Relief Solutions International is a timeshare exit company based in Springfield, Missouri. They have technically been in business since 2008, but they were recognized by the Better Business Bureau in 2012. They claim to be the easy, affordable solution to timeshare scam woes but though companies make this claim, we know they often don’t live up to the expectation. Can RSI change our minds?
Relief Solutions International Website Review
If you’re looking for the term red flag in the dictionary, you may just find this website. We had to find their website link from their Better Business Bureau page and even then it was broken. The landing page immediately says you can’t find what you’re looking for and you won’t see anything until you navigate to their ‘About Us’ page.
It doesn’t get much better from that point. They only really list the reasons why you might want to get out of a timeshare and that they will only accept payment for services they provide, but they do not list those services. They then provide a page for their contact information and that is the entirety of the website and while short and sweet can be helpful, it isn’t what you want from a company that is going to provide a legal and financial service.
Typically our review of websites tends to be longer, but with little to no substance and a broken landing page, we’d like to focus more on their reviews and testimonials. Where the website is highly lacking, you’ll find reviews and complaints in droves on Yelp and their Better Business Bureau profile.
Relief Solutions International Reviews
RSI LLC has a shocking 2.85 out of 5 ratings and an F from the Better Business Bureau who has not accredited this business. They have 12 customer reviews on their BBB page and a startling 160 complaints, 60 of those closed within the last year and 100 of those within the last three years. On Yelp they have 1.5 stars and 19 reviews in total and only three of those are positive reviews.
Without even reading these complaints and negative comments, we are already set on high alert that this is a scam. A company may get one or two complaints or a negative review or two and still be considered a viable choice, but this is completely unacceptable. Not only do their complaints and negative reviews outweigh the positive, but they also have an F rating from the Better Business Bureau which takes more skill to accomplish than you’d think.
There are a small handful of good reviews that are pretty generic in their content. They thank RSI for helping them get out of their timeshare and that they had been scammed by other timeshare exit companies before. This seems to be the generic schtick we see from a lot of 5 or 4-star reviews on timeshare exit company pages, that they are essentially unlike any other company in the market. We don’t put a lot of stock into these types of reviews as they often pit other timeshare exit companies against them in order to make them look more credible, but it often has the opposite effect.
It makes the client wonder why their own accomplishments didn’t stand out as much as the fact that they were better than a bad company. We also don’t like that many of the positive reviews mention you need to be patient in order to receive good results from this company. This is concerning considering you may still incur maintenance fees and other yearly costs from your timeshare while you’re waiting to be released from your contract.
The negative reviews are even more concerning than the positive ones, most of them are claiming they paid fees anywhere from $5000 up to an alarming $20,000 in the span of time they have been working with the company. There were even some commenters saying that they had been told the release would take twelve to eighteen months, but they still haven’t had results five years later. Many of these commenters are also claiming that they asked for refunds after years of no contact or movement on their cases and were asked for more money or called uncooperative.
The Better Business Bureau has even issued a statement that they do not recommend conducting business with this company as there has been a trend of complaints of fraudulence, failure to honor contracts, failure to cancel timeshares in the timing promised, and failure to issue refunds. When the Better Business Bureau is even claiming you’re a scam, it is safe to say that the company is a scam. But let’s dive a little into the complaints that have been brought up against them.
Multiple complaints mention that several thousand dollars were exchanged and yet nothing was done to get them out of their timeshares. The company itself was responding to comments explaining that clients weren’t eligible for refunds, though they were quickly shut down by clients saying they had asked for a refund before their eligibility ran out and they wanted their refund to be honored. This seems to be a common thread in most of these complaints, not to mention many customers mentioning that their money was taken and time passed but the company ultimately withdrew without helping them.
The general gist of these complaints seems to stem from Relief Solutions International promising to release clients from their timeshare in 12 to 18 months and then the clients receiving no further contact or having to jump through hoops to get anything done. They also complain that exorbitant fees were taken from them and that when asked for updates or even refunds due to inactivity, they are denied. This is without a doubt improper business practice and it helps you understand why the Better Business Bureau has warned individuals about conducting business with this company.
One of the most immature things to read as a response from the company is that their client is not entitled to a refund if the process has not been completed when they are not conducting their business as advertised. Clients are being told they are ineligible for a refund because the process has not been completed, but the company is often taking 3 years or more to even get anything done. Not to mention, they are asking for extra fees and changing who their clients are working with repeatedly within their legal team.
This screams to us that even if the company is a scam, they are completely unprofessional and are falsely advertising their services.
Relief Solutions International Cost
This is something we’re not entirely sure about, and from the evidence, we’ve seen we don’t know if there is even a method to their madness. They appear to charge clients anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 initially and then are asking for more money to process paperwork or work with their legal team further. Some clients have stated they’ve allegedly spent from $14,000 to $20,000 on this service alone.
While we aren’t sure how much of that rings true, it seems to be a recurring theme that this company charges $500 to $2000 in additional fees after the first payment. They then take more than the 18-month maximum to get anything done on their client’s cases. Most of what we’ve seen has stated that they greatly surpassed the 12 to 18 months and it has been 3 ½ years with no progress.
This is exactly why we believe escrow payments are so important. They save clients from having to pay expensive fees upfront without any work being done on their cases. With escrow payments, you can be assured that your timeshare exit company does its job before your money is released to them.
To find out more about escrow payments and why they are so important, take a look at our blog.
Summary
If it wasn’t already evident at this point, you absolutely should not use Relief Solutions International as your timeshare exit company. Not only does their website not provide any relevant information, but it also has no landing page that is currently active and unbroken. Furthermore, the Better Business Bureau has issued a warning for any clients who might still be considering RSI that they should avoid them at all costs.
They have received multiple warnings and complaints from dissatisfied customers that this company does not deliver on their promises, refuses refunds, and misleads clients. There are 160 of these complaints available to be reviewed on their BBB profile and you can also find more unhappy customers in their Yelp reviews. For a company who has been in business for as long as they claim to be, you would expect more positive reviews to help balance out the negative ones but there are very few.