Author Topic: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...  (Read 27482 times)

Toffeemama

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My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« on: January 14, 2015, 12:14:58 PM »
They just bought their second timeshare.  My dad tried to explain to me how they'll rent out their second one to pay for staying in their first one, but we all know that's not going to happen.  *sigh* At least I'll have a place to stay if I ever go to Orlando.

pzxc

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2015, 12:18:41 PM »
At least I'll have a place to stay if I ever go to Orlando.

Only if you time your trip to be during the timeshare window.

:(

golden1

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2015, 12:21:52 PM »
Is it DVC (Disney Vacation Club)?  I have spent time on the Disney boards, and there are people that will buy enough "points" to basically pay for a few months a year at WDW and rent out most of those points to other people to pay for their vacations.  If you price it accordingly, you can actually make a small amount money doing this. 

dandarc

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2015, 12:28:26 PM »
If it is DVC they'll definitely be able to rent it - I've been on the other end of that transaction a few times.  Not the cheapest way to stay in Orlando, or on-property even, but if you want to stay at the nicer resorts, it can be roughly half the cost to rent DVC points vs. what you'd pay booking normally.

Bob W

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2015, 12:48:41 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week? 

AH013

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2015, 02:11:42 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?

But you're forgetting that your timeshare has a kitchen, but a plain hotel room doesn't!  Your family of 5 would easily spend $40 per person per day on dinner, $25 per person per day on lunch, and $15 per person per day on breakfast.  By having a kitchen, you can make all your meals in your room, which means you save $2,800 a week on your vacation in food costs alone by having a timeshare.  And isn't it worth something to have a place you can call your home away from home, building equity in a lifetime of vacation memories instead of throwing it away like you've been doing all your life?  Now please sit back down and we'll give you your free voucher after another 5 hours of hard sell.......

MgoSam

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2015, 02:15:56 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?

But you're forgetting that your timeshare has a kitchen, but a plain hotel room doesn't!  Your family of 5 would easily spend $40 per person per day on dinner, $25 per person per day on lunch, and $15 per person per day on breakfast.  By having a kitchen, you can make all your meals in your room, which means you save $2,800 a week on your vacation in food costs alone by having a timeshare.  And isn't it worth something to have a place you can call your home away from home, building equity in a lifetime of vacation memories instead of throwing it away like you've been doing all your life?  Now please sit back down and we'll give you your free voucher after another 5 hours of hard sell.......

Opps, almost responded thinking that you were serious about $40/person for dinner, lol.

dandarc

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2015, 02:17:23 PM »
Bob - in general I agree with you.  100% buy a resale.  DVC is different in a few ways:

1.  It is a long term lease (50 years from original sale?), so the payments are not forever even if you don't sell.  Also means that if you hold to maturity, you're definitely not getting your "investment" back.
2.  You can rent the points out and get $11 or more / point - more than enough to cover the maintenance fees (there is a vibrant market for this) https://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-members.asp
3.  The resale market actually does exist if you want out.

I like RunDisney races - staying on-property is very convenient for those (you still have to be on a bus at 4:00 am for the marathon, but at least you're not driving in).  I ran some projections on this buy more points than you need to pay for yours.  While a viable option, I decided it was not a good investment the last time I really looked into it - but it is a much, much better deal than nearly all other timeshares.

mydogismyheart

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2015, 04:37:57 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?

But you're forgetting that your timeshare has a kitchen, but a plain hotel room doesn't!  Your family of 5 would easily spend $40 per person per day on dinner, $25 per person per day on lunch, and $15 per person per day on breakfast.  By having a kitchen, you can make all your meals in your room, which means you save $2,800 a week on your vacation in food costs alone by having a timeshare.  And isn't it worth something to have a place you can call your home away from home, building equity in a lifetime of vacation memories instead of throwing it away like you've been doing all your life?  Now please sit back down and we'll give you your free voucher after another 5 hours of hard sell.......

Opps, almost responded thinking that you were serious about $40/person for dinner, lol.

Haha yeah, and like I'm going to be wandering around Disney World with my kids and they decide they're hungry so now we have to go all the way back to the timeshare! Nope! LOL.

mydogismyheart

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2015, 04:39:35 PM »
I have a friend that owns Timeshare condos, it's the type where they have multiple locations you can stay in.  I don't really get it because we travel together quite a bit, yet we've never actually stayed in one of her condos.  She always talks about it though.  She'll say "hey, we can stay in Vegas for only $20/day!!!" but then we book a trip to Vegas and somehow we're staying at The Wynn for $140/day instead...

MsPeacock

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2015, 08:35:27 PM »
Welp, I know a few people who want to give away their timeshares to get out from under the fees. So, if your parents want to take on a third, or fourth, or fifth timeshare, I am sure that someone can help them out. (I think that website also has people who will *pay you* to take over their time share).

I love Disney - and it is super expensive. However, the vacation club is crazy costly and at some point kids don't want to go to Disney or whatever anymore. The fees are really high (I know one person who has one) - like $1500 per year for whatever they have, plus the "mortgage" on the DVC plan itself. Yes, they get a weeks vacation stay (not including tickets, or food, etc.). Ok, I can stay at Disney, in one of their resorts, for $100 per night. And then I can sink $$$$ into tickets and food, and still be ahead of the game from the club members.

MgoSam

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2015, 08:39:12 PM »
2 timeshares? Reminds me of this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cit1XyGQapI

greaper007

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #12 on: January 15, 2015, 12:36:14 PM »
I don't get how people can still buy/sell timeshares.   I've yet to visit a city where I couldn't find a decent hotel room for less than $200 a night (that's big cities mind you).     Why would someone get locked into something when they could just get a room when they feel like it?

Toffeemama

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #13 on: January 15, 2015, 01:42:37 PM »
2 timeshares? Reminds me of this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cit1XyGQapI

When I heard the news, it made me think of the timeshare episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia!

MgoSam

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #14 on: January 15, 2015, 01:48:43 PM »
I don't get how people can still buy/sell timeshares.   I've yet to visit a city where I couldn't find a decent hotel room for less than $200 a night (that's big cities mind you).     Why would someone get locked into something when they could just get a room when they feel like it?

Yeah, I am a fan of AirBNB and generally you can find a room for far cheaper. As an added benefit, many have a kitchen that you can use (provided you clean up after yourself). From what little I've read about timeshare fees, it likely is FAR cheaper per night to do it this way, while also not locking you into an agreement for many years.

Bob W

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #15 on: January 15, 2015, 03:45:19 PM »
The best time share scam is the one me and DW run.  A few years ago we were being super mustachian.   We must have stayed at 5 different nearby time shares locations.  Some of them were very nice.  Probably $1,500 worth of free rooms, cash and crap.

One of them wasn't even a time share,  it was a Vacation Club.   You basically paid 20K for rights to their web site and 40% discounts at hotels.  What a fucking joke!

So they comped us 2 nights at the resort (located 15 minutes from our house) gave us a free dinner and $100 resort cash.   

We sat through 90 minutes, when the guy started to close I got real quiet, leaned in slowly and with the most serious look on my face said "Do we look like we're fucking idiots to you?  We are done here?"  Stood up and extended hand.   He was speechless. 

We ran into several other couples in our endeavors who were scamming and had been scamming time share places for years. 

We may start this up again when we start scamming airline miles.   Fly free,  stay free.

Bob W

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #16 on: January 15, 2015, 03:49:32 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?

But you're forgetting that your timeshare has a kitchen, but a plain hotel room doesn't!  Your family of 5 would easily spend $40 per person per day on dinner, $25 per person per day on lunch, and $15 per person per day on breakfast.  By having a kitchen, you can make all your meals in your room, which means you save $2,800 a week on your vacation in food costs alone by having a timeshare.  And isn't it worth something to have a place you can call your home away from home, building equity in a lifetime of vacation memories instead of throwing it away like you've been doing all your life?  Now please sit back down and we'll give you your free voucher after another 5 hours of hard sell.......

That is freaking cracking me up!   Right out of the playbook.   I like when they start with "When you think of vacations what do you think of?"   I always respond "stress!"   They just nod and move forward with the family memories bullshit.   

pipercat

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2015, 04:16:05 PM »
Bob, I wish I had your fortitude!  I could never attend one of these seminars because I would be too afraid I would end up owning something that I could never get rid of.  I know plenty of people who do the timeshare circuit, using the freebies and turning down the sell.  I would just be way too afraid of cracking!

mm1970

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2015, 04:17:28 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?

But you're forgetting that your timeshare has a kitchen, but a plain hotel room doesn't!  Your family of 5 would easily spend $40 per person per day on dinner, $25 per person per day on lunch, and $15 per person per day on breakfast.  By having a kitchen, you can make all your meals in your room, which means you save $2,800 a week on your vacation in food costs alone by having a timeshare.  And isn't it worth something to have a place you can call your home away from home, building equity in a lifetime of vacation memories instead of throwing it away like you've been doing all your life?  Now please sit back down and we'll give you your free voucher after another 5 hours of hard sell.......

That is freaking cracking me up!   Right out of the playbook.   I like when they start with "When you think of vacations what do you think of?"   I always respond "stress!"   They just nod and move forward with the family memories bullshit.

Funny!  I only sat through one of those. I simply don't have the energy for that crap to even get a free night.  It was a Hilton Vacation Club (I did get some free snorkle trip out of it).

I have a friend who has a timeshare. I think they used it a bunch for about 15 years.  They vacation a lot.

My husband (before we were dating), got suckered into one of those vacation club things (ended up with a couple hundred dollars from a class action).  One of those "Pay $4000 and $400/year and stay for free at these great places!"

Except he wasn't a vacation kind of guy.  I think he must have had that thing for 5 years?  Only used it once, ironically for our honeymoon.  The condo we ended up in was kind of a hole (but I had low standards back then, it was fine for me).

It was an expensive lesson.  We both learned that one.

Toffeemama

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #19 on: January 15, 2015, 08:57:52 PM »
Is it bad that I kind of love going through those presentations?  My husband especially loves saying, "No chance in hell we're buying this thing" to the salespeople.

We recently used a free trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg that we got for sitting through a Direct Buy presentation.  For those that don't know, Direct Buy is basically like timeshares for furniture.  After the presentation, we were taken to a table where a salesman was waiting to pitch to us directly.  Poor guy.  When he asked, "Where are you getting most of your furniture now?" we happily replied, "The garbage!"  Then he stood up, thanked us for our time, and gave us our vouchers.  GWL was super fun, too.

Primm

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #20 on: January 15, 2015, 11:56:50 PM »
The best time share scam is the one me and DW run.  A few years ago we were being super mustachian.   We must have stayed at 5 different nearby time shares locations.  Some of them were very nice.  Probably $1,500 worth of free rooms, cash and crap.

One of them wasn't even a time share,  it was a Vacation Club.   You basically paid 20K for rights to their web site and 40% discounts at hotels.  What a fucking joke!

So they comped us 2 nights at the resort (located 15 minutes from our house) gave us a free dinner and $100 resort cash.   

We sat through 90 minutes, when the guy started to close I got real quiet, leaned in slowly and with the most serious look on my face said "Do we look like we're fucking idiots to you?  We are done here?"  Stood up and extended hand.   He was speechless. 

We ran into several other couples in our endeavors who were scamming and had been scamming time share places for years. 

We may start this up again when we start scamming airline miles.   Fly free,  stay free.

'Tis NOT a scam! I know, because we do it too...

I'm getting really good at looking glassy eyed through the presentation and saying "no thanks!" at the end.

The last one was the best. 2 nights at the resort, breakfast both nights, dinner one night, could have had free babysitting if we'd had kids. I think we had to pay a $25 "reservation fee" for that one. Well worth the money.

RetiredAt63

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #21 on: January 16, 2015, 01:37:20 PM »
Cool time share scams.  Not sure I would want to try it (not sure they would be interested in me).  I would never have done it with DH - he agreed to be a practice audience for an acquaintance to practice his fancy knife spiel on - and then ended up buying a knife (an incredibly expensive knife) we did not need.  We would own *how many* time shares by now if we had done that?

partgypsy

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #22 on: January 16, 2015, 02:17:47 PM »
I don't think I could do this. Supposedly we "won" a 2 day trip, just had to sit through a demonstration of replacement windows. Sat through the thing, which would have cost double any normal windows would cost. The guy would not take no for an answer, and got angry. Husband had to basically escort him out. Whatever they gave us, no matter what combination of dates I entered, said was not available so even the free trip was a scam.

I think I've gotten one of these other invitations, but to me, they are just not worth it.

I had a wonderful boss. When she was literally dying (6 months to live) she took family on a vacation. While on vacation sat through one of these things to get some freebies, and her and her husband bought the condo/vacation club. (downpayment of not insignificant sum, with payments for I believe 15 years). She was saying stuff like how it was something the whole family could do together and remember her by, how her children could use it when they got married. I was so angry that they took advantage of her vulnerable emotional and physical state to make a sale.

MrsPete

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #23 on: January 16, 2015, 06:51:27 PM »
My parents were BIG on doing these presentations, and my husband and I have done a couple of them.  I read a book on how time shares work, and I was surprised to see that they budget THOUSANDS of dollars into promoting the sales of the time share -- that's how they comp you all those rooms for such low prices.  If you're curious about the system, I suggest you pick up a book at the library.  It'll be enlightening. 

I don't understand why some of you seem rather gleeful at attending these presentations . . . and then being nasty to the salespeople.  Shame on you; why be nasty to people, especially when you knew what you were getting into when you accepted the presentation?  Turn them down, but be polite about it.  It's not hard to decline without profanity or a mean spirit. 

If you want to put in only the minimum time, tell them at the begining that you're only going to put in the required 90 minutes, so you want to get started right away.  Tell them -- politely -- what time you're beginning.  Skip breakfast (or snack) because that doesn't count towards your 90 minutes.  When they begin to talk to you about the "time share fuzzy math", tell them that you're familiar with it, and you fully accept that it's a great value -- if you say anything else, you're going to waste your time as they try to convince you.  Try to hit the tour as fast as possible; not only is it more fun, but it hurries you to the end faster.  Understand that the hard-sell will come at the end, and they have an answer for every negative you can bring up:

- You don't have the money.  They finance.
- You want to wait a bit; it's not a good time for you.  The price is going up in only two weeks -- you're so lucky to have come in today. 
I can't think of others right now, but they are smooth and well-practiced, and I promise you that even though you go in with your mind MADE UP . . . some part of you will say, "Oh, why not just do it?"

Arguments that WILL work: 

- I'm interested in your product (interest doesn't necessarily mean intent to purchase -- I'm interested in many things), but before I make up my mind, I am going to visit Hilton and Weston's product before I make a decision.  This is a major expense, and I owe it to myself to be an informed consumer. 
- Pull out a print-out of the timeshare on the used market, and ask them why you spend 20K for the buy-in when it's $50 on the used  maket?  The answer they'll give is, But when you buy-in with us, we're going to give you all these lovely gifts -- a free week, 2 plane tickets anywhere.  Your answer is, "Okay, a week is worth maybe $1000 and the plane tickets are no more than $1000 each . . . so I don't want to spend an extra $19,500 to save $3000.  Be factual, not nasty.

My husband and I did seriously consider under what circumstances we'd buy a timeshare.  Chosen well, I don't think it'd ever be a budget choice, but it doesn't have to be a complete sucker's deal.  We figure that to do it -- maybe not right, but better:

- Buy second hand.  On the secondary market, off-season time shares are basically free, and prime season slots can be had for a couple hundred dollars.  The price difference is so large that it's genuinely stupid to buy "new". 
- Buy a property that allows you the choice of a season, not a single week.  So, for example, buy a spring season timeshare, not Week 10 out of the year.  Much more flexibility. 
- Buy a property that's a decade or so old; the yearly maintenance fees will be less.  And be 100% clear on whether they can be increased over the years.  Be clear on whether they can charge you an assessment if, say, a hurricane comes through and tears off the roof. 
- Buy a property to which you personally can drive.  You don't want to lock yourself into a vacation that requires a plane ticket every year. 
- Buy a property that people WANT to trade.  You want to trade and visit different places -- so be sure that you're getting a popular place that other people will want; ocean-front or Disney are always going to be more popular than Branson, for example. 
- Understand whether this time share is real estate, which you can sell or leave to your children -- or whether it's some other incarnation. 
- Before you buy, be crystal clear on how the "trading" works.  Two big companies "trade" time shares, and you need to know ahead of time which one you're buying into.  Someone above commented that her friend has a Vegas timeshare, but they always end up paying; I'd be willing to bet that she's in a poor trading set-up. 
- This is a big one -- my personal favorite, after buy second-hand:  buy a lock-out property from Marriot.  If you buy the right unit -- a two-bedroom lock-out unit -- it's going to be a one-bedroom with a kitchen . . . attached to a one bedroom hotel room with a bath.  You choose to "lock out" the second bedroom, and you use your second week later.  So for ONE maintenance fee each year, you can have the one-bedroom condo TWO weeks a year.  Thing is, if you choose to "roam" to a property that doesn't have lock-outs . . . they have to give you a two-bedroom for TWO weeks a year.  Double the benefit . . . for the same maintenance fee. 
- An option that might appeal to some people:  Considered "entry level time shares", some time shares give you a vacation place every other year, and they split your maintenance fee into two smaller fees so that you pay less . . . but also vacation less. 
- It's obvious to everyone here, but a timeshare -- a luxury item -- is not something you should even remotely consider financing. 





Eludia

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2015, 12:35:06 AM »

Opps, almost responded thinking that you were serious about $40/person for dinner, lol.

You've not eaten at Disneyworld have you?  A sit down restaurant is often around $40 per person for Dinner.  The cheaper ones are around $30.  Yes I know there are cheaper options.  :-)


MsPeacock

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #25 on: January 19, 2015, 07:15:10 PM »
And for a very interesting look at just who benefits from time shares:

http://www.magpictures.com/thequeenofversailles/


RagingRanter

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #26 on: February 19, 2015, 07:49:40 PM »
Time shares are a scam.  I don't care if it is DVC or not.  Please tell me they at least bought it on a timeshare resale site for 1/2 the price of buying from the timeshare scammers themselves?   

http://www.dvc-resales.com/faq.htm#how

I didn't really look hard but it looks like those weeks are selling for like 15K new?   Then you add on the outrageous maintenance fees and you're into some serious money.  So what are your parents writing a check for $800 a month now?

Gee I wonder if I could book a nice place somewhere for 5K per week?
My parents were BIG on doing these presentations, and my husband and I have done a couple of them.  I read a book on how time shares work, and I was surprised to see that they budget THOUSANDS of dollars into promoting the sales of the time share -- that's how they comp you all those rooms for such low prices.  If you're curious about the system, I suggest you pick up a book at the library.  It'll be enlightening. 

I don't understand why some of you seem rather gleeful at attending these presentations . . . and then being nasty to the salespeople.  Shame on you; why be nasty to people, especially when you knew what you were getting into when you accepted the presentation?  Turn them down, but be polite about it.  It's not hard to decline without profanity or a mean spirit. 

If you want to put in only the minimum time, tell them at the begining that you're only going to put in the required 90 minutes, so you want to get started right away.  Tell them -- politely -- what time you're beginning.  Skip breakfast (or snack) because that doesn't count towards your 90 minutes.  When they begin to talk to you about the "time share fuzzy math", tell them that you're familiar with it, and you fully accept that it's a great value -- if you say anything else, you're going to waste your time as they try to convince you.  Try to hit the tour as fast as possible; not only is it more fun, but it hurries you to the end faster.  Understand that the hard-sell will come at the end, and they have an answer for every negative you can bring up:

- You don't have the money.  They finance.
- You want to wait a bit; it's not a good time for you.  The price is going up in only two weeks -- you're so lucky to have come in today. 
I can't think of others right now, but they are smooth and well-practiced, and I promise you that even though you go in with your mind MADE UP . . . some part of you will say, "Oh, why not just do it?"

Arguments that WILL work: 

- I'm interested in your product (interest doesn't necessarily mean intent to purchase -- I'm interested in many things), but before I make up my mind, I am going to visit Hilton and Weston's product before I make a decision.  This is a major expense, and I owe it to myself to be an informed consumer. 
- Pull out a print-out of the timeshare on the used market, and ask them why you spend 20K for the buy-in when it's $50 on the used  maket?  The answer they'll give is, But when you buy-in with us, we're going to give you all these lovely gifts -- a free week, 2 plane tickets anywhere.  Your answer is, "Okay, a week is worth maybe $1000 and the plane tickets are no more than $1000 each . . . so I don't want to spend an extra $19,500 to save $3000.  Be factual, not nasty.

My husband and I did seriously consider under what circumstances we'd buy a timeshare.  Chosen well, I don't think it'd ever be a budget choice, but it doesn't have to be a complete sucker's deal.  We figure that to do it -- maybe not right, but better:

- Buy second hand.  On the secondary market, off-season time shares are basically free, and prime season slots can be had for a couple hundred dollars.  The price difference is so large that it's genuinely stupid to buy "new". 
- Buy a property that allows you the choice of a season, not a single week.  So, for example, buy a spring season timeshare, not Week 10 out of the year.  Much more flexibility. 
- Buy a property that's a decade or so old; the yearly maintenance fees will be less.  And be 100% clear on whether they can be increased over the years.  Be clear on whether they can charge you an assessment if, say, a hurricane comes through and tears off the roof. 
- Buy a property to which you personally can drive.  You don't want to lock yourself into a vacation that requires a plane ticket every year. 
- Buy a property that people WANT to trade.  You want to trade and visit different places -- so be sure that you're getting a popular place that other people will want; ocean-front or Disney are always going to be more popular than Branson, for example. 
- Understand whether this time share is real estate, which you can sell or leave to your children -- or whether it's some other incarnation. 
- Before you buy, be crystal clear on how the "trading" works.  Two big companies "trade" time shares, and you need to know ahead of time which one you're buying into.  Someone above commented that her friend has a Vegas timeshare, but they always end up paying; I'd be willing to bet that she's in a poor trading set-up. 
- This is a big one -- my personal favorite, after buy second-hand:  buy a lock-out property from Marriot.  If you buy the right unit -- a two-bedroom lock-out unit -- it's going to be a one-bedroom with a kitchen . . . attached to a one bedroom hotel room with a bath.  You choose to "lock out" the second bedroom, and you use your second week later.  So for ONE maintenance fee each year, you can have the one-bedroom condo TWO weeks a year.  Thing is, if you choose to "roam" to a property that doesn't have lock-outs . . . they have to give you a two-bedroom for TWO weeks a year.  Double the benefit . . . for the same maintenance fee. 
- An option that might appeal to some people:  Considered "entry level time shares", some time shares give you a vacation place every other year, and they split your maintenance fee into two smaller fees so that you pay less . . . but also vacation less. 
- It's obvious to everyone here, but a timeshare -- a luxury item -- is not something you should even remotely consider financing. 






I'm sorry but the sales person we had to sit through was so pushy and aggressive and insulting to my intelligence, that I could never sit through another one and be "polite". Why was I there? Cuz I had 7 nights free at Vistana Village. Why did I have that? Becuase MiL got sucked into buying a timeshare two years previous. $8000 up front, plus nearly $1000 per year in maintenance, which goes up every single year. All for one stinking week every two years. And she's afraid of flying, so she can't ever use it (was down there on a bus trip when she bought it). So my wife and I flew there two years later to take the week off her hands. Nice place to stay when you don't have to pay. :) But the sales pitch was maddening. 

LiveLean

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #27 on: February 20, 2015, 07:34:04 AM »
One of the most successful people I know is a second-generation owner of a business that does nothing but re-sell Disney timeshares. Her late mother taught her the business and she's taken it to another level. Always plenty of customers on both sides.

I love to post the following on Facebook every so often:

Years living in Central Florida: 17
Children: 2 (12 and 9)
Visits to Disney theme parks: Zero
« Last Edit: February 20, 2015, 07:37:27 AM by LiveLean »

MgoSam

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #28 on: February 20, 2015, 02:58:53 PM »

Opps, almost responded thinking that you were serious about $40/person for dinner, lol.

You've not eaten at Disneyworld have you?  A sit down restaurant is often around $40 per person for Dinner.  The cheaper ones are around $30.  Yes I know there are cheaper options.  :-)

Not since I was a little kid, but I would never go back if I could. I haven't taken a non-work vacation in a few years, and wouldn't waste an opportunity on such a place.

MgoSam

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #29 on: February 20, 2015, 03:01:10 PM »
I don't understand why anyone would want a timeshare. Even if the math worked out and it would be cheaper to stay there than a similar vacation, do you really want to go there each year? Are you really that comfortable locking yourself into that place?

Take Las Vegas, that city isn't a place I would go to for a vacation, but sure, I'm sure that people love it. If going there, I would rather either rent a room in one of the hotels, or if you want a kitchen, use Airbnb. There are so many more options out there, and they have the added benefit of allowing flexibility.

hodedofome

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2015, 03:27:03 PM »
There will definitely come a point where your kids don't want to do Disney anymore, expecting that you'll always go there is silly. Talk to my coworker, they are stuck with their timeshare in Orlando and their kids refuse to use it.

Honestly, paying for a Disney trip is just silly all by itself. If your kids grow up understanding that it's a crap-ton of money and out of the question, they'll probably get over their desire to go. My parents are taking all of us to DisneyWorld this Thanksgiving, otherwise there's no way I would ever pay my own way. That $5k+ trip could easily be invested and turned into a crap-ton of money for much better things.

Big houses, new cars, clothes, eating out and expensive vacations. These are the things most middle and upper class folks are blowing money on instead of saving and investing. Oh, and they are killing themselves at their jobs to make enough $$ to pay for it too. We can easily say no to these 5 things, at least until we are financially independent and can splurge on a vacation or two down the road.

jmusic

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2015, 03:48:06 PM »
http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2011/02/should-you-buy-timeshare-probably-not.html

Talks about a lot of the same stuff as the sentiment here; note that timeshares can even be inherited and they'll come after the kids to take over the property...  He mentions in the comments section that you can DISCLAIM that item from inheritance if it should apply to the OP.

Kris

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2015, 05:29:28 PM »
My husband owned a timeshare when I met him...

When he told me, it was one of the moments where I seriously questioned whether we had a future together.

Luckily, I convinced him that it was complete and utter bullshit, and he sold it.

LadyDriver

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #33 on: February 21, 2015, 08:40:02 AM »
My parents have gotten a lot of pleasure out of their timeshare. They have used it to stay all over the world. For them it was a good purchase because:

Dad was a workaholic. They have travelled more since they bought the timeshare than the 60 years before.
My parents are pretty frugal. For them, the "we've already paid for it so we shouldn't let it go to waste" argument holds true.
They are starting to have some Health/mobility issues and are not super adventuresome. Their timeshare is through Hilton (I think) and this gives them confidence that they will not end up in a place where they feel unsafe or have to climb 1000 steps to get to the only bathroom in the building.

They can definitely afford it and my sister and I are thrilled to see them spend some money on themselves.

Goldielocks

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #34 on: February 21, 2015, 04:14:53 PM »
Question,  if I sell my deeded timeshare at a loss, can I claim it as a capital gains loss?  I have ownership title to my portion just like joint real estate purchase- a bit unusual for timeshares...

Hmmm. This may help me offset some cap gains I plan to take next year... Except that we actually use and enjoy our timeshare, and it is the same or lower cost than hotels..

Jacana

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #35 on: February 22, 2015, 06:52:02 AM »
Some friends of ours own a Disney timeshare. They have to go to Orlando every other year, can't use it anywhere else they said? So of course that means schlepping the whole family down, and of course must go in the parks every day and must dine with the characters and must eat at fancy restaurants. They just got back from a trip to Disney recently actually.

They just sold their overpriced mcmansion and bought a cheaper house last year because they were financially going under (badly) due to their ridiculous spending, and yet they take their young kids to Disney. But the real kicker? Apparently they are still paying a mortgage on the timeshare! After like 10 years! And she told me the monthly maintenance fees are crazy high and the place remodels every few years to keep the condos desirable. But they refuse to sell now because they 'won't get their money back yet.' They think the timeshare will appreciate. And both work in finances for big companies. Sigh.

I love Disney, my very frugal parents took us there a bunch of times as kids. We stayed at the Disney campground in an RV for cheap, always off season, stayed for like 2 weeks, ate most lunches and dinners at the campground, and didn't go into the parks every day. And it was a blast.

mandy_2002

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #36 on: April 08, 2015, 06:05:00 PM »
Some friends of ours own a Disney timeshare. They have to go to Orlando every other year, can't use it anywhere else they said? So of course that means schlepping the whole family down, and of course must go in the parks every day and must dine with the characters and must eat at fancy restaurants. They just got back from a trip to Disney recently actually.

I'm not sure if they were lying to you, they said something a little different than you typed.  With the Disney set-up, you have the option of several places in Disney World, one beach in Florida, Hilton Head Island, One hotel at Disneyland, and One resort in Hawaii.  The problem is that with kids, you can't really travel during the low seasons.  You get more time to book your choices at your "home resort," so during those desirable times the people in the locations outside Orlando book them up and leave very little for others to reserve when the later booking times open up.  So they have the ability to book at any of these 5 locations, but they may not be able to take advantage of that option.

paddedhat

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #37 on: April 08, 2015, 08:27:49 PM »
My late mother bought a week at a Pocono resort, probably back in the late 70s. She tried to give it to me as a wedding gift a decade later, and I seriously asked if she had lost her mind? Since I was only twenty two, and still knew enough to not take it for free. Fast forward to early in 2010. My mother had just passed, and my estate attorney is making a few calls to legitimate realtors in the area to gauge the value and liquidity of this "asset" in our quest to probate the will.  Bottom line? It's valueless, and the best hope is to find a sucker to take it for free, but anticipate that this might involve actually paying 100% of all the closing costs, since a free time share has two meaning, #1  I get free of the worthless POS, and #2  the new owner takes possession without spending a dime. The lawyer recommends that I call the owner's association to see if they have any ideas. I score, big time! The manager of the association is the daughter of old family friends, and agrees to push the board to take the thing back. I still have to pay a couple of hundred in costs, the most ironic being county transfer taxes on an "asset" that they appraise at $8K.
Obviously, I got real lucky and got rid of a worthless timeshare that could of really been an issue. The big take away is this however, Disney aside, many of these things are worthless. If you have one, and it's a burden, do the right thing and do what it takes to get rid of it. Don't leave it to be cleaned up by somebody else, if something happens to you.

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #38 on: April 08, 2015, 09:20:38 PM »
Some friends of ours own a Disney timeshare. They have to go to Orlando every other year, can't use it anywhere else they said? So of course that means schlepping the whole family down, and of course must go in the parks every day and must dine with the characters and must eat at fancy restaurants. They just got back from a trip to Disney recently actually.

I'm not sure if they were lying to you, they said something a little different than you typed.  With the Disney set-up, you have the option of several places in Disney World, one beach in Florida, Hilton Head Island, One hotel at Disneyland, and One resort in Hawaii.  The problem is that with kids, you can't really travel during the low seasons.  You get more time to book your choices at your "home resort," so during those desirable times the people in the locations outside Orlando book them up and leave very little for others to reserve when the later booking times open up.  So they have the ability to book at any of these 5 locations, but they may not be able to take advantage of that option.

If they bought their DVC as a resale in recent years, then they can't use it for anywhere but WDW.  They changed the rules a few years back to make buying directly from Disney more attractive since it is much cheaper to buy resale.

Jacana

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #39 on: April 09, 2015, 06:43:19 AM »
They wouldn't have any reason to lie about it, they were complaining about the restrictions on numerous occasions to different people, and I can't imagine any reason to complain frequently about a lie? Anyway, it was not a resale, it was purchased 10+ years ago directly from WDW vacation club or whoever it is during one of those hard sell presentations on a free trip. Years in between, they can go anywhere in the world, but every other year it can only be used at WDW. If they have changed the rules, either my friends were not notified or the new rules were only applied to new timeshare purchases as crispy suggests.

Elderwood17

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #40 on: April 09, 2015, 08:17:12 AM »
We tried scamming the timeshare industry for free stays a couple times but the last time our "90 minute presentation" took over three hours and I got so frustrated I decided never again.  The sales person didn't know what he was talking about, didn't seem to understand the word "no", and kept making us wait until his supervisor was free to get us our freebies.  The worst was each time they would close a sale they would have the "lucky couple" ring a bell and pose for some cheesy pictures while everyone was supposed to clap and act excited for them.  Still makes my skin crawl thinking about it.

mtn

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #41 on: April 09, 2015, 08:26:19 AM »
So on the time-share scamming thing, if it is supposed to be a 90 minute presentation, what is stopping you from walking out at the 100 minute mark (I'll give them 10 minutes overtime)? Are you contractually obligated to stay until they're done talking or what?

pagoconcheques

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #42 on: April 09, 2015, 08:44:18 AM »
they have multiple locations you can stay in.
The problem with these (I'm thinking of Marriott's 'cause be borrowed from a relative a couple of times), is that the locations usually suck.  So if you fly to a vacation destination that is a city you end up having to rent a car instead of having the walkability you get by renting in the center through airbnb, VRBO, or whatever. 

boarder42

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #43 on: April 09, 2015, 09:19:41 AM »
My wife hates the presentations or we would do it more frequently for free/cheap stays. 

But on the story of a messed up visit.  We were staying free in Vegas at a Hilton Grand Vacations property.  Went to the time share presentation.  My wife had just split her head open in a pretty horrifying wakeboard accident and still had stiches. 

Towards the end of the 90 min required time i say alright lets wrap this up we're out of here.  So the bring in this other guy to close and i tell him we arent interested and their time is up.. He proceeds to turn to my wife and insinuate that i beat her by asking her "how did that really happen"  ... Just real class acts

partgypsy

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #44 on: April 09, 2015, 09:38:43 AM »
My wife hates the presentations or we would do it more frequently for free/cheap stays. 

But on the story of a messed up visit.  We were staying free in Vegas at a Hilton Grand Vacations property.  Went to the time share presentation.  My wife had just split her head open in a pretty horrifying wakeboard accident and still had stiches. 

Towards the end of the 90 min required time i say alright lets wrap this up we're out of here.  So the bring in this other guy to close and i tell him we arent interested and their time is up.. He proceeds to turn to my wife and insinuate that i beat her by asking her "how did that really happen"  ... Just real class acts

Wow who do they hire for these things? Reminds me of Glengarry Glen Ross

A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2015, 09:40:34 AM by partgypsy »

elaine amj

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #45 on: April 09, 2015, 09:48:50 AM »
Hmm..I've been interested in scamming one of these presentations but those annoying phone calls always sound so fishy I can never bite. There's not very many you can look up and book online (which I prefer). The last time we were in Vegas we had a few hours of spare time so hubby and I stopped at one of those time share booths and let them try to sell us on attending a presentation. Their freebies were so miserable it was laughable and in no way worth our time. We asked if they could give us something better but no-go, so we walked.

mm1970

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #46 on: April 09, 2015, 12:02:07 PM »
We just spent a couple of days at a timeshare resort in Palm Springs. I knew ahead of time, from reading tripadvisor, that they would try to get us to sit through a presentation. 

So we'd just spent 2 days camping in the desert with two boys, were dusty and dirty and had a cold, so we dodged them easily.  But they put a flyer in our room before we checked out.

It was tempting - 3 nights/ 4 days free stay at many places just to sit through a presentation (including the one in Palm Springs with an awesome pool).  But I just couldn't see myself sitting through a presentation like that.

Come back to work and one of my coworkers had already sat through a presentation and got a free stay that he hasn't used, and it includes the resort where we were.  I told him to go!!  Take his kids!  The pool is awesome!

I'd just prefer to rent someone else's timeshare. :)

gt7152b

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #47 on: April 09, 2015, 12:32:09 PM »
Timeshares are funny things. A friend of my wife's family let us use their timeshare in Jamaica for our honeymoon. I thought it was a really nice wedding gift until we arrived and were required to pay $750 on the spot for the all inclusive portion of the resort. Not too terrible for a week stay, food, and alcohol in Jamaica but a little heads up about that would have been nice.

We got suckered into one when we were a young married couple and didn't know much about the sales pitch. I started to feel sick about it the next day when I did a little research. Thankfully there was a 24 hour return period so I promptly drove back to their office and got the contract canceled. The main thing I noticed was that resales were a fraction of what we had paid and the scheduling of places other than your home resort was very restrictive.

We've taken our vengeance out on three different free vacations that required a sales pitch for a timeshare. I always negotiate with the initial cold caller to get the maximum number of days or sometimes you have to get them to waive a fee that they try to charge for staying at the resort. We enjoy our time there, sit through the hour or two, politely decline several times, and have to deal with some very disappointed faces. It's funny how sad the salespeople get when they realize they can't turn the screws on you. It's like we've insulted their momma and their granny at the same time. I even had one girl tell me that I must be bad at math if I don't see how great a deal this is.

cavewoman

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #48 on: April 09, 2015, 01:14:58 PM »
These stories are pretty interesting! I've only heard then from people who can't actually say no. They tried fiscal but end up buying. Or maybe that's just from sitcoms.

I've never tried it but I would! Last year we priceline negotiated a night in Tahoe on a roadtrip. They were very confused at the desk because they were a timeshare. We got some free info about seeing salmon spawning but just walked away (with a polite smile)  when they tried to get us to do a presentation. We'd already paid a wonderfully low price on 35 or something for the night, definitely worth my morning!

eyePod

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Re: My parents, ladies and gentlemen...
« Reply #49 on: April 09, 2015, 01:30:19 PM »
They just bought their second timeshare.  My dad tried to explain to me how they'll rent out their second one to pay for staying in their first one, but we all know that's not going to happen.  *sigh* At least I'll have a place to stay if I ever go to Orlando.

We go with my in-laws every few years. We love it. Granted, I don't have to pay for it! He also bought it in the 80's and has never upgraded. He just goes every other year and he enjoys it. I'm not going to complain about it. He also retired at 55 and has paid off apartments that bring in rental income, so I guess I can't complain about his methods.