Tips for Surviving a Timeshare Presentation


Timeshare Presentations at Resorts 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.

The key to making it to the end, and claiming your prize, is simply to survive. Before you attend a timeshare presentation, make sure you are clear on how long the session is scheduled to last, and what you will be eligible for at the conclusion.  Confirm that this is offered even if you do not go through with the buying process. The tips listed below can help you assure you will not be roped into a vacation ownership you do not desire, and ensure you can get through the process as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Tips for Surviving and Escaping a Timeshare Presentation (Without Buying):

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Try not to talk too much, again, be boring. The less details you offer up about your personal life, the better.
  9. Be ready with an arsenal of reasons why you do not want to buy the timeshare:
    1. I am not interested in buying, I just want to trade to go to other resorts.
    2. I just bought a new house, I do not have any extra cash.
    3. I am swamped with bills – car payment, credit cards, new RV, home remodel, etc.
    4. The resort just does not fit my lifestyle – not enough activities for kids, location is too cold, lack of surrounding activities, etc.
    5. 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.
    6. 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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259 Comments

  1. Wow. My wife and I went through a horrendous presentation in Orlando after being promised a three night stay in a hotel near Universal studios and we barely made it out of there in 2 hours after some real hardcore then, what turned out to be, rude sales pitching.

    I would heed all warnings about the way that they try and sell you a piece of resort luxury for thousands and thousands of dollars (of course they never discuss dollar amounts up front.)
    Here’s my advice if you were not ALREADY considering buying timeshare after A LOT of research and TALKING with friends and family about their experience: 1. When they say two hours, hold them to the time. Perhaps you need to pick up your 89 year old mother at the hotel at exactly 11:00 or she will become agitated. 2. Do not engage. Do not tell them about family or friends (unless it’s your 89 year old mother who would NEVER stay at a timeshare with you, so there goes the ‘family time’ excuse to buy more property.) They will use every angle to hook you and connecting to family is a big one. 3. Do not talk. 4. Say no. 5. Say no again. 6. Say that you will never by timeshare because a. you rarely stay at hotels b. you do not like resorts c. you cannot afford it d. no. The answer is no. But be careful. Our salesperson held the “Well, we might have to reschedule you again” bit. (Which would have meant paying hundreds that I didn’t plan on spending for the hotel stay that they gave us in return for the presentation.) Don’t bite it. Say that the paper, the e-mails and the information you were given is what you are abiding by. So if they say “Two hours” it’s two hours. Whisper loudly to your wife about your close friends who are lawyers. That is all. Hope this helps. And btw, if you can, don’t even bother!

    1. On 3/15/2020 we attended a Wyndham TimeShare Presentation. We were lured by the “FREE Gifts” while attending a Home Show exhibition in Seattle. The “Free Gifts” were: 7-Nite Resort Vacation Certificate + $150 Dining Credit + 30,000 Wyndham Points. Sounds great doesn’t it?? The reality: the Dining Credits are called “Dining Dough” from Restaurant.com We thought we could spend $150 at a fine restaurant—NO!! Dining Dough gives you $25 off of a $50 meal with LOTS of restrictions. Limited number of participating restaurants. So NOT very useful. The “amazing” 7-Nite Resort Vacation Certificate?? Maybe we will be able to use it, but there are MANY restrictions. The ONLY valuable item we received for 3 hours of our time was the 30,000 Wyndham points. We had the opportunity to get $100 in Dining Credit and 45,000 Wyndham points. Unfortunately we chose the almost useless extra Dining Credit. We tried asking several times during the presentation about the Dining Credit—but they refuse to answer any questions about it. (The salesmen KNOW they are almost worthless). Therefore be VERY specific about WHAT Wyndham offers you. The best bet is to ask for MORE Wyndham points.

  2. My wife and I have gone to a dozen of them over the years. We really enjoy it because, amongst other things, it’s a inexpensive vacation. I won’t lie though, at this point we’re also going for the sheer kicks and giggles of the whole thing. We know their Schlick. The into, the tour, the probing, the puke price (an actual industry term), and everything else. When the right time come I will start asking them probing questions. My favorite is about how much the maintenance fees are. That’s when I pull out what they fear the most…a calculator. $500 for a studio means that it’s costing them $13,000 a year just to maintain one tiny unit? Com’n! I have a 3000 sq. foot home that needs only a fraction of that outlay. They have no answer and then, when they try finanancing (15-20%), and I tell them that a bank will do it for 3%, they have no answer. I ask them if they will wave, in perpetuity , the fees and taxes and of course they won’t. They’re already dying to get rid of us when, on cue, my wife says that she has a call and steps away for 5 minutes and then, when she comes back, she shows the sales rep a few on EBay that didn’t sell for even $1. More crickets from them. Another ploy is that I get up and tell them that I wan’t to run this past my financial advisor. They don’t like that one either. T/he last trick is to ask for the contract to review it with our realtor, etc. Nooooo…it’s a one time deal only offer and you can’t even take the contact out of the room. We also make a point of making our objections loud, but always polite, so that the other people in room can hear them.
    Of course, before any of this is done we haggle better stays in better places, more cash, etc. over the phone. It’s hilarious and a real interesting study in human nature. We’ll enjoy the 3 days for free and fortiet part of one as our “bill”.
    Some other things to say, that bug them.”
    -/we like to cruise because we don’t have to worry about cleaning up, cooking, and so forth. My wife likes turndowns too.

    -I want to see the world and really don’t like seeing the same place twice

    -(this one only works in Vegas), I never have to pay for lodging anyway because I get the room for free because I gamble, and can use their pool and stuff whenever I want.

    If you’re really dying to have one, then just go on line and find one to rent. Their are plenty of people who can’t use them on time, or just want to recoup their annual fee, that will practically give you the week for a few bucks and take a lesser loss than a full one.

    You can’t sell them, can’t write them off on your taxes, can barely rent them….turning the tables on the sharks is just giving the them what they deserve.

    1. You don’t have a clue about how timeshare works. You seriously have no respect for someone who works off of commission. You and your wife and your enjoyment of wasting someone’s time is disgusting. That timeshare rep may have 3 or 5 kids at home that they are supporting and you are simply wasting their time. People like you are scum just like those on welfare. You all want something for nothing. Next time why don’t you spend your money and leave the presentations to those who will actually think about better vacations and saving money over their lifetime of vacations.

      1. That person has nothing to feel sorry about. I was called by a timeshare place. I was under the impression that I was receiving a free gift through ihg’s reward program. I already had plans to travel to one of the offered locations anyway, so I accepted the offer. After paying a down payment I googled the place and realized it was for a timeshare pitch and immediately tried to cancel, but they would not return my “down payment”. These places use pushy tactics to lure you into visiting them and charge outrageous monthly places to people they are able to convince to buy in. The sales reps that work there know that what they’re selling is not a good deal for most people. They are the true scum.

        1. I don’t think it’s right to waste folks time, but as a timeshare salesperson you’re a liar if you reckon you’re selling a good product

          1. We bought a Wyndham timeshare, unit base is Orlando. They have nice facilities. I took a break from the salesman, saying I was going to the pool to ask people if they thought it was a good deal? They liked it, so we bought the two year plan. I hated the cheesy group presentation. The so-called breakfast was a joke- coffee, juice, and packaged doughnuts! We don’t use it a lot and the points get transferred to RCI (participating hotels). Holiday Inn RCI had horrible units! The good thing- less chance of lice, compared to hotels; suites, and nice facilities. The bad- maintenance fees and taxes. They call the heck out of you afterwards to upsell you. I finally got a different phone number. The “information update” presentations are horrible! They claim something like 45 minutes, but it’s actually at least twice that. I objected strongly and a woman got belligerent, saying she was just trying to help us! I know they wanted to upsell, but nope, I’m not doing it! I’ll never go to an update or another timeshare presentation again. If you do want a timeshare I recommend Wyndham.

      2. That’s exactly how I feel about people like YOU, who LIE, LIE and LIE just to sell. You are the scum!

      3. It isn’t “Something for nothing.” The “Something” the attendee gives is his or her time.

      4. Maybe so BUT I was sold a “vacation” recently with the understanding that We would sit thru a timeshare presentation…. The girl made her offer, we said “no thanks” she then offered the hotel stay plus the same amount of gift cards minus 25.00 we had to spend on the “vacation”, again we said “no”. Then she offered all of that plus a free cruise for 2…At that point we signed up, she knew VERY well going into it that we had no intention on doing anything and even told us that if we took our toddler that we would get out faster…she was just trying to make a sale which we agreed to with her knowing that we would NEVER purchase a timeshare at the presentation…so they kinda get what they deserve when they are that pushy…if they don’t like working for commission they should find another profession and not try so hard to give stuff away to get you to listen to them.

      5. Yeah I feel sorry for them, alright. Must be pretty hard up to join the army of salespeople who descend on those there for the “one hour” pitch. Didn’t you see Wyndham was forced to pay millions to a whistle blower who exposed how the teams were told to say anything they wanted to close a deal, especially for elderly visitor, as long as they didn’t write it down in the contract. An army of Wyndham lawyers lost that one. Ironically, the award went to the whistle blower for being fired, not to those who got bilked out of their retirements. Was no different when I bought Marriott. First thing I hear on my last Wyndham vacation, “you need a parking sticker to use the garage”. To get one, you need to run the gauntlet of sales associates. I get to my room, unplug both phones. They knock the next day and say it appears my phone isn’t working. What’s a family need to do to be left alone?

        1. Might you know the parties who won the Wyndham caee?

          I am seriously considering taking RCI to court. We were very specific on what we we’re looking for in a timeshare. EVERYTHING the sales person told us was an outright lie. The timeshare he sold us is completely useless to us and does not one thing he assured us it would.

          Any help would be appreciated.

      6. Feel sorry for them?! Ha! Didn’t you see Wyndham was forced to pay millions to a whistle blower who exposed how the teams were told to say anything they wanted to close a deal, especially to the elderly, as long as they didn’t write it down in the contract. An army of Wyndham lawyers lost that one. Ironically, the award went to the whistle blower for being fired, not to those who got bilked out of their retirements. Was no different when I bought Marriott. My last Wyndham vacation, “you need a parking sticker to use the garage”. To get one, you need to run the gauntlet of sales associates. I get to my room, unplug both phones. They knock the next day and say it appears my phone isn’t working. What’s a family need to do to be left alone?

      7. Justin, maybe those who work off commission should find a better job with more reliable income if they have 3 to 5 kids to feed lest they end up as “scum just like those on welfare” (your words), not mine. I totally agree with Toni’s advice. Not all, but a great majority of time share salespersons give high pressured sales pitches to people who simply can’t afford it. They wear them down and guilt them into debt that they cannot afford. Don’t you think if people could afford a 4 day/3 night vacation they would pay for it themselves instead of giving up 90 to 120 minutes of their time? I know my time is a lot more valuable than a time share, but if you offer a nice gift, I’m willing to give up that small amount of my time. The presentations with the high pressure sales pitch will keep people there for longer than they’re actually required to stay. Time share companies are not stupid. They are well aware that they need to offer some type of benefit to lure potential customers. If someone is actually that interested in purchasing a time share, the company would not have to offer free dinners, show tickets, etc… The benefits that attract serious buyers are the benefits of owning the time share and the rest are extras. It’s a cheap way to get a vacation. My husband and I were offered a 4 day/3 night stay at our choice of available Wyndham resorts simply because he had accumulated more membership reward points for a stay at a Wyndham hotel. We intend to take advantage of it and Toni’s advice is spot on! It’s not a matter of respect for the salesperson’s earning potential. It’s a matter of respect the salesperson has for the customer who is not interested in the sale. Instead of pressuring someone who’s not interested, be polite and move on to the next potential customer for your commission. It’s usually the salesperson’s pushy tactics and pretend interest in a customer that costs them their commission.

  3. Please don’t try to survive the timeshare pitch. I always felt so ashamed for what my guests had gone through when they approached me at the entrance to the theme park that I worked at with vouchers which they thought we would get admitted at the front gate. No, this voucher must be exchanged for a ticket so these guests waited in line at the ticket booth after having half or more of that day’s park hours wasted sitting though timeshare hard-sells.

    I don’t think that y’all are a bunch of thieving moochers. I think that you probably had the same experience that I did when I spent my wedding night at a timeshare presentation in Reno for a “free” room after we had come with enough money to pay for our own lodging. My husband and I were young newlyweds who had never heard of timeshare before, which I don’t think was even called timeshare back then because it was 30 years ago. Thank heavens I could see that this was not in our best interest and told them one lie to counteract the many that I believed that they were telling us. I was asked about work and told them that I worked for a law firm much more powerful and bad-ass than where I actually worked. This was clearly disturbing to the salesman because he left quickly and returned with a supervisor who thanked us for our time and got us out of their quickly. We checked out the next day with no further pressure about buying a timeshare.

    I then went to a timeshare presentation many years later, alone, just to see if they were any less slimy than I believed that the first place was since this was a different company. I got up to leave because I did not care about the gratuity once I saw that it was the same game but with the new name of “vacation club”. I was asked to wait for a second by the salesman who said that they owed me a “free gift”. I just wanted to forget about it, but I have done sales work and know that it is really hard so I took pity on this guy whom I thought seemed like a rookie and sat back down. I was then faced with two more people who wanted to hold me captive and so I reached for my handbag and sweater no longer caring how rude I was being. Then a third person stopped by the table and asked me what was holding me back, meaning of course holding me back from signing the papers. My response since she didn’t ask specifically what was holding me back from buying but simply what was holding me back I replied “Nothing. I am leaving”. When I was then asked what was the hurry, I told the truth that I had transcripts to type. Again, I was then quickly dismissed with cash since that was the “gratuity” this company was “offering”. They did not want to deal with a court stenographer while trying to get away with their crooked conduct.

    I no longer work as I am now in this country’s Medicare crowd, but the reaction of the timeshare scammers to my profession both times told me that they knew what they were doing was wrong.

    I know live in the theme park capital of the work since my husband took retirement, and I immediately say that I don’t believe in timeshares the second that hear someone at a mall kiosk or whatever say “Where are you from?” I know what is coming next. Even telling them that I live here in Orlando doesn’t shut them up so I just match their rudeness if that is what it takes, which it often does.

    The sad part is that I really do think that a lot of timeshare sales people apply for the job not realizing what is expected of them. Take a look at the local paper to see that timeshares are hiring all of the time. They advertise for timeshare sellers more often than they advertise for maids at these resorts, and a company’s turnover rate tells you all that you need to know about a company.

    1. “I no longer work as I am now in this country’s Medicare crowd, but the reaction of the timeshare scammers to my profession both times told me that they knew what they were doing was wrong.”

      You lie. This is the 2nd example you give about your lies. You go on a fly buy for your honeymoon. Who is the scammer here ? Stay home, in Orlando no less – pretty much the birthplace of timeshare. Never heard of timeshare before. And you go AGAIN. Alone. You should have been NQ. Non-Qualified.

      You are more useless than the people you are complaining about. They are doing a job. You don’t want them to come to your office telling you how to do your job either.

      The companies doing these things are more successful than yours. Why else would you have to lie about your “profession” ? Hilton, Marriott’s, Sheraton…Disney…!?

      Go home. Turn on the thermostat. Buy some Coronas. Put a palm tree screen saver on. Stay at home. Do not pass start. Do not collect your (almost) free holiday (for your honeymoon no less).

      Welfare. I bet you play Minecraft.

      1. You know, I agree with both of you. If the timeshare company is pushing you to attend and you want to even though you state you aren’t interested, playing games in the presentation is fair game. I remember in Vegas, I repeated said no and after 10 sweeter offers, the last one being a 200 Visa card, I said ok. Well, they were frustrated with me and gave me the 200 Visa card after 45 minutes.

        But if you are stringing any interest to get a freebie and then play games, that’s wrong.

        Now, I always say no and stick with no as even the 200 is t worth it. I’m on vacation, and want to keep it that way.

  4. I find it quite hilarious, and a bit sad the comments I am seeing. Either way, I have attended several timeshare presentations and they are relenting in their pursuit of your money. I ended up purchasing a timeshare with my sister because they literally called in the every sales person they could find, I’m guessing because they saw two women and they knew they could get us. What was more insensitive about it was we were on vacation and it was wayyyy over the 90 mins they promised, it was just about allllll day and our kids didn’t get to go tubing. Needless to say we ended up not ever using it or went back to the resort in VA (Massnutten). That was over 10 years ago and I have since gone on several, some just as bad, others no so much. I attended one where the sales rep asked me in the first 5 mins how serious I was, and when I told him I really wasn’t he said “ok” let’s do the basics and get you out in time to enjoy your day.. he asked for a few referrals, which I was happy to give since he didn’t attempt to strong-arm me into something I didn’t want. That I appreciated, not the “calling in reinforcements” tactics that only piss me off. I will attend a presentation in July with my family,however I am not in the market to buy and plan to employ the same tactics as the sales rep used on me just the opposite. Look I know why I’m there.. he knows why I’m there. I paid a small amount to go on vacation, and in return they get 90 mins of my time.. and I will stick to just that 90 mins. So for those who had very bad experiences, I’m sorry you had them, however next time, just be firm and remind them what your obligation was to them.. an that if they want any referrals it would be best that they adhere to that time-frame and leave out the strong-arm tactics. Another thing I will add.. IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO DEGRADE PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU DON’T AGREE WITH THEIR VIEW OR THE EXPERIENCE THEY’VE HAD?

    1. Wow, do you really think it’s worth your time, to spend half a day at a timeshare presentation to get maybe $100? Is your time only worth $25 per hour, taking time away from your family on vacation? If you’re that poor maybe you shouldn’t go on vacation!

    2. The associate assured me it wasn’t a sales pitch. After all, I was already a Wyndham owner, right? They just wanted to invite me to an information session where owners would be able to voice their concerns and give the company some input. Right. A two hour armbending session to convert from simple weeks I had over to a point based system for my choice of plan, $35K or $80K, financed for my convenience. Nope. I paid only $3K for my 2 bedroom 1 fixed week in Kona Hawaii. After nearly 3 hours they gave up on me. I scored another week in the same place. I’m wondering if they’ll invite me to attend the session again. “Information session my foot”. They took a chance on me. They judged wrong. I knew it was unlikely to be an “info” session and that I wouldn’t buy anyway. Do I feel guilty? Of course not. Vegas rules apply. The house always wins in the end, but sometimes, the guest does.

  5. My friend bought into a 2 bedroom unit.. 2 weeks a year… Or they can do 2 2 bedroom units for 1 week a year if they need more space. They paid $22,000 about 10 years ago and pay $750 in fees annually. They asked me to help them sell it by looking online and seeing the best way to do it. I looked at some sites that are selling the same kind of deal for exactly $1. Sooo many people are trying to get out of their $22,000 upfront purchase for just $1!!! Just so they don’t have to pay the fees anymore because they no longer want the timeshare. My friend is now trying to give the unit away… free! Anyone that is going to suffer their way through one of these presentation, I beg you to please first look online and see what people are selling the units for in the same place you are getting the presentation. You will then be able to tell the salesperson that wants you to spend thousands, exactly how much you can buy the place for on the private market. P.S. They offered me their place for free… I didn’t take the deal.

  6. I got several calls from someone who offered us a stay in Whistler BC for a low price. We lived in Washington State, probably not 100 miles the Canadian border. They told me it was for homeowners and there was an age group and we had to make a certain amount of money a year. While we fit into the age group I told the caller we didn’t own a home and we didn’t make the amount of money we were required to make. They still kept calling us and said it was OK if we went. We would have a 90 minute tour and presentation. I thought we would be among a lot of people for the presentation and if we were interested we would talk to someone after and make arrangements. We took the train up to Vancouver and then took a bus the rest of the way. We were given times for the presentation to attend and I told them 9 a.m. I wanted to get it over. When they gave us our voucher it was for 3 p.m., right in the middle of the day.
    We arrived for the presentation and to my dismay it was a very pregnant saleswoman who was talking just to my then-husband and I. We had been trying to get pregnant for 12 years so the fact that she was 7 months pregnant did not encourage us at all to be cooperative. She handed us a sheet with prices – beginning at 30K Canadian, which would have been 20K American.
    “Where would you like to vacation?”
    “Alaska,” I said.
    “Oh, they don’t have timeshare in Alaska. Anywhere else?”
    “We are saving to take an American History tour with a group of people. We’ll go to Washington DC and Boston and New York City and Philadelphia and places like that.”
    “Oh, well I will tell you how you can own your vacation. You buy a timeshare and you will pay $280 a month and get a weeks’ vacation.”
    “We don’t want to come here every year.”
    “You don’t have to–you can trade. You stay in a timeshare in Boston for a week or you can stay in Washington DC for a week or whatever.”
    “We don’t want to do that. This is a three week tour. We will only be staying in one place for a night or two.”
    “Oh, but you really save money. To get a room in Whistler you have to pay $200 a night.”
    “we clean and decorate the rooms. We have expert interior designers.” Really, if I own something I want to have it decorated the way I want it.
    Then she led us to a room where there were other people and we watched a short video. People in the video were talking about how much they loved the timeshare. “I like to make my own coffee” a man stated. Good for him. We don’t drink coffee.

    I thought this would end and we could all go our separate ways–but no we were led back to the office to argue with this pregnant Ha ole woman from Hawaii. She had told us how wonderful timeshare was in Hawaii as well.

    She repeated herself. We would own our vacation. They had expert designers to decorate. Then she gave us an option that was cheaper and we could get a week every other year. It went on and on and on. Finally I said, “Ma’am, we do not want to do this. We have listened to your presentation and this is not for us.”

    “OK. You know we invested $400 in you.” She gave us a gift certificate for a restaurant and we left.

    1. You should have replied: “And I gave you 90 minutes of my time, which is worth much more than that. Have a good day.”

      1. Not really, because if it was truth, they woudln´t spent their “worthy time” to get that little discount.

  7. Ok so my parents went to a timeshare presentation to get 400 extra bucks because we were staying in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and it rains a lot there so they figured what the heck? They wanted time to think over the offer which was that we got that trip and the next for free and a pretty cheap time share. My parents wanted time to think it over but the presenters said they had to decide right then. They were very intense and aggressive about it. My parents decided to say no because they thought that something was off. The deal was way too good to be true. Was it a scam or not? Also, are there any tea hares that you would recommend… Like hotels that are well priced but have multiple locations and are fairly nice? Thanks!

    1. Your parents did the right thing by saying no. Most timeshares can be bought resale for pennies on the dollar. Remember that for Mexico you are not protected by any American law, an extra disadvantage. There are all kinds of nice accommodations to be had through TripAdvisor, HomeAway, Airbnb, etc. for less than payments on a timeshare (including rentals by desperate timeshare owners). If you really want to learn about timeshare systems, go to tugbbs.com and they can give you a LOT more detail. I am not affiliated with that site, but found it when researching how to survive timeshare presentations as well.

      1. just to make this clear when you buy from resale you get what you buy when you buy from a good resort you actually recive incintives that alow you to vacation in multiple seasons and have tools to help you save money and others dont i sell timeshare and we offer amazing add ons for free and things like personal service that you dont get when you buy online there are 1000’s of things i can do to personalize a timeshare for a family if you buy for pennys on the dollar you get what you get

    2. Old sales like weeks are terrible. I know Hawaii you have to be a licensed real estate agent and disclose everything.just a thought.

  8. I read through most of the comments but I still have questions. My partner and I would like to purchase a timeshare before the close of this year. We aren’t married but my income is qualifying for most terms and conditions I’ve read (30 yr old). I called a company today to gain more info on just the process of timeshare ownership prior to visiting but no luck. When I agreed to book for what is possibly the best deal around I was lied to about the room accommodations. Am I being too picky requesting that I know in advance, prior to paying-if my room will be oceanfront or poolview? The discount will be helpful as we intend to view two other states prior to purchasing. Exactly how does this work.Am I to just accept any room because of the rates? Will I be staying in a room that is an available timeshare? Any advice and tips are welcomed. Be nice, you all are a tough bunch. Thanks.

    1. It seems like so many people are in the same band wagon of “I hate timeshare or only buy resale” I am a very happy timeshare owner. I purchased my points 7 years ago for about $19,000 and have a maintenance fee of about $600 per year. I take 1-2 vacations literally anywhere I please. In the past 7 years I have been to Paris, Australia, Egypt, Disney, Napa Valley, Steamboat Springs(co), and a handful of destinations like Las Vegas etc.. If I had paid out of pocket for each trip with comparable accommodations I would have spent double or tripe that amount. I did consider buying resale myself but would have given up so many of the perks buying from the developer. I did like the additional bonus points I received and the fact they pay RCI for the life of my ownership. I’ve read some people on here say they can buy a vacation or RV for the same money and are absolutely right.Although it will be a rinky dink RV and a sad little vacation home. You will still have maintenance and insurance to pay for annually on both of those items. If you like quality and flexibility like I do, buy a timeshare with a large and reputable company. So yeah my maintenance fee is $600, I just booked a trip to Singapore for 8 just using my points. Can a non-owner stay at a 5 star resort for that rate?

      1. You must be a timeshare salesperson. I owned a timeshare property and thought it was the worst 5 years of my life. None of my friends who still own one thinks it’s the best investment ever.

        1. Of course he’s a salesperson. Why else would he be trying so hard to push people away from the resale market and to buy from the developer?

      2. Why do I need a 5 star place? I often go on a package that includes several people or I stay at a Motel 6 or in a college dorm. I would like to try hosteling. A room to sleep in? Why do I need to be fancy just to sleep?

        1. You don’t. You can continue to squeeze people into your motel 6. The clanking heaters or air conditioners,the yelling running baseball teams of 9 year olds, the drunken partiers, and the bugs all come for free too, since you like to travel so cheaply. Why not stay home, be more comfortable, save every dime, and not bother?

      1. Either you are a salesperson or bought into a scam. Why pay for one condo for thousands of dollars, with an 18% interest rate, for one week AND pay $400-$800 year maintenance fees?

        The price for ONE $50,000 condo.

        52 individuals purchase ONE unit = $2,600,000 PLUS interest
        52 individuals pay a $400 annual maintenance fee=$ 20,800 PER YEAR
        Maintenance over 15 years for ONE unit is $312,000

        Within 15 years, these same 52 individuals could have purchased a 2 million dollar home for less than one timeshare.

        The price for ONE $25,000 condo.

        52 individuals purchase ONE unit = $1,300,000 PLUS interest
        52 individuals pay a $400 annual maintenance fee=$ 20,800 PER YEAR
        Maintenance over 15 years for ONE unit is $312,000

        Within 15 years, these same 52 individuals could have purchased a 11 million dollar home for less than one timeshare.

  9. I am due to attend ‘another’ presentation, which unfortunately is a requirement of my free holiday gift received at a previous presentation over 6 months ago. I already know how it works and have no intention of buying. I do not want to waste anyone’s time but have been told it is part of the conditions. My gift is for three free nights at a luxury resort/spa which I have already stayed in several times before. My only cost is a AUD$29 booking fee potentially saving over AUD$1500 (off peak).

    I am disappointed that having already earned the gift I am having to again sit through 90mins of hard-sell but I don’t appear to have any other choice.

    1. Stop thinking life is free.. u get something start appreciating and giving back or life will no longer give u anything. If u do go. Be happy and thankful u had this opportunity. . It is for people who see the value and not for cheap renters.

      1. Agree. I am a happy owner who has stayed in castles and great resorts and not had to pay anything except some maintenance. I don’t mind paying that for what I get. I have gotten my money back many times over.

    2. How old are you? No one is forcing you to go, are they? But you did want that cheap prize right? Lop

    3. Geez louise people!!!! We just got talked into a cheap trip so I find myself here learning! they quickly threw in there that this Fourth of July special for bass pros new resort would include a quick timeshare share presentation, no further explanation. My husband, who is very intelligent didn’t even catch it! I did but am interested in learning about it so I said why not! You are sales people lurring in possible commission! Stop pretending like you’re the victim here. You know EXACTLY what you are doing! Stop attacking people that are smart enough to do a little research prior to making a possible large investment with there hard earned money. They agreed to a small amount of time not buying! Back off! If it’s such a great investment you might get further with Presenting the benefits rather than bullying and intimidation! Your responses has me further from purchasing than I could have imagined! and miss Pamela, I like your idea of giving back. There are many ways you can give back that will fill your life with much joy that by far surpass anything you will get back from giving money to a timeshare salesman or resort, right thinking, poor application! Your grand idea is also known as karma, so goes both ways, you get back from the universe what you put in so might want to consider taking your own advice next time you leave a Nasty message to a stranger;) namaste

  10. I’m a westgate timeshare rep I help owners upgrade to bigger units and help them on exchanges, and believe me when I say timeshare works if you own in a high demand location.. One of my owners made $43,000 last year off our referral and travle partners programs plus renting out his additional week.. now if you want to go on vacation for free and travle the world for virtually nothing go timeshare. But if you want to stay in the same cheap hotel with two twin beds no privacy and no kitchen then don’t go on tour.. This is for people who want to own thier own vacation not work around complies like hilton or quality inn..

    1. Keep drinking the westgate koolaid. TS industry is a scam and you are the bus driver to the hell it is. Fool.

    2. Westgate sales are reps are so entertaining. They’re certainly the biggest scammers out there but I’ve somehow managed to find the humor in their sales pitch.

      I feel for you guys, such s depressing life to have to rip off families. Keep fooling yourselves into thinking you’re doing all of us THE BIGGEST FAVOR EVER!!

    3. “…if you want to go on vacation for free and travle (sic) the world for virtually nothing go timeshare.”

      Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

      That’s a good one! I needed a good laugh today!

      Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

  11. Timeshare is Vacation Insurance. I work in Mexico, and you can get up to $500 USD for attending a presentation. Why do you people give up your vacation time to go on a presentation? My wife’s Resort has partnered with Cirque du Soleil . It is a permanent venue now in Playa de Carmen, and they are building one in Nuevo Vallarta now. They are also building a theme park, that will surpass Disney World! There is one mandatory maint. Fee in 10 years. If you don’t vacation you don’t pay. 70% of sales in timeshare are from existing owners! If it was so bad, why do they buy more? Your money is safer investing in family memories, than in the Stock market. Would you like people to come to your job, to waste your time? Sales Reps get fired because of people like you, and we know if you are lying to us.

    1. We attend your presentations Pepito because you ask us to come. And who does the lying????? You guys start off with what you say is the best deal and then if someone guts it out, you practically give it away. Nothing worse than a cry baby used car salesman.

      1. They ask you to come? You can say NO! If someone asked you to shoot yourself I am sure you would say NO to that! The only people that regularly attend timeshare presentations are cheapskates who could never afford a nice vacation anyway.

        1. Wrong Barbara. Most of us could afford a nice vacation on my own. But if they want to exchange a timeshare presentation for a vacation, I’ll take it. We pay them with our time, which is worth more than the vacation they offer anyway

        2. You must be another salesperson attempting to justify a scam. I really don’t know how you sleep at night.

    2. I stopped listening to this loser as soon as he said his wife is building a theme park that will surpass Disney World?!?!!? Haha what a joke he is sale pitching right here in the comment section LMFAO!

      1. It’s the Mayan Palace, also known as the Palace of Lies. They keep changing the name to avoid the BILLIONS in lawsuits. It is outright fraud. I ought to know, I work there. We are conmen. IT’S A SCAM. Do a quick search for Mexican timeshare fraud and the number one offender is the Palace of Lies, even though they are affiliated with the Cirque de Soleil

  12. LOOOOOOL these people are illarious. I have been a salesrep for over 6yrs ive worked for Westgate and now im with Sheraton. one thing i wanna say, even the newbies knows when you guys are lying. i try not to blame you guys why cause maybe you were not raise that way. Motel 6 or quality inn always have great deal. all we ask as a sales person if i may speak on their behalf you still can go on a presentation and not purchase its ok, but try not to lie some of us take our job very seriously and we have on going training just to make sure of helping our customer better. you are on vacation not us, this our job. jerk will be jerk by all means but vacation ownership does work for those who deserve it. and can trully afford it.

      1. I was lied to during a presentation and at closing both sales rep and loan officer told of what my benefits include. Now i find myself on my final downpayment month have spent 2300.00 innocently called asking questions on booking first trip and was told i can only use share once a year when i was told i could use it as often as i liked…WTH! Now i can stop future payments but will be reported to credit beareau as failure to complete promise and i LOOSE monies i have already paid!!!! Customer service rep was going to forward for assistance but doesn’t look good. I sure hope they can resolve this or i will plaster their name on every post to help someone else from being shammed……. And that my cyber peers are how the rich keep getting richer, they’re no different from a common street thief

        1. Disappointed,I purchased a Timeshare in Cabo and I have attended several others it is very clear that you are only buying 1/2 weeks a year. I find it hard to believe that someone told you (I don’t care how bad the sales rep was) that you could use it anytime you wanted that is not how ANY Timeshare works.

          1. Don’t be so quick to disbelieve what ‘Disappointed’ says, Vicki. I just attended a Timeshare presentation last week and our salesperson said the same thing… that we could use the resort as many times a year or book rooms at exclusive resorts all over the world, for only $139 per night whenever we wanted. We were also told of incredible deals on 7 day cruises through all the major cruise lines for as low as $249 per CABIN, not per person, and air fares so low you would jump at the chance to purchase one of their Timeshares just for the incredible travel discounts and deals. Of course, none of these additional perks were in writing.

        2. Westgate rep lied and said i was getting an upgrade, but i got stuck with a third week that i could not afford and did not need. Now my credit is ruined because they foreclosed. Our government should put a stop to these scams.

    1. Zaya,
      I have a question for you about Westgate tours. If you are married your spouse is required to show for the presentation, but what if she didn’t travel with me? If I put down that I am single, would anyone even check?
      Thank you 🙂

    2. For a person who has been doing this for several years now your presentation is terrible and your lack of fourth grade grammer and vocabulary skills is stunning. I have a hard time believing you have been doing this for as long as you say. I agree no one should lie but the reason people lie to you is because of your lack of understanding the word no. I have been on a few of these presentations before and some were good with knowledgeable sales staff and others were like high pressured thugs trying to shake me down. It is funny you bring up Westgate. My wife and I attended an Westgate presentation and the sales people purposely attempted to split up my wife and I so they could pressure her alone. I made the mistake of using the restroom. Unbeknowst to me while in the restroom they were soliciting information from my wife that I already told them that I was not comfortable talking about. Towards the end of the tour they asked my wife if she liked the place and she said it was nice but we were not interested. The salesperson had the nerve to call my wife a liar. Which she is not and happens to be the most honest person I have ever met in my life. These places are all alike with high pressure sales pitch and their inability to conduct the presentation as promised. I’m not saying all sales people are bad because they are not and they are most likely bullied by their bosses as well. The flat out truth is that timeshares are ripoffs and there is absolutely no benefit of having one. The price they charge I could permanently have a house trailer in Florida which I own and could sell.

      1. Yes they will check and if you are normally an honest person you will get caught reps know when you are lying!!!!!!w

      2. Here is a novel thought just don’t go don’t take our money you are a parasite and a corporate welfare recipient – plenty of people love their timeshare this is NOT FOR YOU Professional Freeloader so just don’t go and don’t take our money because you can’t afford to buy any way

        1. If people knew better, they would understand that your organization represents corporate welfare. They take advantage of people with hard sales pitches, pressure, gimmicks, and lies. The sales reps are trained to manipulate. They use unscrupulous tactics by aligning skewed “truths”. They don’t allow individuals to evaluate or research their “investment”. If timeshares were fantastic investments, they would sell without manipulation.

    3. Zaya if you are a timeshare salesman go find real work. “If a timeshare salesman lips are a moving he/she is lying”

      Your job has no ethics if you keep living life on a lie you begin to believe the lie.

    4. Excuse me, Zaya, but did you ever take an English grammar course? When did you drop out of school or were you too busy hustling on the streets to attend classes? Nice people are your mark. Nice people are what selling times shares are all about. Hard working folks in good moods, on holidays, in exotic locals, in vacation mode, are your game and you’re the hunter! Nice people are basically trusting and honorable. Greedy? No! Yes, they or we do respond to all the grandiose representations you boys and girls make in your hustling rooms. Nice people generally do not just get up and tell you to screw yourselves and walk away. And you love those nice folks, don’t you? You study your prey, get a feel for what their weaknesses are, what their dreams and life aspirations and the financial class they’re in. You wait for each squiring rebuttal from these good men and women and you’ve seen it a thousand times before. You’ve rehearsed your lines, role played with your sociopathic gluttons on the sales staff, and you’ve listened to the second and third level instruct you on how to defuse each rebuttal from your mark, your chump, your patsy; the nice folks who are now sweating, fidgeting and nudging one another to just leave. You’ve learned just how far to push, to gently insult, to wave that lottery ticket before their eyes. You know how to ware them down, pit then against one another and in the end you offer up the bigger prize, the special just for them, the magic key to the kingdom.

      I know you. I’m a shrink who has worked in prison settings. I’ve listened to you at corporate board meetings. And some of us have even voted for you. You’re sociopaths without conscience, without empathy, without souls. And you know that the rest of us just do not know how to disarm your charm, your slick tricks, and twitching tongues. You’re heartless cons. And

      But, the masses are getting smarter which is why TUGS is a brilliant site. Folks, wise up. We live with these tricksters in every arena of our lives. Look at what happened in the election in 2016. The corruption is such that it takes those who have convicted warlords and crime families to shut the likes of these empty suits down. And when one scheme is exposed, you’re grifters who just move on to the next scam, the next easy mark the next plaything. Many end up incarcerated, but some of you are too clever and move about just inside the law. Timeshare salespeople are among the sleaziest, tricksters on the lower rungs of criminality. And, yes, you even stung me once. Never again.

  13. I’ve only ever attended one of these timeshare presentations with my now wife during one of our early vacations to Orlando and can categorically say it was not worth it.
    We was in Universal and my wife saw a woman at a booth holding up some of the novelty Universal dollars, the ones with Betty Boop on them. My wife wanted some of these and rubes that we were we soon found ourselves booked onto a Timeshare Presentation for 9 O’clock the next day and $20 dollars refundable deposit lighter to ensure we weren’t going to be no shows.
    The next day we were picked up in a swank limo which was late and already contained an Australian family and we were taken to the Mystic Dunes resort complex.
    We were then checked in and assigned to a salesperson which took about 20 to 30 minutes and offered a cold buffet breakfast which looked like it had been sat out all night. This poor excuse of a breakfast lasted a further 30 minutes all the time we were being probed by our salesperson who had joined us with questions about where we were from, our holiday plans etc.
    None of the above time which was about an hour in total or the traveling time to the resort is included in your presentation time so 90 minutes in we were still waiting for the actual presentation to start.
    Luckily for us we got a salesperson who hadn’t been doing this long because after the obligatory golf cart tour of the complex when we got down to the number crunching my wife who is a Math Teacher back home blew her figures out of the water because the salesperson had given us a sales pitch based off vacation figures if the buyer lived in the US and because we reside in the UK my wife pointed out with arrows and using the salespersons pad that we would actually be worse off due to the ever rising air fares if we bought into timeshare than if we just continued to stay at motels during our vacations.
    This gaff by the salesperson effectively ended her own sales pitch and she seemed embarrassed and unable to recover from it so admitted to us that she was new and had to continue with the presentation as part of her training. We said that this was OK but that we would not be buying and by now we had switched off anyway and I honestly can’t recall anything else that she said until she asked my wife “So how would you like to pay? Check, Card or Finance?” My wife said through gritted teeth “None! I told you before we don’t want it!”
    At this the salesperson looked defeated and called the Closing Manager over and we all sat there in awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity and waited for him to come over. This silence was only broken when the salesperson once more tried to feebly defend her figures and sales pitch but by now she knew she had blown it. My wife just gave her a withering look and her words trailed off into silence as by now the Closing Manager arrived all jovial and tried to lighten the mood.
    Needless to say we eventually refused the Closing Managers offer and counter offer and was then given a ticket to redeem our gifts and the deposit we’d handed over at Universal and was then left to wait outside in the baking Florida heat for the promised taxi ride back to our hotel on I-Drive.
    We never did get the Universal dollars because they claimed to have run out. So they said they would have to give us real dollars to the same value instead until my wife said that wasn’t acceptable and they would either have to compensate us by giving us more in real dollars than the value of Universal dollars they had promised us or go and get some Universal dollars.
    The Closing Manager who had escorted us to the gift desk was a huge imposing 6ft guy and said to me “Haven’t you anything to say? as if to say “Keep your woman in line” I just smiled and replied “I don’t need to do I?” He huffed and just said to the lady behind the counter “Give her what she wants” and walked away glad to be rid of us.
    In the end though it cost us approximately 6 hours of vacation time from being picked up at our hotel to being dropped off again and did ruin the mood for the rest of the day slightly so I personally wouldn’t advise going on one of these presentations unless you really are considering buying.

    1. Mr. H,
      Sir for one thank you for visiting the United States and I hope you do not feel this is a real representation of America. Though my experience was different from yours it still was the same. The lies, deception, phony math and the outright insults to our intelligence.

  14. Just my experiences…
    I have owned timeshare and sold timeshare for 10 years. Clearly the best thing I have ever done for all of my loved ones. It’s not intended as a good financial investment, although neither is having children but we still do it because being a parent is priceless, so are the experiences and memories you have with them. That’s what it’s all about is the experience. The same reason why we go to events and restaurants, you can go to McDonalds and watch it at home or you can experience life and enjoy a hot dog and go to a game!

  15. Thousands of International travelers, particularly from the US and Canada, have fallen victims oftimeshare fraud while vacationing in Mexico. Resort developers hire skilled salesmen to represent their timeshares as many different attractive packages, such as financial investments, deeded properties, or vacation clubs, just to increase their sales.

  16. First I’d like to thank all the smart people that don’t endorse outright lying to their sales person. Second as a sales person myself I have to tell you that one we do know you’re lying, two we don’t just give up on actually earning our livelyhood, and three none of these tips actually work when you get a real salesperson. My only advise is hope you get a newbie and hope he gets rattled by these tips.

    1. Let me make sure I understand what you say Mike:

      You are saying that “a real sales person” will not give up. They will rope you in regardless of the fact that you are ready for them or not!!!

      It is good for everyone to get to know the mentality of the Timeshare sales person from their own words.

    2. Regarding your real sales people will not give up. this is what I have done. I pretty much tell the sales person right away that spending the amount required for timeshare and maintenance fees for 1 weeks vacation vs owning a actual property that I can visit any time or a RV for close to the same amount doesnt seem like a deal but for the next 2 hours( the required time for presentation and tour) they will have my attention. IF I see value I will let them know. And I also set my alarm for 30 minutes from the end of the 2 hour window. at the time the alarm goes off and you havent sufficiently proven your sale then the answer will be no and I know your closing manager will come in to sweeten the deal. Heres the sweeter deal, I honored my obligation as stated.you have till the end of the 2 hours to provide WRITTEN proof of any offer we MAY accept must be included In the contract and stated appropriately and if accepted the entire document must be faxed to my lawyer before signing otherwise the time has come to leave and any perks offered as part of the presentation are now due as agreed and stated in the disclaimer.I have done sales and also live in a tourist area myself so I know ins and outs that timeshare salespersons arent aware of.

    3. four, you’re a scumbag if you don’t honor the “no obligation to buy” promise and pressure people into buying.

  17. We sat thru a Marriott Vacation Club presentation last year, did not buy, but loved their program. We paid $750 for a future 3 night 4 days trip with the expectation (theirs) that we would sit thru ANOTHER presentation. We arrived, went to the scheduled meet and asked them to skip the presentation and go right to the sales part; we really were considering this Timeshare. They informed us we’d have to endure the presentation or be billed the difference of $300 for room rate discount they supposedly gave us. I said how would they do that and was informed since they don’t keep our credit card number on file, we’d have to fill out a credit card authorization form. We left! My question is: can they legal tack this charge onto our credit card we used at check in? Why would they miss an opportunity to sell. We did not care about the freebies and thought the $750 was a reasonable charge for our room. After this rude treatment, we are questioning why we ever considered it in the first place. Any suggestions?

    1. Wow, that was handled poorly by MVCI at whatever location you visited. Had someone walked in from a fly n buy promotion saying that to us here at MVCI in Cancun, we would have gladly sat down to talk about your intention of purchasing….their loss.

    2. Jackie

      Hi my name is Daniel, I posted here a while back and got a link that you had a question. Lets get right to it. I would be very surprised if the Big “M” charged you for the $300.00.Read all the information they provided (if you have it) the small print should tell you the answer to this. I sold timeshare for 10 years in Hilton head S.C. and I have friends that worked for “M” On Hilton head and they told me they would tell people that just to get them to stay and sit through the presentation.

      Now I will make a quick suggestion, Please don’t let a bad sales rep ruin your idea of a possible timeshares. especially if you are considering Marriott. In my opinion they are the “cream of the crop” when it comes to timeshare. They usually have the best real estate, and all the “M” timeshares I ever stayed in where 5 star, gold crown top shelf places! Super nice!

      Here is my take on timeshare. IF you vacation and you like nice places and 5 star condos! you cannot go wrong with a timeshare! Jackie if you have any questions I would be glad to help you out. as I said I worked in the timeshare industry off 10 years.

      Last my opinion on this article is this. The person who wrote it is misguided, because who ever it is tells you to LIE!! Straight out lie to your sales rep. I disagree with this and do not understand this? I’m sure this person is not a Christian!

      Daniel

  18. Janet,

    If you are still posting, I just wanted you to know that I truly enjoy reading your posts. I was up late studying for my CPA when I thought I’d look up timeshare complaints before going to bed. I stumbled across this site and read some of your posts and you are a very smart person. Tell your husband he is very lucky man. We are truly blessed to have someone like you on this site trying to get people to think twice before making a commitment. I like timeshares, I believe in vacationing, and I love to travel. But, does that mean that I have to commit to overpaying for a timeshare? It certainly does not. If I were to buy a timeshare, it would be a resale. As you said, they are giving them away because people are trying to get out of those maintenance fees.

  19. Went to a really entertaining timeshare presentation a couple of years back, was a nice diversion on our vacation and we got 100 bucks for it. We definitely were caught in the magic of the resorts which seemed really awesome. The closing was a bit crazy and overdone where we were hit by 4 layers of salespeople trying to work us. The best was the “finance manager” or some bullshit who tried to close us. Her approach was to say: “do you think about what you spend at Target? What can we do to get this package to a place where you don’t have to think about spending it?” She was progressively more irate as I said that I didn’t earn the privilege to spend at Target unconsciously by making decisions unconsciously.

    Then I closed on them: “as committed as you are to getting us to sign today, we are equivalently committed to NOT signing anything today.” Game over and they shuffled us off to the “exit survey” closer-closer-closer. That gave us enough time afterward to really look into the value proposition and see that they were going to charge us about double what it really would have been worth to us.

    I learned my lesson, but thankfully only by wasting an extra 20-30 minutes than I needed to.

  20. Janet – thanks for the entertainment. The various sales reps that appear to be angered by your well thought out responses.

  21. Very good points, thank you for the tips. I was recently tricked into doing a timeshare presentation and I’m definitely going to use your tips when I go. Basically, I was at a fair and was told that they were doing discounted stays at a resort in Florida. I agreed, filled out the paperwork, and paid. At the end of the paperwork, before the signature page, the guy said “oh by the way, you will have to do a brief presentation when you are there.” There was nothing stated about timeshares, but I did some research and figured it out. No problem, I get to stay at a resort for pretty much nothing and thanks to your tips, I won’t have a hard time with the pushy people.

  22. If you are not interested in purchasing a timeshare, do not attend a timeshare presentation! The free gifts are not worth wasting a day of your vacation, and putting your hard earned money at risk of being scammed by the timeshare salespeople.

    1. Uhhh wrong website Liliana. This site is for people who are not interested in purchasing a timeshare, yet want to survive a timeshare presentation

      1. I am a timeshare shark, I’ve been in the game for over ten years.

        We call these types of people “strokers”. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen them with my own eyes. There are people that will come down here on a week’s vacation and go to 5, 6, 7 of these presentations, just to get the free stuff.

        These people are IDIOTS. They don’t understand that they are spending 500 a DAY to be on vacation, yet they will waste a whole day going on a sales pitch to get 100 bucks and a bottle of tequila. If they’d stayed home they would be 400 bucks ahead.

        Then they will spin elaborate webs of lies. They act like they are interested during the pitch. Newsflash, morons: if you act like you are interested we are going to keep trying to close you. I have all day, I am not on vacation. I can go to the beach anytime. When it comes down to the money suddenly Grandma needs a new kidney, the dog needs braces, or the most common one-we are in the middle of closing on a new house. Last time I bought a house I went on a vacation in the middle of the closing. Seems like at least half the people here on vacation are in the middle of a real estate closing for some reason.

        We laugh at these idiots. I have nothing else to do today, and I only get one shot per day, so if you are going to ruin my day by wasting my time when you have no intention of buying anything, then I’m going to ruin your day by dragging this bs out as long as possible. We know you are lying to us. We are professional liars, you are amateurs. You do this all the time for the free stuff? So clever. So you’ve been on, what, twenty, thirty of these presentations? I’ve done it THOUSANDS of times. If anyone’s gonna leave here with one leg shorter than the other from all the pulling it’s not gonna be me.

        We’ll seat strokers outside in the blazing sun “while we get your gifts ready”. Then we’ll sit inside at the bar and laugh at them sweating out there. After about half an hour they will be sweating bullets and start to get really antsy. That’s when I’ll tell my buddy to go take a crack at them. He’ll go out there, they think he’s bringing them the gifts, and he just starts right in with the entire pitch all over again.

        Then when they’re REALLY squealing, we’ll take them to the “gift department”. This is called EXIT and it’s ANOTHER ENTIRE SALES PITCH. We usually run a 25 percent close in the sales room AND 25 percent close in exit. This means that at least half the people who come through the pitch will be leaving somewhat light in the wallet, whether they intended to or not. WE ARE EXPERTS AT THIS. YOU ARE AMATEURS.

        The guy who tells me, “I’ll listen to your pitch but I AIN’T BUYING NOTHING”??? That’s my meat.

        We are MASTERS at using your own words against you, twisting them around to mean anything we want them to. We will play off wife against husband, kids against parents, one couple against the other couple.

        TL;DR? DO NOT GO ON A TIMESHARE SALES PITCH.

        1. Your obviously and a-hole and your math skills are sh@t.

          “This means that at least half the people who come through the pitch will be leaving somewhat light in the wallet, whether they intended to or not. WE ARE EXPERTS AT THIS. YOU ARE AMATEURS.”

          100 people show up; you sell 25% (25 buyers, 75 exit)
          you sell 25% of the 75 exiting (round that to 19 more buyers, 56 leave)

          So mathematically, 44% (44 buyers/100 entrants) are closed.

          I’m guessing your math on fees are probably similar.

  23. Friends,

    I’m a timeshare salesman. The company I work for is irrelevant. People who want freebies will attend a presentation in return. That is understandable, and it is human nature. We try to sell to them, and that is the nature of a salesperson. Now, the company I work for doesn’t pressure and we stress honesty. I present a product that works, and present it honestly. People tend to appreciate that, and buy based on the benefits they see, and those benefits are not always financial. It’s personally very satisfying to get unsolicited vacation photos from my clients…that’s the icing on the cake long after I’ve spent their sales commission. Doing a straight-up presentation and job afterward also provide me with a decent client referral portfolio. That is where the real money is-getting clients to refer others.

    I know what’s sold out there, and who sells what, and those of you who are reps know the same. If what you sell isn’t on the up and up, you deserve the strokers. I frankly wouldn’t waste my time or someone else’s unless I had a genuine interest. As I have read in a few comments, I also believe in karma…and that you get what you give.

    My advice to people who are a little interested: do your homework. Go with a real company with a real track record and support system. Make sure what you are offered is backed up in writing, and don’t be afraid to whip out your iPad or iPhone or iWhatever and check the person’s story. Someone who is confident that their product delivers what they offer won’t bat an eyelash and won’t have to defend a thing. Like I said at the beginning, we know what we sell.

    And we know you are here for the freebies. It’s up to us to show you a different way to vacation. One that works for you. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Life is short. Spend your vacations doing whatever makes you happy. In the end, that is what matters.

    1. Andycancun,
      I have a question for you about timeshare tours. If you are married your spouse is required to show for the presentation, but what if she didn’t travel with me? If I put down that I am single, would anyone even check?
      Thank you 🙂

  24. As a person who is 3 weeks away from spending time in Hilton Head (attending a time share presentation during my stay that pays for my stay), I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed the banter back and forth between agents and customers presenting pro’s and con’s and being defensive about everything! I will remember everything said here and utilize all of it during my attendance of the presentation. Thanks guys!Salud!

  25. Janet, that was an awesome read! I’ve been readin alot about various options but can’t find a list of all the different timeshare presentations available? I’ve done Wyndham and Bluegreen, what others are out there off the top of your head? Thanks.

  26. I am a rep for Festiva and I have several comments for this blog.

    #1: Timeshare companies use many different marketing companies to advertise our products and keep people coming in. With that said, our marketing department has screwed me on the back end, whether it be by people by telling them the presentation lasts an hour when it actually lasts two, or being rude to people. Anything to do with marketing has nothing to do with sales at the resort.

    #2: Professional time share presentation takers: Many times in the industry, we call these people “professional mini-vac’ers”. One of the incentives we offer to come take a tour is offering a two or three discount stay at our resort in exchange for two hours of someone’s time. At my resort, this is a GREAT deal and people save about four hundred dollars on this deal. However, many people use these types of incentives at many resorts and just take up someone’s time, over and over, without any real interest. These types of people, gift getters, do help us fill tours. However, taking the same tours over and over again not only wastes the rep’s time, but the customer’s as well. For all the time they spent trying to get something free, they could purchase something at a good deal and never have to waste their time with a rep again.

    #3: The timeshares you see on the market that people are begging to give up are old fixed weeks. Most companies, like mine, deal exclusively on a point system. My resort, for example, owns over two dozen resorts and members can use their points intermittently between all of them. If they like they can exchange outside the company as well. Old fixed week timeshares have no value because owners have to spend money with outside companies to exchange and it gets expensive. My company offers exchange with a fee of 117 dollars and some points. The timeshares you see with no value belong to people who did not purchase or convert to a point based system. My company is growing in size and as we add more resorts, our property value and the value of the owner’s timeshare will grow, not diminish.

    #4: Reps know that only one or two out of every ten tours will buy. Stacking the numbers is in our favor so we take many tours we know own’t buy. However, the numbers always even out. I have NEVER been rude to any tour, regardless of whether they buy or not. I get paid by the hour on top of any commission so I never have to pressure people to buy something they dont want.

    #5: Depending on the state, customers have the right to what’s called a “cool down” period. This means they have between three and ten days to cancel their package. When reps pressure people into buying, they just cancel, which wastes even MORE of people’s time. So my company refuses to hit people hard. What we do is show off our product, show the benefits, and let people make up their minds themselves. We do a lot of business that way because we have a great product.

    #6: Timeshare, in many ways, is awesome. It saves people thousands and my particular company offers insurmountable benefits by joining. The maintenance fees can be high, but my company offers the lowest rates and has a program designed to eliminate those fees. Vacation ownership is a great way to see the world and spend time with your family.

    #7: There are three important components to vacation ownership. People must love the program, be able to afford it, and have time to use it. If all three of those elements come together, I usually have a sale. If not, I still go through my presentation to practice and sometimes I a surprised by who buys (and who doesn’t!). Most of my customers have come back to me to say they felt great about their purchase, it has benefited their family, and they see great value in our product.

    I understand why some people do not like the industry. There are ups and downs to everything in life though. I am really proud to work where I do and I enjoy helping people realize their dreams. I don’t swindle anyone and I am honest and upfront about everything concerning the sale. I love what I do, how many people can say they help couples stay together, or help family members spend more time together? How would you feel if your customers sent you postcards saying you kept their family together, or helped them spend time with a loved one that has since passed?

    Timeshare is actually a great investment. I hope some of you will keep an open mind in spite of the negative comments on here if you ever do take a tour. You might be surprised by how interesting, useful, and valuable some of the products are.

    1. We got tons of phone calls to do this thing. They said we were required to make 45K and own our home. We did not meet either qualification and I told them. I guess we made 45K Canadian. They said it was OK. Later when I got these calls I just hung up. I was sick of arguing with sales people. I want to try hosteling. I have stayed in Motel 6 and the like. I have stayed in college dorms–a week in a sleeping room for $150 ain’t bad and I get a chance to meet a lot of people in the lobby. I am a solo traveler and I get tired of all this private and personal stuff.

  27. Hello – I couldn’t find my answer in this feed:

    I am a 34 year old unmarried female traveling to Cabo San Lucas with my 33 year-old boyfriend, we’re looking to ‘window shop’ around for timeshares in the area. We are staying in a house in Pedregal, not at any of the actual timeshare resorts. Here are some questions I have. Please, if you can help yourself: don’t tell us NOT TO GO ON A TIMESHARE TOUR! Here are some questions I haven’t been able to find answers to:

    – We will not and can NOT sign any paperwork on the timeshare tour. When should we make this apparent to our salesperson? At the beginning?
    – We want to get top cash gifts for our 90-120 minute tour (i am aware it may take longer than this based on others’ experiences). What proof/documentation is required to insure our gifts?
    – Do we have to provide proof of our income? This kind of information is a bit intrusive.
    – Is there any reason in the end they would change their mind on the $ cash gifts they promised?

    Thanks in advance for all your expertise in this category.

    1. U2 are prime candidates and should be offered the largest gift amount. However walking in to a resort asking to tour might leave you with less then what you’ll get by signing up at the airport. To ensure you receive whatever you’re promised get it in writing. They want to make sure that you have a credit card not a debit card, Your age is what they want, being unmarried takes a little away from your value. There is no reason not to go on tour, but like you said you should never sign anything that is a potential financial burden without carefully considering the consequences, away from the emotional whirlwind of a sales room. Anything you can buy today you can probably get a slightly better deal on tomorrow. If you go in and explain your here to learn but you both agree there is no reason to sign anything on tour they will pretend it doesn’t matter and apply pressure later. Just agree that the deal is amazing and you love it, but it would be irresponsible to make such an emotional decision. They may try to make you feel bad for not being able to make a decision, if they do remind them this type of treatment is going to make the decision no. Don’t argue with them. Don’t be defensive. Don’t try to trick them, just simply don’t sign until you have done your homework and are not on an emotional high.

      If you would like I can put you directly in touch with several of the sales managers here in town.

      Good luck,
      Mike

      [Email Redacted]

      P.s. most importantly, enjoy your time, and don’t let them waste too much of it!

      1. Come on guys who is kidding who? How much did you spend for your vacation? The average cheap American is spending around 3/5,000 for seven days do you relize when you go to waste a salespersons time in getting your gifts in the average amount of about 200 dollars if you can be a tuff dealer. Lol therefore you draw your cute little kiddies with you tell all your lies to the salesperson that of course enjoys there everyday that you are actually paying them to attend your only 7 days off from work lol you have worked a year for and you spend your whole day with someone you don’t know so it ends up costing you one full day of your hard earned vacation time to get how much back in return. Do you really dislike each other that much to spend an entire day of your 7 days. Actually the joke is on you who attend the tours for a few bucks! Lol that is really stupid if you ask me. Go enjoy what that salesperson enjoys everyday you are just another number in his/hers eyes. There is about 33% of intelligent buyers that vacation on a regular bases that understands how to use their vacation club membership. So when you go and lie about your status in income and so on just remember there is something called karma! You have a job I hope also, right when people lie to you how does it feel. That’s them look stupid great way to raise your children! Great conversation afterwrds to on how you screwed the salesperson je je je the salesperson two weeks later is enjoying what you paid for the rest of there lives while you are still digging into the snow bank to get your car out so you can drive to work! The job you hate! Just remember why not be honest with yourself! Go enjoy your vacation without living and feeling proud of it later on. When one of your children ask you mommy “we really did not just buy a new car we still have the old” why did you tell the man a LIE. Lol live with that one. Great role models. Have a great vacation spend it wisely!

        1. Way to go David, I totally agree with what you said. If people could just get over thier junk addiction and realize there are no free rides they would be way ahead in the long term. And your right about them loosing more than they gain, as most of the time those gift promises are empty promises any way. Not always but most of the time, and even when they are fulfilled it’s only to save face, and to have some more pawns with which to lure in more unsuspecting takers.

    2. Hey Jen,
      How was your trip? Probably not as profitable as you had hoped, eh? No matching names/address on your id’s? Unmarried you qualify as a single lady only. Let your bf stay at the resort, you’ll be more believable that way. What did they offer you, a $100 or so? If you told them at checkin you will not be signing anything today they most likely nq’d you, right? Depending on the resort, if your excuses for not buying vary from the checkin qualifying questions they ask, you very well could go home penniless without a ride back. If you have not yet gone, I would encourage you to go enjoy your vacation and not waste anyones time including your own. btw, if you want to go and play to get paid you’ve got to have a verifiable ts ownership, then you can make $500 or more.

      1. Exactly. Ive been just laughing my ass off at the comments with lungs super inflated in anger because WE, THE SALES PEOPLE that are trying to make a living are LYING, THIEVES, SCAMMERS and coming from hell. Well then again is our FRIKKING job. First of off this blog article is called how to survive a timeshare presentation without buying. Ha! You guys lir and are getting trained to go on every vacation and sign up for presentation to get little ridiculous gifts worth maximum 500us. That is the worth of your family and your vacations, who are the thieves here stealing our only shot for the day to buy us food? Stealing our time and chances to sell to others that are not such idiots and can actually male the math and figure it is better to vacation this way as you have been doing it. Haha. I feel sorry for you. All of you. Cheap arrogant dumb tourists. Keep training yourself in how to survive a presentation for little 200 bills. And waste half of a day. Disgusting.

    3. Stroker!!! What kind of industry are you in? Why does someone have to pay you, to show you something you are interested in?? Get real! Greed is a sin yes or no??? If people like you just quit going to get free b.s. then the industry would shut down. No marketing equals no sales! No sales equals no business! You say you are 33 but not intelligent enough to figure this out. Your sales rep should use crayons when presenting! Just stay home or stay at the pool. Who window shops for timeshare. Go to ebay and window shop!

    4. Hey, Jen…did you get a good look at all the timeshare store fronts. Now that you are ready and able to sign, how about buying my Marriott timeshare. Maui. It’s only $1 dollar. Is that price range in your budget? Is Marriott quality ok? What day should we set the appointment to close? I m available anytime. I ll even fly to you. Don’t worry, I will pay my way. Sound good? Deal?

  28. Janet says:
    November 23, 2011 at 7:26 am
    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!

    Ok, I get that you guys all hate each other, and you are all in need of a creative outlet for this extra emotional energy (I suppose I am included in this) but Janet, I really want to know how you did this. I mean bravo. Can you please tell me how you were able to accomplish the what you said above. No joke, you seem to have been able to combine anger and apathy, angry aloof? Yes, an angry aloof thing, but how? If you really were able to, well done!

    Warm Regards
    Guy Typing, Esq.

  29. I am also an avid timeshare presentation goer. However, I agree with the fact that you are the one that must end the presentation, I don’t fully agree with your in presentation tactics. I actually go in with an arsenal of stories and questions. I tell stories and listen to the stories they have for me. I ask them questions about all the other properties they have around the world and the amenities they offer. I use up the entire 90 or 120 minutes with conversation and stories and questions. As soon as my alarm hits the 5 minute warning, I wrap up. I let them know that it has been a great presentation and I appreciate their time, however their time is up. I stand up and ask to have my goodies. 🙂 Thank you for the blog. It was fun to read!

    1. Mike I think you are a very lonely guy who needs to find yourself someone to talk to. Why don’t you commit yourself to a hobby instead of wasting other people’s time. Get a life!!!

  30. I am not a time share rep. However, I do know from going to former presentations that it is a great deal. I couldn’t convince my husband to do it and have regretted it every since. He developed a heart problem the next year and we have not gone on a vacation since because we didnt have a vacation plan in place. you spend thousands on cars that last buy 5 years before you replace it. Timeshare is for life and we will be purchasing hopefully soon. Just my two cents. And my experience has been that the sales folks were kind.

    1. Sue,
      I am a rep. With the largest vacation ownership in the world. I would love to answer any questions you might have about how to get involved if you are still concitering it. All I have to say, is if you are going to buy, make it be with the most reputable company, with the most flexibility, and the one with the most programs available to help offset maintenance fees, and other out of pocket vacation expenses.
      There is some valuable advice I could give you as an insider, and would be more than happy to 🙂

  31. Timeshare presentations are not a good way to make a buck.

    If you divide the amount of time you get for vacation in a lifetime, the amount you would have gotten paid to work at your employer during your vacation time, minus the time it took you to get to your destination. It’s worth like $500 an hour. I was offered a $600 Helecopter tour to go on a presentation in Hawaii, I said no, my time is more valuable. In addition, I was not interested nor had the extra funds to purchase a timeshare. I am in food service sales, and I do not want someone wasting my time when I am working. Going on presentations where people make straight commission and basically wasting their time for $100 is bad karma. Desperate people do these kinds of things, next you’ll be hitting up the nearest car lot for free pizza and soft drinks…please get a life.

    1. Wow wow wow someone figured out the system and knows how to spend your time wisely not wasting other people’s time with their lies. It’s unbelievable to me that people fill the brains with such non sence to share stories or use the words arsenal go play the board game SORRY!!! What kind of parents were these people brought up with…I find great pleasure in having a customer such as conartist Mike. When they are begging you to leave the table saying “your time is up” I say to a Mike kinda guy is yea you think so? I’m in control you just didn’t relize it jerk! I get to say when, where and how long the tour will take. You are going to spend the whole day with me just as you planned telling me all your stories! I love to answer WHY is that so a Mike can feel really strong in his comment for the day yea so why is that mike. If one knows how to seek out time wasters and you have to take them on tour je je je love getting lost and tour the area two or three times and a Mike says we were just here! Yes, just wanted to see if you were paying attenuation so come and visit me Mr. mike I show you the resort so you will dream or have nightmares about us. Then we get really laugh the loudest at YOU! Think about it is it really worth your time “on vacation to spend it with someone you don’t know!!! We are a lot smarter than most of us look.

      1. You can call a person who goes to a time share meeting a “time waster” or think they are just after freebies,but in reality the marketing people working for the time share company goes out of his way to invite (insist) that you sit through the presentation regardless of your level of interest. I signed up for one today. I explained that I was not interested, and did not want to be pressured, and there was little or no chance of me ever buying. His said that is fine, you are coming to this city anyway, and for your 2 hrs. we will give you such and such. So this thing (tactic) of demeaning those who sign up and are not really interested is wrong. The guy bought 2 hrs. of my time. When I say no, it will simply be a bad investment they were willing to make and they knew it up front.

        1. okay… New post, old thread… I used to work for west gate as an “independent contractor”. We got 500.00 checks the next morning after we closed the night before. Very competitive and I was driven. I love sales, I sold 30 timeshares in 3 months during a summer break while studying computer science.

          I also really like timeshare, I use friends and buy points and weeks from folks to vacation. That’s always worked for me. I don’t think I’d own, but that’s because I’d rather save for a little cottage a block or two off a beach that I can decide what happens to it…

          My “PD” project director and my manager at west gate are total scumbags and just bad people in my opinion… I was forced to quit because they didn’t like me studying during breaks, and because I would come in late a couple of days because I had class… I was on fire at the end of the summer and couldn’t quit… I tried to make a deal with the PD but in the end it failed.

          I didn’t realize that once I “quit” all my commission that was owed me also was withheld… Bottom line, it’s tough on the salespeople… The highest closers always go out first, and a lot of people struggle.

          I agree, with most posts…. Don’t lie…. But, I also agree that the folks that book these things are pretty aggressive… They are called OPC where I’m from, and these guys are sharks… When you’re trying to support yourself and your family, rationalization will happen… Some people will say anything to sell…

          Bottom line… If you can afford it, take one presentation… Don’t be that repeat person… I’ve sold a lot of people who swore that they would never buy from me, and they did… They lied… Who cares…. We all lie…. A good salesman finds a real problem you have and presents a clear, sometimes affordable, solution… If you can comfortably afford it, and you like it, why not? If not, screw it. If the hassle you, screw them. It’s not about wasting the salespersons time… It’s about your time.

      2. What a jerk. But it sounds to me like the guy you are busy getting lost with while you waste his time isn’t the only one who is loosing. I hope that EVERYTIME you do something like that some other salesman gets a great sale that would have gone to you. Better yet I hope that your bosses wised up and got rid of you.

        As long as timeshare companies pressure people who tell they “I can’t buy right now.” into taking tours by offering them incentives don’t blame the people who cave, blame those who are offering the freebies. I’ve been upfront every single time I’ve taken a tour (about 4 over 20 years) that I’m not buying right now. In stead of just accepting that mist places up the offer. If it’s worth giving up my time I’ll accept. I’ve stayed in timeshares about 15 times. My brother owns one and gets me guest passes. Someday I hope to. But you know what I would never buy one from someone like you. As a matter of fact now that I’ve read your post when I’m ready to buy I will take a tour while telling the salesperson upfront that I can’t purchase right now, just to see how he or she treats me. Any getting lost or trying to hold me hostage past the allotted time and on the way out I will tell them “I planned to purchase today but you didn’t treat me with respect so I won’t be buying from you.

  32. 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?

    1. I love you could not have said it better. I know when I go on a vacation it is to relax and unwind not sit and argue or say no no no. Being a grown man and to ask if I can leave that’s the funniest part of all these comments. I mean who really is in control of who???

    2. You ask: “if it really isn’t worth buying and the presentations are so bad, why do you keep going?”

      Answer: At the very top of this page you’ll read: “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.”
      I suppose another thread could be started that reads: “How to close effectively on timeshare presentations.” but I will go out on a limb and say it wouldn’t be nearly as popular.

      Sure, there are folks that don’t have any intention of buying when they come to the presentations. But have you ever wondered why the timeshare companies don’t ask you this before your hear the pitch? Why they don’t say: “Well, if you’re here just for the free vacation then we can’t honor this offer”? I’ll tell you why, it’s because they hope they can rope in even those that were initially only looking for a free vacation. The offers say, “you get this price if you listen to our presentation, no obligation to buy.” So when folks say “Thanks, but I’m not interested,” that should be the end of it. Now I understand that timeshare salesmen need to make a living, and in most cases they have to do so by pressuring folks (sometimes successfully) into buying. Sadly, when it comes to timeshares, I’ve heard more regret stories than happiness stories (just count them in this blog). So you see, it goes both ways. The timeshare folks know that a lot of folks come in looking for a free vacation but they don’t care, and the frequent timeshare-freebie-only crowd know what they’ll face and they are happy with it, it doesn’t “ruin” their vacation, and they are not free-loaders since they gave their time (money) to listen to the speech.

  33. 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!

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

        1. man i work at grand crown in branson missouri and that is just dumb all tables are people looking to buy or people that made up there mind on the way there that they were just doing it for free stuff. None of which are sales reps trying to fill a room to try and make it look more busy. its timeshare we dont have to do that were always busy unless its the off season then were just travel to cali or another warm place. sorry man but your buddy is a lier. theres nothing wrong with timeshare specialy if you have kids because its not what you buy for your kids that counts its about wat you do with them because them memories re what makes them happy.

          1. Your writing is practically illiterate. How do you expect anyone to take your comments aeriously?

          2. You commented to it.? Also check your post. Seems you cannot spell. This post is about timeshare. Not who,s the best at posting! All I can say is WOW. I am a veteran timeshare sales rep if anyone has real questions I can and will do my best at answering them. Dw

  34. 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.

    1. Do you own one? Clearly you must to say that a timeshare is not a great way to see the world. You are mistaken. I have traveled the world with my weeks. Where do you own? Dw

  35. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

        1. 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.)

          1. 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

          2. Janet,
            You are awesome!! Thank you very much for your intelligent, knowledgeable information. I’m sorry you’ve gotten the ignorant responses you have. You are clearly educated and actually care about people, and ceasing the corruption. I truly appreciate the time you have put into writing all of this. That is a gesture of true concern. Someone who speaks the truth is always subject to the rejection of those who do evil, whether they are aware they are doing evil or not. I hope for the people who have been opposing you that they actually find a respectable job where they aren’t knowingly, or unknowingly scamming others.

            I have a question for you: We, unknowing of all of this, purchased a weekend from Bass Pro for BlueGreen Resorts week. My family, through my mother, already owns three timeshares, two of which are through Marriot which is very nice. We never were interested in buying a timeshare at all. My husband just wanted to buy the week to go to Branson. They have stated the presentation is 2 hours and we will recieve a $75 gift certificate at the end…But, if we don’t show up, they will charge us $100. I’m trying to locate the original papers we signed to see if it ever said anything about there being a penalty for not showing up. Do you think we should go knowing we aren’t going to buy anything, just for the two hours, as soon as the two are up we immediately leave? I’m afraid they will take the cc number and charge something more than the $100. Also, I’m afraid that since we split the week, and are planing to use the rest of the 7 days another time, and if they know we didn’t buy in their presentation the first time, that something bad is going to happen with the second half of our time.

            Do you have any advice for me? We are leaving Friday for the first part of our “destination package”.

            May you be blessed beyond measure for the good you have done and the light you have shed.
            Lawrie

            ps. FYI, if in case anyone who reads this decides to send me back a negative comment, please know before hand, you are wasting your time because I will NOT waste my time reading it. Thank you. And since now I have freed you from wasting your time writing to me, may you fill your time with something good to do. 🙂

          3. Lawrie, I hope this response comes in time for you. I went through the Bluegreen presentation as well, but at Wisconsin Dells. Do you have an e-mail message from Bluegreen or the company that set up your visit? It probably has terms and conditions (or a link to something that does). My guess is that the standard language of “90-120 minutes” applies. So if you are there 120 minutes, tell them that you are done, and if they don’t sign you out right away, WALK OUT. As I state below, there may be state laws that apply, and if so, remind the good salespeople of them. (If they want to break the laws, why do you want to do business with them?)

            Some other paperwork suggestions to bring with you:
            * Copies of your Terms and Conditions, if you have them.
            * Printouts from sellmytimesharenow.com, redweek,com, Timeshare User Group, etc. of resale prices of timeshares at that location.
            * You may find condos or similar units for rent through Hotwire for the time you are staying at Branson for cheap. Bring printouts of those prices.
            * When they ask you how much you spend on vacations, tell them that you either get free use of timeshare rooms from family or that you book great rooms for cheap through Priceline (at $40 – 50/night). For us, at least, that’s the truth, too!
            * REMEMBER, they will talk FAST with numbers, and quote you prices that do not include maintenance fees, club memberships, special assessments, and other charges. Boy, do those charges add up!
            * Check out Missouri state laws and regulations concerning timeshare sales (probably under whatever department does professional licensing for realtors and other such people). I looked at the Wisconsin website on timeshare sales and found a section on “prohibited sales practices.” If such language exists under Missouri law, read, print out, and have with you.
            * Don’t fall in love. Like a car, it can’t love you back. There will ALWAYS be another deal, so don’t fall for the “today only” garbage. (In Wisconsin, at least, it is against the law for them to say that.)

            You will likely have to go or pay a penalty. When we got to our destination, we found that they would only schedule presentations in the middle of the day (11 AM or 1 PM), which ruins your whole day. I don’t know which is really better, but we did 1 PM and got out OK after exactly two hours.

            Remember, a lot of these people are human, so at least start out by treating them like you would want to be treated. Our salesman was actually a decent guy who was recovering from a car accident (and unless he had a good makeup artist, he had a big scar to show for it). Be low key and keep your wits as much as possible. My sixth grader actually could poke holes in their presentation after the fact, so at least we got an educational experience out of it!

      2. 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!

        1. Why would you call people dumb? That is as shady as you going on all those tours knowing you will never buy one all I can say is I’m sorry! For u! dw

  36. 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

    1. “Wow. I have a feeling you are a truly sad person that is dissatisfied with your own life. ”

      Yeah, it’s stupid for someone to think that they completely know a person based off of one experience of them posting something online.

  37. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

        🙂

        1. 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!

          1. 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”.

          2. Janet, Why do you hate timeshare ?

            Why do you spend so much time and effort putting people down who like it ?

            If it is not for you don’t by it..
            If you like it and thinks it beneficial then buy it….
            People make their own choices in life
            they can say yes or no
            why do you think you have the right to decide what is best for them
            I don’t see you talking about anything else
            do you love ecverything in life except time share why don’t you blog about other things you don’t like

            Timeshare is not for everybody
            but it is for sme people they are the ones who buy
            have you interviewed any one selling a timeshare i believe you are speculating on why their selling and blogging without knowing the facts….

            I’m sorry you feel this way
            but speaking without knowing the facts is wrong…..

          3. James,

            I have already written a number of posts, in which I have provided a wide variety of reasons why I am opposed to timeshares.

            What part of my explanation are you still not understanding? Or are you intentionally just being obnoxious?

            And James, the reason I am discussing timeshares, is because that is the topic of this board. If this was a gardening board, I would be posting about my garden. Seriously, what is wrong with you that you can not understand something that obvious?

            As far as knowing the facts go, if you had bothered taking 15 minutes to check out the rest of this site, then you should know this is a complaint board, filled with people who hate and despise the timeshares they feel they were suckered into buying, and desperately trying to find a way to get out from under the financial burden they feel they were mislead, conned, and deceived into buying. No James, none of them like, need or want their timeshares. They want to get rid of them, but can’t find any takers. Most charities won’t even accept fully paid off timeshares as donations. Those are the real facts, that you don’t seem to want people to know.

            Only people I know who like their timeshares and feel they are a good value, are those who bought on the resale market, where timeshares can be purchased for as little as $1!

            If more people knew that, my guess is you’d probably never make another sale, now would you?

    2. Timeshares are awesome for some people. People who can afford to travel enough to make them work for them. My brother owns 2 because he travels often for both work and pleasure. With just his points he can often do like you and get 3 or 4 weeks out his regular fees. Plus he can get extra weeks for an added fee. Sometimes as low as $169 a week. I know because he’s gotten me extra weeks too, but there is a $50 guest fee for that. We stayed in Vegas for 2 weeks (actually 7 nights in a week) for less than $400. If I could afford to travel enough to make it work for me I’d buy one. (Or grab one of the ubiquitous free or almost free ones that are out there) Right now I can’t justify it when I can only get away for a week or 2 a year (Other than visiting my parents.) and sometimes that isn’t in the cards if our medical expenses are high or we have several major things break down in our house. Like this year when our well pump and central air went out. I made it through the summer with a window unit. Not fun in SE Texas, but a blessing since we could have had to deal with not even having that. The year before we were blessed to be able to spend a week in Angelfire, NM (nice area very disappointing resort and we won’t ever return.) followed by a week at the Wyndham in Pagosa Springs, CO (Our 2nd trip there. Loved the area so much I want to move there. The resort is very nice and the people who work there are wonderful.) Our rooms the 1st 2 weeks we stayed in Pagosa Springs were nicer than the ones the 2nd time, but neither was nasty like the Angelfire resort. We’ve stayed at timeshares in Weston, FL (near Ft. Laud.) and Orlando. I think 3 times in Orlando and all but one was nice. They put us in the old section instead of the new one that had been advertised in the photos. That one we were only in for about an hour. We called and complained and we were switched to a much nicer resort in a larger room. Most of these were RCI resorts. Just thought I’d mention this so that if you are ever considering going to any of these areas you’ll know what at least one person thought.

  38. 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.

  39. 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.

    1. 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?

  40. 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.

    1. 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!!

      1. 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.

        1. 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

          1. 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!

          2. 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…

          3. 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 🙂

  41. 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.

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