Jul 20

On July 14, 2010, Florida state investigators raided a timeshare call center in Ormond Beach, Florida, after receiving dozens of complaints.  The company, operating under the name Buy Owner Resort Marketing, has been promising to help customers sell their timeshares but is just one of the timeshare industry con artists that are taking money from timeshare owners and not delivering on their promises.

The company had already been shut down in March for being an unlicensed telemarketing company.  When the state learned that it was still operating, agents served a warrant.

The State Attorney General’s Office has been receiving complaints from timeshare owners all over the country.  The complaints were all the same story: the company promised to sell or rent out their timeshare but just took their money and they never heard from them again.

Timeshare owners said they’ve paid thousands of dollars in upfront fees, appraisals and closing costs.  Representatives for the company refused interviews.  Employees deny any wrongdoing.

The Better Business Bureau has given this company an “F” rating and there are over 20 unanswered complaints.

There are no records of any timeshares ever being rented or sold.

Once again, the state of Florida has shut down this company.  There are still other companies operating just as this one did all over the country.

Getting out of your timeshare doesn’t have to be this burdensome.  Contact Timeshare Relief to get rid of your timeshare without having to deal with rip-offs such as these companies.

More information on this story can be found at WFTV.

Tagged with:
Jun 08

Timeshare Relief Better Business Bureau Accredited BusinessTimeshare Relief has worked diligently over 6 years to gain an outstanding grade from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) by focusing on our clients and their needs.  So, its disturbing to find out that the BBB has had to issue continued warnings about the number of timeshare resales scams that are going on in the timeshare industry today.  A number of news programs across the country are picking up the warnings (in Philadelphia and in Baltimore for example)

Timeshare Relief is strictly opposed to those timeshare resales companies that find it necessary to fraudulently bilk timeshare owners out of their money.  Although not a timeshare resale company itself, Timeshare Relief believes that the entire timeshare industry is hurt by these companies and individuals that are not looking to provide proper business services to consumers.

Timeshare Relief does not resell timeshares.  We provide a service that transfers ownership of a timeshare from an owner so that that owner will no longer be responsible for the financial obligations of the timeshare contract.  The guaranteed service is done for a fee.  Tens of thousands of timeshare owners have successfully transferred their timeshares already.  See just a few of the satisfied Timeshare Relief client interviews that occur AFTER the transaction is completed – just search for “Timeshare Relief testimonials” on YouTube.com.

Tagged with:
Mar 25

Timeshare Relief logoThere is a recent column by Malcolm Berko who responds to a question about Timeshare Relief and its services.  Admittedly, Mr. Berko’s knowledge and conclusions of Timeshare Relief come from “a quick scan” of the internet.  Yet, without any first-hand contact with the company or any of its clients, he decides to denigrate Timeshare Relief, and turns to name-calling using terms such as “pikers”, “quicksalvers”, “quacks” and “highbinders”.   We feel that Mr. Berko’s response indicates a lack of knowledge about Timeshare Relief as a company, and limited knowledge of the timeshare industry and the nature of timeshare contracts.  Moreover, we feel his judgment of the character of the people within Timeshare Relief is completely unwarranted, irresponsible and ignorant at best.

Proven Track Record of Success & Business Accolades

Timeshare Relief has been in business for over 6 years now diligently helping tens of thousands of timeshare owners get rid of their timeshares.  The Timeshare Relief service is designed for dissatisfied timeshare owners, most of whom have already tried and failed in their attempts to sell or give away their timeshares, and want to get out from their timeshare contracts.

Timeshare Relief Better Business Bureau Accredited BusinessTimeshare Relief has an excellent ‘A’ rating with the Better Business Bureau.  Inc. Magazine has highlighted Timeshare Relief in its Inc 500 List, and the company has been recognized as a Best in Torrance award winner.  Most importantly, Timeshare Relief has been very transparent in the way that we do business, inviting many prominent people in the timeshare industry to come see our operations.  All of them leave impressed and understand that the service Timeshare Relief provides does help timeshare owners.

Overwhelmingly, the feedback from people who have used the services of Timeshare Relief has been POSITIVE.  The negative comments found online — that Mr. Berko used to form his opinion – primarily originate from those who have not used the service.  (There are those with an ax to grind as well.)

Addressing Specific Solutions and Claims

So, let’s address the solutions that Mr. Berko brings to the table by speaking to his three attorney references:

  • One attorney, Mr. Berko’s daughter, states that timeshare contracts are way above her paygrade.
  • Another attorney (from Florida) recommends advertising the timeshare for sale on the internet.  The attorney claims that “buyers were waiting in line” to purchase.  This sounds eerily like a line that shady timeshare resales companies use to entice owners to sell.  What this attorney and Mr. Berko do not realize is that trying to sell the timeshare is not a unique thought; the statistics of people trying to sell their timeshares and failing are staggering.A person can look on EBay and see the number of timeshares for sale as low as $1, with no bids.  Or go to some timeshare resellers and see the sheer number of timeshares for sale.
  • The final attorney recommends creating a corporation, selling the timeshares to the corporation, and then abandoning it.  This solution could be considered fraudulent, and could lead a timeshare owner into court.  Forming a corporation for the sole purpose of dumping a liability or with the sole intention of evading a personal financial or legal obligation could expose a person to civil or criminal penalties.Besides the legally suspect nature, this solution leaves out the important step of acquiring a timeshare company’s approval of the transfer.  Timeshare companies are not ignorant to this trick that would effectively cause a loss of maintenance fees and future legal issues.  So, many would not allow such a transfer in the first place (Note: allowing the transfer does not waive the timeshare company’s right to pursue future legal action).

Mr. Berko’s advice is faulty and misinformed.

So, to our clients, know that we take great care to transfer your timeshare so that you never have to pay another maintenance fee or special assessment ever again.  Rest assured that everyone at Timeshare Relief stands by our service.  We are proud of the company that’s been built.

Tagged with:
Mar 02

How can you tell if you are doing the right thing when you are conducting business?  Some people contact the Better Business Bureau and get some feedback about how you’re doing, of course.  Better yet, the feedback from people who conducted business with you is a healthy indicator of how you measure up as a company.

But in some instances, former clients actually become staff members for the company because of the great experiences they had with them.

Over the years, Timeshare Relief had the opportunity to help people in exceedingly bad situations.  Many positives come out of these opportunities, some of them being requests from former clients to become part of our staff.  Former clients become motivated by their experiences and want to help others who face the same problems they did.  They develop a passion and commitment to carry on the message to other timeshare owners that Timeshare Relief can help others just as it did for them.

Janice Borst-Smith is one of our staff members who was a former client.  She is featured before on a video in the Timeshare Relief testimonial section. If you didn’t catch her story, Janice was a former timeshare owner that inherited a timeshare and all the fees that came with it.  She came to Timeshare Relief and was able to get help from them to rid her of the timeshare.  Janice and her family were so happy to finally get rid of their timeshare that they made a decision to join the company.  Janice’s picture is featured on the Timeshare Relief website (www.TimeshareReliefNow.com) under the Our Team >> Travel Team section.

Tagged with:
Feb 03

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) seems to have gotten word out about timeshare resales companies that are not fulfilling the services that they are promising timeshare owners.  Local news stations and newspapers are picking up stories that all sound too familiar.

In the Chicago Sun Times, Francine Knowles writes about a Texas-based company, Resorts Condo Management, which has an “F” rating with the BBB.  Several Chicago residents have complained about the company.  One complaint alleged that the company called with an offer of $31,000 to buy the owner’s timeshare.  The owner paid a $3,000 upfront fee via credit card and was told that the deal would close within six weeks.  No buyer materialized.  A refund was provided only after a complaint was filed with the BBB.

In Nebraska, both NTV and WOWT report residents losing money to timeshare resales companies.  One man paid $5,000 upfront to another Florida-based company with no results.  Another allegedly paid $7,710 to Premier Timeshare Solutions in the belief that he could sell his two timeshares.  He was later told that the sale went through, however he still had the deeds to the timeshares.  He recognized that a sale could not have gone through without the proper closing documents including the deeds.  Premier Timeshare Solutions also has an “F” rating with the BBB.

The stories all have common themes.  The timeshare owners were promised a sale – some are told that a buyer was waiting to purchase.  They were asked to pay upfront after receiving a telemarketing call.  Remember that the company called THEM.  They were not guaranteed a sale in writing.

Upon hearing these stories, some owners may wonder about the service that Timeshare Relief provides.  Please remember that Timeshare Relief guarantees our service in writing.  We do not make claims of a quick sale or that we have a buyer in the wings.  We acknowledge that the timeshare resales market is a difficult one which is a reason why a fee is necessary to get rid of a timeshare for an owner.  Once a timeshare is transferred from an owner, someone else is responsible for the financial obligations in these hard economic times.

Tagged with:
preload preload preload