About Andreas Rossler Expertise I'm able to answer general questions on timeshares and specifically in regard to purchasing, renting or exchanging timeshares on the secondary or resale market and through the Internet. I have expert knowledge in sales, mechanics (how and why timeshares work), and timeshare exchanges.
I am also well versed in timeshare financing and may be able to guide you to better financing or refinancing options for your timeshare purchase.
If you ask questions of a legal nature, or those requiring tax advice - I may not be able to answer fully.
Experience I have 10 years of industry experience in sales, management and processing. I'm currently CEO of Timeshare Village, a resource for timeshare owners and industry professionals.
Organizations Mensa - Life Member
Publications I have been interviewed by Channel 7 News in the Bay Area of California regarding my opinions on Worldmark, the Club timeshares as developed by Trendwest-Wyndham Resorts.
Education/Credentials MBA - Master's in Business Administration
BS - Mathematics
BA - Economics
California Real Estate Broker
Question I was researching timeshare laws when I stumbled across the question about the Westgate resorts and the 5 day cancellation period. We have two timeshares which we bought in July , one is Planet Hollywood and it hasn't been built, so I haven't tried to use it yet. But the other one is Tahiti Village and both are in Las Vegas. The problem we are having with Tahiti Village is that many of the things they told us we would get at the presentation were complete lies. We were told we could split up our week into 3 and 4 days and now we are told we must use our week all at once. We were told we would get 6 extra vacations for 2 with air and accommodations included and now they are saying we get a tiny hotel room with no airfare. A big thing is that they made us pay a general fund fee which we did not know about, but we paid it anyway because we had to do so to book our week. Now they are saying the fee was supposed to be twice as much and we still owe them money for the general fund. Our HOA fees are $360 but we have paid at least another $300 in other fees that we never knew we had to pay which for some reason are not escrow fees. We had to pay a transfer fee as well, but we understood that that was a closing cost. However after all closing costs were paid, we had to pay this transfer fee to book our week. I could tell you all of the things that have happened that have made us feel really ripped off. Is there anything we can do? How can these timeshare companies get away with doing whatever they want? Could we send a letter asking them to cancel our contract and refund our money like you suggested to the other lady? We have paid the timeshare off with out credit cards, but we still owe the credit cards. Please give me any information that you can. Thank you.
Answer Ruth,
I can't guarantee any results - but let me give you some information and perhaps it will help. The problem is that this is a case of "he said - she said". I have no doubt that they lied to you during the presentation, but the difficulty is proving they lied. You can claim misrepresentation and that the misrepresentation did not become fully realized until you tried to act on their promises.
The first step is to write them a letter explaining what you will do if they do not cancel the contract and refund your monies (there is no time limit to cancel if misrepresentation was involved, and that the misrepresentation was material to the purchase).
Below is a list of actions you can take if they don't follow through and make things right. Pick and choose accordingly, not all items are appropriate to your situation. The key is to actually follow through on the threats. Good Luck!
1. The Attorney General. You should file a complaint with the Attorney General where the company is headquartered, the state where you purchased, and your home state. Here is a good site where you can link to Attorney General complaint forms online: http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/ag-complaint-forms.html
2. See if the company is listed with the Better Business Bureau; file a complaint with the BBB. Here is their online complaint form: http://www.bbb.org/complaint.asp
3. A good site is the Rip-off Report. Be careful when writing up a report on that site – state the truth and nothing but the truth. This site is caught by search engines, so be sure to use the company name. Here is their site: http://ripoffreport.com/
4. Complaints.com is similar to Rip-off Report. Here is their website: http://www.complaints.com/ (#3 and #4 have a simple purpose, to get the company’s name to show up on search engines. This is the worst possible publicity and can cause the loss of an untold amount of business).
5. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission). They are very much interested in hearing about shady timeshare developers or rip-offs. The reason being that most timeshares solicit individuals via the telephone. Here is their online complaint form: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
6. For reference purposes, you may want to check out the National Association for Members - http://www.natlassoc.org/ - lots of good stuff.
7. If a lawyer or other professional (CPA) was involved in the transfer or escrow process, you may be able to file a complaint with the state bar or other professional organization they belong to – depending on the nature of your situation.
8. Report the company to the state agency that regulates real estate. It is best to do a Yahoo search like this: “Florida Department of Real Estate”. You could however start here and drill down to the right website: http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml
9. If your situation involved a credit card purchase and you’re not getting your refund, definitely call the credit card company and find out their policy on filing a complaint.
10. File complaints with State, County and City Consumer Protection Offices. Here you’ll find a list of all of them: http://consumeraction.gov/state.shtml
11. File a complaint with the National Consumer’s League Fraud Center. Here’s the web site: http://www.fraud.org/
12. File a Complaint with the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Here is their website: http://www.naca.net/
13. Small Claims Court. What’s good about small claims is that it is easy and can cause huge head aches for the company.
