Tips for Surviving a Timeshare Presentation
There are people who make a sport of attending timeshare presentations just for the freebies offered. I am not going to condone or disapprove of this behavior, my role is simply that of an informer – letting the public know the ins and outs of a timeshare presentation. Now for the gifts… Depending on what resort you visit, you can walk away with a free weekend stay, television, show tickets, or some extra cash in your pocket. As you can see, gifts range from the mediocre to the extreme, all offered as a way to lure potential buyers into sitting through a presentation. Timeshare salespeople know that once they have you through the door, they have your attention. They also know that many consumers are simply not prepared for the types of sales tactics that will be employed, which translates into sales and commission for the salesperson.
Tips for Surviving and Escaping a Timeshare Presentation (Without Buying):
- Before you go to the presentation, find out when the busiest times are, and go during one of these times. This will give you the upper hand – when a resort is overbooked and understaffed, your likelihood of getting through the presentation in under 90 minutes is dramatically increased. You are also less likely to be the victim of high pressure sales; the salesperson will just move onto the next person if you seem uninterested.
- Before your session begins – tell them you will be up front with them, and that you expect the same treatment from your salesperson. The “If I like it, I will get it” approach will deter the salesperson from badgering, or otherwise pressuring, you into something you have clearly told him you are not interested in.
- Keep to yourself and try to be as boring as possible. Timeshare salespeople will use any personal information you provide to try and strike some sort of common ground with you, making you feel as though you can trust them. If they offer some sort of tale about how they know so-and-so from your town, just say that is nice, and ask to focus on the issue at hand – getting information about the resort.
- Hold them to the time frame that you have been promised for the timeshare presentation. If you were quoted 90 minutes, set your alarm for 70 minutes, and remind the salesperson at 70 minutes that they now have 20 minutes to finish up the talk.
- Do not lead on the salesperson. Do not pretend you are interested only to let them down at the very end. If you have no intentions of buying be sure to act that way.
- When they ask how much you make, lie. Pick a low to average income when asked how much you make per year. Admitting or saying you have a lot of disposable income is just going to make your experience that much more painful – think multiple salespeople all over you for hours on end.
- Tell them you already know about timeshare and its benefits, this way they will need to be more focused on the amenities at the particular resort, thus, shortening the presentation.
- Try not to talk too much, again, be boring. The less details you offer up about your personal life, the better.
- Be ready with an arsenal of reasons why you do not want to buy the timeshare:
- I am not interested in buying, I just want to trade to go to other resorts.
- I just bought a new house, I do not have any extra cash.
- I am swamped with bills – car payment, credit cards, new RV, home remodel, etc.
- The resort just does not fit my lifestyle – not enough activities for kids, location is too cold, lack of surrounding activities, etc.
- I can not afford it, it is much too far out of my price range. Be ready for them to offer ownership every other year, tell them it is still not affordable enough.
- You like your other timeshare better. This is a pretty solid reason, as there is no way they can haggle price to rope you into buying.
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Hey guys, I just read all you posts on the pro’s and cons of timeshare.
Ill throw my 2 cents worth in:
A lot of people here spend their entire time going to presentations
just to get a cheap holiday. Ask yourself this, if it really isnt worth
buying and the presentations are so bad, why do you keep going? You guys
make such a big deal on “how and why not to buy” but didnt you just get sold?
some rep just made 2-300$ off you and gave you a few nights noone wanted. Id
rather pay 2-300 extra and not have to bad mouth what people like the retired army
seargent enjoys. And also: Ive been to hilton, disney, wyndhams and marriots, and
i tell you what, its not bad at all…otherwise you guys wouldnt bother with the
presentation and just pay the full price yourselves? right?
Look, when the time share companies use sales people acting as customers as room fill, to deceive real people into thinking the sales room is full of customers, the timeshare corporations are just exploiting people. Their sales people pretending they are customers are not even being paid for being room fill! At least real people attending presentations for sport are giving sales peopl a break from being unpaid actors!
Karl,
I have never really heard of that in my life, that does not mean that it is not happening in other resorts. You have to realise just like with anything else “buyer be ware” in any sales business there are good people providing a service, and there are bad people as well.
So, not everyone that you are sitting across are not the enemy just folks trying to provide for the same way as you.
You are also right, a sales rep. would rather have an opportunity to practice or to make a sale then trying to fill a room to make it look busy. I have just never heard of that but I am sure that has to be one of the smaller resorts. – Good Luck in All your Timeshare ventures-
Just don’t think that we are all cut from the same cloth.
This resort area 25 miles of coast and is monopolized by timeshares to the point that rooms costs 3 times as much to stay on the beach as it does in Honolulu, Hawaii. I don’t make up the jargon, and I don’t work in the industry. I just have a friend who is an OPC.
Ridiculous quest there. What happened after? Good luck!
Timeshares are not an investment. I think most folks agree.
But further, they are not a tenable approach as a mechanism to travel and see the world. You can buy them for this purpose, just realize this is a fool’s errand.
Better options, as in MUCH more mileage for the buck, same or better quality (same places in most all cases), more options, no restrictions, no obligations, etc. etc.
Take the 20k for the unit, plus the annual ‘maint fees’ and amortize from the sum the rental of these units off the secondary market…from owners that have gotten suckered into the purchase and are looking for some temporary relief. In the end, you spend less, have no blackout dates, and don’t have the risk of a ‘cash call’ or assessment.
So if you love to eat a $1,000 burger, fine-great-dandy. Just don’t kid yourself or others that it’s a good deal…it ain’t. So long as you are not targeting the deal, and just like to spend the 20k for the bottle of champagne at closing, then it’s your moolah.
Even if I was so inclined to drop a grand for a bacon cheese, I would STILL probably opt for a fancy dinner with friends, just on principle.
Janet
I just flipped through the entire blog for the first time…. My God. You don’t have a life. Maybe you should go buy a real condo…. But it sounds like you only have the money for the nearly free timeshare travels.
Good luck with your little blog.
Gee Mike, sounds like I struck a nerve, and I’ll say the same to you as I said to the last timeshare sales rep. above. Not only don’t I care what you think of me, I actually appreciate it, so thanks!
My recommendation to you is first, go on on a few timeshare resale sites, such as “Redline”, ebay, etc and see for yourself exactly how much an identical timeshare at the property you claim to have bought into is selling for on the resale market. If you do this, you should be downright irate, at the sales rep., and at yourself, for buying at the presentation price, for something you could have bought for 1/2, 1/5th, and very possibly, for as little as $1. If you’re not, then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to believe you’re not supplementing your retirement pay by selling timeshares, which I noticed you didn’t deny.
Seeing as I doubt you’ll take me up on my recommendation, I took the liberty of performing a simple analysis.
So I went to ebay and ran an analysis of the last 50 completed timeshare auctions. And yes, ebay is a good measure of “fair market value”, defined as “assuming a willing seller and willing buyer, the price at which an item will exchange hands.”
Of those last 50 completed auctions, only 18 sold, meaning that 32, or 66% did not get a single bid, not even the 11 timeshares offered for only $1 22%.) Of the 18 that did sell, 6 sold for one lousy dollar (12%). 2 more sold for $2 and $5, respectively. 5 sold for an average of $280, and the remaining 5 (10%) sold for $1,026, $2,551, $5,000 $7,450, and $10,250 respectively. Those 5 however were in prime locations,such as Manhatten and Hawaii. The timeshares that garnered the most were both Mariott properties, located in an extremely prestigious section of Newport Beach. My bet is the original presentation price of those probably ran closer to $50,000, making the total loss on resale even greater.
I’m an accountant. I do the math, and I don’t care how much, or how little money anyone has. No one is OK with finding out that they just paid $20,000 for something they could have bought for as little as $1. It’s not smart, it’s foolish, and the normal reaction is outrage.
Well, except apparently for the timeshare sales reps., who, by your own admission, are really happy with all their money, bonuses and free time, that they seem to be enjoying at the expense of others.
If you bothered to look at the rest of this site, you will see the literally hundreds of people, facing financial ruin, desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts they were pressured into signing on the spot, many of them facing financial ruin as a result. Especially in this current economic crisis, with millions of Americans losing their jobs and their homes, you should be ashamed of yourself.
FYI, the rich don’t get wealthy by squandering their money, and those who do squander their money, don’t stay rich for long. The wealthy don’t buy timeshares, they buy vacation homes. The wealthy also don’t sign any contracts without running them past their attorneys first, and can’t be pressured into buying on impulse at a presentation, so it’s not the wealthy who are being harmed.
You know, with all the layoffs, my husband even quit his job because others he worked with needed the money far more. When we go to a timeshare presentation, we try to warn as many of our fellow presentations against buying as we possibly can, and regard it as a public service. I’m not just a timeshare nazi, I’m a responsibility nazi, and I’m sorry, but you’re not going to convince me that convincing people to sign contracts, committing them financially to tens of thousands of dollars to pay for extravagant vacations they may not even be able to take, much less afford, and pressuring them into doing so “on the spot”, giving even giving them time to really think it over, is anything remotely resembling responsible. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see how anyone who possesses a conscience could do such a thing, to anyone. But that’s not the primary reason I attend timeshare presentations, and it’s not the freebies either.
YeI’m an accountant, but what I specialize in is forensics and fraud, meaning that companies hire me to find out who’s stealing and how. Determining who the thief is always easy. All I have to do is wander around for a few days and whoever hates me the most, is almost always either the one who’s stealing, or in collusion. Oh, first, they usually try to charm and con me, throwing everyone else they work with under the bus, but when they realize it’s not working, that’s when they get nasty.
Then they tell me all about my miserable pathetic life, and make all the same accusations to attempt to indimidate and discredit me. I really appreciate it too. It’s like they’re painting great big targets on their back, to help zero right in on them.
In case I haven’t made it obvious enough, attending timeshare presentations is far from a hobby or waste of my precious time. For me, it’s more like an profiling tool. Kind of like Clarese paying a visit to Hannibal Lector. Very educational, and extremely beneficial in developing my skills. So I really do appreciate your comments.
Have a nice day.
Manhattan and Hawaii, wow!
ok look the secondary market is filled with Timeshares no doubt. The reason you are seeing prime location properties for sale so cheep is because the maint. fees are so high.
and they are going to sit there for a while. Timeshare is not a inverstment property. however it is an investment- all those free vacations you took you have so many wonderful memories. That is your investment… it will force a workaholic to spend one week without his cell phone and with his wife and kids. If gives those children so many great memories with there family. kids don’t care about money all they need is there parents. So, if dad and mom spend $15,000.00 or $30,000.00 dollars and have one great vacation every year for the rest of there lives who are you to take that from someone! Shame on you! for your for being blind to what it is really about. You went to disney and a resort paid for it shame on you ! those smiles on your childrens faces were not put their by your actions but the actions of another you just got to enjoy the smiles and great memories. Shame on you for thinking you know the person on the other side of the table he is a father , she is a mother , a husband a wife ! Shame on you….enjoy the vacations they were a gift that we provide your children when you can’t provide for them, Shame on you for spitting in our faces! you have so many flaws your human. But you people are the worse type of people your not greatful for a hand-out that was given to you and your family. The Gift of “Time” was given to you …. take that to the bank…. I will create a million smiles this year “What Will You do”? You may even be one of them….
You want the true way to get out of a timeshare presentation give me your credit card and I will show you.
There’s so much wrong with your post, I don’t even know where to begin.
I guess I’ll start with, no, you’re not getting my credit card, and how dare you even suggest such a thing! No one on this planet “owes” you a living, much less are you entitled to expect that anyone should just hand you over tens of thousands of dollars of their hard earned money, because you imagine they should. You’re certainly not entitled to mine. OMG!
Timeshare salespeople have families? Yeah, well so do theives, rapists, and serial murderers. So what? As far as I’m concerned, attempting to use your family in a rather sad attempt to “guilt trip” me, (and anyone else) is just yet another slimey, dispicable, underhanded BS con job, typical tactic I’ve grown to expect from timeshare reps. Shame on YOU!
I am not responsible for supporting your family, and neither is anyone else. No one “owes” you $15,000 to $30,000+ of their hard earned money, just because you need to support your family. Supporting your family is your job, don’t try to schlep it off on the rest of the world.
And no one’s children “need” mommy and daddy to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a timeshare to putsmiles on their faces either. Most children would rather their parents spend quality time with them, attending their games, recitals, etc., demonstrating their love by participating in their lives and cheering them on. That’s what puts smiles on children’s faces, and those are the times that wonderful memories are made of. Not becoming a “workaholic” just so they can hand over all their money to the wealthy corporation you work for, justso you and your corporate executives can make millions. Again, OMG!
And the secondary markets are not just filled with “cheap” timeshares, they’re also filled with timeshares that are being given away, totally FREE! Who in their right mind would actually pay $15,000-30,000 for something they could have gotten for FREE?
Even worse, is the fact that the only reason people GIVE away timeshares they actually were conned into paying that kind of money for is out of desperation to get out of the outrageous interest, annual fees and taxes–because they can’t afford them!
And even when people try to give their timeshares away for FREE, they’re not finding any takers. Charities won’t even take them.
Lodging is only a small portion of the cost of taking a vacation. You’re leaving out all the other costs: transportation, meals, entertainment, etc. None of which are covered by the costs of buying, and maintaining a timeshare.
Attempting to claim that buying “forces” people to take a vacation? That is absolutely not true!
There are myriads of sites filled with unused timeshare weeks–offered to the general public, and for far LESS than the owners are paying, just in annual maintenance fees alone. Anyone can stay at just about any timeshare they want, no need to buy in! We do it all the time, and usually only pay $199 to $299 for the entire week. My bet is that the reason the owners aren’t using those weeks is because, after paying all the expenses of buying and maintaining their timeshare property, they don’t have enough money left over to take a vacation!
FYI, this country, and in fact, most of the world, is in a recession, and in fact, the worst recession since the great depression of 1929! Times are hard, and people all over the world are losing their jobs, their homes, and having a hard time just putting food on the table.
Timeshare companies rely on luring their victims who have zero experience in this industry, and know absolutely nothing about what they’re really getting themselves into.
If even timeshare corporations believed their own hype, they wouldn’t need to entice people with free gifts, or trick them by misrepresenting the purpose of their no obligaton, 90 minute, “tour”, intentionally omitting the word TIMESHARE!
You’re not giving anyone a “free gift” of time, or anything else. What you’re “giving” them is yet another financial obligation, which most people can not afford to take on!
Maybe you should take a look at the rest of this site, and see just how many people are suffocating under the financial burden of the timeshare properties that they were basically conned into buying.
The only one who should be ashamed of themselves is you.
(my opinion, of course.)
well said..I hae went on timeshare promotions now for 12 years ..I even am to the point that when they cll me on the phone I know there tricks so I use them against them…things like it sounds great but I dont have that much monehy right now for the promotion …and they talk to their manager and within minutes have the shaved the price by 100.00 bucks!! that cracks me up..then I get extra days for much less than they orignally say….I say”hey I am coming from 12 hours away 3 nights is not even close to enough..and dont agree to just a hotel type room you want a 2 0r 3 bedroom CONDO with full kitchen..I will be going to Wyndamm Resorts Olando..within Disney Property..2 bedroom( I was promised a 3 but none available for the week I picked) Condo room for 4 nights and I am getting a 100 dolar Visa card when I am done and I only paid$159.99 orginally they wanted 299.99 just to go listen this craziest pitch you have ever heard…owning timeshares…laugh at them in your head while they are talking to you! you got a great deal and they got 2.5 hours of your time. Score: you great vacation them: NOTHING!!! and then I bought 2 nights off everave for Orlando hotel rtoom for 2 nights which gets me my full 7 nights….they did not have the other two nights available for me so I got them myself! and that was $160.00 for two nights with 80 dollars in hotel credit to spend however I want..so for about 350 dollars we are going to Disney ..staying within 2 miles at both places..we already have tickets with o expiration that we have used 4 times now and we just need spending money!!
THAT is Disney on a shoe string budget without comprimising any of the conforts!! When we go to the parks we have lots of spending money..we eat at the nice places at least twice…we buy lots of pins and trade them and we always do one excursion…going on a boat and deep sea fishing…Sea World..Midevil nights etc. so we are not having a cheap vacation we are just saving where it helps the most..the room that you are barely in because you are out enjoying yourself….
I always spend several days on the internet looking at all the eals and putting in my phone number because then they call you with better deals and you can negotiate more on the phone
with them..they wil do almost anything to get you to yes on the phone…it is great!
when I check it and the people read what are vacation is and how much we paid ..they are like how in the world did you get it for that much?? that is an awsome deal..or they have said I ahve never seen it for that low!
IT WORKS!!
Debbie
this is an awesome story…I fully agree..timeshares are not a waste of time..they are means to an end..if I want tickects or rooms for cheap ad I can handle the pressure then this is the way to go…I lkike to analyze the presentaiton people and predict what they will do or be sacrastic with them to really let them know I will not buy but I sure do like the stuff…iot is a game…they ahve their gimis ..one place I went to had a gong and everytime some really dumb person bought a timeshare they hit the gong…I started laughing….they did not like that…call their bluff about their stupid con…se what they say…if you do not want to go back to that one again…I stayed at the Westagte Toweres 5 times with huge rooms and lots of activites for free for the kids…then I got sarcastic and they made me leave the presentation. My husband was embarrased I was laughing!! I still got all my stuff!
Janet
Wow. I have a feeling you are a truly sad person that is dissatisfied with your own life. Especially to spend as much energy as you did replying to a post. I found the site merely by accident from a friend who had a bad experience with timeshare.
If 99 out of 100 people hate that they bought a timeshare…. Then I’m the one percent that is very satisfied with what I bought and my salesperson.
Maybe you should find another hobby instead of trying guess other people’s lives and incomes. Yes I receive 50% of my base pay. No it wouldn’t solely support me. Oh and by the way not every retired NCO is on food stamps. I have always been smart with my money, friends and investments. At 44 I need nothing. I have a great home, all the toys I want and the free time to go with them.
Maybe you should invest more time in researching positive things to invest in and stop wasting your time on trying to be a time share nazi.
Oh and before you try to attack my last comment, I’ll just stop you by saying that timeshare is not an investment. It’s a vehicle for me to travel to different parts of the country and world for a couple weeks a year.
Last thing I’ll comment on before I leave this post for good ( because I do have better things to do than banter with your sorry, insignificant ass). I’m sure in timeshare sales just as with any other type sales there are good sales people and sorry sales people. Mine had great character.
Have a field day Janet. It’s what your life seems to be about.
Mike
I went on a presentation last year with the thought of NOT buying. I’m a retired Army 1st Sgt with 20 years in the infantry. I’m the last person that someone could manipulate. BUT, I saw the value in it especially since I like to visit other areas of the country every year. The last six months I’ve dove deeper into the program and found that I can actually work my week vacation into 3 maybe 4 weeks in different resorts in one year. Still only paying my one week timeshare. It may cost me an an extra $200 for an additional week but I’m staying in $200 a night resorts.
I love that I was sold on timeshare and have zero regrets. I wouldn’t want to be a timeshare sales person but everyone I spoke with love their job and the benefits, money, and free time that come with it.
Mike.
Mike,
All the timeshare salespeople told you how much they love their jobs? What else would you expect them to say? Like any of them would actually admit they hated their jobs? Come on, you should be able to do better than that.
All of those sales rep. who told you that their jobs give them lots of free time, money and benefits? Yeah well, if they’re doing that good, then they no legitimate excuse for accusing non-buyers of being cheap moochers, “taking food out of the mouths of [their] children!”
FYI, people who imagine themselves incapable of being manipulated, in reality, are the easiest of all. In fact, in your post, you practically provided detailed instructions on what buttons I could push, to manipulate someone like you.
Your post revealed that you’re obviously proud of having been an army sargeant, so all I’d have to do is to play on that pride. First, by making up BS stories about the many, military officers who supposedly have bought in, and how happy they all were. Not just sargeants either, but commissioned officers, such as captains, majors and even generals, all of who recognize a “smart” investment when they see one, which serves to trick you into believing that all your superior officers buy timeshares, and surely you want to be as smart as they are, don’t you? (sucker!)
To build credibility in your mind, I’d then call over one, or more of my little rep. buddies, who would be more than happy to confirm my BS stories, adding a few of their own, and then we’d both tell you about the many high ranking officers we’ve sold to, this past week alone! (ha, ha, ha, you fool)
Now that I’ve got your pride and credibility, next I’ll go to work on your innermost desires, by making up stories, all about the many (high ranking) military families who own timeshares there, and how they just love getting together with other military personnel, especially enlisted personnel who have proven themselves worthy — buy buying a timeshare! Yes! I would play it up big time, telling you how that will put you in the same league as all kinds of commanding officers, colonels, lieutenants, who will all agree that you must be as smart as they are by recognizing such an outstanding bargain! (you stupid fool)
By the time I got done with you, I’d have you painting fantasy pictures in your head, of you and your family spending vacations “schmoozing” with all the highest ranking military officers, even generals. Wow! An infantry sargeant vacationing with the generals, now wouldn’t that be awesome? Yeah! Wouldn’t that make you the envy of everyone you ever served with? And gee, wouldn’t that really impress your family? Now, wouldn’t the opportunity for those kind of “bragging rights” be worth spending a measley $20-30,000 on a timeshare?
I wouldn’t even have to go so far as to say all that. All I have to do is plant enough seeds of desire in your little head, and your imagination will take of the rest for me. Before you know what hit you, your mind will be playing scenerios of you, and your entire family, having dinner at the White House with the President of the United States, all because you were “smart” enough to buy that timeshare at the over inflated presentation price, paying over $20,000 for something you could have bought for as little little as $1 on the resale market. What’s “smart” about that?
You don’t think that would work on you? Really? Then why are you attempting to do the same thing here? Trying to impress readers with your military background, as if simply being a retired sargeant with 20 years in the infantry somehow renders you incapable of “being manipulated”, which in itself, is nothing more than yet another manipulative tactic.
FYI, all those same ploys have been attempted on me, at every single timeshare presentation we’ve attended. Only, as I’m an accountant, they use CPAs, CFOS, and CEOs. All I have to say about those ploys is LOL!
Now let’s see, 20 years of military service? If you joined at the age of 18, that would make you about 38 years old now. At the age of 38, receiving 50% of your former pay, usually won’t pay all the bills, so most military personnel who retire that young, usually will supplement their retirement pay by starting a new career. Possibly, as a timeshare sales rep. Is that about right?
No? Then why else would you be here? What’s in it for you? I mean, seriously, this is a complaint board. If you are simply a “happy camper”, if anything, you’d be writing about your joy on your timeshare’s site or a travel site, not on a complaint board.
If you took 2 minutes to browse the site before posting, you’d see that this is a complaint board, and the only ones who post on complaint boards are those with complaints. On this board, that would be:
1) People who are upset because they feel they’ve been duped into buying a timeshare they neither want, need, and/or can afford, using tactics they regard as completely disreputable, and/or are retaliating against reps. who feel they are entitled to insult and belittle anyone who doesn’t hand them over $20,000 or more at their sleazy, so-called “presentations”, which I personally regard as a complete and total ripoff.
2. Timeshare sales reps. who are pissed off at having their time wasted by those only interested in the “freebies” offered, so they’re retaliating here, playing every imaginable “head game.”
Making your true agenda obvious really isn’t that clever.
Damn Janet,
You’re pathetic. Get a life, girl.
Timeshare reps have a right to make a living just like everyone else. Like any other salesperson, they have a product to sell. You either like it or you don’t, and if you don’t, you don’t spend hours trying to shoot it down, unless you have had bad experiences with it yourself.
There are a lot of people out there that are happy with their timeshares. Do you know why? It’s because they know how to use them and get the most out of them. You, obviously dislike the idea of timeshare, but I’m betting you don’t have any real experiennce with them, so you don’t really know what you’re talking about.
Nobody twists arms to make people respond to offers of free nights and other perks for attending a presentation. You rarely get something for nothing in the world, kid. And if you accept the freebies, you should button your lip and take what’s coming to you. Timeshare sales is like any other product…supply and demand. And trust me there are a lot of less anal people out there enjoying the hell out of their timeshares and have been for years.
Hey Tony, truth hurts, doesn’t it?
In saying, “timeshare reps. have a right to make a living…”, by that you mean YOU, right? You’re a timeshare rep., aren’t you? Your true agenda here is pretty obvious.
As far as telling me that I should “button my lip?” Maybe that works on your wife, but I’m not your dog, and you are not entitled to give me orders. So I won’t be obeying you.
You seem to be ignoring the fact that this is a complaint board. This board was not started by someone who is happy with their timeshare, but rather, because they are NOT happy, not at all! If you bothered checking the rest of this site, you will see it is chock filled with people who are angry, and desperate to get rid of the financial burden they feel they were both pressured and CONNED into purchasing. Quite a few are facing financial ruin as a direct result, not that you care, do you?
Timeshares are so worthless, that many people on this very board are complaining that they can’t even give them away! Most charities won’t even take them as a free donation, and neither will anyone else. Those who inherit them don’t want them either, and certainly don’t want to be stuck with the annual maintenance fees and taxes, that they can’t afford!
Have you even bothered reading the rest of the posts on this board? Do you have any empathy for the any of the posters here, in dire straits and facing financial ruin? Any at all? Are you even aware that our entire country is in the worst recession since the great depression? That people are losing their jobs and their homes, and can’t afford the payments on their worthless timeshares that you, and other reps. talked them into buying? Do you realize that roughly 1/4th of all home mortgages are underwater, and that 2 MILLION children in our country are now homeless?
As far as I’m concerned, you are earning a living at the expense of others, by conning them out of their hard earned money, and NO, I will never agree you should have the right to do that! I regard the business practices of timeshare companies as predatory, underhanded, slimey and completely disreputable, and I want to see laws passed to make what you do for a living illegal.
That’s what I want, and until those laws are passed, I will continue to inform and warn as many people as possible, and will do so while I’m attending timeshare presentations, wasting as much of your time as possible, and collecting those “freebies.”
As far as my having real experience with timeshares? Gee, my husband and I stay at all kinds of timeshare properties, only we happen to know there’s no need to “buy in.” There’s tons and tons of unused weeks at practically every single timeshare property. We’ve paid as little as $99/week by taking advantage of timeshare travel clubs’ “last minute” specials (no membership required!), and the most we ever paid was $400, and that was for a full week stay in a 2 bedroom, luxury oceanfront condo in Key West at “The Galleon”, which is less than 1/2 the annual maintenance fees that owners pay. For a 1 bedroom condo, we normally pay exactly $211/week, $1 for the bid, plus $15 processing fee, and $195 for the cleaning fee, and that’s for an entire week’s stay through an auction site called “travelauction”.
You want to talk “supply and demand”? When it comes to timeshare properties, there’s far more supply than there is demand, and that’s why they end up renting them out to the general public, dirt cheap!
I know exactly what I’m talking about, and No Tony, I’m not about to trust you, or take your word on anything. All anyone has to do is read the rest of the posts on this board and they can easily see which one of us is really telling the truth!
Here’s what I don’t understand:
Why can’t people just say no if they don’t want to buy a timeshare? Whether they can’t afford it or don’t like it, nobody held a gun to their head … a lot of people are weak when it comes to a high pressure salesperson.
Why don’t people read the fine print before they sign a contract? This seems like a no-brainer, especially when thousands of dollars are at stake.
In this day and age, why don’t more people check out timeshares for sale on the internet if they are considering purchasing one?
Why can’t people realize that accepting a discounted vacation, a cash incentive, show tickets, whatever, does not obligate them to buy a thing? All you owe is your attendance at the presentation, nothing else.
How hard is it to figure out that if you just pay for your vacation you’re not obligated to go back again next year, the year after, etc.?
There are lots of reasons you can give a salesperson for not buying a timeshare, but you really don’t need an excuse or an explanation. You don’t need to defend your “no”.
YOU CAN SIGN UP AT THE STATE FAIR THEY HAVE LOT OF GREAT OFFERS .ALSO TRY Silverleaf Resorts.SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS ALSO HAVE A TIME SHARE SIGN UP BOOTH.
THE KEY IS TO SAY I DO NOT HAVE ANY MONEY TO WASTE ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I SAY IT WHEN I AM SHAKING THE SELL PERSON HAND,I THEN LET THEM KNOW THAT EVERY THING LOOK CHEAP AND YOU HAVE SEEN THEIR OTHER RESORTS AND THEY ALSO LOOK CHEAP AND YOU WOULD NEVER LET YOUR FAMILY STAY HERE.HATE EVERY THING YOU WILL BE OUT OF THERE SO FAST WITH PRIZES IN HAND.
I will have to try that. The amount of time the presentations take is the worst part of it for me. I have plenty of sales resistance. And who doesn’t like to get freebies? Where was this?
JUST FINISH ONE OF MY FAVORITE TIME SHARE ,30 MIN FOR $600 CASH.I LOVE THIS ONE AND HAVE BEEN DOING IT EVERY 12 MONTHS FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS.
I have been going to timeshare presentations for all of my adult life…needless to say I have been to disney 7 times and Mrtyle Beach 4 and Daytona Beach 4 times. I have some advice before you even decide to do it….have an esimate on how much you think you should pay for what you are getting from them on the phone…..I have cut my deal in half on the phone and got extra nights. Some examples of what to say are….I just paid my house payment and all I have left is x dollars to pay for something like that right now….ttry about 200.00 for the whole package….it really does work..it is using their own scheme against them…they will get a manager to approve it and everything…The vacation I am about to go on cost me only 159.00 for 4 nights at Wyndom resort..two bedroom…full kitchen AD I get a $100 American express after going to the presentation…so
I got a 2 bedroom condo for 4 nights for 58.00 bucks!! We also did the ones where we got 150.00-200.00 cash…and then we had more money to spend at the parks…that was our go out and neat great at disney money…
My husband hates them but without them we would never go on vacation and I have went to probably 20 of them and never bought but LOVED all the free stuff…also bargain for more tickets…whatever it is you want bargain for that specific thing….ticket to SEa World..Disney whatever…make them feel bad…I always say I need more nights becuse I am coming from far away and I always stay on vacation for 7 days…most of the time that gets you more days from them. You might pay a little more but it is well worth it…the condos are fabulous!! Dont just stay in a hotel for the timeshare stay on property…unless you need Disney tickets then it is worth it becasue you are gone most of the day anyways…I already have tickets that are non expiration so I work harder at nights for rooms…make it work for you not them!!
and onnce you shop around on line you will ahve sale people calling you…do not just say yes to the first call decide where you want to go and what you want an d then listen to several different ones to see which is best..tell the person on the phone to call back tomorrow you need to talk to your husband…they will call back believe me..and usually they will sweetin the deal..always say no at first because they will give you more!!
We always bargain for additional “freebies” too, but then after we get our vouchers, we then see what else we can get from the amusement parks.
For example, after receiving our free Disney vouchers from the timeshare presentation, we then went to the ticket booth at Disney, and found that as long as we did so before the last day of use, we could upgrade our vouchers to add additional days, along with adding the “waterparks and more” and “no expiration date” options, turning our 3 day tickets (which included 1 option), into 7 days at Disney theme parks, plus an additional 7 days at Disney waterparks. We had to pay the difference, but the more days you buy, the cheaper the “per day” cost becomes. We also bought those upgrades several years ago, bringing our total cost to a less than $15/day per ticket, and we can use those days any time in the future.
For attending 1 presentation, we received 4 1 day tickets to Universal Studios. Universal then allowed us to add a 2nd day for $20/per ticket.
All of that though was several years ago, and we haven’t checked recently to see whether the theme parks still upgrade timeshare vouchers.
great idea..thanks for sharing. Our tikets will be running out pretty soon so we will need new ones for the next time we go..I think we only have three days left on them. we got 10 days no expiration and have used them on 4 seperate vacations to Disney….we alwys only do 2 or 3 parks otherwise it is too much in seven days…also we go to Un iversal or Sea World or last year we went to Busch Gardens on vouchers from the timneshare..
Debbie
We were just in Orlando in December, and only spent one day at Disney, and only one day when we went there this past summer as well. I agree, it’s too much, and there’s so many other things fun things to do in Orlando, especially when you go so often, curtesy of the timeshare companies!
exactly…if you stay at Westgate they have activities everyday for the kids to do and they have put put that is for free when you come as a timeshare promsotion peson…they also have a night of the week where it is a barbeque for free that you can go to or is it rfeally cheap for all your family…the kids meet other kids and you an enjoy just relaxing at the pool and not have to make dinner! I think Westgate is the best place to go on a timeshare…we have stayed ther many times but last time was the it..they have a new policy about how many times you have went and they put us on some list of families that have went on many timeshare there..we were still in the sytem from the last time or two….but now we have others to choose from..this willl be the first time At Wyndum.Bonet Creek so I am excited about a new place…
As another alternative to presentations, timeshare forums can be a great place to connect with owners hoping to recoup even just a fraction of their costs, by renting out their unused weeks or points.
My husband and I have family in Florida, so we go there several times a year. We’ve stayed at Bonnet Creek, and it is really nice, but the DVC(Disney Vacation Club) properties are our favorite.
Unfortunately, they don’t offer any free, or even reduced, stays for presentations. But I’m on a couple of timeshare forums, and on occasion, DVC owners will have points that are about to expire, and will either “rent” them cheap, and sometimes, will offer their few remaining points for free!
So, courtesy of one of the members, my husband and I just recently stayed at the DVC Animal Kingdom Villas. She only had 30 points, so we did have to “rent” a few points from another member to cover the difference, but still, we got a 3 night stay for a little over $50!
Timeshare companies that have “lists” usually only restrict you to 1 presentation at their properties per year. Fortunately there’s so many timeshare companies, especially in Orlando, that it will take at least a year to cover all of them
Just came back from a free stay in vegas, I did not know anything about all these timeshare scam but before the presentation I asked my wife not to buy but she still did. Now I’m in the process of rescinding my contract. Hopefully they recieved my certified mail before the rescission deadline is over. Oh, and I tried faxing the rescission letter yesterday and got the fax report in my hand.