A Sierra Vista couple who paid more than $10,000 to a Nevada company that promised to extract them from two timeshare agreements have filed suit after the company allegedly failed to honor its promise of a money-back guarantee.
Mike and Lorraine Rutherford contend Vanguard & Associates LLC breached contracts by refusing to refund $4,995 and $5,495 the couple paid in May 2019 to have their timeshare agreements terminated. Vanguard’s written guarantee states clients will “be fully refunded” if the company can’t get a timeshare agreement terminated within 12 months.
“Despite the clear terms of the contract, Defendant Vanguard has neither terminated the timeshare nor refunded the money paid by Plaintiffs Rutherford,” the July 16 complaint states. “Defendant Vanguard breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in failing to cause the timeshares to be terminated and in the alternative failing to return the funds paid to it by Plaintiffs Rutherford.”
The Rutherfords are seeking judgments for the $10,490 plus interest, as well as reasonable attorney fees and court costs. Their lawsuit provides no information on the timeshares themselves nor whether there is any evidence that Vanguard ever attempted to terminate the agreements.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Vanguard & Associates has been the subject of more than 65 customer complaints since June 2018. The company -which has offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, is not BBB-accredited and has been given an “F” rating by the consumer protection organization.
Vanguard’s website notes it got into the business of helping timeshare owners due to “the fraudulent and deceptive conduct that is frequently utilized by timeshare sales people to induce unwitting potential owners to sign on the dotted line.”
The website also notes that the company “has confidence to offer every client a 100% money back guarantee. Simply put – if we don’t release you from your timeshare within 1 year, you receive ALL of your money back.”
The case has been assigned to Judge Tim Dickerson of the Cochise County Superior Court. Once the lawsuit is served on Vanguard, the company will have 20 days to file an answer.
