Action 9: Timeshare Scam Frustrates Retiree

None — Retiree Tom Ellison was left with nothing more than a verbal promise of a refund after a Fort Mill company closed down and disappeared.

Ellison is an avid tennis player and loves to vacation. Last summer, a company called Time To Go Travel tried to get him to buy a $6.000 vacation club membership.

"We attended the presentation and decided it wasn't something that we wanted to do," Ellison said.

But then, an agent for the company asked if he owned a timeshare.

"[The agent] said, ‘Well if we could sell the timeshare for two or three times what you paid for it, would you be interested?'" Ellison said.

Ellison was interested and agreed.

The agent then had his timeshare appraised for what later turned out to be a highly inflated price of $23,900. A scribbled note was the only thing Ellison got in writing.

He said he paid more than $6,000 for the vacation club membership after the agent promised all his money back if the company didn't sell his timeshare by December.

The sale never happened and, before long, Time To Go Travel cleaned out its Fort Mill office and disappeared.

"So now, with the office closed and gone, that's smoke," Ellison said.

Tom Bartholomy, president of the local Better Business Bureau, has other complaints against the company. He said consumers can never be too careful when it comes to vacation club promoters.

"What we find with most of the companies doing business this way is that there is a severe disconnect between what they're telling you verbally and what is in writing," Bartholomy said.

Ellison said there's a chance he's not out his $6,000, because his club membership is backed by an outside firm and entitles him to low-cost cruises and resorts.

"The potential [is there] to continue to use the vacation club," he said. "That's a value."

But Bartholomy said members of vacation clubs typically have trouble nailing down trips.

"When you try to book a vacation, or you try to take that vacation, you can't get what you're hoping for, you can't get the week you wanted," he said.

WSOC