In late 2008, I paid a company named “Escape to Paradise” to sell my three timeshares. I also listed these timeshares with two Florida based timeshare resellers during the same time period. For over two years we have not owned any of the timeshares.
Through the help of the Florida Attorney General, I was able to get a refund from the two companies based in Florida over a year ago. “Escape to Paradise” is based in Newport Beach California. They told me that all of the Florida timeshare resellers were crooks but since they were based in California, they were held to higher standards. They told us that their "fee" was only to purchase Disneyland tickets to entice prospective buyers to view their presentations of the timeshares they have listed for sale. They claimed that they only made money during the sales transaction.
It turns out that all “Escape to Paradise” does is list your timeshare on a website. That is all they do. They lied to me and misrepresented themselves as an aggressive timeshare reseller. They list your timeshare at an inflated price that no one would even make an offer on. They guarantee that they will sell your timeshare up to 80% of your selling price. However at the inflated price that they set, no one would even make an offer since they were priced way out of the market.
I ended up selling the three time shares, either by liquidation, trade or refund. I have not owned any of the three timeshares listed with "Escape to paradise" for over two years. I have continually left email and phone messages to "Escape to Paradise" requesting a refund as spelled out in our contract. "Escape to Paradise" refuses to respond to me.
I have contacted the California Attorney General, Department of Consumer Affairs, the Better Business Bureau and the Orange County Attorney General. After sending them all of the documentation, they were all useless. The Better Business Bureau contacted me and asked me to write a testimonial verifying that "Escape to Paradise" ripped me off. I was also told that "Escape to Paradise" has an "F" rating with the BBB! The BBB wants me to help them get the word out that they are scam artists and hopefully no one else gets ripped off like I was.
Even if I do not receive any money back from them, if I can keep others from being scammed by them like I was, it will be worth it. I paid “Escape to Paradise” $399 for each timeshare for a total of $1,197. I have tried to contact them numerous times requesting a refund. They refuse to return phone calls or email messages.
I have not owned any of the timeshares that were listed with "Escape to Paradise" for over two years! They continue to list the timeshares for sale! Even the listings I placed with them for all three timeshares were not accurate. Each one has at least one error that I spent years trying to get them to correct. When contacted by the California Attorney General, they told the CA Attorney General that they are actively trying to sell my timeshares! Great, we have not owned them in over 2 years and yet they still have them listed for sale!
Ron L.
