Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises consumers to use caution if representatives approach them with The Berkshire Company about selling timeshare holdings in Mexico. Consumers reported to BBB that they gave the company money to cover fees and taxes as part of a timeshare transfer. Consumers say the deals were not consummated and lost thousands of dollars.
Due to recent unanswered complaints, the Berkshire Company has an “F” rating, the lowest on BBB’s scale. Those operating the business are parroting the name of a defunct real estate management company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.
“If someone calls you unsolicited and tells you they have a buyer for a timeshare holding you have in a foreign country, you need to be wary,” said Michelle L. Corey, BBB St. Louis president and CEO. “The sale price often will be well above what the timeshare is worth. If you proceed with the transaction, you need to investigate the company trying to broker the deal to make sure it is legitimate.”
A man from Montreal, Canada, reported to BBB that he lost $235,000 since the company first called him in December 2020, saying it had a buyer for his timeshare holding in Mexico. The man said he made several money transfers to The Berkshire Company. He was told the money was being held in escrow by a company in Colorado.
“They always asked for more and more money to pay for something,” the man told BBB.
The man said he finally stopped communicating with The Berkshire Company in April 2023 after it asked for $79,000 in additional fees.
A man from the Bronx, New York, told BBB he has lost more than $140,000 in payments to The Berkshire Company since May 2022. He was told the company had a buyer for his timeshare holding in Mexico and was asked to pay various fees and taxes.
“This is a very elaborate scam,” the man told BBB. “They are very clever.”
The man was told he would be reimbursed most of the money he sent the company once the deal was completed. He finally stopped sending money once he received notice that a payment he made was flagged by U.S. Customs, which led to another demand for money. The man took the document to a nearby U.S. Customs office and was told what he was given was a forgery.
A man from Ottawa, Canada, said the Berkshire Company contacted him in December 2022 to sell his timeshare holding in Mexico. The man made one $13,000 payment to the company before quickly realizing the deal was not legitimate.
“I’ve had many calls before from people saying they had someone who wanted to buy my timeshare (in Mexico), but these guys were great talkers,” the man told BBB.
A website for The Berkshire Company was created in March 2020 and has a private registration in Iceland. A legal representative for the original The Berkshire Company said its owners had nothing to do with The Berkshire Company website and that the business has not been in operation for several years.
BBB reached The Berkshire Company and spoke to a company representative who said its customers had not lost money.
“The money has not been lost,” the company representative told BBB. “We are running into problems with the Mexican government. Mexico is greedy. … We’re really trying to help people out.”
BBB offers these tips on how 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 initially sold you the timeshare to see if it has a deed-back program.
- Before paying, make sure you have a signed contract outlining what is to be done, a timetable, and an explanation of what happens if the business doesn’t get you out of your timeshare within the specified period of time.
- Be wary of anyone claiming they have a buyer for your timeshare or who promised to rent it, especially if they ask for an upfront fee.
- Check with BBB’s Scam Tracker to report or learn about scams.
- Pay by credit card whenever possible to challenge the payment.
- If you feel like you have been misled, file complaints with BBB and the state’s attorney general’s office.
- For more information about travel scams, refer to a 2023 BBB study.
