Safe Hands Transfers Direct Transfers Preferred Transfers Vacation Choices its all in the same. owned by the same people the scam just changes. They just got fined by the GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA ! Minnesota got hit too
Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection Settles with Time Share Resellers
ATLANTA, G., (March 27, 2012) – John Sours, Administrator of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection (“OCP”), has announced that the agency has entered into settlements with Safe Hands Transfers, LLC and Direct Transfers, LLC. The businesses, which are owned by the same principals, provide timeshare transfer and lien release services to consumers throughout the country, including in the state of Georgia. OCP began investigating the companies after receiving complaints that they were employing a variety of deceptive and illegal sales and advertising practices. OCP’s investigation revealed that the companies were sending out postcard mailers to consumers implying that they would offer consumers money in exchange for their timeshares. Consumers who responded by attending a sales presentation were instead allegedly pressured into paying thousands of dollars to transfer their timeshare deed over to the companies or to sign up for the companies’ lien release services.
Consumers who agreed to the company’s lien release services claimed that they were not informed that this might have a detrimental effect on their credit score, could result in their being subject to collections or sued by creditors or debt collectors, and might lead to foreclosure.
The companies allegedly failed to inform consumers verbally or in writing of their three-day right to cancel their contracts.
To resolve these allegations Direct Transfers, LLC has agreed to refund consumers approximately $59, 000 and to pay $37, 500 in penalties and administrative costs. Safe Hands Transfers, LLC is required to pay approximately $29, 000 in restitution to consumers and to pay $37, 500 in penalties and administrative costs. The companies are also required to cease and desist from offering and performing lien release services in Georgia.
“Consumers have a right to fair and accurate information when entering into a timeshare transaction, ” says OCP Administrator John Sours. “We’re committed to ensuring that timeshare resellers in Georgia play by the rules and that the victims of these acts find relief.”
For more information, contact Shawn Conroy, Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection, at 404-656-3790.
E-mail:
[email protected]
Ref: The Weekly.com (Georgia based newspaper/ news website) E-mail:
[email protected]
http://www.theweekly.com/news/2012/March/27/time_share.html
Vacation Choices Scam
Traveler beware: Postcards with airfare offers not what they seem
With the recent load of snow inspiring yearnings for warm weather, Vacation Choices knows it’s a good time to flood mailboxes with its postcards announcing: “You’ve been selected to receive two round-trip airfares.”
By: Mike Creger, Duluth News Tribune
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With the recent load of snow inspiring yearnings for warm weather, Vacation Choices knows it’s a good time to flood mailboxes with its postcards announcing: “You’ve been selected to receive two round-trip airfares.”
As everyone should know by now, anything offered for free, unsolicited, is likely too good to be true.
A reader in Duluth called the News Tribune to report her experience with the travel package company after she received a postcard. Many people have received the cards, including some at the News Tribune.
They come with the logos of airlines — Allegiant, Frontier or Delta — and an 800 number to call. The reader called the number and was told that she and her husband could fly anywhere in the United States if they simply went to a 90-minute presentation at a local hotel.
Allegiant isn’t aware of the company, but a representative said they will look into it. The fine print on Vacation Choices postcards says “this offer is not sponsored by or affiliated with” the major airlines and the logos they place on the cards.
Although there is no purchase required, the reader said she ended up buying a travel package but is now having some remorse and has begun researching the company.
A newspaper in Oshkosh, Wis., recently reported that police were warning residents about similar postcards from Vacation Choices there. The police said people were asked to show up at the hotel presentation with two forms of identification — a driver’s license and a credit card.
Vacation Choices is listed on several consumer advocate web sites with comments from people across the country who have received cards. They note that while the pitch session is only a matter of losing 90 minutes of your time, the actual deal, even if you don’t buy a package, isn’t that great. There are fees and other costs that add up to a price you would pay to fly without the deal. Commenters also said there were restrictions on where you could fly.
The Better Business Bureau in Washington state, where Vacation Choices is based, rates the company with a B-minus. Complaints it received dealt mostly with how the company advertises.
A representative from Vacation Choices responding to a request for comment from the News Tribune referred all inquiries to the company's website at www.vacationchoices.com.
