Timeshare scams are nothing new to the industry, especially in Florida where the industry has such a strong foothold as a popular American leisure destination. The great majority of timeshare scams occur within the state of Florida, putting anyone involved with a timeshare there at risk. For a long time, these scams were somewhat overlooked by national entities, causing consumer outrage and the public to be defrauded of large sums of money. While there are many types of timeshare scams, the FBI is currently focusing on resale scams, warning timeshare owners to be aware of these largely telemarketing-based schemes.

Because the economy has taken such a drastically negative turn in recent years, timeshare owners who were once thriving and able to afford the many fees associated with timeshare ownership can no longer afford to pay. Because of the increased number of owners trying to sell timeshares, resale scams have soared, especially in recent months in the state of florida. Many struggling timeshare owners are trying to sell in order to get out of their timeshare contracts, and this is where the timeshare resale scams come in to play.

The primary reason the FBI is on high alert for resale scams is that there was a huge number of complaints filed with their Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) earlier this year. Apparently, owners trying to sell are contacted by telemarketers either by phone or email claiming that they had a buyer for the unwanted timeshare. These perpetrators of these timeshare scams are either criminals or employees of the actual resale companies. 

Promising a quick sale, (typically between 60-90 days) these scammers received large sums of money and no sales were made. The biggest red flag is asking for an upfront fee while claiming a decision needs to be made quickly. Owners looking to sell a timeshare should always be aware of the dangers associated with providing credit card information to those claiming they can facilitate a timeshare sale.

While Timeshare Consumer Bureau does not charge for any products or services, we can provide some of the most beneficial timeshare help you can find. Perhaps the best aspect of our consumer-led organization is that fact that we offer all of this timeshare help absolutely free and with no obligation or ulterior motive. There may be many within the timeshare industry willing to offer help, but they often come with the desire to sell you something. With Timeshare Consumer Bureau, you will never be scammed or defrauded of your money because we will never ask for it, despite offering wonderful timeshare help and expert advice.

In order to receive timeshare help from us, all you have to do is ask or participate! Many of our blogs ask for comments, just like this one. We always want to hear about your experiences, whether they are good or bad within this industry. If you have a timeshare story, a tip, or advice of your own, please let us know. We are here for our fellow consumer because so many of us have been a victim of timeshare fraud and other scams in the past. Leaving a blog comment is a great way to share experiences and receive timeshare help if you need it.

Timeshare Consumer Bureau also offers a complaint filing service similar to the Better Business Bureau. We take these complaints and review them as experienced members of the consumer rights community. If your complaint has merit or there is something we can do to help, we will let you know almost immediately. No timeshare complaint falls on deaf ears with Timeshare Consumer Bureau.

Finally, we offer a resort reviews section where you can post your own dealings and experiences with a great variety of companies within the industry. These are posted for everyone in the online community to see. If you have had a negative experience and want to vent about a timeshare resort, please leave a review. If you have actually had a positive experience, please leave a review. Finally, if you want us to do something about it or help in some way, please leave a review for us, and we will be there for you.

This timeshare advice is true for nearly every aspect of your life, but it is perhaps especially important when making any major purchase that can affect your livelihood. If you are reading this, you are likely a timeshare owner looking to gain advice or share experiences. However, you may be a consumer who is doing research and seeking advice while thinking about making a timeshare purchase in the near future. 

While Timeshare Consumer Bureau is largely here for consumer rights that the timeshare industry has trampled, we do know that some have positive timeshare experiences. We are not so biased that we want to discount these timeshare reviews. In fact, we actively seek them because the unfortunately seem to be so rare. If you have had a positive experience with a timeshare, please leave a resort review or a blog comment, because we want to hear it.

The most important thing to consider if you are thinking about buying a timeshare is what exactly you want out of it. Will this purchase meet your needs as a consumer, as an individual? If you are thinking of purchasing a timeshare, one thing you should keep in mind is that you should not think of it as an investment. You are not buying a commodity that can be sold at a later date for a profit, no matter what you are told by timeshare salesmen. With a timeshare, you are absolutely making a money-losing decision. The question is whether or not you will gain a value from your timeshare. You are purchasing vacation ownership, so is it worth the price?

The term “vacation ownership” may also be a bit misleading, as you do not really own any physical property per se with a timeshare. You are purchasing the rights to a certain property for a specific allotment of time each year. Your primary question should be related to how often you will use it and how much comfort this vacation time will be to you. If the price range is almost too much already, it will only get worse over time, and you should likely avoid purchasing a timeshare altogether.

We offer a ton of ways for you to become involved with the Bureau, as we are here to encourage timeshare owners to join our community and learn more about this dark corner of the real estate market. We love offering expert timeshare advice when our community asks for it as well. If you ever have a question or are seeking expert timeshare advice, please do not hesitate to ask, because we are here for you. Why pay a timeshare attorney a crazy amount of money for timeshare advice you can receive from us for free?

At Timeshare Consumer Bureau, we love getting you involved. Perhaps our most popular option for seeking timeshare advice comes from our complaint filing service. Simply by clicking on that link, you can lodge a complaint against a timeshare resort or company, or simply ask for advice or an opinion. We respond very quickly and have helped many struggling timeshare owners in their quest for solid, reliable timeshare advice.

Our timeshare forum and resort reviews are incredibly popular as well. With our timeshare forum, you can ask for advice from fellow members and share experiences. The best thing about this timeshare advice service is that is absolutely free. Many consumers like to leave resort reviews because they feel like they have no voice against their timeshare company. At Timeshare Consumer Bureau, you do.

If you would like us to respond with very quick timeshare advice, please leave a comment on any blog post or news article that interests you. We will be able to respond extremely quickly and you will receive a notification in your email within hours. We love it when the timeshare owning community becomes active and involved, because it is a great way to mobilize and stay organized. With such a titanic and unscrupulous industry against us, we must be stand together.

Timeshare scams are nothing new, and many would argue that they are what drive the entire industry. Many consumers accuse timeshare companies of running a scam on consumers in order to get them to even sign the timeshare contract at the presentation. This actually makes sense, because timeshare presentations are the number one source of fraud levied against timeshare resorts when owners want to get out of their contracts. It seems as though many consumers are told outright lies at a timeshare presentation in order to have new contracts signed. Salesmen uses bullying tactics and claim their timeshares are a wonderful investment, leading many to claim these are a scam in and of themselves.

Whether or not a timeshare presentation can be labeled a scam may be debatable, but timeshare resale scams are indisputable. This is a relatively new timeshare scam that has risen out of owners’ desperation and needing a way out of their timeshare contracts. Timeshare owners find it incredibly difficult to sell a timeshare because the market is flooded with unwanted properties. Furthermore, there is a great scarcity of buyers because many in the consuming public consider timeshares to be an outright scam.

Resale companies then come along and claim they can sell an unwanted timeshare with ease. The desperate timeshare owner forks over a large lump sum, and the company proceeds to do absolutely nothing. Once the money has been transferred, nothing needs to be done because there are very few contracts signed in these instances. The timeshare resale scam is nothing new, but it is the most recent and harmful timeshare scam today.

Being aware of these timeshare scams is a great way to avoid them and be prepared when you are presented with one. Once one is caught up in the timeshare scam, it can be very difficult to get out. Reading timeshare news and blog posts such as this one are a great way to prevent being swindled by the next big timeshare scam. Please contact us or leave a blog comment if you believe you are the victim of a timeshare scam.

While hiring a timeshare attorney may be a good idea in particular situations, they are employed far too often when they are not needed. When you are under the pressures of a timeshare contract, your financial situation may be dire. Your timeshare company may be threatening you with legal action, which leads many to enlist the help of a timeshare attorney. However, a great piece of timeshare advice is not giving into your timeshare company's threats. These letters and phone calls attempting to collect on their hidden fees and maintenance costs are likely without merit. This shows how dastardly the timeshare industry can be, and they do this on a regular basis.

When you do find yourself in this unfortunate situation, follow this timeshare advice: learn the laws, and do this from those who understand the industry. This timeshare advice may seem to contradict our earlier statement to not hire a timeshare attorney, but those who are experienced within this sleazy industry are not necessarily attorneys. While they may have good knowledge of timeshare laws, they will not offer their expertise freely. If you choose to engage in a timeshare attorney consultation, they will likely try to sell you into retaining their services when you do not need them. Instead of contacting a lawyer, look for valid timeshare advice elsewhere.

We offer free timeshare advice to anyone who might need it in a difficult situation, and we will never try to sell you anything. We are an organization that works for consumers, and offer minimal services that do not produce profit. We host resort reviews, file complaints, and write blogs and news articles to inform the public about timeshare scams and advise those who need help. For an unbiased, expert opinion on the timeshare industry, you can seek our advice without hesitation anytime.

Westgate Resorts is the largest private timeshare developer in the entire world, and there have been many Westgate timeshare reviews since its inception. David Siegel, the owner of Westgate, is a very vocal and rich businessman who was recently in the news for threatening to fire his employees if Obama was elected. While this has certainly had an effect on his business and his employees, this is being felt throughout the timeshare industry, and most recently in Westgate timeshare reviews across the internet.

It seems as though consumers are not too happy with Mr. Siegel, and this is prevalent in nearly every Westgate timeshare review that has recently been posted online. It seems as though his threats have not gone unnoticed by his employees, as his sales force has ramped up the aggressiveness in recent days. Many consumers leave Westgate timeshare reviews that expose the company for using the hardest-selling tactics in recent days, unlike any they have experienced before. While these aggressive sales pitches are not limited to Westgate timeshare reviews and are certainly nothing new, they have gotten significantly worse in recent months.

Furthermore, there is an independent film coming out that documents the building of what would have been the largest house in the country by David Siegel, in which he has made some pretty outlandish claims. The movie represents Siegel as taking credit for the election of George Bush, and the filmmaker is now being sued for defamation. Considering Siegel’s recent comments, this is not all that surprising.

In any case, Westgate has suffered the consequences, in both his employee satisfaction and online Westgate timeshare reviews. In our opinion, perhaps shutting his mouth every once in awhile might just be a good thing. Or perhaps hurting a notoriously aggressive timeshare company like Westgate resorts isn’t all that bad either.

The entire timeshare industry can be considered one huge scam. While this may seem like a very biased and overly exaggerated opinion, this statement has a very real element of truth to it. Timeshare resorts rope consumers into signing timeshare contracts through the alluring timeshare presentation. Once the timeshare contract is signed, there is no going back, and cancelling a timeshare can be a lengthy and hard-fought battle with the resort. While the hidden payments seem sleazy, and financial coercion is a horrible thing to endure, the timeshare contract is a legal document. So how exactly are timeshare companies conducting a scam on consumers?

The key to the huge timeshare scam is how the presentations are conducted. First of all, these presentations are scam in and of themselves, because they lure consumers in by offering a wonderful prize for attending a simple presentation. This seems innocent enough,but these meetings can be absolutely horrific. Often running much longer than promised, these timeshare presentations are filled with high-pressure sales tactics, misleading statements, and downright lies. Signing a legal document that can haunt you for years under false information can only be described as a scam. This timeshare scam perpetuates the entire industry, because if consumers truly knew how financially destructive the contracts actually are, very few would be signed. The entire thing can be classified as a timeshare scam, and one would be advised to avoid it altogether.

The global timeshare scam is not an easy thing to escape from, but it can be done, and you have justice on your side. Because the contract was likely signed under false pretenses, the timeshare scam should be able to be undone. If this scam can be proven through explicit promises and fraudulent information received at the timeshare presentation, there is a way. With a strong will and a little help from a qualified company, you can defeat the timeshare scam.

While we are not one of these companies, we know a few that have great reputations and a long history of success in fighting timeshare scams. If you need some help in choosing the right company, please leave a comment or file a complaint about your own timeshare scam experience. It is time to fight back!

Timeshare Consumer Bureau was created in order to provide a voice to those who believe they have none, to give power back to the people. Timeshare owners deal with rampant and widespread fraud that goes largely ignored by a country that stands on principles of freedom and fair trade. While the Federal Trade Commission, FBI, and consumer activists are finally taking a stand against timeshare companies and the fraud they commit on a near constant basis, there is still so much work to be done.

Timeshare fraud is a massive problem that affects the consuming public greatly. In an already struggling economy, timeshare owners are subjected to hidden fees, rate hikes, and financial coercion by timeshare companies. Furthermore, many of these timeshares were sold under fraudulent pretenses. The timeshare presentation has become filled with lies, half-truths, and sales pitches that constitute a majority of the existing timeshare fraud. Without these timeshare presentations that convince attendees to sign timeshare contracts, it is likely the industry would not exist. This makes timeshare fraud essentially the sole reason the industry thrives to this very day.

Taking a stand against timeshare fraud only takes a tiny amount of your time, and can make a massive impact. This is especially true when the consuming public does this together. To fight back against timeshare fraud and create real change, it takes more than just one voice. This process requires many timeshare owners to expose the timeshare fraud, showing they are willing to take a stand.

Leave a blog comment, a resort review, or a timeshare complaint. All of these things only take a minute of your day and can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of timeshare fraud. As we begin to stand together, these fraudulent companies will see that they are not all powerful and are subject to the outcries of consumer outrage. Timeshare fraud is not going anywhere fast unless we do something about it.

RCI timeshare scams are very well known throughout the internet review boards, and we have received several complaints against their company as well. Resort Condominiums International is a very well-known and massive timeshare exchange company that is often accused of scams. With nearly 4 million members with affiliates all across the world, it is logical that there would be some unsatisfied customers. However, RCI timeshare scams are some of the most talked about online, so this deserves some serious research.

So, the question becomes: is RCI really running timeshare scams on consumers? If you believe internet consensus, yes. RCI has been the subject of consumer outrage and timeshare scam accusations for many years. Consumers complain that RCI offers outlandish promises, makes fraudulent claims, and tells lies in order to scam customers into using their timeshare exchange service. Many customers believe that they are signing into something wonderful that will produce great results, a service that actually produces some value out of their timeshare. However, once the contract is signed, RCI becomes just another one of many timeshare scams.

“They will say yes to all your questions and after you sign and begin to try to use your points, you will realize that it is next to impossible, that the answers to all your questions are lies, and you will have spent thousands of dollars on something that you will never use. Unless you are extremely persistent, and even then you will never be able to use your points to go to Europe in the summer. PERIOD.”

Apparently, the bulk to RCI timeshare scams relate to an inability to actually utilize their service, all the while paying through the teeth for it. Taking money and offering little in return is common for timeshare companies. It seems RCI is engaged in timeshare scams, just like the rest of the industry.