I got a call from various people from Vacation Max in Wilmington, DE. I think the names were Maggie, Bethany and finally Richard (call him Dick). They asked me about my timeshare and asked if I wanted to sell it. I said "yes - but only if the price is acceptable to me." They asked me some questions and then came back and told me they had a business who was looking to purchase a block of timeshares (50 or so) and they had been working for 2 months to provide them with this block. They asked if I had any unused weeks I was willing to sell and I said yes. Then they told me that this "business" was willing to pay me $ 23K for my timeshare. I asked them WHY a business would be willing to pay me more than 2x what my timeshare was worth. They said the business was looking for a tax shelter and to provide incentives to their clients. I told them I didn't think that business was making a good business decision; tax shelter or not, business people are generally NOT STUPID. They wouldn't stay in business long.
They told me that I had to pay a fee UPFRONT ($ 1200 or so) and I would get my money back when I closed on the deal. I had them send a contract over to me for review. It looked like a standard contract but the contract didn't promise to sell anything. They are an advertising and marketing company. So... If they take my money and NEVER sell the timeshare, they can keep my money.
Dick said Vacation Max had great reviews and NO complaints. When I tried to find reviews, I couldn't find any. He was right. No complaints. The only problem is that I also got NO good reviews. If a company has been in business for any length of time, there would be reviews... Some good, some neutral, some bad. This company has NO reviews. Suspicious?
They also told me they were in business for 17 years and were members of ARDA, D&B Small business and Delaware Chamber of Commerce. When I checked the ARDA site, they were a NEW member that signed up in 2009. They also signed up with the DE Chamber of Commerce in 2009. I guess if you pay a membership fee, you can claim this would make you respectable.
Hey... ARDA will make ME a member if I pay a fee. Maybe the DE Chamber will let me join and I could claim to be respectable and people would send me money just because I am a member. (Please note that I don't mean to malign ARDA or the DE Chamber of Commerce; they are truly good resources). The D&B Small business site will run a check on Vacation Max if I paid them; which I didn't want to do because I have no intention of investing my money in Vacation Max.
I told Dick that I would make him a better deal. If he can sell my timeshare for $ 23-26K, I would give him a 50% commission. I would even sign a contract to this effect. He HUNG UP ON ME! How dumb is that? He could have made $ 13K! He said he had a buyer!
My complaint is that this company is running a scam. Likely I could not find any reviews (good or bad) because they changed their company name. I would like to note that my personal opinion is that VACATION MAX personnel are making deceptive claims and they should not be preying on people.
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