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As a frustrated timeshare owner who wants nothing more than to get out of a contract and move on, it is easy to look at timeshare exit companies as knights in shining armor. They are coming to save you from the timeshare developers and finally turn you loose into a brighter future.
Unfortunately, reality doesn’t quite line up with that illusion. Yes, timeshare exit companies can be tremendously helpful, and working with one might be your best way to get out. However, there are plenty of companies in this space – like any other market – that aren’t worth your time and attention.
To help you avoid the worst of the timeshare exit companies on the market, I’d like to outline some specific things to look for when picking a partner to work with on this project. Making the right choice can save you both money and frustration, so it’s worth your time to do your homework and make a sound pick. Let’s get started!
The First Warning Sign
I would consider a lack of experience as the first main warning sign that working with a given timeshare exit company may be too risky to consider. You want to see that an exit company has gotten results for other clients so you can feel good about what they’ll be able to accomplish for you when working on the project.
Experience in the timeshare space is important because the agreements that govern timeshare ownership all tend to work in a specific way. If you partner with a team that doesn’t have much experience in this space, they might not know what to look for or what methods are likely to be successful given your situation.
Fortunately, the timeshare exit companies that you see continuing to last in the market tend to be those that are able to deliver results for their clients. Plenty of businesses come and go in this space, including those you see marked on our homepage with low grades, but it doesn’t take all that long for the best ones to rise to the top.
Putting Your Money at Risk
It should go without saying that you are going to have to pay a timeshare exit company in exchange for their services. That’s just how business works – nothing comes for free. Of course, if you can get out of your timeshare as a result of the work the exit company does, that investment will be more than worth it in the end.
But how do you know that the exit company is going to deliver after you pay them the money upfront? Simply put, you don’t. You’ll be taking a significant risk by turning over your money and then just assuming that they are going to be able to get the job done. This is why one of my top tips for timeshare owners is to only work with exit companies that use escrow to keep your funds safe. The worst timeshare exit companies won’t offer this feature – they will just want you to pay them (at least a portion of the money) at the start with the assumption that they’ll get you away from the timeshare in the end.
Don’t put your money at risk after you have already paid so much to the timeshare itself. Instead, be stubborn about working with an exit company that uses an escrow account to keep your money safe from start to finish. This is an arrangement that will let you sleep better at night and it will lead to better results in the end.
Giving You Bad Information
One thing that ties a lot of bad timeshare exit companies together is the fact that they will regularly give poor information to their clients – or even to prospective clients. This is why it’s important to go into this process with at least a background education on how timeshare exits can work and what should be avoided. If you don’t have a little information already in mind about this process, you may go along with bad ideas that are presented to you by the exit company that you choose to work with.
For example, if a timeshare exit company tells you that the best way to get started is simply to stop paying your maintenance fees, run the other way. They are taking you down a bad road that is in no way going to improve your financial position. This is a company that should be doing everything it can to help you achieve a positive outcome, and nothing positive is going to come from falling behind on your bills and making this problem even worse.
A Poor Reputation
Thanks to the power of the internet, it doesn’t take long at all to research companies and figure out who has a good reputation in their industry. This same tactic works for timeshare exit companies just like it works for restaurants, hotels, and everything in between. Take a moment to search the names of all of the exit companies you are thinking about working with and you’ll quickly gain a better picture of who the respected players are and who should be avoided.
As always with online reviews, you want to carefully go through the reviews and only put stock in the bigger picture rather than any one single review. If you find a company that has plenty of quality reviews and just one or two bad ones, it’s still likely that this company does good work overall. Something unusual may have happened with those couple of bad reviews, or those reviews might not even be real. It’s the overall picture that the reviews paint that is really what you should be concerned with in the process.
Ignoring the Recission Period
I try to make it as well-known as possible to anyone I talk to about timeshares that using the recission period is easily the best way to get out – as long as you act quickly. If you only purchased your timeshare a few days ago and you now want to reverse that decision, you may be able to do so on your own at no cost. The exact length of the recission period varies from place to place, but it’s often somewhere from five to ten days.
So, what does this have to do with bad timeshare exit companies? A dishonest company that you turn to for help shortly after buying a timeshare might not tell you about the recission period – because there is no way for them to make money if all you have to do is write a letter to be free of the timeshare’s obligations. So, they could either ignore this possibility, or move slowly enough to make sure the recission period passes before they start working on your case. This is a shady tactic that you can avoid simply by not contacting an exit company if you only recently purchased the timeshare – just get out of it on your own and you’ll be glad you did.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s unfortunate that there are bad actors in the timeshare exit space, but such is the world of business. The good news is that you can find a reliable company to work with if you do a little homework, and ask plenty of questions. Speaking of questions, here are three more that might be on your mind, along with their answers.
Q: Are there any good timeshare exit companies?
A: Absolutely – there are plenty of solid exit companies that will do their work with your best interests in mind. Once you know what to look for, and once you understand what to avoid, finding a good option shouldn’t take long at all.
Q: Is it really worth paying a timeshare exit company?
A: It can be, but not in all cases. If there are other ways to get out of your timeshare on your own, spending money on an exit company is simply not required and you might as well save the cash. Only when you are out of other viable options should you invest in this kind of service.
Q: Will using a timeshare exit company hurt my credit?
A: Not if you work with a good exit company that understands the process and isn’t going to put your credit at risk. If you encounter a company that tells you to just stop paying on your timeshare right away, that’s a business that doesn’t respect your financial future and you should turn in another direction.
Gather Information First
Before you jump into any kind of agreement with a timeshare exit company, your first step should be to collect information and determine which company can be trusted to deliver the results you deserve. That’s not necessarily an easy task, but it does get easier with assistance. Reach out today at 833-416-8796 to learn more, or try out the live chat feature here on our site. It would be an honor to serve you!
