[ 2023 ] Vacation Property Management - SCAM!!! (offer to rent RCI exchange/bonus weeks)

[crystal.miller]

I was scammed by Vacation Property Management stating I could use my 6 week RCI exchange for money. I lost $2,400. They are being investigated and hopefully prosecuted. Please send any info to:
Kelly Amabile

Investigator – Consumer Protection Section
Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
Office number :614-752-6834
Fax number: 866-347-2539
Kelly.Amabile@OhioAGO.gov

 

[The Colorado Kid]

I was scammed by Vacation Property Management stating I could use my 6 week RCI exchange for money. I lost $2,400. They are being investigated and hopefully prosecuted. Please send any info to:
Kelly Amabile

Investigator – Consumer Protection Section
Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
Office number :614-752-6834
Fax number: 866-347-2539
Kelly.Amabile@OhioAGO.gov

Ooof very sorry...if you paid by credit card can you submit a dispute to try to get your money back?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Known scam

 

[Luanne]

Is this an RCI scam or a scam by Vacation Property Management (is that a company or are you taking about the management company of some property you bought)?

 

[jwalk03]

Not an RCI scam. RCI had nothing to do with it. RCI prohibits any rental activity for its inventory.

 

[Luanne]

Not an RCI scam. RCI had nothing to do with it. RCI prohibits any rental activity for its inventory.

Then can someone change the title of the post? @TUGBrian

 

[Inhislove]

I am so sorry you got scammed!

 

[RX8]

I am starting to sound like a broken record, so sorry for those that see that I keep repeating myself. Doing so to hopefully save even just one person for falling for this known scam.

Vacation Property Management is just a front to cover their scamming. They really only offer “advertising” services. They charge a huge upfront fee for a worthless ad that never gets any exposure. This is just another new company using the same exact playbook - cheap, hard to navigate website offering only the appearance of being a legitimate advertising site, cold call timeshare owners with no regard to DNC rules, lie to timeshare owners on the phone by claiming they have extra RCI weeks to rent but need an “activation” fee first, charge a big upfront fee, do nothing else and hope the victims just go away. If they don’t and too many complain then close the website and start a new company name/website.

Here is one of hundreds of threads about this old scam. Same acam, different name.

"Vacation Resorts Club" new scam?

Anybody else been getting this hard sell telephone scam call from this company, to wit... --just sign this contract, and --give us $400 per week, and --we'll use your interval number to book some getaway weeks, and --you get to choose how many weeks we book (but no more than 6 per year!) at...

tugbbs.com

 

[VacationForever]

Scammers go after victims' weakness/greed. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

 

[LannyPC]

Scammers go after victims' weakness/greed....

...and naivete. Scammers feel that, if a person was gullible enough to buy a TS thinking that it would hold its value or increase in value, then s/he will be gullible enough to fall for the upfront fee resale/rental scam.

 

[magmue]

And cold calls. We get at least one most weeks "We'd like to rent your RCI exchanges (or Extra Vacations)!! Most times they manage to hang up before I can finish saying "put me on your Do Not Call list". I tried to argue with one who got very indignant when I said I wasn't interested and it was against RCI rules "What!?! That's not true! Who told you that?!" Sigh.

 

[rickandcindy23]

...and naivete. Scammers feel that, if a person was gullible enough to buy a TS thinking that it would hold its value or increase in value, then s/he will be gullible enough to fall for the upfront fee resale/rental scam.

True.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

Why does anyone answer calls from phone numbers they do not recognize? Problem solved.

 

[Luanne]

Why does anyone answer calls from phone numbers they do not recognize? Problem solved.

Or at least hang up when you realize it's no one you know.

 

[bnoble]

Because the caller is offering them something they want to be true.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

Because the caller is offering them something they want to be true.

But obviously you only risk falling prey to that if you answer

 

[DEEDENNY]

TODAY the scam is from another outfit with a different name:

"Vacation Club Options Inc" and they want to use your RCI getaways (4 to 8 of them) and then rent them​

out for a hugh profit to you in 8 weeks time. The catch is that you pay them the getaway fee $399 upfront ($1596 for 4) and then you have been SCAMMED and will
never will hear from them again. (unless they want more money, LOL)

 

[dioxide45]

TODAY the scam is from another outfit with a different name:

"Vacation Club Options Inc" and they want to use your RCI getaways (4 to 8 of them) and then rent them​

out for a hugh profit to you in 8 weeks time. The catch is that you pay them the getaway fee $399 upfront ($1596 for 4) and then you have been SCAMMED and will
never will hear from them again. (unless they want more money, LOL)

You also have to pay to actually reserve the weeks through Extra Vacations or Last Call. So RCI makes out pretty well on this scam, even though they aren't directly involved.

 

[RX8]

You also have to pay to actually reserve the weeks through Extra Vacations or Last Call. So RCI makes out pretty well on this scam, even though they aren't directly involved.

That is true if someone was actually purchasing RCI getaway weeks. However, in this case RCI doesn’t get any money because the scammer is lying when he says that you have unused getaway weeks that they want to rent. They don’t want any weeks, they want the “activation fee” which is just a huge upfront fee to market the timeshare (that is what the actual contract will state). And when I say market, I mean they do nothing at all. Most of the scammers don’t even place a real ad for the specific timeshare. Many scammers don’t have any actual marketing going on at all, they are just collecting upfront fees pretending that they are doing something for your big fee. Even Sell My Timeshare Now, which has been around for years, is a complete waste of money to list your timeshare. At least they have a real ad but that ad is lost in hundreds of other timeshares, most insanely overpriced.

 

[dioxide45]

RCI doesn’t get any money because the scammer is lying when he says that you have unused getaway weeks that they want to rent. They don’t want any weeks, they want the “activation fee” which is just a huge upfront fee to market the timeshare (that is what the actual contract will state). And when I say market, I mean they do nothing at all. Most of the scammers don’t even place a real ad for the specific timeshare. Many scammers don’t have any actual marketing going on at all, they are just collecting upfront fees pretending that they are doing something for your big fee. Even Sell My Timeshare Now, which has been around for years, is a complete waste of money to list your timeshare. At least they have a real ad but that ad is lost in hundreds of other timeshares, most insanely overpriced.

But I suspect you pay the scammer the money and then go out and book the getaway weeks through RCI to rent through the scammer? Or do they not even ask you to actually make reservations?

 

[RX8]

But I suspect you pay the scammer the money and then go out and book the getaway weeks through RCI to rent through the scammer? Or do they not even ask you to actually make reservations?

The scammers never ask the victims to book anything. They use the same lie whether or not timeshare owner is even a member of Interval or RCI. Their focus is that activation fee which is nothing more than money in the scammer’s pocket.

 

[dioxide45]

They never ask the victims to book anything. They use the same lie whether or not timeshare owner is even a member of Interval or RCI. Their focus is that that activation fee which is nothing more than money in the scammer’s pocket.

Interesting. I've never actually talked to these scammers all that long on the few calls I get. I am not getting calls from "The Fulfillment Center". I am not actually sure what they are selling. I suspect maybe discounted packages that require a timeshare presentation. I asked the guy today what company he was with and he said "The Fulfillment Center". No idea who these people are but they call every couple days.

 

[RX8]

Interesting. I've never actually talked to these scammers all that long on the few calls I get. I am not getting calls from "The Fulfillment Center". I am not actually sure what they are selling. I suspect maybe discounted packages that require a timeshare presentation. I asked the guy today what company he was with and he said "The Fulfillment Center". No idea who these people are but they call every couple days.

I’ve received a number of calls from these marketing/advertising scammers. I have listened to many spiels in an attempt to get their actual business name. They always use very generic names, like they do with your “fulfillment center”, but I can usually extract it out of them. I have yet to receive a call from a company calling themselves the “fulfillment center”.

I’ll share one frustrating story. I received a call from a scammer that was spoofing the incoming number. It was the same area code as my cell and the city associated with the number was a very small town of about 8,000 people. I talked nicely to try to get their name. I pointed out the number she was calling from and asked her if they were in that town. She lied and said yes, there is an office there. This was a very small town that I knew well. She initially told me she was RCI but I finally got the actual business name out of her. I filed a company review with the BBB for an unsolicited, spoofed call from the business in violation of DNC. The BBB review was rejected because the BBB stated that the scammer company denied the phone number as being their number. The BBB also stated that the number was not a phone number the BBB had on file for the company. My response to the BBB, which was ignored, was that they are allowing scammers to cold call with spoofed numbers with impunity because all the scammer has to do is say “that is not my number”.