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Point Rental Liquidators SCAM- Robert Guy Russell & Brandon "B.J." Cooke (by Ruth F.):

Thank you, Boobier et al, for your detective work and rallying calls. My wife and I attended a meeting in Westbrook (a suburb of Portland), Maine on May 21, again under the impression that it was sponsored by RCI in order to update us on their programs. It was held in a Denny’s, having been re-scheduled from Ruby Tuesday’s; do you suppose Ruby is trying to disconnect from them?

The same group was involved: T.E.R.P., EPS (aka PRL), and IVC (aka R&R Venture). However, there were a few new twists. According to the contract we signed, “this charge [$9482] is solely for the purchase of my enhancement package that was described on the Purchase Proposal”; the Purchase Proposal says “T.E.R.P. Services Elected: VSI Exchange and Travel Program” - nothing more, except for EPS Closing Costs of $498. There was no deed transfer or time share purchase involved. It might surprise VSI to learn that their travel services are so expensive. The enrollment was to be in VSI’s “Platinum Global Points Network.”

Another new feature is that we were asked to use our own Visa or Mastercard; the balance would then be transferred to their “Chase Discover Citibank Capital-one” on “the first Friday 10 business days after the date of sale.” This transfer is to be “initiated by email” from eps.balance.transfer@gmail.com. We can hardly wait for Friday. We were then to pay off the $9482 at the rate of $99/month at 0% interest for 6 months, at which time we would have received the check for our deposited points at 7.5¢ per points. This is recorded not in any contract we signed, but in the handwriting of one of the salesmen.

The charges, in increments of less than $1000 “to save transaction costs,” have started to appear on our credit card, which sent a fraud alert to us. They were from a source in China according to the card company, and I did not recognize any of the merchant’s name until I started reading this thread - and “R&R Ventures” is buried in the lengthy name.

The salesmen, or whatever one might call them, were Randy DiPriest, a heavy-set man with a round face who represented himself as a horse rancher from Texas, and another whose name we didn’t catch, called in by Randy when we appeared skeptical. He was sharply dressed, thin, with a pitted red nose and slick-backed dark hair - does anyone know what BJ looks like? Our contact for the future, who would take care of all point transfers and vacation exchanges, was to be Randy.

We asked why our small condo was worth so many points, and where the 100,000 bonus points came from - the response was that this was all enabled by the RCI class action lawsuit. We asked what they do with all the points they buy from us, and the answer was that they sell them for corporate rentals, and that they have “Longevity Contracts with ESPN, Ford, GM, Microsoft, Bank of America, Chase Bank, Barclays, and Discover.” [This from a printed handout they gave us.] We didn’t inquire why Microsoft might want a week in Branson, MO.

This is still a work in progress, and we shall post anything that happens. Needless to say we are sadder, and we hope wiser.