Cancellation problem

We purchased a timeshare in a great location in FL Right in the middle of Walt Disney world. We are from another country Australia. I have never heard of a timeshare until we visited Fl. Yes we got sucked in as it sounds all wonderful. The resorts are absolute beautiful no problem there. The second morning in of signing we email the sales rep to say we want to opt out and ask for our deposit back. This all went on for a week as we kept emailing him and just got the run around. Not actually answering the demands and questions. When he did reply he said he will get his manager to call. A week went by until we actually had a phone call from the closing officer. We both of us the signers told him we want out and ask for our money back. He denied us the cancellation. He told us to sell it or rent it out. We did not know what to do!

We returned from our holiday mid last month and we sent off a Registered letter of cancellation. Note it is 18 days after the cooling off period. Please we do have email records of us specifically asking the we want to opt out of contract and a return of deposits. We have just had the complete run around and I've sent off so many emails between then and now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

As per the instructions (paperwork) of your purchase, you have only a certain amount of time to rescind (I believe it's 10 days in FL), however the cancellation can't be done by email or via phone. The cancellation must be done in writing and sent via the post office by certified mail with return receipt. It's the post office time stamped on the envelope that counts when rescinding. If your rescission time has past then I'm afraid that legally you own a timeshare in FL.

I would make copies of all the emails requesting cancellation and send them to the president of the company explaining that you don't want to make it a public issue and just handle the matter privately and cancel your contract as you originally asked. With social media putting pressure on people these days he might let you out of your contract rather than face negative publicity and a lawsuit.

Read your contract carefully and see if there is a requirement that the cancellation has to be made a certain way. Emails may suffice as a legal notification and it may not. Either way it might be to the comapnies advantage to cancel one contract then face adverse publicity.

Try the soft approach first and try to reach someone in a high office. The sales people work on commision and you're wasting your breath talking to them. The next step would be to contact an attorney and possibly having him write them a letter or if you know an attorney who will be willing to write the letter for you to the president in the first place for a reasnable fee that might bolster your case.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi there Thanks for both replies. I have good news the resort did cancel our timeshare and a refund was deposited back into my account. We sent all email correspondents to the sales manager and they forward the emails to relevent authority. Its a major relief! I have one more task to complete and that is with Buyatimeshare.com I paid up front $1500 to Quincey Brown. He rang me constantly and finally made contact the day after we returned home from our vacation. Yes he kept asking for my visa cards details and as the position I was in I did hand over the monies. I email him two to three weeks later asking for a refund as My timeshare was in dispute. I never heard back from him. I've emailed the sales manager Edward to forward all letters /correspondences for Edward to forward to the board. only yesterday I had a call to state my claim has been denied. Edward told me to write another letter in objection and put my case forward again. Which i've done. I have even lodge a Bank dispute form with my bank late last yr in Dec a month within the monies taken out. How will I go getting my buyatimeshare advertising fee back? Fingers crossed! Thanks very much! I made contact with him

You could dispute the charge with your credit card company. If they find grounds for you to cancel you might get relief. If you signed a binding contract and the other party kept their end of the bargain you might lose your case. The main issue is that you got out of the timeshare obligation and maybe limitted your loses. Thanks for coming back and giving us the update. Get back to us on the last part when it's over.

mathewk4 wrote:

I have one more task to complete and that is with Buyatimeshare.com I paid up front $1500 to Quincey Brown. How will I go getting my buyatimeshare advertising fee back?

This sounds like the typical upfront fee scam where they tell you that, for some fee ($1500 in your case), they will sell your unit for mega-bucks only to find out that the contract promises to merely advertise your unit, not sell it. Advertising is easy, selling isn't.

I would report this scam to the Attorney-General of the state where the timeshare is located as well as the one where the scam artist is located. This can easily be done online.

mathewk4 wrote:

Hi there Thanks for both replies. I have good news the resort did cancel our timeshare and a refund was deposited back into my account. We sent all email correspondents to the sales manager and they forward the emails to relevent authority.

Its a major relief! I have one more task to complete and that is with Buyatimeshare.com I paid up front $1500 to Quincey Brown. He rang me constantly and finally made contact the day after we returned home from our vacation. Yes he kept asking for my visa cards details and as the position I was in I did hand over the monies. I email him two to three weeks later asking for a refund as My timeshare was in dispute. I never heard back from him. I've emailed the sales manager Edward to forward all letters /correspondences for Edward to forward to the board. only yesterday I had a call to state my claim has been denied. Edward told me to write another letter in objection and put my case forward again. Which i've done. I have even lodge a Bank dispute form with my bank late last yr in Dec a month within the monies taken out. How will I go getting my buyatimeshare advertising fee back? Fingers crossed! Thanks very much! I made contact with him

You are very fortunate that the resort accepted your emails to cancel your purchase ... most resorts will take only registered mail cancellations.

I'm totally confused concerning your question regarding buyatimeshare.com ..... what were you trying to buy or sell?

If you sent them an upfront fee, for whatever reason, then I'm afraid that fee is gone.

That's why we've always stressed here in Redweek's forums to never, ever pay any entity an upfront fee to buy or sell a timeshare or to rid yourself of a timeshare.

Hi there In regards to donp196 question there was no legal binding acquirement as far as I'm aware. It was all done over the phone with buyatimeshares.com

Jayjay it was to sell the timeshare through buyatimeshares. I do recall reading somewhere on redweek forum that someone else had issues with Buyatimeshares as in upfront fees, which this person also paid. I think it was you Jayjay that told him to get in touch with the bank and dispute the claim. This is exactly what Ive done. I have also put my case forward as mentioned but i did get declined so Ive re positioned my dispute and in waiting to hear what they say this time. if this fails then Il approach in another matter informing them that I've been in touch with Redweek .com and may have to provide a legit news link to say under Fl law it is Illegal to ask for upfront fees. As Ive type in google "is it Illegal to ask for up front fees to sell timeshares"? there are plenty of relevant news articles that say yes. I really do appreciate the fact that the resort did and rightfully so cancel my contract as we were lied too and severely mucked around so all our correspondents proves this thankfully finished mess. I'm digging deep in Re: to buyatimeshares as I emailed Quincy Brown not long after I paid my upfront fees to ask for our deposit to be returned as My timeshare purchase was in dispute. I did not hear back from him. thanks for all the interest. il be in touch soon.

Please keep us informed as to the outcome.

Matthew, you stated that everything was handled over the phone.

If there was no written contract in place signed by both you and a rep from buyatimeshare.com then this is a valid legal reason for buyatimeshare.com to refund your upfront fee and your credit card company should be informed of this fact.

Also you need to contact the Better Business Bureau in the state where buyatimeshare.com is located and file a complaint .... you can do this online.

By accessing buyatimeshare.com's website it looks like they have locations in both Tampa, Florida and Merrimack, New Hampshire.

You can assess West Florida's BBB here (copy and paste url):

http://westflorida.bbb.org/Business-Complaints/

New Hampshire's BBB here:

http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/complaints/

Matthew, did you pay in full the price of the initial timeshare purchase in FL or did you pay a down payment and owe a balance.

If you owed a balance then buyatimeshare.com could not legally resell it .... another reason for the refund of your upfront fee.

Wow things are getting interesting. I just can't believe this timeshare torts and scams, it's unreal! As I first mentioned I never ever heard about the timeshare industry until I was in Florida. I've learnt a lot.Thanks. That's right it was done over the phone and no written contracts from either parties.

Re: the purchase of the timeshare a down payment was made only. A balance was left owing. Look forward to letting you both know what happens. Thanks again. Much appreciated!

Sales manager has come back to me stating this report just this morning,

An electronic signature or an eSignature is an indication of intent to agree to do business and is legally binding. Please refer to the ESignAct of 2000. You electronically signed the contract the same day that you entered your credit card information giving consent to start services.

Also stated here The BBB is not a part of the federal government and is a consumer reporting organization.

Also stated here in regards to 10 day cooling off period

However, we do offer a rescission period of 10 days to give you the opportunity to cancel your agreement without penalty. We did not receive any notification from you regarding cancelling your account.

As mentioned here and to buyatimeshare I did notify Quincy that due to the dispute I would like my return of my invest money. This was done a week or so after the 10 days period. I was never told by Quincy or in the closing email to start the advertising about any cooling off period. This is explained to them. Il be in touch soon.