Dopers, several years ago, my folks purchaced a week at Lawrence Welk Villas in S. California, for around $11,000.
They enjoyed going down for a week each summer, but the last few years it has sit idle, due to poor health and the feeling that they are getting too old to make the trip.
They have been paying over $600 per year in maintenance fees, and seeing no benefit whatsoever in return. (they have offered to let me or my sisters transfer the week to somewhere else if we would like to use it, but when I attempted to transfer the week last year, I found that the fees that were required to transfer were more than a nice hotel would cost)
Over the past year or so, they have been getting calls from a company who has offered to buy the condo from them, (for even more than they payed for it,) and only asking a mere $1000 up front (“and just what credit card would you like to use, sir?”) to get the ball rolling :rolleyes:. This of course screams SCAM!!! and they have wisely hung up on the scumbags, who still try and call every month or so.
But today they got a flyer from a company called “Right Choice Transfer” offering to help them “escape” and “be free” of the useless timeshare, with no upfront fees or charges. The mailer mentions many of the common timeshare problems, and says how all of the hassles will stop, and it clearly looks like they are offering to purchace timeshares directly, and get the owners free of the yearly moneypit.
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I went on the website, and it is quite vauge and unclear, though it said (deeply hidden in fine print) it does NOT actually purchace the timeshare or list it for sale to a third party. It will not say what it actually offers, and if there is any compensation given, or if they just want the owners to sign the titles over, solely to be free and clear of the fees and hassles, and writing off the timeshare purchace completely.
Does anyone know what kind of offer they are going to make my parents?
Is this another scam?
What is the best way for my folks to get rid of the condo, even if it’s for only a fraction of what they payed just a few years ago?
There are a lot of scams out there right now. A lot of timeshare weeks are so lousy that you can’t give them away. It seems unreasonable that one of these companies would just accept the deed free and clear and then pay the maintenance fees until someone comes along to take it off their hands. Most of the time, there is always some sort of advance fee. And state attorneys general have been busting a lot of these outfits lately.
I would suggest heading over to the Timeshare Users Group to post the same question. Its possible that someone has heard of the firm. But I am skeptical. I see posts over there every day along the lines of “Have you heard of XXX company” that usually result in a determination that the company is some sort of scam.
If nothing else TUG offers classified ads that you can use to post the timeshare for sale. If you just want to get rid of it, you can post that as well and offer it up for free. Someone may take you up on it. But start there since they are the experts.
Because “other people” have a much less biased viewpoint and calling scammers and asking them if they’re legit or not is at best going to get you lied to and at worst get you embroiled in the scam?
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Since nikichristina joined the boards just to post that message, and wasn’t forthcoming about her relationship with the company, I’ve banned her for spamming.
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