My mum got sucked into a timeshare that was poorly translated

[VacationForever]

Since your mother did not provide her SS number, her credit scores won't be affected when she stops making future payment.

 

[abcdefg]

"They have he social, but she never applied for credit. They keep hounding her though which is funny to watch. The salesperson is extremely desperate in trying to get her to do this."

What are you saying?
You have the whole income thing backwards. I believe her friend was invited to the presentation? By accepting the invitation and free gift, one or both of them likely signed something stating they make the minimum income required. Therefore, they would have committed fraud. Yes, your mom and/or her friend. If you pursue this, the T/S attorneys will point this out to the FL AG. The consumer misrepresented their circumstances. Good chance this will be the outcome.

You can talk all day long about Real Estate laws, the AG, etc., but good luck. Timeshare organizations have plenty of attorneys and you will get no where. The salesperson was likely correct that it was easy to cancel, but they only 5 days or so to do it.

Just drop it. Stop paying. And, next time, if the contract is not in Spanish, your mom should not sign it. It's the ol' Just say NO.

There's no point in getting mad. Learn from this experience.

People should be mad. The people who work at these places are as bad as pedophiles.

 

[abcdefg]

"They have he social, but she never applied for credit. They keep hounding her though which is funny to watch. The salesperson is extremely desperate in trying to get her to do this."

What are you saying?
You have the whole income thing backwards. I believe her friend was invited to the presentation? By accepting the invitation and free gift, one or both of them likely signed something stating they make the minimum income required. Therefore, they would have committed fraud. Yes, your mom and/or her friend. If you pursue this, the T/S attorneys will point this out to the FL AG. The consumer misrepresented their circumstances. Good chance this will be the outcome.

You can talk all day long about Real Estate laws, the AG, etc., but good luck. Timeshare organizations have plenty of attorneys and you will get no where. The salesperson was likely correct that it was easy to cancel, but they only 5 days or so to do it.

Just drop it. Stop paying. And, next time, if the contract is not in Spanish, your mom should not sign it. It's the ol' Just say NO.

There's no point in getting mad. Learn from this experience.

 

[dioxide45]

Since your mother did not provide her SS number, her credit scores won't be affected when she stops making future payment.

Creditors can still report to credit agencies without a SSN. That said, they did indicate in post #90 that they did provide the SSN but somehow didn't apply for credit.

 

[VacationForever]

Creditors can still report to credit agencies without a SSN. That said, they did indicate in post #90 that they did provide the SSN but somehow didn't apply for credit.

I missed that as there was so much ranting and rambling that it was not clear to me as to who provided the check and who gave their credit card and whether SSN were provided.

 

[rapmarks]

I missed that as there was so much ranting and rambling that it was not clear to me as to who provided the check and who gave their credit card and whether SSN were provided.

Some of the posts here rank pretty high on the crazy scale

 

[rapmarks]

After buying a timeshare many people will probably do searches on the various locations available. You just have to build a simple site warning buyers and properly.nforming them of s the facts and than bid on the right keywords. It won't take much to some damage. You can put a link for donations to help fund too.

What do you think Tug has been doing for years

 

[Lobotomize me Captain]

The poverty line is below $14000 for a single person. How does a mentally incompetent person make $45000 a year?

She cleans houses.

 

[Lobotomize me Captain]

Some of the posts here rank pretty high on the crazy scale

K

 

[Lobotomize me Captain]

"They have he social, but she never applied for credit. They keep hounding her though which is funny to watch. The salesperson is extremely desperate in trying to get her to do this."

What are you saying?
You have the whole income thing backwards. I believe her friend was invited to the presentation? By accepting the invitation and free gift, one or both of them likely signed something stating they make the minimum income required. Therefore, they would have committed fraud. Yes, your mom and/or her friend. If you pursue this, the T/S attorneys will point this out to the FL AG. The consumer misrepresented their circumstances. Good chance this will be the outcome.

You can talk all day long about Real Estate laws, the AG, etc., but good luck. Timeshare organizations have plenty of attorneys and you will get no where. The salesperson was likely correct that it was easy to cancel, but they only 5 days or so to do it.

Just drop it. Stop paying. And, next time, if the contract is not in Spanish, your mom should not sign it. It's the ol' Just say NO.

There's no point in getting mad. Learn from this experience.

My mum was unaware of any of this, and before that day, she never heard of a timeshare. Her friend was the one who was invited, and it was her friend who invited her into that room. My mum didn't sign any documentation to stay in that room, or to receive rewards, or to be at the presentation.
She was never told that this was going to lead to a presentation, she was never told that there was a presentation. Her friend simply invited her.
If anyone signed paperwork before the presentation, it was her friend.

If that's the case, then why ask my mum for a signature without checking her income, or truly checking to see if she qualifies?

I know salespeople can get away with lying, I know companies will use the contact as the ultimate counter statement everytime, but this situation in particular doesn't make sense to me.

This wasn't an incident where a married couple go to FL and sign a contract together, because if that were the case, I'd say that this happened as it usually does.

 

[abcdefg]

What do you think Tug has been doing for years

 

[Mongoose]

People should be mad. The people who work at these places are as bad as pedophiles.

Ok, that’s silly And a little offensive to child victims. Child victims don’t have a choice. Adults in sales presentations do.

 

[Lobotomize me Captain]

Ok, that’s silly And a little offensive to child victims. Child victims don’t have a choice. Adults in sales presentatioNo do.

I'd also appreciate if they stopped making such remarks.
It's ok to be collectively angry and dislike timeshares, but comments like that makes this seem more unhinged than it already is...

 

[ScoopKona]

Ok, that’s silly And a little offensive to child victims. Child victims don’t have a choice. Adults in sales presentatioNo do.

I think "brigading" is the term which applies here.

 

[abcdefg]

Ok, that’s silly And a little offensive to child victims. Child victims don’t have a choice. Adults in sales presentations do.

People don't choose to be victims either way. Tricking someone into doing something harmful makes it no better.

 

[sue1947]

I'd also appreciate if they stopped making such remarks.
It's ok to be collectively angry and dislike timeshares, but comments like that makes this seem more unhinged than it already is...

First thing: Put abcdefg on ignore. They are a troll just here to make things difficult for you.
Focus on the responses from long time tug members who actually have a clue.
No, this isn't right, but timeshare sales is full of people who lie for a living. On a practical level, your choices are to default and take the credit hit or spend some (a lot) money and time with a lawyer to pursue the various issues. The credit hit probably isn't that big of a deal in your mother's situation. Perhaps some time with a credit counselor might be worth it to understand the repercussions for your mother and might make you feel better about this.

 

[Mongoose]

People don't choose to be victims either way. Tricking someone into doing something harmful makes it no better.

Just stop. There is no equivalence between victims of sexual assault and buying a timeshare.

 

[abcdefg]

Just stop. There is no equivalence between victims of sexual assault and buying a timeshare.

I am not talking about the victims. I am talking about the sales people. These are people you should hate with a passion. That is all I am saying.

 

[abcdefg]

Just stop. There is no equivalence between victims of sexual assault and buying a timeshare.

If people had more hatred for crooks like this I guarantee problems like this would not exist.

 

[Mongoose]

If people had more hatred for crooks like this I guarantee problems like this would not exist.

Hatred only hurts the hater. The focus of the hate, especially a criminal, could care less.

 

[rapmarks]

She cleans houses.

Then she works hard for a living and is appreciated. Don’t worry, it will work out. They don’t have enough information and don’t give it to them.

 

[StaceyM]

Need some guidance on TUG etiquette - Is it productive/useful to report all these off-topic posts (including my post here) for deletion? Or is that just hassling the moderators?

 

[Mongoose]

Need some guidance on TUG etiquette - Is it productive/useful to report all these off-topic posts (including my post here) for deletion? Or is that just hassling the moderators?

They grant a lot of leeway on the topics. Politics or harassment is not acceptable.

 

[LannyPC]

I am talking about the sales people. These are people you should hate with a passion.

I don't hate sales people (or any other humans for that matter). They are flesh-and-blood humans just like you and I. What I hate are the methods that they use to rope people into buying overpriced timeshares.

There's a big difference between the person and the methods.

 

[Lobotomize me Captain]

I don't hate sales people (or any other humans for that matter). They are flesh-and-blood humans just like you and I. What I hate are the methods that they use to rope people into buying overpriced timeshares.

There's a big difference between the person and the methods.

Exactly. It's their "job", but I wish they'd also realize their job includes horrible methods and lying to set vulnerable people up. I get it, it pus food on the table. I've starved before, it's not fun to be homeless, but working as a timeshare salesmen where lying is their job and vulnerable, especially the elderly with an estate, is their goal for some commission? That's just...

Regardless, moping about it won't change things until it does. The way these timeshares function is incredibly problematic. There need to be stricter laws in place, and more information spread out.
Tug is doing a great job of informing and having people help inform, but just like myself, a majority of what was explained are things I never heard of before or considered.
If many people knew how these functioned, I doubt they'd even bother going to one of their resorts for some rewards, and I very much doubt they'd agree to a timeshare unless they 100% know it won't hurt them in the long run.
Of course that's not to say people go to take advantage the rewards already with no intention of getting a timeshare.
I'm talking about the ones who are completely unaware, the ones they love to bait.

20 years ago this kind of information wasn't readily available to timeshare owners who were misled and ill informed. Now there is.

So keep doing what you all do. Keep this forum running, keep posting about these problem, increase the chances that your comments and threads will be the first thing that hits the algorithm when people search for timeshares.

Something I've learned recently is if enough is revealed in mass, enough people react, and I'm sure timeshares, especially Exploria since Tom J Morris lost Silverleaf for similar complaints, then these things get handled for the sake of political and state reputation.

Granted having lived in Florida I know that it's a bad state, but it wasn't always this bad.

I really appreciate everyone's answers and take here. I'll use the approaches and advices provided by those more familiar on this.
If any of you have any more questions or comments, I'd love to hear it.

I'm learning a lot of helpful stuff, and that's extremely important for others who also know nothing about timeshares, save for the ill advised statements provided by timeshare "lawyers" and "exit" companies.