My email response from Vacation Solutions reseller

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

I bought another timeshare from Vacation Solutions, unknowingly. They use Timeshare Transfer to close, which is my preferred company, so I have been caught twice now, ironically, for the some resort. Both resellers I purchased from had very few feedbacks and were not obvious as postcard companies. [MARQUEE][/MARQUEE]
Here is my email, along with the answer.


Mike,
I will get the payment sent. You seem to be a very nice person, as is tsrecycler, another of Vacation Solutions salespeople. I am happy to get the week at this price, but I was hoping I was buying from an individual and not Vacation Solutions.

I am disappointed to be buying another week from a postcard company that charged the former owners $3,495 to take the week from them. This is such an unethical business model! I have attended the meetings and heard their spiel. Why would the former owners even consider paying that much money to get rid of a Hawaii week? This week is worth at least $3K! It baffles me. The bad thing is that Vacation Solutions is making money on both ends of the deal. I have received two postcards from this company in the last eight weeks. This is a regular discussion on the TUG BBS @ Timeshare Users Group - Timeshare Owners Helping Each other - Unbiased Timeshare Information for All Owners!

I love my bargains and I guess the postcard companies are the ones who are willing to sell cheapest. I guess it is because any money they make is just the topping on the cake.

Cindy Montrose

Hi Rick and Cindy,
I am a nice person. Thanks. Regarding Vacation Solutions, They don't twist any arms to get new members. A lot of folks have owned their timeshares for many years and in a lot of cases they own multiple weeks and also have all of the associated expenses that go with them. The nature of the beast is that a lot of the time they couldn't use all of what they have but still had to pay all of the fees. VS takes the week from them and gives them membership in their club at half off the regular membership cost. In return they now have use of up to 6 weeks of timeshare but only pay a fee if a week is used. In most cases the fee is less than they would have paid with a maintenance. The cost of the week used is based upon how far in advance the reservation is made. So, the member has the benefit of 6 weeks access but without 6 maintenance fees and all the exchange fees etc. Consider also that the big developers continue to build new resorts as fast as they can. People are buying timeshare to the tune of $12 billion plus this year. They are creating a glut that will go on for years. We help to fill those empty spots. What a lot of folks don't realize is that the unit they paid $30,000 for from a developer has a 60% marketing cost associated with it. Marketing these things on site is very costly. People receive a rude awakening when they find out their $30,000 week is only worth $12,000. With our newer marketing method(ebay) we can offer the consumer a much better deal if they want to own a particular resort. VS was one of the first companies to offer such a plan and now there are many imitators trying to get on the bandwagon. Please don't be mad at VS. They're good people. Thanks again for your business and I hope we can do more in the future.

Best regards,

Mike Mabel

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

No need to feel badly about buying a timeshare that people have been previously conned out of. You have done nothing wrong, and if you didn't buy it someone else would have.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

I know, Tony, it is just hard to understand how these guys can tell one group of people that timeshare is bad, then sell the weeks on ebay by saying how great the timeshares are.

I dislike these companies, but I am constantly giving them my money.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I guess I just don't get it. Why worry about who is selling you the timeshare so long as you're getting it for a price you're willing to pay? Essentially, someone made a mistake buying a timeshare or, their situation has changed and they can no longer use the timeshare they bought.

Some people just don't know HOW to get out from under their timeshare. It might seem obvious to those of us who post on these forums but, some people don't know how to use E-bay, don't have a clue how to donate to charity or just don't have an idea how they can sell or give away their timeshare.

For some it's a matter of convenience. I know you bargain hunters can't fathom someone actually having more money than time but it DOES happen. On a smaller scale I pay someone to change the oil in my car rather than do it myself, even though I am quite capable of of the chore. Some people actually pay to have someone else mow their own lawn, do their gardening or other general repairs around the house. If push comes to shove I can also paint my own house or put a new roof on but, I'd rather pay someone to do that as well. Heck, I could even rent a U-haul to move but, I'd really rather spend the $$ to let someone else do the job for me.

So someone maybe spent $$ that you wouldn't have to get rid of a bad purchase that's costing them hundreds to thousands of $$ every year that they are not getting any use out of just because they don't have the time, brains or desire to sell or give away on their own. I really don't see what the big deal is or why anyone would feel guilty purchasing the timeshare from someone who is providing what amounts to a liquidation service. Heck, I bet anyone could do their own estate auction as well but we pay people to do that as well.

I really think a lot of us have simply lost perspective on this issue. Just because we wouldn't do it does not mean it's not the way someone else would do it.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I've met people who are dying to get rid of their timeshare, but just don't have the knowledge or the incentive to do anything about it. I even offered to sell one for somebody and they couldn't even manage the effort to pick up the phone and get back to me. I don't feel too sorry for some of these people, but I certainly don't like these vultures that make their money through lies and deception.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I guess I'll have to go to one of the sessions sometime to hear the lies. It seems pretty straight forward to me. Someone has something they don't want and can't figure out how to get rid of it themselves. Someone else offers to do it, guarenteed, for them for a fee. Even if it's a high fee, if someone goes into knowing that they're paying that fee and getting what they want, then why would anyone have to tell lies?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The response shows that VS is also selling them a membership in a vacation club - another ripoff!

One aspect of the way these slimy postcard companies do business is that they fail to reveal to the suckers they are dealing with that many resorts will take a simple deedback from an owner. They obviously know that, because I have seen postcard companies, themselves, deed back weeks to HOA's on the deed records for Dare County, NC.

Another problem is that many of them regularly misrepresent the tax consequneces to the suckers using them, in order to get them to write a check. Their screwy tax advice on the timeshare transaction could easily cause someone IRS problems

I also find the content of their postcards, which slam timeshare generally, to be very offensive.

Hopefully state AG Consumer Protection Divisions or state Real Estate Commissions will get involved and put these sleazeballs out of business for good.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

I don't know how a person can turn off their conscience. I have tried, so many times, to ignore the source of my purchases, yet I cannot.

Why should I worry? Because someone on the other end of this deal, the person who gave up this marvelous Hawaii week, was possibly lied to and coerced into a decision they otherwise might not have made. Instead of educating consumers, this company steals from them. How can you be sure all of the people who pay these companies are of sound mind, anyway? Many of these owners are seniors, too.

How can anyone look at it differently. I know that there are timeshares out there that are practically impossible to get rid of, that should be torn down and built all over again, but this resort is still developing and is Gold Crown. I paid a pittance for the week compared to what I could sell it for. I can sell it, too, I have no doubt. The previous owner could have sold it.

Carolinian, this company does have some sort of bogus vacation club at Vacation Solutions | Vacation Resort Rentals at Great Prices in Full Condos This is the company owned by the guy who lives in the spaceship house in Colorado that has been used in a few movies. I believe his name is Dunahay and the company is based in Colorado. The reseller is probably here in my own state. This happens to be the presentation we attended, very recently.

[Hostelling Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hostelling]

I don't know how a person can turn off their conscience. I have tried, so many times, to ignore the source of my purchases, yet I cannot.

If you really feel this way, take a pass. Do not purchase the "tainted" timeshare. As winning bidder of ebay real estate you are only indicating a strong interest, no obligations.

Ebay inserts the following in every real estate listing, "By participating, you are not entering into a contract to purchase this property. You are, however, expressing serious interest in the property and in pursuing contract discussions." Note the last three words, discussions did not end with the final bid.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

I sent the check, as I said I would. My word is good. The paperwork will be here in about three days. I was excited about my bargain and still like the price. I was just surprised to see who owned this week. This reseller only has 4 feedback comments and just started in this business. I have no idea if he makes all the money or if he makes part of it.

I avoid the VININC resellers because I know who they are, but this one was just a surprise. I will buy the week and try not to think about the owner who paid someone to get rid of a one-bedroom Gold Crown on Kauai.

My question to all of you who think I am nuts to be upset at this business model is simply this: Why are you not upset? We are all timeshare lovers to the nth degree, yet we think it is okay that these companies are telling people that timeshares are not even worth $1 on ebay. Yes, I know some are not even worth $1.00.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Think of it as a non-personal thing. You bought an article and are not responsible for how that article got there. If you can't do that, you will someday have trouble eating bread, meat and other foods. You are not responsible for someone else's stupidity in paying these people to take their timeshare. It was done of their own free will and most of them will never know how much they lost.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Tony, isn't that called fencing?

I will try to let it go. Once the notion gets into your heart that something is wrong, it is very difficult to change it. You know what I mean?

I definitely don't need a Jiminy Cricket, my conscience is working overtime right now. Why is this so horrible to me? I don't even know myself. I think I just love timeshare so much that I do not understand why everyone who bought doesn't love it as much as we do. Rick feels the same way. When I told him about the email, he was so disappointed that yet another reseller is doing this.

Funny that I will take a timeshare presentation when asked (actually, much less than half the time because who wants to go on another Marriott or another Westgate tour?) and take the gifts. That is also dishonest because we won't buy (we did that twice already from developers), but they always say, "It doesn't matter if you will buy or not. They just want you to look at their program." It seems different because these guys are developers and besides, I want to see the units, so I say, "Okay," while Rick is frowning at me. We have canceled those a few times, when we thought about it for a few hours.

My conscience is a complicated thing!

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Shopgirl,

I guess I look at it this way. Like the charachter Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does." Someone bought something on a spur of the moment decision OR has had a major life change.

Some are to lazy to spend just a little time to figure out how to get rid of the timeshare at very little cost to them.

Others make the same mistake twice, a spur of the moment decision, and get burnt twice.

Either way my conscience is clear. I did not lie to them. I did not take advantage of them. I did take advantage of the situation. I took advantage of a good price.

If I see someone selling an antique for a few dollars at a garage sale that I know to be worth hundreds, I'm not going to tell them about it. I'm just going to buy it and take it home. I'm also not going to buy something from a retail antique store that I know is priced hundreds more than it's worth. Stupid is as stupid does.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

They get the timeshare from the owners with scare tactics (this is what I heard at the presentation I attended, three miles from my house).
Get the $3,495 from the owner in addition to the timeshare.
Then they make money on the reselling of the unit.

I think these guys are bottom feeders!

I agree, though, "stupid is as stupid does" is a good way to describe these people who choose not to investigate before they buy and again before they pay these guys.

You know, I talked to Rick a little while ago. He commented that we are keeping Timeshare Transfer in business. This is our fourth or fifth purchase this year alone, so I guess someone is getting benefit from these deals. Someone else that benefits is the resort. PAHIO is getting another $250 transfer fee. What is that all about? Has anyone been able to get out of paying it?

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I know that there is paperwork for the resort to transfer the name in their records and probably a little bit of work to be done on the deed. How much I don't know and if that work is really worth $250 is beyond me but, I sort of doubt it. It could just be one more way to attempt to discourage resales infavor of buying from the developer but, IMO, it would be a very weak attempt. ROFR would be a better way to keep resale prices up and developer prices a little more competitive.