Timeshare developers are sneaky. They have convinced legions of people to buy their products before you, and they will keep doing it after they’re done with you. When you are up against such a large, seemingly unstoppable force, you might feel helpless. That exact feeling is what makes so many timeshare owners vulnerable to scams, like those purporting to help them sell.
In this environment, any reasonable person might reach out to a company that promises help. Keep in mind, though, that not all helpers are created equal. Some, even if they start out with good intentions, can become a waste of time. Even worse, they can add to your problems.
That is often the case with Timeshare Users Group, also known as TUG and using the websites TUG2.net, TUG2.com, and TUGBBS.com. This website is ostensibly set up to help timeshare owners with common ownership questions and dilemmas. While it might do that sometimes, you should be careful.
TUG is a business first and foremost, and if you’re thinking about using them or paying for a membership, you need to understand how their business works. In this article, we’ll look at the history and function of the TUG2 websites. We’ll also talk about why, if you are looking for a clean, lasting timeshare exit, TUG is not the right tool for the job.
Finally, we’ll contrast TUG’s services with those of Centerstone Group, an A-rated, established timeshare exit company accredited by the Better Business Bureau. Before you sign up with any service or exit company, it’s important to know what you’re getting.
TUG is a group of websites currently owned and operated by a man named Brian Rogers out of Orange Park, Florida. The websites’ stated purpose is to provide a number of services to timeshare owners.
First, there is an online community forum in which owners can come together and discuss a wide variety of topics related to timeshares. Timeshare questions or tips about how best to utilize timeshares are popular topics.
The forum section is supplemented by an “advice” section, which contains articles from a broader range of people (not just timeshare owners), including self-purported “experts” on issues like enjoying and owning timeshares.
According to TUG2.net, these advice “articles cater to the regular timeshare owner and are a must read for anyone thinking of buying or selling a timeshare and those who want to make the absolute most out of their timeshare experience!” Not included in this description at the time of this article was any mention of other types of timeshare exit strategies.
TUG2.net also boasts a “timeshare marketplace” where TUG members, or “tuggers,” can buy and sell timeshares with each other. And, it has a section devoted to ratings and reviews for timeshare resorts.
Though there is a free TUG newsletter, you do have to have a $15 per year membership to join TUG and use the majority of the site’s features.
While this may sound like a good deal, you should stop and consider for a moment. When looking at the site, you may notice a great deal of advertising. Now, there is nothing wrong with internet advertising in and of itself — lots of companies do it every day. But in this case, what deserves a closer look is who is doing the advertising.
At the time of writing this article, for example, the front page of the TUG2.net website contains a banner ad for Interval International. If that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because Interval is owned by Marriott, a major player in the timeshare business with the Marriott Vacation Club.
Interval International makes its money by selling memberships to a network that allows owners to make “timeshare exchanges” by temporarily trading resorts. (In this way, Interval is similar to RCI, an exchange company owned by Wyndham.) TUG’s advertiser list, in fact, shows Interval International as a “gold” level advertiser with the site.
Of course, TUG can take money from whomever it wants. But ask yourself this: Why would Marriott pay any amount of money to advertise on a site that successfully and consistently gets owners out of timeshare units? The answer, of course, is that they wouldn’t.
This fact explains another curiosity about the TUG websites: They don’t like timeshare exit companies. Often, they paint exit companies with a broad brush, lumping them in with scam “resale” companies.
Interestingly, though, TUG’s solution for timeshare owners is often one of the least successful: simply listing on the timeshare resales market. And the advice can be even worse than that, with some people on the site indicating that you should list your timeshare for ridiculously low prices (like $1) on eBay or Craigslist.com in order to get rid of them.
If you’re curious about the success of this resale strategy, take a look at old $1 listings like this one in Las Vegas. No one seems to be snapping up these virtually free timeshares, and they are likely not going to start anytime soon.
Though the site also mentions timeshare rescissions, they do not appear to offer you any services with getting a timeshare contract rescinded. Because these processes are time-sensitive and resorts often have little reason to cooperate, TUG’s general pointers are of little help.
The only other exit option prominently mentioned on the website is a timeshare deed-back provision. While some timeshare companies may allow you to simply give back your timeshare and be free of it and the annual maintenance fees, keep in mind that they don’t have to let you. In other words, if the resort refuses to play along, you’re stuck.
While TUG may be an OK resource for a timeshare owner who is looking to talk to other owners, it is a poor tool for getting a legal, ethical, and clean exit from your timeshare. For that, you need a company staffed with professionals with collective decades of experience in the industry. That is exactly the kind of expertise that Centerstone Group offers.
We can look at your contract and get you a rescission if possible, ensuring that the timeshare company does not simply run out the clock. If that is not an option, we can use our proprietary pressure campaign, which includes administrative complaints, to get the resort to cancel or accept your timeshare return.
We understand that sometimes, no amount of reason can help with timeshare companies. In those cases, we will help you with retaining legal counsel (from our list of trusted timeshare lawyers and law firms).
Whatever the solution, we have found the answer for many timeshare owners before you, and we can help you too. If you need to get out of your timeshare, don’t join a glorified bulletin board where you still have no clear path to an exit. Instead, trust experienced professionals to help you just like they have helped so many others.
Contact Centerstone Group today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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