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Safely Buy, Rent, or Sell Timeshare Online

Safely Buy, Rent, or Sell Timeshare Online

From New Hampshire to New Zealand, you hear the same message: be alert for internet fraud and internet scams.

Because our company, Sell My Timeshare NOW, uses the internet to advertise and market timeshares for sale or rent by owner, I have a real concern for how people perceive online commerce and what they can do to keep themselves safe.

So first, let me share a few of the things I found just last week, searching online:

The Rockford Register (Rockford, Illinois) says the Illinois State Department of Revenue is warning businesses about web-based scams. In particular, they are warning about companies that advertise on the internet that they will provide a service for a fee when in fact, it is the same service anyone can receive free from their state government. Examples include filing certain types of taxes, obtaining an Illinois Sales Tax Resale Certificate, or receiving a “Business License Compliance Package.” Every bit of this is information or a service for which there should be no charge. These types of scams are found across the US and all around the globe.

The New Zealand Herald reports, “Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing criminal activities…and includes…financial scams, computer hacking, downloading pornographic images, virus attacks, email stalking and creating websites that promote racial hatred.” The article goes on to refer to a report by British parliamentarians in which the internet is described as the, “lawless Wild West”.

The Colorado Gazette acknowledges the growing threat of internet-based fraud, but takes a more optimistic view in an article titled, “A Little Caution Can Stop Most Scams”. The article offers three scenarios which almost always prove to be fraudulent: (1) A long-lost relative from a foreign country leaves you money. (2) An investment opportunity promises large returns and zero risk. (3) A broker calls you offering a mortgage with unbelievably low monthly payments.

Right here in my own state of New Hampshire, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte reminds people to act with caution when they sell items over the internet. In an Associated Press article, which appeared in the Concord Online Monitor, Ayotte is quoted as saying “red flag transactions” include those where the buyer provides a check or money order that is more than the selling price of the goods, accompanied by a request for the seller to mail some of the money to another person.

When you want to rent, buy, or sell timeshare online, you can do it safely and with confidence if you start by dealing with a reputable timeshare company. Look for someone who has a track record verified by customer comments and endorsements. Look for a timeshare company that practices transparency in their business and shows you how they use the internet to attract timeshare buyers and timeshare sellers to their website, as well as how many people are actually visiting the site each day.

When dealing with a timeshare advertising and marketing company, ask up front what services you will be receiving for your money. Ask if they offer a refund in the event that your timeshare sells at the same price through an advertisement placed on another website. Also, check to see if they are a bricks and mortar business—that means, are they a real company, with employees on-board, rather than a one-man band operating out of a post office box?

Reliability Online

It is also a good idea, when dealing with any company for the first time, to check both the State Attorney General’s office for the state where the business is based and the Better Business Bureau. The key piece of information to learn is that the few complaints filed have been resolved.

Sadly, in 2006, nearly 700,000 people reported fraud, scams, or identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission, and many more cases go unreported. As Robyn Caffasso, senior deputy with the district attorney’s office in El Paso County, Colorado, said in the Colorado Gazette, “Scams have always been around, but the format and nature of them change. They are changing with the times.”

Changes at the Timeshare Owners Blog

Changes at the Timeshare Owners Blog

Did you notice anything different about the Timeshare Owners Blog last week?

Our goal with the blog has always been to bring you news, advice, insights, and opinions about the timeshare business and timeshare resale industry. We want the Timeshare Owners Blog to be a place you come, not only when you want to buy timeshare or sell timeshare, but when you want to learn more about the opportunities of timeshare rental, timeshare resorts, and the range of opportunities and options associated with vacation ownership.

If you are a regular reader of the Timeshare Owners Blog, you know that we don’t just write about timeshares only, but we also provide you meaningful news about travel, vacationing, and the hotel and leisure industries, as well. And none of this will be changing at the Timeshare Owners Blog!

What has changed is that we have started bringing you the timeshare vacation news—not just four times per week—but now on a five and often six-times per week schedule.

You can expect to learn more about all that’s good (and not so good) about timeshare sales, timeshare exchange, timeshare promotion, and generally what’s hot and what’s not in this business. Along with the industry news, we will go on sharing travel tips, and talking about real estate, sports, social trends, weather, and current events that we know are also on your mind and part of your life.

When I started writing the Timeshare Owners Blog, now more than two years ago, our company, Sell My Timeshare NOW was still very new. And while I founded this company because I a saw a genuine need to help improve and expand the way people buy, rent and sell timeshare, I don’t know that I ever realized how responsive and enthusiastic people would be to both our business and our blog.

Thank you to the thousands of readers who visit our blog each week. Your readership tells us that you like what we are doing. So in response, we are now providing you more timeshare news and timeshare views, more often. And more reasons to read the Timeshare Owners Blog!

Still Time to Plan a Labor Day Holiday Timeshare Vacation

Still Time to Plan a Labor Day Holiday Timeshare Vacation

Do you have Labor Day plans? Will you let this last chance for summer relaxation slip unobserved into the cool weather of autumn, or will you take advantage of a holiday timeshare vacation?

For many people, the long Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer vacation. Kids get ready to go back to school, beach time gets scare, and the picnic basket is packed away until next season.

Still time for a holiday timeshare vacation

But you may still have time to book a timeshare rental at a fabulous price and enjoy one last weekend of summer. Act fast and you may be able to take advantage of the opportunities in timeshare resales and timeshare rentals and plan a wonderful holiday timeshare vacation.

Many people just don’t realize that timeshare rentals are available. They incorrectly assume one has to buy a timeshare or join a vacation club in order to enjoy the wonderful locations and fabulous amenities timeshare resorts offer. But Sell My Timeshare NOW advertises great deals on timeshare rentals and timeshare resales. These are resort properties that you rent or buy directly from the person who actually owns them—no developer acting as the middleman and adding on extra fees. And while you have probably waited too late to book a Labor Day weekend hotel or motel, and you may still be able to rent a Labor Day holiday timeshare.

Timeshare rentals become available because the timeshare owner is unable to use his or her timeshare unit. Many property owners opt to rent their timeshare as a way to offset their annual fees, which they must pay whether they personally use the timeshare unit or not. Unlike hotels and vacation cottage rentals, which will always charge you the highest fee they can command, many timeshare owners are only looking to offset their own annual expense by renting all or part of their timeshare interval.

And renting timeshare at the last minute, even waiting until now to plan a Labor Day holiday timeshare vacation, can still mean you are on track to enjoy an incredible timeshare deal.

A recent Hotwire.com survey lists the following locations as the top-ten destinations for Labor Day 2007:

  1. Chicago, Illinois
  2. New York City, New York
  3. Atlanta, Georgia
  4. St. Louis, Missouri
  5. Boston, Massachusetts
  6. San Francisco, California
  7. New Orleans, Louisiana
  8. Las Vegas, Nevada
  9. San Diego, California
  10. Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia

If you are interested in exploring timeshare rentals (or timeshares resales) at these popular destinations, here are some links to Sell My Timeshare NOW timeshare rentals:

Belize Timeshare and Jamaica Timeshare After Dean

Belize Timeshare and Jamaica Timeshare After Dean

This posting of The Timeshare Owners Blog is rather long, but I want to provide you a comprehensive report on timeshare resorts in areas affected by Hurricane Dean.

As reported previously in the Timeshare Owners Blog, the timeshare resorts of Cozumel, Cancun, and the Caymans may have missed the worst of Hurricane Dean. And while Belize and Jamaica took harder hits from the storm, the resort areas escaped severe damage. Overall, it was the Costa Maya region of Mexico (just north of Belize) and Martinique that suffered the worst destruction from Hurricane Dean.

On August 19, 2007, Hurricane Dean passed 40 miles south of Jamaica. By 21 August, the airports in Kingston and Montego Bay had reopened but across the island, there are still some power outages and problems with water supplies and transportation in certain areas.

The Travel Diva, Ellen Creager, reported on Thursday that, “Major tourism properties in Jamaica, the rest of the Caribbean and Mexico are mostly intact”. She also says that the north coast of Jamaica (where most tourism properties are located) had much less damage than the residential areas on the island’s southeast side.

A phone call to the Sandals Grande Ochos Rios Beach and Villa Resort assured the Timeshare Owners Blog that the timeshare resort is open and operational for business. Club Caribbean, which is part of the DeCameron All-Inclusive Hotels and Resorts vacation club network, reports no damage at Royal DeCameron.

Here is a list from the Jamaican Tourism Board, of facilities that have reported damages. You may read the full list at the Tourist Board’s website.

  • In Montego Bay Coyaba and Tryall Resorts report minimal damages.
  • In Kingston the Pegasus Hotel is temporarily out of service.
  • In Ocho Rios, only the Bahia Principe and Heart Academy report damage and they identify it as minimal.
  • On the Southcoast and in Mandeville, the following resorts report damages and you are advised to contact the resort directly to confirm their availability and operational condition: Appleton Estate, Astra Hotel, Golf View Hotel, Holland Bamboo, Jake’s, Lovers Leap, Mandeville Hotel, and Villa Bella.

We also have reports from Marriott that the Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort, Rose Hall is reopen as of Friday, August 24, 2007. The telephone number to call if you have further questions about Marriott properties in Jamaica is (800) 228-9290.

British nationals experiencing problems in Jamaica can call (+44) (0) 20 7008 500 for assistance. US citizens in Jamaica who require assistance should call (202) 501-4444. For information about US citizens in Jamaica you may call 1-888-407-4747 from the US or Canada.


The website for Belize Emergency Information is a good resource for getting updates about your Belize timeshare or Belize timeshare resale. Director of Belize Tourism Tracy Panton says, “With no major damages, most of the country’s hotels and attractions are welcoming guests merely one day after the hurricane passed”. The Belize Tourism Board reports water, electricity, and telephone services have been restored except in the northern Corozal District.

I do not have specific reports on the status of the Seven Seas Resort Timeshare, the Grand Colony Island Villas, or other Belize resorts and Belize timeshares, but you can contact the Belize Tourism Board at 1-800-624-0686 for further information as it becomes available.


…More Updates on Resorts and Timeshares throughout the Caribbean

The Cay Compass News Online reported, “At the Hyatt Regency, guests will be returning to the hotel on Thursday,” according to Diego Concha, general manager. They also reported that the Westin, Comfort suites, Cobalt Coat, Sunshine Suites and Compass Point were all also accepting guests on Tuesday, the next day after Hurricane Dean passed through.

The Grand Caymanian Resort reopened on Wednesday, August 22, and the Cay Compass carried this quote from Don Foster at the resort, “Timeshare people generally have a specific week and many of them are still hoping to get something out of it. If the visitors can make it down to Cayman on Wednesday they still have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to enjoy their vacation, for them it’s still worth it.”

On August 22, Marriott issued a news release saying that the Marriott International’s properties in Cancun were open and operational, including The Ritz-Carlton Cancun; the JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa; and the Casa Magna Marriott Cancun Resort. Marriott hotels scheduled to reopen on Friday, August 24 include:

  • The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
  • Grand Cayman Marriott Resort
  • Courtyard by Marriott Grand Cayman Hotel
  • And in Jamaica: The Ritz-Carlton, Golf and Spa Resort, Rose Hall

And as one last important note: The loss of life due to Hurricane Dean is its most devastating aftereffect, and Sell My Timeshare NOW mourns with the rest of the world over the 13 (and perhaps more as yet unreported) lives lost due to Hurricane Dean.

Second to the sorrow of loss of life is the loss of income sources for so many of the storm’s victims. Dominica’s Agriculture Minister, Colin McIntyre reports that the island has lost 99 percent of its banana crop. The islands of Martinique and St. Lucia also report losing their entire banana crops, while damages to Jamaica’s crops are still being assessed. The aftermath of Dean will linger long after the sunshine returns to Caribbean skies.