The Ramsey Show - App - I Witnessed Timeshare Company Scum From the Inside (Hour 3)

Episode Date: May 26, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Anthony O'Neill. Ramsey Personality joins me as my co-host on the show today. This hour is dedicated to the timeshare world. If you have a story about your interaction with a timeshare, you think it's the best thing since sliced bread, or you got stuck in a room and couldn't get out, or you got

stuck in one of these ripoffs, this is an industry that is full of scummy actors. It is full of people misbehaving. It is a horrible product. I would never buy a timeshare in any situation. And I can tell you that hundreds and hundreds, literally thousands of times, we sit down with couples and individuals, and they own a timeshare and owe debt on it that they couldn't afford, and they can't get the use of the vacation anyway because it never has the week available that they were promised. The tradeoff points never worked the same way they said it was.

This is an industry that overall lies to its customers. They're scum. And if you want to share your story, the phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. So, Anthony, you've been on our team for many years. Yes, sir. And you've been behind the scenes when we choose whether we're going to endorse a company on a local level or on a national level. You've seen how stringent the guidelines are. I've seen this turned down more than we accept, Dave.

Yeah. We are strong here. We do not endorse something unless I would send my best friend there. Yes, sir. And you listeners are best friend there. Yes, sir. And you listeners are our best friends. Yes, sir. They're some of our best friends. We treat you like we would treat our own family.

Yep. And so if you hear Anthony's voice on something, it's something that all of Ramsey stands behind. Yes. It's a trusted brand that you can count on. Or if you hear my voice or Rachel Cruz's voice on something something it is not on there unless we have vetted the company and now are they perfect no we get complaints on every single endorsement yeah because everybody we get complaints on ourselves that's because something messes up something screws up and you know you're going to get complaints and you have to deal with it sometimes there's an actual real reason that there's a complaint on a valid business.

Sometimes the person is just a little crazy. And we run into both here at Ramsey, and every company runs into both. That's not the point. We didn't find any perfect companies. We found companies that do something that we believe in in a way and a methodology that we believe in. One of those is a company called Timeshare Exit Team. Yes, sir. We are proud to endorse Timeshare Exit Team.

For decades, I have taken calls from people who were stuck in a freaking timeshare and could not get out. Yeah. And so for Timeshare Exit Team to come along and find a way to get them out of their rip-off timeshare, I was so excited to endorse them, and I still remain proud to get them out of their rip-off timeshare i was so excited to endorse them and i still remain proud to endorse them so mike flaskey who is the ceo of one of the scummiest and largest of the timeshare companies called diamond resorts uh tweeted at me may 19th wow dave ramsey's made millions endorsing timeshare exit team who's being sued by many, including the Washington State AG. Check this story out.

Time for Dave Ramsey to check out of his timeshare exit endorsement. You know why Mikey wants us to check out of that? Because they're kicking his butt up around his neck and he's wearing it like a collar. That's why he wants us to check out of that, because they are one of the scummiest. So the deal is they've made hundreds of millions of dollars. Yes, I've been paid for our endorsement. Proudly, I get paid for our endorsement. I am a capitalist.

I don't mind getting paid for our endorsement, but we do not endorse things that we don't believe in. And, Mikey, I can tell you this. I've never had a single attorney general, like the one in the state of Arizona, who fined us $800,000 for something we were doing, which was how you settled with. They required Diamond to pay the state a total of $800,000. $650,000 will be used for consumer restitution, $150,000 for the state's attorneys and fees. This assurance also includes the relinquishment program, which requires Diamond to allow qualifying consumers who no longer want their timeshare to return them to Diamond with no further obligations.

Consumers complained that Diamond used deceptive sales practices and made numerous oral misrepresentations and false statements during timeshare sales presentations. No kidding. They're timeshare sales presentations no kidding they're timeshare salesmen they misrepresented annual maintenance fees increases membership resale and buyback programs which doesn't exist timeshare membership resale market doesn't exist the ability to rent timeshare vacations doesn't exist and discounts on other travel needs. Under the settlement, Diamond agreed to take a number of changes to its business practices. $800,000 later, huh, Mikey? Yeah. So don't call out my integrity on Twitter, you piece of dirt,

because I'll tell 17 million people how bad your company is, like right now. The phone number here, if you want to talk timeshares 888-825-5225 this same company anthony this one just boils your blood yeah i read that one dave retired christian missionaries frank and betty lusk company convinces arizona couple nearly 90 years to buy a 150 $150,000 timeshare. Guess who it was? Diamond Resorts. Salesman had convinced them to buy a $150,000 timeshare with $8,000 in annual fees.

90-year-old missionary couple. They called it a dream holiday. Actually, it was a nightmare, said Frank, 89, who was a music professor. It was the dumbest thing we ever did desperate for a way out they agreed to an exit company's hefty fees to try to negotiate an end to the contract betty an 88 year old former librarian has had insomnia and feigning spells spells from the stress she's gone to the hospital several times. The Leskos have used timeshares for years in Scotland, Florida, Alaska, Hawaii. Then they found Diamond Resorts, who lied to them in a September 2018 sales presentation and used hardball tactics that echo prior complaints from consumers, such as not adequately explaining all the costs.

$150,000 timeshare. At 90 years old, Dave. This is a company that is the worst of the worst in the business. If you want to go over to the other end of the spectrum, Disney has timeshares. Now, I'm not going to tell you to buy a Disney timeshare, but there is at least a market for it. You can sell it and get out of it. It's one of the few you can actually get out of. And they do actually not lie they do actually deliver the vacation as agreed it's still a bad investment still a bad investment yeah wind them getting ready to file bankruptcy yeah their stock's

gone to almost zero it doesn't look like they're going to make it we are projecting their bankruptcy filing any day now and they've been one of the scummier ones that's out there. Westgate, Vacation Village, just to name a few more. So if you've had a timeshare experience and you want to share it this hour, our contention is these things suck beyond belief, and some of these companies are scum of the scum. Stay away from them. We're going to talk about it the rest of the hour.

The phone number is 888-825-5225. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. For most of us, health care costs seem to increase every year, and saving money on health insurance feels more and more out of reach. For example, take the Olcheski family from LaGrange, Texas. Jeff and Carice had just celebrated the birth of a new baby boy. Shortly after, they had a health scare involving one of their kids that was completely unexpected. With today's health care climate, this could have bankrupted them.

But thanks to Christian Health Care Ministries, the Olcheskis were spared from a ton of medical bills. As members of Christian Health Care Ministries, they're part of a group of believers who financially and spiritually support each other. CHM is the original health cost-sharing ministry and is a Better Business Bureau accredited charity. It's biblical, affordable, and it shared nearly $97,000 to help the Olcheskis. To be a part of Christian Healthcare Ministries, visit chministries.org.

That's chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. Taking your timeshare nightmare stories this hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show, 888-825-5225. My co-host, Ramsey personality, Anthony O'Neill. And we're going to start off this hour with Linda. Linda's calling from Florida. Hi, Linda.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you? Great. How can we help? Better than I deserve, right? You're right. I am better than I deserve. So what's your story?

I used to work for one of the major timeshare companies. I was a paralegal in the employment law department, and my job was to defend the company from lawsuits brought by its own employees. And in a legal department staff meeting, the CEO of our company was going around giving each different legal discipline kind of kudos for what the part we play in the corporate health. And when he came to the employment law group, he said, well, the personality type that it takes to be a successful timeshare salesperson

is the same personality type that gives the employment lawyers job security. Ooh. That's a little telling. Yeah. And it's one of the big four. You work for one of the big four you work for one of the big four right yeah the the w1 the windham one that one it sounds like when the one yeah so in other words the people we hire to do timeshare sales the type of person we hire is likely to turn around and sue us well or cause lawsuits oh oh okay

well there's that yeah there was a lot of um sexual harassment and discrimination and just bad acting going on among the employees and the employees would sue the company for a bad work environment. And I personally investigated EEOC charges of discrimination and stuff, and I was fully employed. Your employment was not in jeopardy for lack of work. Not at all. Not at all. Unbelievable. How long have you been gone oh i've been gone now for about seven years i just got i couldn't take it anymore i i finally

i ultimately quit it was such a horrible work environment and i felt like i was in a little bit of a bubble because i worked for the law department i I didn't work in sales. I didn't work, you know, out there with the product. But I told people, you know, my job is to defend this company from its scummy employees. Wow. Wow. Unbelievable. So you hear stories, I'm sure, in that setting of the way the consumer was treated, right? Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, on my last day, you know, I quit,

and I was really surprised that they had me work the two weeks notice that I gave because I worked with really confidential information, and I would have thought that when I gave my notice, I would have been walked out the door, but no, because I was a good employee and they knew I would have, anyway, that's not the point. The point is on my very last day, I was working to the last minute because I was going to go out with my head held high and everybody was gone. It was five o'clock. Nobody was answering phones and I was sitting at my desk and my phone rang. And the

receptionist in the corporate office was trying to get somebody to answer the phone because there was an attorney calling with an issue. And I was the only person who would answer the phone. And so I answered and I answered my phone and this attorney was on the line and he had this elderly couple that were his clients well into their 80s who had been sold a timeshare. And he was from Alabama, and I went to Auburn, and he was in Auburn, so we had an instant rapport. And he said, now, honey, it's not that they can't afford it because they can, but they're in their mid eighties and they have no

business having this timeshare. They're never going to use it. They're not in good health. They just, you know, they, they're not going to use it. And they were just sold this bill of goods and they bought it because they're too nice to say no. And he said, I just need to know how to help them get out of this contract that they signed. And I gave him, this was like my satisfaction walking out the door. I gave him the name, the telephone number, the email, and the fax number of the person in the legal department who handles the escalated consumer complaints. And I said, what you need to do is you need to write a demand letter, address it to this person, and somewhere in your letter, use the word misrepresentation. And that is what will get the attention of the escalated people in the legal department. Because they do not have a resale.

They don't have a buyback program. They don't have a resale program. You're stuck. No, no, no, no, no. They don't want it. They don't want it. They want the fees. They want the maintenance fees that go on forever.

Yeah, you're stuck. I've tried to get people out of it for years, and I didn't know how until we got this exit team. Yeah, misrepresentation. That's the word, yeah. Because you know it happened. Yeah, you know it happened, and it happened every time. Yeah. In every sales presentation.

Because this is the type of people that, you know, that they hire is coming people who misrepresent. Wow. Yeah, and when I very first started at Wyndham, I worked for the law group that handles the advertising because timeshare is heavily regulated in every single state because they're notorious for the lies and the misrepresentation. And every state has laws about what they're allowed to say and what they're not allowed to say in their advertising. And they break them every time. There's a whole legal department that reviews all of the advertising to make sure that they're walking the fine line

and not advertising in ways that'll get them in trouble with the state regulators they have just this whole department devoted to it wow amazing wow well linda thank you for sharing uh is there anything anything we're leaving out um i'm sure that i'm i'm sure you know, I have so many years of experience, I could take up the whole rest of your show, but you don't want that. I'm tempted. I'm tempted. Suffice it to say from a paralegal who worked inside the business that the people doing the sales are scummy enough to sue their own company. And these companies regularly are misrepresenting their offering.

So, Linda, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. David is with us. David is in Tennessee. Hi, David. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Tell us your timeshare horror story. Oh, thank you very much.

We inherited a Wyndham timeshare from my dad, and we've used it a few times, and every time we go in to make a reservation, they tell us that we need to sit down and learn how to use our membership better. So we decided to take them up on that this last time that we went. So they told us to be 45 minutes. We went in. They said that they needed to run our credit in order to tell us more about our ownership. So we felt it was kind of sketchy, but we went ahead,

and since we were wasting an afternoon anyway, we let them do it. Four hours later, we left not knowing a whole lot more than we did when we started out. And the next morning, my wife got emails notifying us that they had opened up four credit cards in our name. And I assume that whenever we were signing the credit permission to check our credit, we were actually signing permission to open up credit cards, even though they didn't tell us that. We told them we did not want credit cards, blatantly, because they did ask us at one point. We said no, and we had it all filled out. They gave us an iPad to fill out and sign on, so we couldn't actually see what we were signing for.

We took them at their word, I guess, our better judgment. That was a mistake. Yes. So you either signed up for credit card applications or they stole your identity, one of the two. Yes, one of the two. And I have since gotten on all the credit check sites and had my credit locked where they can't get to it.

Fortunately, it didn't ruin our credit scores like we were afraid it was going to. I believe I'd have an attorney contact them because I'm thinking you get a free timeshare. I'm not sure you want one, but I'm thinking you get one because I'm thinking that a whole bunch of stuff was violated there. Well, this is a scummy, scummy business. Wyndham, Diamond, Westgate, Vacation Village, the bottom of the barrel. The best of the bunch, still don't want to buy from them, are Marriott on the other end of the spectrum. And, of course, Disney.

But, again, I wouldn't buy a timeshare of any kind ever in any circumstance. But you're hearing the real story about these people. you may feel like there's not a lot you can control these days but i'm here to tell you you can control your budget and you can control what you feed your family my longtime friends at e-meals are here to help they have simplified meal plans and created new recipe collections such as easy pantry meals and freezer meals utilizing basic ingredients. It has never been easier to shop smarter and stay on a budget. Try it free for two full weeks at eMeals.com. It's a timeshare nightmare hour.

What should be a dream. But everybody's heard the story. I don't know why anybody falls for it anymore. I don't know either, Dave. Why would you go, not only to buy one, but why would you go in knowing that you're going to be trapped in a room for hours on end, and you trade off a portion of your life for a free vacation and a substandard property. And that's what these things are.

Yeah. Timeshare Nightmare calls at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Bill is in. That's not Bill. Dave. Okay. You guys got to put that on hold.

Thanks. I screwed it up i can't operate anything bill's in michigan hey bill how are you hey good dave how are you good man tell us your timeshare story well i'm just uh gonna back you up on everything you're basically saying about it um i was a young guy who just got married i think it was 22 or three i guess uh when we got invited by a couple to go up to their resort that they had a timeshare with. And before we knew it, we were in a room and all the bells and whistles

and, oh, this is going to be great. And before we knew it, we were signed up as a young couple with this new timeshare and thought we'd be using it. And, yeah, a lot of misrepresentation and i think now this has been 20 years ago i own my timeshare but the the maintenance fees like you talk about i think i started at 400 a year now they're like a thousand a year whoa and we hardly use it oh yeah they've more than doubled um and i think the biggest problem how've had is inability. How many weeks do you own? Oh, when we got it, it was like 10 grand for the timeshare.

It was like 6,000 points, which this is through Blue Green. I don't know if I'm supposed to say it. That's fine. They're one of the worst, yeah. Oh, my gosh, yeah. So, I mean, there's peak time, non-peak time. So when you go to use it, obviously, if you go to peak time, 6,000 might get you two or three days, you know, if we wanted to go on that vacation. We're not great, I'm going to say, long-distance planners, if that's the term, as far as, A, let's take a vacation in three months, because you'd almost have to schedule through Blue Green, from what we found, way out further than that to get the resort you wanted to go to. I mean, otherwise you just never would happen. So basically, you've been stuck paying $1,000 a year now where your manual fees have more than doubled for something you can hardly use.

Exactly. I mean, it torques you off to no end. I mean, I was 20, so I was naive, didn't really know a lot about it. I mean, there was no people talking about it like you guys do and a couple other radio stations that I do listen to. It just wasn't out there. So, I mean, I really didn't, I don't know, I guess it was my own stupidity, not really knowing what I was getting into.

It sounded really great when we were. Well, and you were lied to. Yeah. That's what you said. Yeah. Oh, Lord. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, it's been something. So, I'm definitely finally turned a corner. And, again, we haven't used it probably in two years and would be lucky if we use it again. So I'm hoping that I can find, you know. So, Bill, real quick, to that 25-year-old, who's your age when you signed up? And they're about to go. They're thinking about going to get one. They're going for a free weekend.

Free weekend. Tell them why they need to avoid that crap. Well, I mean, yeah, they're going to get you in there, and they're going to feed you everything. I mean, it's almost like a car dealership or something. You know, the salesman, they'll tell you whatever you want to hear, and they won't read any of the fine print. And, you know, it's all there in front of you,

but are they giving you time to read it? You know, hey, take this home, take this back home take this back home because heck no if you actually took it home and read it you'd burn that thing in a minute i mean you would honestly all right bill thanks for the story man thank you joining us very cool all right up next is Jackie in Arizona. Hi, Jackie. Tell us your timeshare nightmare. Hi, Dave. Boy, I am such a fan of you, and I'm so glad you have this timeshare thing on because I am so passionate about this. Back in the 1980s, we just moved from Minnesota to Arizona,

and we never heard of a timeshare before. Then we got something in the mail. We got a $25 coupon at Home Depot or something. and we never heard of a timeshare before and we got something in the mail you get a 25 coupon to at home people or something i thought oh we like home people let's go get 25 and so we listened to the spiel whatnot when i mean we weren't making hardly anything then but um then what we bought um it was a deeded property then it was his son tara well um and then but but so anyways as the years went by we started having kids and, you know, and I'm thinking, you know, they're not going to have any places that we really would take

our kids to go to, you know, like we're doing soccer, well, you got any thing, et cetera, et cetera. So anyways, they ended up changing, they sold out to Diamond, I think it was. Yes, they did. International. Yeah. And I tell you, and all the things that Sunterra had promised us, or they said it would carry over, which was like free airline tickets, et cetera.

Well, we never did get those, and I would write letters to them. I would call them. Oh, yeah, they're coming, and then I would make documentation that what I did, and I never did get the airline tickets. Well, anyway anyways so then there was another promotion and uh so we went again again which is I don't know why but we did and then of course um they wanted us to switch from uh the deeded property to plane and I yeah I know I don't even know why why we did but did they want us but we did we did I didn't even know why, why we did, but did they want us?

But we did, we did, we didn't switch. So, and then there was another time trip company called ILX out of international. I think you're out of Arizona, um, a premier vacation club. I think it was. And then we bought with that too. Oh my goodness. You know, so now we've got all these maintenance fees, et cetera, and annual fees. And then, so then I said, you know, I thought, well, we need to talk to my husband, Charlie. He says, we need to get out of this. I said, okay. So it took, it was probably in 2007,

eight, I started writing to the company and said, we don't want the timeshare anymore. Well, I'm sorry, you can't do it. And then I even tried, I wrote to certain foundations, like the Kidney Foundation, and said that we'll give you our timeshare. Nope, they didn't want it. And then we would give it back to them, but they didn't want it. And so we ended up, I said, you know, I'm spending a lot of time trying to get rid of these things. Oh, I even paid $139 to have them advertised.

Yeah. Those lists are a complete rip. Advertise it for sale with 9 million other people that can't get rid of theirs. Yeah. Exactly. So then I would get calls from them, and then they'll say, well, we'll get rid of it for you if you pay us $500. And I said, I tell you what, I'll give it to you. And I didn't even have to pay.

I just wanted to take it, you know. But no, they wouldn't do that. So anyways, my husband says, okay, you've got a chance to spend a lot of time to work this. So we ended up giving, we ended up eventually did go to points, unfortunately. And then we went to, we gave one back to them, but we had to pay fees for a year in advance to them. It was to Diamond in its right place in Scottsdale, Arizona. And then we ended up giving another one away to a friend of his, which I don't think that was very nice.

That's some kind of friendship. Suffice it to say, you've been chasing your tail for a decade on these things, and it's not been any fun. So, yeah, the timeshare business, that's what it is. You get stuck in it, and you can't get out. And talk about something that takes up your time. Identity theft takes up your time. Payday lenders take up your time and rip you off uh this stuff anytime you make a financial mistake and timeshare buying a timeshare would be at the top of that list because the quality of the people in the companies you're dealing with is so low

you're just dealing with the bottom of the barrel from the sales people on up it is absolutely ridiculous and we've heard that from inside the company we've heard that from outside the company we've heard that from the attorney general who of arizona who announces an eight hundred thousand dollar settlement with diamond resorts for all of their lies and misrepresentation and how they'd rip the consumer off. And, you know, they appear to be the bottom of the barrel on this. $140. Yeah. And you know what?

We really weren't calling out particularly names on this show of the companies until a few months ago. And they decided they were going to threaten us, which was a mistake. Came for the wrong team. Yeah. You know, this is not, you know, if you're going to threaten us, then we're going to tell people exactly who you are, exactly what's going on. We were just trashing the industry. But we'll call you out by name, Mikey. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

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We're giving away $500 every week in May and $3,000 as a grand prize. No purchase necessary. You can enter daily to win. Go to DaveRamsey.com slash giveaway to enter right now. This is our last week so hurry so when does ramsey solutions go after an industry or even a company by name when they're screwing the consumer we stand up for the consumer yes we do so when you drove by the payday lender and saw people lined up during covet outside you immediately went to your instagram posted that and said people don't do COVID outside, you immediately went to your Instagram, posted that, and said, people, don't do that.

Don't do it. You're getting screwed. Yes. When we recognize that whole life life insurance is screwing people, we call it out. Yes. When we recognize that car leasing is screwing people, we call it out. Yes.

We are on your side. Yes. America. And it's real simple. Yeah. Real simple. And the reason why, Dave, is because we've been there. We may not have went to that specific route, but we've done stupid with money.

And so I'm so passionate about it. I wish somebody told me. And that's what I'm here for is to tell them. Yes, sir. That's what you're here for is to tell them. Yep. Tell the truth. Don't do it.

You don't need to go $100,000 in debt to go to that college you can't afford. No. You don't need to make these stupid mistakes. No. And timeshare is right at the top of the list of stupid mistakes. Yes, sir. And so we are proudly endorsing timeshare exit team to get people out of business. Yes.

Out of their timeshares until some of these timeshare companies are out of business. Yeah. It won't happen, though, because there's a sucker born every minute that will walk into one of those rooms, get locked in there and not leave for five hours and sign up. I've been in those situations. Everybody's been in those situations and everybody falls for it. Yes, sir. So I'm about done talking about these particular companies unless they continue to come at us.

If they come at us, we're going to continue to turn two million people on Instagram. Yes, sir. And 17 million people listening here loose on these companies and let you guys know exactly where they stand. But I'm going to always tell you to not do a timeshare. And I'm always going to tell you proudly to use Timeshare Exit Team to exit your timeshare. Yeah. And to get after them and get out of these stupid things. It's expensive to get out, but it's more expensive to stay in.

Sure enough. And here's the other thing. You know, we've got on the whiteboard downstairs, you know, I may spend a million dollars building a documentary with whistleblowers from inside the business and disclose every freaking detail on these people. You reckon that'd run on Netflix? It sure will. I mean, what happened when we decided to go after student loan problems?

We had eight episodes in Borrowed Future and a huge hit in the podcast world. Almost two million people have now listened to Borrowed Future. And all that was was an expose of an industry that is completely screwing the consumer and has gotten completely out of hand, and the student loans are a disaster. And we're not done. And we're not done with them. We're going to stay on them. But, you know, that's what happens when we decide to point our ability to reveal this

to millions and millions and millions of people. Yeah. And we will continue to do that. I've done that my entire career, and I will not stop doing that. As long as there are airwaves and digits to carry our voices, we're going to stand up for the consumer. Yes, sir. It is what we do.

Jim is with us. Jim is in Florida. Hi, Jim. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Tell us your timeshare story. Enjoy yourself. Well, it actually involves my daughter and son-in-law. They got married a few years ago, and part of their honeymoon, they were given a tour of one, I guess. And to make a long story short, they got snookered into one and he was underage my son-in-law was underage and they they knew it and they didn't realize it at first my daughter and son-in-law until they got home and we were i was looking at the paperwork and all that they

paid on it for sometimes but you got to get out of this so bottom line is they did we we threatened to sue them because he was underage. Yeah, a contract with an underage person is not binding. Yeah. That's right. So they got out of it. That's a good part of it. Wow.

They got out of it. So the timeshare salesman knows that this kid is not even 18 years old, and he signs him up anyway. I don't remember. I think he was under 21. Okay. I don't remember exactly, but it was under 21 okay i don't remember exactly but they realized they made a mistake they went to mom and dad for help

we got them we got them out of it wow which company was that do you remember westgate or something like that i think yeah yeah that's one of them yeah yeah they're they're right up there they're right at the bottom of the barrel with Diamond and with Vacation Village and Wyndham. That's the four that are on our radar that are given. They're the ones with the most complaints. And the biggest. You know, they're so gullible on their honeymoon.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, and they took a half a day or a day of their honeymoon, locked them in a room and wouldn't let them out. Yeah. You know, until they signed up. So, wow, underage, and they signed him up anyway. Tom is in Kansas. Tom, tell us your timeshare nightmare.

Okay, well, me and my wife are in Las Vegas, and she was going with another couple to see a timeshare presentation. I had to go find my brother-in-law at a convention there. And before she left, I said, now, you know about these timeshares? And she said, no, I know, I know. You know, we'll never get one. And so when I met her later in the afternoon, she had bought one. Oh, no.

And that didn't go over too well. I bet. Two years later, we came back to Las Vegas, and I told her we need to get out of this, and we didn't know about the timeshare exit team at that time. So we went to the timeshare people and said we went out, and they said, well, you've got to upgrade it to get some points so it's easier to get rid of. So spend more money.

We had to pay another $7,500 to get the points, and then we couldn't get rid of it either. Couldn't give it away. So they lied. And then we found out about the timeshare exit team, and it did take a little bit, but we finally got out of it. Was that Diamond, or who was that? It was RCIA, and I'm not sure

what company that was with. Yeah, because they're big in Vegas. Okay, all right. Wow. But Timeshare Exit Team got you out. Yes, they did. Okay, and it's expensive, too.

You probably paid several thousand dollars, didn't you? I paid, to get out with timeshare exit, I only paid $3,500. Yeah. But that got you out of all the maintenance fees and all the other stuff. That's usually what it costs to get out like that, yeah. And it probably took, what, six months to a year to get you out? Well, it took about two years. Oh, about two years.

Okay. Wow. But they were really busy because we kept calling they said well we're building new offices i mean it was you know they were just expanding yeah absolutely cool i'm i'm really glad they got you out man that's very cool i'm sorry it took two years wow but you're stuck with them and it's got you out that's the thing because otherwise you're stuck with a stinking thing with the upgrade points so we can get you out. I mean, how does a business just keep lying? Yeah, I was thinking about that, Dave. Like, how do you say, hey, you know what?

Upgrade to get out and then that doesn't happen. And the guy knows it's a lie. Yeah. He knows it's a lie. And then spend $140 so we can sell it for you. Yeah. Like, everything about them is just a lie, which I, and I'm confused because I'm like, how do you, how do we as a consumer continue to fall for it?

Yeah. Well, because nobody's out there squawking. So guess what? Now they got us squawking. So now. You kept poking the bear till the bear growled back. Yep. So there you go.

It's a, cause we're going to, we're going to let people know this is a, I've always said timeshares are a bad idea. Even in one of them over here at Opry Mills, I don't know what they sell, over there in that shopping center over by Opryland. One of the guys over there always tells people when they come in, Dave Ramsey owns one of them. That's like saying Dave Ramsey leased his car here at your car dealer. I know Dave Ramsey personally.

He uses credit cards. So that kind of dumb crap people spread around. I mean, geesey personally. He uses credit cards. That kind of dumb crap. People spread around. I mean, gee, man. Come on. Be original with your lies anyway. But yeah, they just make up crap. I need to get the name of that place so I trash them too. Oh, yeah. You need to, Dave. Especially as right here in our home city.

Come on, Dave. They're probably still closed for COVID right now. Anthony O'Neill, my co-host today on the Dave Ramsey Show. Stay away from timeshares, particularly diamond, people. That's what we're telling you. That puts this hour in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace,

and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.