Last summer, my husband and I got suckered into one of those timeshare talks while on vacation. We ended up buying into the "trial program". It wasn't overly expensive, only about $1000, and we would receive 1-week at one of their resorts and a "price freeze" should we decide to buy in after that. After returning home and reviewing the package a little more closely, we decided that we wanted to cancel the trial package. I did a little research online and found that we had 7 days to cancel a timeshare. I immediately sent a certified letter to the resort company requesting to cancel the purchase agreement. They never responded and I ended up calling them to see if they had received my request. They confirmed that they did but that it was non-cancellable.
We stopped the autopay that we had set up on a credit card. From that time on, we began to get collection letters. I contacted the real estate commission for that state and asked for this to be investigated, to which I received a blanket letter from them stating that they tried to mediate but that the resort refused to resolve this. The resort basically stated that it was not cancellable and that we owed the money.
What I am wondering is, what happens now? The resort said they would continue to pursue this issue through third-party collectors. If I legally am obligated to this debt, why wouldn't they just take me to court? Why would they continue to draw this out? What effect will it have on my credit score? Anyone ever been in a similar situation? I should also note that we never used this vacation package. It expires July 2009. The total due has now escalated to about $1500 due to their "late fees". I don't want to ruin my credit over $1500, but I also don't want this package. Any suggestions? |
