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Giving back timeshare

Seggers

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Due to major changes in lifestyle requirements we need to divest ourselves of our timeshare and are currently trying a couple of different options. One of these options is to employ a give back timeshare (.com) 'service'.

They are telling us that the up-front fee ( I know I shouldn't, and unless assured won't be sucked in to paying - it's not a trivial amount) will be held by a 3rd party (that they recommend) in Escrow and though they guarantee to off-load we'll get the money back if not.

Any constructive advice will be appreciated and acted on (there is a blatant clue to the name of the company).

Many Thanks in Advance
 

timeos2

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No need to pay - use the free area here or on many other sites to offer your week with prepaid maint & free transfer. You'll pay maybe a few hundred vs thousands to one of the many questionable PCC's as they are referred to here (Post Card Companies as that is often how they try to contact their marks.

Why not use them? High costs, upfront fees, NO guarantee that they will actually take ownership & end your ownership (you could pay thousands and end up still the legal owner with fees due!)

Don't even try to deal with any of them unless you have money to throw away.
 
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chalee94

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have you contacted your timeshare's homeowners' association to see if they will take it back directly? often the answer is no, but it's worth asking.

otherwise, as john says, it is better to prepay the maintenance fees for the next year and try to give it away by listing it here or paying ebay to list it.
 

teepeeca

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Tell them that "YOU" will place funds in a 3rd party escrow company, CHOSEN BY YOU--- that will their fee when the timeshare is successfully transferred out of your name, and recorded in a new purchaser's name.

If they are a legitimate company, that shouldn't be a problem, since their fee is "protected". (Any bets "WHY" they say that "we can't do that" !!!???:hysterical: )

Tony
 

Seggers

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Thank you all for you advise,

The other options I'm trying include asking the timeshare co to take them back (waiting for an answer on that) and posting in the 'bargain' offers section (I've had one PM showing interest but that's gone quiet.

Teepeeca, I like the idea of suggesting use of my selection of 3rd party but share your view on the outcome, still it will flush them out.

Thanks again all.
 

MomoD

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Seggers

Don't do it. We contacted a company who had us sit though an hour's internet presentation, telling us how bad timeshares were and how much we would be out of pocket over XYZ years, needless to say they wanted is to give them $4000 dollars, I disconnected from the presentation, they then called and tried the hard sell. Suspicious, yes I was. Use the bargain basement here, it's cheaper and they are people you can trust.

Good luck.

Maureen
 

RX8

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Most of the eBay offerings for your resort collection did not garner a bid. The highest sold was $29 and that included free closing.

If you need to enhance the offer, instead of paying this outfit an upfront cash payment, which is far from any guaranty of getting it out of your name, why not offer the free week here at TUG with $500 or $1000 CASH. This might be enough to get someone out there to purchase from you. Yes, it costs you money but you control the process that ensures it gets out of your name.
 

Seggers

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Don't do it. We contacted a company who had us sit though an hour's internet presentation, telling us how bad timeshares were and how much we would be out of pocket over XYZ years, needless to say they wanted is to give them $4000 dollars, I disconnected from the presentation, they then called and tried the hard sell. Suspicious, yes I was. Use the bargain basement here, it's cheaper and they are people you can trust.

Good luck.

Maureen

We had a similar uncomfortable experience, they even had the audacity to have a go at the high pressure sales from Timeshare companies, keeping you there for hours, with no apparent knowledge of the irony.

Yes we will avoid and are currently using the bargain basement.

Thanks for your help and Best wishes,

David & Janet
 

Seggers

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Most of the eBay offerings for your resort collection did not garner a bid. The highest sold was $29 and that included free closing.

If you need to enhance the offer, instead of paying this outfit an upfront cash payment, which is far from any guaranty of getting it out of your name, why not offer the free week here at TUG with $500 or $1000 CASH. This might be enough to get someone out there to purchase from you. Yes, it costs you money but you control the process that ensures it gets out of your name.

I had considered eBay but each time I looked there were zero bids even when advertisers were giving them away with sweeteners butfrom what you're saying eBay has actually shifted some, could be an option.

Thanks for your help
 

khs

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Giving back timeshare unit

Several years ago, after getting scammed by resellers with upfront fees, I approached our resort to see if they would handle a resale. The answer was no, but if we were to sell it ourselves, they would only charge $100 to affect the transfer. Then, after a couple of years of asking, the resort put into its website an offer to take back any units and they would pay $1 to make the transfer valid. This is a much better deal than the $4000 we were asked to pay at a meeting with a group that offered to take a timeshare week off our hands and arrange the "difficult and costly transfer" and make sure that we never had to pay maintenance fees again!!

Last year I wanted to get rid of 2 of our 3 weeks before the next annual maintenance fees were due. I managed to sell one of our weeks in a local free internet ad (sorry, but my ads in TUG didn't get any response in time), but ended up giving back the second week for the $1 offer. Both transfers went through without a hitch.

Today I was quite surprised to see an email from my resort that had the following message:

"Dear Vacation Owner Members:

Many members have asked us over the past two years about the resale market for their week ownership. We understand there are resellers in the market but that they can be expensive, require money up front and of course, do not guarantee results.

Last fall I asked for feedback on the creation of a “Clearinghouse” and many members responded enthusiastically. Based on this member feedback, we are implementing a “Clearinghouse” site where Vacation Owners will be able to post their week for sale.

Starting next week, you will be able to find this new feature on our website under the Vacation Ownership menu, listed as “Vacation Owners Clearinghouse”

Your first step is to enroll in the program by providing your Member Number, last name, an email address and creating a password. To do this, click on the first item on the “Owners” menu, which will take you to the Login screen. At the bottom of that screen is a link for first time visitors to create an account.

Once enrolled you will be able to create a listing for your week.

Anyone will have access to the Shoppers menu, where properties being offered will be listed for viewing and for contact with the owner.

When creating your listing you will find fields for both Contact Information and Confidential Email Address. If you prefer not to make your contact information public, please fill in only the confidential email address. By doing so, all inquiries will be generated to you automatically by the system and that email address will not be divulged."

This was followed by sample ads.

We are actually quite happy with our resort, Calabogie Peaks, and often go there for hiking, skiing, or swimming, even when we don't book into our remaining timeshare (it's only an hour drive from home).

It would be nice if other timeshare resorts would be as good about helping with the seemingly difficult task of getting rid a timeshare obligation.

khs
 

loafingcactus

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I just had an experience that made me feel a little more hopeful about eBay- I emailed someone after something closed without selling because I had some questions and because if I do want it the deal I want is a little more complicated than "hand me a dollar and I hand you my timeshare". The person could just be messing with me, but said I was not the only one still talking to them. So maybe some of these eBay things go after the auction part is done- which sort of makes sense, the auction format isnt a good way to capture the nuances of the actual costs of transferring a dollar timeshare.
 

LannyPC

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It would be nice if other timeshare resorts would be as good about helping with the seemingly difficult task of getting rid a timeshare obligation.

khs

Unfortunately, many resorts are trying to deal with selling foreclosed-upon and defaulted-on units and don't have the resources to help owners unload/sell their units.
 

khs

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The resort where I have my timeshare has a combination of timeshares and rental units. If a resort has such a combination, then, if they are reasonably popular, they shouldn't really have much difficulty dealing with foreclosed or defaulted units since they can get a higher weekly rental than the maintenance fee - at least that is the situation I am familiar with.

khs
 
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