Just a few years ago, Jacob and Kennedy had no prior knowledge of what timeshares were or how they even worked. Salespeople saw this as a weakness and shamelessly deceived the couple into believing they were making the investment of a lifetime.
Below are excerpts from Jacob and Kennedy on their timeshare experience. We hope their account will bring to light the concerning tactics that are used in the timeshare industry. The names of people and companies have been changed or removed for privacy reasons.
“We had just spent our anniversary together on a cruise. At the end of it, we were approached with the opportunity of another cruise, this time for free! The only catch was attending a tour of a new resort nearby and in return, a free 3-day cruise of our choice. It sounded too good to be true, but we signed up and gave them a $20 deposit which we would get back at the end.”
This is exactly how timeshare companies recruit new clients. They offer gifts, money, free prizes, anything to get you to hear their sales pitch. Rarely do these gifts and prizes come to fruition and if they do, there always seems to be another catch.
“So we show up for our tour and it’s brought to our attention it is also a two-hour presentation. We had not planned to spend much time there, and so we told them we couldn’t stay. They informed us we would no longer be eligible for the free cruise, which we were fine with. We asked for our deposit back before leaving but were denied it. Then they guilted us for being so concerned with $20 when we could be investing in our children’s future.”
Timeshare representatives will lie to you to get you to show up and then when you want to leave, they’ll guilt you into staying. Here they made rude and condescending comments questioning the financial stability of Jacob and Kennedy when the couple asked for their cash deposit back.
“We already felt the pressure but agreed to the tour anyway. Afterwards, we went to the presentation room where several representatives talked for hours. They went on and on about how great of an investment it was and we could travel all over the globe at low-costs. They also said we could rent out our timeshare and make money off it. At this point, we were looking at it as an investment opportunity because that’s how it was presented. It sounded like we could make a profit as timeshare owners while also being able to travel whenever and wherever we liked.”
That’s how the salespeople finally closed the deal. With more lies. Over the next four years as timeshare owners, Jacob and Kennedy did not use their timeshare once. This wasn’t a decision of their own, but rather, due to the lack of availability with their resort company. They were excited about the prospect of traveling the world, so you can only imagine the disappointment they felt over the years of desperately trying to make use of their timeshare.
“We were paying for vacations that we weren’t able to go on. Every year we had to pay more fees despite the fact that we never used the unit ourselves. Another kicker was that the free cruise we were promised ended up costing us several hundred dollars.”
Jacob and Kennedy were ready to get out of their timeshare after less than five years as owners. We cannot blame them either. We even helped them see it come to light. When the couple approached us about our timeshare termination services, they had over $12,000 in debt from their deal. Working with them closely, we were able to see through the cancellation of their timeshare and all debt associated with it.*
If you know anyone with a similar timeshare experience, please feel free to pass our phone number along to them. We’d love to see if they qualify for our timeshare termination services.
*Wesley Financial Group, LLC (“WFG”) develops individualized programs for each client, terminates over 97% of their client’s timeshare relationships, and, in certain circumstances, obtains a refund of some or all of the timeshare purchase price. Actual results depend on each client’s distinct case and no specific outcome is guaranteed (although WFG does offer a 100% money-back guarantee if the timeshare is not canceled within the time specified in the WFG Enrollment Agreement).
Wesley Financial Group, LLC, and/or its affiliates, successors, or assigns are not lawyers and/or a law firm and do not engage in the practice of law or provide legal advice or legal representation. All information, software, services, and comments provided on this site are for informational and self-help purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, legal or otherwise.
