[ScoopLV]

Or, people could just skip the presentation entirely and have an extra morning or afternoon to enjoy their vacation. You know, instead of sitting in front of a parade of salesmen using every closing technique they know.

[BBMW]

^
You gotta pay for the trip somehow.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by logline

Oh yes they are.

Every. Single. One.

Every timeshare has a better, cheaper, more flexible or more desirable counterpart that you could buy without a high pressure sales pitch... and without paying a middle man. All timeshares are evil.

sorry, we had one and our kids have 3 of them. We use them to their full advantage and pray tell where are you going to buy somehing similar. Tell us so we can get in on the secret>...We did not buy ours with the intention of making money but for the convenience. They are not meant to be an investment but that does not mean they are all bad. ours was Hilton Grand Vacations and was the point system so we could have 1 week in a 2 bedroom or 2 weeks in a one bedroom.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by BBMW

You can buy one on the secondary market at a fraction of the price.

That I completely agree with you on, but it is still a time a share and logline said all time shares are bad. I happen to think differently. Yes, buy on the second market it the way to go.

[LVPoker1]

A friend of mine fell for one of these in a casino downtown. They did not tell them what type of presentation they were going to and I think they were too noob to know it was for sure a timeshare presentation. It was held offsite and the sales group provided transportation. After they refused the purchase, they were told that they would have to find their own transportation back downtown.

I would not consider any of these to be legit operations, and they are very high pressure. I'm not sure dealing with hours of this crap would be worth a few nights free. I would feel quite certain Riviera has nothing to do with this. There is zero motivation for them to steer potential hotel guests to a timeshare. This company bought a block of rooms, certainly the lowest end, and are trying to monetize it.

Plaza just had a major debacle with a timeshare company buying bulk rooms and giving away an offer that was too good to be true. Check it out:

Livingsocial Exotic Escapes Plaza deal is a scam!! - Vegas Message Board

Be careful with these people. Why are they going to give you a free trip? If it sounds too good to be true...

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by nmnita

sorry, we had one and our kids have 3 of them. We use them to their full advantage and pray tell where are you going to buy somehing similar. Tell us so we can get in on the secret>...We did not buy ours with the intention of making money but for the convenience. They are not meant to be an investment but that does not mean they are all bad. ours was Hilton Grand Vacations and was the point system so we could have 1 week in a 2 bedroom or 2 weeks in a one bedroom.

Nita

nmnita, I agree with you. Timeshares are wonderful if you take regular vacations and want nicer accommodations than the standard "hotel room". Also, if you vacation with another couple (or other adult family members) you cannot beat the privacy and comfort factor.

Unfortunately, like *every* facet of business, there are people who are willing to sell you things and not tell you all the details. There are annual maintenance fees which, like everything else, increase over time. Vacation condos do not get painted and repaired and maintained by themselves. There are also fees involved when you exchange for other locations. If you are not aware and not prepared for this, it might come as an unpleasant surprise. But it is up to the salesman to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.

20yrsinBRanson

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

But it is up to the salesman to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.

And the salesman ISN'T going to tell the customer that he or she can buy the same thing on the resale market for pennies on the dollar. Not going to happen.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

nmnita, I agree with you. Timeshares are wonderful if you take regular vacations and want nicer accommodations than the standard "hotel room". Also, if you vacation with another couple (or other adult family members) you cannot beat the privacy and comfort factor.

Unfortunately, like *every* facet of business, there are people who are willing to sell you things and not tell you all the details. There are annual maintenance fees which, like everything else, increase over time. Vacation condos do not get painted and repaired and maintained by themselves. There are also fees involved when you exchange for other locations. If you are not aware and not prepared for this, it might come as an unpleasant surprise. But it is up to the salesman to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.

20yrsinBRanson

Good post, but my experience is slightly different. There are no extra fees for me using a different Wyndham property than my home base. The advantage to the home base owner is that they are given earliest choice before the non-base owner. Otherwise, all my points go into one bucket to use whenever and wherever within the Wyndham system.

While it is true that maintenance fees will probably increase over time...so will the price of nightly hotel rentals. In my 2 years thus far, my maintenance fee actually went down a few bucks (like $7)...but in a direction to prove that they don't always rise.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

nmnita, I agree with you. Timeshares are wonderful if you take regular vacations and want nicer accommodations than the standard "hotel room". Also, if you vacation with another couple (or other adult family members) you cannot beat the privacy and comfort factor.

Unfortunately, like *every* facet of business, there are people who are willing to sell you things and not tell you all the details. There are annual maintenance fees which, like everything else, increase over time. Vacation condos do not get painted and repaired and maintained by themselves. There are also fees involved when you exchange for other locations. If you are not aware and not prepared for this, it might come as an unpleasant surprise. But it is up to the salesman to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.

20yrsinBRanson

you are completely right on all accounts. The maintainance fees are what can kill you if you are not prepared for them. Even then, if you think about how much it would cost to stay in a hotel room for the same period of time witthout the conveniences you get from a time share they are good deals. Yes, we always go with another couple. We like to cook some of our meals on the property, we love the privacy and activites. It is simply a matter of how people prefer to vacation.

Nita

[L.V. SnowBird]

Thanks all for the great responses to this post.

Its incredible what a great resource this site has been for us in teaching us the in and outs of Las Vegas. Regarding the Riviera sales presentation, it sounds like its the Exotic Escapes Plaza deal scam which LVPOKER1 mentioned.

Needless to say, we won't be attending this presentation. We have attended other time share presentations and so far have left unscathed.