Chuck McDowell, Founder and CEO of Wesley Financial Group, LLC, Speaks to The Silicon Review: ‘We’re the Longest Standing Timeshare Cancellation Company in the Industry and Continue to Lead It’

“Our specialists stay in consistent contact with our clients, ensuring they are routinely updated on their cancellation process status.”

Wesley Financial Group, LLC or WFG is a timeshare cancellation company that helps people whom timeshare companies have deceived. Standing by its clients, WFG serves individuals and families that have experienced fraud during sales presentations.

It was founded in 2011 and is based in Franklin, TN.

Proud Moment

In 2020, WFG was ranked #203 on the 2020 INC 5000 list. It has received accolades from Fortune, Stevie’s Business Awards, Business Intelligence Group, Great Places to Work, InHerSight, and Nashville Business Journal for being a ‘Great Employer’. It was also named a ‘2020 Finalist for Excellence in Customer Service’ by the Business Intelligence Group.

Interview Excerpt: Chuck McDowell

Q. Can you walk us through the company’s journey right from its beginning to where it unwaveringly stands today?

After the unexpected loss of my first wife, I took a couple of year’s break to look after my two young sons. When the savings ran out, I stumbled upon the sales position opportunity at a local timeshare resort. After months of striving for the top salesperson position, I was coached to lie and deceive in order to close a deal. After just a month of giving in to these practices, I quit the company as I didn’t want to go to hell for selling timeshares. I made phone calls to those clients I had lied to and apologized for the misdeed. When a friend of one of those clients called and offered to pay me to get them out of their timeshare, I realized the opportunity to build something great.

Shortly after, I started the company with my son and close friends in a small town outside of Nashville, TN. To this day, WFG is the longest-standing timeshare cancellation company.

Since then, WFG has grown to over 400 employees with offices in Las Vegas, NV and Franklin, TN.

Q. What are the challenges addressed by your solutions?

The timeshare cancellation industry does not come without its hardships, though. In 2011, I was sued for $5.9 million in federal court by the world’s largest resort. I was given the option to fold my company or fight in court. I relied on the faith that helping and supporting consumers was the right thing to do. The jury agreed, and the decision was made in my favor. The landmark case was a defining moment for the entire timeshare cancellation industry.

Q. What are the latest developments in canceling a timeshare?

Timeshare companies are constantly changing their tactics to keep people who have been lied to—locked into their timeshares. To counter this, WFG is consistently doing its homework to stay ahead of the game to ensure it serves as many clients as possible and helps countless families find freedom from timeshare fees and costs.

Success in the timeshare industry is tricky. Most of the time, the lawyers charge a hefty upfront fee and then send a letter to the resort to stop contacting their client. Once this happens, most owners assume their timeshare is canceled, but in reality, it isn’t. As specialists, what or when do you call it a perfect ‘closure’ in the timeshare cancellation industry?

Our perfect close and objective for each client is to return the client to a status of financial freedom as though they had never owned a timeshare.

Q. Trust is a difficult attribute to measure and a delicate dynamic to maintain. How do you maintain this with your clients?

Trust is integral to almost any business relationship. Often, by the time a potential customer finds us, they may have been to two or three other companies offering similar services. These companies might have scammed them out of thousands of dollars or made offers that they just could not realistically meet, such as renting out a timeshare or selling it. Skepticism can be very high when we first engage with someone who wants to cancel their timeshare. So, we market ourselves differently. We are transparent. When a customer first enters our system, they are sent an over 40-page magazine telling them the company’s ins and outs with real employee names and pictures. We want people to know who they are working with.

We slow the sales process down and make sure any potential customer fully understands what we’re offering, and we come up with a mutually agreed-upon time frame for their timeshare to be canceled.

To top it off, we offer a 100 percent money-back guarantee. All these things help instill that much-needed trust.

Additionally, our specialists stay in constant contact with our clients, ensuring that they are routinely updated on their cancellation process status.

Q. How do you market your services?

Our marketing team is an award-winning group of eclectic individuals trained in specialty divisions of the marketing field.

At WFG, we believe nothing is known until it is tested and proven. With that said, the most frequent response to “Can I try…” or “We could…” is, “Test it.” This approach allows the marketing department to beat the expected outcomes of lead generation per medium. For instance, when we first started, many platform experts told us that because our targeted demographic is over 55, we would not find marketing on social media very profitable, but that hasn’t been the case.

The team utilizes targeted and retargeting campaigns across social media platforms. TV commercials, radio, and print publications are leveraged across the nation. WFG has over 1,700 of client testimonials with an overall 5 star rating. Recently the company has released a documentary highlighting its origins and with appearances from real clients who we have helped along the way.

Charity events are a staple to Wesley’s culture and offer a bit of marketing, but that is not the purpose of doing the charity events.

Q. What does the future hold for Wesley Financial Group LLC and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

WFG is the longest-standing timeshare cancellation company in the industry and continues to lead it. We are constantly adapting our techniques and always looking for new opportunities to help those who have been lied to or misled out of the timeshares they would otherwise be trapped in.

The Resilient Leader at the Helm of Wesley Financial Group, LLC

Chuck McDowell, founder, serves as the CEO of Wesley Financial Group, LLC. He spent less than a year working in sales for a timeshare giant before leaving that side of the business over deceptive practices that he witnessed firsthand. He then founded Wesley Financial Group.

Today, Chuck leads his team at Wesley Financial Group in helping people who have been lied to, misled, or pressured into buying their timeshares.

“We are constantly adapting our techniques and always looking for new opportunities to help those who have been lied to or misled out of the timeshares they would otherwise be trapped in.”