Dave Ramsey on DVC

[mz-s]

Guess what? TET doesn't tell those owners that. They give them the same "You are doomed unless you have us help you" line that they give to the people who really do own the albatrosses.

The difference is: They don't actually do anything for the albatross owners other than cash the check.

Caveat emptor - and that does not mean the company is a scam. It just means the buyer needs to be aware. But I guess if people followed that maxim, they wouldn't be in the position of needing a timeshare exit broker to begin with.

 

[lilsonicfan]

There’s a great segment on Last Week Tonight about timeshares and timeshare exit companies - I love John Oliver and watched this right as I was buying into DVC lol

 

[Brian Noble]

Caveat emptor

Of course. But that’s not made easier when some folks claim a disreputable company is something other than what it is.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

If everyone did everything themselves, Jiffy Lube would not exist for one thing. Not everybody wants to go to the effort.

This isn’t Jiffy Lube. This is literally people who take your money to at best just have you default on the loan and take the credit hit and at worst take your money and do nothing. These are all scams. Nobody should ever under any circumstances give a dime to a company that promises to help you “get out of” your timeshare. Again, this isn’t a close case, and the advice you are currently giving is really bad.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

There is "paying someone a reasonable fee for not doing it yourself" and there is "paying someone thousands of dollars to do nothing."

Timeshare Exit Team is the latter for anyone who actually needs help. They are very good at disposing the Marriotts and Hiltons of the world for those same thousands of dollars for a timeshare that the owners could list on ebay and get paid for. So those owners are out the thousands of dollars plus the potential sales price if they'd just listed it themselves.

In other words: You are just plain wrong. Spend some time over on TUG hearing the horror stories of this and similar companies. They are very real.

For anyone reading this thread who happens to own a non-Disney timeshare that they want to get rid of, but don't know how, TUG is a good place to start. It's a community of very knowledgeable timeshare owners who can tell you (a) if your ownership might have at least some value if you sell it, (b) whether you have something that you might plausibly be able to give away to someone who is looking to "adopt" a timeshare, or (c) whether you have something that is truly an albatross, and what your options are at that point.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/how-to-sell-your-timeshare-and-avoid-getting-scammed.44/

This is good advice. To repeat, under no circumstances give any money to anyone promising to help you get out of your timeshare. They are all crooks and the poster above posting otherwise is just wrong.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Caveat emptor - and that does not mean the company is a scam. It just means the buyer needs to be aware. But I guess if people followed that maxim, they wouldn't be in the position of needing a timeshare exit broker to begin with.

They are scams because they are all lying about what they actually do. Jiffy lube doesn’t promise to change your oil and then fill your tank with water.

 

[mz-s]

They are scams because they are all lying about what they actually do. Jiffy lube doesn’t promise to change your oil and then fill your tank with water.

They get you out of the junk timeshares, yes they typically employ methods that you could do yourself with a little research. But as I said earlier if the folks in these situations knew how to do basic research they wouldn't have bought the junk timeshare to begin with.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I'm gonna need everyone to pause a few minutes while I switch from coffee to popcorn...

 

[kboo]

I have only recommended it to a couple people as well. One of our friends said it looks like we really enjoy it and they asked about getting info. I recommended for them not to do it because they are NOT planners. But we have other friends who "check all the boxes" that I recommended it to. They are now hunting that perfect resale contract, lol.

We have some friends who have 4 kids and the means to do DVC without financing. They go every year, and we usually meet up in the parks when we are there at the same time. But they are also the opposite of planners ... and so DVC not recommended for them. LOL.

They have a great time and somehow manage to make things work, but I could not do it that way for a week.

 

[Brian Noble]

They get you out of the junk timeshares,

No. They don't. You are wrong. There are many (many!) examples of people who were promised this and for whom the company (a) did absolutely nothing and (b) who are still stuck with the credit consequences of defaulting on a timeshare loan.

My advice: Take the L and move on. I'm moving on, whether you do or not. Translation: welcome to my ignore list.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

They get you out of the junk timeshares, yes they typically employ methods that you could do yourself with a little research. But as I said earlier if the folks in these situations knew how to do basic research they wouldn't have bought the junk timeshare to begin with.

That's great that you can be so empathetic towards people who've made a financial mistake and bought a junk timeshare (usually after an incredibly high-pressure sales pitch full of lies). Those people should not compound that mistake by giving additional money to liars and thieves. Timeshare Exit Companies are liars and thieves. I am confident that anyone with any experience in the timeshare industry (who is honest), will tell you the same thing. I am confident that all of the reputable brokers for timeshare resale will tell you the same thing. Timeshare Exit Team (whom you posted earlier was not a scam) is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits and criminal/regulatory investigations and actions. Stop posting bad information.

Edit, anyway, back to the original subject of this thread: Nobody should listen to anything Ramsey has to say about DVC (or really anything else), because Ramsey was on the take for TET. The John Oliver segment linked upthread has a nice takedown of Ramsey because of this.

 

[Nursemanit]

It would be nice if Dave Ramsey stopped telling people that you can rent cars without a credit card - I hate being behind them in line at Orlando airport.

 

[DonMacGregor]

It would be nice if Dave Ramsey stopped telling people that you can rent cars without a credit card - I hate being behind them in line at Orlando airport.

Or a debit card and an Uzbekistani passport...

 

[DVC Newb '23]

There’s a great segment on Last Week Tonight about timeshares and timeshare exit companies - I love John Oliver and watched this right as I was buying into DVC lol

I saw this segment while we were in ROFR for our first contract too lol. Thankfully, I had done enough research to know that Disney was a rare exception!

 

[Brian Noble]

because Ramsey was on the take for TET.

I'm a little more charitable about this. DR hates timeshares with a white-hot passion. And in fairness, that's not a terrible position to take by default: The typical timeshare business model is at best unscrupulous, and at worst flagrantly dishonest. Unless someone has done a fair bit of research in advance, they are better off staying far (far!) away from a timeshare sales pitch.

DR is also an entertainer, and makes his money by people who advertise their services on his show, via his website, etc. I have no idea whether or not he vets most of those businesses, but most businesses are at least moderately ethical, because so are most people. And, those businesses probably benefit a lot from that promotion, because DR's brand is no-nonsense I'm-on-your-side advice. When he plugs a business, that's got to help--and the principals of TET said as much, attributing DR's show to an order-of-magnitude increase in business.

So along comes TET, who would like to advertise and pay the fee to be listed on his preferred vendor list. The have plenty of testimonials and nominally seem like an okay idea. DR hates timeshares (and again, probably fairly) so why not include them in his stable of preferred vendors? And if they are willing to pay for an on-air promotion, that's okay too. After all, timeshares are evil and this is a way to stick it to them.

The problem is that, unlike most of DR's advertisers, TET does not exactly have clean hands when it comes to the ethics of business, and has a lot in common with the timeshare developers when it comes to business models. And, a lot of people called the show out on it. DR then doubled down, and as far as I know to this day has stuck to his guns. Not particularly surprising, because DR's brand and business would take a pretty serious hit if he came out and said "Whoops, sorry, I was totally wrong about those guys!" In particular, all of his other advertisers are not going to be happy if that happens. Not one bit. So of course that's not going to happen.

TET no longer advertises on DR. DR's public stance is that they "can't afford to" because of the lawsuits. I would not be surprised if TET's absence has more to do with DR's team deciding that they'd rather cut bait, but of course I have no specific evidence for that. Just a hunch. It's also possible that TET cut the relationship because it created so much bad press for them, but I suspect that's less likely.

-----------------
At the end of the day, there is no magic bullet to void a legally executed timeshare sales contract, and no company can promise you that they can do that. They can write a nastygram to the developer and hope the developer blinks and takes a deedback in lieu of foreclosure. But the developers know that these companies have no teeth behind that letter, so if they want to play hardball they will. A local lawyer can write the same nastygram for a couple hundred bucks, and have a better chance of winning this game of chicken, because they are an unknown entity.

 

[RoseGold]

Back when he was advertising this stuff, another big advertiser was some kind of supplement called "Royal Jelly." I doubt that was the pinnacle of science.

 

[Nursemanit]

Back when he was advertising this stuff, another big advertiser was some kind of supplement called "Royal Jelly." I doubt that was the pinnacle of science.

Supplements and cure alls and timeshare exit companies are all the same scam

Desperate person + offer to help for a small fee + worthless product = $

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

DR then doubled down, and as far as I know to this day has stuck to his guns.

This is the part of it that makes him in on it, in my opinion. You're right, maybe he didn't vet them initially and was just ignorant of what they were while he took their money. I can't condemn him for that. But then it becomes painfully obvious to everyone that they are a borderline criminal outfit (if not outright criminal) with thier lies, deception, and thievery, and Ramsey just kept doubling down in his support of them. That's the point, in my opinion, where Ramsey crosses the line.

At the end of the day, there is no magic bullet to void a legally executed timeshare sales contract, and no company can promise you that they can do that. They can write a nastygram to the developer and hope the developer blinks and takes a deedback in lieu of foreclosure. But the developers know that these companies have no teeth behind that letter, so if they want to play hardball they will. A local lawyer can write the same nastygram for a couple hundred bucks, and have a better chance of winning this game of chicken, because they are an unknown entity.

Yep, this exactly.

 

[cgard87]

Dave Ramsey is a risk averse person, gives a lot of bad information for those who are financially responsible... take his "advice" as useless if you know how to spend correctly

 

[Brian Noble]

those who are financially responsible

It's interesting to wonder how big that set is.

For example, I'm convinced one must understand (or at least appreciate) the time value of money to properly value any transaction--such as a loan or an investment--that takes place over time. Knowing this principle is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for financial literacy.

Take a random sample of 100 people. How many of them understand this?

Edited to add: I'm also reminded that I'm probably the last person who can rationally evaluate whether or not I "know how to spend correctly," because my emotions are also involved.