Comments on: Grandview Las Vegas – Is It Worth It?

By: LVdiva

LVdiva — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:51:43 +0000

Shiva,
The customer service number for your package is 1-800-316-4717 Mon-Fri 9am-6pm EST.
A tip on that package (we got the same one, and used it over Memorial Day weekend): when you get in town, you will check in at the Welcome Center in Excalibur first, then go back to Luxor to check in to your room. At the Welcome Center, they will offer you more free stuff: tickets, casino vouchers, or money back. We opted for the $124 credited back to our Visa. We had already paid $150 for the 3-night stay which is pretty good for the holiday weekend on the Strip. They offered us a few different days/times for our “tour”. We knew from doing our homework that the 2-3hr presentation was going to take at least 4 hours, so we scheduled it for early in the day. We also knew that part of what takes so long is waiting for the shuttle to bring you back. So we had taxi numbers at hand in order to get out of there as soon as we got our voucher for the $124 validated. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. Be strong and say no as many times as needed till you get your voucher then GET OUT OF THERE. You can walk to the South Point Casino & hotel next door and get a cab from there. The Grandview (or any other timeshare) is not a hustle, scam or con. It IS a high-pressure sales pitch, no doubt about it. As with anything, the price is worth it if it is worth it to YOU. Oh, and the salespeople who offer you the tickets, hotel stay or whatever in the first place are not the same people who pitch you the timeshares. It’s a different company altogether who are contracted to bring in “leads”. Many of them, if not all, have never even been to the Grandview property. It is their job to get people to the tour/presentation and they get paid based on how many people they bring in to it. So yeah, they’re pushy and even misleading but if you feel they outright lied then you should report them.
So… if you use your 3-night stay try to use it on a weekend that’s usually at a premium. Get the most bang for your buck. If you feel whatever additional perks they offer you upon checking in are worth 4-5hrs out of your vacation time then go ahead and do the tour. We did, and so our 3-night stay at Luxor wound up only costing us $26 (after the $124 was credited back to my Visa, which went through a few days after returning home) plus the cab fare from South Point back to Luxor. We were drinking by then so I honestly couldn’t tell you what that ran us, LOL. However, if we had NOT done the tour then the weekend stay would still have only cost us the initial $150 we paid when we were offered the deal by the first salesperson. The desk clerk at Luxor assured us that once we were checked in to the hotel itself, we were under no obligation to attend the tour to keep that package. The guy who checked us in at the welcome center had told us that too…. we only had to do the tour to get the $124.
My parents are timeshare owners, very happy with what they have, and have attended these high-pressure presentations many times just to get the goodies they offer. Yes, they’ve boughta few timeshares but they’ve gone to far many more sales pitches and walked away without spending a dime.
You just have to decide before you even go whether or not you’re interested in buying. And, more importantly, if what they are offering you (cash, tix, cruise) is REALLY worth that amount of time lost from your vacation.

By: Juxi

Juxi — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:59:29 +0000

I didn’t say I love time share – I said we cancelled allready.

Btw *HELP* – I can not find the fax nr from Berkeley Group and/or Eldorado Development Copr.
I sent a certified mail (from Europe – takes 2 or 3 days to get there) but I want also to be sure to fax them my revocation form just to be sure. I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me the nr. My contact at Grand View does not respond.

By: Melham

Melham — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:53:12 +0000

for those who are saying “they love time share” i dont think you are in the right site, this site are for those who wants to get rid and for those who can no longer afford, and for those who wants to help, and give advise.

By: Juxi

Juxi — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:00:41 +0000

Just returned from LV – we also signed a contract (1bedroom + 2 extra weeks -> 3 weeks/y) for ~13000USD.
I cancelled yesterday when I saw I could get it cheaper on ebay and other reseller pages.

I was convinced because

1.) I had no clue about the system nor did I read any info on the internet

2.) I thought if I don’t need it, it would be easy to resell it (this is what the sales person said “there is a 8month waiting list to get into Las Vegas”. So I just wanted to try and resell without loss later if it had turned out that I don’t like/need it

3.) I thought it is an investment like buying land or a flat – so use it as advance on securities. I told myself “it’s not a loss – the money will be safe”

Back home I did some research and it opened my eyes … thanks for all the info here.

By: Justi

Justi — Thu, 13 May 2010 09:14:02 +0000

Ok first of all we all know timeshares are a ripoff.

I have been to several presentations before, but the grandview one was the worst. It started with a bunch of old has been sales people picking up couples from the lobby. All the women had bags very strange.

The initial presentation was done by this sleezy white trash skank from Minnesota, and ended with this hick manager. What a shithole this was. Then again we came for the free $100.00 in gaming vouchers, with no intentions of buying anything.

Who is scamming who? Haha fvck you grandview. (Everyone go for the free shit. Say no no no, rinse repeat, beat them at their own game)

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:49:28 +0000

I swore I would never purchase a time share in my life, however, we went on the tour to get our ‘free show tickets’. We had a no bull salesman, and after many hours of negotiation, we purchased. We have not yet stayed at Grandview, but have traded it for the Summer Bay Resort that is closer to the strip. We have also used it to travel to Florida, Virginia, and Nashville, and have got the best resorts due to our trading power. We have no regrets whatsoever with our purchase, but it is only beneficial if you travel at least once a year. We also became good friends with our salesman, Jim, and have been down to Vegas twice since our purchase to see him. The only thing that sold me on this time share is that it is deeded, and does not expire. I would reccommend it!

By: Malcolm C

Malcolm C — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:05:09 +0000

I knew nothing about timeshares when I bought into the Grandview back in 2005. I can however say that the timeshare experience so far has been fantastic, we’ve exchanged our 1 week x 2 bedroom in Grandview, with RCI, for 2 week holidays in Hawaii, St Maarten and Cayman Islands and we make our 2nd visit to the Grandview 30th April and it is also a beautiful resort.
However knowing what I know now, and becoming a Timeshare forum member, I would pursuede everyone to avoid Timeshare sales pitches at all costs. Due to the current economic problems, people are practically giving timeshares away rather than pay the yearly maintenance fees. You can pick up really cheap resorts on E.Bay and other Timeshare resale sites.
For us we’ve made the mistake but I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, I’m just going to continue to enjoy some of the most beautiful resorts you could imagine, they make the Holiday Inns and Best Westerns look like Doss houses.

By: Heath

Heath — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:52:56 +0000

I bought a 1 bedroom timeshare at the Grandview with annual use on eBay for $155 plus $575 in closing costs for a total of $730. My maintainance fees the yr were $338. People are literally giving their timeshare away, I bought mine so cheap. I even have the valuable spring break week, don’t buy your timeshare at the Grandview when your here, go on eBay and buy cheap like I did…

By: Heath

Heath — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:58:31 +0000

I got a 1 bedroom timeshare here for annual use on eBay for $155 plus $575 closing costs
for a total of $730. Check eBay, people are giving these away basically & I got spring break
week too, a very desireable week. I got it because I like Vegas, otherwise I lowball on priceline to
get awesome hotel deals everywhere else.

By: Ruthie

Ruthie — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:29:24 +0000

We recently stayed at the Luxor and were approached as soon as we walked into the lobby (before we’d even checked in!) with an offer of free show tickets. The woman on the desk explained that they just wanted us to visit this new hotel down the road, have a look round, see what we think, and tell our friends about it. “We’re just trying to get the word out”, said she. In exchange we would be given free show tickets and vouchers to use in the hotel.
As we’d already planned to buy tickets for one of the events on offer, we didn’t see the harm.
We had to pay a $50 deposit (which I thought was odd), but only after handing over this over were we given a little receipt to sign which stated that we were agreeing to a 2-3 hour timeshare presentation. How strange that the lady who got us to sign up never mentioned ‘timeshare’ up to that point.

Being too polite to ask for a refund, and realising this could at least provide us with an amusing anecdote for the future, we went along the next day. I’d been to a timeshare presentation with my parents many years ago so had seen all the tricks – the selling from every possible advantage point (investment, money-saving, prestige), inducing guilt in saying “no” to your new best friends, and the hard-sell.

The bus picked us (and about 6 other couples) up from the hotel, and zoomed down Route 15 for about 10 minutes to reach the Grandview resort. In our presentation we were told it was 4 miles off the strip and that shuttles to the strip and back ran all day. I think it’s actually about 6 miles.

We went inside and waited to be allocated to our agent for the morning. He was pleasant and took us for a brief tour of the site, before taking us up to the cafe area where we were offered drinks and snacks. He then started to make his way through the paperwork, explaining to us the concept of the timeshare, and working out roughly how much we could expect to spend on hotels over the next few decades. Out came the RCI brochure, showing us all the places that we could trade for (which apparently we’d have no problem doing because Las Vegas is so popular that we could trade our timeshare there for anywhere in the world, anytime). He then took us on a tour of one of the ’show’ units, which seemed nice enough. He explained all about it being 5-star, and how everything got cleaned and replaced thoroughly in a way that they didn’t in hotels. Then it was back to the cafe area for more paperwork, and a final ‘reveal’ of how much it was going to cost us – $40,000 for a 2-bedroom A+B unit.
We said we were not interested.. and it wasn’t the price, it was the concept. Frankly they could have been offering them free of charge with a $200 annual maintenance fee and we wouldn’t have wanted one. We just don’t use our vacation time that way (usually a few days away many times a years rather than weeks at a time), we don’t drive on vacation (so would have no way of getting to most of the places in the catalogue), we don’t live in the US, and we _like_ the cheese and sleaze of the LV strip and like not being near any families. We like staying in hotels, not self-catering apartments. None of the other resorts seemed very close to big cities or very tempting, and I didn’t fancy having to spend the $200 admin fee every times we wanted to swap a few days in our LV unit for a few days away elsewhere. It just wasn’t for us in any way.

So, after giving our ‘no’, our agent looks saddened and a manager is called over to see what he can do for us. The manager has some 1-bedroom apartments available (although none were available at the start of the day), and these were much cheaper, at $11,000. Sorry, still not interested. He didn’t seem very impressed that we said no. So, this being the end, we were taken down to see the final ‘closing’ guy, which is where things got really odd.

He asked us the name of the manager who had greeted us, but there hadn’t been one. He frowned and said this was highly irregular and that meant we hadn’t had the full tour. At this point I half expected him to pull the rug on the free tickets, but that didn’t happen. He asked if we understood the timeshare concept and we agreed that we did. He said that was rare, because 99% of people that came to the presentation left not understanding. He then put us on the spot and said that if we had truly understood the timeshare, and had a good quality presentation, we would be able to remember the lowest prices we were quoted for the unit, the desposit and the maintenance fee. Unfortunately for him we were able to remember all of these, but he again frowned and told us that the cost of the unit was $5,000 and had nobody shown us that figure? They had not. So, he told us that we had not understood the presentation after all, and wished us a good day.

We finally got our free tickets (which we used with no problems), and were offered additional $ vouchers. We took most of these in food vouchers (which were accepted by the hotel and paid for most of our breakfasts on our stay – thanks Grandview!). We took a few vouchers in gambling freeplay – they loaded them up on a gaming card, but this didn’t work and I couldn’t be bothered to argue about it at the casino.

If the women who signed us up had been more upfront and had said this was a timeshare, we could have saved our time and theirs and not gone, because we would not have been intetrested in a timeshare at any price. Since they were not upfront, I didn’t feel the slightest guilt in saying ‘no’ to something we would never have wanted in the first place.

By: Shiva

Shiva — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:13:22 +0000

Hey lenor i think i had purchased the same deal as u have…. so cn u pls pass me thr number???

By: Shiva

Shiva — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:09:29 +0000

Can anyone pls pass me the number to call them for the deal i bought with them… I have lost the paper and want to go bk to Vegas and stay in Luxor for 3 nights… Vch i guess will be fre…

Pls pass me the customer service number for the same!!

By: Ernest

Ernest — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:36:22 +0000

They should not tell you 2 to 3 hours and keep you longer than 4 hours. I may not even make it in time to the show they promised me. I kept explaining my current financial situation and that I don’t even have the means to put down a few grand right now. They still continued to use high pressure tactics. They promised initialy that they don’t do that. I am also a veteran of Kosovo and two tours in Iraq and am diagnosed with PTSD. So when I noticed that I was being detained in the desert and not being allowed to leave I began to have a mild anxiety attack. I feel like I lost an entire day in Vegas. I will make it my mission to tell as much ppl as possible not to waste their time with any timeshare presentation associated with grandview and the vacation village parent company.

By: Velle

Velle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:31:05 +0000

Any recommendations on where I can sell.. I was young and naive and purchased in 2004 with someone and I am still repsonsible….trying to sell asap!

By: sharryn

sharryn — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:16:34 +0000

Can you cancel after 5 days? We have never used it. We signed in April has it been too long? I just want out.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:48:16 +0000

Never again for free stuff and discount,
This was my first and last Las Vegas….I don’t know if the Las Vegas Mayor knows about that , but I don’t know what kind of city they allow people come to visit and spend money yet get trapped and harassed by sales people who are nothing but liars and pushy….here is how started:
Approach by people from the Rewarding Office store in the strip next to the 711 store.
They got us to believe that , they will give us discount on tickets because a new Casino they are trying to promote and they want to give a tour and presentation about the casino and las Vegas, of course there will be a free lunch or breakfast. They never mentioned anything about selling you timeshare.
Next morning you go to the Grand view and assign you representative, the presentation starts with a black women he pretend that she was in the Army, which I doubt people who go to the army learns good manner not to scam people, and do mean tricks to deceive people who just want to have good time and get away from work and stress…That is not business ….that is a very low way to brain wash and force sell people stuff based on 20-40 years of estimates and calculations for vacations that may never go..bunch of B######
After an hour presentation and 10 min tours and half Deli Sandwich lunch, the selling begin, and the more you say no, the more they get aggressive to the level where they interfere in what decision you made in the past. My wife was so upset and hated the place and hated Las Vegas, and she said I don’t want to go back again….
They said its going to take between 2-3 hours but we ended up spending 4 hours
If these people keep doing that , this the beginning of the end to Las Vegas, because I have never seen such desperation.

By: Noreen

Noreen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:00:20 +0000

To start off with, this response is solely about the presentation at the Grandview – I’m not trying to criticize the “vacation ownerships” that they offer.

My family and I were staying at Exalibur when a Grandview agent approached us with an offer. Over $200 worth of tickets to a show for only $50. The catch of course was to spend time at a timeshare presentation at the Grandview. I have family who have timeshares so I knew what it was all about. I was planning to purchase those tickets anyways so I didn’t mind attending the presentation. You’re supposed to attend the presentation if you’re a couple living together and committed. However, the agent told us that since my brother and I share the same address and last name, that we should pretend that we’re married and attend the presentation. He said, “No one will find out, you’ll still get your ticket vouchers after the presentation is over.” Right off the bat, I knew it wasn’t worth investing in a business if their own employees tell customers to lie. But it didn’t matter, I wasn’t interested in purchasing a timeshare at all…just the gift vouchers.

Anyways, we paid the $50 cash and attended the presentation the next day. This is what the presentation was composed of:

-Prior to getting aboard the shuttle, a short form needed to be filled out ~10 minutes
-Approx. 15-20 minute drive to the Grandview resort
-Wait in a waiting room until your ‘assigned agent’ calls for you, couple by couple
-Attend a powerpoint presentation (that’s hosted by a complete paid actor). This presentation lasts about 1 1/2 hours. Try not to talk/discuss/participate much. If you do, you’ll just end up spending more time in this room. Before attending this, you’re offered food (this just included cookies, sandwiches and various beverages)
-Your agent takes you to another room filled with other couples and their assigned agent. Note: the room is large, noisy and the music is blaring. even if you try to evasdrop, you won’t be successful. You’re offered food again – same menu. The agent talks about what the grandview is offering – “vacation ownerships”
-Your agent takes you on a tour of the grandview
-Your agent takes you back to the same large room with other couples and begins to talk about packages and prices. Initial offer is an extremely large package set roughly around $42,000. Just learn to say no
-No matter how many times you say, ‘no thanks’ the agent will not stop talking. you have to understand that its his job to try and presuade you. he has to fill his entire workbook before he could call his manager.
-Once his work book is complete and you decline his offers, he’ll call a manager. The manager will arrive and negotiate better packages. Learn to say no again. The manager also has to fill out paperwork to make sure she’s doing her job correctly. No matter how many times you say no here, she’ll keep going until she’s done with her part.
-Finally after you say no to these two people, you’re taken to another room with a third person.
-The third person will offer you more packages and better deals. The last package for us was offered at $4,000.
-As long as you decline, the third person will then take you to the last room.
-The last room is where you fill out a short survey and feedback. I thought it was funny how every person that I met, from the initial Grandview agent at Exalibur, to the person who handed me the feedback form was listed on the survey. Once this is done, you’re free to go! The shuttles will take you back to where you were picked up.

All in all, the presentation took us 4 hours and we got our gift vouchers and attended the shows we wanted with no problems : )
I say its definitely worth it to attend the presentation for the gifts. Just keep saying no and don’t purchase any packages. Unless you truly want the “ownership vacations” that they offer. If that’s the case, wait till you speak to the third person – for this person will offer you the best packages at the best rate.

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:13:47 +0000

Just got back from a week at the Grandview Las Vegas at my parent’s timeshare. My father is 80 years old and was talked into buying a twin apartment for 1 week annually. I believe he paid $25,000 and was told that this would be a great investment and something he could inherit to his children and grandchildren. He paid the entire sum in full. At the time I thought that this was a rather rash decision and not typical of him as he is usually very conservative and thoughtful with his expenditures. When we checked in for our vacation we were told that there was a “owners update” presentation that he was required to attend. I asked twice about this to make sure that it was not another sales presentation and was told on both occasions that he was just going to be informed about changes and ownership.
As it turned out my parents were subjected to 3 hrs of sales talk by a very pushy salesman who tried to persude them to convert to a points system. I walked in to pick my dad up as he cannot walk very well and was very upset with what was going on . My father was on the verge of signing for a product that he does not need and which was going to cost him another $5000. I insisted that he think about this deal and sleep it over but the salesman insisted that it would have to be signed right away and got very pushy. He kept on going for what seemed an eternity at which point I asked him when this was going to be over. To this he responded that my mother and I were being disruptive and he did not need me there at all. When it became clear that we were not going to sign he told us that he had wasted his time and had mouths to feed and would rather have spend time with other costumers.
We were then shuttled to a second salesman for yet another sales pitch after which we were finally allowed to leave.
The whole experience left us physically and mentally exhausted . How can anyone make an informed decision after being brainwashed for 3 hrs. At least now I know why my father made such a quick decision to buy in the fist place. I a product is good there is no need to employ such tactics. Something is seriously wrong with this organization and I would encourage people to do their research before buying. You are certainly not getting tickets for free – you pay a price.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:29:16 +0000

We naively went to the time share presentation. It took over 4.5 hours. When we called them on the 2 to 3 they quoted us, they said that it was 2 or 3 hours was only after we entered the room which was after a one hour sales pitch. You know it is a scam when they cannot give you any literature on their product. I don’t know too many (normal) people who can drop tens of thousands of dollars on impulse without doing research. Most of the hotel chains on the strip give you a discount on the tickets to shows in their hotel. We could have gotten the tickets for 15% off and gotten better seats without the tour.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:57:53 +0000

My girlfriend and I purchaced a timeshare at the Grandview last november for approx 18000,
2 weeks with 4 extra weeks thrown in, the starting price for us was around 50000. We bought a timeshare because we will use this for the rest of our lives and will pass them on to our children. We have great trading power with Grandview and have already used up weeks in NZ, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and India. We feel these places are much better than staying in hotels and feel timeshares get too much bad press, if you have a timeshare use it to get value for money, my children can’t wait for Vegas with their friends.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:46:59 +0000

My husband and I with a business associate endured the torture also at the Grandview. We thought we would enjoy the timeshare experience. The maintenance
fee for the first year (we bought the every other year package) we were told were included in our purchase price. Our paperwork did not state any maintenance fee due but now we are billed and they say we misunderstood. I have found one other posting on another site where this was also told to another couple. Anyone else told this also during the sales session?? Thanks

By: Jean

Jean — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:57:56 +0000

If you have already signed the paper and paid a deposit, you can revocate within 5 days!

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:24:37 +0000

Four of us sat though what was suppose to be a 90 presentation in Las Vegas (Fairfield). It wound up being 4 hours. They were trying to sell me a points or a week in a resort that had no availability, maybe they would be building again, but we could get a week in Williamsburgh. I was interested in Vegas why would I want Williamsaburgh Va. They started with the push for points. I have a fixed week in the Berkshires and didn’t want points. Well, we were admonished for not buying points. Each sales person became more and more rude and arrogant. We finally, got up and left. Our gift was a week in Hawaii……or at least it was suppose to be. That was 4 years ago. I’m still waiting for the voucher for the Hawaiian trip. Good thing I’m not holding my breath.

The problem with RCI is the inconsistency of information given out over the phone; each customer service rep has a different script, and the information that is available of the internet. If you choose to exchange on the RCI website you are charged $169. If you have to call and speak to someone to arrange the exchange, it’s $189. For the most part, I’ve been forced into calling since the system (which they know is having a problem and has yet to be fixed) won’t permit my exchange request, so the charge is $189. I don’t pay. And like most people I can never get the weeks, time of year or location that I want. So much for truth in business. Just a bunch of snake oil sales. I’m looking to sell and be done with all of it.

By: Stella

Stella — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:32:04 +0000

My husband and I walked out of the Grandview presentation and felt like we had just been thru a battle. Never again i promised myself just for free stuff not worth it. Went thru 3 salespeople, prices started at 39,999 down to 4,999 kept saying no thanks, last sales person didn’t take it so well said to us well I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. The nerve of that women at that point we just wanted to leave. We were almost treated like criminals. The final straw was going to retrieve out coupons and the staff person lock herself out of her computer so we had to wait another 45 minutes before we could leave. Don’t waste your time seems they have 2 sets of deals one for weeks and one based on points, Again do your research may not be worth the headache. How long did all this take 5 hours.

By: Edward

Edward — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:46:47 +0000

We arrived to the Excalibur caisno and agreed to the presentation. We had an idea what we were getting into, but we wanted the free Criss Angel tickets. This operation is sismialr to purchasing a car. They tell you it’s 2 hours, but by the time you leave your hotel and come back, its more like 4 to 5. They tell you they will feed you, but it’s only cofee donuts, and flavorless cold cuts. They start of $41,000 during the presentation. We caught the first presenter in many lies. You will go through 3 to 4 people. If you opt out to the end, they will offer you 1 week, every three years, with an addtional week every year for $5,000. It appears to be a huge marketing scam. If you have the time, and have nothing else to fo in Vegas, go ahead. By the way, the told us show tickets would be in the 14th row, GRandview actually has onlty the last two rows for the show. Enter at your own risk!!!

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:15:42 +0000

As I write this, I am sitting in the Grandview on our last night here.
We had a great week. In fact, we also spent 3 night at the Luxor that were comp’d due to a past business trip there.
We purchased a bi-annual ownership here at the Grandview 2 yrs. ago. Echoing what has already been said here, only buy timeshare IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE IT. For us it has worked out well.
We are empty nesters who are able to take at least two nice trip a year. This has fit very nicely into our lifestyle.
We have friends who are are also timeshare owners in Hilton Head and we take each other along on trips free of charge.
With the point system, we are able to trade our points of our Grandview property 2 for 1 at most places.
This week we spent here, was a last minute deal to fill excess inventory. It cost us $170 for the week.
In two weeks we are going to St. Maarten on points and the RCI Fee.
In the end, timeshare either works or doesn’t for the individual. Like any purchase, YOU have a choice.
Time share, and the sales tactics are not new. It has been around since the 70’s.
The TV show The Simpsons even parodied timeshare in an episode.
Bitterness for falling prey to sales tactics in our mind is a weak excuse. When first approached about the sales presentation, you have the OPTION of saying NO. If you want the “free stuff”, you have to know that there is a catch. If you don’t….. then you are just plain stupid and deserve any inconvenience you experience.
Oh, and FYI, @17K, We probably paid too much in the opinion of many, but we paid cash and are satisfied. It is a lot like buying a potato chip that looks like Christ Jesus on Ebay. To the buyer it is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

By: Alyson

Alyson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:06:46 +0000

WOW…everyone is really down on the timeshare. i actually bought my timeshare in my home state AZ. I bought it from shell vacations…since it is stationed here, and mostly for golfing resorts and so forth. We don’t purchase weeks, everything is point based, we bought a simple package 14,000 for 2500 points…we love it and if we don’t use it it just rolls over tot he next year. we are staying at the Grandview for the week, and I am so excited. I never thought timeshare would be for us, but the places we have gone are beautiful 5 star mostly and for free to us, just get there and spend your money on the other things….we used to spend so much money on hotels we never had money for anything else,Not sure about he weekly thing with RCI, but RCI is a sister company and we can use their properties for free or registration only which is like
$100……so good for us, sorry for those that look at it negatively…enjoy life too short to complain so much!!!!!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:13:18 +0000

I too took a chance with my boyfriend primarily to get free tickets and went to the grandview presentation. The woman was nice enough, but after their presentation, we decided that it just was not feasible at this moment. Well, you would have thought we killed someone! When we said we simply couldn’t afford it at this time, they kept harping on whether coming to vegas had effected us financially, and if not we definitely could afford this. I was insulted that they assumed anything about our financial status and it was all smiles and fun until we said no. Then of course they brought in the manager who said he was going to give us a “special deal” because his father had worked for the same company my boyfriend works for. I thought this in itself was a little suspicious. I respect their hustle though, they are there to do a job. Just be aware that you will be there for more than 2 hours whatever the case. I believe the starting price was 27,000 and they knocked it down to 11,000 with 2 extra weeks. Again, if you are going to use it it is a great deal, but don’t be surprised by the saleperson finding many things in common with you and then trying to make you feel like you need to reevaluate your decision because this is such a great deal that even the employees don’t get a chance at!

By: John

John — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:12:47 +0000

My wife and I recently visited Vegas and was approached by pushy people giving away “A FREE GIFT” I should have stopped right there because I know there is no such thing as free gift. We accepted to go to the sales pitch not really knowing what we got our selves into. When we were hearded on to the shuttle I felt like I had a Big S stamped on my forehead meaning we were suckered. WE were taken to another site and this is where my frustrations began. We went with an open mind but never expected this type of experience. My wife and I were treated rude by the second sales person we spoke with. I too feel that we were being held hostage because if we would have walked out I wasn’t sure we would get our 40 dollar deposit returned and if we would even have transportation back to our hotel. We repeatedly told this sales person we are not going to buy today and he kept saying I have you for another 15 minutes. I was upset and angry when this was over. I think if they would have offered us this deal for 0 down and 0 % I would have still declined because Grand View Vegas is nothing more than a HUGE SCAM that we want nothing do do with. Any respectable real estate agency would never treat their potential clients the way we were treated. My wife and I did receive a voucher for free show tickets at the LUXOR .When we got our tickets (THAT WE DIDN’T USE) the only seats available were up at the very top row probably the worst seat in the house.
My recommendation would be to steer clear of this complete thing by saying I ALREADY WENT unless you want to feel like a cow in a heard and the wolves are eyeing you up for their meal.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:24:52 +0000

Thanks Lynn for the info on how to cancel. Although the price we got of 17.9K for a double w/ 4 extra weeks per year seemed fair, all things considered….we still decided not to go through with it seeing how there are more pressing things we need to do with our money right now, than spend it on expensive vacations.

We really don’t go for a week at a time when we do because I’m self-employed and receive a double-hit financially whenever I take off from work. So we opt for more frequent, shorter 3-day jaunts and don’t set our sights on overseas destinations, which do require more time than we have right now.

Figuring we probably wouldn’t really use 6 full weeks a year, and would only end up trying to rent them or end up giving them away or losing them, we decided to cancel 4 days from when we attended the presentation. If you travel alot, this could be the deal for you, but if not, then there are other ways of saving money on airfare and hotels.

For example, Hotwire.com got us a very nice spacious and clean, comfortable full-efficiency room at Candlewood Suites in Vegas for only $61 per night, with regular-sized fridge, dishwasher, fully outfitted with nice cookware and table ware, 2-burner cooktop, microwave, and single bowl kitchen sink complete with disposal. Their laundry facilities were available on every floor and were free to use for hotel guests. The phone was also free for local calls. They even had a selection of DVD movies and an assortment of audio CDs you could check out for free to play on the DVD player in your room. They also have an very nice exercise room complete with various work-out machines which my wife really appreciated. And with plenty of free parking for the rental car we also got at a remarkable price from Avis through Hotwire($25 / day for 3 days), we didn’t have to fork out a whole lot for our stay in Vegas and we didn’t feel like we were cutting corners either. So the value for the money for me was well orth it. I hear Priceline.com is also a good way to go, but I’ve never tried them before.

Bottom line is if you have the money, I still think it could be the way to go, just wasn’t for us.

Peace,

Chuck