Lincoln Consumer Loses Thousands to Florida
Listing Company
In this challenging economy, consumers are
looking for ways to reduce debt. Some timeshare owners are interested in
selling their timeshares so they can recoup their investment and stop paying maintenance
fees. These owners may turn to timeshare resale businesses. "But according
to customer complaints, some timeshare resale businesses are making promises they
can’t fulfill," said BBB President Jim Hegarty.
One
company, Premier Timeshare Solutions (PTS), located in West
Palm Beach, Florida, is the
subject of complaints to BBBs from timeshare owners across the U.S. The complainants allege that Premier Timeshare
Solutions misrepresents, in telemarketing calls that buyers are already lined
up. But after paying upfront fees of over $2,500, the complaints say, customers
find that buyers aren’t immediately available.
A
consumer from Lincoln, Nebraska was contacted by PTS with an offer
to sell two timeshares that he owns. He was promised by the company that they
had a buyer for his timeshares, but if the sales did not go through, he would
get his money back. He decided to proceed with PTS because he had been trying
to sell his timeshares for quite sometime and had listed them with several
other listing companies with no results.
He paid PTS $2,564 to list his timeshare in Las
Vegas and $2751 to list his timeshare in Branson, MO.
In addition, he paid $2,395 to have PTS sell his unused weeks at both
properties. A total of $7,710 was charged to his credit card.
In
December, 2009, this customer was told that the timeshares sold, but he never
received documentation regarding the sales or the closing statements. In
addition, the consumer had the deeds to the properties and knew that they could
not have been sold without them. “That is when he contacted BBB and told us
that he just trusted the company and never thought to check them out,” said
Hegarty. Premier Timeshare Solutions has a BBB rating of F, on a scale from A+
to F and has had 192 complaints filed against it over the last three years. BBB
has advised the consumer to dispute the charges with his credit card company.
The
BBB warns potential customers of timeshare resale businesses to have a clear
understanding of all terms and conditions of the company’s contract before
signing.
If
the business offers a listing service, find out where the company’s ads will
appear, and determine what criteria the company uses when matching potential
buyers and sellers of timeshare properties.
“In
a typical real estate transaction the fee is paid from the proceeds of the
sale, at the time of the sale,” advises the Attorney General of Florida. “You
may want to opt for a company which will wait for its fee until the sale goes
through. You should also find out if the salespeople are licensed real estate
brokers and whether there are any complaints lodged against the broker.”
Finally,
check out the business with the BBB at www.bbb.org.
Be wary of any high-pressure, too-good-to-be-true claims that the timeshare
resale market is “hot” or that a buyer is already lined up.