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tonyg · 04-04-2009, 09:34 PM

And the fee ?

JLB · 04-05-2009, 10:54 AM

Why don't you and slim get together?

PS: Sounds like stuff I've been doing for 15 years. I don't recall ever getting a fee.

zdxlc9p6 · 04-05-2009, 01:49 PM

Originally posted by JLB

Why don't you and slim get together?

BocaBum99 · 04-05-2009, 01:57 PM

Before anyone falls for this potential scam, please post what you learn here before paying any money to any company offering HELP so that we can help you determine whether or not this is a legitimate offer.

It is possible that they can provide a valuable service if they can indeed help you cancel a contract after your recission period. It is possible that they put enough legal and PR pressure on the resort developer that they end up honoring a recission even after that period has passed. But, that is very iffy at best. I would only take that deal on contingency. In other words, they get $1000-2000 if and only if you get your money back. Otherwise, I would run from this offer.

sean@timeshareadvocacyint · 04-05-2009, 02:29 PM

Research before you pass judgements

I understand that many of you are skeptical about us, but do everyone who reads the forum a favor and do your research before you make negative remarks. We do not charge anything upfront and do not get paid unless the owner, who has fallen outside their rescission period, gets their money back.

Additionally, we have researched literally hundreds of timeshare assistance companies that claim to give great support. They charge anywhere from $250 - $1000 up front to get things started. What they need that for, I do not know. Then they charge anywhere from 15 to 50 percent of the recovered money. That is a load of crap! Our highest fee after getting someone their money back is $379, and that is for a case that is the most difficult. Again, that payment is not until they get a final disposition, and their money back.

Look at the testimonials if you are in question and read what Mark Silverman of examiner.com has stated about us. He is about to do a more in depth article on us as well. Our website and services are as transparent as you will ever find. I believe that this forum does allow honest people who want to provide an ethical service.

I would love any and all inputs, but please review our site and our BIOS before blasting us.

Thank you,
Sean Austin, USN Retired
Co-founder of Timeshare Advocacy International

tonyg · 04-05-2009, 02:43 PM

Anyone can write testimonials. Some people even say "once a con always a con".

The Conch Man · 04-05-2009, 04:29 PM

You may be legit but most of us have been here for many, many & many years of hearing what ya say, only that you are new here with a couple of posts & the Timeshare Industry is at the bottom of the tank. Not a great time to come on here & spread your speech & the way the ecomony is today & was last year, well I think you get my point by now.

We have done our research over & over again for many years & yet there is always someone out there trying to take our money for up-front fees which we all know is crap! Have you signed-up at www.TugBBS.com ? See what they do to ya as well & maybe you'll understand why most of us are a little defensive here in our little forum!

JLB · 04-06-2009, 12:23 PM

OK, test questions.

Without looking or googling . . .

What is the name of the Act governing timeshares in the State of Florida?

What is the email address for filing complaints with the FTC?

Same question for the Missouri AG?

Who is the King of Sleaze?

vintner · 04-06-2009, 12:59 PM

Originally posted by JLB

OK, test questions.

Who is the King of Sleaze?

Now if I was going to be nasty, I would probably ask if it was slim or Madoff, but I am not going to do that.

Isn't this company the same one that other shills brought up few months ago? That idea of 'we will get you out of your contract' sounds very familiar.

katiemack · 04-06-2009, 01:47 PM

Geez, if it were so possible to do, wouldn't the timeshare industry have already figured out how to stop this...oh, that's right, they have....just look at one timeshare company, called RCI....it is called the fine print....and that is why the idea of getting out of a contract seems pretty laughable to us...now, if you want to take on RCI and help people who have been duped by RCI....come back and talk.

BocaBum99 · 04-06-2009, 02:26 PM

Originally posted by sean@timeshareadvocacyint

I understand that many of you are skeptical about us, but do everyone who reads the forum a favor and do your research before you make negative remarks. We do not charge anything upfront and do not get paid unless the owner, who has fallen outside their rescission period, gets their money back.

Additionally, we have researched literally hundreds of timeshare assistance companies that claim to give great support. They charge anywhere from $250 - $1000 up front to get things started. What they need that for, I do not know. Then they charge anywhere from 15 to 50 percent of the recovered money. That is a load of crap! Our highest fee after getting someone their money back is $379, and that is for a case that is the most difficult. Again, that payment is not until they get a final disposition, and their money back.

Look at the testimonials if you are in question and read what Mark Silverman of examiner.com has stated about us. He is about to do a more in depth article on us as well. Our website and services are as transparent as you will ever find. I believe that this forum does allow honest people who want to provide an ethical service.

I would love any and all inputs, but please review our site and our BIOS before blasting us.

Thank you,
Sean Austin, USN Retired
Co-founder of Timeshare Advocacy International

Sean,

As I mentioned, it is possible that you have a legitimate offering. However, we are all very skeptical on this timeshare message board because we have seen many of the scams out there.

I can tell you this, in order for you to make money and only charge $300-400, you aren't doing much extra work or hand holding for any of your clients.

In order for you to make money, you must have a pre-packaged program that you execute once you get a lead from someone who wants to cancel who is out of recission.

If they are within recission, they can get out of the contract for free. It could be that you help them with this recission by writing a letter. You can definitely make money writing a recission letter since that is a 10 minute exercise. If you get $150 for that, that's profitable and sustainable. It may even be worth that much to a consumer who doesn't know how to write that letter. What they don't know is that for most resort developers a simple hand written letter just saying they want out will suffice.

If they are beyond recission by a month or less, it's possible that your services will work. Your pre-packaged program must have letters to AGs, Real Estate Commissions, BBB, etc. And cover letters to the CEOs of those companies. This may work for certain resort developers who don't want bad PR. However, for some resort developers, this just won't work. They will fight you to the death to keep that deal. If you are working on contingency, you don't get paid on those deals. No problem because you can tell your client if they bought from a developer who doesn't budget on recission rights.

Then, there are those that are beyond a month. Those are much trickier. You can use the same algorithm. But, by this time, the sales commission has been paid and so has all the other marketing teams who have been bonused based on closed APG. That is more problematic because real dollars have gone out.

If you work on contingency, I see no reason to not give it a try. But, I would like our readers to allow us to help us with the due diligence on your services. If it works, we will promote it. If you are scammers, we will figure it out in a New York minute.

T. R. Oglodyte · 04-06-2009, 02:36 PM

Originally posted by sean@timeshareadvocacyint

I understand that many of you are skeptical about us, but do everyone who reads the forum a favor and do your research before you make negative remarks.

You are obviously here trying to sell or promote a service for which you receive a fee.

Let me suggest that one of the first principles of selling a service is to never belittle or put down comments made by interested parties. It's your job, as the sales person, to answer questions, comments, and concerns of poeople in your target market. It's poor sales practice, to say the least, to tell prospects to do their own research to answer questions they have raised.

One of our oft experiences here is that legitimate companies have no problem answering questions. On the other side, one of the common tactics of marginal or shady outifts is to duck questions and try to point to unverifiable testimonials as evidence of legitimacy.

Now I'm not saying that you are a shady or marginal operation. I am saying, though, that what you have posted so far fits into the patterns followed by such organizations. If you want to differentiate yourself from those operations it would be a good idea to stop behaving and posting in ways common to such operations.

billymach4 · 04-06-2009, 03:11 PM

Slim & Shady

Originally posted by JLB

Why don't you and slim get together?

PS: Sounds like stuff I've been doing for 15 years. I don't recall ever getting a fee.

M&M the wanna be rapper wrote a song about you guys.

The real Slim Shady

sean@timeshareadvocacyint · 04-06-2009, 07:46 PM

Response

BocaBum99, T.R. Oglodyte, and The Couch Man,

Thank you for your input and responses. They are much appreciated and all points taken. I will be the first one to admit that I do not know it all, that is why this forum and TUG are so valuable. My partner and I both have jobs, so this is a part time passion more than anything else. We both worked for a leading timeshare company, but the sales pressure and lies got to use. Please, do not get me wrong. There were some clients that came in and they told us what they wanted, but that was far and few in between. We are simply trying to do our best to help those who feel that they have no other options.

We are a contingency based business, so there is no risk to the client. Additionally, after we do an initial consultation, we tell them up front if we feel we can assist or not. We get many who have owned since 1985 and just want out. We help them get to a decent resale company and do not charge anything for that.

My last client got lied to so bad in Branson that it would make your head spin. Shame on her and her husband for falling for the scam, but no one has helped her to this point. She has been on numerous websites, forums and blogs, but that did not help her in dealing with the company itself. She was way outside the rescission period, by 7 months and felt that there were no other options. All I did was take the time to help her understand where she was misled and helped her draft up letters to the AG, BBB, the Real Estate Commission, and the company itself. They have not received anything back yet, but it now shows in their database that she will be reimbursed. All this took about 5 hours of my time and we are only charging her $279.00. I do not think that is a scam, but I will let her decide.

I will be the first to tell you that I am not an owner, but I really feel that there are not enough people helping those who really need the help. I had another owner who had a stroke shortly after they closed on the timeshare and the company gave her husband the wrong address to rescind. That is the stuff that we want to assist with.

Again, thank you for the input, and Boca, I will be looking into your's more. I appreciate it. I hope I haven't stirred the pot too much.

Sean

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