Original Message:
Anyone dealt with Vacation Time International? (by Lynnette F.):
If so please send me a message. This company ripped us off in the amount of $699 promising to rent out our timeshare. I know NOW that we were stupid and had NO idea that you never give an up front fee. However since paying these fools to rent out our timeshare we have not been able to even contact them. At first they stopped answering their phones and not returning phone messages. However they did answer by email. However once two months had gone by and the "verbally promised" people waiting to rent our timeshare in Orlando had never materialized -- so we demanded our money back. They said NO because we had a contract.
I reread the contract and it said that they would immediate send to us any inquiries that came in through their website. I put them to the test by pretending to be someone else and inquiring not only about our own timeshare but four others. A box popped up thanking me for the inquiry and that shortly we would receive a confirmation email. I never even received a confirmation email - let alone a notice that someone had inquired about our timeshare. AND no one ever contact me about the inquiries on the other timeshares.
I kept calling but around the middle of January their phones were disconnected. I called a neighboring suite in their building and found out that they had been evicted. I called their post office and found out that they left NO forwarding address. I sent them a letter that needed to be signed for but after 3 weeks it is still sitting at the post office waiting for someone to pick it up - it cannot be forwarded because they have NO address to forward it to!!
I've submitted complaints to the BBB, the Attorney General's office and the Division of Consumer Affairs. I also tried to get the money back via the credit card we used but was turned down because we had signed a contract. I told them that the company is no longer operating as a business which is in breach of their contract -- but they wanted proof - on a company letterhead!!!!
I don't know what to do to get my money back. I found another couple that has also been ripped off who will go along with a class action suite if I can get one together. My lawer cannot even send Vacation Time International a letter unless I have an address which at this time I don't.
This company has not only ripped me off but anyone who is paying them to advertise their timeshare for rent because they are no longer actively answering phones, mail or passing inquiries along to prospective clients. It is quite obvious they are NOT manning their phones or computers. Also according to their contract you have to send them a written letter near the end of your yearly contract to renew or they will pull your ad from their database. Lifetime advertising is promised -- but if they are not picking up mail how can they honor their lifetime advertising promise?
Also I found out that their license for this business (they have six businesses by the way) expired in December and they had submitted a renewal. I asked the agent at the licensing bureau how could they do that without an address an she said they can't. She told me to call her back in a couple of weeks and if she had a new address she would give it to me. So last week I called her back and she told me they had obtained their new license using the old address where they had just been evicted from. I asked her how that was possible since they were no longer there. She said that since they gave her an address -- she renewed their license. She did not even care that the address was false. So I went over her head and called someone higher up and expressed my disappointment in the fact this fraudulent business had been allowed to renew their license by using a fake address. They said they would look into it. I have the owners information - from their birthdates to their home phone numbers but my lawyer will not contact them at their homes -- only at the business in question. What about small claims court??? Would that require me to travel to Orlando? Would I be able recoup the travel money and legal fees should I win?
I am so frustrated I don't know what to do. Anyone have any suggestions?
TIA!