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Looking for Timeshare Resale Scam Justice?

scambuster

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I hope this letter doesn’t apply to you, but if it does then there is something we can do about it. Enough is enough! I have been ripped off by two different companies out of Florida claiming that they would sell my timeshare. One was for $698 and the other for $399. After the second time I had enough. I contacted a friend of mine who is a prominent lawyer in California. He expressed a willingness to file some class action lawsuits if we can get enough people involved. If you would be interested in getting not only your money back but also some well deserved justice I urge you to get involved. It will cost you absolutely nothing but a few minutes of your time. All you need to do is file a complaint on www.resaleripoffs.com. Once we get enough complaints we can finally be heard in court! Not only will we get ourselves justice but we will also be helping others who are in the process of trying to sell their timeshares. If we get enough people to respond a class action lawsuit is eminent. We may even be able to get some of these criminals shut down. The reason these companies get away with our money is because some of us just sit still and take it on the chin thinking what can I do. Alone there isn’t much you can do so please, let us all unite and start the fight!

PS: If you know someone that has been ripped off by one of these timeshare resale companies please forward this to them.
 

richardm

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Anyone know anything about this? I'd hate to see this site simply be a lead generator for a postcard company... What better targets! This is another website where the owner info is hidden by a domain-by-proxy...
 

richardm

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Anyone know anything about this. I'd hate to see this site simply be a lead generator for a postcard company... What better targets! This is another website where the owner info is hidden by a domain-by-proxy...

Maybe I'm just too cautious- but anyway- just a thought!
 
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theo

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Good point...

Anyone know anything about this- www.resaleripoffs.com? I'd hate to see this site simply be a lead generator for a postcard company... What better targets! This is another website where the owner info is hidden by a domain-by-proxy...

Maybe I'm just too cautious- but anyway- just a thought!

When it comes to anything remotely associated with upfront fee parasites, I don't think that "too cautious" is even a possibility. It's noteworthy that there are no host names or identities revealed on the linked site, which has been so helpfully provided by a new, unidentified "guest".

Your point is astute and well taken. Thanks for the observation. :clap:
 
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Aussiedog

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hmmmm

I would urge caution as well.

My husband has done a number of class action law suits and he tells me that at this stage it is not volume that counts. Rather, it is the quality of the one good plaintiff and the ability to get the class certified based on that plaintiff and proving to the court that the plaintiff's issues are not unique but common to a class. So asking for lots of people to sign complaint forms with no real identifiers is not a normal part of the process.

He also said that most likely this would be a federal action and quite expensive and so it would be very important for the attorney to first assess the assets of the company being sued. What good is it to win a class action case against a company that is a shell and has no money? There are other ways to shut a bad company down, but it you want damages (which is what you want in a class action) there have to be assets.

Ann
 

e.bram

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YEP. Sounds like a great way to get leads for a PCC company. Even saves postage and room rental and no inventives(freebies) needed.
Indeed a stroke of genius.
 

calgarygary

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You have to give the person(s) behind resaleripoffs credit:

  • they came up with a business name that reflects what they will do to the consumer
  • they had the patience to dig up this old thread
  • they are no way connected to Seabreeze and have no intention of forwarding them any contact info. (yeh, right!)
  • should you register, there is no privacy protection, you can expect your information to be shared not only with Seabreeze but with all forms of pcc and similar business models
 

Mel

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Several red flags:

1 - as already stated, class actions start with a lead plaintiff and then becomes certified for the whole class

2 - for a class action to be effective, there needs to be some deep pockets to pay a settlement

3 - we're talking about many resellers, so such a class-action would have many defendants (unless someone can somehow prove they are all the same company, which they are not).

If you want a monetary settlement, then a class-action would be the way to go, but remember that most members of the class won't get much back.

If you're more concerned about stopping what they are doing, a single lawsuit resulting in an order for them to cease and desist would probably be more effective. Of course, not matter which option you choose, they can just shut their shop and start a new company.
 

jdb0822

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simply log in to the website, and enter in the contact info for all 50 state attorney general's offices. Let the PCC contact those offices, looking to "sell their timeshare".

that should at least peak someone's interest.

This guy's only 2 posts are the same.

By putting his website on TUG, he gets the google search exposure.
 

Carolinian

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What would be fun if we could figure out which PCC this was, would be to send in a bunch of complaints on the scam of that PCC.

This post smells.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
The Timeshare Nightmare -- Multiple Layers Of Compound Scam.

OK, some perfectly nice folks on vacation get fast-talked into taking a timeshare tour for freebies.

On tour, they get arm-twisted & guilt-tripped & high-pressured into buying a full-freight timeshare for big bux.

Back home & away from the glitz & the glitter, they come to their senses, realizing they can't afford it, they don't want it, it's too expensive, it won't get them all the fancypants exchanges the timeshare seller told'm it would get, the promised bonus weeks, etc., are worthless, & they want out.

Cooling off period for rescission is long past, so they try to get the timeshare company to take back the timeshare. "No thanks," the timeshare company says. "We just sell'm. We don't take'm back."

So the nice folks try to resell their timeshare themselves. No takers -- but fortunately some slick companies are johnny on the spot claiming to have buyers all lined up & ready to pay handsomely for the nice folks' timeshare. Just pay $550 up front for appraisal, marketing analysis, advertising fee, & administrative expenses & you'll be good to go. The nice folks pay the $550. Predictably, nothing happens -- nothing, that is, other than those maintenance fee bills & those installment payment bills that keep on coming.

So the nice folks give up on their timeshare selling company & sign on with a competitor, which promises better results sooner for less -- only $350 up front. Unfortunately, the results are the same.

Eventually the nice folks get their timeshare paid off. By then the annual maintenance fees have gone up & they've been hit with a Special Assessment. After paying those mandatory charges, they can't afford to go on vacation.

A vision of salvation appears in the form of a slick postcard from a company offering so solve their timeshare problem by quickly relieving them of their ongoing timeshare obligations. The nice folks show up, swallow hard & pay the substantial sum required to obtain timeshare relief, sign the papers, & head home sadder but not necessarily wiser.

After several months, they get a big surprise -- their timeshare annual fee bill arrives in the mail, just the same as always. "Hey," they say. "We paid big bux for that professional company to take our timeshare off our hands."

Yep, they sure did. The trouble was, nobody bought the nice folks' timeshare after the postcard company went through the motions of taking it off the nice folks' hands. You thought the postcard company was actually going to put itself on the hook? Silly you. No -- all the timeshare problem-solving company did was just take a flippable power of attorney on the nice folks' timeshare, or mayabe a flippable quitclaim timeshare deed that never got recorded. Ownership & all obligations remain with the nice folks unless & until the postcard company is able to flip the timeshare to somebody else.

So, the nice folks are scammed & scammed & scammed & scammed & scammed & scammed & scammed & re-scammed -- all over 1 lousy timeshare.

No wonder timeshares are an object of derision out there in the real world where most people's exposure to timeshares is via 1 or more of the multiple layers of compound timeshare scam.

Sheesh.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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e.bram

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AwayWeGo:
I can understand the upfront company scam,BUT
do you have concrete evididense or definate proof of any PCC company not performing as represented(whether you like the concept or not).
Give us the details otherwise you post is slanderous and unfare..
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
It's A Worst-Case Scenario All Right -- But How Unfair Is It, Really ?

AwayWeGo:
I can understand the upfront company scam,BUT
do you have concrete evididense or definate proof of any PCC company not performing as represented(whether you like the concept or not).
Give us the details otherwise you post is slanderous and unfare..
Maybe.

You could be right.

However that may be, everything I know about timeshare scams I was warned about right here on TUG-BBS, which is the source of all the ingredients that are recast in the form of that potentially slanderous & possibly unfair "nightmare" scenario.

You can look'm up via the TUG-BBS search function as well as I can or as easily as anybody else can. (I don't do research.)

I don't know all that much about slander, but you will note that the "nightmare" scenario only describes familiar hypotheticals. It does not name names -- not that I know any names to name even if I were so inclined.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

Kona Lovers

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Well done, Alan.

Marty
 

calgarygary

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AwayWeGo:
I can understand the upfront company scam,BUT
do you have concrete evididense or definate proof of any PCC company not performing as represented(whether you like the concept or not).
Give us the details otherwise you post is slanderous and unfare..

Absolutely, the pcc companies state to the original owners that they are not in the business of selling timeshares. They omit to mention that the principals in the pcc are also the principals in a company that the timeshare will be transferred to nor do they mention that the principals in the pcc and the sales company are also principals in the so called escrow company - a clear and illegal (in Florida anyways) conflict of interest. Such duplicity gives AwayWeGo and any others that wish to, the right to post their comments without fear of reprisal regarding slander.
 

timeos2

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Seems postcard companies may themselves foster scams

AwayWeGo:
I can understand the upfront company scam,BUT
do you have concrete evididense or definate proof of any PCC company not performing as represented(whether you like the concept or not).
Give us the details otherwise you post is slanderous and unfare..

Again without doing the search needed to locate the exact posts there have been reports from owners who paid a PCC and then found out much later they still owned the week and still owed the fees. It's not a myth. Look it up.

Here's one that comes close

and another with warnings here

and a snippet of a post addressing the exact issue in question:

"At 4:53 PM, Blogger timeshareloser said…

I gave Timeshare Relief over 4K last February. Now, I have no deeds to the intervals, and I am receiving maintenance bills.
They have not responded to registered mail and I would be willing to participate in a class action suit if there is interest."

See that LONG thread here And of course just search right here on TUG to get an eyeful.

It would appear that the postcard companies are yet another in a long line of con organization moths drawn to the flame of distressed timeshare owners. The numbers paid just keep getting larger (the original scams only took $300-$500 yet still made millions!) now they are up to $3500 and still leaving at least some owners shafted and poorer in their wake. Best advice is to avoid these groups like a plague.
 
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taffy19

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AwayWeGo, your post sums it all up and should be made a sticky. Have you ever been to a PCC presentation? If not, you must go and take this with you and hand it out to people before they go in the presentation room.

We went to one of these presentations and listened to the many lies they told us. At our presentation they made you believe that you were selling your timeshare to them but we never saw the legal paper work so they may have put a different clause in the contract that you were giving them the right to sell it but would still be the legal owner.

I know for a fact that it was never mentioned during the presentation as I would have understood the difference here. I had a CA RE broker's license as we dealt in RE property for ourselves so I am familiar with the RE terms. This was misrepresentation and I challenged them several times about other lies too and nobody fell for their scheme that afternoon. :)
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Have Received Plenty Of Their Postcards But Have Not Gone To Any Presentations.

Have you ever been to a PCC presentation?
Never been & unlikely to go -- the freebies are too paltry.

$25 gas card ?

Get real.

$25 these days won't even get the bottom of the tank wet.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​



 

jcschimm

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question on selling timeshare

I'm wondering if any companies (like GMAC) are legit if they guarantee the sale of your timeshare for a fee. They want $1000 up front but guarantee sale within 90 days. I have not asked for anything in writing just yet but plan to. They say they will sell it for going rate (currently $.15/point) and there are no additional costs or fees to me. Anyone know about them or if this is worth it?
 

jdb0822

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.15/pt for what? Not Wyndham points I hope. That's a scam. Wyndham is .005 to .01/pt By GMAC are you refering to GMAC/TimesharesOnly? Any upfront fee to anyone, is a scam. Period. No Exceptions. Tell GMAC to take the $1,000 from your proceeds when the timeshare sells for .15/point.

That will end their interest in your TS real fast.
 

timeos2

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I'm wondering if any companies (like GMAC) are legit if they guarantee the sale of your timeshare for a fee. They want $1000 up front but guarantee sale within 90 days. I have not asked for anything in writing just yet but plan to. They say they will sell it for going rate (currently $.15/point) and there are no additional costs or fees to me. Anyone know about them or if this is worth it?

How do they plan to guarantee a buyer in 90 days? Ay what price? If you have $1000 you don't need you can go ahead and give it to them but I'll bt you have much better uses for it. Maybe even paying the fees on the week you'll still own in 90 days. But you'll be $1000 poorer should you make the mistake of listing with any company asking for $1000 upfront. Don't pay an upfront fee. Period.
 

Pit

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I'm wondering if any companies (like GMAC) are legit if they guarantee the sale of your timeshare for a fee. They want $1000 up front but guarantee sale within 90 days. I have not asked for anything in writing just yet but plan to. They say they will sell it for going rate (currently $.15/point) and there are no additional costs or fees to me. Anyone know about them or if this is worth it?

Not likely. What's the guarantee? They guarantee to take your money.
 

jcschimm

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.15/pt for what? Not Wyndham points I hope. That's a scam. Wyndham is .005 to .01/pt By GMAC are you refering to GMAC/TimesharesOnly? Any upfront fee to anyone, is a scam. Period. No Exceptions. Tell GMAC to take the $1,000 from your proceeds when the timeshare sells for .15/point.

That will end their interest in your TS real fast.
Thanks all for the info from everyone. This is a rep. from GMAC- Timeshare Division and yes, it's Wyndham points. I will talk to him and tell him what I've been told and that I won't pay any up front fees, guarantee or not.
 
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