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Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises consumers to use caution when doing business with Relief Solutions International LLC (RSI LLC). Consumers have reported to BBB that the Springfield, Missouri, timeshare exit business failed to cancel their timeshares within promised time frame, failed to issue refunds, gave misleading sales presentations, and provided poor customer service.
Many consumers stated that they spent thousands of dollars with the company after believing they could rid themselves of their unwanted timeshares.
RSI LLC has an “F” rating, the lowest on BBB’s scale due to unanswered and unresolved complaints. Also, several consumers filed negative reviews with BBB about the business. More than 100 consumers from 33 states and one Canadian province have registered complaints.
A Glen Carbon, Illinois, man told BBB he is approaching the four-year anniversary of his hiring of RSI to get him out of two timeshares. The man said he originally signed with RSI LLC in February 2016 after attending a meeting at a local hotel. He said he paid the company $9,995 for its services, which were to take between 12 to 18 months to execute.
He said RSI LLC gave him a partial refund after he was able to exit one timeshare on his own. He said RSI LLC will not give him a full refund because it has not exhausted every avenue to help him exit his remaining timeshare.
“They say my contract is still open,” the man told BBB. “It looks like it can go on forever.”
A St. Louis woman told BBB she paid RSI LLC $5,295 in January 2017 to exit a timeshare. The woman said the RSI LLC representative told her at a meeting that the exit process would take between 12 and 18 months to complete. When the exit took longer than expected, the woman said she asked for a refund. She said the company refused.
“They said they wouldn’t give us our money back because they haven’t exhausted every avenue to get us out,” she told BBB.
The woman said RSI LLC asked her to pay an additional $600 in 2020 so a new law firm could handle her case. The woman refused. The woman, who is a senior citizen, said she can no longer travel and that her family could use the money it paid to RSI LLC.
A woman from Lenoir City, Tennessee, told BBB she has been waiting for more than three years for RSI LLC to finish the process of ridding her of a timeshare.
“They didn’t do anything,” the woman told BBB. “We told them to give us our money back but we didn’t get it. We could really use that $4,700 right now.”
The woman, who entered into a contract with the company in August 2017, was one of many RSI LLC clients who received a letter from a law firm which indicated that it was not going to handle their case anymore.
A Hicksville, New York, man told BBB he paid RSI LLC $20,000 in July 2018 to get him out of two timeshare holdings. The man believed RSI LLC would finish the work between 12 and 18 months since that is what he said he was told at a meeting he attended near his residence. The man still has both timeshares.
The man said RSI LLC denied a request for a refund.
“It appears these consumers have been more than patient with this company,” BBB St. Louis president and CEO Michelle L. Corey said. “If the company cannot deliver on its promises of getting them out of their timeshares in a certain time frame, then they should issue refunds. Stringing them on for years only hurts the customers who continue to pay maintenance fees for those timeshares.”
According to Missouri secretary of state records, Relief Solutions International LLC registered with the state in June 2012.
“RSI is not a listing services or a timeshare resale company, and therefore does not charge any listing fees, any type of advertising fees, nor make any false promises to sell your timeshare to a buyer that may not exist, as some companies suggest,” the company website reads. “However, RSI does provide timeshare owners with a valuable service and will only request payment for the service RSI provides.”
The company did not respond to a BBB letter asking what it is doing to address its pattern of complaints. Attempts to reach the company via phone and email were unsuccessful.
BBB offers these tips when trying to exit a timeshare holding:
- Research any business and its owners carefully before paying any money. Check the company’s BBB Business Profile at BBB.org.
- Contact the resort that originally sold you the timeshare to see if it has a deed-back program.
- Before paying anything, make sure you have a signed contract outlining what is to be done, a timetable and an explanation of what happens if the business or the consumer doesn’t comply with the agreement.
- Be wary of anyone claiming that they have a buyer for your timeshare or who promises to rent your timeshare, especially if they ask for an upfront fee.
- Pay with a credit card in case you need to challenge the purchase later.
- If you feel you have been misled, file complaints with BBB and the state’s attorney general’s office and Federal Trade Commission.
- For more information about the timeshare exit industry, refer to our 2019 BBB study.
Always be sure the businesses you deal with adhere to the BBB Accreditation Standards and BBB Standards for Trust.