Mark and Rachel move quite a bit as a military family, and the sales team convinced them of a timeshare ‘opportunity’ that would offer flexibility for their vacation needs during a hectic schedule. Their family would soon learn that flexibility option to be one of many fallacies pitched to them throughout that grueling timeshare sales meeting.
Below is a firsthand, written account from Mark & Rachel about their continuously frustrating timeshare experience. We hope Mark & Rachel’s story will help shed a light on the deceptive practices of the timeshare sales industry. Names have been changed or redacted due to privacy concerns.
Mark & Rachel were enjoying some much needed family time at a local mall, when they were approached by someone offering a free cruise in exchange for some of their time. All the couple needed to do was take a short tour of a luxury resort in the Las Vegas area.
As these meetings often go, the couple was told a lot of promises and ‘guarantees’ about the timeshare that simply were never true.
“They showed us the big ticket items with full villas and high end rooms. They also told us we could have guests and family use our points at any time and have the vacation life readily available. All these items seemed like good things to actually take our family into the world and share life’s experiences.”
The couple went ahead with the timeshare purchase, specifically remembering that they were never told of additional fees–only the timeshare mortgage itself. They were taken aback when the bills began piling up based on arbitrary fees for a timeshare unit they could never even use.
Being a military family, the couple had to move not long after this Vegas vacation and initial timeshare use. When they attempted to book a timeshare closer to their new city, Mark and Rachel immediately received the timeshare pitch: “You need more points to reserve that unit option.”
“When we wanted to use the timeshare location, we quickly found out that our points didn’t even cover the room we previously stayed in. We would have to buy more points or pay to upgrade the rooms.”
When the couple attempted to exit their timeshare, the third party company that they were originally sent to would try to persuade them to rent the points to other families or even buy into other (more expensive) programs.
This happens so often with third party companies that try to “sell” or “rent out” the timeshare unit for owners. The service ends up costing more money than simply trying to exit the timeshare altogether.
“All in all, this purchase was a bottomless money pit with no benefit.This timeshare has proven to be nothing but forever debt. We continuously pay into something we never get to use.
[The timeshare company] didn’t even acknowledge that we were shipped overseas and were in no way physically able to use the points for three years. No credit, no saved points…no help.
This will forever be one of the biggest mistakes I have ever put my family through.”
One day, Mark heard an advertisement for Wesley Financial Group, LLC (WFG), on the radio. With our assistance and some true grit, Mark and Rachel are now timeshare-free!* They are now able to enjoy quality family time with a lot less stress! WFG would also like to thank Mark & Rachel for their service to our country.
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.
(800) 425-4081
