Bought a timeshare and have company possibly scamming

[Gardo]

Hello all,

New here, but I will get to the point. I purchased points via a spot in Mexico for 9k around 4 years ago. I posted to sell it 2 years ago on couple sites, but nothing came of it.

Fast forward to last week. Got a call from all services travel saying they want to make me an offer and that there's a client that is buying up points for this area (this was after I gave them the hotel and amount of points). They say no wire transfer, no money upfront. They will wire me the money once deal is made and then after they start the transfer of points.

I have yet to get a contract, but I am not dumb and won't send them any money obviously. Anyone dealt with anything like this? I doubt it's legit, but nothing they said has seemed off.

Thanks!

 

[DrQ]

Hello all,

New here, but I will get to the point. I purchased points via a spot in Mexico for 9k around 4 years ago. I posted to sell it 2 years ago on couple sites, but nothing came of it.

Fast forward to last week. Got a call from all services travel saying they want to make me an offer and that there's a client that is buying up points for this area (this was after I gave them the hotel and amount of points). They say no wire transfer, no money upfront. They will wire me the money once deal is made and then after they start the transfer of points.

I have yet to get a contract, but I am not dumb and won't send them any money obviously. Anyone dealt with anything like this? I doubt it's legit, but nothing they said has seemed off.

Thanks!

Probably a scam. They will probably attempt to do a slow bleed of fees and charges down the road to "complete" the sale. Use the search function for scams. The fact that they reached out to you after two years of inactivity should be a big warning flag.

 

[Gardo]

I mean if they ask me for any money upfront obviously I will not do anything and report back with all info, but has anyone actually successfully sold their stuff? They were saying something about instead of the client buying from the hotel he gets a tax incentive for buying from me. Sounds super sketchy, but they didn't ask for any fees and said there won't be any.

 

[RX8]

I mean if they ask me for any money upfront obviously I will not do anything and report back with all info, but has anyone actually successfully sold their stuff? They were saying something about instead of the client buying from the hotel he gets a tax incentive for buying from me. Sounds super sketchy, but they didn't ask for any fees and said there won't be any.

It is all lies. Most Mexican timeshares are given away, not sold. Just check the completed sales on eBay.

You can browse the “Buying, Selling, Renting” forum to find threads about this common scam. However, the thread below, while about renting versus buying, is exactly what is going to happen if you follow through with them.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...buy-mans-timeshare-con-him-out-of-24k.286514/

 

[Iggyearl]

https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index...ervice-escrow-holding-management-scam.282366/

This topic comes up every week. Here is a post from someone who was kind and humble enough to share his story. "Seller beware."

 

[LannyPC]

but they didn't ask for any fees and said there won't be any...

...until they tell you that they have found a buyer and, while you're intoxicated at the exciting thought of the big payday, tell you that you have to pay some "minor", legitimate-sounding tax or fee to complete the sale.

 

[PigsDad]

...until they tell you that they have found a buyer and, while you're intoxicated at the exciting thought of the big payday, tell you that you have to pay some "minor", legitimate-sounding tax or fee to complete the sale.

And then if you pay that, there will be another, larger fee you have to pay. And so on. And so on. It can escalate quickly and people who have been caught up in it kept on thinking, "Well, I just want to try to get my money back, so I'll chance one more payment." We've seen stories of these that start with a very small "fee" and end up scamming people out of $10K+. Crazy!

Kurt

 

[TUGBrian]

contact the resort and ask them if you can just end your ownership.

no deed involved in a mexican timeshare, so its more like a membership than an ownership etc.

 

[Gardo]

I don't pay any maintenance fees for this. It's a set of points 500k and u just use those points anytime you want to book the trip at a discounted rate. Anyone have any advice on how to slowly get rid of these?

 

[RX8]

I found the website allservicestravel.com. They go by the name All Travel Services which doesn’t match their website name. Their website is full of nonsense wording. They claim to be in business “with the same clients” for 25 years yet their website is 1.5 years old. They are 100% scam. This is not even a new scam as it has been around for years.

As if it isn’t hard enough for potential victims to wade through these scams some of these on line legal “experts” aren’t helping. From Just Answer, a lawyer actually endorsed this company by saying “I confirmed not a scam”. To their credit, they did also suggest to check with the resort and check with the AG. However, someone may just run with their validation that this was not a scam.

https://www.justanswer.com/law/bfc76-approached-travel-services-inc-1755.html

The best thing we can do is to keep calling them out as to what they really are and hope people google the company to find threads like this one. Do NOT rely on Just Answer responses (I guess you get what you pay for, which is nothing with Just Answer).

 

[Passepartout]

Gardo, you don't 'own' anything. You simply have a 'right to use' their property for a time period. If you don't want it, stop paying. They will cancel your membership, and you're done. Oh, they might threaten you with some nonsense about breach of contract, but it would be highly unlikely that any repercussions would come of it. Foreign entities don't have standing to give bad credit reports and there is no deed so no foreclosure.

Walk away.

 

[tschwa2]

My guess is the OP isn't looking for an easy out. He doesn't pay unless he uses so he is hoping to get 50-200% of what he paid back. That isn't going to happen. There are usually restrictions on your contract so what you are selling isn't what you bought. When you buy they tell you that you can sell and that prices are always going up so they imply that you should be able to get back what you paid or even more. What they don't tell you is that resale contracts strip 50% or more of the benefits, so while you can sell the developer makes what you are selling essentially worthless so that if someone wants the benefits they will have to buy directly.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Hello all,

New here, but I will get to the point. I purchased points via a spot in Mexico for 9k around 4 years ago. I posted to sell it 2 years ago on couple sites, but nothing came of it.

Fast forward to last week. Got a call from all services travel saying they want to make me an offer and that there's a client that is buying up points for this area (this was after I gave them the hotel and amount of points). They say no wire transfer, no money upfront. They will wire me the money once deal is made and then after they start the transfer of points.

I have yet to get a contract, but I am not dumb and won't send them any money obviously. Anyone dealt with anything like this? I doubt it's legit, but nothing they said has seemed off.

Thanks!

Chances are almost 100% that this is a genuine scam....

The only thing I would advise is not to proceed, however, if you do happen to be tempted to proceed then stand firm and don't send any money for ANY phony phantom fees and/or taxes.

Tell them to deduct their expenses and fees from the proceeds and send you whatever is left. Also tell them to go ahead and get a life. That will be the end of it and you'll never hear from them again.

They'll move on to the next sucker




.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Chances are almost 100% that this is a genuine scam....
.

Only the best scams are : genuine - 100% - guaranteed - SCAM

 

[Gardo]

Yeah I researched and it's for sure a scam like everyone said. I already fully paid for the points, I just want to get rid of them at cost. Not trying to make money. I'm not going to be able to go to cabo that often anymore. I am actually going through with the scam only to waste their time and gather as much info as I can to report them.

 

[Passepartout]

Yeah I researched and it's for sure a scam like everyone said. I already fully paid for the points, I just want to get rid of them at cost. Not trying to make money. I'm not going to be able to go to cabo that often anymore. I am actually going through with the scam only to waste their time and gather as much info as I can to report them.

Report them to WHOM? We've been reporting on Mexican TS ripoffs and scams for years. You 'bought' into this place years ago. You only paid to be able to use their resort. Where have you been? We have been here waiting for you. You may as well just quit paying and walk away.

You will NEVER get back any portion of what you paid. The value in timeshares- especially Mexican timeshares is in their use. You somehow got the impression that they are some kind of 'investment'. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Lotsa Luck!

Jim

 

[Gardo]

I book vacations for people at cost so i'm not sure what you mean by me not making my money back. Report them to BBB and the city. They normally shut them down, but I assume they just open another. Will be tough. Thanks for everyones input and help.

 

[LannyPC]

I book vacations for people at cost so i'm not sure what you mean by me not making my money back.

What they mean is that the original amount you paid for your timeshare you will not recover by trying to sell it. The scammers think that people like you think that what you own has high resale value and then they promise to find a buyer willing to pay that amount. Fortunately for you, you found TUG before sending these scammers your money.

You can report them to the BBB if you want but the BBB has no authority to shut these scammers down.