Original Message:
FROM THE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE CONCERNING TIMESHARE COMPLAINTS (very important) (by Larry B.):
This is about the most mumble jumbled official email that I have ever read. If I wanted to know you procedures, i could look in the Florida Statutes.
My question to you is what are you doing to stop the public from being ripped off from all the time share presentations that only tell how wonderful owning a time share is. In reality, its a total rip off, the worse I have ever seen and evident by the number of Timeshares being built and sold in Florida running amok.
For your information, a free 45 min presentation turns into a sale's presentation that last for hours, goes to 3 or 4 level of sales people to get you to sign on the dotted line.
If you buy a timeshare from the developer, its not unusual for pay from 20-40,000 for a l,2, or 3 br unit., only to find out it has a resale value from $1.00 to $2000.
I first got involved with buying a time share through an on line auction. I figured if some idiot was dumb enough to initially pay $25.000 for the timeshare, buying it for $1.000 would be a good deal.
The developers tell you, you can trade your week for anywhere in the world, but they forget to tell you there has to be an opening when you want to go, in order to trade your unit, you have to join a tlimeshare trading company RCI, II, and that costs you 85-125 a year, then when you deposit your week, it costs another $125-150 to initiate the trade, and if you want to let a family member or friend then you have to buy a gift certificate, so figure it out, 750 annual maintence fee, 100 member ship fee to trade, 150 to trade, and 50 for a gift certificate
That my friend comes to over $1000 Such a great deal, now its time to sell, try and get 10 percent of your initial purchase price. You can buy timeshares all day long on ebay for $1.00 that some slick time share company sold to you 4 years ago for $25,000.
Woops I for to add that these units need to be cleaned, painted and maintained, the annual maintence fee's do not even come close to keeping them up....so here comes the almighty assessment of $1500 plus.
A total rip off, Florida and the powers to be should be ashamed of themselves. Stop this nonsense NOW.
L. S. B Florida Resident