Most people who visit a resort and choose to participate in one of the resorts’ sales meetings in order to get free tickets or free lodging know what they are getting themselves into, i.e. a pushy sales person showing them around and doing anything they can to get the traveler to purchase a timeshare. I have heard from people who have visited Disney Resorts before and participated in these presentations and many seem to be surprised regarding the aggressiveness of the sales staff when compared to other resorts. It seems that Disney sales staff currently is less pushy and more respectful of a person’s wishes, however with the new payment structure outlined above I am concerned how long this reputation will last? With less base salary and higher commissions people visiting the resort will most likely see a more aggressive sales approach and can expect many of the sales personnel to do anything and everything to sell the timeshare. Current owners can also expect to start receiving phone calls and mailers regarding an upgrade of their current contract. This move is almost guaranteed to increase Disney timeshare sales, but we are afraid their reputation may suffer in the long run.

We would love to hear about any experience you have had with Disney whether it be good, bad or ugly? When you visited the resort what was the sales person like? Hopefully regular readers of our blog and anyone reading for the first time already knows that timeshare resales are the way to go and will save you thousands of dollars when compared to buying directly from the resort. If you are searching for a timeshare please feel free to visit our Disney Timeshare Resales section.

Hopefully this lawsuit will bring justice to both of these companies and the people involved defrauded by either company receive their money back as well as create awareness for any owners who may be interested in selling a timeshare. The story above illustrates why we stress people research any company they plan on doing business with, especially in industries where it is well known that many scammers exist and are searching for their next victim. Always remember timeshares do not increase in value over the years so anytime a company or individual contacts you via phone and asks if you would like to sell a timeshare for more than you paid for it you can rest assured it is a scam and you should run the other way as fast as you can. Vacation Timeshare Rentals has been assisting owners wanting to sell their timeshares for years, if you are interested please visit the following page to sell a timeshare.

The first step for this scammer is to steal a person’s credit card information in order to post an advertisement on the internet. Once the card is stolen a legitimate ad on the same or different website is copied, giving details of the unit being advertised. Once the listing is online the scammer then uses another fake identity to open a bank account which they will ask potential renters to deposit money into. When everything is in place the crook waits for an unsuspecting victim to contact them and ask for the rental on given dates, even though the person does not own at the given resort they say the unit is available and send further details, including a rental agreement contract, their fake banking information, and a request for the renter to make a deposit of anywhere from 50% to 70% of the agreed upon amount for the rental. Once the money is wired the amount is immediately withdrawn and the account is closed giving the renter little or no recourse to find the guilty party. There are a couple of signs a renter can use to spot these types of scams and make sure they do not fall victim, the first is most people will not give out their banking details so quickly to a perfect stranger. If they do give out their banking details it should raise a red flag if the name on the account is different than the name of the person you have been corresponding with. Secondly we recommend doing a simple internet search for any information they give you for example, name, phone number, email addresses, etc. Chances are this is not their first time trying this scam and if they try to use the same information more than once maybe someone has already reported the information and has outlined the scam on a website in order to keep others from being scammed.

Vacation Timeshare Rentals never recommends making payment for timeshare rentals via wire transfer, the information given out and the lack of knowledge of the other party exposes a great potential for fraud. If you have had any contact with any of these people we recommend ceasing all communication. We also invite you to post your story if you have been in contact with anyone listed above, all information will be helpful in trying to keep others from being defrauded and hopefully one day catching this criminal.

The first tip is to be polite, no one wants to receive an email slamming them or making them feel stupid. It is important to remember an initial contact with the owner is basically made to establish a channel of communication. In the initial inquiry it is beneficial to not even discuss the offer you intend on making for the unit. When first contacting an owner I recommend asking simple questions about the unit itself, for example how many bedrooms, bathrooms, usage time, view from room, etc. Once you have established a line of communication you can then make an offer and begin negotiating with the owner. The second tip is to present market research about the timeshare property in question. Presenting a document with market comparables of the timeshare unit when making the offer will show the owner why you have offered a certain price. The best document to have when making an offer is a timeshare market evaluation prepared by Vacation Timeshare Rentals. This document will give you and the owner the selling price of three comparable units that have sold over the past year and will give you an idea of what you should pay and the owner an idea of what they can receive for the unit. Sending a document to an owner from a third party without bias will make the owner feel more at ease with the offer and create a mutual understanding about the value of the timeshare. The final tip we will offer is to keep the line of communication open and try to end the conversation on a positive note. Even if you and the owner are not able to reach an agreement during your initial conversation make sure to let them know they can contact you in the future if anything changes and maybe the two parties can work out a deal at that time. You never know when someone may change their mind and decide to accept your offer, letting them know that you would be open for future contact will keep you at the top of their list if they do change their mind.

We are well aware that many of our readers have been on both sides of a timeshare resale transaction, if you are one of those please let us know about your experience, how did you go about making an offer and establishing communication with the owner? What was the final outcome?

The Good and Bad
There are a couple of trends that I find encouraging for the timeshare industry and timeshare buyers alike. The report indicates that more people below retirement age are beginning to see the benefits of owning a timeshare and deciding to buy a timeshare. This means there is a whole new generation of travelers that will be interested in timeshares and searching for bargains around the world, opening up numerous possibilities for both resorts and the secondary market. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that many of the new owners had decided to rent a timeshare at the resort they were considering before actually purchasing a week. For years I have been telling potential buyers to not only search reviews on the internet but visit the resort itself and view all of the amenities with your own eyes before purchasing. When visiting the resort be sure to note all amenities, likes and dislikes, and services offered by the resort, this will help buyers make an informed decision and be less likely to experience buyer’s remorse when they do finally decide on the resort.

The summary of this report indicated that 4 out of 5 new timeshare owners were still purchasing a timeshare directly from the resort. This shows that travelers are still overpaying for timeshare units and made to believe that purchasing from a timeshare resort is the best option. However, in the resale market the same unit can be purchased for a fraction of price, regular readers of this blog know how big a mistake these new owners are making by purchasing from the resort. One of the main reasons those surveyed gave for purchasing the timeshare was cost savings in the future, why not purchase a timeshare resale and save thousands of dollars from the very beginning of the experience. This shows many people do not know about purchasing a timeshare in the secondary market before it is too late.

Overall timeshare owners have been happy with their experience as 86% of them said that owning a timeshare was an excellent, very good, or good experience. What do you think, how has your timeshare experience been?

How Does A Ponzi Scheme Work?
While we do not claim to be any expert on this matter or anything in the legal field we have developed an understanding of this type of scheme and would like to share the information. A Ponzi scheme starts off with a sales pitch most of the time an investment opportunity, in the above case the clients were advised to invest in Mexico timeshares which would yield high returns while being rented out through a number of different affiliates and partnerships. In reality the “Investment” opportunity normally generates little or no income revenue. In order to keep any suspicions at rest the creators of this scheme use money from new investors to pay older investors making them believe that their investment is really paying off and was a good transaction for their future. Eventually the money will run out and the scam collapses under its own weight, at this time everyone involved realizes they have been scammed and will never see their money again. Perhaps the most interesting part of the story reported by KTVZ is the salesmen who were selling the investment opportunities did not have any clue that they were even involved in the scam, they were hired to sell the investments and were paid via commissions on their sale, which were held by the creators of this scheme making the salesmen victims, in their minds, as well as the investors. Ponzi schemes can be carefully planned out and generate an extraordinary amount of income for the original creator, in fact Bernie Madoff’s variation of this scheme generated 65 billion in revenue before it collapsed.

Ponzi schemes are very hard to spot, the best advice we can give is to ask a lot of questions and research any investment opportunities you are contacted about to the fullest extent. Always remember if it sounds to good to be true chances it probably is. If you were contacted in reference to this scam or any other scam we would love to hear your story and if you have taken any steps to rectify the situation.

Maintenance fees are a necessary evil to keep any resort in operation, after all they cover most of the day to day operations of the resorts and any improvements that the resort will undertake, ie upgrades in furniture for the rooms, new television, and new amenities throughout the resort. It seems there has been a trend lately where many resorts are raising these fees despite the current state of the economy. There are a couple of reasons that come to mind when trying to figure out the resort’s position in raising maintenance fees in a bad economy. The first goes hand in hand with the economy, since people are finding they have less money to spend and are trying to save more they may default on their timeshare property if a number of people do this the resort is forced to raise fees for the owners who are left. Simply put there are now less people paying but the cost remains the same no matter how many owners buy into a given resort. The second may have to do with inflation, which everyone is familiar with. Due to inflation the cost of items necessary to run a resort will rise such as utilities, paper goods, insurance, and other items used in the day to day operation of the facility. Since the resort is required to have all these items the cost passed along to owners in the form of maintenance fees and special assessments. Obviously these are just a couple of reasons why owners continue to see higher amounts being expected from the resort, these may not apply to every case.

We know that many of the readers of our blog are timeshare owners themselves, what do you think about your current maintenance fees, are you happy with them are they too high? If you are the owner of a resort where many owners felt the fees were to high what actions were taken by the board of directors or owners association? If you have other suggestions on why fees would rise we would love to hear those as well.

In theory this really seems like a good idea as many people have a number of unused vacation/sick days every year and instead of them going to waste they can now use them for the future. However, I do not believe that the negative effects in the business place have been thoroughly discussed, or if they were have not been covered in this article. It has been shown through a number of different studies over the years that a relaxed employee will be more productive thus getting more accomplished over the course of their work period. Perhaps the number one method used by employees to relax is taking a vacation, when employees return from vacation many report have a new found vigor for their position and daily duties in their company. I also believe having relaxed co-workers/employees leads to a better work environment for everyone not just the traveler giving the company greater productivity. Travelers always seem to be in a better mood after they get back from vacation, this causes less disputes and arguments throughout the work place creating a better environment for everyone in the company. I always say a good attitude will rub off on others, therefore when an employee returns from vacation hopefully their mood will inspire everyone else to work just as hard with the same positive attitude. Think of the time spent everyday in your company trying to settle arguments and disagreements, if people were more relaxed and in better spirits many of these arguments could be avoided. Many readers may also remember a recent post in this blog describing the findings of study showing that vacations may actually make your children smarter. If you would like to read this previous post please feel free to do so “Timeshare Vacations Can Make You Smarter!”. While encouraging Americans to save their money for the future may be good for the long term the short term productivity loss and general lack of relaxation should be looked at in depth as well.

In the end this initiative at least gives people the option to do something with unused vacation days as oppose to letting them go to waste. I would never encourage people to go against their wishes when it comes to personal finances but I do feel the consequences should be weighed on both sides of every issue, especially when it comes to your well being. If you are ready to take a vacation after reading this article please feel free to begin searching our timeshare rentals.

Why was this bill written?
The bill has been lobbied for by one of the most well known timeshare organizations in the United Stated, the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), this organization was formed to protect consumers in the timeshare industry and fight for their rights. In the current economic condition many state and local governments are looking for alternate means to supplement low revenue, charging timeshare owners a tax for timeshares that were exchanged or the party exchanging into the timeshare was one of the foreseeable methods. This would have effectively raised the rates of timeshares across the state of Florida, which contains some of the most popular timeshare destinations such as Orlando timeshares. Thanks to this bill there will be no added taxes for exchanging timeshares. The second issue addressed in this law was giving resorts the ability to offer debt cancellation products, basically these would act as a safety net for purchasers of timeshares, allowing them to return the timeshare to the resort if they lose their job without negatively impacting their credit. Many people will be familiar with these types of programs as they have been offered by automobile manufacturers in the past to encourage people to purchase a car.

I feel the passing of this bill shows that the citizens of Florida are taking the initiative to ensure a great future for the timeshare industry and Florida tourism as a whole. If you are interested in renting or purchasing a timeshare in this state please visit our Florida timeshares section.

By this point many readers are now asking, “What does this mean for the timeshare resale market?”. I believe that a mixture of bad economic conditions and decline in timeshare sales directly from the resort can actually be a good thing for the secondary timeshare market. Given the state of the economy nearly everyone has been on the look out for bargain deals and will continue to further research different travel opportunities. Before this downturn families and travelers alike were more careless with their money and would purchase the first option that was presented to them, i.e. buying a timeshare directly from the resort. Now that families have began to cut back which might force them to hold off, not buy directly from the resort and search for other options. Even when the economy turns around and begins to grow again many people will continue this trend and be more frugal with their income, leading them on a path to find the secondary market for timeshares. Hopefully the word has been circulated throughout the industry enough so not as many people will make the mistake of buying direct and turn to the secondary market where timeshares can be purchased for pennies on the dollar. I believe the economic downturn may not be the only reason for the decline in timeshare resort sales, I think people are realizing the value and bargains that can be found for timeshares when purchasing a resale as oppose to buying direct from the resort. With more and more people turning away from the resort for their purchase owners may also see an increase in interest for a timeshare they have for sale. After all the more people that are searching for resales the better the chance that someone will find your timeshare.

If you are a person who is trying to purchase a timeshare because you have found that resort prices are just too high we would invite you to search our site for the best deals on timeshare resales. On the other hand if you are an owner who think you might be interested in capitalizing on this trend please feel free to visit this page to sell a timeshare.