Did you get lied to and it led to you buying a timeshare?

national, international and state timeshare laws and strict regulations are not easily found. THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TO STOP THE FRAUD AND THIEVERY OF VERY MANY TIMESHARES COMPANIES. CONTACT YOUR STATE AND NATIONAL LEGISLATORS AND DEMAND THAT STRINGENT TIMESHARE LAWS MUST BE ENACTED AND STRICTLY ENFORCED. i own at the fraud/sham ridden THE MANHATTAN CLUB, nyc, a fine place marred by greedy management. owners have NO say in any maanagement issues as is required. they know how to manipulate timeshare/condo laws.

Last edit by chrisv126 on Nov 14, 2018 08:15 PM.

I was lied to by orange lakes resort with maintenance fees and haven’t been able to use any timeshare dt excuses by their members that nothing available

Yes feel like that’s all they did to get me to buying . What do you recommend as far as getting it cancelled

sign on to redweek.com, MANHATTAN CLUB LAWSUIT forum. look at some of the 290+ pages to answer the question............

"Did you get lied to and it led to you buying a timeshare?"

.......and the fraud/sham continues.

angelicaq2 wrote:

What do you recommend as far as getting it cancelled

Unless you are still within your rescission period (10 days in Florida), you cannot "cancel" it. You own deeded property just like a house. If you want to shed yourself of ownership, then you have a few options. But first of all, are the mortgage and maintenance fees all paid off and up to date? If not, then your options are to pay these off and find a new owner/taker for your unit. Or, you can just stop all payments and let it foreclose. You will lose all the money you've sunk into this so far, face a barrage of collection calls and letters, and probably face a ding on your credit score or rating.

If everything is paid off, then try selling your unit or listing it for give away. Some resort systems such as Wyndham, Diamond, and Westgate have deed back programs so you can try contacting the resort's Homeowners' association to see if they will take your unit back.

The one big caution in your situation is to not go contacting any law firms or companies that claim they can/will "cancel" your timeshare because those are usually scams.

Mendacity is the standard operating procedure in timeshare sales. That's why they have a clause in the contract that says you cannot rely on any of the lies the salesmen told you, only the long and dense legal language of the contract that you are way too tired to read after they have gotten through with you.

I have never personally dealt with timeshare exit companies, but my opinion is that they are generally of the same class of liars. Scammers like proven suckers.

Hi My husband and I are owners with Wyndham. We have own for many years and are paid off with deed in Las Vegas. We are able to transfer points in rci. Last summer we visited a divi resort in aruba We loved it so so much. While we were there we wee approached by a salesperson who advised us that we would no longer be able to transfer our point into rci and divi wpuld not have there resorts listed with rci anylonget My husband and I really were upset at this point we already had our next years trip planned and wanted to come back. It was a perfect resort for our family. So we went to a sales meeting. Low and behold we ended up purchasing with interval international due to the fact that they told us that we would not be able to stay at divi resorts in aruba through our wyndham timeshare. Our plan was to try and sell our wyndham or just drop it and keep this one. I just realized there are still weeks available with rci at the same exact resort. They basically mislead us with false info to purchase a timeshare with them. We are so upset. Is this a valid case?? Kelli guarino

nicholasc59 wrote:

I work with a consumer advocacy group that works with timeshare owners. This group is aimed at helping timeshare owners that bought the timeshare because of the timeshare being misrepresented by the sales person, or were not fully explained important information that would effect the buying decision.

This group fights the resorts to get the ownership cancelled and many times has gotten back any monies that were paid to the resort. We have a list of common practices where we have been very successful (over 90% success rate).

If you feel like you bought the timeshare and found things out after you bought it, and if that would have led you to not buy the timeshare... please shoot me a pm and I will get back to you with the details.

Thanks for reading!

kellig56 wrote:

While we were there we wee approached by a salesperson who advised us that...

They basically mislead us with false info to purchase a timeshare with them. We are so upset. Is this a valid case?

Sadly, these timeshare sales people will tell you anything, including outright lies, to get you to purchase. It appears that's what they did in your case. If you have passed your rescission period, then you are stuck with your purchase. I would not go trying to pursue legal action because you have to be able to prove that you were lied to. It would just be a matter of your word against the sales peoples'.

yes i was lied to and led to believe that my timeshare would go up in value and I would be able to sell very easy because location being in aruba Marriott surf club it s fully paid for but I expect at least half of my money back I will not pay any money up front unless the resort re-calms time share from me and guarantees full release and no credit liens. I paid 28,000 for a annual usage gold season an the maintenance fees have just keep going up the said they would resale them for us and that never happened either.. all these time share companies like Marriott, Hilton ,and Diamond resorts should be force to buy them back for half cost and resale them. Legislation needs to be changed to help people. Not corporation that lobby threw American resort development association . that help resorts out not the owners of the timeshares class action suit against both of them for fraud and deception.

The Wyndham vacation ownership is not a scam, if it was please explain to me how a ligitimate club had managed to grow over the years and is the largest vacation ownership clubs in the world???…

sueh443 wrote:

The Wyndham vacation ownership is not a scam, if it was please explain to me how a ligitimate club had managed to grow over the years and is the largest vacation ownership clubs in the world???…

You are correct that Wyndham is certainly not in any way a "scam". However, Wyndham timeshare sales weasels are unfortunately among the most aggressive and deceitful to be found anywhere outside of Mexico (in my personal opinion, anyhow --- and ditto for the timeshare sales weasels at Westgate, by the way).

Unlike buyers, sales weasels know that nothing they SAY is legally binding and only the written content of the contract matters AT ALL. Actually, even the contract itself (which most buyers unfortunately don't even bother to thoroughly read) states in writing that any and all verbal statements, representations or claims are NOT legally binding.

There is an old saying that "A fool and his money are soon parted." Sadly, hungry and deceitful timeshare sales weasels prove this old saying to be true --- over and over again, every single day.

I worked in the world of timeshare for over 2 years (including Diamond & Hyatt). The story I have to tell is eye-opening. In most cases, you were deceived. You have to read my whole story on my blog: https://timesharethewholetruth.com/

Candace........... I checked out your website and I was impressed with your blog. You put an awful lot of work into it . We need people like you to get the facts out there but unfortunately by the time someone reads your blog they have already purchased a timeshare that they now regret purchasing .

I have owned timeshares for over forty years now and I have seen the change in the industry since corporate greed took over . In the beginning it was run for the owners by a board elected by the owners for the owners benefit . Then came along corporate ownership and lobbying to get laws passed to protect their interests .

I have gotten rid of all of my timeshares except one I own on the Las Vegas strip . It's an old fashion timeshare . We still have a board of managers who are owners with no connections to any corporation . I own a deeded week and I have never had a problem booking my week . They keep our maintenance fees low and the property properly maintained . I only use it to stay there not for trading .

It's refreshing to own a timeshare that still follows the old rules but they are few and far between . Thank you for going through the time and trouble to create an informative website .

please get back to me i purchased a timeshare and was misled lied too. and now they arent reachable

You don't indicate what , when or where you purchased, but it doesn't much matter if it wasn't in the past week or so.

The bottom line is that only the written content of the contract you signed matters at all. The contract itself likely states exactly that --- in writing. The contract likely also states in writing that "oral representations are not binding". This basically means that the hungry, deceitful sales weasels can tell any lie or misrepresentation or exaggeration that they can possibly imagine, knowing full well that ultimately ONLY the written content of the contract matters.

It's sad (it's disgusting actually) but true nonetheless. Once the contract rescission (cancellation) period is over (under most state laws that cancellation period is 5-7 days, 10 days in Florida and Tennessee, only 3 days in Massachusetts and two other states), those lies that once floated around inside the sales room simply don't matter at all anymore.

We bought our first timeshare in Mexico many, many years ago when it was kind of new. I don’t feel like they lied. I have been happy with this deal for the whole time. The maintenance fee is reasonable. Over the years we would occasionally attend the “updates.” They became more and more aggressive and mendacious. They actually convinced us to buy more when we went in just intending to get the gift. In that case we exercised the rescission option, which is three days in Mexico. I think the industry has become worse and worse over time.

Years later, we purchased another in Arizona. They lied their asses off, the company sold to a predatory timeshare company and they began jacking up the maintenance fees to the point it made no sense to own. We got out of it by ourselves and with the help of the state Attorney General. It’s a dirty business now, and the only industry that has a counter-industry to undo its wrongs. (But they are ripoffs too! Stay away!)

I had to ask myself, after 22 years of owning this timeshare... why isn't it worth anything? My ex recently passed away in August 2022. How much is it worth today? Why isn't it worth anything? What a ripoff?

janinepatriciafluckenburnsd wrote:

I had to ask myself, after 22 years of owning this timeshare... why isn't it worth anything? My ex recently passed away in August 2022. How much is it worth today? Why isn't it worth anything? What a ripoff?

The “value” of timeshares is really only in their actual use and enjoyment. Most timeshares have little or no resale market value. It’s just the nature of the beast. As an “investment”, there are few (if any) things worse than a timeshare purchase, contrary to what all those lying sales hyenas say. Timeshare ownership is guaranteed vacation property access, with mandatory annual fees. No more, no less.

If you got 22 years of use and enjoyment out of your timeshare, you have clearly already extracted the value from it. The truth is that there may be little or no market interest or value to anyone else to pay much (if any) money for it today. That fact does not in any way make your purchase of two decades ago a “ripoff”. No timeshare ever increases in (and very few even hold) their market value over time. Your timeshare may now simply have no resale market value nor be of much if any interest to someone else today — 22 years later. That’s the unfortunate but truthful nature and reality of timeshare ownership.

janinepatriciafluckenburnsd wrote:

I had to ask myself, after 22 years of owning this timeshare... why isn't it worth anything?... How much is it worth today? Why isn't it worth anything?

Like with many things in life, it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If no one is willing to pay you anything for it, then it's worth zero dollars.

So you might wonder, why isn't anyone willing to pay me anything for this? I suggest you scroll through what you have with a fine-toothed comb and then ask yourself if you were a potential buyer, What would I pay for this?