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timeshare questions!

m1ldslide1

m1ldslide1

Platinum Member
The gf got a call from a local timeshare company, and they're asking us to come to a 90-minute meeting this weekend to promote their timeshare programs. In exchange for sitting through this 90 minute session, we are awarded a 3 day trip for 2 to San Fran / Reno / Vegas with airfare and hotel 100% comped. There are apparently no strings attached for this promo - you don't have to commit to anything - they just give you the trip in exchange for your time. Apparently you can redeem this package any time you want to within the next year.

Question #1 - is that legit? Can I honestly anticipate walking out of there with what amounts to a $600+ travel package just for listening for an hour and a half?

Question #2 - what if the timeshare pitch sounds pretty good? Does anybody have experience with this stuff, in terms of how much they cost, what the commitments are like, how hard is it to schedule/use your timeshare, so on and so forth?

I would like to walk into this thing with a bit more background info than I have now...
 
They are legit, but be ready for the hardsale. And don't think you're gonna be outta there in 90 minutes. They work hard to make one sale to pay for those free trip or gifts.
 
Question 1: You will get what you are promised
Question 2: it is not good. do not buy. think of timeshare salespersons as car salesmans on crack.

enter with both of your hands in a cast. do not sign anything. ANYTHING.

cliff notes: go in for the freebie. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING. kill yourself before you sign anything.
 
Yup, PNW area.

I know two people who have done this, and I was contemplating doing it myself.

It's legit. They give you the trip. Catches are that you get the "hard sell" during the session, there are blackout dates for cashing in your trip, they don't put you in the best hotels, and I believe they give you a certificate for one $20 meal. Still, not too bad.

I forget the details on the timeshare. It sounded like the sort of thing that might be convenient for some people, but I'm not that kind of traveler. You pay a certain monthly fee, and you get "points" that accumulate over time. Once you accumulate enough points, you can cash them in on any of their locations, and from what I heard they have quite a few. "Cost" for some locations is clearly higher than others.
 
ive had a similar offer from backtothecaribbean.com.

long story short, i fought and won a chargeback with my credit card.
 
It's good to be forewarned about the hard sell. I'll make sure I steel myself against it in advance.

I just keep thinking that if the monthly fee isn't very much, say $50, and it allowed us to spend a week out of the year someplace nice without having to pay for lodging then it might work out well. If it's much more than that, I could put the same money into a savings account every month and end up having the same vacation.

I'm just expecting there to be some kind of catch that makes it really appealing, but obviously accompanied by serious tradeoffs.
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
It's good to be forewarned about the hard sell. I'll make sure I steel myself against it in advance.

I just keep thinking that if the monthly fee isn't very much, say $50, and it allowed us to spend a week out of the year someplace nice without having to pay for lodging then it might work out well. If it's much more than that, I could put the same money into a savings account every month and end up having the same vacation.

I'm just expecting there to be some kind of catch that makes it really appealing, but obviously accompanied by serious tradeoffs.
Click to expand...

it's a yearly maintenance fee, or biyearly depending on the terms of the contract. it's usually 500-1000, depending on the timeshare

given the cost of maintenance + the actual cost of the timeshare, it's NEVER a good idea. remember, all those comp's gotta be paid somehow.

if you are going to buy a timeshare, buy it from another person OR from ebay. TONS of people trying to unload because it's not a good buy for 90% of the population
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
If it's much more than that, I could put the same money into a savings account every month and end up having the same vacation.
Click to expand...

They're not in business to lose money. It's better for you to set aside money for yourself, and plan your vacation based on how much money you're willing to spend.
 
I did one of those timeshare dealies once, and got a suite at the Hilton dirt cheap for three days. I accidentally showed up late for the timeshare speech as well right before they closed on the last day of my visit, so they didn't even bother with the sales pitch 🙂

I wouldn't recommend trying that, though, since they can charge for full price (like $399 a night) for the room if they're feeling hostile and want to retaliate.

 
Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
if you are going to buy a timeshare, buy it from another person OR from ebay. TONS of people trying to unload because it's not a good buy for 90% of the population
Click to expand...

From what I hear, this is the case. They're not inherently a bad idea, but you can always get them cheaper second-hand.
 
Originally posted by: Mr Incognito
Just watch the episode of South Park where they go to "Asspen". All you need to know.
Click to expand...

That is immediately what I thought of when I read the thread's title.
 
Yes, they will make good on their promise but you will think their timeshare deals are a great deal. They will prey on your girlfriend and will likely question your financial position and use her as leverage. You better both have iron wills because they are extremely good at what they do. The investment will look very appealing but remember it isn't.

One other thing, do not give them ANY form of ID, credit card or sign anything. You will be about as close to hell as you can get but they will make it feel like heaven. STAY STRONG.
 
My brother and his wife went to one of those things. They were promised 3 days 2 nights in a gorgeous resort.
They sat through the whole dog and pony show, then they booked their vacation.
When they got to the resort, they were told there was no vacancy and they offered to put them up at a fleabag Roadway Inn a mile or two away.
They said thanks but no thanks and chalked it up as a lesson learned.
They ended up paying full price for a decent hotel in the area.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Share_Tours
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeshare

Wow I've been reading the wiki for the last half hour, and it's fascinating. Sounds like the catch for the "3 day paid vacation!" will be that we have to endure a "tour" while we're there. It also sounds like if we decide to go through with it, we need to act interested until the point of negotiations, at which point we say "No thanks" and walk away.

Man, even the Wiki is generally plugging these salespeople as being some of the best. Sounds like the hard sell will be taken to a new level.

Also in agreement with what some other folks have said, the secondary market looks like the way to go. I have a lot of research ahead of me before Saturday...

From the wiki:

One aspect that is little known outside of the travel industry is that timeshare companies generally have very generous compensation programs for those sales agents able to convince individuals to take a tour of their timeshare facilities (something that normally takes approximately 90 minutes). With this in mind, a crafty individual can bargain for incredible vacation deals with a sales agent if they are willing to spare a bit of time. At one time, timeshares were known for applying considerable pressure to these touring individuals to purchase (even prompting a South Park episode called Asspen parodying the process), though that is generally supposed to have been lessened after a backlash by customers. The movie Once Around provided a look at the "inside" of a timeshare company. Each timeshare has its own rules for who it is willing to allow to tour, and most only allow one tour per year, though this does not prevent multiple tours from different resorts. An entire industry has sprung up based around this concept, negating the need for the frugal individual to do his own bargaining.

 
Originally posted by: ThePresence
My brother and his wife went to one of those things. They were promised 3 days 2 nights in a gorgeous resort.
They sat through the whole dog and pony show, then they booked their vacation.
When they got to the resort, they were told there was no vacancy and they offered to put them up at a fleabag Roadway Inn a mile or two away.
They said thanks but no thanks and chalked it up as a lesson learned.
They ended up paying full price for a decent hotel in the area.
Click to expand...

Now that's a useful story.. I wonder if you could call the hotel in advance to make sure your reservation is in order?
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Share_Tours
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeshare

Wow I've been reading the wiki for the last half hour, and it's fascinating. Sounds like the catch for the "3 day paid vacation!" will be that we have to endure a "tour" while we're there. It also sounds like if we decide to go through with it, we need to act interested until the point of negotiations, at which point we say "No thanks" and walk away.

Man, even the Wiki is generally plugging these salespeople as being some of the best. Sounds like the hard sell will be taken to a new level.

Also in agreement with what some other folks have said, the secondary market looks like the way to go. I have a lot of research ahead of me before Saturday...

From the wiki:

One aspect that is little known outside of the travel industry is that timeshare companies generally have very generous compensation programs for those sales agents able to convince individuals to take a tour of their timeshare facilities (something that normally takes approximately 90 minutes). With this in mind, a crafty individual can bargain for incredible vacation deals with a sales agent if they are willing to spare a bit of time. At one time, timeshares were known for applying considerable pressure to these touring individuals to purchase (even prompting a South Park episode called Asspen parodying the process), though that is generally supposed to have been lessened after a backlash by customers. The movie Once Around provided a look at the "inside" of a timeshare company. Each timeshare has its own rules for who it is willing to allow to tour, and most only allow one tour per year, though this does not prevent multiple tours from different resorts. An entire industry has sprung up based around this concept, negating the need for the frugal individual to do his own bargaining.
Click to expand...

You generally don't need to act interested. A line that I picked up from another board....

Salesperson: So how do you guys usually pay for your hotels?
You: We go to timeshare presentations and stay for free.
Salesperson: ....


As the other person above mentioned, you are damn right they're going to leverage your GF like a mother fucker. "Wouldn't it be nice to have this nice romantic spot that you can exchange for a vacation ANYWHERE? You like vacations, don't you? Good, goood....."

Also, if the price starts out at like 16k, every 5-10 minutes they'll knock off a few thousand off the price hoping that you crack.
 
Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
if you are going to buy a timeshare, buy it from another person OR from ebay. TONS of people trying to unload because it's not a good buy for 90% of the population
Click to expand...

From what I hear, this is the case. They're not inherently a bad idea, but you can always get them cheaper second-hand.
Click to expand...



Bolded for truth!

I went to one of these for fun and the hard sell is truly a hard sell, they will tell you that if you dod not buy today then you will be losgin out on this "1-time offer"!!!

Second-hand time share market is fantastic for a buyer who does not need financing.


 
Originally posted by: dj2004
Originally posted by: Mr Incognito
Just watch the episode of South Park where they go to "Asspen". All you need to know.
Click to expand...

That is immediately what I thought of when I read the thread's title.
Click to expand...

I thought of that family guy episode where they went to a timeshare presentation:

"A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything! It could even be a boat!"
 
As the other person above mentioned, you are damn right they're going to leverage your GF like a mother fucker. "Wouldn't it be nice to have this nice romantic spot that you can exchange for a vacation ANYWHERE? You like vacations, don't you? Good, goood....."

Also, if the price starts out at like 16k, every 5-10 minutes they'll knock off a few thousand off the price hoping that you crack.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I'll be forewarning the gf to make sure we don't get had. She isn't the biggest fan of salesmen (having worked at a car dealership) and we'll make sure we don't get manipulated by that particular angle. The other angles though... I think that's where the preparation and research comes in to play.
 
My parents own a few weeks of timesharing. I think they made out pretty good with them financially. We used them to go on vacation for a week every year as a family of 4 for probably about $900 which is much cheaper than it would have cost for the places we stayed. It's also helpful now that my sisters and I are older because we can take them over and use them ourselves without putting up the initial costs.
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
As the other person above mentioned, you are damn right they're going to leverage your GF like a mother fucker. "Wouldn't it be nice to have this nice romantic spot that you can exchange for a vacation ANYWHERE? You like vacations, don't you? Good, goood....."

Also, if the price starts out at like 16k, every 5-10 minutes they'll knock off a few thousand off the price hoping that you crack.
Click to expand...

That's funny - I'll be forewarning the gf to make sure we don't get had. She isn't the biggest fan of salesmen (having worked at a car dealership) and we'll make sure we don't get manipulated by that particular angle. The other angles though... I think that's where the preparation and research comes in to play.
Click to expand...

There is no angle. Don't walk in with anything. Don't sign anything. Say no to everything.

Originally posted by: pulse8
My parents own a few weeks of timesharing. I think they made out pretty good with them financially. We used them to go on vacation for a week every year as a family of 4 for probably about $900 which is much cheaper than it would have cost for the places we stayed. It's also helpful now that my sisters and I are older because we can take them over and use them ourselves without putting up the initial costs.
Click to expand...

Your parents could have done the exact same thing buying it on eBay, but for an 8th of the price.
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
The gf got a call from a local timeshare company, and they're asking us to come to a 90-minute meeting this weekend to promote their timeshare programs. In exchange for sitting through this 90 minute session, we are awarded a 3 day trip for 2 to San Fran / Reno / Vegas with airfare and hotel 100% comped. There are apparently no strings attached for this promo - you don't have to commit to anything - they just give you the trip in exchange for your time. Apparently you can redeem this package any time you want to within the next year.

Question #1 - is that legit? Can I honestly anticipate walking out of there with what amounts to a $600+ travel package just for listening for an hour and a half?

Question #2 - what if the timeshare pitch sounds pretty good? Does anybody have experience with this stuff, in terms of how much they cost, what the commitments are like, how hard is it to schedule/use your timeshare, so on and so forth?

I would like to walk into this thing with a bit more background info than I have now...
Click to expand...
I'm a timeshare owner, so take this for what it's worth.

Question #1 It's legit. There's a very good chance that there will be a hard sell. Then again there may not. You are dealing with sales people. They need to sell to earn. If whomever they answer to is between a rock and a hard place, they are under pressure and you will be under pressure. If you're thinking you don't want to deal with it, go with your gut and pass on it.

Question #2 NEVER, I repeat NEVER buy from the developer. Timeshares sell on the secondary market for typically $.25 on the dollar. If it sounds like something you're interested in, buy from a private seller.

Location is key with Timeshares. Nobody wants to trade to Nebraska. People DO want to trade to Florida, Hawaii, and other locations. One of the nice things about Timesharing is being able to trade to go other places. What you own has value. Iowa has little to no value. If you want to purchase one and plan to go there exclusively, then that location has great value to you. Maybe not so much to others.

In order to trade with your timeshare, you must plan ahead. One year is good two years is better. A spur of the moment timeshare vacation is unlikely but not impossible.

We own in Hawaii on Maui. We love Hawaii. We usually trade for Kauai. We are happy with our purchase. Because we use it. If you are not going to use it, you have no need for it. This is the key. Once your time is paid for, your vacations become very inexpensive. When you check out at the end of a Timeshare vacation, the bill is $0. There are trading fees and fees to a trading organization and there are maintenance fees. I do the math every couple of years and for us it's still a good deal. Only you can decide if it's right for you.

It has opened some doors for us in that we came to realize that we could rent condos for far less than staying at a Hotel.

Check out http://tug2.net/. There are lots of articles on the ins and outs, pros and cons of Timeshare ownership. There are classified ads that you can look at with units for sale and rent. Look at the asking prices. The developer may be asking $22,000 for a unit that is listed for sale on the resale market for $4,500. And that's the asking price.

BTW, we were dummies and bought new from the developer. Don't make the mistake we did.

 
LMAO my roommate did that EXACT same seminar. A FYI that you must stay at Weston properties, and only Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights are covered. You also must pay something like $15-$50/night in tax on the rooms.

Oh and the timeshare part of it is a really bad deal. Like horribly insanely bad.
 
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