A story in the Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted the findings of a recent investigation by the nonprofit Consumers' Checkbook which found numerous timeshare exit companies have developed reputations for taking advantage of their customers based on services never provided or deceptive offers to help end their timeshare contracts.

Owners' complaints from the investigation were based on timeshare exit companies misleading owners with false promises and shady tactics. In most cases, exit companies asked for thousands of dollars in upfront fees in return for services to help owners end their timeshare contracts within a certain period of time or their money would be refunded. Yet owners were denied refunds based on contractual fine print such as failing to provide requested documents or other information within a reasonable time. Other phony tactics include enticing owners to hire an exit company in order to avoid passing the timeshare costs onto their children or advising the owner to stop paying their annual maintenance fees.

The Better Business Bureau has issued harsh warnings and bad ratings of certain timeshare exit companies and there is an ongoing investigation into Timeshare Exit Team by the Washington State Attorney General.

Owners should always contact their timeshare company first to determine what programs they offer to help end their timeshare contract - a service provided for free!

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