Need help with contract cancellation language

Hi there,

This Saturday, my spouse and I attended a presentation for Vacation Internationale's VIP vacation club. Timeshare is something we have long been interested in and we decided to purchase what we thought worked out to a reasonable deal.

After getting home and looking through the location booklet, we realized that the points we purchased would go no where near the amount of lodging nights they had told us the package would cover, even at the cheapest off season times.

We have decided to rescind and look into purchase or renting others' timeshares instead of financing this poor deal.

The cancellation portion of our contract states:

"Pursuant to Washington's Retail Installment Sales Act, you may cancel this contract if it is solicited in person, and you sign it, at a place other than the seller's business address shown on the contract, by sending notice of such cancellation by certified mail return receipt requested to the seller at his address shown on the contract which notice shall be posted not later than midnight of the seventh day (excluding Sundays and holidays) following your signing this contract. If you choose to cancel this contract, you must return or make available to the seller at the place of delivery any merchandise, in it's original condition, received by you under this contract."

I understand to send a written request, certified mail return receipt requested, to rescind to the address listed at the top of our contract as the seller's address. It is hundreds of miles away from where we saw the presentation and made our purchase so that portion of the contract seems clear.

We have time yet as only a day has passed, since Sunday didn't count, but we intend to mail our request to rescind today, if possible.

The last line- If you choose to cancel this contract, you must return or make available to the seller at the place of delivery any merchandise, in it's original condition, received by you under this contract.

The materials received under the contract were annual points, is this correct? Do they mean all of the papers, gifts, books and tote- even though none of that is mentioned in the contract?

If so, do they want the materials returned to the place where we received them, or should we send them to the seller's address?

Do we get to keep the gift we were promised for simply attending the presentation?

We don't make any mistakes on our request to rescind so any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
jade done

Welcome to TUG. You're making a good decision to cancel.
VI perpetual memberships are available almost for free on eBay. In the last year there have been several auctions of 100+ point annual VI contracts for under $500 including closing costs, with at least one year of banked credits. Since those banked credits represent an annual maintenance fee of over $1000, that's like getting the ownership for free, with the seller additional paying one-half year of annual fees.

Put in an ongoing search at eBay for "Vacation Internationale" and wait awhile and you will get what you want. Also be sure to do a completed auctions check at eBay so you can see what is happening on completed auctions. You should see plenty of units where there are either no points in the bank or for which the seller is asking reimbursement of fees paid for points in the bank. You'll find that most of those listings will auction for $1, if they get any bids at all. Ones that do get bids involve the seller eating closing costs or not asking for reimbursement for banked points.

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The materials they are talking about you returning are any sales and membership materials, such as resort guides and owners guides or manuals, the tote, etc. Any gifts you received simply for attending the presentation (i.e., things you were promised to induce you to attend the presentation) are yours to keep.

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In the letter I would indicate that you are making available to them at the sales office the materials you received and that are to be returned, along with the date by which you intend to return the items. You should try to get the materials back before the cancellation period is over.

Hi,

That language about the return of materials is rather unique. Here's what I take from it. You are supposed to send your rescission notice to the address listed on the contract - probably a corporate division. Sounds like the materials - by which they mean the tote, resort portfolio, exchange directory, and whatever else they gave you - have to be returned to the sales office where you signed the contract. So, two different things to mail to two different addresses. To the corporate address on the contract, send your rescission letter. Reference your contract number and tell them that you are exercising your rights of rescission as described in Washington's Retail Installment Sales Act. Make sure you send the rescission letter certified mail return receipt as stated. To the sales office, send all the other materials that need to be returned. There are no specific instructions about the return of the materials, so you have some options there, but make sure that you use a method that will provide confirmation of delivery.

Congratulations on doing your homework before it was too late to change your mind! Welcome to TUG.

Thank you both very much for your replies. It is a relief that you both interpreted the return of materials portion the way I did.

I will be certain to post back and let the forum know how the rescission went, and when we find the right deal for us!

Hi Jadedone,

I am in a similar situation now. My husband and I attended the presentation on Saturday - Jan 15 2011 and signed for a timeshare with Vacation Internationale. Now we want to cancel the timeshare. i have same cancellation clause as yours in the contract. We have made a down payment of $923/-. Request you to share your experience in rescinding the timeshare. I really appreciate any information or tips in handling this.

Rescind Now

Welcome to TUG,

It is highly unlikely that the poster of this 5 month old thread will be back to answer you, so follow the instructions and rescind your purchase now.

Then come back here and spend some time reading and learning before you attempt to buy another timeshare.

Welcome to TUG,

There are many of us here that enjoy timeshares, so fell free to aski any question.

fwiw,

Greg

canceltimeshare said:

Hi Jadedone,

I am in a similar situation now. My husband and I attended the presentation on Saturday - Jan 15 2011 and signed for a timeshare with Vacation Internationale. Now we want to cancel the timeshare. i have same cancellation clause as yours in the contract. We have made a down payment of $923/-. Request you to share your experience in rescinding the timeshare. I really appreciate any information or tips in handling this.

Click to expand...

Greg,

Thank so much for your advice!

I called Vacation Internationale and they said I can cancel the contract since it is within the cancellation period and they will refund the payment. I will rescind the contract.

Regards
Sunitha

canceltimeshare said:

Greg,

Thank so much for your advice!

I called Vacation Internationale and they said I can cancel the contract since it is within the cancellation period and they will refund the payment. I will rescind the contract.

Regards
Sunitha

Click to expand...

What would you have done if they said you couldn't cancel it? Here's the deal - canceling within the rescission period is your legal right - the resort doesn't get to say whether you can or not. Their job is to convince you not to cancel. If I was you, I wouldn't call them again.

Make sure you exactly follow the instructions contained in your contract for rescinding. This usually entails sending a letter via mail, registered mail or some other method declaring that you are rescinding the contract. In addition, most of the time you have to return any brochures, handouts, etc. that you got, sometimes to a different address than the letter goes to.

Follow the instructions even if they told you that you didn't need to when you spoke to them on the phone. You only have a short period of time to rescind.