BBB warns customers of Springfield timeshare liquidation firm

Photo provided by Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau claims Travis Dibben’s Escape Resolutions LLC failed to pay back customers and poorly communicated with them.

The Better Business Bureau is warning customers they could be scammed by a Springfield timeshare liquidation firm operated by a businessman with a criminal history.

Travis Dibben’s Escape Resolutions LLC is accused of failing to pay money-back guarantees and of poorly communicating with customers, according to a news release. Dibben was charged in October 2011 with selling cocaine to an undercover officer, which resulted in his planned comedy club Nine of Clubs failing to open inside College Station. Dibben later pleaded guilty and was ordered to 120 days in prison and five years of probation, according to the Greene County prosecuting attorney’s office.

Escape Resolutions, which operates at 4319 S. National Ave., Ste. 105, in Aundria Plaza, has an F rating, the lowest possible, on BBB.org. The company’s BBB page lists 32 complaints, 13 of which did not get a response.

“Trying to get out of a contract is never an easy process,” said Michelle Corey, president and CEO of the BBB serving eastern Missouri and southern Illinois, in the release. “This business is selling a quick fix when there may not be one.”

The BBB has received complaints against Escape Resolutions from customers in 20 states, claiming they continued to pay maintenance fees on their timeshares while waiting for Escape Resolutions to handle the liquidation process. The BBB release includes an example from a Springfield woman who says she gave Escape Resolutions $4,995 to liquidate a timeshare her family owned in Branson, but was unable to contact company officials after making the payment.

Responding to the BBB report, Dibben said the complaints stem from a third-party closing company Escape Resolutions no longer uses.

“You miss one person’s call and all of the sudden you are seen as being a scam company in this industry,” Dibben told BBB. 

Dibben also operates Nixa telemarketing company Paramount Communications LLC, according to the release. That company has a D rating, with four complaints filed against it on BBB.org.