just as guilty of this. I provide an example in the next paragraph!

I agree SMTN sales staff have embellished a number of points to me. They at times represented offers made on their site to owners are somewhat like negotiated prices. Apparently people believe these misrepresentations and then call SMTN a scam. I agree these actions are dishonest. But this type of misreprresentation is perpetuated upon us all the time. Do you really believe using AXE deoderant will cause a large increase in women taking interest in you? Yes? Then you've been scammed by AXE deoderant. Does AXE make you smell more attractive than other deoderants and possibly help increase in your interpersonal relations? Yes, absolutely! OK, I don't want to be called an AXE shill, I was joking! It really depend on you to evaluate if the statements are realistic and valid. If it's too good to be true, don't falling for it! Decide instead if there is anyhting valid in what's being offered and only if there is should you accept. SMTN is similar to the AXE concept. They offer a viable classified style website where you have the ability to get your unit rented or sold. Are you willing to pay their price? That's up to you. Will your unit sell on SMTN? Maybe, maybe not. Is SMTN better than other sites? It depends, but the same can be said for RedWeek and all other companies who are legitimate.

I wish you not insinuat I am a shill merely because I disagreed with you initially. In your challenge to me today you changed your argument but imply I'm a shill even though I hadn't responded to your new argument. Your response to me sounds a lot like you have agreed with me on a base level (you now agree low up front fee companies are not necessarily scams which was a part of my initial statement) yet you chose to accentuate "large up front fees" which we have not discussed in order to continue disagreeing where you can. How much then is a large up front fee? You have not specifically contested my statements I sold on SMTN which is known to charge $200 to $900 up front. Are these large fees or not? Are you saling their sales process is a scam, the fees are a scam, or that the entire function of SMTN is a scam?

PLEASE, I wish to be clear. I do not intend to ever pay $900 up front in order to rent or sell a timeshare. Heck, I haven't paid (on average to a specific company) more than $300/unit for advertising/selling and I hate paying that unless I have a very high assurance the payment results in the sale of a unit. I make this choice not because I feel $900 is a scam. I make this choice because I feel $900 up front to list a unit for sale/rent is too large an amount to pay for an item worth less than $20,000. Even more so since most of the timeshares I've sold have been between $400 and $5,000.

Here I am then, completely willing to prove I have paid up front fees which resulted in the sale of timeshares. I'm shocked you are so confident no one has ever paid a large up front fee and been able to sell a timeshare. It's done on SMTN which is an up front fee site. They would not likely be so large if they were not enabling bookings and sales to occur.

I have sold multiple timeshares thru the ads I paid for on SellMyTimeshareNow, primarily The Historic Powhatan Resort, Scottsdale Villa Mirage, and I believe Sedona Summit or The Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort. I can fax a copy of e-mail, contracts, and deeds (where I block out the customer last name and contact info) which verifies I was contacted thru SMTN and that the transaction was completed. I'd prefer someone who lives in Orange County come over to my house so I can just show the docs, but I realize most of you will not be living near me.

While I have listed units for sale on Redweek I have not yet sold any thru this website but I have rented some units to people. I've had great success renting from other owners on this site!

I paid Universal Marketing Solutions $3,400 to buy or otherwise enable another buyer to buy 11 of my timeshares, pretty much all at once. I do not recommend UMS due to the complexity of the transaction but I did in fact sell 11 timeshares where I paid an up front fee $3,400 and was paid $23k plus maintenance for 11 units.

I'm not a shill, please don't call me one because I disagree with you.