Dealt with first: Donna Wright (Senior Director of enrollment) 877-955-3456 ext. 236
John Maxwell (Closing Representative. Manager)
Also spoke to 'Haley' when I was dealing with Donna early on.
Lately (in June) Morris Dunston @ 877-881-4076 (front desk?) & 877-955-3456 (customer care line)
Morris informed me that my Timeshare had 'closed' on June 13 and Aquisitions should have called me. A closing package would be sent out within 10 days to 2 weeks time. I am to sign the paperwork and get it notorized and returned. Then either a Cashier's check would be sent or they could do a Direct Deposit.
I told them to send me what form they needed to do a Direct Deposit because I didn't want to wait - I have been waiting long enough.
No form sent. I told him that they needed to move on this and make mmy closing package come within the 10 days. I called back and said take the full two weeks if necessary, but on July 8th (two weeks from call exactly) if I did not recieve an overnighted closing package, I was going to have to take legal action because I wasn't trusting this any more.
In short:
Haley and Donna contacted me in December with a 'Corporate buyer' for my timeshare.
I said "No thank you, I already have it for sale with enough places, I don't need another one trying to sell or Market / advertise mine."
She said they don't work that way - they ONLY work with Corporations who are looking for Timeshares, so they need to find people willing to sell theirs now. They are 'different.' These Corporations use these as tax sheltors so they MUST sell AT or above market price; therefore they have to go through a process of Deed look-up, appraisal / assessment, and estopel letter to make sure the timeshare they are going to purchase is legit, currently active and in good standing and is being sold by the rightful owner (s). That process takes up to 3 months and will cost me $2500 to cover all of this.
I paid $2500 and waited 3 months. I heard from her on March 28th stating that everything passed and in fact my Timeshare was a 5 Star rating and the client was very happy about that - now we needed to move to closing. It would take about 30 days to get my Closing papaerwork / package but I needed to pay my Closing fees which would be refunded to me by adding that back into the deal.
I was hesitant to pay this because I know that you pay fees upon Closing, not before. She was adamant that this is not the case in selling Timeshares - you MUST pay up front and then had me speak to John Maxwell (on March 29th) who assured me this was how it has been done by them for years - it's just the way it works - different from closing on a home sale.
I asked about seeing the contract, or get a copy before I signed and he said I would get copies of everything in my Closing package, not now. Right now I would be the hold up if we didn't move quickly to Closing because they agreed it's been longer than usual and they were sorry. They would assist here by sending Fed-ex to my house for a secure delivery pick up of my Closing costs which were $4,999.00. I didn't want to be the hold up in the process, and besides, they all wanted to be paid too and they ONLY work for 'Finder's fees'- not commission, so it was going to help everyone if I acted on this quickly.
I said I wanted to see the Contract for it and a receipt and they said they would send the paperwork to me to sign and mail back right away or FAX - it would protect me. I was STILL hesitant about this and told them that I thought I was being ripped off and this was too good to be true, so I wanted proof that this was legit. Donna had sent me a Dunn and Bradstreet report on December 10 which they referred to again, and that was to guarantee that I was dealing with a good company, and she had sent the apparent Closing costs contract to sign in my email.
I was concerned because it was the SAME 'marketing type' form I had signed before that I did not think that was right. The form stated that they don't guarantee anything and it's all about marketing and advertising in different manners and means - nothing about already having a buyer. This also said NOTHING about this being for Closing Costs and it was exactly the SAME form I had used to pay them $2500 on earlier, but now the selling price was higher and I was being asked to pay the $4,999.00.
I didn't like that either and called John again who told me that this was just a receipt for the Closing costs and this was the form they needed. I should watch for the Closing package in 30 days or less.
I heard nothing, so on April 26 I tried to contact them again via email and calling. I have left many messages with NO return calls. So on June 22 I called again AND sent an urgent email stating I wanted this resolved or I would be taking legal action against them. I also used the Dunn & Bradstreet information to contact that company and tell them what has transpired - to see if they could help. They replied that this company had been listed as 'High Risk'in their database in February for 'misrepresentation.' They wished me luck in my claim.
I then heard from Morris Dunston on June 23 who claimed they had been trying to get a hold of me but had the wrong phone number. 512-573-7191 instead of 512-573-7791. I told him that my email worked great and my contracts I signed all had the correct phone number on them... Something funny again going on.
Morris told me that he was new on the job and that Donna had been hurt so he was handling things for her and he showed that my original 'buyer' deal had fallen through and a new corporation had just bought mine and 35 other timeshares in a lump sum. That deal supposedly CLOSED on June 13. So Aquisitions should have notified me. He was going to find out why and make sure the request for the Closing package would go in and it would take 10 days to 2 weeks to arrive. I said it was long enough and it had better be 10 days. I decided that if this WAS legit I was being a jerk, so I called back and said please do what you can and I will look for this within 2 weeks exaclty, so on July 8 if I had no package I would have to take legal action and he said he would tell aquisitions but he certainly didn't control that department.
Nothing arrived by July 8 so I am seeing the lawyer on July 9 at 2pm. My savings is GONE and certified mail from lawyer came back undeliverable. Their website is gone too... I have lost it all and learned a hard lesson. I cannot afford to pursue further, already spent $300 on lawyer.
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