Do you want out of your timeshare, but find the process overwhelming? You’re not alone. Timeshare contracts are designed to make it as hard as possible for you to get rid of your “investment.” This is why so many timeshare owners hire professional timeshare exit companies like Resort Relief to help them get out of their contracts.
Obviously, before you hand over your hard-earned money to an exit company, you want to make sure they’re trustworthy — and not a scam. So, will Resort Relief help you get relief? Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
Who is Resort Relief and What Do They Do?
Based on legal filings, it looks like Resort Relief is owned by Kevin Hanson. According to the company’s website (which we’ll talk about later), Resort Relief is:
“We are professionally recognized in the industry as the “go-to” people if you want to legally cancel your contract, and obligated debt to your timeshare resort. …we will help evaluate your situation and discuss your options to legally cancel your timeshare contract using attorneys to represent you.” (Source: Resort Relief website)
Resort Relief lists Conroe, Texas as its home base for operations. They say they specialize in the following services:
- Timeshare termination
- Timeshare deed transfer
- Resale counseling
They also offer to help vet other timeshare termination companies for you.
One thing that is different about Resort Relief is that they do not promise to take on every case that comes their way. Instead, they promise to evaluate every case that comes their way. Then, if they think they can help you, they will take you on as a client. The language on their website makes it seem like the company is very selective about who it will help and who it will refer to someone else.
Resort Relief Timeshare Exit Costs
We couldn’t find any information on what Resort Relief charges its clients. Their website FAQ states:
“Yes, there is a cost associated with our service. Our service is simply that, service that yields results. Because each case is unique, you will need to call and speak with one of our Timeshare Counselors to get a price quote.” (Source: Resort Relief FAQ)
It’s not uncommon for a timeshare exit company to fail to disclose costs on its website. After all, there are several factors that can affect the overall cost. But in this instance, even the company reviews don’t offer any clues.
Can You Trust Resort Relief?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Resort Relief is a trustworthy company. We couldn’t find anything that makes it seem even like it’s currently a legitimate company — let alone one worth trusting or paying.
In spite of claiming to be in business for seven years, Resort Relief isn’t rated by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Two complaints have been filed in the last year, and neither of them has been resolved. There is one customer review, and it doesn’t say anything good about the company. Oddly, another Resort Relief review cites “positive reviews on the BBB,” but when we visit the page, there are none. Even the lone reviewer mentions “all of the other reviews.” We searched for alternate pages under the same company name and found nothing. Where did the reviews go? It’s a mystery and definitely a warning sign.
At one point Resort Relief seems to have had an affiliation with Castle Law Group. Both were named together in a lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that though the company is run by executive Kevin Hanson, it was — at least at the time — owned by Sean Austin. As we can’t locate much information on either individual, we will have to assume that the court filing is correct. Kevin Hanson’s LinkedIn profile refers to him as Founder/CEO of Resort Relief, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Austin doesn’t have a connection to the company. The lawsuit said Austin was accused of luring timeshare owners via fraudulent and deceptive advertising and direct phone calls to retain Castle Law’s services. Austin has also been named in several ethics complaints. It’s possible that Hanson took over as owner at some point, given that he has been named as owner in several other lawsuits that we will get to later. However, all of this is another big red flag.
To avoid these types of situations, try to choose a timeshare exit company that offers an escrow option, which will protect you if the company suddenly shuts down or declares bankruptcy.
The situation is even bleaker on Trustpilot, where Resort Relief doesn’t have a listing at all. Trustpilot is popular and people usually enjoy posting their reviews (both positive and negative) when they have a service that warrants mentioning. In this case, the total lack of information is concerning.
What’s Good About Resort Relief?
As far as we can tell, there isn’t anything good about Resort Relief.
What’s Bad About Resort Relief?
The Resort Relief website insists that “We have been the model for many copycat companies.” However, except for a few identical websites using a variety of different URLs, a few reviews, and a couple of filed lawsuits, there’s not a lot of evidence that Resort Relief actually exists.
Lawsuits Against Resort Relief
As previously mentioned, there have been a couple of lawsuits filed against Resort Relief and its founder/CEO Kevin Hanson.
Orange Lake and Wilson Resort Finance vs. Resort Relief, Kevin Hanson (and others)
In 2017, Orange Lake Country Club Inc, and Wilson Resort Finance LLC filed a complaint against several companies including Resort Relief. By 2018, that original complaint had been modified to include the following:
- Tortious Interference with Existing Contracts
- Civil Conspiracy
- Violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA)
- False Advertising and Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act
- Contributory False Advertising and Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act. Doc. 223.
Basically, Orange Lake and Wilson Resort Finance were complaining that Resort Relief (and others) had engaged in false advertising designed to get people to violate their agreements with the plaintiffs.
In 2018, Resort Relief’s lawyers quit. By April of 2019, they had not found new representation. Most of the other defendants in the complaint had responded by this time but Resort Relief and one other defendant had not. The plaintiffs requested a default judgment against Resort Relief in April of 2019. You can read the full complaint here.
Westgate Resorts Ltd vs. Resort Relief, Kevin Hanson, and others
Westgate Resorts filed their complaint at around the same time as Orange Lake filed theirs. Like the Orange Lake complaint, Westgate alleged that Resort Relief and Kevin Hanson had engaged in false advertising designed to encourage people to violate their Westgate contracts.
Westgate also filed for default judgment in 2019. You can learn more about the case here.
Online Reputation
The couple of reviews we could find did not paint Resort Relief in a good light.
Better Business Bureau
The lone reviewer at the Better Business Bureau, Gwendolyn, had this to say:
Since there was only one review on the BBB site and it was Gwendolyn’s, we’re not sure what they mean when they say, “just like all the other reviewers.”
RipOffReport.com
There were seven listings for Resort Relief filed over at RipOffReport.com. Most of them said the same things: the person paid money for a service and the company took the money and ran. Here is just one review from confirmed author “Joe” from Hawkley, Texas.
Resort Relief Website
First, let’s talk about the fact that Resort Relief uses several URLs:
The content at each of these URLs is almost exactly the same. There’s nothing nefarious about this: a lot of companies will purchase multiple URLs to claim variations of their business names and then have all those URLs send visitors to a single, central site.
What’s noteworthy here, is that this is not a company getting the same URL but with .com, .net, .org, .whatevs or thecompany.urlthing, acompany.urlthing, thatcompanyurlthing.
Instead, the URLs are distinct. One of which presents the company as attorneys. There is no evidence that anybody associated with this company is a licensed attorney.
The content of the site paints Resort Relief as the timeshare exit company. It claims that other exit companies have copied Resort Relief’s model. It talks about how complicated getting out of a timeshare can be. There is a blog with one entry. There is a news page with one non-dated entry.
What the content does not do is say anything specific. It does not name the owner. It does not say which timeshare resorts the company has worked with in the past. There are no client reviews or testimonials.
As far as contact information goes, both “TimeshareAdvocacy” and “ResortAttorney” have a phone number prominently displayed on the site, a contact form, and a contact button that will allow you to send an email to “kevin [at] timesharegone [dot] com.”
If you type in the phone number displayed on the website, it leads to a line that rings and then sends you into a voicemail control feature that asks you to “please enter password.”
If you click on the phone number displayed on the website, it calls a different number than the one displayed. That phone line doesn’t even ring. You’re simply greeted with a voice apologizing because the line’s voicemail isn’t yet set up.
The email address for “Kevin” goes to a domain that is parked at GoDaddy but does not have an actual site.
The “ResortRelief” website is only slightly different. There is a street address listed in the footer The phone number is different. This phone number leads to a line that will ring, but eventually, you get sent to a voicemail box that hasn’t yet been set up. Finally, the timeshare consultant’s address doesn’t go to “Kevin.” Instead, it goes to “Info” at ResortRelief.com.
All these sites seem to be built using the free Weebly platform.
Social Media Presence
The social media presence for Resort Relief is…let’s just say it’s “interesting.”
The Resort Relief Twitter account was established in 2011. It has the same logo as the various Resort Relief websites. It follows 15 accounts in the travel and timeshare industries.
It has never tweeted. It has never reacted to a tweet. It’s just … there. And spells “contracts” incorrectly. Not especially reassuring.
The Resort Relief Facebook page bills the company as a consulting agency, a labor and employment lawyer, and a bankruptcy lawyer. Its “info” prompt reads:
“We work with a network of law firms to help explain services offered by the firm in person. Some people don’t want a call from an out of state company!”
That… is not quite what the Resort Relief website says.
The most recent posts on the page are from 2018 and they are … well, see for yourself:
Apologies for the all caps. That’s the way they posted it.
Kevin Hanson, cited as the owner of Resort Relief in the lawsuits listed above, has a LinkedIn Page. His profile lists his current occupation as Founder/CEO of Resort Relief. When you click on the link for the company, it takes you back to Kevin Hanson’s LinkedIn page.
The Bottom Line
Hiring a timeshare exit company is a very good idea when you want to get out of your timeshare contract. It is vital, though, that you make sure the company you work with is legitimate and trustworthy. In this case, the warnings indicate that you can find some better options than Resort Relief.
FAQs
Resort Relief is owned by CEO/Founder Kevin Hanson, according to legal filings, though at least one lawsuit also names Sean Austin as the company’s owner.
The street address on one of the company’s websites is Conroe, Texas.
Poorly, although there are mentions of positive BBB reviews that we were unable to locate.
According to their Facebook Page, Resort Relief is open Monday-Saturday. Hours range from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., depending on the day.
No.
There doesn’t seem to be a centralized contact center outside of the contact form included on each of the company’s websites. Other than that, there are multiple phone numbers and emails in use. The street address is listed as 1110 N Loop 336 W Suite 500, Conroe, TX, 77301-1197.