US financial expert defends timeshare exit firms from furious industry giants

US Radio host and financial guru Dave Ramsey hates timeshares. He has inserted himself into a war between the ten billion dollar timeshare industry and plucky timeshare exit companies striving to free trapped owners from constricting contracts

Respected

Dave Ramsey has millions of followers, hosts a national radio talk show (he's been inducted into the US National Radio Hall of Fame) and has written several books including three bestsellers. Ramsey advises Americans on financial matters including coping with debt. His company, Ramsey Solutions is located on a 47 acre campus in Tennessee.

Bugbears

Ramsey hates credit cards, he only uses debit cards himself. He hates everything about student loans. And he also despises the timeshare industry, notorious for saddling customers with high annual fees and trapping them in unwanted contracts.

In a 2021 episode of his talk show (titled 'Timeshare Companies are the last legal fraud in America') the financial expert spent a full hour expounding on this theme. He described the industry as 'scum' and indicated that the decision to buy into these systems could only be called stupid. He expressed a particular dislike for Diamond Resorts (one of the world's largest timeshare companies) president Mike Flaskey.

Diamond Resorts

'Timeshare exit' firms have formed to help desperate consumers escape suffocating contracts. Diamond has been fighting back, aggressively suing these companies. Ramsey has thrown his support behind exit firms battling companies like Diamond, even going as far as to declare that he is "broadcasting from a paid-off building worth hundreds of millions of dollars" and is "neck-deep in cash."

When challenged by TV newsmagazine Inside Edition as to why he was so passionately supporting the timeshare exit industry, Ramsey declared: "Because they were doing the right thing... getting people out of timeshares after companies like Mikey's had screwed them."

Diamond Resorts issued a statement that it would continue to challenge timeshare exit companies: "To protect our members and owners, Diamond Resorts remains committed to exposing deceptive timeshare exit companies and challenging nefarious operations in court."

ECC

Andrew Cooper, CEO of European Consumer Claims (ECC) agrees with Ramsey: "It is significant that timeshare companies refuse to let dissatisfied or unhappy members leave, even when those members are prepared to write off their joining fee and other expenses.

"Timeshare companies don't care if their members are happy, as long as they can legally demand maintenance fees every year. This is tantamount to extortion. People aren't asking for their money back, they just want to be free of the burden that timeshare represents.

"It's lucky that experienced timeshare exit firms can often help free prisoners of the timeshare system, in the USA and other parts of the world.

"Any trapped timeshare owner wanting to find out more is welcome to get in touch with us at ECC, for a free, confidential chat."