Cancellation of Timeshare purchase

[Yngonzo]

I am really glad I found this website. My husband and I were at Vistana Villages on an encore package. Basically the sales rep made it sound like our current product was going to be useless in the coming years. So we upgraded our 67,100 options on our current package to 162,000 options with the MVC package. So after some back and forth I left feeling very unsure of what we just purchased. After dinner I sat down and really started to crunch the numbers. I immediately started to feel sick to my stomach and realizing that we both had made a mistake in purchasing this package. so basically the rep made it seem like we would only be paying in the $200 range a month but what I didn’t realize is the term. He was calculating this at a term if 180 months. I did a quick search and found this website. Saw various examples of cancellation letters and started to draft one up. This is what I put in the letter:

To:
Sheraton Flex Vacation, LLC
9002 San Marco Court
Orlando, Florida 32819
Attention: Document Administration Department

From: both my husband and I
Date: 19 January 2022

Names on Contract: both of us
Account Number:
Date of Purchase: 18 January 2022

Subject: Intent to Cancel
Dear sir/madam,
This letter is to inform you of my intention to cancel the timeshare purchase under account number ###, which was purchase on 18 January 2022 by mr and mrs in accordance with the law of the state of Florida. I request a full refund of my deposit of $xxxxx.00 and the cancellation of any future deposits found in the contract. The $xxxxxx.00 which was requested for financing should also be immediately canceled. Please confirm that you have received this letter as my legal intent to cancel the timeshare purchase made on 18 January 2022, account number xxxx rescission in writing.
//Signed and dated//

I sent it certified mail this morning after we checked out from the hotel. My question is the following:

Was what I sent sufficient enough or did I need to include any additional informatio?

Second we were given a kindle with all the documents on the kindle. I guess they have replaced the CDs or USB drives with kindles. Now since I have sent my request to cancel do I need to send this kindle back? Will we be charged an outrageous amount for this POS?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DanCali]

It's been about 13 years since we were in your situation and found TUG. I remember the "sick to the stomach" feeling to this day since it ruined half of a lovely Kauai vacation. Congratulations on saving a lot of money! Now you can learn, study and decide what works best for you as an informed buyer. 15 years ago we owned nothing and now we own 10 timeshares and expecting to buy one "last one" in the next 1-2 years

As long as you followed the instructions in contract you should be ok. They won't keep your money if they get the letter in time.

I am not a lawyer, but the letter seems good. I would just mention that you are "exercising my right to rescind and cancel my timeshare purchase". Be clear about that intent, the names on the contract, and the contract number which is probably in your purchase documents (not sure if points have a contract number, but weeks do). I see you used "Account Number" but not sure what that refers to. You should try use numbers that are on the purchase contract specifically, and not a Bonvoy Rewards number for example.

I probably would have sent an additional copy to them via Fedex - it's just an extra $15-$20 for extra peace of mind. I never trust USPS and they proved it again to me last week - Certified "Priority Mail" from FL to IRS in Austin, TX took 7 days...

 

[Passepartout]

I am really glad I found this website. My husband and I were at Vistana Villages on an encore package. Basically the sales rep made it sound like our current product was going to be useless in the coming years. So we upgraded our 67,100 options on our current package to 162,000 options with the MVC package. So after some back and forth I left feeling very unsure of what we just purchased. After dinner I sat down and really started to crunch the numbers. I immediately started to feel sick to my stomach and realizing that we both had made a mistake in purchasing this package. so basically the rep made it seem like we would only be paying in the $200 range a month but what I didn’t realize is the term. He was calculating this at a term if 180 months. I did a quick search and found this website. Saw various examples of cancellation letters and started to draft one up. This is what I put in the letter:

To:
Sheraton Flex Vacation, LLC
9002 San Marco Court
Orlando, Florida 32819
Attention: Document Administration Department

From: both my husband and I
Date: 19 January 2022

Names on Contract: both of us
Account Number:
Date of Purchase: 18 January 2022

Subject: Intent to Cancel
Dear sir/madam,
This letter is to inform you of my intention to cancel the timeshare purchase under account number ###, which was purchase on 18 January 2022 by mr and mrs in accordance with the law of the state of Florida. I request a full refund of my deposit of $xxxxx.00 and the cancellation of any future deposits found in the contract. The $xxxxxx.00 which was requested for financing should also be immediately canceled. Please confirm that you have received this letter as my legal intent to cancel the timeshare purchase made on 18 January 2022, account number xxxx rescission in writing.
//Signed and dated//

I sent it certified mail this morning after we checked out from the hotel. My question is the following:

Was what I sent sufficient enough or did I need to include any additional informatio?

Second we were given a kindle with all the documents on the kindle. I guess they have replaced the CDs or USB drives with kindles. Now since I have sent my request to cancel do I need to send this kindle back? Will we be charged an outrageous amount for this POS?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

You should be just fine. Your rescission will go through. Vistana are honorable unlike some TS outfits. As to the Kindle, send it back to the resort- with tracking so if they come back on you, you've got proof of delivery.

They are under no obligation to inform you of the progress of the rescission. Your certified mail will have tracking so you will know it's delivered. Know that it can take up to 45 days (usually doesn't) for the credit to reach your credit card. Just watch it.

Welcome to TUG. BTW, TUG is a great resource if you are into exchanging. Consider joining (see the Support TUG link above here.

Jim

 

[vacationtime1]

If you both signed the purchase agreement, you must both sign the rescission letter.

If you both signed the rescission letter, congratulations; you are done. If not, re-send with both signatures -- and then, congratulations.

 

[Yngonzo]

If you both signed the purchase agreement, you must both sign the rescission letter.

If you both signed the rescission letter, congratulations; you are done. If not, re-send with both signatures -- and then, congratulations.

Yes we both signed and dated it. I even triple checked it because I was so nervous I would make a mistake and it would be void. I feel a little more at peace now that I’ve have some reassurance.

 

[Yngonzo]

You should be just fine. Your rescission will go through. Vistana are honorable unlike some TS outfits. As to the Kindle, send it back to the resort- with tracking so if they come back on you, you've got proof of delivery.

They are under no obligation to inform you of the progress of the rescission. Your certified mail will have tracking so you will know it's delivered. Know that it can take up to 45 days (usually doesn't) for the credit to reach your credit card. Just watch it.

Welcome to TUG. BTW, TUG is a great resource if you are into exchanging. Consider joining (see the Support TUG link above here.

Jim

Jim,
Thank you for the advice. I will send the kindle back. If they don’t inform regarding the rescission do I just assume it was canceled when I get refunded? I’ve seen post where it says not to call or email but it makes me nervous not knowing what the status is.

 

[Passepartout]

Jim,
Thank you for the advice. I will send the kindle back. If they don’t inform regarding the rescission do I just assume it was canceled when I get refunded? I’ve seen post where it says not to call or email but it makes me nervous not knowing what the status is.

Yup. That's about it. We know it's a stressful time, waiting. But that's the way it works. In these days of short staffing, and the knowledge that they MUST process the rescission you can't expect more. Just know that they WILL NOT refuse to do it. That's the law. And the reason we suggest sending the rescission letter Certified with Returned Receipt so you are assured that it was delivered and have an actual name of the person who picks up the mail.

I see that you own at a Westgate resort. Around here we call them Wastegate for the way they treat owners. I think you'll find that Vistana will treat you much more fairly than Wastegate.

Jim

 

[Yngonzo]

It's been about 13 years since we were in your situation and found TUG. I remember the "sick to the stomach" feeling to this day since it ruined half of a lovely Kauai vacation. Congratulations on saving a lot of money! Now you can learn, study and decide what works best for you as an informed buyer. 15 years ago we owned nothing and now we own 10 timeshares and expecting to buy one "last one" in the next 1-2 years

As long as you followed the instructions in contract you should be ok. They won't keep your money if they get the letter in time.

I am not a lawyer, but the letter seems good. I would just mention that you are "exercising my right to rescind and cancel my timeshare purchase". Be clear about that intent, the names on the contract, and the contract number which is probably in your purchase documents (not sure if points have a contract number, but weeks do). I see you used "Account Number" but not sure what that refers to. You should try use numbers that are on the purchase contract specifically, and not a Bonvoy Rewards number for example.

I probably would have sent an additional copy to them via Fedex - it's just an extra $15-$20 for extra peace of mind. I never trust USPS and they proved it again to me last week - Certified "Priority Mail" from FL to IRS in Austin, TX took 7 days...

View attachment 45515

It's been about 13 years since we were in your situation and found TUG. I remember the "sick to the stomach" feeling to this day since it ruined half of a lovely Kauai vacation. Congratulations on saving a lot of money! Now you can learn, study and decide what works best for you as an informed buyer. 15 years ago we owned nothing and now we own 10 timeshares and expecting to buy one "last one" in the next 1-2 years

As long as you followed the instructions in contract you should be ok. They won't keep your money if they get the letter in time.

I am not a lawyer, but the letter seems good. I would just mention that you are "exercising my right to rescind and cancel my timeshare purchase". Be clear about that intent, the names on the contract, and the contract number which is probably in your purchase documents (not sure if points have a contract number, but weeks do). I see you used "Account Number" but not sure what that refers to. You should try use numbers that are on the purchase contract specifically, and not a Bonvoy Rewards number for example.

I probably would have sent an additional copy to them via Fedex - it's just an extra $15-$20 for extra peace of mind. I never trust USPS and they proved it again to me last week - Certified "Priority Mail" from FL to IRS in Austin, TX took 7 days...

View attachment 45515

Dan,

Everything on the paperwork refers to an account number not a contact number. So that’s why we used account number vs contact.

 

[Yngonzo]

Yup. That's about it. We know it's a stressful time, waiting. But that's the way it works. In these days of short staffing, and the knowledge that they MUST process the rescission you can't expect more. Just know that they WILL NOT refuse to do it. That's the law. And the reason we suggest sending the rescission letter Certified with Returned Receipt so you are assured that it was delivered and have an actual name of the person who picks up the mail.

I see that you own at a Westgate resort. Around here we call them Wastegate for the way they treat owners. I think you'll find that Vistana will treat you much more fairly than Wastegate.

Jim

I’ve tried to get it away to a family member and no body wants it. At this point we just us it to visit Orlando. Once my daughter turns old enough she doesn’t want to go to Disney they we will probably just let it default. We own it outright and just pay MF

 

[ChiefIlliniwek]

I am really glad I found this website. My husband and I were at Vistana Villages on an encore package. Basically the sales rep made it sound like our current product was going to be useless in the coming years. So we upgraded our 67,100 options on our current package to 162,000 options with the MVC package. So after some back and forth I left feeling very unsure of what we just purchased. After dinner I sat down and really started to crunch the numbers. I immediately started to feel sick to my stomach and realizing that we both had made a mistake in purchasing this package. so basically the rep made it seem like we would only be paying in the $200 range a month but what I didn’t realize is the term. He was calculating this at a term if 180 months. I did a quick search and found this website. Saw various examples of cancellation letters and started to draft one up. This is what I put in the letter:

Yes...when I was there in early January, the salesman ran down Vistana Villages, saying that I needed to buy more (flex points?) so that I could take advantage of Marriott properties. It was hard to follow his presentation. But I guess you could say it was just a bunch of gibberish leading up to a sales pitch. At one point he was saying I could make $$$ renting out my timeshare on Vrbo.

The salesmen like to emphasize the low monthly payments. Then you see on a sheet of paper the high interest rate and the term.

 

[NiteMaire]

I probably would have sent an additional copy to them via Fedex - it's just an extra $15-$20 for extra peace of mind. I never trust USPS and they proved it again to me last week - Certified "Priority Mail" from FL to IRS in Austin, TX took 7 days...

It's the postmark day, not the delivery date, that matters. As long as that date is within the recession period, it's within the allotted time.

 

[Yngonzo]

It's the postmark day, not the delivery date, that matters. As long as that date is within the recession period, it's within the allotted time.

We purchased Jan 18 and I sent the letter Jan 19. So postmark date is Jan 19. I was going to sent an additional on on Monday once we get home but from what I see, that might not be necessary.

 

[Yngonzo]

Yes...when I was there in early January, the salesman ran down Vistana Villages, saying that I needed to buy more (flex points?) so that I could take advantage of Marriott properties. It was hard to follow his presentation. But I guess you could say it was just a bunch of gibberish leading up to a sales pitch. At one point he was saying I could make $$$ renting out my timeshare on Vrbo.

The salesmen like to emphasize the low monthly payments. Then you see on a sheet of paper the high interest rate and the term.

The sales man was saying that Marriott would rent the unit out for you if you couldn’t use it and give you 50% of the rental rate. I was like wow that’s great. But once I started to look into it once we got to the room I couldn’t find that information anywhere. So I’m not sure if that was correct information or not.

 

[dioxide45]

We purchased Jan 18 and I sent the letter Jan 19. So postmark date is Jan 19. I was going to sent an additional on on Monday once we get home but from what I see, that might not be necessary.

As long as you have some tracking, mainly for peace of mind, you are okay. No need to send via FedEx. In most cases, plain old First Class Mail ($0.58 stamp) is just fine. Tracking adds the piece of mind.

 

[dioxide45]

The sales man was saying that Marriott would rent the unit out for you if you couldn’t use it and give you 50% of the rental rate. I was like wow that’s great. But once I started to look into it once we got to the room I couldn’t find that information anywhere. So I’m not sure if that was correct information or not.

Right now, Vistana has no rental program to help owners rent weeks or points. Marriott only has a rental program for their weeks based (legacy) product. They don't have a rental program in place to rent out points or points based reservations. Currently the two systems are separate with a speculated integration coming in the second quarter, but I doubt we will ever see a rental program for points.

 

[TUGBrian]

grats on finding us in time to rescind, sounds like you dodged a very pricey bullet!

 

[vacationtime1]

The sales man was saying that Marriott would rent the unit out for you if you couldn’t use it and give you 50% of the rental rate. I was like wow that’s great. But once I started to look into it once we got to the room I couldn’t find that information anywhere. So I’m not sure if that was correct information or not.

Marriott may have a rental program, but they're not guaranteeing anything -- especially in writing.

They are certainly not guaranteeing that you will receive 50% of the rental rate; no way Marriott will pay you if the unit doesn't rent. They may be saying that if it does rent, you will receive 50% for the number of days that it does rent. Unless and until they change the program.

 

[DanCali]

It's the postmark day, not the delivery date, that matters. As long as that date is within the recession period, it's within the allotted time.

You may be totally right - but with $30,000-$50,000 at stake would you take that gamble, or would you prefer to have it actually delivered within the allotted time?

 

[dioxide45]

Marriott may have a rental program, but they're not guaranteeing anything -- especially in writing.

They are certainly not guaranteeing that you will receive 50% of the rental rate; no way Marriott will pay you if the unit doesn't rent. They may be saying that if it does rent, you will receive 50% for the number of days that it does rent. Unless and until they change the program.

The way the rental program works for Marriott weeks is an owner has a reservation and they call Marriott to inquire about renting their week. Marriott will say yes or no and give a price. If the owner accepts, they get a check for that amount and it is up to Marriott to make a profit. The amount is guaranteed to the owner. There is no similar program for using Vistana or Marriott to rent Vistana weeks or reservations.

 

[NiteMaire]

You may be totally right - but with $30,000-$50,000 at stake would you take that gamble, or would you prefer to have it actually delivered within the allotted time?

It's not a gamble; it's the law (I'm no lawyer, but that's the way it works).

 

[DanCali]

It's not a gamble; it's the law (I'm no lawyer, but that's the way it works).

You are probably totally right again - but given that you can go bankrupt suing someone, I prefer not to test these things. I will always send stuff earlier or pay a bit more to have it arrive by the deadline. Otherwise, I know I'll just worry about it too much even if I drop it in the mail on time.

 

[Yngonzo]

Yup. That's about it. We know it's a stressful time, waiting. But that's the way it works. In these days of short staffing, and the knowledge that they MUST process the rescission you can't expect more. Just know that they WILL NOT refuse to do it. That's the law. And the reason we suggest sending the rescission letter Certified with Returned Receipt so you are assured that it was delivered and have an actual name of the person who picks up the mail.

I see that you own at a Westgate resort. Around here we call them Wastegate for the way they treat owners. I think you'll find that Vistana will treat you much more fairly than Wastegate.

Jim

The letter was delivered next day but I just realized I didn't select the box that states adult signature required. Should I send a second one with signature required?? I guess I only did Certified mail and return receipt only.

 

[Passepartout]

The letter was delivered next day but I just realized I didn't select the box that states adult signature required. Should I send a second one with signature required?? I guess I only did Certified mail and return receipt only.

It would be cheap insurance and peace of mind.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

The letter was delivered next day but I just realized I didn't select the box that states adult signature required. Should I send a second one with signature required?? I guess I only did Certified mail and return receipt only.

You're fine. The Company does not have any children working for them, so you can be sure it is an adult signature. The check box on the form is really for home deliveries (as a child may answer the door, or kids coming to the P.O. to sign for a letter).

Your tracking proves they have it. So, sit back, relax, and let them do their job. They are under no obligation to notify they have received the paperwork, but rescission law forces them to abide by it. Note that it may take up to 45 days in order to receive a refund.


Now? Go out and celebrate


Think about buying resale next time around and spend $15 to become a member of TUG.




.

 

[Yngonzo]

You're fine. The Company does not have any children working for them, so you can be sure it is an adult signature. The check box on the form is really for home deliveries (as a child may answer the door, or kids coming to the P.O. to sign for a letter).

You're tracking proves they have it. So, sit back, relax, and let them do their job. They are under no obligation to notify they have received the paperwork, but rescission law forces them to abide by it. Note that it may take up to 45 days in order to receive a refund.


Now? Go out and celebrate


Think about buying resale next time around and spend $15 to become a member of TUG.




.

I resent it just to have peace of mind since the tracking says left with individual instead of the name of the person. I rather spend an extra $7.50 than $60000. Also definitely looking into buying resell. I didn't even know that was a thing until I found this website Tuesday night!