Timeshare Exit Team Ratings and Reviews: Check It Before You Exit Your Timeshare

Update: Timeshare Exit Team has closed. In September 2021, the company’s owners, Reed Hein & Associates, were ordered to pay up to $2.61 million to Washington State in a lawsuit that was referenced below when the article was originally posted. The state attorney general’s office said the company advertised a 100% money-back guarantee, but in reality, many customers did not get refunds, even after several years. Timeshareexitteam.com now shows the following message:

You can find more information about the court ruling here.

A timeshare may seem like a great idea at first, but the costs — loan payments, annual maintenance fees, taxes, utilities, special assessments — add up, becoming overwhelming for owners. That’s where timeshare exit companies like Timeshare Exit Team come in.

Timeshare Exit Team, like many other timeshare exit companies, promises to help timeshare owners wave goodbye to that lifetime contract they no longer want – or can no longer afford. However, some timeshare exit companies use shady practices that end up costing customers thousands of dollars. Does Timeshare Exit Team deliver on its promise to help clients legally escape their timeshare contract? Read on to find out.

Who is Timeshare Exit Team and What Do They Do?

Established in 2012, Timeshare Exit Team (previously “321 Exit Team”) is a timeshare exit company based in Kirkland, Washington. The company operates under Reed Hein & Associates, LLC and has over 30 offices across the country.

According to its official website, Timeshare Exit Team has one simple goal:

To provide people a way to get rid of unwanted timeshares with minimal hassle.

Since its establishment, Timeshare Exit Team has worked with more than 19,000 timeshare holders to exit one or more timeshare contracts. As is common with other timeshare exit companies, this company mainly works with clients who have proof of misconduct, false information, or coercion into signing a lifetime contract.

As one of the largest timeshare exit companies, Timeshare Exit Team stands apart in a few ways. For one, they offer a 100% Money-Back Guarantee to clients should they fail to help them exit their timeshare contract.

They also offer prospective clients a free initial consultation to determine the gravity of their situation. Further, the company has a team of exit specialists who handle current clients’ cases and keep the clients informed of how things are progressing.

However, Timeshare Exit Team is not without its flaws. Before choosing to work with them, here are some things you need to know:

• The company’s owners did not have industry experience prior to establishing Timeshare Exit Team, meaning they may be less knowledgeable than competitors. In fact, the company outsources many of its cases to third-party vendors who have more experience.
• Timeshare Exit Team does not have an escrow payment option. This means, if the company files for bankruptcy, they are not obligated to honor the 100% Money-Back Guarantee.
• The company does not have an attorney-client relationship, meaning they decide at their discretion whether to acquire an attorney on the client’s behalf. Further, the company does not prioritize getting an attorney, and instead opts to try to negotiate or transfer the timeshare back to the developer or another owner. Since an attorney is typically the best way to legally get out of a timeshare contract, this may result in a lower success rate.
• Some of the company’s exit practices are risky from a legal standpoint. For instance, they may advise clients to stop paying their monthly or annual fees while they handle the case. This could result in foreclosure on the property or other legal problems.

Finally, Timeshare Exit Team is not entirely transparent with its process. While the website does mention the company has had success in the industry, there are no specific numbers or percentages to indicate this.

Timeshare Exit Team’s Timeshare Exit Costs

Like many other timeshare exit companies, Timeshare Exit Team does not publicly state the cost of service on its website. Part of this may be due to the fact that costs vary based on such factors as how many timeshares the client owns and how much they still owe.

Although the exact costs are not clearly displayed online, customer reviews indicate an average cost of around $4,000. Some reviewers mention paying between $6,000 and $8,000, while a few report higher fees. The company also appears to require clients to pay the full amount for service upfront or in installments over several months to a year.

Timeshare Exit Team’s standard business practice is to first make several attempts to either transfer the timeshare back to the original developer or to a new owner. The company states it will not sell the timeshare without permission, however. If they fail to transfer the contract, they will then seek an attorney to help the client get out of the contract legally.

Can You Trust Timeshare Exit Team?

This timeshare exit company had largely positive reviews up until 2021. As of the time of this writing, Timeshare Exit Team is not accredited on Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has an “F” rating. This is due to the following factors:

• Failure to respond to multiple complaints, with 18 complaints currently unresolved
• 386 complaints filed against the company in the past three years
• Failure to honor its money-back guarantee to customers, even after several years

On Trustpilot, the company has 2.3 out of 5 stars with 1,139 reviews. On Yelp, it has an average of 2 to 2.5 stars, depending on the location. The reasons for the negative reviews are largely the same as on BBB.

What’s Good About Timeshare Exit Team

• Timeshare Exit Team offers a free consultation and a 100% Money-Back Guarantee if it fails to get a client out of their contract.
• They have a lot of helpful resources and information on their blog and FAQ pages.
• Some reviews indicate successfully getting out of their timeshare within 18 months.
• The company focuses on helping clients take control of their situation and gain freedom from their timeshare.

What’s Bad About Timeshare Exit Team

• The company does not prioritize using an attorney to get out of the timeshare contract safely and legally. This could cost the timeshare owner more money or make it more difficult to escape the contract.
• Many online reviews, as well as their overall rating on reputable sites like Trustpilot, Yelp, and BBB, are negative. These reviews appear to have become progressively worse since March 2021.
• Some of the positive online reviews are by celebrities like Dave Ramsey, so it’s difficult to gauge the authenticity of them.
• Costs of using the company’s services vary widely, from an average of $4,000 up to $8,000 or more.
• The company does not clearly publicize its business practices or success rate online.
• Many customers do not get their money back, even if the company does not resolve their case.

Lawsuits Against Timeshare Exit Team

Since its establishment in 2012, Timeshare Exit Team has been involved in several lawsuits. Here are some of the most recent ones.

State of Washington vs. Reed Hein and Associates, LLC

In 2020, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Timeshare Exit Team on the following grounds:

• Despite offering a 100% Money-Back Guarantee, the timeshare exit company has not consistently honored this promise. In fact, many customers who have requested this refund have not received it even after several years.
• The company considers foreclosure on a timeshare a successful exit, despite the damage to customers’ credit, and so does not provide refunds for this reason.
• Thousands of Timeshare Exit Team’s customers have still not received a positive outcome for their case, despite waiting for years for a resolution. This includes over 2,800 Washington State residents, and thousands of other customers who’ve paid anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 to the company for their services.
• Out of around 30,000 customers, some of whom have multiple timeshares, around 17,000 of these cases are still pending. 8,000 of these cases have gone on for at least 2 years, while another 4,600 cases have been pending for 3+ years.

In response to the lawsuit, Timeshare Exit Team has agreed to do the following:

• Pay $2.61 million to any Washington State residents who were harmed by their timeshare exit practices, as well as partially reimburse litigation costs.
• Adjust or discontinue misleading advertising tactics and timeshare exit methods.
• Inform customers of the potential downside of exiting their contract, such as the possibility of foreclosure.
• Inform customers that they may outsource the customer’s case to third-party vendors.
• Honor its promise to provide the refund on failed timeshare exits.
• Set aside 20% or more of customers’ payments for refund purposes.

Should Timeshare Exit Team fail to uphold its end of the deal, it may face greater repercussions, including over $19 million in penalties.

Diamond Resorts, Inc. vs. Timeshare Exit Team

In May 2021, Diamond Resorts, Inc., the largest timeshare operator in the nation, filed a complaint against Timeshare Exit Team, stating:

• The timeshare exit company uses deceptive and potentially illegal practices to successfully help clients escape their timeshare contracts.
• The company uses misleading advertising and other business practices that result in timeshare owners refusing to make payments to their timeshare, which potentially leads to foreclosure on the property.
• Customers have lost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in upfront fees to a company that does not have the knowledge or ability to provide the service they promise.

Timeshare Exit Team does not appear to have responded yet.

It’s worth noting that Diamond Resorts has filed lawsuits against several other timeshare exit companies, all with similar allegations. Whether the lawsuits’ claims turn out to be valid will be up to the courts to decide.

Other Lawsuits

In 2018, Wyndham Resorts filed a lawsuit against Timeshare Exit Team that legally prevents the company from providing its services to any existing Wyndham customers who have an outstanding balance on their timeshare. Timeshare Exit Company has settled this lawsuit and agreed to pay $1,000 per day per violation of this agreement.

Online Reputation

Timeshare Exit Team has hundreds of reviews from current and past customers online. Most of these reviews are on Trustpilot, BBB, and Yelp.

BBB:

Trustpilot:

• On BBB, Timeshare Exit Company has an average of 4.27 out of 5 stars out of 582 customer reviews. However, there have also been 386 complaints in the past 3 years. 106 of these complaints were closed in the past year.
• Depending on location, the company has 2 to 3 out of 5 stars on Yelp.
• On Trustpilot, 1,139 customers have reviewed the company and given it 2.3 out of 5 stars with a “Poor” rating.

Here’s a sample of the most recent consumer complaints on BBB.

Most of the recent reviews on Trustpilot have also been negative. The most recent positive review was from May 2021 by a customer who was invited by the company to review them. Here’s a sample of customer reviews.

Timeshare Exit Team’s Website

When it comes to the company’s website, it appears to be straightforward, easy to navigate, and customer-focused. Timeshare Exit Team offers a free consultation on their site that asks for the following information:

• Your name
• Basic contact information
• How you heard about them
• Information about your situation

The entire process is easy. Once you’ve scheduled the free consultation and decided to go with them, the company sets you up with a dedicated team for your case. This team handles the rest from there, while keeping you informed.

Besides this, Timeshare Exit Company lists the following claims on its website:

• “Regain Your Freedom: Get out of your timeshare once and for all.”
• “We’ve helped thousands of people exit their unwanted timeshares.”

Although the website seems user-friendly, it doesn’t provide a lot of specific details about the company’s success rate. Instead, it provides information about the problems with the timeshare industry.

For example, it mentions statistics about the percentage of timeshare owners who have lifetime contracts. It also mentions how many timeshare owners have listed their timeshares on eBay for $1 or less in an effort to get out of them.

As for reviews, Timeshare Exit Team has a screenshot of positive reviews from BBB, Google, and Trustpilot. While this looks good on paper, it isn’t consistent with the actual reviews on these sites.

Social Media Presence

Timeshare Exit Team has claimed several social media platforms. By the numbers:

• Facebook: 8,862 people like the company and 8,959 people follow it. The most recent posts were back in March 2021, which is consistent with around the time the online reviews started to turn negative. There is also minimal sharing or comments from followers.
• Twitter: The company has 237 followers and follows 64 people. The most recent tweet was also in March 2021. Tweets are mainly about how the company can help people exit their timeshare legally and safely.
• Instagram: Timeshare Exit Team has 216 followers and 255 posts. Most posts are images from their main website or information about their services.
• LinkedIn: The company does have a LinkedIn page and employees, but this page is not very active.

The Bottom Line

When all’s said and done, the average timeshare costs around $22,942 per interval, according to a 2019 survey from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), meaning many owners end up wanting to escape from their contract.

Finding a reputable timeshare exit company that also emphasizes transparency and has a high success rate is difficult. Although Timeshare Exit Team has been around since 2012, the company has always been transparent with clients. Plus, though the company had many positive reviews in the past, most of the reviews from the past seven months have been negative.

With the 100% Money-Back Guarantee and the customer-friendly vibe of their website, Timeshare Exit Team may seem like a good option for those who are struggling to get out of their timeshare contract. In practice, however, it appears that the company does not always follow through on its promises.

Before choosing any timeshare exit company, check out its business practices, the way it advertises itself online, and what people are saying about it. Following these steps will help you avoid falling victim to yet another timeshare scam.

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