Exit By Owner is a timeshare exit company based in Ormond Beach, Florida that has been in business since 2018. They claim to have a team of experts that have the combined experience to make their three years in business mean that much more. While they have a plethora of reviews for their meager three years, does that mean they will be successful in getting you out of your timeshare?
Exit By Owner Website Review
The immediate impression the website gives is unprofessional. The logo at the top left to represent the company should be clear and well-made, but instead it is fuzzy and squished. It barely fits into the spot that has been designated for it and looks incredibly unprofessional. You want your website to make a good initial impression and unfortunately a poorly designed logo won’t do that for your company.
The website design itself looks cheap and a little cheesy, not giving the professional air that you’re looking for in a company that’s supposed to help you legally get out of your timeshare. They claim they pride themselves on being a viable solution for exiting your timeshare, but it seems they don’t even take pride in providing a well-made website to potential clients. These days, your website is the first thing your clients will see to represent you and the design is not going to make clients feel very secure in their choices.
The further you go on their website, the more unimpressive it becomes. They have a section labeled Exit Options, where they barely describe what options are available to those seeking release from their timeshares. They offer a reversal of the contract, a reversal of the mortgage, or an outright cancellation. The wording of this section is also weak and doesn’t seem like the company really knows what they are talking about, or they are trying to be vague on purpose.
They have a section detailing their process, which is something you don’t see from a lot of exit companies. They have it separated into six steps, starting with contract signage and copies being made. They will then get a call confirming details and ensuring they have everything needed to help get you out of your contract. You will stay in communication with your case manager as they send copies and negotiate on your behalf. As soon as things are taken care of you’ll be released finally from your contract so you don’t have to live with the burden anymore.
While this is a fairly concise list and promises plenty of communication and advocacy on your behalf, there is no guarantee they hold up to these promises. There is also no mention of payment, which we don’t recommend trusting right off the bat. There is no obligation when you initiate contact with them, which means no payment upfront, but that still doesn’t give us a solid idea of how much it is going to cost when you get into business with them.
We also recommend you go with companies that offer escrow payment so your money stays with you until your contract has been handled properly. If you want to know why escrow payments are so important, take a look at our blog for more information.
Their team member page is succinct and to the point as well as their contact page. All in all the website is fine as far as content goes but the design leaves much to be desired. It doesn’t come across as the website of a professional company and that doesn’t make us very confident in their abilities as a timeshare exit solution.
Exit By Owner Reviews
The reviews for this company are surprisingly plentiful for a company that has only been in practice since 2018. On their Better Business Bureau page alone they have 51 reviews and 4 complaints against them, which while that doesn’t seem like a lot, is pretty concerning for a company only in practice for three years. They also have a hefty reviews section on their website that has about forty reviews, from what we can see are mostly unique to the website. The two sets of reviews don’t share many similarities.
One of the reasons we think they might have so many reviews is based upon two negative reviews that claim they spam you with phone calls. They apparently have local telephone numbers so you’ll pick up, not thinking that it is a cold call, and you get sucked in. Two negative reviews listed at one-star back this up by claiming that they were called even though they are on the do not call list.
Exit By Owner does respond back, stating that they are not a scam company and they have put the individuals on the do not call list for their own business rather than the national registry. While there is a bit of back and forth here on whether or not they constitute as telemarketers, we were far more interested in the four complaints filed against them to the BBB.
The first upset client claims that Exit By Owner said they would get them out of their timeshare in a year but asked for an upfront fee of $3,190. This was not completed and they were given another year to do so allegedly before the client would be refunded but there has apparently been no communication and their maintenance fees are coming up again. The company fired back, claiming the client was offered a settlement but that she never responded.
Another two claim they paid nearly $3,000 but there was no communication on whether the task of exiting the timeshare was completed or not. There is subsequent back and forth on both about refunds and whether or not it was the responsibility of the client or the exit company to follow up and do paperwork. The last complaint echoes what we saw in some of the 1-star reviews about spam calls.
It seems that Exit By Owner conducts a lot of their business through cold calling which is something that scams typically engage in. The company gets very aggressive in their last statement against this complaint, claiming this is defamation and libel and that the posts should be removed. While we don’t know which is in the wrong without proper proof, the three posts that talk about cold calling are enough to make us assume it is Exit By Owner.
The business is also not considered accredited by the Better Business Bureau even though they hold a 4.8 out of 5 ratings.
Exit By Owner Cost
While we aren’t given much to go on from their website to tell how much they will cost you upfront, from the reviews we can take a guess that it is typically in the ballpark of $2,800+. This is a hefty sum to pay upfront and especially if you aren’t sure the work is actually going to get done. This is why escrow payments are so important in these cases as it saves you from being one of these individuals who is waiting on a refund they may never get.
We are given the guarantee that they offer a no-obligation consultation but once they have your contact information it may only encourage them to keep contacting you even if you don’t want to utilize their services. We don’t like when companies are vague about how much they’ll cost you, so it is important to ask upfront questions in your consultation and try to ensure they won’t dodge them.
We do recommend you try and find a company that offers escrow payments so you don’t end up in the same boat as some of their dissatisfied customers. But barring that you should look for an honest company with testimonials that back up what they seem to be portraying.
Summary
Exit By Owner is not the timeshare exit company that can do it all. From the reports we’ve seen it seems more like a company that is mainly focused on gaining clients by conducting cold calls rather than collecting them organically. We prefer to recommend companies that have a defined mission and work ethic that speaks for themselves, along with a professional online presence.
Clients should not be submitting multiple complaints to the BBB in the process of getting their timeshare contract canceled. Not to mention the company itself isn’t even considered accredited by them. Save yourself some time and some heartache and look for a company with a deeper online presence that can back up its claims with cold, hard, facts.
You’ll also want to keep an eye on any company that doesn’t offer up pricing, but there are mentions of hefty upfront fees in their reviews. You’ll want to vet the company carefully before you enter into any contract with them and put money down on their services. All in all, you just need to be smart and safe when it comes to choosing the exit company for you.
It is hard to go from one scam to another, so don’t let yourself be taken in by companies that don’t offer the information you’re looking for to get started.