Exchanging Existing Timeshare w/TRM

[RichTee]

Has any one out there bought an Occidental Vacation Club (OVC) package in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and traded-in an existing timeshare through TRM (Timeshare Resale Market)? Briefly we own a Marriott timeshare in Maui and wanted to get rid of it because frankly it's too costly. In May 2021 we purchased an upgrade to an existing OVC vacation package for a suite (every other year) to a 1 bedroom (every year). The sales team basically offered to buy our Marriott timeshare for $20k (as a down payment) toward the upgrade. The OVC sales team said that TRM would be calling us within 90 days to seal the deal. Last week we finally received a call from TRM (Janice) however the sales pitch sounded complex and very suspect. Two options were presented: 1. For approximately $1870 the timeshare they would buy our Marriott timeshare for $10, send us forms to sign thus relinquishing the timeshare, and in 6-9 months the deed would be signed over to TRM and we go on our merry way. OVC, in turn, would simply write-off the loss. What, who does that? 2. Or pay TRM approximately $6999 and their affiliated timeshare broker will sell the Marriott timeshare and all proceeds would be sent to us upon closing. TRM said that this process could take several months to a year. Note that both options above require that we continue to pay the yearly maintenance fee on the Marriott timeshare until closed (lucky us!). Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank You!

 

[sue1947]

You've fallen for a scam. Stop dealing with them. You will likely end up paying MF on 2 timeshares; the OVC one and Marriott. If you want out of Marriott, deal with that separately. Sell or give it away yourself.

 

[Eric B]

The timeshare trade in pitch is part of the sales pitches commonly used in Mexican timeshare sales. TRM and any other of the companies doing that are also upfront fee timeshare disposal businesses that charge the same sort of fees and might be able to transfer your timeshare to someone else if it's attractive enough to sell on eBay or give away on timesharenation.com. If that's the case, you would be as able to do that yourself without paying the fees to them.

OVC will not get any sort of tax write off from this aspect of the transaction - the sales staff got you to the price they wanted anyway. No rational Nation has a tax system that allows for writing off price reductions that depend on timeshare resales. Vidanta is another Mexican resort company that has similar pitches.

Your best approach is to block the number TRM calls from and contact OVC to tell them you want to keep the Marriott. You can then just dispose of it yourself either by selling it, giving it away or trying to deed it back to Marriott.

 

[Eric B]

Also, you can find a lot of threads on this particular aspect of timeshare sales in Mexico in the forum on Mexico Timesharing. You would get a lot more responses on this question there; a moderator could move this thread for you. @Karen G?

 

[tschwa2]

You can contact Marriott and see if they will take it back for free or you can research to see if your Marriott has some retail value and sell it. Then tell OVC/TRM that you will pay them nothing -unless your contract specified a mandatory amount to "trade in" or you will keep the Marriott and pay nothing more. Then divest yourself through Marriott. If you pay the $1870 they will just put it on ebay and start by offering it at a very low price. If it sells for more great they keep more. If it sells for $1 they don't care because they have your $1870.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

TRM seems to operate in the Cancun / Riviera Maya area - and has been mentioned in Mexican Forum threads on the subject of "trade in deals" pitched and closed by Vida Sales ( Vidanta RM)

[ In Nuevo Vallarta the name Global has been mentioned for similar "programs"]

FYI - every Marriott I have seen listed in the TUG free / giveaway sub-forum seems to be grabbed in days.

 

[HudsHut]

@RichTee
Here is a thread from another owner who planned to sell a Marriott in Maui.

Sadly, the time has come to sell our MOC week

Hi, After 20 yrs of loving the life, our family has decided to sell our EOY MOC week. Unless someone advises differently, I'm planning on using RedWeek's full service offering to do so. But what I'm wondering is due to all the Covid related impact and the now bouncing back of the travel...

tugbbs.com

Some options are:
Contact Marriott, ask if they will sell it for you
Contact broker Syed Sarmad at Advantage Vacations to get an idea of potential sales price and his commission.
Place an ad on Redweek.com

Another thread for a Westin on Kauai:

Need help selling our Westin Princeville, HI Timeshare

We bought the timeshare from the developer, yes I know, big mistake. We paid way too much for it. It is a fixed week for Christmas every year so it's during the peak season. It's oceanfront but the resort does not sale units with views listed in their contracts so we can not market it as...

tugbbs.com