(WXYZ) — Time sharing vacation units is a $9.6 billion industry. Now third party companies are taking advantage of those ready to sell, offering help to get out of time share contracts.
The Better Business Bureau discovered 10 timeshare exit companies scamming consumers across the country out of millions collectively. Several operate here in Michigan.
Robert and Suzann Allison in Farmington Hills bought their first timeshare in the 197os and loved it so much, they bought two more!
They enjoyed many annual family vacations but now …
“Now we are looking at exiting, because I’ll be 75 next week,” says Allison.
They got a call from Vacation Consulting inviting them to an event in Troy where they offered to sell the Allisons 3 timeshares for a fee of $14,000 with a money back guarantee if properties didnt sell within a year.
"I would have been satisfied if they did what they said but they haven’t and they’ve avoided us in every possible way,” says Allison.
He says his properties weren’t sold in a timely manner and that he didn’t receive communication from Vacation Consulting so he drove down to Missouri to their main office and confronted them. He says then they compnay sold two of his time shares and offered a partial refund.
“They sent me a check in late December and it bounced in 3 days,” says Allison.
The Better Business Bureau investigated 10 Time Share Exit companies including Vacation Consulting
“They are promising something they can’t guarantee they can deliver on,” says Laura Blankenship with the Better Business Bureau.
She says BBB offices have received hundreds of complaints across the country from people who are out millions collectively.
“People are calling and not hearing back and not getting services and not getting their money back,” says Blankenship.
RESPONSE FROM VACATION CONSULTING
Brian Skroggs, the owner of Vacation Consulting spoke with 7 Action News over the phone. He says he started the company with a genuine desire to help people get out of hard to break Time Share contracts. At first, he says, their company had great reviews. In 2017/2018 Skroggs says he was starting another business, time shares with an exit option. In the process of starting the new business he says balls were dropped with the existing business, communication faltered and mistakes were made. He says he is making all mistakes right again and still wants to help people offload time shares.
Skroggs says in many cases, complaints are a misunderstanding of the contract and the paperwork needed.
"September 13, 2017, Robert called us upset because he has asked for Wyndham to send him the Estoppel that we need to move forward and they won't send it. We explained that this is a ploy by Wyndham to make it difficult for Timeshare Owners to exit their timeshare. We told him to keep trying. Keep in mind, the 1 year deadline does not start until we receive this document.,” says Skroggs in a follow up email to our phone call.
He says they closed on 2 properties within a year and reimbursed Allison for the third property they were not able to sell.
"As you can see, we have done everything that we promised. I could have argued that because we didn't get the estoppel that we did not owe him any money, but for customer service reasons, I cut him a check for $3,948.99,” says Skroggs.
- TIPS FROM THE BBB
The Better Business Bureau says if you want to sell your Time Share it’s best to:
- First, contact the Time Share management company to see if they have an exit program.
- If that doesn’t work and you do want to use a 3rd party, Blankenship advises to pay the company for services after the property has sold.
- Or put the fee in an escrow account until the property is sold to make it easier to get the money back if it doesn’t sell.
