Lonestar Transfer Review

Lonestar Transfer Review

Lonestar Transfer, owned by Karen Holloway, is a timeshare transfer and cancellation company located in Rockwall, Texas. The company has been in business since 2012. Can seaside get out of my timeshare in 2022 and 2023? Take a look to see if we recommend this company over the competitors.

Cancel Your Timeshare!

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Lonestar Transfer Services

There are two ways Lonestar Transfer gets you out of your timeshare contract.

  1. Title Transfers- If your mortgage is paid off, then you are eligible to transfer your title out of your name, voiding all financial liability.
  2. Timeshare Mortgage Cancellation- If you still owe a balance on your mortgage, however, Lonestar Transfer will help you get your contract canceled by writing letters on your behalf to your resort developer requesting cancellation. For this option, you’ll need to prove you were a victim of fraud during the timeshare sales presentation.

Some of the deceptive practices that could make you eligible for cancellation are as follows.

  • Were you told you’d get tax benefits for owning a timeshare? If you did, that was a lie.
  • Were you led to believe that you’d be able to easily exchange your time and timeshare for other in-network resorts all over the world without paying extra fees or have limitations? That was a lie.
  • Did you know when you left the timeshare presentation that you had a short recession period where you could give the timeshare back without penalty? If not, that’s cause for contract termination.

Lonestar Transfer’s Website Review

This website is secure. The colorful, patriotic theme runs throughout the website. They are constantly updating their site in 2022 and this is a good sign. We will continue to check on their website in 2023.

Paid Endorsements

Click on Lonestar’s logo on the top left of the main page, and you’ll find a number of commercial voice clips and YouTube advertisements by well-known personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Hugh Hewitt.

Further down the page, there is a simple explanation of Lonestar Transfer’s services. Below that, logos of the places the company has placed paid advertisements, including podcasts, radio stations, and a few television logos.

Lonestar’s Guarantee

The company offers a 100% guarantee statement in writing. Although this is better than not offering any guarantee, it’s not nearly enough. The best option to protect your money is an escrow, which Lonestar Transfer does not provide.

In addition, Lonestar says you can legally cancel your timeshare contract with their program. We advise using an exit company that is a law firm or at least has attorneys well-versed in timeshare exiting on retainer.

This means if they find a reason to keep your up-front payment, they might. With an escrow, the timeshare company does not get paid until they promise to cancel your contract in full. This practice also makes the time it takes to get out of your timeshare shorter, and no matter what, you’ll know your money is safe until you’re out.

About Us Page

This page does an excellent job of giving insight into the history of the company. Lonestar Transfer has helped over 2500 owners get rid of their timeshare contracts. There is a Request a Consultation button on every page, and it is the fastest way to contact the company to see if you qualify for their exit programs.

The blue ribbon near the bottom of this page has some pretty interesting stats. This will help you get a better understanding of how good their exit company is.

  1. 14,000 Happy Customers: This directly contradicts the previous page that states they’ve helped 2,500 clients.
  2. 100% Money-back Guarantee- This is correct.
  3. 15 Years in Business- We’re not sure who did the math on this calculation, but 2012 to 2021 is only nine years in business.

It’s the lack of attention to detail for us.

There is a short form to fill out if you can contact a Lonestar Transfer representative now.

– Social Sites

The Facebook and YouTube icons are at the bottom of the page, as well as the company’s privacy policy and terms.

Facebook- There are 19 ratings, each one a 5 out of 5 stars.

YouTube- There are ten videos posted from 8 years ago up to 4 months ago. Some are interviews with the Holloways, a few are paid commercials, and two seem to be an employee sitting at his desk doing his best to convince you to use the services of his employer. We’d like to see more genuine video testimonials from the happy clients they’ve helped over the years.

Privacy Policy and Terms- When we click on this link, we get an error code. Again, if you’re going to be transparent and put this link on your page, follow through. Disappointing level of attention to detail on their website. We hope this lack of attention does not overflow into their complex job of exiting your timeshare.

Lastly, there is an oddly placed, blurry Angie’s List badge on the bottom of the page dated 2015. If you’re not keeping up with the high-quality service awards consistently, we’d advise you not to post them at all. Unimpressed.

FAQ – The Best Way to Get Out of Your Timeshare

If you want to know how you’ll get out from under your financial burden, this section reiterates how Lonestar can help.

– What We Do for You

This section bullet points the whole process. Whether your mortgage is paid in full or you still owe a balance, they have a solution. You must qualify for their program, which will be decided during the consultation.

Lonestar In the News

This is the blog page. Here you’ll find articles that may be specific to your situation and worth a read.

Reviews Page

On this page, we see many happy customer reviews. Are they legitimately written by clients? It’s impossible to tell. Therefore, we recommend linking each review to the originating review platform. This kind of transparency with any company is necessary for credibility as they are not afraid to show you their not-so-favorable reviews and how they addressed each one.

Many times, not always, companies will write fake reviews and paste them on their site, but since we did find many legitimate reviews on sites like BBB and Yelp, we can see that they have a solid positive online presence.

The Holloways

For 13 years, Karen and Richard “Bryan” Holloway were the dynamic duos behind Lonestar Timeshare Exit Company. When Bryan Holloway died in October 2019 at the age of 46, his wife Karen kept the company going and is still involved in the daily operations of the company.

Lonestar’s Online Reviews

Google Reviews

Moreover, Lonestar has over 300 reviews on Google, with an overwhelming amount of positive ones.

Complaint: However, according to the 1-star rated review, an owner who took advantage of the free consultation spoke to Lonestar Transfer which quoted him $6000 to get out of his timeshare. He then called Hyatt and found out that the developer had a ‘give back’ program. He qualified and it didn’t cost him a cent. This is a good lesson in due diligence.

Lesson: Before you commit to any exit company, look for other avenues with your timeshare developer first. You may be eligible for their programs.

Yelp

Again, only one bad review on Yelp, but that doesn’t mean it’s not legitimate.

Complaint:  A client paid $4,000 before checking into other options with his timeshare company. He claims that Lonestar Transfer got the timeshare company to cease all communication- not cancel the timeshare. This is not the same thing as canceling his timeshare contract permanently. When the client went to purchase a home, his credit report showed he was in foreclosure to the timeshare company due to nonpayment. When he called Lonestar to complain, his complaint was met with indifference. It was the foreclosure that finally removed the timeshare company from his life, not Lonestar Transfer’s promise of timeshare exiting.

Lesson: Read and re-read what you are signing. We suggest, even if the timeshare company doesn’t offer one, hire an attorney to look over your exit contracts. You want to be sure you’ll be completely free of your timeshare with no credit hits. Some exit companies offer Credit Protection for situations like this. We didn’t find that Lonestar Transfer offers any such protection.

Better Business Bureau

They have a great BBB rating with over 800 reviews and a near all of them positive.

Lonestar Transfer Fees

Lonestar Transfer fees are similar to most timeshare exit companies.

The cost of any exit company usually depends on three things.

  1. Which timeshare developer from which you purchased
  2. The contract wording and complexity
  3. The amount of money you owe overall and where you are in your contract

We did not see anywhere that Lonestar Transfer mentioned that you could give your timeshare back to the developer, no questions asked, within your recission period. We always praise exit companies to are transparent and provide the owners with the best option for them.

After reading tons of online reviews, we see that Lonestar Transfer fees could range from $3000-$5000 and could take anywhere from 3- 18 months as a rule.

Final Thoughts

While it is impressive Lonestar Transfer has worked with so many people, the fact that they don’t offer ultimate protection in the form of escrow or credit services is concerning. And since a timeshare contract is a legal document, it’s good to have attorneys sign off on the exit strategies, which Lonestar also does not have in 2022. We will see if they add any options in 2023 for you.

In conclusion, we find Lonestar Transfers to be a legitimate exit company with many positive reviews online. Although, when life changes, we can never be sure of a company’s ability to stick around. Protect yourself by hiring a company with your best interest in mind. Although many happy clients have exited their timeshares successfully with Lonestar Transfer, we suggest checking into other companies as well that offer more protection during your exit process.