We were contacted in mid-November by an Ann Lebow of Equity Financial Services asking if we were still interested in selling out timeshare. We were. She gave us a pitch about EFS being a loan broker to help with the financing for people wanting to purchase timeshares. She knew about our Wyndham property (she said that was public information since we'd listed it previously through another company) and already had a buyer, an anesthesiologist from New York. We agreed and they emailed us a contract. It wasn't until then we saw that they wanted $2190 from us up front. When I questioned it, the topic was danced around all the while giving the impression that it was a standard practice and time was of the essence. We signed the contract and mailed them a check.
Within a few days we received a welcome email from Brad Marshman, the supposed president of the company, and a phone call by Ron Carlyle, one of their VPs. Ron told me the selling process would take between 50 and 60 days. He explained they would send Wyndham an "Estoppel Letter" giving them the right of first refusal, then they would do a title search, and everything would proceed. I called after the first of the year to check the status and was told Wyndham had still not responded to them. This was blamed on a delay because of the holidays. A second letter would be sent out if necessary.in February, when it seemed like the process had stalled, we kept calling EFS, mostly only to get their voicemail. Eventually, Ashley James returned my call and told me all the paperwork was in order and it would be sent to the purchaser for their signatures the following week. When I expressed concern that the 50-60 day time frame had now reached the 100th day, she calmly stated it wasn't unusual for these timeshare sales to take up to 120 days or more. I asked Ashley to send me an email documenting our conversation which she never did. Repeated phone calls to them have gone unanswered. Ron Carlyle's direct phone line only goes to a voicemail and messages are never returned.
We filed complaints with the BBB in Delaware and in Indiana, since the DE Dept. Of Justice informed us the EFS address is a mail drop site and the actual "company" is located in Indiana. We have also filed complaints on Yelp.com, the Online Business Bureau, and the Office of the Attorney General in both Delaware and Indiana. This is simple theft by deception and we want our money back!
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