It’s Time For a Reset

As I’m sure you do, I have quite a bit of time on my hands and I’m looking through social media posts for timeshare related material. 

What I find is post after post from consumers, many of them timeshare owners, angry about the way they were treated at timeshare sales presentations. The complaints fall into one of these categories:

1. Took longer than the promised 90 minutes
2. The salesperson wouldn’t let them leave
3. They were kept there without food...many of them claiming that they had a medical issue that required them to eat at a specific time
4. They were not allowed to read anything that they were forced to sign
5. They were not allowed to think about what they were buying, but forced to make a decision on the spot

Now, I’m not suggesting that people make this stuff up. It happens more often than it should and there’s absolutely no reason why it should be encouraged or even allowed to happen. 

Having said that, it occurs to me that in each of these cases the consumer gave up their power and abdicated their responsibility. 

These sales pitches are, for the most part, completely and 100% voluntary on the part of the consumer. No one forces you to attend. The resorts offer a bribe in the form of cash, meals, tickets for something, etc. in exchange for you sitting through a sales pitch. Voluntarily. 100%. No one has a gun to your head. No one has slipped some drug into your coffee or cocktail that your drinking when you encounter the OPC on the boardwalk. 

And once you’re there, again, you are the only one with any power over the situation. 90 minutes are up?  Get up and leave. You’re told you can’t read anything you’re signing. Get up and leave. Have to eat at 2:00 but the salesman tells you no?  Get up and leave. What do you think us going to happen?  Are they going to call the non-existent timeshare police to bring you back?

What I’m trying to point out is that when this pandemic is over, that perhaps it’s time for consumers to do reset of their behavior which will force timeshare developers to do their own reset. You have the power to change the entire industry paradigm

If this awful viral outbreak had taught us anything, it’s that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Rather than waste 90 minutes of your precious time in exchange for two dinner show tickets, enjoy your vacation time. It may be the last one you take

Anatomy Of A Resale Scam

I’m reprinting this with TUG’s approval, which is where it first appeared. This should be required reading for all timeshare owners. These scammers are good. They know what buttons to push and when to push them. Remember that many of these resale scam artists got their start selling timeshare, so they learned enough about the industry to sound extremely convincing. 

We could really use your help on this one. I've read through a lot of other red flags/scam messages on the forums but I haven't seen any advice for if you've signed a sales agreement and then realize it's a scam.

A little background on our situation. We were cold called (which should have been red flag #1) and then offered far more for our timeshare that what we paid (should have been red flag #2) from a buyer (should have been red flag #3) interested in obtaining controlling ownership of Vidanta resort in Nuevo Vallarta. We were told that no money would be needed up front and that their commission fees would come out of the sale from the escrow account. So far this seemed reasonable. They even sent us the Citibanamex bank account statement - which we called and confirmed that the account is valid and that the money was in it. We did not provide the amount to CItibanamex when we called, and they told us what it was which matched the statement. They also provided us their realtor sales information which was confirmed with the Pennsylvania board and everything, again everything seemed legitimate. Then the kicker comes in, we would need to pay a tax and establish a Mexican ID to conduct the sale, which would be a reimbursement after the sale but we would need to pay that now or go down to Mexico and deal with this (that should have been red flag #4). At this point I said that we were told no money would be needed up front and now we have to pay these RFC Tax Payer ID "taxes" ($5430 - funny how others have been about the same amout). Now is when we felt this was a scam, and a good scam at that. We also noticed the website addressed changed through this process as well as e-mail addresses - as we've dragged out the whole process for almost 3 months now. We were provided with 2 satisfied clients, but can't tell if they're in on it, we're going to assume that they are at this point.

The problem is, as I've stated at the beginning, that we signed the sales agreement, and in it there is a clause which states that if we decide to cancel the sale (breach of agreement), we would be responsible to paying their commission - 4% ($2812.40). We've already spoken with an attorney and are prepared to go to court if necessary, but has anyone else been in this situation? If so, what did you do? Did you have to end up going to court? Did you just ignore them and they went away? Did you just stop taking their calls/block their calls? Did you tell them to go away and that you weren't going to be sending them any money? Did you end up having to go through with a court ordeal? We told them that our bank would not wire money to Mexico. We have a follow up call with the same attorney this coming Wednesday, but would love to hear if anyone else has been in our stupid situation that we put ourselves in.

While we did sign the sales agreement, we never signed the escrow documents, so this is the only point that we got to.

They have sent a cancellation letter saying that we need to pay the 4% but they can't do this before the closing date, so we're not too worried about that as they have already sent quite a few with wrong information.

Before we ever got started (around June 2019), we tried doing research, but nothing came up - only now am I finding others saying this is a scam starting around September 2019.

If this does go to court, we will prove that they knowingly committed fraud and then we will be counter-suing them for wasting my time. We will also be reporting them to the BBB, the state attorney general (Pennsylvania), as well as the Federal Trade Commission (which is where we did find some info starting around September 2019).

We don't want to get rid of our timeshare at this point, as we do use it, we just want these people to go away and are willing to fight it.

Players involved in this (if it is even their real names/companies):

James Adams

Real Estate Broker

Ace Properties LLC

1701 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

(267) 678-0104 x375

William Canzino

Escrow Officer

1913 Capital Group LLC

403 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249

(917) 745-3729

We appreciate your advice and expertise in advance. We will follow up as information comes along for anyone else that's in our situation and shut these scam artists down once and for all.

Thank you for listening to us.

Incredible, isn’t it?  What’s troubling is that after this owner received a bunch of responses all saying it was a scam, there was still enough doubt in their mind to continue to ask questions and be concerned about the “4% fee.”

Keep in mind that if you receive a cold all or other form of contact regarding your timeshare, the chances are 99.9% that it’s a scam. With rare exception, there’s no buyer for your timeshare as evidenced by the tens of thousands of listings for $100 on the internet. 

Where Do You Get Your Timeshare Information From?

If it’s only from this blog, you’re making a mistake. That might sound odd, but it’s true. While after spending 20 years in and around the industry, I have a fairly good grasp of things in this country, I have almost no understanding of how timeshare operates in Australia for instance. Nor do I have a solid understanding of the byzantine language of how most timeshare contracts are written, other than they’re in perpetuity and they heavily favor the developer. 

Why am I saying this?  Because in 2020, it’s incredibly easy for anyone with a keyboard and an internet connection to disseminate all sorts of timeshare “stuff” with little or no regard for facts. 

Self-proclaimed exit companies with not a single licensed attorney on staff profess to be able to get you out of your timeshare contract and in the most egregious cases, also claim they’ll be able to get you a full refund of your purchase price. Angry owners, disguised as advocates who profess to be working to change the industry but instead show a clear misunderstanding of what meaningful change is. Bloggers who’ve never even sat through a timeshare sales pitch, much less looked at a contract, trot out the old standby “timeshare is a real estate investment.”

Of course, the industry itself puts out press releases and infamous infographics proclaiming how much money is being saved by owning a timeshare, curiously overstating the amount of annual hotel price inflation and mysteriously omitting the cost of food in their equation. Oh, and let’s not forget their claim that timeshare owners have more sex on vacation than those staying at hotels. 

Add this all up, and you’ll see that while consumers have access to more information than ever before, it’s imperative to be selective in what information you pay attention to. 

Should you believe the salesperson who has a short amount of time to sell you the most expensive product they can or the zealous but not fully informed creator of a Facebook page who claims to be legally fighting the timeshare industry on behalf of owners, but has accomplished nothing to date?  The answer of course is NEITHER without doing more digging and asking more questions. 

I’ve been saying for many years now that anyone who uses the words “free”, “perfect”, “always” and “never” is lying. I’m going to add “quick” and “easy” to that list. Nothing is as cut and dry as most people make it out to be when it comes to timeshare matters. 

It’s also important to find out what the other side thinks of the person or organization you’re getting information from. Have they been sued?  Why?  Are they respected?  Why or why not?  Are they able to work with the other side towards positive change?

I’ll take this opportunity to pat myself on the back here and let you in on a little secret...I’ll be announcing later on this year that I’ll be working with “the other side” on two, perhaps three projects designed to improve timeshare for everyone. That’s not an indication that I’m giving up my stance as a consumer advocate or under any influence by anyone or any organization, rather it’s a clear indication that I have earned the respect of both consumers and the industry. 

In the meantime, be careful, ask questions, follow the money and remember that no one knows everything about this complex product known as timeshare. 

Where Is Your Public Offering Statement?

If you’re like most first time timeshare buyers, you may have no idea what I’m referring to. BIG MISTAKE. 

The Public Offering Statement (POS) explains in detail everything you should know about your purchase PRIOR TO PURCHASING. In fact, if you look through the mountains of paperwork you received when you purchased, or as is increasingly common these days; buried in a CD-ROM, you’ll find the POS with this phrase on the front: “READ PRIOR TO SIGNING”.

Chances are you did not know you received, much less read this POS when you purchased your timeshare. 

To be fair, the POS must be received prior to or at the same time as the other paperwork. Either way, you didn’t know it even existed, did you?

Asking for this POS prior to signing any purchase paperwork is a wonderful thing to do as it will put the sales staff and the closing/verification officer on notice that they’re not dealing with an ordinary uninformed consumer. 

If this post helps one consumer from making a bad purchase, I’m happy. As for the rest of you who already purchased; find the POS, make a pot of coffee and settle in for a long and eye opening read. 

You’re welcome. 

Guest Post From Don Eastvold

Today’s Guest Post is reprinted with the permission of its author Don Eastvold. Don is a member of CVOA and a LinkedIn connection of mine.  

I’ve written about the need for the timeshare industry to adapt and to face the often harsh reality of consumer sentiment before its being able to truly thrive and grow. Whitewashing, covering up and name changes won’t suffice. 

Let’s hope that those in charge of the timeshare industry pay attention to voices like Don’s and mine as we enter a new decade.

I've had the privilege of spending over half my life enjoying the many benefits of this magnificent industry, which with great pride, we once called "Timeshare". However, through an evolutionary process, developers refrained from using this adversarial word "Timeshare" but continue to use the same methods of marketing and sales, which are the very essence of what created the stigmatization of our industry.   

Behind all their denials, developers wrapped and rewrapped their "timeshare" as a Vacation Club in the '80s and '90s, Travel Club, for the new millennium, and are currently settling in on Loyalty Club or Discount Club. 

Yes, in our futile effort to repackage our industry we continue to avoid changing the very three factors we initiated, and that continue to stigmatize our industry today; 

1.    The overly aggressive OPC style marketing methods

2.    The sales techniques of fictitious first-day incentives, deceptive drops, and questionable product add-ons 

3.    Policies that force new members to jump through multiple hoops to cancel    

With the advent of the Internet and the extensive use of Social Media, we can no longer stick our heads in the ground and pray the grievances will subside or go away. Once a complaint is posted on the Internet, it's there to stay and multiply. The success or failure of the Club now depends on the Tweets, TripAdvisor comments, Facebook postings, and search engine inquiries. The Club Product, initially branded with great pride, will surely die a slow death by Social Media if we continue to turn a blind eye and use the same old methods of marketing, sales, and cancellation policies.   

 Proactive vs Reactive Social Media Culture

With the available technology and the ever-increasing influence of Social Media, it is time for our industry to discontinue using these traditional "timeshare" tactics. A Proactive Social Media culture can be created by first developing a viable club product that is backed 100% by the developer, politically, economically, and ethically. It requires an immediate change of the developer's short-term "bottom-line" mentality, replaced by a long-term "service-oriented" culture. It starts at the very top of the corporate ladder and flows down to every department, including sales, marketing, and yes, the company's cancellation policies.  

The first step is the establishment of goals, strategies, and policies based on service first and the accountant's required bottom-line a distant second. 

The next step is to implement this new corporate vision by using available technology that facilitates the creation of a service-oriented marketing team, complemented by a sales team using well-defined content that presents the club product offered to the consumer. 

No more aggressive OPC tactics or confusing yellow pad/tablet presentations made at the discretion of the salesperson. And yes, if the new member wishes to cancel, try to resell them but let them out without jumping through multiple hoops. Attempting to meet the accountant's desired bottom-line will only result in the use of aggressive marketing methods and questionable sales tactics that will cost the developer far more in the long run. 

Moreover, the few thousand dollars retained from members who want to cancel will cost the developer far more in Negative Social Media Currency.  

The net result of putting service first and the bottom-line second immediately opens the path for the creation of a Proactive Social Media culture. It sets the stage that promotes guests and members alike to express to the world their positive experience with the Club. 

By eliminating the traditional sales and marketing methods, we remove the causes of the "Reactive" social media approach, which is a never-ending battle fighting the snowball effect of negative postings on the Internet. 

By changing from a "bottom-line" to a "service-orient" business philosophy and creating a "Proactive" Social Media culture, the developer will discover that their desired "production" goes up in the long-term. The bottom-line results are the "Cost of Sale" goes down, consumer complaints go down, the cancellation factor goes down, and the Club's VPG and the closing percentage goes up along with profits. Most important is the Club is generating happy new members wanting to share the benefits of their new Club with family and friends and demonstrate so by posting positive social media testimonials, photos, and videos. No longer will you have to "React" to the loss of clients or new members canceling because of negative postings found in their "Google Search" before, during, and after a sale.  

Internally a "Proactive” Social Media culture will also create loyal marketing, sales, and operations teams. They quickly learn that the old tactics of making a "quick dollar" abusing clients, making false promises and mistreating members offer far less of a return than the long-term commitment of generating happy guests and members through service, service and more service. The developer's fear of losing the marketing and sales staff with such changes is an absolute falsehood. The best people in our industry have an innate desire to learn more and to evolve with the new technology and new trends. They, too, desire new members that they can look in the eye a year later and see a warm smile and receive a genuine thank you for introducing them to the Club.  

The Final Solution

The door is wide open to this path of needed change, which replaces the traditional methods of sales and marketing that continue to stigmatize our industry. It doesn't come free, and it requires a full commitment from the developer to provide a new corporate vision that includes a viable Club product, on-going training, use of current technology and a service-oriented marketing program. Such a commitment will result in a Proactive Social Media culture that will pay off far more than the current path of a Reactive Social Media culture.  

So ask yourself a simple question,  "Do you want to re-brand your Club every few years with each death by Social Media, or do you want a new generation Club that can be marketed, sold, and serviced with great pride for years to come?" 

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a duck, not the New Generation Club.  

Why Protect Only Some Timeshare Owners?

The timeshare industry’s newest program designed to make it look as if they’re caring companies looking out for all their owners is a handful, OK about 16, of developers offering a deed back program. Often times, these programs cost the owner upwards of $1,000, making them no different than the glut of self-proclaimed exit companies in my opinion, but that’s a topic for another post. 

These developers are quick to point out that they want to stop their owners from the damage that these exit companies do. Don’t get me wrong, these exit companies are no good and do much damage to the owner looking to get out, the remaining owners at the resort and to the resort itself, which may find itself in a precarious situation due to unpaid maintenance fees on thousands of intervals. 

But here’s where the myth of helping owners can’t stand up to the spotlight of truth. The majority of these deed back programs can not be used, even with paying the draconian fee, unless the interval was purchased directly from the developer. 

So, are we to understand that these benevolent developers only care about protecting SOME of their owners?  It’s no wonder so many frustrated and beleaguered owners are turning to these exit or transfer companies. After all, these scam companies promise help for all owners, something the myopic developers have yet to grasp. 

Who Oversees Timeshare Inventory?

I often hear from frustrated timeshare owners claiming they are unable to secure a reservation for either their home resort or an exchange resort but easily find a booking available on a rental site. 

It’s true that there’s two separate pools of inventory at a resort; sold and unsold. In theory, sold inventory is made available to owners and exchangers according to the reservation rules pertaining to individual ownership. Unsold inventory, that is inventory that is owned by the resort, can be used for whatever the developer chooses. Oftentimes this inventory is advertised at a rate lower than the comparable maintenance fee in an attempt to bribe, er I mean entice consumers in for a sales pitch. 

The key phrase in that last paragraph is “in theory”, as I defy anyone to be able to prove what happens to any one specific piece of inventory. Think about it...a single timeshare unit can have up to 50 individual owners (assuming the resort is doing the right thing and reserving 2 weeks for rehab and maintenance). Things get even murkier if the resort is point based, where ownership is more akin to a membership. How is any of this being tracked?  Is it being tracked at all?  

Or have millions of timeshare owners blindly put their trust and their money into a system that has absolutely no oversight and that can be manipulated as the developers see fit?

If you’re in the industry, I welcome your thoughts.