Meet James and Karen:
From a Spoiled Honeymoon to a 100% Refund*
Dear Timeshare Recyclers,
James and I wanted to write you a quick letter to let you know how much we appreciate your help getting us out of our timeshare (the ¨Straight Exit¨ service). We are writing to you now from our first vacation with our Resort Credits (also our second honeymoon!) and wanted to share our story because seriously timeshare almost caused us a divorce.
First of all, we never thought we would be trapped in a timeshare! We have never considered ourselves “timeshare people” at all, because we love to travel to different locations, but there we were, on a timeshare presentation in Florida on our honeymoon….and worst of all, signing that horrible contract! I’m literally crying as I sit here, in this beautiful lobby, writing our sad story, but let me back up a bit.
James and I were married about seven years ago and were gifted a timeshare week from Jame´s uncle for our honeymoon. We had spent weeks planning our vacation, buying the perfect outfits, looking up local dive-sites and looking forward to a week of rest and relaxation after the stress of planning a wedding.
We flew out the day after our wedding and checked into our hotel. After a round of “welcome cocktails” (actually just cheap champagne), a nice lady invited us to a “complimentary breakfast and a walk around the resort to get to know where everything was located.” She said that we were going to “spend 90 minutes looking at vacation packages,” but we never thought in a million years that we would actually end up on a timeshare presentation! We were shocked by the time we realized what had happened! And oh boy…that’s when the nightmare started.
“We never thought for a million years that we would actually end up on a timeshare presentation!”
Now, if someone ever tells you it´s only “90 minutes to look at vacation packages” turn and run the other way. This presentation lasted for SIX HOURS. It started out fine, we had a nice enough sales guy who showed us around the property, but then they took us to a big room filled with tables and clapping people and loud music. They showed us these vacation packages and one thing led to another and every time we said “no thank you” they dropped the price and showed us something new. I can´t tell you how much pressure we felt.
Hours later, we found ourselves signing. I sat there numb, knowing in my heart that we were making a big mistake, but we signed anyway. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.
After the ordeal, we were super tired and went to our room to rest and wound-up napping for two hours! It was all so exhausting. I swear it was a trauma response. We woke up and knew we had made a huge mistake. We returned to the salesroom, but it was closed. We didn´t sleep a wink that night and wound up getting in a huge fight on the second night of our honeymoon! I was so upset I almost booked a return ticket home!
The next morning we cancelled our dive and went into the sales room to see if we could get out of the whole thing. You´re not going to believe it, but we let them talk us into it again! We muddled our way through our honeymoon, got into a couple more arguments, but in the end told ourselves that it would be worth it and that it would all work out, but that feeling in the back of my mind just would not go away. Thinking back the whole thing was like a dark shadow over what should have been a special week for us.
We came back home and got busy with life. We made the mistake of paying it off right away, and really tried not to even discuss it, because every time we did, we would just end up fighting. I think we were both just trying to forget the whole thing, that is, at least until the following January rolled around the first maintenance fee bill arrived in the mail.
James hadn´t come home yet, so I called the Resort and told them that our plans had changed and that we didn´t think we would be vacationing with them that year, but they said we had to pay the maintenance fee anyway! I argued with their customer service people, but it was no use, they said we had signed the contract and had to pay or they would send us to collections. We hadn´t even bought our first house yet! I asked them what had to be done to get out of the contract, and they answered that the only way out of it was to sell it to someone else. Can you imagine? I was furious! It was like a Jeannie in a bottle, the only way out was to get someone else in!
“I asked them what had to be done to get out of the contract, and they answered that the only way out of it was to sell it to someone else.”
Anyway, we decided that we might as well try to use it, since we were forced to pay for it anyway. The resort itself brought up all sorts of unhappy memories for both of us, so going back to our home resort was out of the question. We decided to try to do an exchange through RCI. Let me tell you we spent months trying to get a place that we actually wanted to go and which was available for the dates that we could travel (I´m a school teacher). It was a total nightmare. We wound up going somewhere we really didn´t like, got in another argument, the whole thing was just a waste.
So, after realizing that exchange was a total sham, we decided to try to sell it. We listed it with a major timeshare reseller, the ad cost us almost two thousand dollars! We listed it for less than what we paid for it, and still no results! That timeshare was listed for almost 4 years, we even dropped the price to just one dollar, and still nothing! And yes, we paid that stupid maintenance fee every single year, even though in the end we gave up on ever being able to get anywhere we actually wanted to go. And yes, that maintenance fee went up every year! The last couple years we just paid the maintenance fee and booked a vacation through Expedia. I literally never thought we were going to get out of that timeshare contract.
About that time, Jame´s uncle had decided that he was also tired of his timeshare and had purchased a Straight Exit service with you [Timeshare Recyclers]. We were interested in signing with you right away, but we had such a bad experience with the resale company that we decided that we just couldn´t risk it and waited to see if you were really able to exit Jame’s uncle from his timeshare first (yes, we allowed Jame´s uncle to be the guinea pig!).
A few months later, to our surprise, we got a call from Jame´s uncle that you [Timeshare Recyclers] had successfully completed his exit and that you had even gotten him a refund equal to what he had paid!* So, we decided to call you right away. We seriously could not pay you fast enough!
Of course, we were nervous throughout the process, but Timeshare Recyclers seemed to really care. You were patient, gave us lots of information, and kept us informed throughout the whole process. Thank you for being so professional.
When we got the final notification that we were out of that timeshare we went out for dinner to celebrate (real cocktails-no cheap champagne)! A few weeks later, we received the final deposit of Resort Credits, I was so happy I actually cried! I could not believe that we got 100% of our money back! Plus, you found a way to reimburse us the weeks that we paid maintenance fees, but didn´t use (or couldn’t use because their system doesn’t work). We had chalked that money up to a loss and tough learning lesson. I felt such a relief in that moment, like this huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders. Honestly, at that point, I didn´t even care if the Resort Credits worked! I just wanted out of that timeshare so we could move on with our lives!
“When we received the final deposit of Resort Credits, I was so happy I actually cried! I could not believe that we got 100% of our money back!”
Now, as I sit here in a beautiful hotel, on our first vacation using our Resort Credits, I´m so happy to report that your program actually works! Buying a timeshare was a painful lesson, but we regained hope in humanity, thanks wholeheartedly to the Timeshare Recyclers crew. I feel like this is actually a second honeymoon for us, like we finally get to close a difficult chapter in our lives and we can move forward, thanks to you.
Thank you so much for the work you do. Getting out of a timeshare contract is nearly impossible, but you´ve found a way to make it work and actually get us something in return for it. We can´t tell you how much we appreciate all that you´ve done for us.
With Love,
James & Karen
Attached: pics from our second honeymoon, thanks to Timeshare Recyclers!
*Note from Timeshare Recyclers´ Legal Team : The Straight Exit service does not actually include a cash refund for your timeshare, but rather a ¨refund¨ in travel credits, which can be used through the Timeshare Recyclers´ travel agency. Timeshare Recyclers rarely seeks actual cash refunds from timeshare developers or timeshare home owners´ associations.