BUYERS BE - AWARE

Timeshares and Travel Clubs, by law, are required to send you home with all the paperwork after signing. Including a pages that tells you how to cancel the purchase within a set number of days.

They don't want to to see that document. But when you get back home or to your hotel you discover there is no paperwork, so when you call the sales office, everyone you talk to is unavailable.

The resorts and clubs are getting pretty shifty in following the law. Below is from Westgate Resorts. In every buyers kit, they have a hidden pocket that you don't notice.

 So check that kit. I may save you a lot of headaches.

FROM JACKSONVILLE POST

The Florida Attorney General recently shut down six travel companies that made deceptive claims about vacation club memberships.

BE PART OF THE 15%

Timeshare Resorts know they will have to refund and cancel 15% of their owners. That's just the cost of doing business.

Sounds like a large number until you realize 85%of owners are stuck with their timeshare purchase. Granted some owners actually love their timeshares. 

BRANSON'S ANYTIME VACATIONS AND ST LOUIS AREA RED ROCK TRAVEL SUED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL

FORSYTH, Mo. -
Attorney General Chris Koster is suing a Taney County travel-club company for allegedly deceiving consumers about the benefits of memberships.

The suit in Taney County Circuit Court alleges that Anytime Vacations promised consumers discounts on airfare, hotel accommodations, cruises, and other travel benefits for joining its travel club and paying fees of hundreds and even thousands of dollars. After joining, however, consumers found the “discounts” were nonexistent, and that they could get better deals going through standard, free services such as Travelocity and Orbitz.

Koster said his office received 50 complaints against Anytime Vacations, alleging that consumers paid fees to the companies totaling more than $140,000. In one case, a consumer paid $6,995 to join the club. Anytime Vacations refused to cancel the consumer’s contract and refund his money after he discovered it cost more to book a flight through Anytime Vacations than through routine travel websites.
The lawsuit also alleges that the company violated Missouri law by failing to register with the state or provide proof of sufficient reserve funds to provide the services it promised. In addition, the travel-club company told consumers they had just three days to cancel contracts, when consumers legally had three years to cancel because the club was unregistered.

Koster is seeking restitution for consumers, as well as civil penalties and the costs of the investigation and prosecution. "Some travel clubs use high-pressure tactics to make it difficult for consumers to say ‘no’, and then put up roadblocks for consumers to cancel,” Koster said. “My office will pursue travel-club businesses that cheat Missouri consumers and violate our state’s laws.”

Koster said that before signing a contract, consumers can check with his Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-392-8222 to determine whether there are complaints filed against the travel club, if the travel club is registered in Missouri, and if it has demonstrated the financial ability to provide the discounted benefits they are offering.

The second suit, involves Red Rock Travel, LLC, doing business in Missouri as Endless Travel Vacations, and its owners, Jack Keefe and Sherri Wolff, in St. Louis County Circuit Court for the same type of fraudulent business practices.

The Attorney General's office received five complaints about Endless Travel Vacations, totaling $19,000 in fees paid.

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TRAVEL CLUB RECISSIONS

Cancelling your travel club membership varies from state to state. Missouri has a three day rescission period, but there is a clause "as long as your membership benefits have not been accessed." Which is why the travel club will try and sell you a motel stay or show tickets. This is a trick used by them to keep you in the deal. Be very careful, they may even give you a restaurant gift card or "free tickets".

When you do cancel, mail everything back to the club registered mail along with a letter  stating you are cancelling. You do not have to give a reason.

Visit www.timeshareschool.blogspot.com for more information.

What is Material Misrepresentation

material misrepresentation

  

Definition

Deliberate hiding or falsification of a material fact which, if known to the other party, could have aborted, or significantly altered the basis of, a contract, deal, or transaction.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/material-misrepresentation.html#ixzz1wMoLphBk

Ex-travel club owners in Branson get federal prison terms for evading taxes

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Three men from Branson received federal prison sentences and orders to make substantial restitutions for evading federal income taxes when they ran a travel business in Branson in the early 2000s.  They learned their sentences on Wednesday after pleading guilty several months ago.
David Large received a one-year sentence and must pay $198,517 in restitution.  Denver Wood received a two-year sentence and must pay $181,103 in restitution.  His father, Thomas Wood, received an 18-month sentence and must pay $198,517 in restitution.
The travel club is Vacation Services of America

Outrigger travel club continues to snare consumers

an unfortunate couple from Connecticut who wrote me to say they were pressured into buying a travel club membership on July 10 in Mystic, Conn., for more than $3,000. They later realized that they could not access a website with the great travel deals as they were promised, called the local police

By that point, Attorney General Martha Coakley had already obtained temporary restraining orders against alleged scammers who were doing business in Massachusetts under the names Outrigger Vacation Club, Fantasia Travel Group and Only Way 2 Go Travel (the operators of these “companies” didn’t return any of my calls, a telling sign that things probably aren’t on the up-and-up).
Coakley’s complaint alleges that Outrigger, affiliates and principals would host sales pitches in Plymouth and Methuen to sell Outrigger memberships. Consumers were lured in the door with the promise of free airline tickets or gift cards. They were then told they could get a great price on a lifetime membership in this travel club if they acted right away. But many people never received anything of value for the thousands of dollars they paid.
The operators’ high-pressure tactics apparently worked: About 75 people complained to the AG that they lost money before Coakley filed charges on July 1. Another 65 have complained since that date, largely because of the ensuing publicity. Coakley is still looking for more complaints (the AG’s consumer hotline is 617-727-8400).
Coakley is trying to seize the operators’ assets to build a restitution fund. Lawyers in Coakley’s staff are slated to go to Suffolk Superior Court on July 22 in an effort to convert a temporary restraining order against the operators to a longer-lasting preliminary injunction.
However, a spokeswoman for Coakley tells me the AG’s actions will only directly help those who lost money from a sales pitch that took place in Massachusetts. That’s why the sales pitches could be continuing in other states (such as Connecticut) despite the court actions here.
Obviously, this whole episode is an unfortunate reminder that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. When a salesperson tells you that you need to decide on the spot to get a deal, the pitch may still be legitimate. But the tactic is shifty enough that you may want to take your business elsewhere.

Timeshare Refunds More Common Than You Think

Most timeshare resorts will refund a member if it means stopping lots of bad publicity and a nasty lawsuit that will make public, their dirty little secrets.
They don't want you to know this, and will make you sign a "gag" agreement not to disclose any settlement. And they will sue you if you break the agreement.

This is why we are so successful, we research every aspect of the resort, from business dealings to background checks on salespeople. We find the information that will get you, your money back.

Timeshare an Investment ?

It is illegal to tell a client that purchasing their timeshare is an investment and you can use this to help get your money back. Most salespeople use that line in their sales pitch. It's because the resorts train them to say that, but tells them never to put it in writing. That way they can deny it if it comes up later.Contact us at notimeshare@gmail.com to learn more

Special Assessments

Many resort owners are finding yet another bill for special assessments in their mailbox. If you will remember, your salesperson told you while you toured, that your annual maint fees go toward keeping the resort "looking as good in 10 years as it does today" well that is a lie. All resorts pitch this, then they skim over all the fine print in the "button up" process.
You can use the things you were told during the presentation against them and get your money back. Email me today notimeshare@gmail.com

Wild Rose - What's Up

Wild Rose now seems to be Real Canadian Travel Store, just another trick that these travel clubs use to try and protect themselves from a lynch mob. Like my Dad use to say, "you can change your sock's 3 times a day, but if you don't wash your feet, the stink is still there."
There is a pretty clear link from Wild Rose to Forever Grand Vacations in Branson MO, it is known that Jack Purdy is a silent partner of Jim Kilroy, also Forever Grand Vacations is link to Staysavers and JD Maxx both which are owned by Wally Halicki who is named as General Manager of Wild Rose Vacations in Canada, Halicki also has a LLC licensed with the State of Missouri under Wild Rose Travel. Keep changing your socks guys, but it isn't helping.

Vacation Tour Tricks Book

My book, Vacation Tour Tricks, will give the reader an insight on what really goes on in the timeshare and travel club industry. Whether you want to get out of your timeshare/travel club or you want to cash in on the gifts; ie. money, show tickets or travel vouchers that these resorts and clubs give out to get you into their presentations, learn what they are up to and what to tell them to get you through the presentation, get your gifts and get out of there without being "beat up" by high pressure sales people.
Resorts pay up to 120 dollars cash to get you to tour.


Vacation Tour Tricks - $24.95 (US)

email me at notimeshare@gmail.com

Wild Rose Vacations Charged Under Consumer Protection Laws

Below is an article on yet another travel club in trouble. You might wonder why these travel clubs operate as they do. It boils down to the creed most travel clubs seem to follow; most members will write the cost of a membership off to a hard lesson learned. They know the biggest percentage of the members will be to embarrassed or afraid of wasting good money after bad by trying to file a lawsuit against them. That's what they count on, there is so much money made by these high pressure salespeople it is still worth the fines and the few refunds they deal with. You can successfully sue these guys.

Edmonton... The Alberta government has charged Wild Rose Vacations travel club for deducting money from consumers’ accounts without their permission, failing to provide refunds as ordered, and misleading consumers.

“Alberta has clear rules to protect the rights of consumers who deal with travel clubs,” said Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta, responsible for consumer protection. “There are serious consequences for businesses that fail to follow those rules.”
Wild Rose Vacations and director John (Jack) Kenneth Purdy are charged under the Fair Trading Act and the Travel Clubs Regulation with the following offences between March and December 2009 (the allegations have not been proven in court):
• three counts of committing an unfair practice by deducting $129 from members’ bank accounts without their consent;
• five counts of failing to provide refunds within 15 days of contract cancellation by consumers;
• five counts of failing to comply with a May 15, 2008 Director’s Order to provide refunds to consumers within 15 days of cancellation;
• two counts of misleading consumers by stating that agency access fees were not refundable;
• one count of misleading a consumer about their rights by requiring the return of travel club items, including a binder, prior to refund;
• one count of misleading a consumer by stating that membership dues would not increase in the next five years.
Service Alberta first issued a Director’s Order to Wild Rose Vacations in 2006 requiring the company cease operating until it obtained a travel club licence. Wild Rose Vacations obtained a licence shortly after. A second Director’s Order was issued in 2008 requiring the company provide refunds within the legislated 15 day period to consumers who cancelled their contracts.
Consumers continued to complain about the company’s practices, leading to the charges. Misleading consumers is an offence under the Fair Trading Act. Consumers are also entitled to cancel travel club contracts within 10 days of signing. The business must provide a refund within 15 days of cancellation.
Visit http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1024.cfm for a tipsheet on dealing with travel clubs or call 1-877-427-4088 (toll-free in Alberta) for more information.

Timeshare and Travel Club Refunds

You do not have to be stuck with your Timeshare or Travel Club Membership. We have over 25 years experience in the timeshare and travel club industry.
Most clients of the business were told many untruths about what they were purchasing. We will look over your membership for free to see if you qualify to get out of your contract. Most of the time the Timeshares/Travel Clubs will want to keep your case out of court once they see the evidence against them. If not, the information we provide will help the attorney put together a case for you. Email us at notimeshare@gmail.com for more information.