I have been trying to sell my timeshare for years... Have had 3 other companies charge me a "marketing fee" to sell it, between $350 - $650... And never sold it. Once in a while I'd get a call saying someone was looking at it, or I'd call them and they'd tell me, oh we're having a show this weekend, we should get some interest there, and so on. Meanwhile, I would get numerous other agencies calling me to sell it as well, using their company, which is always so much better than the one I am currently using... THEY do it different than the rest etc.
But one thing that is always consistent is the fact that they always charge a marketing fee up front.
Summit Marketing takes a different tactic in that they call you up (I have no idea where they got my name and number from) and say - we have a buyer for your property - they loved it and want to buy it. Would you accept (in my example) between $8.5k and $11.5k for your property? Sure... I say... Happy to get that much for it. And then they say, ok great, I will let you know if the buyers are approved by tomorrow. So I called them the next day, and to my delight, they were approved, they are willing to give me $11,000 for it, and we can move forward with the sale!
Now, we do charge a marketing fee, which includes the title and all the paperwork at closing, of $2,999. And I say to them, wow that's a lot, but if you are going to take it out of my proceeds, then I will agree to that. So I agreed to that, gave my little spiel on the FTC recording saying that, no they didn't coerce me, and no they didn't promise me anything unethical etc. I get a docket number (#4716468) and they promise me that they will send out the paperwork the next day, and all I have to do is sign it and send it back to get the ball rolling.
I first spoke to Stacy, and then to Anthony White (#TK931913 - they always make that very official, like it means something) when he asked me if i wanted to direct deposit the $11,000 or if I wanted a check... And of course I said direct deposit, imagining that $8,000 net profit, minus my taxes I owe, sitting in our bank account in a matter of two weeks or so. Joy! I can pay my rent next month, get my timeshare off my hands, and make a profit!
This was on Wed, Feb. 4 and Thursday to follow up. I remember specifically saying to Anthony, as I am giving him our checking acct no and a check no - now you are not going to charge me ANYTHING until after the proceeds are in my account, right? RIGHT. No problem, he says. We'll send out the paperwork right away and you should get it by Tues or so.
So... On Tues I called them up and asked about the paperwork and talked to Maria at customer service. She says, oh we just sent it today, the 10th. And I said, oh ok I thought you were going to send it right away. (1st red flag).
Then my husband talks to me later that day and says to me, why is there a charge in our acct? I looked at it and saw it was an NSF fee for that check no... Hmm I said... I wonder why they did that? (2nd red flag). I told them we had no money in there, and they would wait until afterward. So I called, and I first left a message for Anthony, asking him what happened, and didn't get a call back.
The next day I called again, and left a message for someone at customer service. I think I left another message on Thursday.
On Friday, I finally talked to Maria at customer service, and asked her about the charge to my acct... She said, well you know we need money for the title search etc, and so that must have been what happened. I said, well I haven't received the paperwork yet, and I was promised by Anthony that they wouldn't charge my acct until AFTER the proceeds went in. Why are you already trying to take the money out when I haven't even signed anything?
I kept asking her this, and asking for Anthony, and she said, no he is on another call - you can talk to me because I am customer service. But we kept talking and I kept to my story, until she finally gave me to her supervisor, Ramona Jones, and she and I talked. She said, I hear there is a misunderstanding and I said, yea you can say that. She threatened to say that I was on recording to give them that money - put in escrow for when they needed it, etc - and they could have a lawyer come after me if it wasn't paid in 5 days or so. Of course, I got anxious, and said to her, I WANT to sell it, I just can't pay you guys ahead of time!
Finally she said she would talk to her manager and she called me back Fri afternoon, and said, ok we'll reduce it to $1500 because of the misunderstanding. But we need to have it soon - I'll call you Monday and see if someone can loan you the money.
I talked to about 3-4 people about it, including a financial advisor and my mom-in-law, and those two said to me, its a scam Laurel, they shouldn't be asking you for ANY money up front. My husband also said this to me. If they can't do it and have you pay them afterward, then forget it! And get our money back for that NSF fee!
Then I got the paperwork in the mail today, and guess what? It has the boilerplate language for all the other "contracts" I have signed - "This is a one time nonrefundable advertising fee. We assume the timeshare is going to sell or rent within the first three months, but if for any reason it does not our company will renew the ad at our expenses..." blah blah blah.
I decided to look online, and guess what popped up as the first item? This complaint with the newest report only 20 hours old!
I feel grateful that no money was stolen from my account, like unfortunate others here... And learn this lesson now - don't ever give your account information out like I did on the hopes of getting tons of money deposited INTO your account - the scam artists will only try to take it OUT!
And check the name BEFORE giving out your info - before its too late!
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