We have listed our Polo Towers timeshare with this company since April 2006 for $19,800 which she (Mary Brooks) said to be no problem. We have been reducing our price. We are down to $10,000 and still no offers. We paid $499.00, we feel that they are a scam.
I absolutely agree with this. We posted out Orlando, Fl timeshare in 2006 for a price over $16 which the salesman assured us with be "no problem, you'll probably get even more" so we gladly gave them the $499 fee up front. To date, we haven't head a peep out of them and I've cut the price. The reps on the phone will not give us the slightest hint that our price is within reason or even tell us what other properties are selling for. I'm extremely disastified, and now RII Strohman is claiming there never was a satisfaction guaruntee, something we were promised verbally over the phone.
I, too, fell for this scam. Although I was only looking to rent out and not to sell, the same scenario repeated itself. Promise of a high rental... no offers... lowered the price considerably..still nothing. Gave up.
The next place I tried, US Timeshares (UST) promised to try getting this money back, claiming that RI Strohman doesn't reference Florida statutes in their marketing literature which allows individuals to recoup their money. It's been 8 months and I haven't received anything back from Strohman through UST. UST still answers their phone, but I'm planning to protest the charges on my credit card (this late in the game my CC company won't guarentee anything, but they'll put the protest through)
We fell for this scam. Our agent is Mary Brooks, it is convienent she is always out of her office and no return phone call. I'm going to contest the charge on my credit card. Great scam advertising they specialize in selling Faifield Prpoerties !
We were scammed by Rii Stroman in 2001 and reported them to BBB. Our story was very similar to most of the more recent complaints. They told BBB they would refund our money which they never did. Never pay any money upfront to any company who claims they will rent or sell your timeshare for you.
Couldn't agree with these posts more. Same thing. Didn't hear from Rii Strohman again once we paid the upfront fees ($400+) - for the entire 3 year time they "advertised" our property. Mary Lee from US Timeshare Management said she could not only get our money refunded but could have our place rented for $1500 in pocket. She required the up front fee of $800+. I was extremely hesistant, but after she hounded us on the phone for days on end I eventually gave her the money thinking I would be able to recoop the Strohman money for a net expense of $400, but like Strohman never heard from her again either. Out $1200 now. I was dumb to have been suckered twice.
To advertise, all these companies do is cut and paste canned decriptions on their websites and there is nothing that distinguishes your property from anyone elses. The descriptions are exactly the same. They don't actively try sell your property. They only wait for people to browse their website, and if they don't, it's no biggie because they already have their money.
In April of 2004 I paid rii Stroman $500 to help sale my two time shares. Never did I receive periodic reports about the sales whether by phone or mail. They basically took my money and forgot about me. I was shocked and disturbed when i saw that they have a web site. I hope others will do what I didn't, check out a company before handing over cash. They said they would have them sold well before the three year expiration. Not only was there never a sale, no correspondence.
I agree with all comments on this page. I received a mail correspondence today to sell my timeshare with this company after I wouldn't return their calls, so I decided to checkout their website to see if there were any complaints against them, well, there are. Thanks to all of you who listed your complaints and saved me the money on this one. I was not going to do it anyway as I had already listed two properties with two other timeshare companies - Vacation Register and Sellmytimehsare.com, each of who gave me the same promises listed here. Guess what, two years and not a single offer or even a hit or correspondence from either of them. All of these companies are scams and rip offs, they get the money up front, list your timeshaare on the internet and hope someone sees it and wants to buy it. That its. They do nothing to try to sactually sell your timeshare, so please do not list it with any company on the interent, it is a waste of your time and a loss of your money. Do not fall for any of these scams, please. If you want to sale one, list it in your local paper or call a resaale company in the city you bought it at, or tyr to rent it on Redweek.com (very inexpenseive) and hope someone who rents it will like it and want to buy it. Otherwise, you are stuck with it unless you pay it off and give it back to the company you purchased it from. If you want to buy one, go to a resort that you like and attend their sales presentation, see what they are selling for, ask if they have any repos, they are about a third of what the company sales one for. If you don't like any of their prices, guess what, go to the internet and type in timeshares and you will find plenty of real cheap ones from people who got ripped off like you and I did and you can buy one real cheap. Most will take any half way resonable offer because yours is likely the only one they will get. Good Luck.
I called these people after seeing an ad to find out more about them and whether or not they could sell my time share. They called me and promised me that they could sell my timeshare and that they were different than all the rest. They said they were real estate brokers and they would physically sell the property by showing it to real people and not just advertising it on web sites etc. They promised that it would sell within 6 months. They said they had all kinds of buyers and that the market was up and I would make a profit. They would not send me papers until after I let them take my $499.00 on my credit card. They said they would be in constant contact with me to update me and give me offers etc. I never heard from them again. I could not get a hold of Roger who promised me that they would sell it etc.
As fas as I am concerned they are nothing but liars, thieves, and criminals preying upon honest hard working people, just like the time share people. They use high pressure sales tactics and lie to you any time they need to to get your money.
Don't ever give anyone of these thieves any money! I am sorry I did. I wish I knew about these web sites before.
I too got ripped by these people and also some other "timeshare sales" companies. I paid rii stroman $499.00 in 2005 and never got any offers and when I asked for a refund, they refused saying that the money I paid was "advertising fees" and could not be refunded. Well, I ended up giving back the timeshares I owned in Mexico, which they took back with no problems, but the one which I own in the US refused to take back, even though it is paid for and dues are up to date. They just want to keep collecting the annual maintenance fees. I have lost a lot of money to these timeshares and to "sales" companies trying to sell them for me.