If you've been scammed by Sell My Timeshare Now ....

contact the florida attorney general below:

Florida attorney general contact info:

Florida

Website: http://myfloridalegal.com/

Email: http:// myfloridalegal.com/contact.ns...torney_General

Phone: 866-966-7226

Mailing Address: Office of Attorney General State of Florida The Capitol PL-01 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050

Consumer Protection: http:// myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/...7!OpenDocument (nice that its at least timeshare specific info, and it appears they have edited it a bit per my recommendations)

Online Complaint form: http:// www.myfloridalegal.com/ConsumerComplaint.pdf

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/sell-my-timeshare-now-c2463.html

New Hampshire attorney general contact info:

New Hampshire

Website: http://doj.nh.gov/

Email: none listed

Phone: 1-888-468-4454

Mailing Address: 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301

Consumer Protection: http:// doj.nh.gov/consumer/index.html

Online Complaint form: http:// www.egov.nh.gov/consumercomplaint/step1.asp

I am currently involved in a situation with Sell My Timeshare Now that time will soon tell if I've been ripped off. In September 2009, I responded to an online add of SMTN to rent (9) 2br/2ba suites for spring vacation 2010 at the Grand Mayan Acapulco. The booking agent, Renae, that I was dealing with was successful in securing all (9) rooms for the requested week. Within days, my group paid SMTN $14,000.00 (the asking price for all the rooms). My group has since spent nearly $40,000 on airfare for the trip. About a month after paying for the rooms, we still hadn't received confirmation numbers for the rooms, and when checking with the Grand Mayan, my group was not a recongizable reservation. I called SMTN requesting the numbers. I was told that the vendor that they had used doesn't usually issue the confirmations until 30 days from check in. They assured me that my booking was solid and that they were backed up with SMTN rental agreements. My group has been renting at various Grand Mayans for spring vacation for the past 5 years. This proticol was not only unheard of, but unacceptable, I said to the customer service representative from SMTN. They told me that they would make an effort to get me the confirmations and could understand my frustrations. A month or so went by and I still didn't have our confirmation numbers, which prompted more calls by me to SMTN. I also did some research on SMTN with the Better Business Bureau in New Hampshire and the Attorney Generals Office. The feedback was that there had been some complaints about the company, but that they had successfully resloved the majority of all complaints to the customer's satisfaction and were in good standing. The Attorney Generals office told me that the company was in good standing. A few other online inquiries indicated that they were a legitimate company and that my reservation was probably safe. So with that information, I was a bit more comfortable allowing them additional time to get the confirmation numbers that I was requesting. However, by February 2010 and after several promises to have the numbers within days, I still didn't have the confirmations. I stepped up my telephone calls and climbed the ladder at SMTN with who I directed my complaint to. Even though I haven't personally talked to the founder/ceo of SMTN, Jason Trembly, he's been well informed from his assistant, Kelly, whom I've spoke to serveral times. Throughout the several months, I've been assured by several SMTN representatives that my booking is solid and the company will stand behind it and my 40+ friends and family will have the accomodations they expect. By mid February and even more calls, and refererals to Jerome at SMTN (who has never personally spoke to me either), I was contacted by manager Lucas Lanigan. He like every other person I spoke to at Sell My Timeshare Now, assured me that we would have our rooms and the booking was solid. Within a few days I was very releived when I received (4) of the (9) confirmations. But when the rest of them didn't come I stepped up my phone calls again. Some times multiple calls per day. My calls were always received by SMTN people expressing understanding and committment to finding a solution to my situation. I was now within 30 days of scheduled check in at the Grand Mayan. Well, despite all of my phone calls, last week (just 2 weeks from our check in day) I received the horrible news from Lucas Lanigan that "there is a problem with the reservation". "NO DUH", I responded. He explained that the vendor that they obtained the inventory with, I Travel Companion, had failed to secure (5) of the requested rooms, and now SMTN was scrambling to find alternative accomodations. He assured me that they would get us comparable if not better accomodations than what we were expecting, but SMTN would not leave us high and dry. His words were, "we are not running away from the matter". With in a couple of days, Lucas presented me a few different options, none were ideal but better than nothing. The best option of the (3) (offer was presented in writing) involved SMTN renting a 15br/15bath private villa a few miles from the resort. We jumped on that offer right away. Over the next few days, they sent me details of the "rock star" like house, along with pictures and services included. Since we would have nearly 30 guests at the house and 14 or so still at the resort, SMTN also offered private transportation for our party to and from the resort and house daily. While the house sounded wonderful, the primary purpose of our trip was to spend time with our family and friends. So I kept looking for last minute availability of Grand Mayan Rooms. In the meantime, I still hadn't gotten any confirmation on the house either. Yesterday, I finally stumbled upon (5) 2br/2ba rooms that would be available at the Grand Mayan for our scheduled days. But they were asking $21,700 for all (5) rooms. We had paid $7,750.00 to SMTN for the same rooms 6 months earlier. But the house SMTN offered to us was going to cost $42,000. So I thought this would be a welcomed find. I had found the rooms directly through Wyndham (probably the most expensive outlet for GM rooms, but the only availability that I could find). With the Wyndham reservations still on the phone, I called Lucas to find out if they were locked into the house, or if they would prefer the Grand Mayan rooms. I was disappointed to hear that SMTN was having a difficult time obtaining a confirmation on the house. AND they had used the same company (I Travel Companion) that messed up the initial reservation. Lucas said that they were getting stone walled by I Travel. He said that he wanted to commit to the rooms that I found, but wasn't authorized to commit SMTN to that size of an expenditure. He said that if I could get a hold on the rooms until the end of the day, he would track down somebody that was authorized to approve the expense and get back to me before the end of the day. I didn't want to lose the rooms that I've tried for months to get, so I held the rooms on my personal credit card. By the end of the day, Lucas emailed me to inform me that he felt the house was a scam and he couldn't approve my rooms. So now we don't have the house, and the only way we will have the rooms at the Grand Mayan is if we pay the $21,700 ourselves. Then late last night, Lucas called me and told me that he has spoke with Jacqueline Russ, the CFO of SMTN. He said that he explained the situation to her and showed her the detail of charges for the rooms that I found at the Grand Mayan. He said that without hesitation, she approved to reimburse me for the additional expense. She acknowledged that unquestionably SMTN was ultimately responsible for the reservations. He told me that he would put the decsision to me in writing, which I received via email an hour or so later. He also stated that the reimbursement process wouldn't start until this upcoming Monday when Jackie and he are back in their office.

This is a nightmare come true. I've been the travel organizer for my group of friends and family for more than 20 years. I have never had plans backfire like this before. For the past 5 years, I've rented Grand Mayan weeks from FUNSUNMEXICO, without a single problem. We have 9 days before we leave. I am hopeful that SMTN will come through as promised. However, due to the series of events, my confidence in this company is very low. I have filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Better Business Bureau and Attorney General. If they do fail to perform, I have full intentions of litigating the matter that is a complete violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act. We have already spent $54,000, before the $21, 700!

Don't hold your breath ..... good luck.

Did they ever resolve your issue?

Has anyone got their money back from them as a result of filing a complaint with the Florida attorney general. I paid them $599 last year to try and sell our Club Velas Vallarta timeshare. I have never heard anything from them. I'd really like to get that money back!

Is this the same Luke that I dealt with at SMTN? The reason why I ask, is because the Luke that I dealt with abruptly parted ways with SMTN right before I left on vacation. I'm not sure if it was a mutual decision or if it was on bad terms.

To answer your question, YES, SMTN did make things right with me. As I previously mentioned, the alternative accomodations that I was able to secure added an additional expense of more than $21,000. Literally while on my way to the airport, SMTN wire tranferred funds for the first installment (2 payments were made) of the reimbursement. A couple of days after I got back, the final portion was made in the form of a credit card refund.

We had a great time in Acapulco. We were even able to take advantage of a couple of perks arranged before hand by Lucas Lanigan. About 16 of us golfed for free at the adjacent golf course.

While the experience was truely a nightmare, since I'm not familiar with the internal operations of SMTN, I'm not qualified to pass judgement on where the fault for the mishap fell. However, I do know that if the company mandated that their suppliers furnish confirmations upon payment, as most others do, this ordeal would have never happened.

I must give kudos where they are due though. I was in touch with numerous representatives from various departments at SMTN. Never did I ever come in contact with a single person that didn't sound to be genuinely concerned, understanding, and motivated to resolve the situation. Unfortunately, due to the practice of not requiring the vendor to furnish the resort confirmations before 30 days before arrival, personel at SMTN was automatically put behind the gun to be able to produce the desired results.

It was due to my diligence that alternative accomodations where able to be secured. But it was within SMTN that they made it right and reimbursed me the additional expense that it cost. I truely believe had I been dealing with almost any other timeshare broker, very few would have the resources or horsepower to make good on the transaction. And for that reason, I will use SMTN in the future and have told friends about them.

My situation could have been a "worse scenerio", and I was left no choice but to trust that SMTN would make good on their verbal pledge. But I also found reassurance through various other members in their industry, the better business bureau and the attorney generals office that said that of all companies, SMTN has the capability and motivation to satisfy all claims satisfactory. Fortunately, from what I've experienced, I would concur with that.

While specific details about "complimentary" weren't discussed, I was also assured that SMTN would extend a complimentary accomodation to me for my return business. We'll see how that goes, I'm currently working on taking our group to the Grand Mayan in San Jose Del Cabo next spring and will be contacting Jerome (VP) soon!

I have been contacted by Lucas Lanigan about renting my timeshare out. Do you think he is legit. He is now with a company called Timeshare Rental Agent located in ME. Did you ever get your promised compensation? Thanks for posting.

Regarding my dealing with Lucas Lanigan when he was at SMTN, I think that he was probably legit. I think where the breakdown came from was the company policy of not securing confirmations verifiable by the resort early enough to ensure actual availability. I had initially booked all of my rooms with a reservation clerk named Renae (at SMTN). My past experience had always been with a different company, who's policy was to obtain and issue confirmation statements upon payment. Well, I paid for the rooms at the time of booking and pretty much removed the subject from my mind. A couple of months later, it dawned on me that I had never received any confirmation notices from SMTN, so I called them. I was told that their company policy was that they didn't issue confirmation notices until 30 days from travel. To me that was unacceptable, I didn't want to wait that long and take the risk of something unexpected happening to my reservation. I expressed my lack of satisfaction with SMTN, who was always understanding when I spoke to them. They told me that they would try to get me the confirmations earlier, but that I would have them no later than the end of December (our travel dates were late March). December came and went and still no confirmation notices. By then my concern was that I was also getting close to being too late to decline the charges on my credit card. By this time my case had been given to the department manager (Lucas). All along, everybody (including Lucas) assured me that my vacation weeks were secure. By January I was practically bouncing off the walls in disgust over the situation and had called every agency I could think of to insure performance on behalf of SMTN, I mean I had already spent 10s of 1,000s of dollars and made plans for 40+ family members that had no idea what was happening. I was maintaining contact practically on a daily weekly basis with Lucas, that developed into daily contact towards the end. At the end of the day, the supplier (that was supposidly Lucas' contact) ended up not having the inventory (or accidentally double booked it with another reservation) and failed to admit it until just a few weeks before our travel dates. Lucas scrambled trying to find alternative accomodations to no avail. He then ended up falling again to promises made by either another supplier, if not the same supplier that dropped the ball originally (I'm not sure). They were going to remedy the situation by putting my family up in a private estate large enough to accomodate our group, and it was to be at their expense. But when Lucas pressured them for confirmation, all contact ceased the the house didn't pan out either. Fortunately, I found alternative accomodations at our desired resort, but they were more than twice what I had already spent. In the end, SMTN honored their promise and covered all of the additional costs associated with the new reservation. It was truely a hair raising experience, and I know that Lucas (along with a couple of other SMTN employees) were held accountable for the episode, and lost his job over the matter. Not knowing the internal affairs or structure of SMTN, I wouldn't be qualified to say if he was truely the responsible party for the failure. I've been told that due to that situation, they have revised their company policy regarding confirmations. And time is going to tell if that is the truth. This week I used SMTN (James Buonarosa), to book my family at the Grand Mayan in Cabo. I booked 8 seperate rooms/weeks. I've been told that I can expect confirmations (verifiable by the resort) no later than January. I wasn't affraid to use SMTN again because as a business owner, I know there will be deals that fall apart. How a company resolves them is where they prove their worthiness. And in my mind, there are probably few companies that would have resolved the matter to the level of completion that SMTN did. Ask me in a couple of weeks if I still stand by them. Stay tuned, I guess.

lisab810 wrote:

This week I used SMTN (James Buonarosa), to book my family at the Grand Mayan in Cabo. I booked 8 seperate rooms/weeks. I've been told that I can expect confirmations (verifiable by the resort) no later than January. I wasn't affraid to use SMTN again because as a business owner, I know there will be deals that fall apart. How a company resolves them is where they prove their worthiness. And in my mind, there are probably few companies that would have resolved the matter to the level of completion that SMTN did. Ask me in a couple of weeks if I still stand by them. Stay tuned, I guess.

I have to ask you, since SMTN put you through so much misery with so many deals falling apart, why you would choose them again to book your reservations. Even though they came through after several failures, I would be VERY hesitant to use them again. It would seem their suppliers are not reliable.

Thats a valid question, and one I've given great consideration to. I mentioned that I had contacted numerous agencies (i.e. BBB, Florida Attorney General, New Hampshire Attorney General, Dover BBB, etc.), I even contacted an attorney to prepared to litigate the situation. Besides talking to these agencies, I spoke to some of the agents at various resorts that had previous dealings with SMTN. At the end of the day, the majority of the parites that I consulted with didn't have negative transactions to report. Some even went so far to assure me that if SMTN vowed to make the deal right, they had faith in them. Others said that of all of the resalers of timeshare rental weeks there are in the market place, SMTN is strong enough and big enough to financially stand behind their deals. The BBB told me that while there were complaints against the company on record, the number of complaints weren't any higher than the industry norm. However, their records indicated that they did have a high percentage of resolving their disputes to the customers satisfaction.

This year, I've contacted numerous vendors. Oddly enough, the majority of them tell me that they have inventory available. I know how hard inventory for spring vacation at the Grand Mayans is to secure. So, when somebody tells me right away that they have the inventory without expressing any challenge to obtaining it, I know they're yanking my chain. A couple of days later, they end up contacting me sadly to inform me that the inventory doesn't exist. When I called SMTN, James told me up front, he has some dependable suppliers that if they say they have it that they will have gone through all verification procedures to ensure the accuracy BEFORE they lead me to believe they have it. He also told me up front that the inventory is very limited and it's going to take diligence to secure the rooms that I was requesting and that he wasn't sure what he would be able to get at this late date. It has taken numerous calls over several days between him and me, and to date I have all but one of the rooms that I'm requesting.

Believe me when I say, at the end of my transaction with SMTN last spring, my initial attitude was "never again" and that I just narrowly escaped a disaster. But then when I objectively reflected on the outcome, I thought they deserved a second chance since they did come through. And, that I would rather take a chance with them versus an unknown shark in a very large sea of scammers.

I spent so much time with so many different people at SMTN last year, from the receptionist all the way to the President and Vice President of the company. Every person that I spoke to convinced me that they were personally working toward a solution to my problem. The truth could only be one of two things, either 1) I was really gullable or 2) they were sincerly trying to resolve the situation. They did perform, you can't deny then of that.

Time will tell if my intuition is right, I guess.

Thanks for your explanation .... please keep us posted.

Well I've been asked to keep you posted as to how my current dealings with Sell My Timeshare Now is working out. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have booked (via James Buonarosa) several rooms at the Grand Mayan in San Jose Los Cabos for this upcoming spring vacation. When I booked the rooms, James told me that I could expect the confirmations (verifiable by the resort) no later than early November. I just wanted to let you all know that as I was promised, I did receive all of my confirmations slips the first part of February. We have some additional friends that are wanting to join us, so I just booked 2 more rooms yesterday with James. He said that I should have the confirmations by early March. So far, great experience!

It is my understanding that they are currently being investigated by the Florida AG

I have been scammed by sell my time share now ....... So frustrated and pissed off.

No you will not get your money back I say we just put as much information on the web about there scam so that no one else falls for there lies......

I am an Australian Timeshare owner, who wants to sell. I have been in contact with SMTN and they have a agreed to take half of the subscription fees instead of the full amount. My son lives in the states, and has told me to be very wary of this company. What do you do, when you are on the other side of the world, trying to sell? Rory from SMTN has assured me, they will do the right thing, but talk is cheap. I too have read all the complaints, but if you research all Timeshare Resellers, you will find they are all the same. I would appreciate, your suggestions, as we can't afford to use the timeshare, and are just spending money on HOA fees.

Have you listed on red week? The fee is going to be much lower and they probably get similar hits from potential buyers.

SMTN is basically an overpriced for sale by owner site with way too many ridiculously high priced units. They make there money with upfront fees and are able to get the high fees because they convince owners that they can sell for much higher than the true market value. Unlike other true scam sites though they do list and do get a fair amount of traffic at their site. It is possible to sell on their site IF you are priced right but you can't rely on any of their pricing to determine the value of what you are listing.

Another thing that always bothered me is even though they say their price includes the help of a broker you can't tell by looking at the listings. At a resort that I am very familiar with that had about 10 listings at least 8 out of the 10 had errors about capacity, unit description, mf's, etc. For the price it cost to list you would think they could help the owner get basic details correct before publishing. I have seen so.liar mistakes for many many listings at SMTN.

NEVER pay anyone money upfront to sell your timeshare. All they want is your upfront money and then they disappear and you will spend many sleepless nights regretting giving them your hard earned money. Any reputable company will take their commission from the sale. If they claim they can get a high price for your timeshare it's a SCAM !!!