Misrepresentation by salesman

[LannyPC]

It is very common. Another problem is that people believe these salespeople and spend tens of thousands without doing any independent research. We live in a world of buyer beware. You always need to do your due diligence, especially before plunking down tens of thousands of dollars.

While I agree 100% with what you say, especially the part about buyer beware, what these sales people rely on (among other things) is that the buyer(s) won't go combing through the dozens of pages in the contract but just believe what the sales people told them. And, after being subjected to hours of sales spiel, the buyer(s) will just do anything, including signing the contract, just to get out of there.

 

[ScoopKona]

Now what do I do. It was in April but the salesman said it would be around 60 days before we heard from this supposed financial adviser. Of course we did not hear anything

1) Take a deep breath. This is not the end of the world.

2) Ignore all the advice about lawyering up, going to small claims court, calling the Better Business Bureau for Boomers. None of that is going do anything but waste your time and perhaps cost even more money.

3) Realize that you have precisely two options: a) Pay for the timeshare and use it; or b) stop paying, default on the contract and let them foreclose.

If you decide to default, kiss all the money you have already spent goodbye. And then stop taking their calls and throw their letters away. The credit hit should be relatively minor. (No guarantees. But nobody yet has posted "I defaulted on my timeshare and now my life is RUINED!")

 

[RX8]

1) Take a deep breath. This is not the end of the world.

2) Ignore all the advice about lawyering up, going to small claims court, calling the Better Business Bureau for Boomers. None of that is going do anything but waste your time and perhaps cost even more money.

3) Realize that you have precisely two options: a) Pay for the timeshare and use it; or b) stop paying, default on the contract and let them foreclose.

If you decide to default, kiss all the money you have already spent goodbye. And then stop taking their calls and throw their letters away. The credit hit should be relatively minor. (No guarantees. But nobody yet has posted "I defaulted on my timeshare and now my life is RUINED!")

Essentially your advise is to accept it and take the lumps. I disagree. Those that rattle the cages and bring as much awareness of the sales practices to light will have a better chance of getting positive action than one who bites their lip and takes the loss. You say don’t bother with the BBB. Wyndham addresses all complaints that are filed with the BBB. Filing a complaint there will cause Wyndham to review and respond. It also gives them an opportunity to save face and look good by positively solving the complaint. Granted there are some people who don’t go beyond biting their lip but many want to go down swinging.

 

[ScoopKona]

Essentially your advise is to accept it and take the lumps. I disagree.

Then volunteer to do this for OP.

It's a waste of time. The contract is written so that it must be contested in the state where the timeshare company is located. The judge goes golfing with the CEO. And Wyndham is going to reply with essentially, "this isn't company policy. Didn't happen. Prove us wrong."

My advice is to either use it (assuming it's paid for) or default (assuming there's a massive loan with ridiculous interest rates). The good thing about either choice is that it will work and isn't a waste of time. Stringing this along just increases the eventual pain when the band-aid is finally ripped off. What's next? OP asks, "Is Totally-Legit Timeshare Exit Company any good? They said they could get my money back if I just pay them $2,500 as a retainer fee."

 

[DrQ]

It's a waste of time. The contract is written so that it must be contested in the state where the timeshare company is located. The judge goes golfing with the CEO. And Wyndham is going to reply with essentially, "this isn't company policy. Didn't happen. Prove us wrong."

It is easier to be the defendant in a lawsuit rather than the plaintiff. Many debt collectors, banks and other debt buyers found this out post 2007. You need PROOF that can comply with the rules of evidence in order to be considered by the court. Even though the burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, you MUST get the evidence submitted.

The corporation can submit a policy, which as a business record, can be submitted directly as evidence and you would be stuck to refute.

 

[andre10056]

1) Take a deep breath. This is not the end of the world.

2) Ignore all the advice about lawyering up, going to small claims court, calling the Better Business Bureau for Boomers. None of that is going do anything but waste your time and perhaps cost even more money.

3) Realize that you have precisely two options: a) Pay for the timeshare and use it; or b) stop paying, default on the contract and let them foreclose.

If you decide to default, kiss all the money you have already spent goodbye. And then stop taking their calls and throw their letters away. The credit hit should be relatively minor. (No guarantees. But nobody yet has posted "I defaulted on my timeshare and now my life is RUINED!")

I disagree with much of what you just wrote.

To suggest that there "are" (with 100% certainty) only two options paying or not paying, is logically incorrect. Of course, there are a near infinite set of possible outcomes. If you're saying these are the most likely outcomes in your opinion, that would be OK. Stating your opinion is OK. But to say with 100% certainty that these are your only courses of actions is not OK.

I also question your saying, "The credit hit should be relatively minor. (No guarantees. But nobody yet has posted "I defaulted on my timeshare and now my life is RUINED!")".

I've actually given that a good bit of thought. Yes, many people have been given that advice on TUG and have no doubt done that. But would they thereafter come back to confront those people who provided that advice? I think not. It would do them no good and they would have likely been confronted by their attorney who said to them, "You actually followed the legal advice of an anonymous Internet poster on a message board? That's where you went for legal advice???!!!" So they would have recognized how stupid they were to do so, and would likely blame themselves, and not the anonymous Internet posters.

Finally, I absolutely despise "self fulfilling prophecies". Such and such will do you no good. It can't possibly lead to a positive outcome. So you do something or don't do something based on that prediction and lo and behold, you didn't get a positive outcome.

So you don't ask that girl out because you predict she'd never go out with you and lo and behold, she doesn't.

So you don't apply for admission to that college because you predict you won't get in, and lo and behold, you don't.

So you don't study for that math test because you know you'll fail, and lo and behold, you fail.

I would, at the very least, do as I suggested in my last post:

"Maybe first send a letter to the District Manager of that Wyndham district, tell him what you were told, say you're still waiting to be contacted by the financial firm's rep, and ask why it's taking so long. And then see how (or if) he responds."

 

[ScoopKona]

"Maybe first send a letter to the District Manager of that Wyndham district, tell him what you were told, say you're still waiting to be contacted by the financial firm's rep, and ask why it's taking so long. And then see how (or if) he responds."

A complete and utter waste of time. And again, stringing this along only increases the pain when the band-aid is eventually ripped off.

If you want to grab a lance and start tilting at windmills, have fun. Giving OP false hope is cruel.

 

[dioxide45]

Then volunteer to do this for OP.

It's a waste of time. The contract is written so that it must be contested in the state where the timeshare company is located. The judge goes golfing with the CEO. And Wyndham is going to reply with essentially, "this isn't company policy. Didn't happen. Prove us wrong."

My advice is to either use it (assuming it's paid for) or default (assuming there's a massive loan with ridiculous interest rates). The good thing about either choice is that it will work and isn't a waste of time. Stringing this along just increases the eventual pain when the band-aid is finally ripped off. What's next? OP asks, "Is Totally-Legit Timeshare Exit Company any good? They said they could get my money back if I just pay them $2,500 as a retainer fee."

I would generally agree that a lawsuit is a waste of money. Even if you win a judgement, collecting on it would cost even more money. That said, filing complaints with state agencies and BBB (though BBB is questionable) is certainly a good idea. Reaching out to a self advocacy group like TARDA may be something that can be done which would cost nearly nothing. They have helped some people get out through pestering and shaming.

 

[ScoopKona]

 

[WaikikiFirst]

We were told by a sales rep that we could deposit our timeshare points with a financial company and a financial rep would get in touch with us to set up an account.

LMAO. T'were I to ever go into a TS presentation, I'd have to fight to stay awake, cuz all I'd hear is "Blah blah blah" ... "stupid math" ... "Yada yada yada"

 

[pedro47]

View attachment 113104

Is that the BBB President. LOL

 

[ScoopKona]

Is that the BBB President. LOL

Nah, he's out there delivering printed telephone directories from a horse and carriage, using a buggy whip, while fixing his wife's corset stays.

 

[easyrider]

But I am talking about suing the salesperson personally. Since not suing Wyndham the arbitration clause wouldn’t apply. I’ve never seen this discussed before. The timeshare industry doesn’t have a good reputation and if you can gather enough proof that leans 51% on your side you may have a chance with a judge. Granted, you may not get your judgement but if it was me I would spread the fact all over social media that I proved their salespeople lie to customers to make a sale and Wyndham doesn’t care. Eventually, I would think Wyndham would rescind the contract to make this bad publicity go away (which is the ultimate goal).

You would have to prove the sales person was smart enough to misrepresent their product. You would also have to prove it caused a loss. I doubt that either could be proved.

Bill

 

[TUGBrian]

youd likely have a better chance of success being the squeakiest wheel that has ever squeaked telling your story to the world via social media on wyndhams pages than you will seeking a resolution by suing wyndham.

though admittedly, both are pretty low.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

We were told by a sales rep that we could deposit our timeshare points with a financial company and a financial rep would get in touch with us to set up an account. When I called Branson they had no idea what we were talking about. Has anyone else had this happen

If you are still within the rescission period you should rescind immediately. You were lied to. If not, not much you can do.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Unless you want to be stuck with the timeshare, this is the time to shout from the top of the mountain.

Send Wyndham a email with your complaint requesting cancellation.
Post on their social media accounts.
Post on forums (like you did here).
File a complaint with the BBB.
File a complaint with the state AG.
Attend another sales presentation and be very loud with your complaint so all can hear.
Contact your local news watch dog.

While Wyndham will likely deny any responsibility, this is a question for the attorneys here. Can one file a small claims lawsuit against the salesperson who blatantly lied? It would be capped at $10K and would be a he said/she said but a judge may be able to see through the BS by the salesperson. I would love to see Judge Judy have her way with a timeshare salesperson. It is also possible that Wyndham would not want to see one of their employees personally sued and become a permanent public record. They just may offer a rescission to avoid it going to court.

The problem is that most small claims (the rules and amounts vary wildly by state) require the person to actually go to that location to file the suit, and to attend court appearances in that location. Assuming this happened at a location where the OP was on vacation, that’s probably not feasible.

 

[ScoopKona]

at a location where the OP was on vacation, that’s probably not feasible.

It's even worse than that. In the case of where I worked it was, "All legal disputes will be adjudicated [in the county where the CEO golfs with the judge]."

The entire contract is written by attorneys who know just how close they can approach "the line" without crossing it. Getting out of a timeshare contract after the rescission period is nigh-on impossible.

And we ROUTINELY sold to attorneys. "Just let me sign the papers so I can go back to Fantasy Fest/Powerboat races/Poker Run/etc." Pilots, attorneys, and women who drove themselves to the resort and asked for the 15-minute elevator pitch were my favorites.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Yeah is the BBB even a thing anymore? Seems like they are from the olden days.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

And we ROUTINELY sold to attorneys. "

As an attorney, I can confirm, there are a lot of stupid attorneys.

 

[ScoopKona]

As an attorney, I can confirm, there are a lot of stupid attorneys.

I'll bet there are plenty of attorneys buying at Hyatt Ka'anapali, too. Both Sunset Harbor and Ka'anapali have (had) the advantage of almost no resale weeks available; staggeringly high cost to stay in a hotel during peak weeks, and the numbers pencil out buying at developer prices vs. renting hotel rooms.


One time a couple came in for Fantasy Fest, took the tour, husband demanded he had cancer (yet again). And left. His wife came back a few hours later. "Sell me weeks 42 and 43. Nobody has cancer. My husband is an idiot who thinks paying $1200 a night at Banana's Foster is a better deal." She put the two weeks on her Amex card and left less than an hour later.