Consumer complaint received 2017-08-27
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services
Sub-issue: Didn't receive services that were advertised

Complaint:
My husband and I are victims of fraud and deception. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX salespeople misrepresented the company employing tactics of deceit and bait and switch. 

Our timeshare was purchased at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Tennessee onXX/XX/XXXX. This product entailed the use of XXXX biennial points for a loan of {$10000.00}. Including our down payment and closing costs, this purchase cost a total of {$12000.00}. Within six months of purchase, we paid off the bulk of the XXXX mortgage, and in an effort to reduce XXXX XXXX exceptionally high interest, I moved the remaining {$4000.00} onto a Fifth Third credit card in my name. 

Deceptive tactics include : 1. Their salesperson XXXX told us that we had thirty days to return home to look over the contract. XXXX said if we werent satisfied, we had a 30 day rescind period from the date of purchase which was the day of the presentation. 

This BBB warning report supports our position : Our file contains a pattern of complaints from consumers alleging difficulties canceling vacation packages booked through XXXX XXXX. Consumers claim, although XXXX XXXX has a cancel within 30 days policy, their requests for refunds for canceled trips are denied. Other consumers feel they are victims of deceptive sales practices. Consumers claim resorts are never available when they contact XXXX XXXX. While yet other consumers claim the " free '' vacation XXXX XXXX offers is not free and involve fees they were not made aware of. 
-We started having concerns immediately after purchase, but no one from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX whose numbers we were personally given and directed to call would return our calls. We tried contacting XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX, as these were the people we dealt with the day of the purchase. They directed us to strictly contact them for any questions we had. None of them would respond to my calls or emails. By the time I got through to someone at XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, I found out the rescind period was 10 days, not 30 days, so we were unable to rescind. 
2. Their salespeople XXXX and XXXX lied to us about how XXXX XXXX allows you to book one of the many nationwide hotels with points at no extra cost, and there would always be last minute availability. 
-This was our intended purpose, because we do not have the paid time off to take vacations during the week, so this sounded like a feasible option for last-minute weekend getaways. My husband also intended to use it for his work travel in order to save money on hotels. We were told there were many hotels available across the nation for use. We later learned the nearest resort is a five hour drive, so the resort aspect was not a feasible option to travel in a weekend. Every time we checked the hotel option there either wasnt availability or the one time it was going to cost over 4,000 of our XXXX biennial points. We were essentially going to pay {$4000.00} for a two night stay at a hotel. As a result, we have never used our points to go on a vacation. 
3. Both XXXX and XXXX told us that this product holds a high resale value due to the demand of the product, since it is a deeded property that can be used as a tax write off. We were also told that if you cant afford your timeshare or decide its not for you, XXXX XXXX will sell it and have it sold within 90 days without any work or cost on your part, and XXXX XXXX will buy it back if it doesnt sell in that timeframe. 
-This is not true. XXXX does not buy back their timeshares. I was directed to go through a website known as XXXX XXXX that I must pay to sell my timeshare, and on their application documentation it states that the timeshares sold was 27 % inXX/XX/XXXX and 33 % in XXXX. Being able to have XXXX sell back the timeshare without headache from us was a major factor in choosing this timeshare, so this was very upsetting to learn that this was false information. My husband asked this question three times repeating himself, to ensure that we understood. We were told people frequently buy timeshares for near to or more than the original purchase, so it was a great money investment. This was completely false. Upon checking XXXX XXXX, many of listings that are priced around the original purchase price are listings that have not been on the market long, and there were numerous packages far larger than ours that were on the market over a year going for under {$1000.00}. I also found my exact package selling for only {$1.00} on XXXX. Upon contacting our accountant about it being a tax write-off, he informed us that this is not a property that allows for any form of a tax write-off. 

There are thousands of complaints against the company for deceptive sales practices similar to my situation. 

Clearly, XXXX XXXX meets the FBI definition of white collar crime : deceit, concealment, violation of trust, and bait and switch. They deceived us exactly in this way by the salespeople stating to only contact them for rescission or any other additional questions, despite never being able to reach any of them. 

I filed a complaint against XXXX XXXX through the Better Business Bureau onXX/XX/XXXX. My demands included that the timeshare be cancelled, and all monies involved in this unused product be refunded. We have never used our XXXX points. XXXX said they would only cancel our contract. I then communicated that at a minimum, the remaining portion on my credit card be refunded. Their final decision on XX/XX/XXXX was to deny me any refund. They have since stated that there are opportunities for us to utilize other hotel aspects with the company, however all these options require additional money. 

If we simply accept their cancellation without compensation, we become just another XXXX XXXX victim. By merely offering to cancel the product without any refund shows that this company has no regard for the training of their employees to sell a product with integrity, and therefore encourage deceit on the front end of a sale to ensure a sale. I am reaching out to Fifth Third for their involvement to dismiss the fraudulent charge of {$4000.00} from a highly corrupt company and their deceptive sales practices. 

I will also be filing complaints with the FBI at XXXX and the Tennessee Attorney General.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation