Hear the real stories of our clients and learn why they decided to work with Cancel Timeshare.
In March 2020, William and Melissa Burkey traveled to Orlando, Florida on Spring Break with their two children 11 and 8. During their stay, the resort pressured them to attend an ‘owner update’ and even though they didn’t want to go - they did not want to spend their entire vacation being constantly pressured.
Yet again, the ‘owner update’ was just another high pressure sales pitch - the whole family was trapped at the sales pitch for 6 hours. The only reason the presentation ended was because Melissa was feeling sick. She could not stop coughing and excused herself. William followed after her and they thought they could just go back to their room and rest.
That night, the salesman came to their room. He barged in explaining that the deal he was offering them was only available that day. He made it clear he wasn’t leaving without them agreeing.
Feeling worse by the minute, William and Melissa said yes and signed the new contract just to have some peace and quiet.
They didn’t realize they had just agreed to another $58,000 of debt and more maintenance fees.
They knew this time was no different than the last - more false promises and lies. They knew that the promises to reduce their maintenance fees and have more vacations was another lie.
Melissa and William just wanted to make the pressure stop.
The next day is when William and Melissa’s lives would change forever.
Covid-19.
It was an unfamiliar term back then and neither William nor Melissa knew just how bad it could become.
Not only were they forced to return home - William was taken to the hospital because after driving back he told Melissa he could barely breathe. He went in to ICU and was placed on a ventilator. Three days later William took his last breath.
Melissa was heartbroken. No time to grieve for her loss or even process what had happened. Her life had been torn apart and she had lost the man she had always loved. Now that he was gone, she had to adjust to so many changes so quickly. Life was happening all around her and now it was time to take care of her kids. She had to be strong for their sake.
The last thing Melissa thought about was the timeshare she and William had purchased a week prior - but she would be reminded a month later when a credit card bill for over $19,000 appeared in the mail.
It all came back to her at once. She remembered that she and William had bought more timeshare right before he passed. With the new timeshare payments approaching $1,200 - she knew she couldn’t afford to pay it. Her life was completely different now - she was a single mother, did not work and had been a full time mother since her kids were born.
Melissa contacted her timeshare company and begged them cancel her new purchase. The timeshare company pretended to listen and asked her to write a letter explaining the situation and said they would work on it. Feeling a little relieved, Melissa felt things were starting to turn around.
Yet, months went by and Melissa heard nothing. She started to feel like the timeshare company was just trying to keep her waiting. Melissa became more and more concerned. Her credit score was dropping by the month because she could not pay for the timeshare. Her monthly payments were more than double what her mortgage was.
Melissa felt the financial pressure building and prayed for an answer. She was at her wits end and wanted out without her credit dropping another point.
Soon she would get the answer.
A family friend recommended that she call Cancel Timeshare.
After hearing her story, our team knew that she was exactly why our mission is to help timeshare owners.
After five months of working with Cancel Timeshare - Melissa had her timeshare cancelled and received a full refund of the $19,000+ down payment. Melissa checked her credit score for the first time in months and saw she had an increase of 124 points.
Melissa had trusted Cancel Timeshare and that trust had paid off big. Melissa called our corporate offices and shared the message that she felt - her prayers had been answered.
The Thompsons purchased their timeshare three years ago. At first they saw it as a way for them to enjoy their retirement years, spending more time with the grandkids. Each time they went on vacation they noticed that they were required to attend an 'Owner Update' and they eventually figured out what these meetings truly were, - another sales presentation.
Every time they went they were told that their ownership wasn't good enough.
After a few years of this harassment , the Thompsons had purchased 3 more times. They still were not able to get reservations at the resorts they wanted and they were increasingly concerned about the money they were spending on their timeshare.
After a while, they were having serious problems affording living expenses. This small timeshare had turned into a $1,400 monthly bill. They fell behind on their payments and were continually harassed by the timeshare company and debt collectors.
“We were worried that we may have to sell the house to keep paying this timeshare bill."
- Taisha Thompson
“Our credit was suffering, we have never had bad credit before and my wife was losing sleep over it. How were we going to pay $168,000 when we are retired and live on a fixed income?”
- Eli Thompson
After researching online for the best timeshare cancellation companies, they decided to contact Cancel Timeshare.
The Thompsons were relieved that they had finally found a solution to their “timeshare nightmare.”
The Cancel Timeshare Team helped the Thompsons prepare and started analyzing their case immediately. The team spent time getting to know the Thompsons, getting to know what about their timeshare purchases hurt them the most. The team reviewed hundreds of purchase documents sent in by the family.
"We had no idea what any of these pages of contracts and legal documents were about, it's not like they let you read them when you buy your timeshare!” - Taisha Thompson
The Cancel Timeshare Case Management team spent weeks reviewing and researching every aspect of the Thompson family purchase history and everything that happened before, during and after each purchase.
“I felt we were in very good hands as our Case Manager went to work on our case, they really left no stone uncovered.”
- Eli Thompson
The Case Management Team began by attacking the illegal sales tactics and Truth-In-Lending violations they also addressed the harassing phone calls from debt collectors. After a few months of negotiations, the Thompsons were legally and permanently out of their timeshare contracts, their credit scores had improved by 20% and they were debt free.
“Cancel Timeshare did everything we needed them to do, quickly professionally and really saved us! If you ever find yourself in this situation make sure you call them as soon as possible!” - Taisha Thompson
Rick and Judy Roberts had just arrived on their dream vacation in Mexico, and decided it would be great if they could go take the same trip every year. When they checked in, the concierge signed them up for an informational meeting about owning their own part of the resort.
“The sales guy made a lot of sense and we decided it was a good idea to sign up. It was only $199 a month, so we thought that it would be a really affordable way to take our dream vacation every year!”
- Rick Roberts
Once their two weeks in Mexico were up, the Roberts returned home and eventually sat down and started reading their contract.
“I was really upset with the differences in what the contract said vs what we were told at the sales meeting. There is no way I would have signed up for this If I had read the contract and had time to think about it. How could I agree to a 20 year payment plan?”
- Rick Roberts
Once the panic set in, the Roberts knew they were in trouble.
“We kept on reading these horror stories online about how Mexican timeshares worked and how expensive they were. We were getting really scared.”
- Judy Roberts
Rick started to look for a way out, he called the resort and they told him he was not able to return the contract.
“I really thought that they would just take this ownership back, boy was I wrong. They started threatening me just when I mentioned getting out of this thing”
- Rick Roberts
Finally after researching his options Rick found Cancel Timeshare. He signed up online and was in contact with Cancel Timeshare's Case Management Team the next day.
“They made it really easy for Rick to handle! It's like they lifted a weight off of our shoulders! Most of these other timeshare exit companies make you pay tens of thousands of dollars up front. There's no way we could have afforded that! Cancel Timeshare offered us affordable prices and having the monthly payments were wonderful.”- Judy Roberts
After a seven months of negotiations with the Mexican timeshare company the Roberts were released from their contract and all associated financial obligations. The Cancel Timeshare Team saved Roberts family $47,760 of future timeshare payments.
“We are so delighted that we found Cancel Timeshare, We don’t know what we would have done without them!”
- Judy Roberts
"These international cases can be difficult. Many people think since it's in another country I can just quit paying the bill and I won't have to worry about it. Most of the Mexican and Caribbean companies actually have offices and a presence in the United States, and if you don’t pay or try to get out on your own without proper guidance, they will send you to collections or even sue you. Out of all the timeshare companies out there, we find the international ones to be some of the more aggressive." - Andrew Rest, VP of Operations weighing in on the Robert's case
Rick and Judy Roberts had just arrived on their dream vacation in Mexico, and decided it would be great if they could go take the same trip every year. When they checked in, the concierge signed them up for an informational meeting about owning their own part of the resort.
The biggest concern Nancy had was the fear of her grown children having to take on the financial responsibility of inheriting her timeshare.
Nancy felt the logical thing to do would be to meet with her timeshare company face to face and let them help solve her situation. She made a day trip from her home in North Carolina to Myrtle Beach and met with her salesman hopeful for guidance.
To her frustration she learned as the salesman explained, “Miss Nancy there is no value in selling your points because the benefits and reservation planning will not transfer to a new owner.” She was shocked that the points were basically worthless.
The salesman then offered her a solution. He said, “Miss Nancy, there is a new program where we will take back your timeshare after you have had it for one year, and you will get all of your money too.”
The catch to the plan was she had to spend $49,000 to buy the additional points to be in the new program. Desperate for a solution and trusting the nice young salesman she wrote him a $49,000 check to be in the new program.
After the year had gone by, Nancy called the timeshare resort to get her money back. The salesman was long gone. So she called the corporate offices in Florida. They told her she was out of luck and there was nothing they could do for her.
Embarrassed to tell her children what she had done, she started searching the internet for help. She came across several timeshare exit companies.
She did a lot of homework and inquired with numerous timeshare exit companies, but each company wanted thousands of dollars upfront. Nancy was beyond frustrated and was about to give up hope.
Then one day Nancy saw an ad for Cancel Timeshare. After meeting with the Cancel Timeshare Team, even though she was skeptical she decided to move forward because “they were the only company who didn’t want thousands of dollars upfront.”
After only four months, The Cancel Timeshare Team was able to negotiate with Nancy’s timeshare company. Because of the lies she was told and the unique timeshare cancellation process that Cancel Timeshare uses, Nancy was fully refunded the $49,000.
At the end of her case, she called in and thanked Cancel Timeshare for being the best timeshare exit company.
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