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:( Sad, think victim of resale FRAUD on eBay - Hilton Club [merged]

Jasmine658

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:( Sad, think victim of resale FRAUD on eBay - Hilton Club

Bought Hilton Club last Feb 2011 on eBay from "Selling Time Guys". Signed the paperwork, told delays due to needing a few more pages signed, signed those, mailed back. Every few months, they told me to keep waiting, so much paperwork and in process of being recorded.

Then last week, realizing it's been almost full 12 months since purchase by PayPal, tried last few days to call & e-mail only to find that now they have no eBay listings, do not answer ringing phone during business hours, do not respond to e-mails, and their web site freezes up when try to search by Escrow #. I've already called credit card company & spoke with eBay too (limit of 120 days credit claims & limit is 45 days for claims of fraud on eBay). I was told probably out my money (over $7,000). But now I'm worried it's possibly far worse than losing my money, as now am worried what they may have done with my signature and social security # that they required.

Their stationary reads:
Elite Resort Transfers, LLC
130 S. Orange Ave, Suite 200B
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 843-1214

www.eliteresorttransfers.com

Help!!! Any advice?:bawl:
 

alwysonvac

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SOLD (DVC, FSRC)
Hopefully a moderator will move this from the HGVC forum to the Buying, Selling, Renting forum where you'll reach a larger audience for advice.

NOTE: If you decide to buy HGVC again, there are two resale agents that are highly recommended on TUG - Seth Nock and Judi Kozlowski
http://www.sellingtimeshares.net/ (TUG member Seth Nock)
http://judikoz.com/ (TUG member Judi Kozlowski)
 

rickandcindy23

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I haven't seen many listings on eBay for that reseller, but I don't look as often as I used to.

I feel for you and hope someone can help you with this transfer. I had good dealings with Elite Transfers. The most recent info I have for them:

132 S. Orange Ave, Suite 200B, Orlando, FL 32801 Toll Free: 877.45.CLOSE (877.452.5673) Fax: 321.206.4541. Anna Hickman was my contact at Elite.

I wish you luck. I would hope they haven't gone out of business completely, but it's happened before.

Vacation Solutions bit the dust a few years ago and deeded a lot of resorts into an LLC of the same name, then walked away. The owner of that company didn't get by with it. He is now broke. I wish that same thing for so many other companies like Michael Dunahay's.
 

Talent312

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Contact the City of Orlando Police Department and your own to report a theft.
... Phone Numbers: Non-Emergency Complaint Desk: (321) 235-5300

Contact the Florida Attorney General's Office to report the fraud.

Do not just sit on your duff and feel sorry for yourself. It's high time to act.
 

Jasmine658

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Same thoughts

Contact the City of Orlando Police Department and your own to report a theft.
... Phone Numbers: Non-Emergency Complaint Desk: (321) 235-5300

Contact the Florida Attorney General's Office to report the fraud.

Do not just sit on your duff and feel sorry for yourself. It's high time to act.
These were my same thoughts, and planned to file police report tomorrow if didn't hear back today, as well as ask for officer to go out to their address to verify if they are gone. Best case scenerio is everyone out of office from norovirus, and a hurricane hit, knocking out power. But don't think so.

Thanks for the Attorney General's suggestion too. Will post updates.
 

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Sorry to hear of the loss. I do not mean to say this at your expense, however, that is why I would never do business through E-Bay with a timeshare reseller. You may want to call the resort directly and see if it is their inventory for unpaid maintance fees or if they have the name and address of the last known owner of record. If they do then you may want to contract an attorney or go through small claims court against the owner of record. If the Resort owns it, maybe something could be worked out with them. If you do decide to buy again through a timeshare share reseller, be aware that some threads on TUGs have threads on their activities. I would not do business with a timeshare reseller unless they were licensed in the state that the Resort is located in. Both the broker and the salesperson.
 

Jasmine658

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Anna Hickman was my contact at Elite.
Anna was first contact, but had a few others later like Camila Velandia & Kerrie Ely.

I just looked at print out of closed eBay auction from a year ago - Seller had 785 feedback 99.7% POSITIVE!

Looks like have some research work to do tomorrow, and some filing of reports to make.

Think done with eBay. Last time bought a car off eBay, got one with 2 serial #'s, 2 totaled cars welded together. Should have learned the first time -

DO NOT MAKE LARGE PURCHASES ON EBAY, EVER!!!
 
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Also, asking on TUG for advice on which resellers are good. For instance, my first eBay (Wyndham) timeshare purchase was through CJ Timeshares, and currently working with Global Resort Transfer (their part is done, it's all on Wyndham to finish the transfer) on my recent purchase. Also, checking eBay ratings helps. If they have very low ratings, or very few, they don't have a reputation.

Whether a company is licensed in a state does not matter much. A company may be licensed in the state, do everything "by the book", and then *poof* close up shop. Timeshare resale business work in very low profit, hoping to make money on a zero-value item.

TS
 

stevedmatt

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I had a purchase go over a year with them and told them I was no longer interested and to refund my money. They did. Sure got a run around during that period. This was probably '07-'08.
 

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Elite Resort Transfer was given an "F" by the Better Business Bureau and goes under alternate names like:

My Timeshare Rescue, LLC
Phone: (407) 843-1214
Fax: (321) 206-4541
View Additional Phone Numbers
130 S Orange Ave Ste 200B, Orlando, FL 32801-3209
rharmon@mytimesharerescue.com

http://www.mytimesharerescue.com

Sometimes, I have seen trolls on different threads stating how "wonderful" the company was, or how "accommodating customer service" was during the transaction. I think these posts are made by the owner or subordinates trying to lift the company's reputation on various sites.

All the advice you have received is good. You might call Seth or Judy to ask what they know about the company. You may have to start legal action. As you can tell, we are all with you! Good luck!
 

Jasmine658

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do have seller name on docs

rrlongwell, do have the seller's names on docs, so that will help in the investigation here, and I will go as far as contacting them directly if can. I'm not shy.

Aquaman - wow, an "F" rating, OMG!!!! I'm going to go look at that. Problem with eBay, can't leave that negative feedback if too long a wait & then if unhappy later, can not change positive to negative!

Wonder how much money they hauled off with, and who else is out there? I know I am not only one.

Are LLC's protected even if commit felonies?

___________

update: just checked BBB, & filed my own report, just requested "refund" at this point. Thanks for support.
 
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Jasmine658

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Antonio J Comas: eBay "relax-a-cation" formerly "SellingTimeGuys"

After a year of waiting for final docs to come in for eBay purchase from Sellingtimeguys, this last week tried to call title company Elite Resort Transfers, and all the various phone numbers they had, all ring, no answer, but websites still up. Learned connection was also the same as My Timeshare Rescue, LLC in Orlando, FL. Filed complaint yesterday with BBB, told need to wait a few weeks for response.

eBay looked up the "Sellingtimeguys", now "relax-a-cation" and found the seller to be Antonio Comas of Oakland, FL. Strangely the feedback rating is 1122, of which 99.4% is positive. As you know, we can't leave negative after a few months, so they made everything look convincing for at least those first few months. I think I even left positive feedback thinking everything was going smoothly.

Called seller directly today. He said he thought he had sold the timeshare in 2010, but was also still waiting on final docs, and had just received the 2012 maintenance fee bill, previous year not paid either. I went on-line to look at deeds and records for the county, only to find the title was was still in the seller's name. Antonio Comas got a huge upfront fee from seller to "sell" the timeshare, which was about the same amount that I paid for it on eBay in Feb 2011. We're now up at about $15,000 of losses combined so far, and it is mounting fast with unpaid maintenance (2 years worth).

Seller had been contacted recently by another "title company" claiming they took over the escrow from Elite Resort Transfers (no one notified me). Anyone know this one? No one answers when I tried to call this afternoon.

PACIFIC TRANSFER
2241 W 190TH st
Torrance, CA 90504
Toll Free: 1-888-794-7612
Fax: 1-877-734-7822
Email: info@pacificpropertytransfer.com

http://pacificpropertytransfer.com/
 
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Jasmine658

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Same here!

I bought a timeshare on eBay - see other forum :( sad victim - Hilton Club resale off ebay.

After no answer at "title company", called the seller today who had paid a large sum for his timeshare, then paid another large sum to have someone sell it, took the buyer's money (mine), and left the timeshare in his name, unpaid maintenance bills mounting as well.

Please share the names so we can catch these crooks. This is class-action.
 

richardm

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I guess if all else fails you could reach him here........

AlumKnight Live
Wednesday 6p-8p
AlumKnight Live airing on 740thegame in Orlando or on the live stream at www.740thegame.com every Wednesday night 6p-8p. Alumknight Live is about your local teams, and it's your local show for all of the latest news on UCF, College Football and Basketball, the Magic, and your Orlando Predators. Alumknight Live is hosted by UCF Alumnus, Tony Comas and former Knight QB – Kyle Israel.

Read more: http://www.740thegame.com/pages/Special_Teams.html#ixzz1lqeRZipU
 

rrlongwell

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I would suggest you and the seller join up and retain an attorney to transfer title to you if you still want the timeshare and if the seller just wants to get rid of it. The attorney can do the deed and review what legal cause of action the two of you may have. Who knows, maybe one would take it on a contigency fee bases.
 

DeniseM

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Jasmine - I have merged your posts on this topic for continuity. If you have more info. to post, please post it here, instead of starting a new thread.
 

ada903

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A broker who knows the industry well told me they are out of business. I am so sorry this happened to you. I hope there is something you can legally do about this.
 

nygiants11991

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This is really scary, how do you know if you are being scammed without waiting 12 months???? What about the sellers on the TUG marketplace, or Redweek, should we be just as cautious with them? With ebay, I assumed you would have to be cautious, but not with these others. How can you protect yourself???
 
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RX8

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Called seller directly today. He said he thought he had sold the timeshare in 2010, but was also still waiting on final docs, and had just received the 2012 maintenance fee bill, previous year not paid either. I went on-line to look at deeds and records for the county, only to find the title was was still in the seller's name. Antonio Comas got a huge upfront fee from seller to "sell" the timeshare, which was about the same amount that I paid for it on eBay in Feb 2011. We're now up at about $15,000 of losses combined so far, and it is mounting fast with unpaid maintenance (2 years worth).

Seller had been contacted recently by another "title company" claiming they took over the escrow from Elite Resort Transfers (no one notified me). Anyone know this one? No one answers when I tried to call this afternoon.

PACIFIC TRANSFER
2241 W 190TH st
Torrance, CA 90504
Toll Free: 1-888-794-7612
Fax: 1-877-734-7822
Email: info@pacificpropertytransfer.com

http://pacificpropertytransfer.com/

I hope that MAYBE Pacific Transfer completes the transfer but I don't what is in it for them to expend time and money to do so. Did they get some "escrow" funds to complete it?

If they can't help you, why don't you just complete the transfer with the original seller? They already paid, you already paid, just hire someone of your choosing to complete the final transfer. I have read that NY transfers are more complex and therefore costs $1000 to $1500. You might have to pay that amount (or split the with original owner) but at least you will HAVE your timeshare!
 

Jasmine658

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Got on phone with new escrow officer today

:) Some good news. The escrow company changed from defunct Elite Resort Transfers in FL over to Pacific Property Transfer in CA. If I hadn't called the seller directly, would never have known and would have today been filing reports with Attorney General, making police reports, etc. This is exactly why I don't like 3rd parties (always sell my own homes, etc, refuse brokers to represent me), as they always misrepresent without fail.

So Elite had closed doors in November 2011 and then Pacific Property Transfer got 4,000+ of their files. They had none of my documents though, so resent today. So we shall see how this proceeds soon. I'm pretty sure have to start all over with the paperwork as so old now.

If you had a pending sale or purchase with Elite Resort Transfers, please contact Pacific Property Transfer as they may now have your files.

http://pacificpropertytransfer.com/
 
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Jasmine658

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Still worried

Discovered today that this new "shop" - Pacific Property Transfers - is brand new, and BBB listing brand new with new complaints already.

Hilton Club has warning in RED on website how these scams work, and how they will pretend to rescue you from another company that disappeared, when they are just the same racket, of course all after getting huge front fees from seller, which this seller paid.

Now am convinced after seeing this new shop in biz only 2 months, no names on website, vague as usual. So am going to request tomorrow from seller to move closing over to Chicago Title that has a nearby office and a timeshare department. I have worked many times with them, highly professional. If say no, then filing complaints with Attorney General, etc. starting Monday. Realized this is all part of the typical timeshare scam "operation" that I am now learning all about. This is SO disgusting!

https://www.myhiltonclub.com/
(click on red)

Resale / Listing Service Alert

You may have already been contacted by a company offering to sell or rent your timeshare. It is critical for ALL timeshare owners to be aware of the growing presence of individuals making fraudulent claims to offer resale and/or listing services. The details below are shared to keep you well-informed and well-prepared to respond to unsolicited offers of service from such callers.

If you receive a call offering to sell or rent your timeshare:
Be skeptical. If you are contacted by someone offering to resell your timeshare, immediately become skeptical. Despite any claims to contrary, no resale company can guarantee an owner a sale.

If the contact is by telephone, ask the caller if he is licensed as a telemarketer. If they answer yes, ask for which state and then contact that state's consumer protection division and confirm. In Florida, call 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352).

If the caller claims to be a real estate agent or broker, ask for their license number and verify its legitimacy with the applicable state's Department of Real Estate. In Florida, call (850) 487-1395.

Also, don't be fooled by someone claiming to be associated with a branded company or their use of brand logos on materials. Scammers often use such items without permission to convince you their operation is legitimate.

File a complaint. If you are victimized, consider filing a complaint with the following agencies:
Attorney General's Office of the state in which the consumer resides and the state in which the scammer is located. The State Attorney General's websites are listed at www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php
The Federal Trade Commission - www.ftc.gov
The Real Estate Division of the state in which the scammer is located; and
Better Business Bureau - www.bbb.org/us


Common Resale Scams. Most resale scams involve an up-front fee. Below are some common scams:

Listing Fee. You are contacted by someone claiming they either want to buy your timeshare or they have a ready buyer (they may even put the phony buyer on the phone), but you must pay an up-front fee. In a legitimate resale, no payments are made by a seller until after the close of the transaction.

Appraisal Fraud. You are contacted by a person offering to list or sell your timeshare, but first you must obtain an appraisal from a list of appraisers offered - which are in fact, cohorts of the caller. The scammer offers to reimburse the appraisal fee at closing; unfortunately, there never is a closing.

Agency Refund Fraud. You are contacted by someone claiming to be an "ARDA agent" for the purpose of disbursing funds collected by an Attorney General in an action against resale companies, but the "agent" requires an up-front fee to process the claim. Although the Florida Attorney General has pursued certain resale companies, any refunds should be from the Attorney General's office and no fees would be necessary.

Overpayment /Nigerian Fraud. You are contacted by someone claiming they want to buy your timeshare. They send you a check for more than the purchase price, you deposit the check and then the buyer requests a refund for the over-payment. You remit the overpayment only to find out later that the buyer's check bounced and you lost your money and possibly your timeshare too.

Phony Buy Back. You are contacted by someone claiming they are in the area buying timeshares (to rent them or use them for employees, etc.). They request an up-front fee to reserve your spot on the list or they arrange an in-person appointment sometimes at a local hotel. The "buyers" offer to pay for your timeshare or your maintenance fees. Then they offer membership in their vacation club for a fee and offer to trade your timeshare toward the cost of membership. You typically receive a certificate with little to no value and you still own your timeshare and must continue to pay maintenance fees.

Recovery Service. Some unfortunate timeshare owners are being scammed twice. Owners who previously paid an upfront fee to a bogus resale company later get a call from someone claiming to be from a different company who can help recover a portion of the upfront fee previously paid. However, to do so the owner simply has to pay another up-front fee. The latest version of this particular fraud has someone calling the original victim claiming to be from the company that scammed them. They now are offering to refund the victim's money but need a credit card number to facilitate the transaction. Doing so will most likely mean that you will be victimized a second time.

Who is doing this? Often the persons behind resale or listing scams are not legitimate companies and the names they go by change frequently. However, several state Attorney's General have a listing of companies (as have consumer advocate sites), that are some of the more common offenders. To see a few of those they list, follow the links below:

http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/705F60ACA911B5AB852576E300503590
http://www.prlog.org/10602008-conne...s-about-deceptive-practices-by-resellers.html
http://www.rentvri.com/beware-of-scam-artists
 
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