A number of years ago my wife and I were invited to a sales meeting for Gold Crown Resorts. By the end of the meeting we felt it could be a good plan to have for the coming years and put down a down payment. The same evening after “winding down” from the intensive sales pitch, we realized that the plan really was not suited for us and our family and in the morning notified the agent that we had decided to withdraw and requested a refund.
We were told that this was impossible but they would send someone to us to see what could be worked out. We informed the agent that arrived that we wanted our money back. To this he answered, “Then we will take you to court!”
Not being familiar with the law, we thought we had no choice and managed to reduce our deal to a less expensive one. A short time later, we tried to reach the company but they were GONE and their rented office space EMPTY. It would be to the credit to the entire industry if the Time Share companies would take some responsibility regarding the people they allow to market their products.
Gold Crown headquarters has replied to my experience simply with, “not our problem”. To this day we have not used it because it is ALWAYS possible to find better deals on the web. Money down the drain!!
A visitor shares their experience attending the Grandview at Las Vegas timeshare presentation, and has the following tips and tricks to offer those attending for the free gifts:
Story is the same as everyone else. Huge scripted scam. Worthless property, over priced vacation packages and the list of lies is extremely amazing. You are told to look over at the new construction going on. And told how Grandview is the hottest timeshare place available. How the prices keep increases each year and if you dont buy now you wont reap the benefits of the hot market. After research the prices go form $50,000 all the way down to $5000 if you keep saying NO. You also will receive a free cruise for 2 but this is also another scam. The cruise is worthless also.
They confuse you and try and get you brainwashed during the whole presentation. I would not be surprised if there are some subliminal tactics or hypnosis being used. I think the power of suggestion and the constant lies help trick the weak minded into making a bad decision. Thank God above my wife and I are extremely intelligent and could see it was a scam within a few minutes of the presentation.
It was easy for us to say NO. And I offered the sales man a chance to wrap things up because he was past his 3 hour limit and I had nothing more to say and did not want to hear his bullshit anymore. He than told me I would be stuck at the Grandview for another 2 hours but if I wanted to leave sign up for the lowest package and he could get me a limo back to the hotel within 20 minutes.
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We just did a presentation as part of a deal to get a discounted hotel stay. My first recommendation would be to bring a sweater or jacket as we found the air conditioning was pretty powerful. If you are in the U.S., check relevant state laws concerning timeshare sales as well as prohibited sales practices. Check prices on Timeshare User Group, Sell My Timeshare Now, and even Hotwire for rental prices on equivalent accommodations. Have printouts of all the above materials with you.
There is a post on this website about “How to Survive a Timeshare Presentation” – it has good advice as well. Be fairly boring. Remember that these guys are going to talk FAST when they talk numbers. They will make big projections as to what your future vacation spending will be. If you have school age children, remember that for better or worse, they grow up and then you are not limited by school year schedules (which reduces your vacation costs).
We used Priceline for our recent vacation (other than the deal we got that required the timeshare presentation) and saw that we averaged slightly more than $50 a night (including taxes and fees) for our accommodations. Give them numbers like that when they ask what you spend, and you will totally pop their sales pitch. Otherwise, do NOT give them too much personal information; they will use it against you.
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One visitor to our site shares his experience with Silverleaf timeshare, and the research she did following the timeshare purchase. Here’s her story:
I bought two units from Silverleaf in 2010. In both sales presentations the salespeople told me the units were an investment I could realize income from, and would be a great business and investment opportunity, and by renting the units out (anytime at any resort they told me) it would be good advertising for Silverleaf and good income for me.
In the first presentation the salesman even told me that they “aren’t timeshares, they’re vacation rentals just like owning a family vacation home”. He also told me I could write the loan interest and rental income off on my taxes(!). These were complete lies, and the high-pressure sales tactics were unbearable and intrusive.
The FTC lists timeshares as securities because of their nature, and I am sure the salespeople are not licensed to sell securities, so sniff-sniff I smell securities fraud. If the timeshare industry’s products (timeshare units) are so great, why do they have to overwhelm and lie to people to sell their product, and why are there literally thousands of furious timeshare owners telling the same stories about being lied to and posting angry videos all over the internet?
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What is an off property timeshare consultant?
To keep it short and sweet – these are the people lurking around hotels, shopping malls, resorts, and calling you on the telephone to that try to convince you to attend a timeshare presentation. They are known as an OPC’s, or off property consultants, and tend to be some of the best salespeople in existence. The OPC I encountered during my stay in Vegas was very successful in coercing my husband and I into attending a “brief” presentation for some property down the street in just a matter of minutes. After a few words about a great, new, up-and-coming area along the strip, and the promise of two Lance Burton tickets, we were in the van, on our way to make the worst purchase of our lives.
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A number of years ago my wife and I were invited to a sales meeting for Gold Crown Resorts. By the end of the meeting we felt it could be a good plan to have for the coming years and put down a down payment. The same evening after “winding down” from the intensive sales pitch, we realized that the plan really was not suited for us and our family and in the morning notified the agent that we had decided to withdraw and requested a refund. 
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