Timeshare Resale Scams

Not long ago, the timeshare industry grew rapidly, affecting the structure of business establishments like hotels and other resorts to be able to compete with this industry. A lot of buyers also have been enticed by this type of vacation structure who later on realized that there are some disadvantages with this type of ownership. Making them consider getting rid of their timeshares. They have considered it as more of a burden than a benefit. With this, comes a booming industry for timeshare resale.

If you have a timeshare property and start considering it for a resale, you may encounter some agents saying they know a buyer for your timeshare who is willing to pay a lot more for it than you did. This is now the murky world of the resale scammers. The companies involved may come in various semblances to that of legal companies but their common goal is to defraud you of your hard earned cash.

These fraudsters are clever enough and highly skilled at extracting large amounts of cash from owners desperate to sell their timeshare unit. What makes these scammers really sickening is that they prey on the very people who have the most to lose. Bear in mind that all of us were hit by the recent recession. So are the timeshare owners.

Their modus operandi starts with a call. There is a professional-sounding caller who will inform you that they have a buyer or a wealthy client who is so interested in your timeshare and they are willing to pay well for it. They will offer prices two or three times the original price of your timeshare unit which is very odd in the timeshare resale industry. So you should think twice and consider doing a background check, or better yet, find another company that can give you a realistic timeshare relief.

To avoid increasing the statistics of timeshare owners seeking for timeshare relief, potential timeshare buyers were already informed about the existing timeshare scams that take advantage of people through unscrupulous phone calls. Part of the advisory for timeshare owners against these scammers is to be on guard about negotiations made through emails and phone calls.

In 2007, a couple from Bristol decided to have their timeshare swapped for Petchey Leisure points. The package offers holiday club points, a week stay on river boats, or vacation destinations from all over the world.

Paul Carter, a security worker, and his partner Mary McCaffrey, both from Ashton, said that the marketing scheme of the leisure points took place over the phone. They were lured with the benefits promised to them by Easy Save Finance Ltd and St. Frances Marketing Ltd. Aside from the luxurious vacation offers; they were also assured that the acquired vacation points can be bought back if they wanted to back out. They believed that the hard-selling tactics of these unscrupulous negotiators were rather effective.

According to Mr. Carter, they agreed to the free holiday but admitted to have paid for the flights to Tenerife. They were also promised for free passes to Disneyland and affordable flights and car hire. A two weeks access to the world’s largest timeshare network made the whole scenario worst since they found out that it was just a lie.

Now, the couple along with other victims of the scam is on the process of taking the case into the high court. Mr. Carter already warned people from getting into a similar scheme. To benefit much from your hard earned money, get rid of your timeshare if you are not satisfied with your property right now or book vacations with authorized travel agents.

Since the timeshare industry is continuously growing and more people are yielding to it, there is a great need for millions of people around the world to be educated timeshare property buyers. Since the previous years, thousands were already victimized by timeshare scams. They were remorseful with their timeshare purchases, and more than half of the properties that were sold are now for timeshare resale.

At first, one may think that this is all because of the scammers who take advantage of this growing industry and victimize thousands of people. However, it is a fact that a lot of people who purchased timeshare properties from reliable and credible companies are still regretful of their timeshare purchases. This is due to the annual fees required of them that at several reasons, they can’t attend to anymore, or for the reason that they cannot spend time on their properties anymore but still they continually pay for it.

All of these roots down to just one reason: people are uneducated about the concept of timeshare. They are easily tempted by the sales pitch of different companies’ representatives. Without even thinking, they got themselves to purchase a property and sign a timeshare contract.

Because of all these, Redweek.com and Lisa Ann Schreier (Timeshare Crusader) recently formed an alliance to help people become aware of the timeshare industry concept before investing thousands of dollars for it.

Redweek.com has been helping thousands of victimized timeshare property purchasers and warns potential timeshare buyers of several scammers. Lisa Ann Schreier was a former timeshare dealer, but now, she is an author of timeshare books and the founder and CEO of Timeshare Insights. Schreier is now giving services to timeshare owners and potential buyers, guiding them about their timeshare properties and future investments for properties.

Schreier and Redweek established an “ASK the timeshare Crusader” page to help several timeshare owners, resellers, or potential buyers. Their goal is to make people be more knowledgeable of the timeshare concept: its benefits and its possible disadvantages, the several options available, and to inform people whether the concept fits their lifestyle and financial capabilities or not.