Timeshares are investments that require little money upfront in return for promises of vacations at luxury resorts. But timeshares have become a tangled web of fraud, complex by design. If you have been the scam victim and need to get a timeshare refund, contact The People’s Advocate to file your lawsuit.
If you’re looking for a way to get out of a timeshare, be aware. There are hundreds of websites that charge upfront fees and then fail to deliver.
It’s like when people set up tent booths outside the hotel for internet access when you’re on holiday. They don’t have any computers; they want your money.
Timeshare scams are commonplace con artists use to relieve timeshare owners of their money. They know that the jet-setting lifestyle these vacations offer makes them all the more attractive. If you’ve ever wondered how to avoid timeshare refund scams, wonder no longer as we’ll show you exactly how, starting now.
The Timeshare scam
Timeshares are legal; the promoters who sell you aren’t. But they prey on people who’ve fallen for a scam.
Some timeshares, known as fractional ownerships, are a good deal. You pay a fixed price for a fixed amount of time in a fixed place. You own a piece of the property, but you still share ownership with everyone else.
Some timeshares, known as timeshare shares, are more questionable. You pay a fixed price for a fixed amount of time in a fixed place, but you don’t own anything. Instead, you buy a share. That share entitles you to use the property for a fixed amount of time.
That time is usually much less than you’re paying for. In both cases, the promoters claim that ownership entitles you to discounts on resort fees or, in the case of fractional ownerships, on maintenance fees. In practice, the discounts are nominal, and, in the case of timeshare shares, only the owner can get a refund.
The scam is straightforward. The promoters claim that if you buy now, you’ll pay a lot less water, and if you buy now, you can stay at a resort you would otherwise have missed. They give you the hard sell and a hard deadline. And if you don’t buy now, they claim there’s never another chance.
The scam works, and thousands of people fall for it. But you don’t have to.
People who fall for this scam have usually been “downsized” and are looking for a fixed place to spend their retirement. But retirement isn’t a fixed place. It’s a place. And it’s no longer a downsizer. It’s a choice.
Three types of timeshare frauds
The first type of timeshare scam involves purchasing a timeshare by outright purchase or a lease option. The upfront fee may be several thousand dollars; in some cases, it is as much as $20,000.
The second type of timeshare scam involves paying an upfront fee and then being pressured into making monthly payments for several years. After that, you are notified that you owe thousands more in maintenance fees.
The third type of timeshare scam involves purchasing the timeshare, often at a significant discount, but then finding later that you are not allowed to sell the property, that you are required to use it, or that you are required to pay maintenance fees.
What to do if you’ve fallen prey to a timeshare refund scam
The way to recover your money is to sell your timeshare. You can’t sell it to anyone else because somebody else has probably bought it from the first person and then resold it to someone else.
Here is how it works.
The first person buys a timeshare for $15,000. It appears not to be a good investment, and after a year or two, it’s worth only $6,000. So the first person tries to sell it.
The resale market for a $15,000 timeshare is awful. It can’t fetch more than $8,000. But the first person has discovered that the resale market for a $6,000 timeshare is even worse. It can’t fetch more than $4,000. The timeshare resale market has collapsed.
And now the first person gets desperate.
Takeaway
Because of the initial payment required during the purchase of a traditional timeshare, you can quickly be taken advantage of by scammers, which is why it is essential to thoroughly research the details of the company.
Timeshare companies offer refunds on unused weeks. But if you buy a timeshare from a scam, you probably won’t get a refund.
