Timeshare Miseries

We have been going through an experience we would prefer to forget, but it seems to keep coming up again. We purchased a timeshare a few years ago, the beginning of our problems. Perhaps the best way to share this with everyone is to break it down according to less learned.

1. Do not purchase a timeshare. It is never a good investment, because there is almost never a return on your money. The seller always tells you how easy it will be to resell at a profit, but that is simply a lie. No one is interested in purchasing your second-hand time share because they can easily purchase their own the same way you did.

Also, and this is most important, they never tell you about the annual maintenance fees, which are with you forever and can escalate whenever the developer chooses, and can include expenses for storm damage or planned expansion.

2. If you decide to rid yourself of the timeshare, do not contract with anyone who offers to list your property for a fee, usually in the neighborhood of $500. They will list your timeshare online, and you can find it exactly as promised, alongside thousands of other such listings. You will be fortunate if you are contacted by a single prospective buyer. I know of no one who has received a single call on their timeshare after such a listing, and they are still out the $500.

3. Do not contract with a company that promises to transfer your title to another rental firm, who will package your property with others to rent online, for a fee of anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000.

They will tell you horror stories about the maintenance fees that will last for the rest of your lives (not true) and will pass onto your children after you die (not true). The seller will usually tell you how he purchased a timeshare exactly like yours (amazing coincidence), tried to get the developer to take it back, only to be laughed at (not true).

They will tell you that they can only accept a couple of more properties in your location (not true) and you need to act immediately. They will also tell you that you have three business days to cancel out of your contract with them, although they fail to mention that their business days include Saturday and Sunday (whenever you attempt to cancel the contract, you will be told it is too late).

In fact, in most cases the "transfer" company will merely contact the developer and cancel your timeshare for a fraction of what you paid them. You can do the same, as follows.

4. If you wish to end your timeshare ownership, simply call the developer at your timeshare location. They are required by law to accept your termination, for a fee of around $250. Yes, you have lost whatever you invested in the property, but you will no longer have to pay the mounting maintenance fees.

If you still want to spend a vacation at the same location, you can always find a package for as many days as you wish, and it will almost always be for less than the annual maintenance fee would have been.

I would be interested in hearing from others who have been through the same experience.