Transfer America review: Scam alert 29

Timeshare relief is, per se, a timeshare transfer company. According to the BBB, there is an alert the business and a total of 17 complaints since March 10, 2013. The company is NOT BBB accredited. Due to the infraction of several laws, in 2012, Timeshare Relief had to pay a penalty of $13, 950 USD:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/174-timeshare-relief/

We met with David & Nicole MacMillan on 7/16/11 and paid them $2400 to transfer our timeshare and at that time they were salespersons for Transfer America which has transferred billing dealings to several different names Pacific Property, Property Transfer ...We still have 5 incorrect Deeds in our name, property in Orlando, FL. I have spent the last 3 years and multiple heart ache in trying to deal with this Scam. If anyone reading this has an attorney already familiar with this poor excuse for a company or dealings with this group...Including Aston Marketing Group please drop me an email jeanbutts65@gmail.com

$4, 722.71 was paid to this company to transfer ownership of a time share property in March, 2011. This transfer was never completed.

We attended a seminar to sell our time share, due to a divorce. The seminar was put on by Pacific Transfer (CA, USA), we and many others were advised that their legal department specialized in these property transfers, we and others paid $4, 500 plus taxes to begin the process of getting out of our commitments with the property and future maintenance fees.
We paid by American Express on or about March 26, 2011 $4, 722.71 for our contract "Carriage Hills Resort-CT-1-0527.
I received notice from a collection agency the other day that our maintenance fees are past due and are in for collection.
This company and others I have since found out operate under a parent company called Aston Marketing Group located in California, David MacMillan CEO. They apparently open new companies regularly to continue their operations. Other known aliases; Pacific Transfer (CA, USA), Property Relief, LLC.(TN, USA), Great North Transfer (AB, CAN)(CA, USA), Pacific Property Transfer (CA, USA)and I'm guessing there are more.
The "Whois" for Great North points to a web design/host who is also trying to contact these people.
All these companies point to Aston Marketing Group and David MacMillan of Torrance California.
We were also asked to provide personal information including DL number, Passport number, Social Ins. number, DOB, etc. to allow them limited power of attorney of which we did not divulge for obvious reasons.

We are seeking to either have the contract fulfilled or all money returned along with fees in the amount of $4, 000.00. Total $8, 722.71

We've had the same nightmares that we've read on the posts. We did finally get our timeshares transferred but not until we paid those extra maintenance fees.
Don't use them!

Here is an update to our TA nightmare which thankfully ended in July 2012. I was curious if the rep at TA who had been assigned to help us with our transfer had been truthful. Her name is Jo Catalano, and she claimed in March 2012 that she had been "let go" from TA and was so sorry for how we'd been treated. She claimed that she was as upset as we were and would do anything she could to help us. She then provided us with a list of useless phone numbers! I checked the updated, 2013 TA website and Jo Catalano is listed as an employee. She was so friendly and even shared pics of her homemade quilts with us. Her fake warmth and sincerity is appalling! These well-scripted bottom feeders have scamming down to a science and need to be stopped. Be careful!

We contracted with TA in July 2011 and were promised our timeshare would be out of our ownership in three to four months. After sixteen months later, they now have transferred our 'file' to another company called Pacific Property Transfer to make closure on this deed transfer. I have caught TA in so many lies over the last year. I filed a complaint with the BBB in CA and TA smoothed over the problem with our property transfer. When I call a Rep with TA they would say they are waiting on docs from the resort and then I immediately would call the resort and talk directly to their property manager who would tell me they are waiting on docs from TA. Once TA informed me this week (11/20/2012) they transferred our file to PPT; then I demanded their phone number instead of PPT contacting me in the next 30 to 45 days. Again with PPT; I was given the same ole song-and-dance of our property transfer would be taken care of ASAP.
CET in TN

Here is an update on my timeshare Transfer America scam. After complaining to BBB (pretty useless), CA Attorney General, Ca Department of Consumer Affairs, Ca Department of Real Estate, Federal Trade Commission, writing letters to Transfer America President, David MacMillan (without any response), my local FL Attorney General, I finally got a call and e-mail from Transfer America Customer Service Manager advising me that my maintenance fee with all late and other charged had been paid.
My timeshare is still not transferred, but I will follow it through. Will write an update.

Thanks, mzkitty.
May be you can give me your name so I refer when contact your attorney.
Simon

Thank you so much for all the information. May be you can also give me your name so I refer it when contact your attorney.
Sorry for asking too many favors.
Simon Shmookler

Certainly. My attorney is Robert A. Brock and the easiest way to reach him is to shoot him an email - robertabrock@aol.com

Thanks for your comment. I really appreciate it. May be you can share the name of the lawyer and the phone, since he/she already familiar with the case. may be they can help us as well.
Thanks again, Simon S.

Here is an update regarding our transfer nightmare. My husband and I have met with an attorney who said that Transfer America did not fulfill their agreed-upon contract with us and we had the right to cancel said contract. He sent them a letter stating that since they promise a "100% satisfaction guarantee" and we were not satisfied at all, we wanted our money back, deed returned, and maintenance fees for 2012 covered. There was no response from TA for two weeks so our attorney contacted them again explaining that they would be sued if there was no reply. TA replied immediately and said that the timeshare was no longer in our names and that they had sent a check to our resort to cover the maintenance fee. They also stated that they were sorry for any delays but did not directly accept responsibility for them. Our resort is outside the US. and TA saild it will be 4-6 weeks before the deal is completely closed. We have sent copies of all correspondence with TA and our attorney to our resort and they thanked us.

I have also been interviewed on a radio program with trouble shooter Judd McIlvain where I was able to share our timeshare transfer nightmare. He wants to interview me, again, after all the dust settles. I suggest others make as much "noise" as possible about Transfer America and expose their scammy ways and contact consumer advocates through local tv and radio stations. Good luck.

We, too, have been trying since june 1, 2011, to work with Transfer America. Our maintenance fee was paid in 2011 and we were assured that the transfer would take between 3-4 months. It is now May 2012 and we are still getting the run-around; being told that we are ready to close BUT need to pay the 2012 maintenance fee. I filed a complaint with the BBB and Transfer America has responded with lies about us and our late return of required paperwork. Unfortunately, there is a consistent thread on the BBB website with many other complaints against TA that are similar to ours, and they always end in favor of Transfer America...hmm. We should have smelled a big rat early on since this company lost our original deed, told us our resort didn't exist, and said they weren't familiar with international transfers and didn't know if they could help us. We have quite a paper trail proving that what they have stated is a lie but Ms Tiffany Gooden, who we spoke with once, has never returned our calls. HEY PEOPLE, why don't we band together and give these TA people a diaper rash they won't forget! Sorry, my daughter just gave birth and I have diapers on the brain...lol. Seriously, if we can create a class-action law suit for fraud/breach of contract, we might be able to get somewhere!

My parents have been scammed by Transfer America too. They paid $3000 in July of 2011 for them to take their timeshare. In the legal agreement it said Transfer America would pay the maintenance fees for 2012. They have not, will not and are now requiring my parents to pay the fees. It is May 2012 and the transfer has not yet been made. Every time i call to talk with people at TA, i get the run around. Everyone there seems to be named "Tiffany", what a coincidence! It is a huge scam. We can't get them to do what they are contractually obligated to do and can't get our money back.

I just tryed to use my booked unit to trade into Whistler this summer. It's been getting harder and harder each year. But this year the RCI rep asked if I wanted to rent a unit. I said, "I've checked and there is no inventory in June, July, or August." He said that's just for exchange, but there is inventory if I was willing to pay $450 - $900 (depending on the size of the unit) to rent it for a week. So now the company that I've paid a membership fee (RCI) then charges me to make a trade, NOW HAS NOTHING TO EXCHANGE, BUT WILL RENT TO ME FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE! What a rip off! FP

We have had nothing but a bad experience with Transfer America. Even after they said in their contract that they would pay our next year's maintenance fee, they are not doing it. They are very slow and we are still waiting for them to finalize the transfer. I would not recommend using them!
LAM

Transfer America is a SCAM. We had some sales name- John R. Herrera and Sharon Reynolds. Once they charged on our credit card, they disappeared. We had called and left messages numbers of time. They've never response. They are liars!

Anytime you hear the name BLUEGREEN...RUN! Biggest fraud we have gotten involved into. NEVER can get the resort you are interested in... No one ever calls you back on any complaints...Terrible...

I need to get rid of my timeshare but all the thousands I have already spent should not be added onto by thousands more. Why does this company charge so much to take the deed when they are getting it free and clear?

Tug2.net is a website membership for owners of timeshares and they give great advise for a membership fee of $15.00 a year. In the past I've spent a lot of money and time trying to sell my camping membership. Finally I was able to give it away and was glad to do it because I don't care much for camping anymore. The person I gave it to was happy to pay for the transfer and paid me back for that years maintenace fee. I'm in the process of selling my timeshare right now through the free service on the Tug2 website.I will not make any money on it or come anywhere close to breaking even but I will be shed of it.

I have been tryin to sell my timeshare for the past 4 years and have lost tons of money in the process...my resort never has the trades that I want available...my mf have jumped up 300 dollars in the last 4 years and my resort is renting out the rooms at a cheaper rate then my maintenance fee...I have tried selling it for a dollar, donating to charity, giving it away to friends and nothing had worked. The resort has told me they will not take it back...other than using timeshare relief what other idea do you have...you seem to act like these things are easy to get out of but to me it sounds like you have no idea what your talking about...sounds like Ur one of the bitter timeshare owners out there who still cling on to the hope that they actually have something in value...I went to a timeshare relief meeting and was actually impressed with the way it was presented. It is expensive but if they can actually get me out of this thing then it will be worth every penny

How do you know that transfer america paid the BBB to give them a good rating?

Yes, We admit that we bought the Brooklyn Bridge when we purchase our Mexican Timeshares! Transfer America offered us a very expensive way out which at this time seems like a very good idea. I suppose we could have lost all of that timeshare and "get rid of them" fees at the tables in Las Vegas or Atlantic City so that is how we look at it. We are Very Relieved to get rid of these two timeshares! I think it was the right move since we paid for companies at three different times to sell them that DID NOTHING! If Transfer America can do this then more power to them!

I met yesterday with a Time Share relief salesperson and quite frankly, my position after attending the hour plus presentation, is neutral on this company. That said, I did contract with them to take the Manhattan Club fiasco timeshare off of my hands and did pay them via credit card for it. I believe I have 60 days to dispute a charge and I will be checking with American Express tomorrow to verify that. Some of the representations made by the speaker at the presentation did not check out. They claimed to be in the top 500 Inc - I can't find them. They claimed an A+ rating on BBB - It's actually a B rating, they claim they transfer 500 timeshares each week or 52, 000 since they began 10 years ago. I don't find that many online stories about them either pro or minus to support that level of sales. I will keep you posted as to my success or failure with this firm.

I agree with DMLindsey.

It's also interesting to note that Mr. Gilkey did not address any of the claims or concerns in the complaint, instead choosing a canned PR ploy like "we've helped thousands of timeshare owners".

The claims left unaddressed are:
1. David MacMillan owns this company as well as 3 or 4 other brands that all do the exact same thing.
2. Yeah they CHARGE people to take their timeshare.
3. They pay huge sums to the BBB to keep their ratings up.

These claims, as far as my research has led me to believe, are true. There is a post about Timeshare Relief/Transfer America on Timeshare Pages at http://www.timesharepages.com/timeshare-news/timeshare-relief-i-mean-transfer-america-or-is-it-transfer-smart/

I believe that this company is simply creating a panic and instilling hysteria in desperate timeshare owners who don't know about their other options. They bring them to seminars and do not address costs until the very end. That seems like the makings of a dishonest company.

In truth, I've found that there are other companies that will complete the transfer for under $1500. Also, as Boston Timeshare Owner said, you can also sell your timeshare back to the resort. And yes, they will in some instances take it back.

Bottom line, I wouldn't believe anything coming out of Timeshare Relief, Transfer America, or Transfer Smart. Please, save yourself thousands, and do some hard work to unload your timeshare without the hassle.

I called them and am glad I checked them out first. The man on the phone was extremely rude with me when I didn't want to drive all the way up to Scottsdale from Mesa for an appt. He called me back twice shouting at me so I reported them to the national DO NOT CALL registry because I told him to stop calling me. Very rude people.

Want to get rid of your timeshare, just call your timeshare company, they will buy back the deed. You don't have to pay thousands to do this. I sold mine back for $250.

Lucus,
I find it very suspicious and convenient on your part to defend Transfer America, after some snooping I have discovered Mr. & Mrs. MacMillan also own Aston Marketing Group the company hired to defend Transfer America's reputation. A conflict of interest don't you think. Don't worry about taking their picture off your site, I've already saved it for the upcoming criminal case.

While we at Transfer America appreciate the enthusiasm of our disgruntled competitor who posted the fake complaints anonymously, it does prove the point that you have to be very careful in regards to who you deal with in the Timeshare Industry. Transfer America helps thousands of clients on a weekly basis and we have an "A" BBB rating for a reason. Our credentials speak volumes about our company and we pride ourselves on maintaining a customer service mantra of “No unhappy client left behind.” The most important person in what we do as a company is our clients, without them we are nothing and the reason this company was started in the first place was to help people. In a competitive industry there are always people and companies who cannot stand the success of others and cannot comprehend how we can provide such good service to our clients. Our secret is the love that every employee in our company has for helping people and the desire to be the best.
If anyone has any questions about the integrity of our company feel free to contact me and I will personally address any issues you may have.

Sincerely,
Lukas Gilkey
Chief Marketing Officer
Phone: [protected]
Email: Lukas@AstonMarketingGroup.com