IA Vacations - eBay seller alltimevacations-2008

[ada903]

I need quick advice, did anyone ever use this company? The eBay feedback is positive but IA vacations has F rating with BBB.. They have a week I would like to purchase! I believe the negative BBB is from folks turning in their Timeshares for sale..

 

[ronparise]

there are probably two sides to this companies business operations. They aquire timeshares and they sell timeshares,

No doubt that they have some dissatisfied customers on the buy side if they act like the typical pcc company Ive seen described on this board.

That dosent mean that you cant buy from them successfully...Its just a question of who you want to do business with

 

[vacationtime1]

Check this thread for starters -- and I am sure there are others. FWIW, I declined to bid on their auctions based on the feedback I received from others.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84032

 

[ada903]

I have just read the thread and I don't think I will go forward with this one... Too shady and too many risks with a PCC!

 

[K2Quick]

It's the same outfit as redweeks4less. I bought my timeshare through them and at the end of the day it ended up working out alright, but there were things along the way with the transaction that caused me a lot of discomfort. I would be very reluctant to buy from them again unless they were offering something that was truly one-of-a-kind or rare and I really had to have it. Otherwise, I would be patient and wait for a more reputable seller.

 

[ada903]

Exactly. They do have the week and i know they would be working to put it in my name, but the last time I bought from a PCC my deed was wrong and had to be redone, and they did not do a spousal disclaimer even though I told them the property requires it. I am afraid I will drag my feet through months of phone calls, waiting games and never ending mistakes. I will pass.

 

[M&JJ]

Have a look at my experience with this company... still waiting.

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145835

 

[sjuhawk_jd]

IA vacations/Redweeksforless

I have done many transactions with IA vacations (and their inhouse closing company ATC). For my first transaction, due to incompetence of ATC agent, I had bad experience, and I got my money refunded. That agent is no longer with ATC and things have improved (although they are still overworked).

All other transactions have been OK so far. If you can stomach a bit of uncertainty and delays, IA vacations (Austin is the main person there) will come through. For many of these companies, business is growing faster than they can effectively deal with it. Austin is very friendly and promptly returns the calls.

 

[ada903]

Thanks all for the feedback - I know what I can expect - they'll get the job done but it will be slow, there will be lots of follow-ups and processing delays, and maybe some mistakes on the closing process too. The question is whether it's worth it for the savings, I'll have to ponder that.

 

[jd2601]

I recently purchased a week at Barony Beach through IAVacations. It went relatively well. It actually registered with Marriott in 4-5 months.

It did take multiple calls to get a deed sent. I was pleased considering the purchase price. When I had trouble with the closing company IAVacations helped out.

I believe they are in the same office and possibly the same entity.

 

[ada903]

It took 4-5 months to get it done? Wow. I purchased a Marriott Shadow Ridge about a month or two ago using FredM as a broker and it took about 40 days or so including ROFR and Marriott transfer...

 

[rrazzorr]

Need help

I am buying a property through them right now, considering all the complains can I get some guidance on how to proceed with caution so I don't get stuck for a year or better yet get ripped off in some way.

I'd like to know what are some precautionary measures I can take in order to succeed with a transaction.
- Should I pick my own closing company? If so, what/who do you recommend (Myrtle Beach property).
- Should I use an escrow? Also would like some leads.
Any other tips such as title insurance and etc would be much appreciated.

I'm looking at their contract and there are already few things I'd like to modify, such as "both parties mutually agree to leave a positive feedback." Yeah, right, like anyone would sign on that dotted line.

BBB has 15 complains filed for these folks in the past year, which gives them F rating, however I don't know the magnitude of their business; they claim to be selling on average of 200 weeks a month.

Thanks all in advance

 

[ScubaKat]

Sorry to dig up an old thread... I had purchased a Willow Ridge week with alltimevacations on ebay a couple of weeks ago... I asked to choose our own closing company and they did not allow that.. I thought it was odd that they wanted the money right away and not through an escrow company... I wanted the week so I proceeded...

They used "Property Relief" for closing... they sent me the contract and said they would get our deed prepared and sent... numerous e-mails to Property Relief to get an update for the Marriott ROFR and estoppel report were not answered.. after 10 days I filed a dispute with Paypal and they refunded my money immediately without sending an update. I am glad they refunded the money even though we were excited about purchasing the week.

The Harbour Lake week we had purchased through another seller on ebay took 2 days to get the ROFR back and within 10 days since purchase had the deed recorded and paperwork to Marriott... alltimevacations e-mails and says that Marriott takes 30 days for ROFR and he can provide me with the number to confirm that with them...

Another thing that alltimevacations does is that they do not allow payment through ebay... they specifically request that payment be sent through paypal invoice only. After refunding ouir money.. they filed an unpaid item case against our ebay account!

I talked to ebay and ebay stated that alltimevacations set it up that way so they can get their ebay fees back. I have proof that it was paid through paypal but they said it would have to wait till the seller closes the unpaid item after 5 days.. then they get the money back and my account gets a strike for non payment. I would then have to appeal the non payment strike and get that removed...

I left a negative feedback for them.. and they commented back.. of course what they commented back on the feedback was totally not true as it was different than the status updates he has given us.

 

[RX8]

Here is another recent thread about this eBay seller

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153013

 

[jimtedjeske]

Alltimevacations-2008 & IAVacatons

Thanks to the TUGGERS who post their experiences I was able to avoid what looked like a real bad transaction on EBAY with IAVACATIONS. Once I copied and emailed their "F" rating by the BBS and some of the comments posted here, they agreed to cancel teh sale. if I had not seen these posts in the nick of time I could be writing about the thousands of dollars I have not seen in a long time with no sign of a deed for the timeshare I thought I bought. So thanks and keep up the good work of making timesharing safe and enjoyable.

 

[RLG]

Unfortunately, I'm still in the middle of a purchase from these guys. I paid in May and they've bungled one thing after another. What bothers me even more is they routinely tell me they've done things already and then I find out a week later they never happened.

I won't be buying from this seller again.

 

[presley]

I am in the process of buying via IA on Ebay, as well. Into the closing process, I saw all the negative stuff about them and their closing company. My personal experience has been that they are severely disorganized and therefore, slow.

I recently contacted the closing company about my purchase and was told the deed was sent for recording and that they would let me know what that was done. I looked up the deed on the county recorder/assessor site and saw that it was recorded a few days before that. So, I paid the county $15. for a certified copy, which came in the mail the next day.

I have since contacted my resort and told them I have the deed in my name, my closing company is slow and disorganized and asked if I could bring or send in the deed to get my membership going. They said that they will call the closing company on Monday. At any rate, I do know that I own the TS. Hopefully, I will be able to use it before the next bill comes in the mail for 2012 dues.

IA actually hasn't done anything wrong. They told me the closing would take 60-90 days and it has been less than 90 days. I just can't stand the waiting and having to check on what is going on. I'd rather pay more to buy from an agent that pays attention to their sales. So, that is what I did on my recent WM purchase.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I believe I've bought as many as three from Austin at IAVacations. From my perspective they were just horribly slow throughout the entire process to a point where if I didn't stay on top of them I believe I'd still be waiting.

This is the only downside of buying resale, you are often captive to these sellers and their closing agents if you've found a unique/great deal that you can't find else where. I know that is what happened to us. We realized early these guys were challenging and could've bailed but just found a great deal so I lived with it. Invariably you lose any chance of getting a good week that first year.

At the end of the day it all worked out but I can see how some get very frustrated with this group because of their pace of doing things.

 

[Sunnydude]

We are going through the closing process for a WKV that we bought off ebay in September. IAVacations is quick to respond to emails. Property Relief (closing) is not. I sent three emails last week trying to get a status update with no response. Copied IAVacations on the last one and they responded to me same day and are going to follow up for me. It appears the issues are with their choice of closing company and not the seller themselves.

 

[presley]

We are going through the closing process for a WKV that we bought off ebay in September. IAVacations is quick to respond to emails. Property Relief (closing) is not. I sent three emails last week trying to get a status update with no response. Copied IAVacations on the last one and they responded to me same day and are going to follow up for me. It appears the issues are with their choice of closing company and not the seller themselves.

While that has been the experience of many, the 2 companies are owned by the same person and they have the same address. So, the seller actually is the closing company.

 

[theo]

Lots more than just TWO...

.... the 2 companies are owned by the same person and they have the same address. So, the seller actually is the closing company.

There are actually about a half-dozen (maybe more) different company names all operating there within the confines of bustling Sevierville, TN. My own bet would be that all of them are just exactly the same people, merely "changing hats" for different transactions and / or for different parts of the same transaction.
Can you say "foxes in the henhouse"?

 

[BobMc]

iavacations

I bought a timeshare from this group in August, and they have stopped replying to my emails. There is no way I can see that this transaction will be completed by January 1, when the 2012 maintenance fee is due. Will I be expected to pay that if I am not the owner of the timeshare? This is the first timeshare I have bought, and is very likely to be the last. I guess I haven't really bought anything yet.

 

[DeniseM]

I bought a timeshare from this group in August, and they have stopped replying to my emails. There is no way I can see that this transaction will be completed by January 1, when the 2012 maintenance fee is due. Will I be expected to pay that if I am not the owner of the timeshare? This is the first timeshare I have bought, and is very likely to be the last. I guess I haven't really bought anything yet.

They seller may ask you to pay the maintenance fee to them, but I wouldn't do it. I'd tell them that you will pay it directly to the resort, after the deed is in your name.

 

[M&JJ]

My experience with this company would lead me to recommend that you not pay the maintenance fees until ownership has transferred to you. I had a deal that I cancelled due to length of time waiting. I had paid the maintenance fees upon request and had to argue long and hard to get my money back.

 

[funtime]

Good experience with IA Vacations

We purchased a vacation with them on ebay this summer and everything went well. Got a super deal on a Florida vacation. Got a guest cert and checked in no problem. Got a follow up email from them wanting to know if we would like to buy a timeshare. Politely declined. Would buy another vacation without hesitation.