My RCI Timeshare Horror story – The Grandview Las Vegas
** UPDATED IN 2022 **
In October 2006, my fiance and I decided to get away for a weekend and visit a few of his friends in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite our amazing hotel deal, we were pretty tight on funds and the trip was last-minute in nature, so when we were approached by two sales associates at the Mandalay Bay offering “free show tickets”, there was no hesitation to find out more. We were informed that we would be eligible for numerous Vegas show tickets that evening including Cirque de Soleil, Lance Burton, and others. We were also told that to qualify for the tickets we would need to attend a brief presentation on “real estate opportunities” lasting about 2 hours in length and that there was no obligation to buy – I would later realize that the latter part of this statement was entirely false. Within what seemed to be seconds of accepting the invitation we were whisked through back corridors of the Mandalay Bay and lead to a secluded parking area where a handful of sight-seeing vans were waiting. The 5 minute drive turned into 20 minutes and we ended up pulling into a dilapidated strip mall, far from the glitz and glamour of the strip.
Next came the waiting area. I estimate there were 50 other couples crowded in the converted grocery store that now housed the sales headquarters for the Grandview Las Vegas. We were processed by a Grand View employee and told to wait until our name was called. After waiting you were actually pretty excited when your name was called because this meant you could eat some free food, get on with your day, get your show tickets, and get on with your trip.
We were lead to a R.C.I. conference room of epic proportions and seated at a table with four chairs, our RCI assistant strategically sitting between us. To be perfectly honest, with all the commotion going on and our RCI guide throwing out as many facts and figures as humanly possible (he could have used differential calculus equations to predict the perfect ketchup to hamburger ratio and I would have been none-the-wiser), the events that transpired are somewhat of a blur to us. There are a few disturbing facts I am certain of, I do know that no credit check was ever done on either of us. The RCI salesperson had no regard for our present financial situation and in fact this was used against us to bully us into purchasing the time share because it would be “an investment we would have FOREVER”. When we asked if we could have time to think and possibly come back tomorrow or a later date, we were informed that the timeshare opportunity would have dissipated by then. Somehow R.C.I. convinced two twenty-somethings, in the midst of starting their own business, that it would be in their best interest to have a $500/month timeshare payment and additional fees if they actually decide to take a vacation. So much for no obligation to buy!
After our time share purchase, I realized that an untenable portion of our monthly income was now dead and it was at this point I sincerely believe I went through Kubler-Ross’ stages of dying:
- Denial and isolation – I simply pretended there was no time share and did not tell anyone about it or my experience with RCI.
- Anger – I wanted to sue RCI for everything they were worth, spam them everywhere, and warn everyone of their unfair business practices.
- Bargaining – Please let me bank these weeks that I can not afford to take a vacation!!
- Depression – We are never going to be able to make this time share worth it, how could I have been so stupid?
- Acceptance – I am now a part of the RCI timeshare community, how can I make this work for me? What benefits can this offer? How can I help other people?
Since this website’s inception in 2007, I have spent over 15 years helping other individuals learn more about their options regarding a timeshare they may have unwittingly agreed to purchase and/or no longer want. This site is designed to help those in all stages of their timeshare experience in hopes to create a more informed buyer, owner, and seller.
If you would like more information on your options, I encourage you to download my free eBook – The Ultimate Guide To Getting Rid Of Your Timeshare. It’s absolutely free, no strings or spam! It includes a wealth of knowledge regarding ways you may choose to release yourself from your timeshare burden.
All the best!
I am currently using Owner's Advocate right now to help me get my money back. Thanks MB for supplying the info. I came across this posting the other day and looked into them. They are very helpful and the only way I found in trying getting a refund. It's essential that those who feel they got scammed to use them 'cause they need more testimonials about the Grandview at Las Vegas. It helps those who want to get their money back!! ** Please do not try to resell your timeshare on those resale websites!!! They don't work either!!**
These bastards need to know know whats coming to them!!!
Hi DA,
The contact information for The Owner’s Advocate is as follows: The Owner’s Advocate,
3905 State Street, Santa Barbara CA, phone #(866) 644-7776. They are accredited with the
BBB so maybe if you look in the Santa Barbara BBB you will find them. Let me know if
you need anything else.
Hi! MB,
Can you give me contact information (Name, Address and phone number) on Owner's Advocate. I looked for then in BBB and could not find them.
I also got sucking into this and would like to get out ASAP.
Thanks,
I fell into the timeshare trap yesterday. I have sent my revocation document to the Florida Office via FEDEX. I will appreciate if someone lets me know the cancellation office phone no or fax in Grand View Las Vegas to expedite my case.
I just got back from Vegas today after staying 4 nights. Yesterday, we went to the Grandview timeshare scam. We left at 1pm and didn't get back until 6pm. We couldn't get rid of them…we were even up front about the face we didn't want to buy one of their damn timeshares…what's worse, we were supposed to get "Love" cirque tickets, which they gave us "vouchers" for and we had to go pick up…they were suppose to be front row reserved seats…however, when we went to the box office, the Mirage people laughed at us…they said we had been had…apparently, it is a common practice for the Grandview folks to give out vouchers for non-reseved seats…so after 5 hours of hell and bad math presentations, we didn't have any fucking tickets…when i called the customer service at Grandview, they told me it was MY problem that i didn't have tickets because i should of reserved them faster (which again, i was told they had reserved my seats)…it was only after begging and pleading with the Mirage that they felt sorry enough for me and let me sit on the very back row, my wife actually sit in an office chair!!!…none the less, i pitty anyone who has any dealings with the Grandview…
They can help. You can call them directly and ask them questions
about your specific situation. They are accredited with the Better
Business Bureau so you can also look on there.
Hi there all, I bought a twin suite timeshare at the Grandview in Dec 2007.
I tried to use all the "wonderful" advantages of RCI's exchange program, only to discover the painful reality that you all have found, that it sucks and you where lied to.
I am a living outside of the US, I can't afford to pay the instalments on the instant finance they gave me, never mind the maintenance fees or RCI subscription. So I have stopped paying everything after reading the "What happens if I stop paying my timeshare" post on this website.
They have been contacting me via email, I have explained my dire financial pressure and they seem to not give a damn. I am 131 days overdue on payment today.
I was aiming for them to go the foreclosure and US Bad Credit reporting(shouldn't affect me being outside of US??)route, which they are now threatening to do soon.
I am very interested about MB's comment on calling the Owner's Advocate and getting everything 100% sorted?? Is this something I can do?
Please advise
We bought a timeshare at the Grandview back in February. We didn't realize we had been scammed until May when we were trying to do some things with it. Of course the Grandview had no intention of helping us when we called them regarding the blatant lies told to us by our salesman. We finally called The Owner's Advocate and they got our contract canceled and 100% refunded!! My experience with the Grandview is that they use deceptive tactics to lure you in and get you to buy.
Hi Abwhitney even i bought the same offer from grandview yesterday…
Should I cancel it?
pls reply @ priya.chib@gmail.com
Thanksssss
We just went through the pitch this past week and I was furious for letting these people steal five hours of my time. OK, we "negotiated" for up to three hours of our time and poorly too it seems as we only got one show (which we paid $50 for, and $75 in slot money which can be converted into cash if you like). But those extra two hours cost me my plans for the rest of the day (of a four day vacation). Please take the advice of others here, if you are not going to buy, negotiate for lots of freebies, and be firm right up front about not buying and save yourself the time and grief afterwards. A few things I really found disturbing. The main speaker, Sheryl-Lynn I think her name was, used her deceased mother as part of the sales pitch. How low, trying to use a strong emotional, personal issue to move timeshares. Then the indignation these people show when you say no. They even had a security guard at the exit, watching us! Well screw them, they screwed me. If you are interested in timeshares, research first – don't be bullied into buying, as is exactly what they end up doing.
We bought a 1 bedroom unit at the Grandview back in 2005 shortly after we got engaged. We came back home got a lower interest loan from our bank and paid off the RCI loan. We used the timeshare as trading power to go to St. Martin and took our son to Disney World as well. Just this past May we were in Vegas again and were again approached by RCI. We went to check it out since we hadn't seen the resort since we first purchased our unit. We ended up converting over to the points system and upgraded to a 2 bedroom. We're going to be using this to go to Mexico in Jan and even put some points towards airfare. For us, this has paid for itself already. We still haven't actually stayed at our unit in Vegas but it's come in handy to travel to other places. No complaints here!
My husband and I went to Vegas in September and like most of you say… we were approached constantly by people on the street, people in our hotel, everywhere! We finally gave in after negotiating for $125 cash, two free meals, two free shows. So, we went to the presentation.. it did take a bit over two hours, but the main thing was we told the salesman right from the get-go.. "dont waste your time, find yourself a real buyer, we are not buying anything!" So, he knew this right up front.. he went thru his spiel quickly, turned us to his high-power closer, they tried again, rather quickly.. we made it clear there was no way we would ever buy! they turned us lose, we got our $125 cash and all our meal and show certificates.. so we were happy! It was an easy 2 hrs to recoup some of our gambling losses, and got some great meal tickets!
Just be sure to let them know right from the start, you dont want it, you have no intentions of buying it, and they are not going to change your mind! That makes it a lot faster and less painful!
We were in Las Vegas for the 3rd time this year (yes, I love my Vegas vacations!) and was as always approached numerous times by the people trying to line tourists up for Grandview tours and time share presentations. It is very irritating to be bothered every single time we walked in or out of any of the casinos. We did attend a presentation this last trip and I so regretted the huge waste of time it was! Do not waste one second of your precious vacation on this scam. It broke my heart to see people signing contracts when I figure most of them couldn't afford the cost, I hope anyone who does buy and wants to get out of it can do just that. We sure did witness one of the more sad forms of human sales techniques, one that I hope to never ever have to see again! Enjoy Las Vegas… on your own terms! You can get great deals on the hotels/casinos by checking online or getting on mailing lists from the casinos for far less than the Grandview charges. I know there are reputable time shares out there, but after spending over 4 hours listening to the sales pitch and having the tour, oh yes and the sandwich (lunch!) they promised… we did get some free show tickets and free food coupons and a cruise that we won't use anyway. Spend your precious vacation time on the strip, in the casinos, at the pool, seeing a show, having fun… and do not waste it on the Grandview time share presentation!!
Just remember it's YOUR decision to buy or not. I don't think anyone in their right mind would buy if you do the math. I can take lots of cool vacations ON MY TIME for $800 a month investment over a 7 year period. Anyway, it's entertaining to waste 2-3 hours and watch the action then take your free tickets and such back to the hotel to enjoy. We got 2 free Mama Mia tickets, 2 Chris Angel tickets, $75 bucks in dinning and a 2 night cruise (that we'll never use) but what the heck, it's free. So if you have arrived early in Vegas and just want to stash your bags until room check-in time it can be "interesting" to see what goes on in those timeshare dealings. On a sad note though… you will see how evil a person can become in order to make a buck. That can "stick" with you for some time to think how wrong it is. You may feel like you need a shower when you get back to get the funk off of you. Don't ever buy a timeshare but have fun getting the free stuff!
I purchased a 1br @ Grandview with a friend in '06 for $16,827. Supposedly we'll be paid off in 2014 but with the interest rate of 17.9 that will probably be never instead. When we bought we both were in good financial situations. He recently lost his job and I recently changed jobs and am making less than I was when we bought it. My parents and I go to Vegas at least 2x a year, but we've never use my timeshare because my dad always gets 1/2 our nights free with his bonus points from the hotels we stay at and it most times works out to be cheaper than if we used the timeshare. I'm also not understanding our maintenance fee being biennial but we're being billed for it every year.
My friend and I can't really afford to keep paying our fees, mortgage, and membership dues with our current job situations and financial standings. Can we sell it even though it's not paid off yet? We have a red week according to the paper work but it's the first week of August so I wouldn't think that would be a red week but then again it's Vegas.
Another big problem I've had is whenever I call RCI I am told to call Grandview and vice versa. I haven't been able to get any questions answered about how exactly everything works with banking weeks, using them or exchanging them. Our rep at the resort told us RCI would answer any of the questions we had about that or to just check their website. Needless to say their website is not very helpful.
Any help would be great. There's just no way for us at the moment to afford these payments and a foreclosure is not an option for either of us. There's some buyer's remorse on my end because I didn't think everything was on the up and up during the spiel but I didn't listen to my gut and signed anyway.
My wife and I are experienced timeshare hoppers; While we were in Vegas we visited 3 timeshare presentations (Bluegreen, Westgate, and Vacation Village) and racked up over $600 in free goodies. We also attended several other presentations over the last few years. Average time = 3 hrs per presentation. Some advice:
The initial sign-up
• Bargain, Bargain, Bargain. The person giving out the free gifts usually has a budget – Max it out and then ask for more before closing the deal. It’s very hard to get more once you sign up.
• You can always walk away and find a better deal, especially on the Vegas Strip where one company will offer different deals depending on their Hotel/location/territory.
• Walk away if he salesman gives you “bad vibes,” this will spoil the whole experience.
• For the “prepay” trips (1-2 free, $ to add more), always buy the lowest package. You can always upgrade later and buy more days, or even get a better room for free. This way you are not stuck with too many non-refundable days.
• Read the fine print. We found out too late that GRANDVIEW was really vacation village in disguise. We had to sit through their identical presentation again, which was extremely painful (it’s word-for-word across the country).
• Make sure you read the fine print when you sign up. You may even want to photocopy it for your records. Some companies *cough*Vacation Village* may lie through their teeth once you go to their presentation.
The Presentation
• If you can, drive to their showcase site to save yourself the “shuttle-time”.
• Be skeptical, do not trust their “facts”. Many timeshares will claim anything to make a sale. For instance, the “equity” argument is mostly BS.
• You are NEVER obligated to buy any timeshare. Ignore any guilt. They know that at least 1 of 4 people will buy, and the top brass is making 60% profit. The salespeople will not starve to death if you don’t buy.
• DO NOT buy a timeshare on your first visit (or cancel within 5 days). Go home, do the math, and work out what you want, then look for a program that meets your needs. In fact, demand that they offer you a program that meets your travel style and price, you may be surprised – the industry is always changing.
• They’ll push a “one-time” deal, but you can usually attend again 6 months to a year later. You can also visit several different companies in a row. Don’t fret, there will always be another similar deal, and better prices online.
• A market will never be “hot” or “gold” forever. Florida used to be super hot, now it’s flooded with timeshares. Virginia is also timeshared out. Las Vegas will be hot until the developers overbuild (give them 8+ years).
• If there is a conflict, do not let them escort you out of the sales area to resolve the conflict. Keep your cool and calmly demand that the conflict is solved then and there in front of everyone. You can raise your voice and make a fuss, but do not make any violent movements or threats. They will usually pacify you to avoid loosing other sales.
• Despite what they all say, their “deeds” are not easy to sell or escape from. Think about it, there are lawyers that specialize in getting people free from timeshare contracts. We’re still refusing to buy any timeshare that doesn’t have an “escape clause” built in to the contract.
• Push for their “lowest possible deal” first, then work your way up. Then push again. If you find a deal you may like, constantly ask for more. For example: we purchased a $500 trial package that included a 4/3 Resort Visit with meals and 24 Individual days at Interval resorts ($40/night) for a 2.5 year period, membership to a vacation club, several months of interest free payments, no deed, no long-term obligations. All-in-all a nice sampler package, even if half of the promises are false.
• Every timeshare uses a different strategy, adapt accordingly. For instance, Bluegreen uses interactive group presentations, Westgate is all one-on-one and friendly, Vacation Village is just plain evil (agree with them or else!).
• Have fun, think of it as an elaborate matching of wits. You are becoming a smarter shopper in the process. One day you may actually buy something.
• Remember again, they need to cater to your vacation needs, not the other way around.
Happy Timesharing!
I just purchased a one bedroom for 13,999 for 1 week a year at Grandview they also gave extra 2 weeks my understanding the sales person said the extra 2 weeks was part of the deal. We would receive it on a continued basis as long as we keep our membership current on the flight home I noticed a certificate the two weeks was for three years only
At first I thought maybe it was my mistake, and I misunderstood the 2 salespersons we communicated with
I asked my wife if she realized that the two extra weeks are only for a three year period her comment back to me was. I was wrong, we get three weeks vacation per year, one week is our deeded week which can be rolled over or traded the other two were there to use and can not carry over that is exactly what I thought and that is what our salesman told us. They also told us by taking the insurance we would be covered for death and disability on the loan the insurance only covers death no disability. I am also finding other discrepancies
I tried leaving without purchasing, and I notice a second salesman was getting a little upset. I told him I would like to have the contracts reviewed and also give me time to review our financial situation to see if it was affordable. I asked if we can come back in the morning after we discussed it over dinner to give us a chance to make the right decision. The salesman said once I leave. I would never come back. I told him I am a man of my word and I would return in the morning and I would give him my credit card. So that he could have some assurance that I would be back.
They went back and reworked numbers lowering the price. He then started working different angles on how we could rent out the extra weeks. We ended up signing, but I am going to revoke the contract even after our purchase when returning to the hotel we were approached to attend the presentation I told them we purchased today. I was then asked when I would be returning back to Las Vegas. I said one year I was then told after 90 days I can attend the same presentation and collect the free gifts
We came to the Luxor Hotel on a four day vacation. While there we were approached at least 20 times to attend the presentation by different hotel staff. I will never stay there again we were very pleased with the room constant nagging of attending this presentation is uncalled for.
I have nothing against timeshare resort and will eventually choose one to do business with I think it's a great way to plan vacations
I will choose the one that has a good reputation and proven track record of satisfied customers. Grandview has some great customer reviews and scores high on a number of charts for their amenities. However, there are also a lot of unhappy customers to give me an uncomfortable feeling of doing business with them. I made several attempts to leave the presentation and research the company. Before signing a contract with the salesman kept coming up with excuses why I had to sign today the end result is a lot of my time was wasted their time was wasted, and it was all brought on by their staff members continually nag you coming up with convincing reasons to purchase.
The main reason I am canceling after reviewing our financial commitments and taking into consideration today's economy and unemployment rate. It was not the right time to purchase a vacation timeshare and no they did not stick a gun to my head, but they sure did a good job convincing us now was the time to purchase a vacation timeshare
Hi,
We just got back from Vegas and got suckered into buying from the grandview. After the long drive home we decided to research grandview and found this site. All I can say is THANKYOU! I didn't feel comfortable with the purchase but the sales guy convinced us that it was the best deal we would ever get. Needless to say we are on day 3 and we are sending our revocation form today and calling them as well as our bank. I will let you all know when our money is refunded. If I ever hear anyone talk about a timeshare again I will run away! Thank you for your posts!
When we first arrived to our hotel we were attacked by a employee it was my first time to vegas so i had no clue what was going on. Well the guy who set us up for the stupid time share was nice and he showed us lots of stuff about how to eat cheap and see free stuff and everything but then we went on the tour. We got free donuts which was nice and a free sandwich we were there for like 5 HOURS!!!! The time share lady we had was someone from oversees and she was really nice she knew we were broke and we could of barely afford it. and she wasnt pushy. Then, some manager guy came over and boy did he make my day bad! He gave me a price of 22000 or whatever i told him no and then he said oh let me go away and come back well he comes back i say no again and amazing the price goes down. and then i say look fucker im trying to buy a house i said no so what he does is he says i can own it every other year and i got 6 months to come up with the money.. im sitting there like OMFG! so i start crying because he was just so super pushy.. i mean like he wouldnt take no for a answer i told him i had like 500 dollars in my bank account and could barely afford this trip he still wouldnt stop!!!!!!!!!!!! then finally I said fuck these damn show tickets fuck these free money i cant take this harrassment i stormed out the door. and then the nice lady we had in the beginning came i said look lady i would buy from you but i just want to go and then all of a sudden after all this drama they let us go. they tell you its a 3 hour time share meeting and its not ITS 5 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i mean shit now that They wasted 5 hours of my vacation and it was done and over with.
we go back to the hotel and no matter where you go where you are you get attacked by someone every corner every hotel and every where to me that is harrassment.
and that is just annoying.
We own a Timeshare and so far we have enjoyed our quality accomodations. We understand that each time we travel we will have to attend some type of sales/upgrade presentation to get the free stuff, for example, free dinner coupons in San Diego, free show tickets in Vegas. Each time we attend have seen 3 sales people and the price gets cheaper with each person. So never think its a good deal until the 3rd sales pitch. If you like what you see buy it. You can always say NO and no one knows better than you what you can afford. Don't feel obligated because they are giving you a free gift either. Someone in a earlier post had a great analogy, "Would you walk into a BMW dealership because they offered a free lunch and then buy a car you couldn’t afford because the salesman was pushy?" Timeshares are not for everybody if you only take a vacation every few years a timeshare is not for you. If you do your travel on the spur of the moment a timeshare is not for you, because many timeshares are booked months in advance. If you plan you vacations more than a couple months out and do your homework and check out all of your purchasing options and the different timeshare companies before your stuck in the high pressure sales office. You can enjoy timeshare ownership. You just have to be smart and if your gut tells you you can't afford it, Just say no.
@Caroline:
Who do you work for?
Caroline, I wasn't trying to say all timeshares are a bad idea. I'm quite sure they work very well for some people.
However what people want is the best vacations they can get for their money (even considering the long term). What they don't want to do is fund people's show tickets and sales reps huge commissions.
Here is what I found on ebay for the grandview that had successfully sold (only in the last 2 weeks, think you need to pay for further history).
$167.50 : 1 Bedrrom | WEEK 15 | Trienniel
$203.54 : 1 Bedroom | RED WEEK 28 | Biennial
$372.27 : 1 Bedroom | 12/06/08 | Yearly
$499.00 : 1 Bedroom | November 1st | Yearly
$611.51 : 1 Bedroom | WEEK 5 | Yealy (40,000 Annual RCI Points)
$935.00 : 1 Bedrrom | WEEK 26 | Yearly (49,000 RCI Points)
$945.00 : 1 Bedroom | WEEK 18 | Biennial (49,000 RCI Points)
$3,050.00 : 2 Bedrrom | RED WEEK 14 | WEEK 14
I had looked previously and seen lots that hadn't sold at 10k+. Presumably from people that wanted to get rid of their timeshares and thought they could get their money back.
Considering these resale prices, after you walk out you can be looking at a loss of around 90% if you tried to sell straight away.
As far as "resale" goes, since when was second hand property a bad thing? This is second hand property with a management company talking care of it with regular cleaning. Anyway, you are sharing the property with up to 156 (considering 1 week every 3 years) other people. I don't think second hand property that is nearly new is much of an issue as long as it is well maintained.
continued: as for timeshare being a bargain…..remember, timeshare payments stop; rising room rates don't. so there is a break even point. true, there are maintenance fees after the timeshare is paid off. well, even cars have maintenance, taxes, and insurance. and with room rates the way they are right now…a $ 500 a year maintenance fee that covers so many vacation experiences in various locations could very well be the the price of a hotel room on the strip. so which would you rather have ? one year's worth of vacations for the family in various condos all over OR one night in one hotel room in one city?
violet, i appreciate and respect your imput. the reason i do well is because i do represent both sides of the spectrum and i let my owners know that.
as for the freebies, these are covered by the cost of doing business, just as advertisers pay for ads costing millions of dollars whether they sell their inventory or not. timeshare's greatest advertisers though, are happy owners who's lives we have enhanced and would like to share the experience with friends and family. what i do not appreciate are comments from people ( start reading from the top) who do not see the total picture and therefore give timeshare a bad name. as for high interest rates, i always encourage my owners to get their own financing (my husband paid for his with 3 credit cards and used the points he earned for airfare). financing with the company is not the only option, just as any store will not refuse a customer who pays cash for his product. as for the resale market, i also speak from experience; i did test the waters as i tried to help an owner of mine sell due to hard times. bottom line is, i always tell people, just like cars, homes and everything else for sale, people who buy new do so even at a higher price because they know their purchase comes with a warranty and the benefit of " tech support" 24/7.
Caroline, I do not think people are looking for something for nothing, we are just sick of being lied to by timeshare representatives, and being made to think that paying for a timeshare is somehow a bargain when compared to vacationing every year – which it simply is not. Let me answer you question for you – you are stupid if you think people looking for bargain timeshares are cheap fools. Why would someone want to overpay for something when they can get it for a fraction of the price on the resale market? Why would someone want to finance their vacations at an insane percentage rate, when they could buy it outright without interest? I am aware of what maintenance fees cover, and I am also aware that Grandview would not be able to offer free show tickets/checks/free hotel stays to people attending their presentations if they were not making a ton of money selling their timeshares at an inflated price. I sincerely hope you do not talk to the people you counsel about vacations in such an abrasive and condescending manner.
yeah, right. who ever said we can get something for nothing? or maybe i'm just stupid. or wait, maybe not. after all, i do own 3 timeshares, have traveled 4 continents, have lived in vegas 8 years and worked the past 4 as a vacation counselor.
FYI, maintenance fees cover: 1. taxes ( for a property on the las vegas strip at that) 2. upkeep and maintenance of your resort (again, on the las vegas strip ) 3. insurance (probably get a break here as vegas doesnt have tornados, hurricanes or earthquakes )
and 4. they cover all the amenities that come with a country club lifestyle. will $ 98 cover all that, i wonder ? ? go figure. btw…..i wish him luck trying to book that free certificate every year???? when has RCI even been non-profit ? hey, someone has to shoulder costs for their glossy covers too, wouldnt you agree? free ? yeah, right.
Just for your information … one of my relatives bought from Grandview at Las Vegas last May, a one-bedroom (fixed week annually) for only $5000 and the annual maintenance fee is only $98 (yes.. $98, not a typo.) He was also given a certificate entitling him one extra week vacation every year. This is the lowest I've seen so far.
I am a happy timeshare owner and also happen to sell timeshare. Timeshare is not for everyone; it certainly is not for cheap people who want everything for nothing. People who most likely have their kids eat cheap pizza on their narrow motel beds and keep their cheap beer cold in the bathroom sink. As for the second hand market….do you honestly believe you can get quality vacations for the price of a latte? Get real, people.
I was unluckily dragged into this by the lie of visiting a new hotel to later discover that it was a timeshare presentation. Damn that girlfriend and her lust for free money.
These sort of "deals" should be avoided at all costs and I was horrified when I was told that 25% of people end up buying at the end of the presentation. I thought this was a lie until I discovered this blog.
Essentially what they are doing is selling something for a LOT more than its worth, by trying to convince people they should do it for their family. I had a look at ebay for the grandview and the prices range from $167.50-$3050 for completed items . Why do you think their deals won't be available tomorrow? Because if you go away and research it you'll realise all the prices they offer are a rip off.
All the give aways are there.
You have to ask yourselves how can they afford to drag random people of the street and spend nearly $300 on them (if you include taxis, food, sales people, gifts etc), if they are offering a fair price for their timeshare. Essentially the 1 in 4 people that sign up give $900 straight away to the other 3 that were smart enough to say no.
The horrifying interest rate of 18.9% is shocking as well. I guess they are again hoping when people get home they just bury their head in the sand and try to forget they bought one and do nothing to change it.
The three "offers" is another HUGE give away. The final being 50% of the second. This must surely spell danger to people. Don't believe the "oh its my last day", "oh but I really like you guys" lies. They are conning you out of $1000 for nothing.
My advice for anyone who is reading this blog after just buying a timeshare from them is to quickly get on the phone and cancel it.
If you are still interested in timeshares, do some research on the web. There are plenty of cheap deals to be found out there if you like the concept. Check out ebay for different timeshares, including grandview ones if you'd still want to buy there.
Me and my girlfriend bought a timeshare at Grandview Las Vegas.
We weren't aware that we could cancel the purchase after 5 days.
Now we have come back to Spain from our holidays we have read the contract and we think they gave us a false information about the exchange weeks program when we purchase.
As we don't know the US legislation we are wondering what would happen if we don't pay our timeshare.
In Spain the company would get the title back and the deposit that was paid and anythingelse. But I don't know what happen in USA when you don't pay a debt. Could you answer please to this question.
Thank you in advanced
I also got enticed by their luring statement of passing this to kids and grandkids. After I came back to SF, I was told by my colleages that usually this time-shares are scams and you need to be very flexible for your free one week vacation. I tried cancelling the purchase and luckily I hit the 5 day mark. They refunded my money back and I am happy fellow for not getting into this scam.
We were approached in the forum shopping centre last week about a new "hotel" they wanted feedback on and told that for 1-2hrs of our time we could get show tickets or a cash equivalent.
Turned out to be a grandview timeshare presentation, but didn't find that out until we got there. Bit annoying the way it was missold, but we weren't looking for a timeshare so didn't get one. The presentation also ended up being closer to 3-4hrs. I was amazed that it was worthwhile pulling couples of the street and giving them the equivalent of $200 in gifts, but our presenter mentioned they have a 1 in 4 hit rate with this method.
We also got the 3 pronged attack and got a final offer of about 4900 from the last guy. If anything this soured the experience for us and made it all appear a bit sleazy. Surely there should be a price for real estate that they want to sell it for that they stick to. Starting at 40something thousand and being able to drop the price to 4thousand means a lot of people who genuinely get on with their agent and don't get to the final guy are getting scr3wed. Even if this is legal, it's pretty immoral.
Also, the maintenance cost is a rip off. $595 for two weeks???!!! That's $15,470 on maintenance a year if they can get rid of all the weeks on a unit. The rental prices may be fixed but the maintenance didn't seem to be so I reckon inflation rises can get added in there
Thank you all for the information. This is a great site and is really helping lot of folks. Thanks for all the help, I really got lot of info i needed, and i am on my way to cancel my contract, can i place a hold on my credit card or replace my card so that they don't charge me at all, and i don't have to fight for my deposit. I checked my card online, the charge is not yet reflected. Will it affect my credit score if i do that. Please let me know as soon as possible. appreciate your help.
I purchased in 2007 for $4,400 for every 3rd year, there was no pressure to purchase because we have been to many presentations and it just takes saying no, I want my gift. Their job is to sell, if you expect to attend a presentation and get tickets worth $75-$100 then something is wrong with you if you believe they are not going to try to get you to buy. They get commissions on their sales and they want to make a living. I also own with Worldmark and I have no problems with their presentations because I attend 4-5 each time I go to Vegas and I say no give me my gift. The Grandview has great rooms and so does the Cliffs which I have also stayed at. I have my stay in 2009 (staying in Aug at Grandview 1 wk $ 139) for the Grandview but I have had no trouble using my free week once each year. If there is a problem do not attend the presentations, there is never something for nothing, they will try to sell, if they see you mean no they will get you out because you are causing them not to make money.
James
I to experienced high pressure selling in Gatlinburg Tennessee a few weeks ago. I sent a certified cancellation letter to the resort after I had time to really consider what I was doing. It sounded like vacation heaven, but I quickly realized I was spending more to own than to rent vacations. But, my story has a happy ending. After REALLY searching for timeshares that I could pay cash for, I found 92500 annual RCI points for 4275.00 including closing costs. This was twice the points I had bought for 13200.00 dollars! I bought these points and have a 655.00 dollar maintenance fee. We will probably get 3 to 4 weeks vacation per year if we use our points wisely. Even two weeks is a major savings at a High quality resort. I admit that one must do a lot of research to find out what will work for his situation, but a timeshare can save you money if you buy it at a reasonable price with low maintenance fees. You can forget about getting a good deal on any NEW timeshare or purchasing from a developer. I am getting ready to purchase another timeshare on the "weeks" rci program. This one will have a 525.00 maintenance fee per year, but in the summer it would cost 1500.00 for a week to stay there. My dates are floating (I can stay anytime from June to end of August for 7 nights. If I use it I win, If I rent it out I win. I am sorry about everyones bad experience. I sympathize with all of you. I hate to see these crooks hornswaggle everyone into Paying 10 times too much for a timeshare.
We recentlly purchased a 2 bedroom unit every year with four extra weeks for $33990 at the grandview. After reading some of the comments on this site about the secondary market we probably over paid. We are past the 5 day cancellation period. Our sales person was in her early thirties. She told us that we were getting a great deal and that our kids and grand kids can use it because the property was deeded. She sure made it sound good. She told us that she did not enjoy selling timeshare that she was looking for another job. No matter what the sales person said it was our decision to buy it. Since we already past the 5 day period we have a choice either we can lose our deposit or we can keep it. We have friends that own timeshare they seem to like it. They suggested that we keep it. Plus buying timeshare on the internet makes us a bit uncomfartable.
We went on a "mini vacation" compliments of the Grandview and were invited to become "homeowners" of a "vacation home" in Las Vegas that even came with a warranty deed! Long story short, its a TIMESHARE!! You can color your picture any way you want but if it looks like a duck and you know the rest…We literally had to chew our arms off to get out of there..the sales lady even went so far as to tear up on us! It didnt work, home or not its more important to us to have a "home" we can live in every day than one we can only visit when we have the opportunity to go on a vacation! By the way, if you are really considering buying this timeshare, I mean "vacation home", wait tell your sales rep "no" at least 2 times even when they drop the offer to $10,500 today only because guess what? Just when you think its FINALLY over, they hit you up one last time and you can get it for $4000! They wouldnt even call us a taxi..they wanted us to ride back on the black bus but in order to do that we had to wait for all the other people who were trying to chew their arms off!!!
Thanks for all the comments. It has been an education. We just purchased at Grandview Las Vegas and are wondering if the rescission is 5 days or 7 days as we are CA residents and both forms are in the contract (NV – 5 days revocation CA-7days)
Today is day 7.
For all those of you out there, pls do research before you buy a timeshare. If you already did, be careful.
If you have read my other posts on here, I actually called Grandview to see if our sales rep was still there. (he told us it was his last day so he'd hook us up with a deal that only 1/50 ppl ever get) Well, he is still there and the deal isn't the best at all. I was able to cancel but lost our deposit (trying to get it back)
If I had a laptop with me that day, I could of avoided all of this.
Good luck to you all.
Last Oct 2007, we went through the whole high pressure sales thing and said no, no, NO!! We don't have the money…etc. Well, finally they took us to another room where we were supposed to get our tickets for dinner and a show, but NO another sales pitch. This time the $35,000 timeshare was only $5,000 for a 1 bedroom every third year and the maintenance fee only $295 (every third year). Hmmmm…sounds like a good deal?! We were so tired and bummed out we finally said fine if we can get our tickets and leave now. We signed the paperwork, got our tickets and a nice lady dropped us off at our hotel on her way home. When we got back to the hotel I felt sick to my stomach. What the heck did we do?!?! We will be staying at the Grandview for the first time in January 2009…so well shall see if this was a good deal or not. From the reviews I'm very nervous about it. To book the room with RCI I had to pay dues, cancellation insurance, and then I had to pay our dues at Grandview. I think booking a room at a hotel in Vegas is the way to go. I feel like such an idiot. What a rip off. Worst case scenario, we are out our $5,000 + fees/dues, which is bad but not the end of the world. Could be worse, we could have caved at the $35,000 level. I feel for everyone who has/will be involved in this BS!!
Message to KB: I understand where you are coming from. I have family members who are in sales and know the hard work it takes to make a sale. But when one lies and makes you look and feel like fool, it is not hard working nor is it good work ethics. I am not saying that that is you, but our sales rep did just that and my husband and I are really disappointed.
We bought a timeshare at the Grandview on July 11 of this year. After we got home, we decided that we weren't able to make payments. (2bd, 98000pts, 4extra weeks for 24,000-add all the interest and fees it works out to be 45,000) I sent a certified mail to cancel, but read the contract wrong and missed on the 5 days. Eldorado Resorts called and informed me that our contract was canceled and would not get our deposit back. I didn't fight back since I was over the 5days. I wish they would have told me about it when we bought the share. Anyways, yesterday we got a call from someone at the Grandview trying to get us to keep our contract. (I thought they canceled it?) He said he would help us by getting us a 1bd with 2extra weeks for 14,000. My husband and I wanted to talk about it first before we made another rash decision. That is why I am on this site. I was doing some research on this and just appalled! I was reading the story by one guy-Robert about a man who said it was his last day working and was going to hook us up with a great deal. Well, that is probably the same sales rep we had. He was a good actor! He even took us to a private area to tell us about this secret deal which I now know everyone has! He told us that the points can be redeemed for airline tickets and so on. He even told us we can try to sell them. He gave us his phone number and everything. I knew it was too good to be true! He also went as far as bringing us 2 free tickets to the Secret Garden (which he never did!) My husband and I with our two small kids walked all the way down the strip to get them to found out that there were no tickets. not there or the hotel we were staying at. He even called us to let us know that he was at the hotel to drop them off. I know that my husband and I weren't very smart when we bought it. But I can't believe that some sales people can be so dishonest. We now know what to do. We will just loose out on the deposit we made and not buy this timeshare. I think the only way we might reconsider is if they sell it to us for 3,000 with 98,000pts on week 1 with 2extra weeks. Do you think that's a deal?
Well if any of you have been given this same story from a sales rep recently, please let me know so I know it's the same guy. I may just send him a quick email.
Just a coiuple of tips on timeshares.
1) Check out the internet and ebay for "used time shares. The price will be a lot lower.
2) Never buy an RCI "weeks." Be sure you have "points." This makes trading easier and even allows you to purchase plane tickets, car rental, etc with your points.
3) If the salesperson says anything about the timeshare being an investment, spit in his face and leave. Time shares are a way to plan and save on future vacations, but as an investment, time shares make Enron look like a great deal..
4) Check out the time share's history. Number of foreclosures and the past, current and projected taxes and fees.
5) Be ready to just say NO and stick to it. They will ring bells, blow whistles, etc. to make it seem like everyone is buying. Take your free tickets or meals and run. This is a major investment that does not need a used car sales pitch.
6) If you do end up buying on a "whim," cancel. Instructions are in your paperwork-but do it quickly, as your recission period is very short. Also send by registered mail to assure dates.
My wife and I own 2 timeshares, both on points. We enjoy the travel opportunities at a savings and convenience over hotel rooms. We bouight specifically to have vacations-no investment opportunity, no rental thoughts, Just vacation. We also went to a lot of time share presentations before we purchased.
Mr. No Down
I WILL MAKE THIS SHORT, SWEET, AND INFORMATIVE ALL AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU ARE TRULY INTERESTED IN A TIMESHARE. NEVER I REPEAT NEVER BUY IT FROM A SALESPERSON AT THE RESORT. GO ON THE INTERNET AND BUY IT FROM SOMEONE WHO NO LONGER USES THEIR TIMESHARE AND WANTS TO GET RID OF IT. YOU WILL PAY MUCH MUCH MUCH LESS FOR THE EXACT SAME THING. THINK OF IT LIKE BUYING A NEW CAR FROM THE DEALERSHIP (PAYING FULL PRICE) AND BUYING A NEW CAR FROM THE CLASSIFIED ADS(AT A FRACTION OF THE COST) SAME CAR, DIFFERENT PRICES. WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WILL SHARE MY PERSONAL STORY FOR THOSE THAT ARE INTERESTED.
My husband and I were in Vegas for my brothers wedding when we were asked if we wanted $100 of gambling money plus show tickets. How could we say no. We went to the presentation, not having any knowledge or experience of the situation. To make a long story short, we purchased a time share for $17,000. Being the internet freak that I am, I began researching my new investment the moment I got home. I found the EXACT deal I purchased for $17,000 for $6,000 on e-bay. WHAT? I immediately canceled my purchase and thanked God I still was in my 5 day cancellation window. They really should make it closer to 30 days. Anyway, the thought of a time share was still appealing to me because my husband and I are both teachers, so we take family vacations every summer. I decided to purchase a timeshare on e-bay for $300 paid in full. The resort is close to home, so we can go there every year or we can join RCI for about $80 bucks, bank our week, and pay the $164 exchange fee to stay at any of the 4000+ resorts they offer. What does this all mean? We can stay at our home resort and get a 2 bedroom 2 bath for $650 dollars(maintanance fees) for a week vacation. That is less than $100 dollars a night. Pretty good deal! Or if we bank our week with RCI, we will pay $650 (maintanance fees)+ $80 (RCI fees) + $164 (exchange fee) = $894 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath at any resort RCI offers. That is about $128 dollars a night. Still a pretty good deal! For example, we banked our week this year and will be using it next year at the Hilton in Florida. We will pay about $127 a night as timeshare holders but anyone else would pay over $250 a night for the same exact unit we got. Make sense? I hope so. If you have any questions what so ever, please do not hesitate to e-mail me mamaya@stx.rr.com. I am a teacher and I love educating people inside and outside the classroom. Happy Vacationing everyone!
Look guys…lol.
Please, if you're not gonna be adding another week or not seriously shopping and you already own. Please do not attend a timeshare presentation. These agents earn only commission and many times only get one to two chances a day to see a client. When you attend one knowing that there is no chance you will be buying, you are taking food off thier tables. I'm not saying never attend…I'm just saying that no matter how many times you say, "we don't want to waste your time" to your agent. You really really already did by attending. Keep in mind these people work as hard as you do for their living and you are taking from them. The O.P.C. (outside personal contact) who books you for the tour makes money whether you buy or not. But the line agents do not. You really are hurting them. So please consider that
We bought our first timeshare in 1986 in Gatlinburg TN when we were on our honeymoon. It was a Peppertree Resort which has been sold to two management companies since, but has a good board. We stayed at our home resort at least 7 times, and have traded for other places across the country. In 1994 we bought into ARI, which is with Interval International, and we are embarrassed to say that we have yet to use that week, which is in alternating "even numbered" years. My brother/sister-in-law use theirs every other year and have had some good vacations. In 1998 we bought at Massanutten, which is a sister resort to the Grandview, and we actually have two units there. We have stayed there, and traded. As someone has indicated, you have to deposit early and plan early to get into the really good resorts. Another thing we've found is that sometimes we have to take a one-bedroom unit vs a two-bedroom (all of ours are two-bedroom in red season, and weeks not points) and have even given a week as a gift. As I said, we own at a sister resort to the Grandview, and we have stayed at other sister resorts, Mizner Place in Weston FL and Vacation Village in the Berkshires in MA. I have to say, the biggest sales pressure we have EVER received from ANY of the places we have stayed, is at the Vacation Village Resorts. They are all the same–you check in, and then have to get your parking pass from the "concierge" who tries to get you to sign up for the free breakfast or lunch, and asks you to choose your gift. When we were in Florida, we went for it and got the three-level push (which cuts the price–as well as how often you can vacation–with each person sent in). Once they realized our no actually meant NO, they were showing us to the door, and we had to ASK for our gift and stand and wait for it. We were warned about the Berkshires, so we held our ground and say no we wouldn't be able to attend as we had other plans. I'm coming to the Grandview in March 2009 with my daughter and I don't think I'll have to worry about the sales pitch since hubby won't be with me.
As for timeshares, it's really not all bad. There are some good deals, and there are some really great vacations to be had. We have never been disappointed with our timeshares and owning them has allowed us to have really nice vacations . . . . and in years when the finances were lean, we were happy to only need to worry about getting there and eating (and the kitchen made it even better). On the occasions that we have to stay in hotels (ie, weekend trips or work trips) we really miss having a 'condo unit'–we are spoiled.
You can shop around/look around and feel free to go with some of the bigger companies such as Hilton and Fairfield. We've stayed at Hilton Grand Vacation Clubs, went to the sales pitch, and said no. We've also stayed at some resorts that are already built up and established, and have nothing for sale–so no "sales pitch".
Each of us is at a different place on our life journey–so there's really no 'right or wrong' but what works for us at that time. Best wishes to all!
B&J from Indiana
KB
Thanks so much for your most helpful information. We are very excited to have this opportunity for many, many years to come.
One more thing Craig…
They don't tell you this because they want you to buy as many points as possible, but here goes. If you use your points account to book within 45 days of the vacation…RCI charges you a maximum of 9,000 points per week.
That means your 49k points equals 5 weeks of vacation.
Thought you would like to know that :))
Most people who have trouble trading their weeks, simply do not know how to use them. It works like this…Deposit your week early, request as early as you can. That is how weeks work. Now then, what about points.
Points is the timeshare revolution. The biggest benefit to points is availability. What RCI did is simply take the management of the timeshare away from the owner and do it automatically for them. If a points owner does not call RCI a year in advance and tell them they are staying at their home resort, they will automatically bank the owners' week for them. This is huge. What it means is…at ten months prior to your vacation, every points resort in RCI is completely available (unless the owner chose to call and book his own property). Obviously the sooner you reserve your time, the better. If you wait longer to make your reservations, your selections will begin to have limits. Book early. BTW, points resorts are the newer properties so yes, you will have great places to stay.
We were given a free trip in January by a doctor friend of ours. All we had to do was pay the exchange fee. He was with Interval International at a resort in Orlando. We wanted to go further south so we found Vacation Village @ Bonaventure in Westin Florida near Ft Lauderdale. We ended up in a breakfast and sales program for "owners" by accident. When asked during check-in, I answered yes that we were there as owners because we were there on our friends time-share. I wasn't trying to deceive them. We agreed to the presentation for the coupons etc. Our sales woman was very nice and low-key. I explained immediately upon meeting her that we would not be buying anything because my wife was in school and we were trying to budget now for a one income family. She said she understood and that we wouldn't be wasting her time. She asked us to listen to the offer only and made no attempt to coerce us. We quickly saw the model after breakfast and coffee (we were staying at a similar model and were very impressed already). At the sales office she explained that what they had to offer were upgrades for owners (we were told the unit we were offered was a foreclosure). She was surprized that we were not owner's but were invited to the presentation. This is when I realized why I had been asked at check-in if we were owner's. I told her of the mix up. She checked with her manager and brought him to meet us immediately before ever giving us a price (maybe because I was up front with her about our intentions… maybe because she thought the only chance she had at selling us was if she came low the first time… I don't know.) What we were offered was a 2bedroom every odd year that we could deposit and exchange for a 1br every year and free week for life. The price was 8,900.00k with maint fees of just under 600.oo every other year plus the RCI membership fees. We had excellent credit so they got us approved for financing plus a 0% RCI credit card with Bank of America for the downpayment. We paid off the credit card right after we got home and were fortunate enough to be able to pay the total note off before the 2nd payment was due. I went ahead and paid the maint. fees for 2009 so we're not due again until 2011 and I paid RCI for 10yrs through their discount offer (600.00 I believe). Now we have just booked our first week through our own time-share at their sister resort The Grandview in Las Vegas. It will be both of our first time in Vegas and we are looking forward to it. We knew people who have paid upwards of 20k for time-shares… in fact the doctor who loaned us his paid more than we did. We both wanted vacations together and with family to be a priority and goal for us. The time share we bought was in the perfectly landscaped town of Westin Fla (so perfect it was a little scary… like the suburbs of The Stepford Wives 🙂 Our Week is the first week in September and the condo is in the tower on the golf-course overlooking it, a fabulous pool and the country club clubhouse. I don't play golf but apparently it is the course where Tiger Woods is a member and played his first PGA tour, championship or something. It's a golfer's paradise for sure so we thought it would be easy to sell if we wanted to. Booking in advance or at a glance 🙂 suits us either way so we are hoping for happy vacations. I'll certainly be leary of the Grandview though after reading this blog. Sounds like we maybe could have gotten a little better deal but also sounds like we could have done a lot worse too. Sorry about all of the others misfortune. I hope they can find something good in it all. Of course any feedback about our investment is welcome. Thanks,
Robert & Trina in SC
PS We loved South Florida