Complaint Review: vacation choices - Olympia Washington

1. Vacation Choices promised to transfer our (my wife and I) timeshare if we join the travel club.

2. Vacation Choices assigned the case to their affiliate (Preferred Transfers) to handle the transfer.

3. Preferred Transfers sent us a deed to sign over to their buyer Antonio Brown.

4. We signed the deed and forward it to Preferred Transfers for recording at the town clerk where the timeshare is located as well forwarding paperwork to transfer the timeshare on the books of the resort. In my case it is Wyndham Resorts that would have to accept the transfer. It should be noted that a transfer is not valid unless the resort accepts the transfer and it takes about 2 months for the resort transfer to be accepted.

5. Preferred Transfers sent us an email essentially stating we are no longer the legal owners of the timeshare. The deed was recorded at the town clerk's office and a copy of the recorded deed was sent to us.

From this point on things get nasty.

6. About 2 months later we received a letter from Wyndham stating they cannot accept the transfer because their outside investigator can't confirm the "buyer", Antonio Brown is a real person and they require a photo ID. It turns out the Antonio Brown uses a mail box store address in Mississippi.

7. Preferred Transfers stated several times they are working with the resort (Wyndham) to effectuate the transfer. It turns out Preferred Transfers did not communicate with Wyndham or do anything to help the transfer to go through.

8. About 6 months into the program we receive a certified letter from Vacation Choices terminating the transfer. The excuse was Wyndham has abruptly changed its policy and does not accept transfers to companies any more. Checking with Wyndham, they always have and continue to transfer timeshares to companies. In my case as stated above, Preferred Transfers was supposedly transferring the timeshare to an individual person so the excuse is bogus anyway. A few days before the letter went out they sent a deed to the town clerk transferring the deed back to us. The deed was notarized by Antonio Brown in Olympia, WA, not in Mississippi where he supposedly resides.

9. At this point in time the credit card chargeback window has just run out. When we called Vacation Choices to complain they stated we were told there was a chance the transfer would not go through. This statement is a lie. If there was any possibility it would not go through we would not have signed the contract.

10. We made a complaint to the Washington Attorney General. Vacation Choices attorney responded that Wyndham would not accept maintenance fees or transfer fees from them. I responded that Wyndham has already accepted
maintenance fees from them and will accept fees from anyone. Also the reason Wyndham would not accept the transfer fee is they could not confirm the buyer is a real person. This is the 2nd excuse that is a lie. Vacation Choices failed
to respond to my comeback and the Attorney General can't go further because Vacation Choices is not willing to negotiate a settlement.

11. Approximately 2 months later we receive a "Notice of Default" letter from Vacation Choices cancelling our membership because the 6 month renewal fee was not paid. I was not billed for the fee and did not receive any communication the fee was past due. I would have paid the fee if the transfer was still in the process. This is their way of getting completely off the hook so they do not have to deal with us anymore.

If you put all the pieces together from start to finish it shows an elaborate scheme to defraud timeshare owners. I consulted my local FBI office. The agent told me they would consider it a FRAUD CASE, however unless a large number of victims turn up they could not get involved at this time. Vacation Choices actions involve the five separate elements to prove fraud: (1) a false statement of a material fact,(2) knowledge on the part of the defendant that the statement is untrue, (3) intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim, (4) justifiable reliance by the alleged victim on the statement, and (5) injury to the alleged victim as a result.

I have also filed a formal complaint with the Washington Real Estate Commission. Christine Gibbs is listed as an
owner of Vacation Choices and Preferred Transfers and is also a licensed real estate broker in the State of Washington. I believe that real estate laws as well as a fiduciary responsibility to me have been violated. We are awaiting an
outcome.

If a timeshare owner feels they have been scammed by Vacation Choices they should file a complaint with the
Washington State Attorney General, the Washington Real Estate Commission, the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, and if your local (we're not), file a small claims court action.