Vacation destination, Branson, Missouri, shares a problem that has plagued many cities, including Orlando, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, and other favorite tourist towns.
The solicitation of tourists on the streets of downtown Branson, by timeshare sales representatives, is an issue the city wants to resolve. During the May 6 work session of the Branson Board of Aldermen, the group looked for ways to solve the problem of solicitors approaching tourists with free offers that were really tied to the tourist attending a timeshare sales pitch.
Branson City Attorney was quoted by the Branson Courier as saying, “There has been some downtown businesses that have issued some complaints recently about some vacation club sales and time shares, that kind of business, getting a lot of locations in downtown Branson and soliciting people on the sidewalk.”
The Courier article goes on to say the complaints were not necessarily from citizens or tourists in the downtown Branson area, but were from businesses that don’t like the environment the solicitors create.
Currently the Branson law states, “In addition it makes it unlawful to solicit when either the solicitor or the person being solicited is located within ten feet of the doorway to any business, 20 feet of a public toilet; 20 feet of an automated teller machine, or 20 feet of a pay telephone.”
The Aldermen believe that by redefining the term “solicit” in the Branson Municipal Code, they can resolve the problem.
As I recall, the city of Gatlinburg, addressed its timeshare and vacation club solicitation problem by passing out free emblems that a visitor could wear, stating that they did not want to be approached.
KCRA 3 News that broadcasts in Sacramento and Stockton, ran an interesting article, warning people about a problematic timeshare deal from Holiday Travel of America.
It seems that the company offers two round-trip coach air tickets and two nights in economy accommodations in Hawaii, if you sit through their timeshare sales presentation. Representatives of the news station tried it, and did in fact receive their certificate good for their airfares and hotel stay.
The certificate from the timeshare company came with the stipulation that it had to be used within 45 days or it would be void. A letter requesting travel dates, restricted to travel on Tuesdays through Thursdays only, plus the payment of a hotel and airline tax deposit followed it.
Too Many Complaints about this Timeshare Sales Company
Other people, who had been through the timeshare sales presentation with Holiday Travel of America, voiced complaints with the process. Many had trouble getting travel dates scheduled by the timeshare company. No matter what two days they picked, even within their limited choices, the answer always came back that those days were unavailable.
The KCRA crew had six different travel dates requested before they called the timeshare company to complain. They were finally offered dates in September, but were told they had to book on the spot, fax a written confirmation of travel with a credit card number, and agree to having a nonrefundable charge of between $75 and $100 placed on their credit cards.
KCRA’s article about the scam said, “The Better Business Bureau of San Diego said other people have had trouble, too: Holiday Travel of America has an unsatisfactory record because of a pattern of complaints.”
Finding the Good Deals in Timeshare Sales and Timeshare Resales
Good job of investigative reporting by KCRA. I wonder, if the current tough economy will bring on a rash of opportunistic vultures, who prey on people’s desire to enjoy a little vacation time despite budgets being tight. Whatever the situation, the advice is always the same. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. There are plenty of good deals available in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals, and you don’t have to sit through a timeshare sales pitch in order to enjoy them.
Gary May of the Ottawa Citizen has written an excellent article with advice for buying timeshare and timeshare resales. The article was printed in last week’s The Vancouver Sun, and covers 10 things to consider when you are ready to buy timeshare.
Here are a few of the reasons his timeshare advice is exemplary:
Gary May does not start or end his article with warnings about why it is a bad investment to buy timeshare. He seems to have a solid (and correct) grasp of the concept, that buying timeshare is no more about investment potential than buying a new car. You buy it to use it, not as a replacement, or even a supplement, to your financial investments.
He identifies that timeshare buyers have choices and options and that time is on their side. He counsels you to shop around and seriously evaluate your needs. How do you and your family vacation? Do you like to visit the same vacation destination every year, or do you like to explore new locations? He talks about maintenance fees, taxes, and timeshare exchange. All of which are very important to consider when you buy timeshare.
And on May’s list are two points, that are very important and resonate with great truth:
“Don’t be railroaded into buying something you aren’t sure about. If you go to a special promotion, you will be required to attend a demonstration. Consider this an education on the merits of timeshare. Don’t buy on a whim. Ask questions. Think it over. If you like what you see, bargain the price down. Never buy at the first price they offer.”
“Consider buying a timeshare from an owner: resales are everywhere since people’s lifestyles change. Resales can usually be purchased for far less than the original price and are listed on timeshare websites and in newspaper want ads.”
Answer to Your Questions about Buying Timeshare
On Sell My Timeshare NOW’s website we have a page - a long page - devoted to answering frequently asked questions about buying timeshare resales. We explain the difference in types of timeshare ownership, discuss banking timeshare weeks, and help you understand why timeshare purchased directly from a timeshare resort developer costs so much more than timeshare resales purchased from their current owners.
Timeshare ownership can be a great opportunity for you and your family to enjoy a lifetime of vacations. But like anything else, it should not be purchased in haste, nor should it be bought during a high-pressure sales pitch.
And for more on the subject of timeshares sold by high-pressure tactics, read the Timeshare Owners Blog tomorrow when we will be looking at a Mexico timeshares company that has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
How many times in the past year has The Timeshare Owners Blog written about Marriott Hotel and Marriott Timeshare Company doing the right thing for the environment? And here I am, singing the praises once again of what the Marriott Corporation is doing to help preserve our planet…
J.W. “Bill” Marriott was quoted in one of the company’s recent press releases as saying, “At Marriott, we realize that we are all guests on this planet. We share a responsibility to look out for the long term health of the environment. That’s why we believe the future of our business is green.”
The press release goes on to explain that the Marriott company will be offsetting its carbon footprint by partnering with the Brazilian State of Amazonas to preserve and protect 1.4 million acres of the Amazon Rainforest.
Five years ago, we didn’t understand the meaning of “carbon footprint”. Most of us didn’t realize that our carbon footprint is a measurement of how much our activities produce the greenhouse gases that negatively affect the environment. We did not think about the appliances that run 24/7 in our homes, the car we drive to work each day, and even the energy burned in the production of the clothes we wear and the food we eat. But we are all becoming much more aware of how our lifestyle affect the Earth.
So three, sincere and heartfelt cheers for Marriott for being environmentally conscious and learning what their company’s carbon footprint really is, which, by the way, is 2.9 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Marriott, as a corporation, has committed to cutting fuel and water consumption by 25 percent per available hotel room or timeshare unit over the next 10 years. If you have read The Timeshare Owners Blog in the past, you know that Marriott hotels and Marriott timeshare have already switched to eco-friendly eating utensils for their employee food service and provided reusable drink ware to their employees in order to reduce the consumption of Styrofoam cups. Additionally the company purchases nearly 50 million recycled BIC pens each year. And while disposable ink pens - at first consideration - don’t seem like a great threat to the environment, think about the billions of them that are filling up landfills, one tiny space at a time.
Are You Green at Home, But Consumptive in Hotels, Restaurants, and Timeshare Resorts?
I think we, as a culture, are growing more environmentally conscious. We are learning that it not only improves the long range outlook for our planet, but it benefits us personally in dollars saved. People are downsizing their cars, using more energy efficient appliances, and generally making a greater effort to leave a “smaller” footprint behind.
But there is something about spending other people’s money, that doesn’t concern us as much as it should. It’s evidenced in ways, like people leaving lights on in hotel rooms and timeshares, that they wouldn’t leave on in their homes. They take longer showers, hotter baths, and leave the television playing, even when they are out of their room or timeshare condo. They do it because they can, and because they think it doesn’t cost them anything extra. But it of course, ultimately we all pay the price of wasteful behavior.
So as a traveler on this planet, ask yourself if you treat the consumables in public places like they come from an “endless source” rather than using them responsibly and conservatively? Take the time to learn what size carbon footprint you and your family are personally making.
And thank you, Marriott Hotels and Marriott Timeshares for heralding this message that should be taken to heart by every company that builds or runs hotels, restaurants, timeshare resorts, and all those other places we all like to enjoy:
“As we build global opportunities in beautiful destinations around the world, we should leave as light a footprint as possible.”
-J.W. Marriott Jr.
Here’s a YouTube video suggesting ways you can minimize your own carbon footprint.
The highly respected timeshare industry publication, Perspective Magazine, has announced plans to launch an independent consumer magazine for timeshare owners. The publication will target people who own timeshares, or who have timeshare points, fractional ownership, private residence club ownership, or other similar types of vacation ownership products.
In a very short time, Perspective Magazine has become the most-read, independent business-to-business publication in the timeshare and vacation club industry, so there is every reason to expect their new publication, Owners Perspective, to be equally relevant and successful.
According to Paul Mattimoe, president and CEO of Perspective International Ltd., “Rather than trying to adapt Perspective Magazine to suit owners also, we have decided to launch a second publication specifically for them. This way we can take the core content of the original magazine, but then tailor the rest to suit the consumer rather than the business side of the industry, providing both a much-needed independent resource for existing and potential owners, as well as a new and diverse advertising platform for businesses.”
The Director of Communications at Sell My Timeshare NOW, Steve Luba, agrees that this new publication will fill an important niche, saying, “Owners Perspective will get important industry information to timeshare owners and will be unlike the newsletters sent out by timeshare development companies, which tend to be more self-promotional than industry informative.”
Like Perspective Magazine, there will be no charge to receive the online version of Owners Perspective, and interested readers can sign up now for the publication scheduled to launch in July, at: http://www.ownersperspective.com
Last November, the Timeshare Owners Blog reported on the arrest of Dennis Drummond. In the summer of 2007, Drummond was picked up on a fugitive warrant in North Carolina and was then extradited to Massachusetts, where he faced multiple counts of larceny. Dennis Drummond has faced charges in MA in 1990, 2003, and 2005, each time on charges related to timeshare fraud.
The former resident of Plymouth, Drummond was accused of a timeshare scam involving more than 80 people. According to police, Drummond would set up real estate offices and offer (for a fee) to exchange people’s timeshare units for better weeks or vacations at better timeshare resorts.
Last Wednesday, Drummond pleaded guilty to three charges of larceny over $250; larceny over $250 involving a person over the age of 60; and larceny over $250 in a single scam. Drummond was sentenced to 2 and a half years in jail, but will only serve 10 more months. He is also required to make restitution to his victims.
Elderly Can Be Targeted in Timeshare Scams
One particularly sad account in this timeshare scam is the story of the Doucettes. Janice Doucette told the court that in 2002, she and her husband gave Drummond $25,000 and the deed for two of their three timeshare weeks, but that they never received anything in return. As Doucette explained, her husband Charles is now 79 years of age and receiving kidney dialysis in a nursing home. Doucette blames Drummond for ruining the golden years of her marriage.
While Drummond’s sentence may seem light, if he fails to make restitution, or is arrested again, he could then be sentenced to up to five years in state prison.
For more information on ways to safely buy, rent or sell timeshare, visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.
Every week since February 19, when Fidel Castro stepped down as Cuba’s president, news outlets have been filled with accounts of products and services coming back into the lives of the Cuban people.
Two weeks ago, Cubans were allowed to buy cell phones. Last week, microwave ovens, DVDs, electric bicycles, and pressure cookers became available. Many of the restrictions that Fidel Castro had spent a lifetime imposing on the people of Cuba have already fallen away in the few short months since his brother, Raul Castro, took office as Cuba’s president.
While most Cubans do not yet have the money to afford these luxury items, that too is changing as the government begins to provide better support for its farmers and lift some of the restrictions on manufacturing.
Are New Hotel and Timeshare Resorts on the Horizon for Cuba?
This week, the ban that prohibited Cuban citizens from staying in hotels was lifted. Cuban nationals, as of April 1, are permitted to stay in hotels or use hotel services like exercise rooms. These changes are long overdue and in time, should help springboard other, equally positive developments. But as the free world shares in welcoming the return of these basic rights to Cubans, what do these changes really mean for Cuba as a tourist destination?
Despite the removal of many restrictions, the economy of Cuba will have to heal considerably before most residents can afford to enjoy hotel stays at luxury resorts. It will take even longer before the country’s economic infrastructure will be able to support the development of timeshare resorts or vacation ownership property.
In the 1990’s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba made tentative steps toward developing tourism, by building or revamping hotels to attract visitors primarily from Europe and Canada. Currently Cuba has both hotels and all-inclusive resorts; some offering beachside relaxation while others showcase Cuba’s rich history. Several Canadian developers have tried in recent years to fund and build timeshare resorts in Cuba and with the recent change in government there, it is logical to expect that such projects could soon become reality.
Canadian Tourists, But Not Americans to Vacation in Cuba…Yet
Most US citizens find traveling to Cuba challenging because of the Trading with the Enemy Act that forbids US citizens from spending money in Cuba. Exemptions apply to journalists, government officials, researchers, and people attending conferences. Other US citizens, including those who have relatives in Cuba or professionals such as doctors, nurses, or educators, may also be able to obtain the documents necessary to travel between the US and Cuba. Click here to read the US Department of State’s full disclosure on who may travel to Cuba.
Some US citizens visit Cuba by first flying to other countries, and booking their travel, directly from that country to Cuba. Once there, Cuba imposes no restrictions on US spending; quite the opposite, as they are all too eager to receive tourist dollars from any part of the world.
Yes, timeshare resorts and new hotels may definitely be in Cuba’s future. But until US law changes, Americans may find that the closest they get to Cuban vacation ownership is a Key West timeshare where the signage at the water’s edge reads: “90 miles to Cuba.”
An article in the March/April issue of TimeSharing Today motivated me to research a situation that sounded like a timeshare owner’s worst nightmare. It seems that a timeshare condo located on St. Pete Beach was closed and then sold at auction as part of a property tax sale in Pinellas County, Florida in November of 2006.
The timeshare unit owners at the Camelot timeshare owned their property by individual deed. Yet despite this, when property taxes went unpaid on the timeshare resort for three years, the individual owners were not contacted by the property tax office. Instead, with unpaid property taxes totaling $180,000, Camelot timeshares (a timeshare resort valued at $15 million) was sold to Luke Investments for two million dollars.
A Questionable Timeshare Owners Association
According to an article that appeared in the St. Petersburg Times last year (March 26, 2007), the president of the Camelot homeowners association said he, “…has not been able to contact timeshare owners because Luke Investments won’t let him in the building’s office where all the records are, including contact information for all the owners.”
The article goes on to explain that when he was asked why he hadn’t looked up the timeshare owners’ deeds and contacted them that way, he (the TOA president) said it would be too time consuming. As an explanation of why this problem went on for three years unchecked, the president said the office manager never informed him the taxes were unpaid.
Okay, surely this response brings up some questions like: why the timeshare owners’ association president never checked to be sure that the property taxes were being paid or why he apparently didn’t notice that there was $180,000 surfeit in the association budget. Nevertheless, the St. Pete Beach police chose not to press charges against any of the Camelot association board members or its employees, so we have to assume they were able to answer those questions to someone’s satisfaction.
A Happy Ending for the Timeshare Owners
The good news for the timeshare owners at Camelot was that a County Judge in Florida agreed with them, that they should have been individually contacted by the property tax office before the timeshare resort was auctioned to pay the back taxes. His ruling voided the timeshare sale.
Of course, this decision did not set well with Luke Investments, who believed they had purchased the property fairly. According to TimeSharing Today, a Florida Appellate Court recently brought the matter to an end, upholding the County Judge’s decision to void the tax sale of the property.
And perhaps the best news of all for the timeshare owners at Camelot is that they have fired their old property management company!
State of Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has filed a lawsuit in Taney County Circuit Court against Branson log Homes, a company which does business as Executive Timbers Resort and Golf Course. The lawsuit alleges that the southwest Missouri company used deceptive practices, fraud, and misrepresentation in the sale an advertisement of timeshare memberships, timeshare plans, and timeshare property.
Details of the Alleged Timeshare Fraud
According to the Attorney General’s Office, consumers who contacted them complained that the timeshare company:
Failed to provide required notice to them of their right to cancel contracts.
Failed to allow consumers to cancel their contracts within five days after they purchased a timeshare membership.
Billed timeshare buyers for maintenance or upkeep fees on property they were trading in, after neglecting to inform consumers that they would be required to pay such fees.
Did not reimburse consumers for maintenance fees after telling them those fees would be reimbursed.
Promised that consumers who purchases a timeshare membership, plan, or property from them would receive certain benefits , but then didn’t make good on those promises, and
Did not disclose the fact that it was already over $30,000 in debt to the travel club that it was using to provide travel club memberships to the consumers.
What To Do If You Are a Victim of a Timeshare Scam
The Missouri Attorney General’s investigation has revealed that most victims of this timeshare scam have lost between $7,000 and $17,000 each, but some people may have lost more. If you want more information about this problem, contact the Office of the Attorney General at cphillips@phillipsgarcia.com or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).
If you believe you are a victim of timeshare fraud in another US state, contact that state’s office of Consumer Protection or the Attorney General. Another way to learn more about protecting yourself against timeshare fraud is to talk with other timeshare owners at online forums, such as Sell My Timeshare NOW’s Timeshare Owners Forum.
And to learn more about safe and cost effective ways to buy timeshare, visit the website for Sell My Timeshare NOW.
For several years, we’ve been hearing only good things about the state of timeshare sales in India. India has been a vacation hot deal with strong timeshare sales both from residents and from abroad. In fact, business has been so good, that some India timeshare companies have established targeted offices in cities such as Washington DC and London because these areas have large populations of residents whose parents or grandparents live in India and who visit there regularly.
India timeshare sales have boomed, in part, because people who make annual trips to visit their India homeland recognize the value of owning timeshare weeks at resorts located near their family and friends. Additionally, India has long been considered a safe vacation destination, with a warm climate, beautiful beaches, and a rich and splendorous cultural heritage, that is geographically well located for millions of travelers.
So I was surprised to read the recent post from India news source, Sify.com, stating, “The concept (timeshare ownership) failed because their owners apparently did not intend to honour their commitments to the consumers who paid money up-front and booked time in resorts. It was also alleged that after building these resorts, consumers holding valid timeshare were told that the resort was unavailable while walk-in customers were provided room because they paid cash.”
The India Timeshare and Timeshare Resale Market
I challenge this statement as a problem of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” I would certainly not call India timeshare a failed concept. While it appears that India timeshare owners are raising a complaint about their inability to exchange timeshare while their exchange company seems perfectly willing to rent timeshare weeks to non-owners, they are simply voicing a problem that is confronting timeshare owners in all parts of the world.
A detailed and highly-informative article posted by IndLawNews depicts a much more positive picture of timesharing in India, stating, “Timeshare is one of the most evolved and profitable sectors in the hospitality and leisure industry. Introduced in India barely 15 years ago, the timeshare industry is growing manifold with big brands such as Resort Condominiums International (RCI), Ramada Hotels & Resorts, Club Mahindra, Hyatt Vacation Club, etc. entering the business. Much of it still remains untapped and developers keep coming up with new, innovative and attractive deals.”
I venture to say that timeshare ownership in India is still an excellent idea and a perfect solution for both vacationers and people who travel regularly there. Every nation that has embraced the concept of timeshare ownership has soon found that new legislation must be introduced to regulate timeshare buying and timeshare selling within their marketplace.
Growing pains in the India timeshare market maybe, but a failure? Not a chance!
