In today's Consumer Watch, a warning from the Better Business Bureau about deceptive timeshare practices.
2 victims spoke out about signing up for a vacation home in Branson for little money with big savings -- but in the long run -- cost them a substantial amount of money.
The BBB is warning consumers about high-pressure sales tactics that can entrap people.
They say look for red flags -- like companies not letting you take home materials to think about the purchase -- or hours long presentations that distract you from costs.
The group also says look for poor ratings or reviews of the timeshare online.
Silvio Bower and Larry Rushing say they were scammed thousands of dollars by Branson businesses.
Each had hundreds of dollars in monthly maintenance fees.
Bower says the company even asked him to open up a credit card to pay for the timeshare.
But over time -- the charges and real estate taxes got higher. They also had trouble talking to customer service representatives to fix any of the problems.
Now, they're warning others about buying timeshares.
"Now we've gotten out of it. It costs us a little over $5,000 to get out of it. But we're out of it. And that's just money gone to waste," says timeshare victim Larry Rushing. "And it's hard...It's hard to get out of that thing. It's harder to get out of prison then it is the timeshare thing."
"But anyone that ever goes there, I agree, they just need to really watch what's said," urges timeshare victim Silvio Bower. "Make sure it's on paper. Don't listen to what they tell you to make it sound like a great fairy tale."
Rushing says a fraudulent company charged him thousands of dollars to get out of the timeshare -- but then left and never come back.
The BBB says more than 900 complaints have been filed in the last year and half on time shares. Usually senior citizens are the main targets.
