Must read : Time Share Scam Awareness! Don't be the next victim!

[aprilia_extrema]

idsicover is a liar company

I cancel my policy since May waited till now refund not in yet. Keep on saying the cheque is not ready all these bull****. Anyone face same problem or want cancel policy pls call me at 9299926.

 

[nathan159]

I cancel my policy since May waited till now refund not in yet. Keep on saying the cheque is not ready all these bull****. Anyone face same problem or want cancel policy pls call me at 9299926.

May I know how you cancel the policy?

 

[hydrazine_]

Would like to share with you all my case. Same thing, i fell for IDiscover as well back in Oct 2010. But fortunately for me, i got to know of them because i went home and search for the company online, only to find out that it is a big scam. I immediately sent a notice of cancellation within the cooling period. The bad thing is that i have already paid 5,000 SGD to them
Went to Small Claims Tribunal, and the judge discontinued my claim saying that they cannot hear the case, must go to civil courts. The consultations and hearings dragged on for more than half a year. I also spent some money to consult a lawyer on this matter. And with the advice he gave me i decided not to take any further action and treat the money lost as a huge lesson learnt. Till this day i can't get it back, and won't be intending to get it back. I sort of give up already.

But you guys know what? IDiscover just called me recently to ask me what is my plan on the contract i signed with IDiscover. I told the lady that i am not claiming the money i paid, but was not intending to pay anything towards that contract. She threatened me with legal action, saying that i could be declared a bankrupt. That is quite a joke. I have the money to pay, i am just NOT paying you. Lol, she said that she will inform her accounts department on this and hanged up.

Since the very beginning i have done everything within what i believe is my rights under the consumers protection act. If they are sensible enough, they will realize that they have no case against me. In any case, if they do decide to take legal action against me, i will be READY for them.

 

[28diane]

I feel so cornered by the pressure tactics that these timeshare companies use to scare and threaten us. I think it should be time that we, timeshare victims, stand up and push back. Power is always in numbers and I believe that we can make a stand and force the authorities to take this unscrupulous in hand. I am tired of sitting here and contacting CASE and receiving sporadic letters threatening legal actions...I am sure there is something more forceful that we can do.

 

[nathan159]

I have read through the previous posts in this thread, and have a summary of what I can/should do. Please correct me if I missed anything out or is wrong.

Go to SCT to lodge a claim (I don't know what is the procedure there though, anyone like to share/advise). Possible to get full refund. But to terminate the contract, need to do it separately? SCT don't terminate for us right?

Go to CASE to ask them to help me send a termination letter to the iDiscover. Can terminate the contract but money is lost. (since still paying the bank)

Send via registered mail to iDiscover to terminate the contract myself. Difficult to terminate, may not take effect. Money still lost because paying to bank.

Please comment if I am right.

*PS: At the SCT, do I have to fight my case? As in, like fighting a court case and I need to argue with iDiscover personnel?

 

[crntbs]

Would like to share with you all my case. Same thing, i fell for IDiscover as well back in Oct 2010. But fortunately for me, i got to know of them because i went home and search for the company online, only to find out that it is a big scam. I immediately sent a notice of cancellation within the cooling period. The bad thing is that i have already paid 5,000 SGD to them
Went to Small Claims Tribunal, and the judge discontinued my claim saying that they cannot hear the case, must go to civil courts. The consultations and hearings dragged on for more than half a year. I also spent some money to consult a lawyer on this matter. And with the advice he gave me i decided not to take any further action and treat the money lost as a huge lesson learnt. Till this day i can't get it back, and won't be intending to get it back. I sort of give up already.

But you guys know what? IDiscover just called me recently to ask me what is my plan on the contract i signed with IDiscover. I told the lady that i am not claiming the money i paid, but was not intending to pay anything towards that contract. She threatened me with legal action, saying that i could be declared a bankrupt. That is quite a joke. I have the money to pay, i am just NOT paying you. Lol, she said that she will inform her accounts department on this and hanged up.

Since the very beginning i have done everything within what i believe is my rights under the consumers protection act. If they are sensible enough, they will realize that they have no case against me. In any case, if they do decide to take legal action against me, i will be READY for them.

urm... your case abit strange. How could they reject your case when you're terminating within cooling period?

Regarding getting back the money within cooling period, here's what happened to my friend:

1) When my friend approached CASE initially, they helped my friend to fax the notice of termination (I think the officer helped my friend to draft the termination notice) to the timeshare company.
2) On top of that, my friend made copies of the termination notice and sent one of them via registered mail right after her trip to CASE. This could also serve as proof that she has sent the notice within cooling period.
3) The CASE officer actually follow up with my friend every 2 weeks or so to check whether she has receive the refund. The officer also help to chase on the timeshare company when my friend haven't receive the refunds.
4) My friend did her diligence by contacting the timeshare company every other days to check on the progress of getting back her money.
5) Altho it took quite some time and effort, my friend did manage to get her refund at the end of the day. She didn't even have to go thru SCT. The CASE officer said SCT would be the last resort if the company failed/refused to pay up the refund.

 

[crntbs]

I have read through the previous posts in this thread, and have a summary of what I can/should do. Please correct me if I missed anything out or is wrong.

Go to SCT to lodge a claim (I don't know what is the procedure there though, anyone like to share/advise). Possible to get full refund. But to terminate the contract, need to do it separately? SCT don't terminate for us right?

Go to CASE to ask them to help me send a termination letter to the iDiscover. Can terminate the contract but money is lost. (since still paying the bank)

Send via registered mail to iDiscover to terminate the contract myself. Difficult to terminate, may not take effect. Money still lost because paying to bank.

Please comment if I am right.

*PS: At the SCT, do I have to fight my case? As in, like fighting a court case and I need to argue with iDiscover personnel?

From what i've understood, SCT basically serve as a mediator between the 2 parties. You could choose to represent yourself or engage someone. I think SCT have a list of professionals on this but not very sure. You may need do some research regarding this.

 

[laysing]

I have read through the previous posts in this thread, and have a summary of what I can/should do. Please correct me if I missed anything out or is wrong.

Go to SCT to lodge a claim (I don't know what is the procedure there though, anyone like to share/advise). Possible to get full refund. But to terminate the contract, need to do it separately? SCT don't terminate for us right?

Go to CASE to ask them to help me send a termination letter to the iDiscover. Can terminate the contract but money is lost. (since still paying the bank)

Send via registered mail to iDiscover to terminate the contract myself. Difficult to terminate, may not take effect. Money still lost because paying to bank.

Please comment if I am right.

*PS: At the SCT, do I have to fight my case? As in, like fighting a court case and I need to argue with iDiscover personnel?

I called CASE for assistance because they printed an article in one magazine rgd timeshare scams. However they said they couldn't assist since it involves overseas party (timeshare co). Feel so helpless then when we can't turn to anyone for help on this irritating issue that has been on going.

You can try calling them to check first

 

[chleong]

Herold International. Are they really what they are?

I went to Herold International yesterday. They are now located in Robinsons Tower #04-02. The office was shabby. The receptionist claimed they had just moved in and under-going renovation. I was first serviced by an Indian lady consultant, Rani. She would write a ‘story’ of what timeshare I was holding, how much I had paid and if I had kept servicing the maintenance fees etc. Then, a senior consultant, whom is a Malay lady, Wanie, came in and tried to explain the liabilities of timeshare and what I would expect about the maintenance. She went on to show a video clip from ABC news Co about timeshare owners getting frustrated by the ever increasing maintenance fees, which can change from yearly to monthly payment. Next, she tried to convince me the best option was to put a stop to the liabilities of timeshare and they had a solution. Lastly, she showed a clip of an old couple whom were victims of timeshare scams and how they appreciated Herold’s help to terminate these timeshare contracts. Finally, the General Manager was invited. A Malay guy by the name of Hanz. He further explained there are 2 processes.
Firstly, I need to go through a solicitor to terminate the timeshare contract. The lawyer will write a letter to the developer such as Haywards Venture Limited (Holiday Plus), ATC etc to explain that I was misled by marketing companies such as WORLDEX, IRN etc into buying timeshare programs and I had no intention of using them. If the developer agrees, they will terminate whatever contracts and release me from all liabilities such as maintenance fees. The second stage will proceed to recover whatever I have paid. I stopped him and ask about the fees. The first stage will cost me SGD$8800. If I decide to use their service, I will need to pay upfront 20% of SGD$8800. Then, they will send my case and arrange me to meet a lawyer S.Balamurugan from Straits Law Practice LLC. I checked up The Law Society of Singapore and this lawyer is registered. If the lawyer says my file has no case, then the 20% will be refunded. If the lawyer says yes, then I will need to pay up another 50% of SGD$8800. And during the final stage, the remaining 30% will be collected from me. All this only for termination, not yet talking about recovery of my cost. The Gm then showed me some of the successful cases where a termination letter was sent by the developer and one of his clients went to small claims and successful got the money back from the marketing company who sold the timeshare. The whole termination process will take 6~10 months.
Has anyone really succeeded engaging Herold International? SGD$8800 is not a small sum. I had already threw in SGD$21000 so far.

 

[FreDeRicK]

Don't throw good money after bad money. You can just stop paying the timeshare maintenance fees.

Nonetheless, please seek a second opinion from an actual law firm not connected to Herold. Why go through a third party to engage a lawyer?

 

[cscs3]

Don't throw good money after bad money. You can just stop paying the timeshare maintenance fees.

Nonetheless, please seek a second opinion from an actual law firm not connected to Herold. Why go through a third party to engage a lawyer?

You are right. Why continue to pay. Use your own layer or go to CASE. Case may be quite hopeless but still a place to try to see if there is some chance.

Remember not to use any lawer assign or recommend by them. Otherwise you may be into another scam.

 

[Jack_Chen]

Would like to share with you all my case. Same thing, i fell for IDiscover as well back in Oct 2010. But fortunately for me, i got to know of them because i went home and search for the company online, only to find out that it is a big scam. I immediately sent a notice of cancellation within the cooling period. The bad thing is that i have already paid 5,000 SGD to them

Went to Small Claims Tribunal, and the judge discontinued my claim saying that they cannot hear the case, must go to civil courts. The consultations and hearings dragged on for more than half a year. I also spent some money to consult a lawyer on this matter. And with the advice he gave me i decided not to take any further action and treat the money lost as a huge lesson learnt. Till this day i can't get it back, and won't be intending to get it back. I sort of give up already.

But you guys know what? IDiscover just called me recently to ask me what is my plan on the contract i signed with IDiscover. I told the lady that i am not claiming the money i paid, but was not intending to pay anything towards that contract. She threatened me with legal action, saying that i could be declared a bankrupt. That is quite a joke. I have the money to pay, i am just NOT paying you. Lol, she said that she will inform her accounts department on this and hanged up.

Since the very beginning i have done everything within what i believe is my rights under the consumers protection act. If they are sensible enough, they will realize that they have no case against me. In any case, if they do decide to take legal action against me, i will be READY for them.

You can approach CASE and ask them to assist - provided you kept the receipt of your registered post to them. Since you are already prepared to let go the $5k, getting CASE to put in some work after getting income from us Taxpayers is great. Why waste our taxes?

I was in the same boat, also let go a few thousand but not as much as $5k. Sent them a registered mail and pretend they don't exist anymore. Whatever 'legal' action they claim, is pretty hard to fight in court, not to mention that court fees is pretty high, they won't send good money after bad.

to further distance yourself from them, change your mobile number and if you happen to shift house, even better.

If you be nice to them and ask them nicely how to terminate, they will attempt to squeeze you one last time by asking for some percentage they pull out of their ass.

Else, you just terminate but take the money as a loss.

As for credit card arrangements, I suggest to talk to the bank first. I discovered it was a GIRO arrangement for my case. And I was even able to terminate it through internet banking without calling the bank at all. and the scammer is not able to revive it as it require the account holder's permission.

I don't know how the other credit card holders do their transaction, so check it out with the bank.

 

[Jack_Chen]

urm... your case abit strange. How could they reject your case when you're terminating within cooling period?

Regarding getting back the money within cooling period, here's what happened to my friend:

1) When my friend approached CASE initially, they helped my friend to fax the notice of termination (I think the officer helped my friend to draft the termination notice) to the timeshare company.
2) On top of that, my friend made copies of the termination notice and sent one of them via registered mail right after her trip to CASE. This could also serve as proof that she has sent the notice within cooling period.
3) The CASE officer actually follow up with my friend every 2 weeks or so to check whether she has receive the refund. The officer also help to chase on the timeshare company when my friend haven't receive the refunds.
4) My friend did her diligence by contacting the timeshare company every other days to check on the progress of getting back her money.
5) Altho it took quite some time and effort, my friend did manage to get her refund at the end of the day. She didn't even have to go thru SCT. The CASE officer said SCT would be the last resort if the company failed/refused to pay up the refund.

Your friend is lucky plus she has the presence of mind to make copies of the termination notice.

In this instance where the law is clearly on CASE's side, they will confidently assist to pursue.

In those cases where people passed the cooling period, CASE simply throw them to die a less painful death (in negotiating a lesser 'penalty' amount).

Then in this case, depend on how much you have put in, terminate outright, change mobile number, change home address if possible.

That's why people are so frustrated with CASE the toothless tiger. They should take a note from BBB in US. They got power to put up notices and influence credit ratings on suspicious companies.

Imagine, the scammer is flagged as an alert everytime a new victim tries to swipe his credit card, the victim gets an SMS from the bank to caution him. It will make people think twice before swiping the credit card again and will force the coy to clean up their act or be less nefarious.

 

[helpmi]

In those cases where people passed the cooling period, CASE simply throw them to die a less painful death (in negotiating a lesser 'penalty' amount).

its true, case doesnt help much on ppl after cooling period,
case help mi to draft the termination notice to the company who claim can help mi terminate my timeshare,
but in the end ,case ask mi to pay the company wad they stats the price. ( wher i believe is a scam cos i dun believe they hv terminate my time share with timeshare company)

tis is wad they help mi terminate:
1)they send letters to timeshare company.

" As the above-mentioned establishment have fail to respond to our letters, they are estopped in law from asserting that the subject Agreements subsist.
hence the termination proecss has been completed."

the above sentence lidat can claim as terminated? any lawer in forum can reply mi?cos they say if i dun pay the remaining fee, they will send mi to court or lawer letter!!

 

[helpmi]

is" Lodge your claim via Small Claims Tribunal" hv a time limit? with in a year must file the claim, after 1yr u canot claim?

 

[sporesmf]

Herold International Pte Ltd

I went to Herold International yesterday. They are now located in Robinsons Tower #04-02. The office was shabby. The receptionist claimed they had just moved in and under-going renovation. I was first serviced by an Indian lady consultant, Rani. She would write a ‘story’ of what timeshare I was holding, how much I had paid and if I had kept servicing the maintenance fees etc. Then, a senior consultant, whom is a Malay lady, Wanie, came in and tried to explain the liabilities of timeshare and what I would expect about the maintenance. She went on to show a video clip from ABC news Co about timeshare owners getting frustrated by the ever increasing maintenance fees, which can change from yearly to monthly payment. Next, she tried to convince me the best option was to put a stop to the liabilities of timeshare and they had a solution. Lastly, she showed a clip of an old couple whom were victims of timeshare scams and how they appreciated Herold’s help to terminate these timeshare contracts. Finally, the General Manager was invited. A Malay guy by the name of Hanz. He further explained there are 2 processes.
Firstly, I need to go through a solicitor to terminate the timeshare contract. The lawyer will write a letter to the developer such as Haywards Venture Limited (Holiday Plus), ATC etc to explain that I was misled by marketing companies such as WORLDEX, IRN etc into buying timeshare programs and I had no intention of using them. If the developer agrees, they will terminate whatever contracts and release me from all liabilities such as maintenance fees. The second stage will proceed to recover whatever I have paid. I stopped him and ask about the fees. The first stage will cost me SGD$8800. If I decide to use their service, I will need to pay upfront 20% of SGD$8800. Then, they will send my case and arrange me to meet a lawyer S.Balamurugan from Straits Law Practice LLC. I checked up The Law Society of Singapore and this lawyer is registered. If the lawyer says my file has no case, then the 20% will be refunded. If the lawyer says yes, then I will need to pay up another 50% of SGD$8800. And during the final stage, the remaining 30% will be collected from me. All this only for termination, not yet talking about recovery of my cost. The Gm then showed me some of the successful cases where a termination letter was sent by the developer and one of his clients went to small claims and successful got the money back from the marketing company who sold the timeshare. The whole termination process will take 6~10 months.
Has anyone really succeeded engaging Herold International? SGD$8800 is not a small sum. I had already threw in SGD$21000 so far.

Hi chleong,

Are they true? I think my mother was cheated by them. Any action done by them to help you terminate your timeshare membership? Please reply.

Sporesmf

 

[sporesmf]

Msg for chleong

please msg me, i need to find out more about Herold International from you. Tks a lot!

 

[Red Alert]

Landmark Portfolio Investments Pte Ltd

Just last week, I was called by a guy named David, the manager of Landmark Portfolio Investments Pte Ltd. He wanted to buy my timeshare and ask me to go down to International Plaza, #18-24, and spent 15mins to assess my timeshare certificates. He will pay full validation price via cheque and will collect my documentation 1 week after the cheque is cleared in my bank account. Sounds very good!

I was afraid of being scam and did a check on the company. Turns out it was previously called Landmark and Deloitte Pte Ltd.

Anybody got information to share on this company?
Have anyone attended the talk by Landmark Portfolios Investments Pte Ltd. Please share with us.

 

[LightBuzz]

Just last week, I was called by a guy named David, the manager of Landmark Portfolio Investments Pte Ltd. He wanted to buy my timeshare and ask me to go down to International Plaza, #18-24, and spent 15mins to assess my timeshare certificates. He will pay full validation price via cheque and will collect my documentation 1 week after the cheque is cleared in my bank account. Sounds very good!

I was afraid of being scam and did a check on the company. Turns out it was previously called Landmark and Deloitte Pte Ltd.

Anybody got information to share on this company?
Have anyone attended the talk by Landmark Portfolios Investments Pte Ltd. Please share with us.

why do you guys still think there are free lunch in the world!!!
for what reason this guy want to help you??

Only reason i can think of.. to dig you deep deep..
so far i have not hear any good news on the buying back shared.

pls do not thrown in your money to this fellow...

 

[tazzycorner]

why do you guys still think there are free lunch in the world!!!
for what reason this guy want to help you??

Only reason i can think of.. to dig you deep deep..
so far i have not hear any good news on the buying back shared.

pls do thrown in your money to this fellow...

already highlighted many times in this thread that those so-called companies which claims they can help you sell or buy your TS are just trying to milk more money out from you

pls read up this thread

NOTE : This has been repeated many times in this thread … DO NOT pay more money in the hope of reclaiming your money. It’s just another ploy to milk more money out from you.