Westgate Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Week: Float Beds: 2 Lockout Usage: Even Years For Sale: $9,999 Neg For Rent: $1,000 Neg
Point at Poipu in Kauai-Koloa, Hawaii Week: Float Beds: 2 Usage: Every Year For Sale: $53,500 Neg
For years now unscrupulous, telemarketing, timeshare resale companies have targeted timeshare owners with deceptive and unethical business practices. The schemes vary, but one that has become prevalent in recent times is the "promise" of an approved buyer ready to make a purchase of a timeshare from the current owner. Most often the telemarketer will "promise" that the interested buyer is ready to proceed with the sale(always at a dollar amount more than the timeshare resale market yields) and that a large deposit of money is required to close the sale or needed for some other unnecessary. Closing is often promised to be complete within 60-90 days of receiving the large deposit and many owners of unwanted timeshares jump at this 'nonexistent opportunity' only to realize a month or two later that they were scammed; there never was a buyer and the large sum of money required was actually called a marketing fee to simply advertise the timeshare. Seldom is any actual, verifiable advertising ever present and it is this type of timeshare resale scam that is being scrutinized by state governing bodies. Below is a recent blurb describing such tactics:
Quote:
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL--The Contact Five Investigators have been covering timeshare marketing companies operating in South Florida.
State investigators say the scheme used by some is simple. Telemarketers call up timeshare owners, who are anxious to sell their property, and tell them there is a buyer. All the owner has to do is pay a deposit to the marketing company. The truth is; there is no buyer, no sale and the timeshare owner loses their money.
That’s the way state investigators say Creative Vacation Solutions of West Palm Beach does business.
“We have visited the business twice this year,” said Terry McElroy, the spokesperson with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “We have fined them $17,000 this year for several violations including-employing unregistered sales agents and operating at an undisclosed location.”
Investigator Shannon Cake tracked down the company, which she found operating in an office building on Woodlake Boulevard in Greenacres, Florida.
Several disgruntled employees came outside and told Contact 5 they worked for the company, but were not receiving their pay.
"I need my money,” one employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, said. “I got a daughter at home I'm trying to feed. I didn't get paid for 3 weeks straight."
Another employee, also claiming she got stiffed three weeks pay, told Contact Five the pitch and promises she makes to timeshare owners over the phone are bogus.
"All of it's a lie,” the woman said, who wouldn’t share her name. “You ain't never gonna get your money back."
Contact Five has received more than two hundred phone calls and emails from people across the country claiming they're being scammed by other timeshare marketing companies that operate in Palm Beach County.
"It's almost like they are predators out there going after these people,” said Mike Gavlin with the Southeast Florida Better Business Bureau.
The BBB has given Creative Vacation Solutions an F rating.
Contact Five tried calling the business, but no one returned our calls.
Florida's Attorney General has filed an injunction and a lawsuit against Creative Vacation Solutions.
The top consumer cop is charging the company, its owners and operators with unfair and deceptive trade practices.
For years now unscrupulous, telemarketing, timeshare resale companies have targeted timeshare owners with deceptive and unethical business practices. The schemes vary, but one that has become prevalent in recent times is the "promise" of an approved buyer ready to make a purchase of a timeshare from the current owner. Most often the telemarketer will "promise" that the interested buyer is ready to proceed with the sale(always at a dollar amount more than the timeshare resale market yields) and that a large deposit of money is required to close the sale or needed for some other unnecessary. Closing is often promised to be complete within 60-90 days of receiving the large deposit and many owners of unwanted timeshares jump at this 'nonexistent opportunity' only to realize a month or two later that they were scammed; there never was a buyer and the large sum of money required was actually called a marketing fee to simply advertise the timeshare. Seldom is any actual, verifiable advertising ever present and it is this type of timeshare resale scam that is being scrutinized by state governing bodies. Below is a recent blurb describing such tactics:
Now, the Florida Attorney General is going after one of these outfits with a lawsuit! From the South Florida Business Journal:
Quote:
Attorney General Bill McCollum has filed a lawsuit against American Marketing Group, alleging deceptive trade practices involving timeshare resales.
The suit alleges that the Palm Beach Gardens-based company would claim it had a buyer for a customer’s timeshare, and that it would be sold within 120 days. Customers were told that if it didn’t sell within that time period, they would be refunded the upfront fee.
However, according to consumer complaints, the company didn’t live up to its end of the deal and they did not get promised refunds.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from engaging in any timeshare resale business. It also requests full restitution on behalf of all victimized consumers, civil penalties and reimbursement for fees and costs related to the investigation. Click here to read the lawsuit.
Here's another story of the same type of timeshare resale scam (from WOWT.com):
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Who among us can afford beachfront property? It's no wonder why timeshares have been popular over the years, but it still comes with a price and sometimes in ways you might not expect.
“I've had enough of it.” Jerry Davis of Ashland owns a timeshare to spend Nebraska winters in a warmer place, but trying to sell it has really made him hot.
"I’m ticked off let me tell you. I’ve been ripped off over $5,000.”
A Florida company called Jerry and claimed to have buyers lined up for his timeshare on the Mexican coast. He just had to pay about $5,000 for various fees up front. “The down payment you make will be returned at sale.”
He’s been waiting months and no money back while company phones have been disconnected. The Better Business Bureau has 197 complaints against the timeshare broker.
“Just because someone calls you and tells you they have a buyer for your timeshare, don’t buy it," says the BBB president Jim Hegarty. "Do your research and check it out.”
Hegarty has a timeshare offer sent in by an Illinois couple who paid a broker $8,000. The broker claimed to be located in Omaha. The BBB can’t find any record of the company.
“Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me, it just sounds like we were lied to and strung along,” says scam victim Terry Hospodar.
Another timeshare broker listed Kimball, Nebraska as its home base. However, the phone number for the company has a Texas area code.
Hegarty warns to beware of anyone who calls out of the blue to sell a timeshare for a fee. If they claim to have buyers lined up, that's a big red flag to be leery of the offer.
The bottom line, once again, is to be extremely careful with any company/individual that calls out-of-the-blue/without invitation with the "Buyer Ready & Waiting" scam and report these types of solicitations through the appropriate channels.
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...another telemarketing 'We have A Buyer' timeshare resale scam! This from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Quote:
Financially strapped timeshare owners planning to sell their places to get extra cash or save money should be on the watch for predators who promise fast sales for a fee but don't deliver.
That warning comes from the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. The bureau said it has received complaints here and across the country from consumers about companies who say they are in the timeshare resale business, but who misrepresent sales potential and make promises that they aren't keeping.
The bureau has received complaints in the Chicago area on Irving, Texas-based Resorts Condos Management, which has an "F" rating with the bureau. The complaint alleges the company's telemarketers tell consumers that buyers are lined up and the transaction needs a deposit from the seller to proceed. But after paying upfront fees of more than $2,500, the supposed buyers don't materialize and refunds are difficult to get.
One Chicago-area consumer said the company called and said they had a buyer who would pay $31,000 for a timeshare condo. The consumer allegedly was told to pay a fee of $3,000 on a credit card and was told the deal would close within six weeks. No buyer ever came through. According to the bureau, the out-of-work-married couple tried to get a refund for months, and received it only after filing a complaint with the bureau.
Beware Buyer Waiting Timeshare Resale Scam 
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