• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Brad Phillips of Cabo Trade Company - Beware Personal Information

bizaro86

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
3,664
Reaction score
2,488
Points
598
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
I contacted this firm through a Tug classified ad for a worldmark account for sale.

They didn't have it anymore, but signed me up for some vacation club I had never heard of instead.

I complained, and got this hilarious line as part of the response:

"The Klic2go platform is rated better than having Worldmark points"

Sure it is, maybe by the people who sell it.

If that is how they do business I personally will be avoiding them in the future.
 

RX8

TUG Member
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
4,107
Reaction score
4,452
Points
449
Resorts Owned
HGVC and DVC
I contacted this firm through a Tug classified ad for a worldmark account for sale.

They didn't have it anymore, but signed me up for some vacation club I had never heard of instead.

I complained, and got this hilarious line as part of the response:

"The Klic2go platform is rated better than having Worldmark points"

Sure it is, maybe by the people who sell it.

If that is how they do business I personally will be avoiding them in the future.

If this TUG user is posting fake ads to bait and switch to some worthless vacation club they should be banned. Just my 2 cents.
 

bizaro86

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
3,664
Reaction score
2,488
Points
598
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
If this TUG user is posting fake ads to bait and switch to some worthless vacation club they should be banned. Just my 2 cents.

I agree with your assessment.

I reported the interaction to the Tug email, but couldn't provide the ad number, as it appears to have been taken down. I did forward the email chain backing up my assertion.

However, this broker "has lots of listings" so my understanding is that no action will be taken. That's fine, not my sandbox, but I thought it was worth trying to warn others about how they do business.
 

Brad Phillips

newbie
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
[Moderator's note: The real name of user bizaro86 has been removed throughout this post. When registering, users here are cautioned that they may wish to register under a nickname rather than their real name for security reasons, so there should be no stigma attached to doing so. In fact, our current bulletin board software does not even ask one's real name. Mr Phillips has chosen to make his own name public. Bizaro86 has not.]

Dear [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86

This is Brad Phillips aka Brad Phillips. You wrote a comment about me and used my full name on this forum and I have debated for over a week now whether to give my side of the story or not. The reason I debated is that in doing my research you post on this forum 3-5 times a day, your friends post frequently, and you have a lot of those likes and those trophies they give you. I would say your “working” for TUG one way or another and popular in this forum. I, on the other hand, have to get an account just to post this reply (to a comment you never told me about) and I am to most readers the Darth Vader and the evil empire already. Therefore, I will tell you now that you win the social media battle. I also know that by not responding I can pass mercifully and be forgotten. However I put boots to the ground earlier in my life so that you and your other “friends” can make your comments and now I am choosing to stand up again for what I think is right even if I get denounced or denigrated by further posts by you or your followers.

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 you do an amazing job knowing how timeshares work, how stocks work (must be a online broker) and your body of work on this forum is commendable. You are respected in the TUG community by giving the facts about numbers, information on use and on maintenance fees. Furthermore, I believe you think of yourself as a leader in your field (you self proclaimed that in one of your posts and said you always get what you want). I know its hard for you Millennium's growing up in the digital age (and other who are hooked to social media) to try to work misunderstandings out buy engaging with others however where I come from we actually talk to people to make sure we get the correct message or on the same page. It seems generally people like yourself feel its easier and morally ok to run to social media, tell everyone you been wronged, give part of the story to back up your claim and then wait for the affirmations to come to feel better.

Below is the whole story not just an excerpt (like you gave) and based on the whole story if people feel I am wrong I due apologize for it was never my intention to do anything wrong.

The ad was for a great deal on Worldmark points in which you are an authority on. Even though you are on line all day we had others who saw the ad ahead of you. All said they wanted it, one was going through paperwork and the others asked to be put on a LIST or kept in mind just in case the person backed out-which happens over 35% of the time or we have other Worldmark points contracts. The ad also clearly states that we will give an added bonus where the person who takes over gets an additional discounted vacation in the future with one of our partners. (FYI TUG “leaders” the platform that is been given won an award by Inc magazine—but probably not as big of a deal as one of those trophies you get posting here).

[Name redacted] has sent you a message regarding your 11,000 Worldmark Points classified ad on TUG.

Here is your message:
Hello, if I understand your ad correctly this is a Worldmark account for a total price of $299 all in? If so, I will take it. Regards, [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]:

Thank you for your inquiry and look for your trail $500 usd off future vacations and access to less then maintenance fees with the newest timeshare platform …...

Unfortunately we are moving forward with another client. We kept the ad up to take names just in case this clients backs out. For your inconvenience we are giving an extra $500 usd with our partner (I took out the name of the company here).

[Initials redacted] aka Buzaro86:

Hello, I don't want that, and every email your firm sends me will be marked spam, hurting your ability to access Gmail inboxes in the future. Please take me off all your lists. [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]: The list was for the Worldmark points so we will take you off that list.

The rest you have above in your post. (We were just trying to be generous since you were not the first)

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86, I am not sure how you get your trophies and thumbs up with TUG but maybe I can help you get a lot of them at once. You see we had a TUG member read your post and they backed out of a free contract that they really wanted because they got scared (which is exactly what you intended to happen with your post and not telling me you wrote it). How many trophies will you get for that I wonder? We have been in the industry over 15 years and its unfortunate we lost the client however it does not financially hurt us. However, the reason why I am writing this [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 is that you and your other so called “leaders” do not understand that by posting so often on TUG you now have a responsibility and obligation to see if there was a misunderstanding before giving an opinion. In this case you did not do that. Therefore, in my humble opinion, you did a disservice to the TUG clients who you so badly want to lead. Hopefully food for thought for your future here and in life ahead.

Regards

Brad Phillips aka The Dark Knight (doing good but misunderstood)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

T-Dot-Traveller

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
4,644
Reaction score
3,592
Points
348
Location
Canada
Resorts Owned
Mayan Palace Regency
Taranova
OK
- so there are sometimes misunderstandings in business dealings / and this was obviously one such event .
End of story.
 
Last edited:

bizaro86

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
3,664
Reaction score
2,488
Points
598
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
I don't agree with signing people up for a vacation club based on an inquiry for a timeshare for sale. Considering how pleased you are to be sharing "the whole story", it is interesting to me that you decided to edit out the vacation club you signed me up for.

I am glad you were able to sell the WM account to someone else. I suspect if you have the ability to offer WM accounts at those prices your business will probably do very well no matter what I think.

Anyway, I think I'm probably done with this. Two sides were presented, and the reader can decide what they think.
 

RX8

TUG Member
Joined
May 5, 2011
Messages
4,107
Reaction score
4,452
Points
449
Resorts Owned
HGVC and DVC
As we know from timeshares, “free” doesn’t always make something a bargain.

My humble opinion is that it is unethical, maybe even illegal, to sign someone up for a vacation club without their consent. While this may be considered a “generous” offer by the other party it should be left to the individual to decide if they want their name and email to be given to some random third party. Automatically enrolling someone without their consent also makes one wonder if that party has a financial stake in the vacation club. Finally, since the timeshare in question was no longer available it also appears, IMO, that the ad was being used solely to capture names and emails to sign people up for the vacation club.

Speaking of the vacation club, there is very little web presence and I certainly couldn’t find a reference to any award this 18 month old website platform supposedly won from Inc. magazine. The website also says “as seen in” Forbes, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure, LA Times, and WSJ but again, nothing on the web to substantiate. From what I could find the $500 “generous” offer is good for a discount only off of retail pricing (according to the terms and conditions). Also, it is only a trial membership so once that expires one would likely be pressed to sign up for a full membership.
 
Last edited:

chapjim

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
6,161
Reaction score
3,804
Points
499
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Resorts Owned
Wyndham VIPF & PresRes, HVC/DRI (Gold), Quarter House (4), Resort on Cocoa Beach (2), HGVC Tuscany Village, HGVC South Beach-McAlpin, HGVC Parc Soleil
[Moderator's note: The real name of user bizaro86 has been removed throughout this post. When registering, users here are cautioned that they may wish to register under a nickname rather than their real name for security reasons, so there should be no stigma attached to doing so. In fact, our current bulletin board software does not even ask one's real name. Mr Phillips has chosen to make his own name public. Bizaro86 has not.]

Dear [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86

This is Brad Phillips aka Brad Phillips. You wrote a comment about me and used my full name on this forum and I have debated for over a week now whether to give my side of the story or not. The reason I debated is that in doing my research you post on this forum 3-5 times a day, your friends post frequently, and you have a lot of those likes and those trophies they give you. I would say your “working” for TUG one way or another and popular in this forum. I, on the other hand, have to get an account just to post this reply (to a comment you never told me about) and I am to most readers the Darth Vader and the evil empire already. Therefore, I will tell you now that you win the social media battle. I also know that by not responding I can pass mercifully and be forgotten. However I put boots to the ground earlier in my life so that you and your other “friends” can make your comments and now I am choosing to stand up again for what I think is right even if I get denounced or denigrated by further posts by you or your followers.

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 you do an amazing job knowing how timeshares work, how stocks work (must be a online broker) and your body of work on this forum is commendable. You are respected in the TUG community by giving the facts about numbers, information on use and on maintenance fees. Furthermore, I believe you think of yourself as a leader in your field (you self proclaimed that in one of your posts and said you always get what you want). I know its hard for you Millennium's growing up in the digital age (and other who are hooked to social media) to try to work misunderstandings out buy engaging with others however where I come from we actually talk to people to make sure we get the correct message or on the same page. It seems generally people like yourself feel its easier and morally ok to run to social media, tell everyone you been wronged, give part of the story to back up your claim and then wait for the affirmations to come to feel better.

Below is the whole story not just an excerpt (like you gave) and based on the whole story if people feel I am wrong I due apologize for it was never my intention to do anything wrong.

The ad was for a great deal on Worldmark points in which you are an authority on. Even though you are on line all day we had others who saw the ad ahead of you. All said they wanted it, one was going through paperwork and the others asked to be put on a LIST or kept in mind just in case the person backed out-which happens over 35% of the time or we have other Worldmark points contracts. The ad also clearly states that we will give an added bonus where the person who takes over gets an additional discounted vacation in the future with one of our partners. (FYI TUG “leaders” the platform that is been given won an award by Inc magazine—but probably not as big of a deal as one of those trophies you get posting here).

[Name redacted] has sent you a message regarding your 11,000 Worldmark Points classified ad on TUG.

Here is your message:
Hello, if I understand your ad correctly this is a Worldmark account for a total price of $299 all in? If so, I will take it. Regards, [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]:

Thank you for your inquiry and look for your trail $500 usd off future vacations and access to less then maintenance fees with the newest timeshare platform …...

Unfortunately we are moving forward with another client. We kept the ad up to take names just in case this clients backs out. For your inconvenience we are giving an extra $500 usd with our partner (I took out the name of the company here).

[Initials redacted] aka Buzaro86:

Hello, I don't want that, and every email your firm sends me will be marked spam, hurting your ability to access Gmail inboxes in the future. Please take me off all your lists. [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]: The list was for the Worldmark points so we will take you off that list.

The rest you have above in your post. (We were just trying to be generous since you were not the first)

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86, I am not sure how you get your trophies and thumbs up with TUG but maybe I can help you get a lot of them at once. You see we had a TUG member read your post and they backed out of a free contract that they really wanted because they got scared (which is exactly what you intended to happen with your post and not telling me you wrote it). How many trophies will you get for that I wonder? We have been in the industry over 15 years and its unfortunate we lost the client however it does not financially hurt us. However, the reason why I am writing this [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 is that you and your other so called “leaders” do not understand that by posting so often on TUG you now have a responsibility and obligation to see if there was a misunderstanding before giving an opinion. In this case you did not do that. Therefore, in my humble opinion, you did a disservice to the TUG clients who you so badly want to lead. Hopefully food for thought for your future here and in life ahead.

Regards

Brad Phillips aka The Dark Knight (doing good but misunderstood)

Our boy Brad should have paid more attention in fifth grade English class.
 

presley

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
6,313
Reaction score
1,121
Points
448
I guess we have been long overdue for a pissing contest. :rolleyes: Although, I guess it wasn't a contest as it looks more like a hit and run, which makes the winner bizaro86. :cheer:
 

klpca

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
8,273
Reaction score
7,280
Points
749
Location
CA
Resorts Owned
SDO, Quarter House, Seapointe, Coronado Beach, Carlsbad Inn, Worldmark
I'm not going to get into the fray, but the part about "working" for TUG just cracked me up. Then I got a bit salty because I am not being paid for the time that I spend on here! What's up with that? /s
 

samara64

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Messages
1,032
Reaction score
462
Points
443
Location
Seattle
Then I got a bit salty because I am not being paid for the time that I spend on here! What's up with that?

You need to talk to TUGBrian about that as this cannot go on and on that you keep spending time on TUG. Some type of compensation out of the millions Brian is doing here is long due LOL.

I got the same accusation sometime ago for a similar post. LOL
 
Last edited:

TUGBrian

Administrator
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Messages
22,093
Reaction score
7,677
Points
1,099
Location
Florida
I sent an email to Mr Phillips that we do not approve of bait and switch type ads, and that future ads of that nature will be removed without warning.

hopefully this results in preventing any future mixups in communication or misunderstandings.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village
Diamonte
[Moderator's note: The real name of user bizaro86 has been removed throughout this post. When registering, users here are cautioned that they may wish to register under a nickname rather than their real name for security reasons, so there should be no stigma attached to doing so. In fact, our current bulletin board software does not even ask one's real name. Mr Phillips has chosen to make his own name public. Bizaro86 has not.]

Dear [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86

This is Brad Phillips aka Brad Phillips. You wrote a comment about me and used my full name on this forum and I have debated for over a week now whether to give my side of the story or not. The reason I debated is that in doing my research you post on this forum 3-5 times a day, your friends post frequently, and you have a lot of those likes and those trophies they give you. I would say your “working” for TUG one way or another and popular in this forum. I, on the other hand, have to get an account just to post this reply (to a comment you never told me about) and I am to most readers the Darth Vader and the evil empire already. Therefore, I will tell you now that you win the social media battle. I also know that by not responding I can pass mercifully and be forgotten. However I put boots to the ground earlier in my life so that you and your other “friends” can make your comments and now I am choosing to stand up again for what I think is right even if I get denounced or denigrated by further posts by you or your followers.

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 you do an amazing job knowing how timeshares work, how stocks work (must be a online broker) and your body of work on this forum is commendable. You are respected in the TUG community by giving the facts about numbers, information on use and on maintenance fees. Furthermore, I believe you think of yourself as a leader in your field (you self proclaimed that in one of your posts and said you always get what you want). I know its hard for you Millennium's growing up in the digital age (and other who are hooked to social media) to try to work misunderstandings out buy engaging with others however where I come from we actually talk to people to make sure we get the correct message or on the same page. It seems generally people like yourself feel its easier and morally ok to run to social media, tell everyone you been wronged, give part of the story to back up your claim and then wait for the affirmations to come to feel better.

Below is the whole story not just an excerpt (like you gave) and based on the whole story if people feel I am wrong I due apologize for it was never my intention to do anything wrong.

The ad was for a great deal on Worldmark points in which you are an authority on. Even though you are on line all day we had others who saw the ad ahead of you. All said they wanted it, one was going through paperwork and the others asked to be put on a LIST or kept in mind just in case the person backed out-which happens over 35% of the time or we have other Worldmark points contracts. The ad also clearly states that we will give an added bonus where the person who takes over gets an additional discounted vacation in the future with one of our partners. (FYI TUG “leaders” the platform that is been given won an award by Inc magazine—but probably not as big of a deal as one of those trophies you get posting here).

[Name redacted] has sent you a message regarding your 11,000 Worldmark Points classified ad on TUG.

Here is your message:
Hello, if I understand your ad correctly this is a Worldmark account for a total price of $299 all in? If so, I will take it. Regards, [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]:

Thank you for your inquiry and look for your trail $500 usd off future vacations and access to less then maintenance fees with the newest timeshare platform …...

Unfortunately we are moving forward with another client. We kept the ad up to take names just in case this clients backs out. For your inconvenience we are giving an extra $500 usd with our partner (I took out the name of the company here).

[Initials redacted] aka Buzaro86:

Hello, I don't want that, and every email your firm sends me will be marked spam, hurting your ability to access Gmail inboxes in the future. Please take me off all your lists. [Name redacted]

Me: Hi [Name redacted]: The list was for the Worldmark points so we will take you off that list.

The rest you have above in your post. (We were just trying to be generous since you were not the first)

[Name redacted] aka Bizaro86, I am not sure how you get your trophies and thumbs up with TUG but maybe I can help you get a lot of them at once. You see we had a TUG member read your post and they backed out of a free contract that they really wanted because they got scared (which is exactly what you intended to happen with your post and not telling me you wrote it). How many trophies will you get for that I wonder? We have been in the industry over 15 years and its unfortunate we lost the client however it does not financially hurt us. However, the reason why I am writing this [Name redacted] aka Bizaro86 is that you and your other so called “leaders” do not understand that by posting so often on TUG you now have a responsibility and obligation to see if there was a misunderstanding before giving an opinion. In this case you did not do that. Therefore, in my humble opinion, you did a disservice to the TUG clients who you so badly want to lead. Hopefully food for thought for your future here and in life ahead.

Regards

Brad Phillips aka The Dark Knight (doing good but misunderstood)
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village
Diamonte
BEWARE!! I'm afraid Brad Phillips and Cabo Trade Company are scammers. We were told Cabo Trade would handle the trade of our old timeshare towards a new one, but they claim they received our paperwork 2 months after we mailed (my bad for not certifying it) and the dates are past 180 days for being "clear of fees"dates. They seemed so honest - and I've saved others from a similar fate so I am so embarrassed for having fallen for this one. I've emailed everyone there, including Mr Brad, and no response. AVOID anything to do them. Still struggling to get this cleared, I hoped to avoid paying for a lawyer &/or losing monies already spent. Thanks for letting me vent.
 
Top