To MS Schreier

Since you seem to be a timeshare crusader and you vented about postcard companies below, how come you haven't vented about upfront fee resale company scams that are no better than postcard companies where they guarantee a prospective client a sale or a rental of their timeshare FOR A LARGE UPFRONT FEE .... the GUARANTEED RENTAL doesn't materialize and the client doesn't get their upfront fee back .... or the scammer that tells a prospective client that they have a buyer for their timeshare if they'll only pay a LARGE UPFRONT FEE when in reality there is no buyer, but the scammer keeps the upfront fee.

I cerainly hope that you don't condone companies such as Sell My Timeshare Now, however you are mentioned in Mr. Tremblay's article below .... one of his salespeople GUARANTEED a client's rental that never materialized .... you can read about it in this forum.

Monday, January 26, 2009 Timeshare Owners Beware! Author: Jason Tremblay

Orlando’s Channel 9 TV has been on the trail of a Nevada-based company using some interesting tactics to attract timeshare sellers. According to reporter Todd Ulrich, the timeshare company, Apex Professionals, sends post cards to timeshare owners leading them to believe the company wants to buy their timeshare and inviting them to a meeting to learn more. The post cards say, “Now making immediate offers to timeshare owners who want to sell.”

After a seminar held in an Orlando hotel, (which Action 9 investigators sat in on) the details of the meetings were shared with timeshare industry expert Lisa Ann Schreier. Here’s Ms. Schreier’s take: “These people (Apex Professionals) wanted 35 hundred dollars and your deed which is really unconscionable as far as I’m concerned.”

I am by no means in favor of any company that makes unubstantiated promises to consumers, especially ones that charge an upfront fee and guarantee anything.

If I have not been clear about this, let me take the opportunity to do so now.

Timeshare owners should AVOID any company that:

a) contacts you out of the blue b) charges you a substantial upfront fee c) promises or guarantees anything d) asks for more money because they have a prospective buyer

The most important thing to remember is the first...if a company calls/e-mails/faxes you first ignore them. The second most important thing to remember is to avoid anyone or any company who guarantees or promises anything.

I certainly hope that makes things clearer.

My sincere apologies for the delay in answering this, as it seems to have fallen through the cracks on my end.

Ms Schreier, my point was, the author of that article was Jason Tremblay owner of Sell My Timeshare Now that charges upfront fees .... his company is no better than the postcard companies.

You, being the Timeshare Crusader, should do research on Sell My Timeshare Now (an upfront fee resale company) and report back to us your findings since he uses your name in his article to out another timeshare scam.

I am well aware that Jason Tremblay wrote a piece in which he quoted me.

Here are my thoughts:

1) The state of Florida, Baker and Hostetler, CRDA and ARDA have all looked into SMTN.com's dealings and can find nothing illegal.

2) SMTN.com offers both an upfront fee and a FSBO option.

3) I have written about upfront fees in the past and maintain that there is NOTHING free. Every resale solution carries a fee. It is up to the consumer to determine how much they will get for the fee in question. It may be a $5.00 advertising fee to list it in the newspaper and it may be a 15% to fee to list it with a broker.

This forum is NOT the place to accuse companies or individuals of wrong-doing unless and until it can be proven. What I said about the postcard companies is very true, but at the same time, it must be clearly understood that what they do is NOT illegal nor in the strict sense of the word, a scam. I don't like it, I advise people against it and I find what they are doing reprehensible, but it is NOT illegal.

There is much work that needs to be done in the timeshare resale industry. Much. Consumers are confused, numbers are quoted without much regard for context, the traditional timeshare industry is not doing much of anything and organizations that should be watching out for the consumer are not doing all that they could be doing.

My blog and other material is for the public's consumption and the public includes Jason Tremblay. Mr. Tremblay and I agree on the postcard companies...they are not doing anyone but themselves any good.

While you and I might not agree with SMTN.com's business model, I am not about to engage in an online arguement with or about the company.

I would be happy to discuss this with you via e-mail. You may e-mail me at lisa@timeshareinsights.com.

tsauthor wrote:

2) SMTN.com offers both an UPFRONT FEE and a FSBO option.

3) I have written about upfront fees in the past and maintain that there is NOTHING free. Every resale solution carries a fee. It is up to the consumer to determine how much they will get for the fee in question. It may be a $5.00 advertising fee to list it in the newspaper and it may be a 15% to fee to list it with a broker.

Herein lies the problem, any resale company that charges UPFRPONT FEES IN THE HUNDREDS/THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS (including SMTN) to list a timeshare is no better than the postcard companies, which you and Mr. Tremblay publicly condemn ..... I still stand behind my former statements concerning such.

You say, "every resale carries a fee". I assume you are referring to timeshare listing sites such as Redweek and others that charge a very minimal fee for owner listings, but they don't charge an upfront fee in the hundreds/thousands, big difference.

The fact that you defend any resale company that charges in the hundreds/thousands of dollars in upfront fees tells me you don't stand by your OWN convictions/principles.

BTW, every resale does not carry a fee .... Craig's List is just one such entity.

You say that you aren't going to argue with me on a public forum concerning SMTN .... me, and other regulars here, post on Redweek and TUG (Timeshare Users Group, which also condemns such companies as SMTN) to try to help timeshare owners on all scams out there.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, however Redweek members should be educated on such and to try to squelch that information is reprehensible .... Redweek members should be able to make up their own minds about releasing that kind of money to ANY upfront fee resale entity, including SMTN.

tsauthor wrote:

I am well aware that Jason Tremblay wrote a piece in which he quoted me.

Here are my thoughts:

1) The state of Florida, Baker and Hostetler, CRDA and ARDA have all looked into SMTN.com's dealings and can find nothing illegal.

Then why is the Florida Attorney General closing all large upfront fee resale companies one by one .... even raiding some ???

Several more upfront fee timeshare scam companies have been shut down:

http://www.wftv.com/countybycounty/27782059/detail.html

Notice the other raids and shutdowns Jan 14, Feb13 and Feb 14, 2011, so before it's all over ALL upfront fee timeshare scam companies will be shut down including SMTN.

Good Morning.

I do in fact stand by my own convictions.

I agree with you 100% that all timeshare owners should be able to make up their own mind about what sort of services/companies they are dealing with when it comes time to sell a timeshare.

As far as saying that upfront fee companies are the same as the postcard or relief companies, we will agree to disagree. The postcard companies are much worse in my opinion.

While I understand that upfront fee companies by their nature leave much room for consumers to be wary, it is important for consumers and writers such as myself to look at results.

There is a much larger problem; what is the resort and the industry as a whole doing to maintain the value proposition of the timeshare? You are correct in your example that consumers can sell a timeshare on Craig's List for "nothing." That is where much timeshare ends up being sold for $100.00 or even $1.00. NO value proposition there at all.

I appreciate your insights and your comments.

tsauthor wrote:

That is where much timeshare ends up being sold for $100.00 or even $1.00. NO value proposition there at all.

Evidently you haven't checked out Ebay timeshares (not just Craig's List) where literally hundreds of timeshares can be had for 1 cent to 1dollar (many quality resorts and quality times).

Also, I guess you've failed to check out Redweek's and Tug's Bargain Basment where many people are giving their timeshares away for nothing with this years' maintenance fees and closing paid by the seller (I picked up one of these myself). Bargain and free timeshares are literally everywhere.

You say, let the consumer decide if they want to hand over hundreds/thousands of dollars to upfront fee resale companies like SMTN .... well, it's people like you (Timeshare Crusader) that should make prospective sellers aware of the deceptive practices of large upfront fee resale companies that, 9 times out of 10, will never sell a timeshare listed on their site but they keep the seller's money anyway.

The timeshare industry HAS to come up with a different plan concerning the selling of timeshares when thousands of people are bailing out on paying their maintenance fees (which is a resort's bread and butter) .... many resorts will go under eventually if a plan is not put in place.

This should be your main goal as the Timeshare Crusader ... trying to come up with a plan to keep resorts going AND to make people be aware of upfront fee resale companies that charge hundreds/thousands of dollars to list a timeshare on their site that no one will ever be interested in and the scam company knows that .... the timeshare industry will never see the days of pre-2007 again .... their day has come and gone, especially developer sales.

This is how much Sell My Timeshare Now is thought of on TUG .... rated F ..... copy and paste URL below:

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95848&highlight=sellmytimesharenow

Hi,

For the purposes of this discussion, I will limit my analysis to deeded properties. While it has been established long ago that the purchase of a deeded time share units is not to be considered an investment in the conventional sense, it also should not be considered a worthless asset either. Unfortunately, the post-purchase experience and economic environment as noted by several writers, bloggers, owners and "insiders" is the direct result of the fundamental problem with the TS industry itself - i.e. it never concerned itself with resales - only new sales at high prices. So effectively no viable, reasonable or equitable resale market was established. What developed is a disgraceful situation and a haven for scammers.

In this month's TST, my letter was published in which I propose a somewhat novel, if not controvertial idea. Simply stated, wouldn't it be beneficial to all parties if developers themselves supported their products by establishing a "certified" buy-back procedure? If we remember that the majority of quality top-tier resorts are owned by giant hospitality and entertainment chains, the resale programs they establish could be modeled much the same way auto manufacturers support their products through their finance companies. If this model were to be established, a buyer purchasing from the developer would know what the "residual value" of the real estate purchase is at predetermined future dates. This would establish the market value and support pricing that reflects the value inherent after depreciation. The net result is that there would be a new market and a "certified" market of prior owner units. The price differential between both products would be in the amenities offered and value added bonuses that can only be available through a direct purchase through the developer. I do not intend this to be an endorsement for developer sales only, I do believe that this has the potential to solve most of the problems that now exist when current owners wish to dispose of their units. Reasonable?