Corporate Events Sales & Service (CESR)

Has anyone dealt with a business called Corporate Events Sales & Service, 211 North Robinson Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73102?

We received an unsolicited offer to purchase our timeshare property, supposedly with no up front fee ... I am assuming this company is yet another scam, but I can find nothing about them on the internet.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Never heard of them, but the one constant on all timeshare forums is to never pay a large upfront fee to any company to supposedly market your timeshare no matter what they may tell you (there's never been a verification from any of these companies that they've done anything but take your money). Play along, but I guarantee you they will charge some type of large upfront fee (estoppel fee, deed research fee, closing fee, etc) before it's over .... do not pay 1 red cent to this company upfront.

Thanks Jay Jay

dennisa wrote:

Thanks Jay Jay

You're welcome .... that's why I post here, to help people like you to stay away from upfront fee timeshare scammers and other timeshare related scams.

I'm in Calgary, Alberta and just got a call from these guys today as well. Seemed odd so I checked their adress on google maps and it shows a nice building with lots of fancy corporate clients. It does not show CESR as a tennant though so I'm guessing this is a scam.

They also offered $27000 for a master room since they needed 50 for a corporate event. If they need that many, why wouldn't they just buy them wholesale?

Another giveaway was the terrible phone line. Perhaps it was Skype but I get the feeling it was coming from somewhere outside the US.

gordonj19 wrote:

They also offered $27000 for a master room since they needed 50 for a corporate event. If they need that many, why wouldn't they just buy them wholesale?

That's one of the latest ploys these scam artists use --- telling people that they are representing corporations looking to buy bulk timeshares for a tax write-off or some other zany reason.

Believe me, no sane person or business is chomping at the bit anxiously awaiting the golden opportunity to slap down $27000 for a timeshare.

gordonj19 wrote:

They also offered $27000 for a master room since they needed 50 for a corporate event. If they need that many, why wouldn't they just buy them wholesale?

Isn't that really ALL you need to know???

The $27000 was indeed the number that set off alarms. Much as the dealers like to use that sort of number as the starting price, nobody is going to randomly phone people up and offer to pay that much in todays market.

Gord

I also got a call from these guys today. Unsolicited and out of the blue. To tell you the truth the offer sounds very good. I agreed to have them send me their proposal via email (see below). They are saying there will no upfront fees, and they will only expect their 8% commission check only AFTER I have received the proposed amount from the buyer in full. So, if I don't have to pay anything upfront, and I only have to pay the comission check AFTER I receive the funds, this sounds pretty good.

They have asked me to sign the following agreement and also send back the first page of my contract with my timeshare so that they have proof that I actually am the owner of the timeshare in question. What do you guys think? What can they do with the first page of my contract? (And please, no "What ifs". I am seriously considering this.)

I spoke with the "General Manager" there and he said, yes he is aware of the scams out there and that this is not one of them (of course he's going to say that).

Here is the letter: ----------------------------------- Corporate Events Sales and Rentals (CESR) GUARANTEES the amount of ($3X,XXX.XX) USD) will be paid to the owners(s) contingent upon the seller providing proof of ownership. CESR assumes all information to be true and accurate to the best of the owner(s) knowledge. Any discrepancies may warrant an adjustment in price by CESR or any of its agents. CESR will charge the seller an 8% commission AFTER the seller has received the full proceeds of their sale. There will be no other charges to the seller for services rendered by CESR or any of its agents. Please note, by signing this proposal, OWNER(S) DO NOT RELINQUISH THE RIGHTS TO THEIR PROPERTY(S). Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. -----------------------------------

Please let me know what you guys think. If they are legitimate, they could be the answer to all of our timeshare problems.

Paul

I also got a call from CESR two weeks ago and decided to play along. I was offered 32.9K for my one-bedroom unit. Then two days ago I got a call from a holding company that was supposedly to carry on a transaction. I further received a contract from CESR that does not even mention what kind of property I am selling, yet it explicitly goes over the condition that I am to pay 8% fees within 5 days after I receive full amount from them. At his point we were positive that it is a scam. When an "agent" from the holding company called me today and I said we will not sign the contract until our attorney goes over it, phone line went immediately dead.....Be careful!!

robertw921 wrote:

What do you guys think?

1. Corporations DON'T BUY TIMESHARES. Not yours, not anyone else's. Period, amen. Enough said.

2. There is no resale timeshare week on Planet Earth worth $30+k; including yours. These parasites are appealing to your greed (please understand that I'm NOT calling you "greedy". I am instead merely pointing out that these parasites are deliberately putting big dollar signs in your mind as a psychological ploy to lure you into their net).

3. You WILL be pitched for upfront money at some point. It will allegedly be for some bogus, contrived reason (title search, pre-payment of taxes, other such nonsense). Once you pay those fees, the alleged (but in truth, non-existent) buyer will quite suddenly disappear (they changed their minds, they went bankrupt, the CEO was captured by aliens from another planet, etc., etc. ad nauseum). You will never see those pre-paid fees again.Color the money GONE.

4. In the wise (and directly applicable) words of Dr. Philip McGraw, "There are no victims, only volunteers".Be smart. DON'T VOLUNTEER!

robertw921 wrote:

I also got a call from these guys today. Unsolicited and out of the blue. To tell you the truth the offer sounds very good. I agreed to have them send me their proposal via email (see below). They are saying there will no upfront fees, and they will only expect their 8% commission check only AFTER I have received the proposed amount from the buyer in full. So, if I don't have to pay anything upfront, and I only have to pay the comission check AFTER I receive the funds, this sounds pretty good.

They have asked me to sign the following agreement and also send back the first page of my contract with my timeshare so that they have proof that I actually am the owner of the timeshare in question. What do you guys think? What can they do with the first page of my contract? (And please, no "What ifs". I am seriously considering this.)

I spoke with the "General Manager" there and he said, yes he is aware of the scams out there and that this is not one of them (of course he's going to say that).

Here is the letter: ----------------------------------- Corporate Events Sales and Rentals (CESR) GUARANTEES the amount of ($3X,XXX.XX) USD) will be paid to the owners(s) contingent upon the seller providing proof of ownership. CESR assumes all information to be true and accurate to the best of the owner(s) knowledge. Any discrepancies may warrant an adjustment in price by CESR or any of its agents. CESR will charge the seller an 8% commission AFTER the seller has received the full proceeds of their sale. There will be no other charges to the seller for services rendered by CESR or any of its agents. Please note, by signing this proposal, OWNER(S) DO NOT RELINQUISH THE RIGHTS TO THEIR PROPERTY(S). Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. -----------------------------------

Please let me know what you guys think. If they are legitimate, they could be the answer to all of our timeshare problems.

Paul

You really want to know what I think? I think you are setting yourself up for a big scam. There are so many things wrong with this proposal, I don't know where to start.

1) Like I said in a previous post, no sane person is going to put down $25000+ for a timeshare.

2) If they collect a commission, then the buyer will pay the whole shebang to the closing company who will then disburse the funds appropriately.

3) They called you "unsolicited and out of the blue". That's a no-no right there.

The message about reviewing the contract with a lawyer and then getting hung up on should say it all. It's a scam. What a lot of people don't realize is that they can issue you a cheque, you pay the 8% to them, and by the time your cheque has cleared, they have stopped payment on theirs. I'm guessing this is why they want the money in thier hands in 5 days. The infamous Nigerian scams use this a lot.

I also got a call this past week with the follow-up proposal. So, I started researching.... First, look at the proposal and notice that there is no registration mark on the company name (as there is with Redweek.com at the top of this page). I looked up the address on Google, and there company is not listed for those occupying that address. I also went to the Oklahoma Dept of State and searched.. there was no business by that name found in any of the public records. ..... if it sounds too good to be true, then most likely it isn't true.. there is probably some new angle to these scams that we just don't know about.

cynthia345 wrote:

I also got a call this past week with the follow-up proposal. So, I started researching...... there is probably some new angle to these scams that we just don't know about.

Good for you for researching before falling for this scam. All it takes to avoid being victimized is to merely take a couple minutes to think clearly and analyze the sales pitch. The scam artists' MOs is to paralyze people with excitement and stop them from thinking rationally.

You said you "got a call"? That's another trademark of these scam artists --- calling timeshare owners unexpectedly.

As for new angles that we just don't know about, that's possible but regardless of their "angles", their pattern is always the same: calling/e-mailing people unexpectedly; telling you you have to act quickly; telling you they can sell or rent out your timeshare for an unreasonably high amount of money; telling you that they can get it done expediently (within 60, 90, 120 days, etc.); assuring you there's no risk on your part with some sort of money-back guarantee; etc.

dennisa wrote:

Has anyone dealt with a business called Corporate Events Sales & Service, 211 North Robinson Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73102?

We received an unsolicited offer to purchase our timeshare property, supposedly with no up front fee ... I am assuming this company is yet another scam, but I can find nothing about them on the internet.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

robertw921 wrote:

I also got a call from these guys today. Unsolicited and out of the blue. To tell you the truth the offer sounds very good. I agreed to have them send me their proposal via email (see below). They are saying there will no upfront fees, and they will only expect their 8% commission check only AFTER I have received the proposed amount from the buyer in full. So, if I don't have to pay anything upfront, and I only have to pay the comission check AFTER I receive the funds, this sounds pretty good.

They have asked me to sign the following agreement and also send back the first page of my contract with my timeshare so that they have proof that I actually am the owner of the timeshare in question. What do you guys think? What can they do with the first page of my contract? (And please, no "What ifs". I am seriously considering this.)

I spoke with the "General Manager" there and he said, yes he is aware of the scams out there and that this is not one of them (of course he's going to say that).

Here is the letter: ----------------------------------- Corporate Events Sales and Rentals (CESR) GUARANTEES the amount of ($3X,XXX.XX) USD) will be paid to the owners(s) contingent upon the seller providing proof of ownership. CESR assumes all information to be true and accurate to the best of the owner(s) knowledge. Any discrepancies may warrant an adjustment in price by CESR or any of its agents. CESR will charge the seller an 8% commission AFTER the seller has received the full proceeds of their sale. There will be no other charges to the seller for services rendered by CESR or any of its agents. Please note, by signing this proposal, OWNER(S) DO NOT RELINQUISH THE RIGHTS TO THEIR PROPERTY(S). Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. -----------------------------------

Please let me know what you guys think. If they are legitimate, they could be the answer to all of our timeshare problems.

Paul

@ Paul:

Cash the check ... but DO NOT send them one dime until your banks guarantees the funds have been received on the check.

If this is a legitimate deal, they will withhold the 8% before they send the check. If you think reasonably about this, why would they send you the full amount, and then wait for you to pay them. This just is not sound business practice.

I would call the manager back, ask him/her to withhold the funds instead of you cashing their check, then sending them their money.

Chances are the check will have insufficient funds, or they will put a stop payment on it leaving you out in the cold.

It's a SCAM and here's how it works:

Scammers have set up a web site for Corporate Events Sales & Service: http://corpescr.com/. The website is registered anonymously, of course. You can look up the domain registry on WHOIS (http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp ). They also have set up websites for several alleged "escrow companies," including "Calderman & Smythe" (http://caldermansmythe.com). Also registered anonymously. These sites were set up less than one month ago.

The scammer first contacts you, purporting to be from CESR. He offers a fantastic deal on your timeshare and tells you to contact the escrow company, to which you will wire money for a "transfer fee" (warning). The scammer apparently has targeted individuals with timeshares at a certain Mexican property, and knows certain details about your property and fee arrangements, etc., making the deal appear legitimate.

However, the address for “Corporate Events Sales & Rentals” in Oklahoma City provided on the website (211 North Robinson Avenue # N130, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102) does not check out. I called the property manager of the building at that address. They told me that they were unfamiliar with the business and said that the address listed on that alleged company’s website is actually an orthodontist’s office.

“Corporate Events Sales & Rentals” is not registered with the Oklahoma Secretary of State.

The address for the alleged escrow company, “Calderman & Smythe,” supposedly at 422 Delcamp in Lexington, Kentucky, does not check out. The address on that alleged company’s website does not exist; the closest addresses are in a run-down residential neighborhood. A complaint has been made to the Better Business Bureau regarding this unknown address, according to the BBB website.

“Calderman & Smythe” is not registered with the Kentucky Secretary of State.

The websites of both of the above-listed businesses were registered within a few days of each other with the same website registration company, which guarantees anonymity for the website registrant.

There is no indication that either alleged business mentioned above existed before September 2011.

There are several other “escrow company” websites that look remarkably similar to “Calderman & Smythe”’s, which (1) list addresses that do not check out, (2) list company names that are not registered with the secretary of state, and (3) were registered anonymously or under suspicious circumstances. See, for example:

http://baltherssonsmythe.com/contact.html

http://taylortrustcompany.com/contact.html

They ask for up-front fees, with the promise of payment to you in the future. This is a typical scam transaction arrangement.

You send the money for the "transfer fee" (about $3k), with the promise of a "closing" on the sale some time in the future. You wait happily for the closing date. It comes and you hear nothing. You are out $3k. You never hear from them again.

In conclusion,

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

Great research on their websites. I only checked out the office address they used and once I found out it was fake, I went no further.

Hopefully searches on their name will come to these forum pages and save people some money. I really hate scum like that who are preying on people when they are desperate to sell because of other setbacks.

Gord