Original Message:
Has anyone ever sold their timeshare to Despegar.com travel agency? (by Laura G.):
They approached my husband and I as well to purchase our Playa Grande membership. Here is what I found online from insidethegate.com/gatehouse/2016/03/mexico-timeshare-fraud-:
Mike 05/04/2016 at 6:32 am (UTC -7) We have also been contacted to purchase our Timeshare by DesPegar Travel Agency and the Escrow Agency is Real Estate Brokerage in Denver. We have not been asked for any money and the contract with Real Estate Brokerage required the buyer, DesPegar, to pay all fees to close the sale. I realize there are Timeshare shams in the market now. Do you have any further information on these two companies to indicate they are operating illegally? Have you continued on with the process to try and sell your time share? Thanks for any other updated information.
Mike
Judy 05/04/2016 at 7:19 am (UTC -7) Despegar and Real Estate Brokerage are not legit. You will soon be getting calls that the Mexican Tourism office is involved and then calls from their attorney in New Mexico asking for money to be wired to bank in Mexico. We even got calls saying they had made sure it was not a scam! We almost did this, but I found this website and saved money and heartbreak.
Lisa E 05/04/2016 at 8:33 am (UTC -7) Mike ask them for the business license to confirm. Do some research on their company name this is how they all start to hook you, they will get around to asking you for upfront money, do not give it to them. If they are legit, they will sell it for you and take their commission from the sale and give you the remaining money on the agreed terms.
Rachel 05/04/2016 at 11:43 am (UTC -7) Mike, Our timeshare has never been for sale, they contacted us. First sign of a scam to me. When they sent the contract there were no indications of any fees, stated the same thing yours does. After finding this blog and the outline of the scam I responded to them with the question of would there be any fees once the process started, specifically inquiring about the ones indicated from previous posters. I have not heard from them since. Not a peep. Pretty good indication to me they are disreputable grifters. If you aren’t convinced send them back the contract and see what happens Rachel
Sent from Rachel💕
Anonymous 05/04/2016 at 1:35 pm (UTC -7) I talked with DesPegar and got theinformation I needed. You start the process with Real Estate Brokerage and they are working with the Mexican Tourist Office to get a “release” so that the sale can occur. Apparently, the Mexican Tourist office will charge the owner a fee of 8 -16% of the purchase price which must be paid by the owner. DesPegar is not allowed to pay the fee directly. Once the owner pays the fee, they will issue a “release” that the Timeshare can be sold to another party. I understand that the Mexican government has ownership of the land so they want revenue when the property changes hands. DesPegar said they would reimburse me after I paid the fee. I am not sure what would happen on the reimbursement so I have elected to end the process of sellling. Thanks to all for providing information so I could understand the process.
Lisa E 05/04/2016 at 1:52 pm (UTC -7) Info for DesPegar is a travel agency, if you give any money for fees upfront, you are taking a loss and will never see it again.
If you look at the escrow webpage, there are a few typo's, grammatical and punctuation errors. From my research, this is a red flag. Also, I tried to call the escrow company during the day and there was no answer and the voice mail was a generic computerized voice mail stating to leave a message after the tone...no voice message that I was calling an escrow company (Realty Direct operated out of Minnesota).
The girl, Joanna, who is seemingly a young inexperienced girl who I have been communicating with gave me her boss' phone number. I tried to call him and no answer and the same kind of generic voice message as the escrow company.
We are going to pass on this! Hope this helps.