How to Negotiate a Timeshare Exit and Get Results

Trying to extract yourself from timeshare ownership is no easy task. Standing in your way are the timeshare resorts — huge companies that have devoted millions of dollars and decades to crafting contracts that are tough to escape. When you’re up against such daunting foes, learning how to negotiate a timeshare exit is a tall order.

Fortunately, Centerstone Group, the premier timeshare exit company and a leading resource of free information about exits, can help you find your way when planning your negotiation and exit strategy. Whether you are a new owner having second thoughts or a veteran of vacation ownership who can no longer tolerate the ever-rising annual maintenance fees, we can help guide you in winning your freedom.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how to prepare for a timeshare exit negotiation, what you can expect a developer to do, and the helpfulness of having an experienced timeshare exit company at your side.

How Can I Prepare for a Timeshare Exit Negotiation?

However you end up deciding to proceed, the one step you will always need to take is reviewing your timeshare sales contract in full and understanding exactly what it says. That agreement will give you the facts you need to both understand your exit options and what the timeshare developer will likely do in response to your requests.

For example, the purchase agreement will tell you:

• If you have a deeded real estate interest: It’s important to know what you own. Do you have a deed to real estate at specific timeshare properties, vacation club points, or some novel combination of the two? Generally, having real estate puts you in a stronger position, though it may also make you vulnerable to foreclosure if you don’t pay your mortgage or other fees.
• Whether you can rescind or cancel your contract: If you’re a recent purchaser, you may be able to completely cancel your timeshare contract under the rescission period (also known as a cooling-off period) set by state law (the state where you bought the timeshare). If you do the rescission correctly, there’s no negotiation needed. You can cancel the contract and get your money back.
• Whether your timeshare developer is in the United States: Some timeshare companies are based in other countries. (For example, Vidanta is a Mexican developer.) Foreign companies will be subject to different laws and, therefore, will have different rules for how to negotiate a timeshare exit.

Reading and understanding the timeshare agreement is one of the most important things you can do to prepare for negotiating a timeshare exit. Unfortunately, lawyers often draft these agreements in arcane, confusing ways, so if you don’t have an experienced professional helping you, you’ll be starting at a disadvantage.

What Types of Concessions Can I Reasonably Expect From the Resort?

You should expect timeshare developers to give up very little in any negotiation. Any person who’s ever tried to call a developer at their phone number can tell you how hard it is to even speak to a human being. Even assuming you can get through, resorts don’t want to give up their main source of income (i.e., owners paying them hefty annual maintenance fees and other costs). 

Larger timeshare companies may try to convince you that they have their own exit programs (sometimes called deed-back programs) that you can use. 

Wyndham, for example, loves to tout its Wyndham Cares program, and Marriott has a similar exit program. First, don’t expect to even get through the door unless you are current on all mortgage payments and maintenance fees.

Second, be prepared to sit through even more presentations from salespeople trying to keep you in the club and even sell you more stuff you don’t need. It’s less a buyback program and more of a chance for the developer to convince you to stay around even longer.

What you should know about these offers, though, is that they only work if the developers let them work. Only a certain number of people are let into the program, and the rest are either outright rejected or put on a long waiting list. If you are trying to negotiate a timeshare exit, you don’t have that kind of time, and you don’t want to be put through the runaround.

Should I Negotiate Directly With the Resort or Use a Third Party?

You’re not likely to make much headway if you try to negotiate with a timeshare company yourself. This isn’t the time to DIY. It’s better to use an experienced third party to conduct negotiations and exit strategies. 

For example, the Centerstone Groups team has collective decades of experience in the timeshare and exit industries. Also, unlike other timeshare companies, we have the experience and necessary knowledge to conduct exits with Mexican timeshare developers. Whether we are assisting with a timeshare cancellation letter or our proprietary pressure campaign, our team excels at getting the job done for you as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We’ve helped thousands of timeshare owners achieve their exit. As an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), we have an A+ grade and achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 4.78-out-of-5 stars. 

We also offer a wide range of tools to get you the help you need, including an escrow option and the ability to assist with timeshare transfers. If we determine you need legal advice or help with a legal action, we can help you get discounted legal consultations with timeshare lawyers or law firms. Finally, we can also watch out for your credit score during the process, as we offer credit repair and monitoring services.

You certainly can try going through the process alone, but involving professionals will make the process less stressful and far more likely to end with a positive result.

Seek Out Experts in How to Negotiate a Timeshare Exit

Smart and capable people often struggle with learning how to negotiate a timeshare exit because of how complicated developers make the process. Asking for help from a team of experienced professionals is the smart move when you are going through the delicate process of getting out of your timeshare purchase.

Contact Centersone Group today for a free consultation and case evaluation, and we’ll start you down the road to freedom from your timeshare.