Has anyone ever sold their timeshare to Despegar.com travel agency?

I have a timeshare with Playa Grande in Cabo, Mexico and I received a phone call from a company called Despegar that wants to pay it. I feel like this is a scam. Need advice.

Travel agencies don't "buy" timeshares. The next pitch you'll get from this obscure, unknown "dot com" entity is a request for you to first pay some (non-existent) fabricated tax or fee in order to "proceed". Don't do it. Forewarned is forearmed.

It's a SCAM !!! If they contact you telling you they have a buyer for an outrageous price then it's " too good to be true " . They lure you in with a big price and then they want an upfront front fee. Then they disappear with your money. NEVER pay anyone money upfront that claims they will buy your timeshare.

Thank you for your responses. This company is definitely a fraud because I had 4 different people from the same company call me with the same marketing strategy in wanting to purchase my timeshare. I just hope nobody falls for this scam. I wonder if there is a way to report this business.

They approached my husband and I as well to purchase our Playa Grande membership. Here is what I found online from insidethegate.com/gatehouse/2016/03/mexico-timeshare-fraud-:

Mike 05/04/2016 at 6:32 am (UTC -7) We have also been contacted to purchase our Timeshare by DesPegar Travel Agency and the Escrow Agency is Real Estate Brokerage in Denver. We have not been asked for any money and the contract with Real Estate Brokerage required the buyer, DesPegar, to pay all fees to close the sale. I realize there are Timeshare shams in the market now. Do you have any further information on these two companies to indicate they are operating illegally? Have you continued on with the process to try and sell your time share? Thanks for any other updated information.

Mike

Judy 05/04/2016 at 7:19 am (UTC -7) Despegar and Real Estate Brokerage are not legit. You will soon be getting calls that the Mexican Tourism office is involved and then calls from their attorney in New Mexico asking for money to be wired to bank in Mexico. We even got calls saying they had made sure it was not a scam! We almost did this, but I found this website and saved money and heartbreak.

Lisa E 05/04/2016 at 8:33 am (UTC -7) Mike ask them for the business license to confirm. Do some research on their company name this is how they all start to hook you, they will get around to asking you for upfront money, do not give it to them. If they are legit, they will sell it for you and take their commission from the sale and give you the remaining money on the agreed terms.

Rachel 05/04/2016 at 11:43 am (UTC -7) Mike, Our timeshare has never been for sale, they contacted us. First sign of a scam to me. When they sent the contract there were no indications of any fees, stated the same thing yours does. After finding this blog and the outline of the scam I responded to them with the question of would there be any fees once the process started, specifically inquiring about the ones indicated from previous posters. I have not heard from them since. Not a peep. Pretty good indication to me they are disreputable grifters. If you aren’t convinced send them back the contract and see what happens Rachel

Sent from Rachel💕

Anonymous 05/04/2016 at 1:35 pm (UTC -7) I talked with DesPegar and got theinformation I needed. You start the process with Real Estate Brokerage and they are working with the Mexican Tourist Office to get a “release” so that the sale can occur. Apparently, the Mexican Tourist office will charge the owner a fee of 8 -16% of the purchase price which must be paid by the owner. DesPegar is not allowed to pay the fee directly. Once the owner pays the fee, they will issue a “release” that the Timeshare can be sold to another party. I understand that the Mexican government has ownership of the land so they want revenue when the property changes hands. DesPegar said they would reimburse me after I paid the fee. I am not sure what would happen on the reimbursement so I have elected to end the process of sellling. Thanks to all for providing information so I could understand the process.

Lisa E 05/04/2016 at 1:52 pm (UTC -7) Info for DesPegar is a travel agency, if you give any money for fees upfront, you are taking a loss and will never see it again.

If you look at the escrow webpage, there are a few typo's, grammatical and punctuation errors. From my research, this is a red flag. Also, I tried to call the escrow company during the day and there was no answer and the voice mail was a generic computerized voice mail stating to leave a message after the tone...no voice message that I was calling an escrow company (Realty Direct operated out of Minnesota).

The girl, Joanna, who is seemingly a young inexperienced girl who I have been communicating with gave me her boss' phone number. I tried to call him and no answer and the same kind of generic voice message as the escrow company.

We are going to pass on this! Hope this helps.

I am now getting calls and I have asked if I will be out any fees or taxes out of pocket and the manager says no. I want to know if anyone has successfully sold to these people? They say they are buying the timeshare contracts so they can put together vacation packages and they do not sell the timeshare. I have one year left on a Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan timeshare and they are offering 14,700 dollars! I said why so much? They said we can renew it in one year for Emerald bay and this is the only way we can legally do so. I need an answer, not from someone who has dealt with other folks, but someone who has had a successful deal with Despegar. Thanks! Steve

It's a SCAM !! Scams like these have been around for quite a while. They claim they are buying timeshares to set the hook. Once you take the bait they claim there is a " fee " that has to be paid. If you are naïve enough to send them money they will claim that another " fee " has come up. This will continue until you stop sending them money. Anyone that they snag will then be put on the " sucker list " and contacted by every scammer that they can sell their list to. Save yourself the misery of becoming a victim and move on.

I'm not sending anyone a penny! I better have learned that in my 63 years! I am just waiting to hear from someone who has completed a deal with them. Thanks! Steve W.

I think the only ones you will hear that completed a deal would be shills from the company stating that they were nervous about the transaction but everything eventually settled and they are so happy they went with this company.

I'm just going to ignore it at this point. it flat out has to be a scam. The weird thing is that this company has been doing business for quite a while but most of their reviews are pretty bad. Thanks for your feedback! Steve

They prey upon people who are desperate to get out of their contracts. They are very good at what they do. They fly under the radar because they are low priority as far as law enforcement goes if people want to file charges. Mostly it's considered a civil matter unless the scam gets big enough to attract the attention of the right agency.

Got a call from Despagear today August 2, 2016. Thanks for this website and the posters who have provided relevant information.

They offered me 14k for a timeshare with one year left. Somethings fishy. They said I would never have to pay them anything but I would have to mail a copy of my contract to them. I'm a little too leary at this point.

stevew446 wrote:

They offered me 14k for a timeshare with one year left. Somethings fishy. They said I would never have to pay them anything but I would have to mail a copy of my contract to them. I'm a little too leary at this point.

The fact that they are offering way more than market value is a red flag. It's good that you are leery. What they will do is tell you that they have found a buyer and have a check waiting for you. But before they can send you a check, the Mexican government requires that you pay a certain tax. While they have you paralyzed with excitement and not thinking rationally, they'll tell you that this tax must be paid in order to close the deal.

Like Lance says they lure you in with a too good to be true offer. Once they set the hook they claim there is a " fee ' that has to be paid upfront. If you are naïve enough to send them money they will then claim there is another " fee " that has come up. This will continue until you stop sending them money. You will then be put on the " sucker list " and sold to other scammers who will call and claim they can get your money back for yet another " fee " .

Save yourself the aggravation of dealing with these scammers . Just ignore them.

THey dont do that with this outfit. They say no money will come out of my pocket and they are not buying it to sell. They say they are buying it to put together vacation packages to sell on the internet. They swore they only wanted me to send them a copy of the contract and they would send me a check that I could cash and I would in turn sign a seller agreement and send that with the deed to them when it cleared. It sounded to good to be true and their vacation reviews are mixed, about 70/30 to the bad side. The guy called a few hours ago and I told him I thought it was a scam and to not call any more. I was damn tempted to see how it worked since this one timeshare expires in 2017 anyway. I hope I didnt just look a gift horse in the mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!

stevew446 wrote:

They offered me 14k for a timeshare with one year left. Somethings fishy.

Yes, something's fishy. Why would they offer you $14K when there are so many available on E-Bay and elsewhere for $1 or less? And why $14K for an RTU that only has one year left? Very rarely does someone phone a total stranger offering to give him $14K for something that is worth about one dollar. And even if this person or company is absolutely desperate for your particular unit, why is he not offering $1000 or so? Why $14K?

These guys are good at what they do. If they trap a few victims a week they make a good amount of money. Look at how they almost have you hooked. They will send you a check claiming that the amount is wrong and ask you to send them the difference. By the time you realize that the check is a fake you are out the amount you sent them. This is one of the oldest scams around. It's not just timeshare owners that they use this one on. I was in law enforcement for over twenty five years and I can smell a scam miles away and this one really stinks.

Thanks for the reply. I am done with them!

I also was contacted by Despegar, and went down the path as far as the contract, which I received today. No typos, etc, but just curious as to how they would handle the extra costs that you all talk about. SO lines 7 and 8 address the Mexican tax and that the escrow company is not liable for that, so one could assume that the buyer is. Of course, the sales agent says that there is nothing the buyer pays and that of course we are going to read negatives on line, as that is how the public works with downgrading the company. Nice guy, Ivan, but definitely a disappointment. Wouldn't it be so nice and a perfect world if people just earned their livings legitimately and didn't prey on people who pay for what they have and hopefully came by it honestly. And thanks, Don P., for your service and insight. Sigh.... Nancy