Original Message:
Re: Sell My Timeshare NOW / Timeshare Broker Services - Buyer / Seller Be Warned! (by Emery P.):
Thanks to all for the replies. As some of you might have noticed, the reply that came from Jason was brief and highlighted only a couple of positive things. We must evaluate the content that was so cleverly omitted as well. A couple of you noticed Jason stated over 400 million dollars for offers and yet only 12 million in sales. Keep in mind, this all may be well and good but the let's keep our eye on the ball. The whole point is the practice of high ethics and morals SMTN WAS based on has gone astray. Many activities within the company are not necessarily what is best for the client. Ramming a bunch of seller advertisement listings through SMTN's "Broker Assist" program is one thing that comes to mind. Instead of giving the seller the opportunity to take their own offers, those offers go to the affiliated broker for them to "back door" a commission. You don't think the broker calls the buyer and says they are paying a commission on top of that offer, do you? Of course not. The negotiation process takes place with the broker going to the seller with a lower dollar amount than the buyer offered, creating a "spread". If the seller had a chance to receive their own offer, they could negotiate without the broker "skimming off the top" and most likely would come out better for net proceeds in the end.
The excessive over valuation of MANY timeshares listed on the SMTN website is one other issue. Some owners just want to sell their timeshare for whatever they can get but appearantly many of the SMTN advertising sales reps find it necessary to tell an owner that their Westgate Vacation Villas biennial week is worth more than what Westgate is selling it for. I guess those ad sales reps don't feel like the honest truth will get the sale. Worse yet, the management of SMTN seems willing to overlook a lot of stretching the truth and bending of rules these days. Take a look for yourselves and see some of these prices listed. Not just Westgate... that was only an example. This type of pricing is not helping the seller get results! This only puts the cost of the advertisement into the companies pocket.
There are several other things mentioned in the original post. Many of you have picked up on several of those. The real point is SMTN and affiliates are now practicing the same style of business they started out opposing. Who would have thought?