Has anyone worked with Timeshare Consultants

[Priscilla]

Hello guys,


Has anyone worked with a company called Timeshare Consultants? Just verifying the legitimacy of the company before engaging with them.


TIA

 

[AJCts411]

As repeated by so many...if they want money up front, run! The con part in the name may be accurate!

 

[CO skier]

I won an eBay auction from timeshareconsultants_1. Sellers pay maintenance fees until the account transfers. It was a deal too good to pass up.

Kerrie Helton is the owner. An estoppel was included with the purchase agreement, which completely impressed me. Sent a $3,000 check to Switch It Title Exchange knowing eBay is the Wild West. The deal ultimately turned out better than described, as the account came with 2 years of credits instead of just one. I would buy again in the future.

If you are selling, it looks like they know how to get the job done.

 

[schreib69]

Hello guys,


Has anyone worked with a company called Timeshare Consultants? Just verifying the legitimacy of the company before engaging with them.


TIA

I checked out their website and will see if they "sound" OK. I am trying to sell and will not, of course, pay an up front fee.
It's a shame no one responded having dealt with them. . . I threw out a similar post here about trying to sell a timeshare and NO ONE responded telling of a successful timeshare "exit" experience. The industry has things locked up pretty well, the contracts were written to prevent people getting "out", and the timeshare companies actively prevent owners from exiting. This is not a fun situation. But then, anyone on this website is savvy enough to know by now, we all kind of screwed ourselves when we signed on the dotted line years ago.

 

[schreib69]

I won an eBay auction from timeshareconsultants_1. Sellers pay maintenance fees until the account transfers. It was a deal too good to pass up.

Kerrie Helton is the owner. An estoppel was included with the purchase agreement, which completely impressed me. Sent a $3,000 check to Switch It Title Exchange knowing eBay is the Wild West. The deal ultimately turned out better than described, as the account came with 2 years of credits instead of just one. I would buy again in the future.

If you are selling, it looks like they know how to get the job done.

Could you explain more detail regarding this: "Sent a $3,000 check to Switch It Title Exchange knowing eBay is the Wild West."
YOU sent the check? What is Switch It Title Exchange? separate transfer company?
eBay is wild west . . . uh, implications?
thanks.

 

[TUGBrian]

I threw out a similar post here about trying to sell a timeshare and NO ONE responded telling of a successful timeshare "exit" experience.

noone would likely be able to respond to "anyone have any experience being shot in the knee", however that doesnt prevent folks from being able to respond with a "0/10 rating, would not recommend"

your mileage may vary. if you feel its a good use of your money and wish to ignore the advice provided that is most certainly your right!

 

[RX8]

I checked out their website and will see if they "sound" OK. I am trying to sell and will not, of course, pay an up front fee.
It's a shame no one responded having dealt with them. . . I threw out a similar post here about trying to sell a timeshare and NO ONE responded telling of a successful timeshare "exit" experience. The industry has things locked up pretty well, the contracts were written to prevent people getting "out", and the timeshare companies actively prevent owners from exiting. This is not a fun situation. But then, anyone on this website is savvy enough to know by now, we all kind of screwed ourselves when we signed on the dotted line years ago.

It is pretty simple how these exit companies work. They charge an upfront fee with a promise to get you out of your timeshare.

Many exit companies are complete scams and don’t do anything for the fees they collect. They eventually go belly up with everyone’s money. There are other exit companies that have been around awhile and promise the moon. They have some successes, mainly the low hanging fruit such as a deed back to the resort or finding someone to take over the timeshare for free. Both of these can be done by the seller saving thousands of dollars but many people don’t want to deal with it. For anything other than low hanging fruit, they may suggest to stop paying which can result in a foreclosure, something you certainly don’t need to pay an exit company thousands of dollars to do. Funny thing is, many exit companies consider a foreclosure a successful termination and would deny a refund. Finally, for all other “difficult” jobs, the exit company simply kicks the can down the road, in some cases for years, hoping the seller eventually gets foreclosed on or just moves on.

All those glowing reviews by the exit companies are either fake, or customers who were low hanging fruit and just didn’t realize it.

A TUG member replied to a poster asking a question on an exit company’s Facebook page that their resort had a deed back program available to owners. The exit company, one that has been around a number of years, promptly blocked the TUG user and deleted his comment. The exit companies WANT their victims to be kept in the dark about what they can do themselves. They are not consumer advocates, they are snakes.

Things you can do yourself to save thousands of dollars:

* Check with your resort to see if they have a deed back program.

* Give it away on TUG or elsewhere. Make an appealing ad with pictures and descriptions. See the giveaway forum for ideas. Even if you have to pay the next years maintenance fee and/or include a VISA gift card at closing it would still be thousands less than gambling on an exit company.

Are you thinking of using an exit company?

Don't do it! New exit companies keep popping up all the time. There is no regulation so anyone, even criminals, can call themselves an exit company and begin soliciting for money. They all start off the same - glitzy website, no complaints on the web, big promises, some companies with glowing...

tugbbs.com

 

[Priscilla]

As repeated by so many...if they want money up front, run! The con part in the name may be accurate!

 

[CO skier]

It's a shame no one responded having dealt with them. . .

Did you not read the post before yours?

 

[tschwa2]

It sounds like they may be somewhat successful. It sounds like this is their business model. Charge the owner around $5000 (plus any resort mandated transfer fees) for their services. Spend as little as they can but up to $3000 in incentives plus current year paid MF's and usage to try to find someone willing to take over the timeshare. You could probably do it yourself and saving $2000-4000. Start my offering $1000 in incentives in the form of offering to pay closing and transfer costs and 2023 plus either a $500 visa gift card once the transfer is complete or an offer to pre-pay $500 of the 2024 MF's. If your week is a dud maybe try exchanging for something good for this year and pay the exchange fee and guest cert and throwing that in if you think that would be a better incentive than the 2023 usage at the resort you are trying to get rid of. If you get no takers up the 2024 incentive to $1000 then $1500. You still are likely spending less than you would have with the timeshare consultants.

 

[CO skier]

Could you explain more detail regarding this: "Sent a $3,000 check to Switch It Title Exchange knowing eBay is the Wild West."
YOU sent the check? What is Switch It Title Exchange? separate transfer company?
eBay is wild west . . . uh, implications?
thanks.

I do not know if the "Timeshare Consultants" you are dealing with are the same as the eBay seller "timeshareconsultants_1" that I dealt with.

I sniped an eBay auction advertised by timeshareconsultants_1, because I did a little internet due diligence and decided it was worth the risk. eBay is the "Wild West" for timeshares because feedback may be left only up to, I think, 60 days after the auction conclusion, and timeshare transfers can take months and months. WorldMark transfers take 5-6 months. It is not too difficult to run a scam, so I knew I was taking a chance.

After supplying my ownership details in response to the purchase agreement sent, I received an email to send the payment to the (separate) closing company "Switch It Title, LLC". More internet due diligence, and it seemed OK, so I sent a personal check (as the buyer, and I would have a record of what account it was deposited into) for full payment of bid price, plus closing costs, plus transfer fee. A month after submitting the purchase agreement and payment, I receive confirmation from the Switch It agent that the paperwork has been submitted to WorldMark and it will be another 45-60 days before receiving the transfer documents from WorldMark. 60 days later I received the transfer documents. The transfer is still in process, but it is certainly legit.

I do not know any details on the sell side, if there are upfront costs or not. The eBay ad suggested 28,000 available credits. I will be receiving 56,000 available credits, so an extra 28,000 credits valued at the market rental rate of $0.08/credit plus the seller is paying the maintenance fees until transfer is complete means that timeshareconsultants_1 gets a 12+ rating out of a possible 10 from me. But that is from one buyer's perspective.

 

[CO skier]

It is pretty simple how these exit companies work. They charge an upfront fee with a promise to get you out of your timeshare.

In the case of my eBay purchase, it worked. I got a great deal, the sellers are freed from the maintenance fees for life at a price they must have thought reasonable. Win-Win.

 

[RX8]

In the case of my eBay purchase, it worked. I got a great deal, the sellers are freed from the maintenance fees for life at a price they must have thought reasonable. Win-Win.

I would respectfully disagree and say it was a win for you only. The owner paid the exit company thousands of dollars. Not sure what you paid for your great deal but even if free, it just proves that the seller could have done it themselves and saved thousands of dollars. If the exit company happened to sell it for any money that is extra money in their pocket, not the owner’s pocket.

A true win-win would be the scenario where the owner sold it direct to you for free AND included a $1,000 VISA card at closing. If you liked your deal before this one would be a killer deal. The owner would have also saved thousands compared to the exit company even accounting for the VISA card.

I suspect that there are two types of owners using the exit companies. First is the owner who doesn’t understand their options, how to do it themselves, believes everything they are told by the exit company and thinks that thousands of dollars is the right amount to be freed of their timeshare. The second is the owner who understands their options but doesn’t want to deal with it themselves, even if they could save thousands. I would guess that the owner who just doesn’t understand is at least 90% of those exit company customers.

 

[CO skier]

I would respectfully say it was a win for you only. The owner paid the exit company thousands of dollars. Not sure what you paid for your great deal but even if free, it just proves that the seller could have done it themselves and saved thousands of dollars.

meh - some people could save thousands of dollars by selling a used car themselves, but they choose to sell it to a dealer or trade it in for below market value, because they do not want the hassle. The dealership provides a service ... and people are willing to pay for that. "Everybody" understands they can sell a used car themselves. What percentage do?

Why would timeshares be any different? It is probably much easier to sell a timeshare than a car -- just list the timeshare on eBay and reach a huge market. The average timeshare owner does not read TUG; they do not have a clue where to begin a d-i-y timeshare sale, so they pay someone with experience to sell it for them.

 

[RX8]

meh - some people could save thousands of dollars by selling a used car themselves, but they choose to sell it to a dealer or trade it in for below market value, because they do not want the hassle. The dealership provides a service ... and people are willing to pay for that. "Everybody" understands they can sell a used car themselves. What percentage do?

Why would timeshare be any different?

I don’t think there are any true comparisons to a timeshare as for most the timeshare has zero value. Usually, if you have something that has no value you toss it in the trash. Can’t do that with a timeshare (although many would wish to do so). Heck, even a trashed car could be worth $125 to the junk yard.

How is selling a used car privately different than giving away a timeshare? For one, the used car has true value even as a trade in. Yes, one could sell their used vehicle on their own but the dealer will package up a deal with the trade in and show the customer it is only $50 more per month than their last payment. That is good enough for most. Secondly, many people don’t want to sell their car on their own because they don’t want strangers coming to their house or test driving their car. Lastly, selling a used car for private party KBB price, or any price, is no guarantee. The condition of the car, miles and current market conditions all could impact a given price. Customers know this and take the sure thing, the trade in. Lastly, many customers can’t afford two car payments so they do t want to try and sell their used car while having a new car payment at the same time.

With the timeshare, it is just a free free give away. Before paying an unknown, newish * exit company thousands of dollars, an owner should at least try to give away the timeshare for free. The exit companies will do their best to hide the real options from the owner, including being able to give it away or deed backs.

* Timeshare Consultants has been in business for one year. Their ownership is unknown. They are also renewing their website registration only annually, which could mean they don’t have complete faith in their long term prospects.

 

[TUGBrian]

meh - some people could save thousands of dollars by selling a used car themselves, but they choose to sell it to a dealer or trade it in for below market value, because they do not want the hassle. The dealership provides a service ... and people are willing to pay for that. "Everybody" understands they can sell a used car themselves. What percentage do?

Why would timeshares be any different? It is probably much easier to sell a timeshare than a car -- just list the timeshare on eBay and reach a huge market. The average timeshare owner does not read TUG; they do not have a clue where to begin a d-i-y timeshare sale, so they pay someone with experience to sell it for them.

the main difference is that most folks are AWARE of the difference in cost and effort...and make an informed/educated decision to pay more for a service than they could otherwise do themselves for less.

fact is if these companies told owners the truth, FAR more would chose the alternative!

(oddly just like a timeshare sales presentation)

 

[schreib69]

I don’t think there are any true comparisons to a timeshare as for most the timeshare has zero value. Usually, if you have something that has no value you toss it in the trash. Can’t do that with a timeshare (although many would wish to do so). Heck, even a trashed car could be worth $125 to the junk yard.

How is selling a used car privately different than giving away a timeshare? For one, the used car has true value even as a trade in. Yes, one could sell their used vehicle on their own but the dealer will package up a deal with the trade in and show the customer it is only $50 more per month than their last payment. That is good enough for most. Secondly, many people don’t want to sell their car on their own because they don’t want strangers coming to their house or test driving their car. Lastly, selling a used car for private party KBB price, or any price, is no guarantee. The condition of the car, miles and current market conditions all could impact a given price. Customers know this and take the sure thing, the trade in. Lastly, many customers can’t afford two car payments so they do t want to try and sell their used car while having a new car payment at the same time.

With the timeshare, it is just a free free give away. Before paying an unknown, newish * exit company thousands of dollars, an owner should at least try to give away the timeshare for free. The exit companies will do their best to hide the real options from the owner, including being able to give it away or deed backs.

* Timeshare Consultants has been in business for one year. Their ownership is unknown. They are also renewing their website registration only annually, which could mean they don’t have complete faith in their long term prospects.

Great post. thanks.
Interesting to know the last detail you offer on Timeshare Consultants. . .
I have sold many used cars of my own. I actually enjoy selling a used car. It is a cakewalk compared to giving aware the timeshare for FREE(read: 2 MF's, LT transf. fee, + resort Trans. fee= $2600 est cost to ME) Good deal for buyer, Seller gets IT again.

 

[schreib69]

meh - some people could save thousands of dollars by selling a used car themselves, but they choose to sell it to a dealer or trade it in for below market value, because they do not want the hassle. The dealership provides a service ... and people are willing to pay for that. "Everybody" understands they can sell a used car themselves. What percentage do?

Why would timeshares be any different? It is probably much easier to sell a timeshare than a car -- just list the timeshare on eBay and reach a huge market. The average timeshare owner does not read TUG; they do not have a clue where to begin a d-i-y timeshare sale, so they pay someone with experience to sell it for them.

You make an interesting comment about Ebay. Apparently, you have experience selling timeshares on Ebay? True?

I have been waffling on doing so: concern with getting screwed over as a seller, with improper wording on my part, with the logistics of the transaction. I have only listed on TUG, Craig's list, and Red Week. I have been told to use Ebay, but I am "chicken" . . . a bit.
If you have any first hand experience and suggestions I would love to hear them!

 

[schreib69]

Did you not read the post before yours?

Sorry, you are right here. . . I was thinking about SELLERS being responders. . .

 

[CO skier]

You make an interesting comment about Ebay. Apparently, you have experience selling timeshares on Ebay? True?

No, I have never sold anything on eBay, but I have read at least a thousand eBay ads for timeshares over the years. My version of "window shopping" I guess. It also helps to pan out the "good" eBay sellers from the "questionable" eBay sellers. Even then, there are no guarantees. I have been happy with all eight of my timeshare purchases over the years.

 

[CO skier]

Hello guys,


Has anyone worked with a company called Timeshare Consultants? Just verifying the legitimacy of the company before engaging with them.


TIA

You did not specify if you were looking for selling experiences or buying experiences with Timeshare Consultants. I just tried to be helpful with my experience as a buyer with timeshareconsultants_1 on eBay. It appears that some people do not like TUG members helping other TUG members.

One last bit of helpfulness. Type "Timeshare Consultants" into the Search feature in the upper right corner of the dark blue bar. You might find some interesting reading.

 

[Priscilla]

Could you explain more detail regarding this: "Sent a $3,000 check to Switch It Title Exchange knowing eBay is the Wild West."
YOU sent the check? What is Switch It Title Exchange? separate transfer company?
eBay is wild west . . . uh, implications?
thanks.

You did not specify if you were looking for selling experiences or buying experiences with Timeshare Consultants. I just tried to be helpful with my experience as a buyer with timeshareconsultants_1 on eBay. It appears that some people do not like TUG members helping other TUG members.

One last bit of helpfulness. Type "Timeshare Consultants" into the Search feature in the upper right corner of the dark blue bar. You might find some interesting reading.

It’s for a potential purchase. Thanks for your input.

 

[CO skier]

It’s for a potential purchase. Thanks for your input.

I hope you find as good a deal as I did.