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Be prepared for them to get fairly nasty with you when you say "NO"! Even if you tell them going in that you aren't going to buy anything, they still have to spend their time giving you the spiel--and they WILL do almost anything to make you say yes!
Just be ready for it!
Glad that you are a cheapskate. The question is how strong is your armour? :-) We own a timeshare. No regrets to speak of except one -- the non-stop sales pitches. My husband almost had to call 911 the last time we went to our timeshare because even owners have to endure a sales pitch every time we go on vacation. 90 minutes? Only if you are lucky.
The $400 may be the best deal or worst of your life. Stronger people than you have succumbed to the cleaver sales people.
what my friend does is tell them she wants to take the paperwork to her lawyer.... they won;t let her... and she travels all over with these free trips!
Quote:
Originally Posted by missnew2nc
Ok I have been receiving calls lately for a Disney vacation that I've been wanting to do with my family for a couple of years now.
TODAY THEY FINALLY GOT ME TO SPEND $$$$$$$$$
This morning I spent almost $400 and received 5 trips ranging from Disney (the family) to Vegas (my husband and I). We also have some trip to St. Louis, Myrtle Beach, etc.....The only thing I have to do is pay for plane tickets. NOT A BAD DEAL.
(Let me add that they have offered me condo's with full kitchens at most of my destinations) ADDED BONUS
I'm starting to get scared and or have COLD feet. The deal seems too good to be true. I am aware that I have to listen to the SALES speech for 90 minutes or MORE, but am I going to leave these trips exhausted from the experience?
One of the biggest problems we found with time shares is trying to get rid of them when you want to sell. You usually lose money. The market for them is weak. So many people want to get out of them. That should tell you something. Also you sometimes have problems with the dates you want to go. Ocassionally 2 parties are booked at the same time. And you'll find many people wanting to do date trades which may be inconvenient to you.
For most people who don't want to lose $20,000 or more it is wiser to make your own reservations at a hotel/motel where you want to go at the time you desire to go. This way you can vary your destinations.
Please don't feel sorry for the salespeople cuz they have familes to feed. They make up to 50% commission on your sale. They are doing good with the amount of pressure they put on naive customers.
They should not get nasty when you say no and if they do be sure to get in touch with the in charge people. We went through all these things several years before buying. My husband read the one thing they cannot argue with as a reason for not buying is that you cannot afford it. To insist that you buy after you tell them that makes them look irresponsible.
We have a deed that we can pass down to our children. The fees are about the same that a hotel would cost, but we get to stay in condos after the week was paid for, at about what we would normally pay for a hotel. I now feel confined if I have to stay in a hotel on the way to the condos.
We have never purchased a time share so to speak but we are part of the Disney Vacation Club. It is kind of like a time share but no black out dates and no set weeks to travel or location for that matter. It is a very flexible plan that has worked out great for us. We took that route because we have young children but we have stayed at places like the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in DC using the DVC. We go to Orlando once a year and stay on the grounds but rarely go the the Disney Parks, we go to Hilton Head every year and love it! We are planning a trip to the Loewe's Regency Hotel in NY next year. It worked out well but every one we saw purchase a time share, usually, have been on the short end of the stick. To each his/her own, but I would not purchase a time share based on the restrictions.
I'm a CPA. Never buy a timeshare during one of these presentation. 99% of them of are terrible deals. You will be told of very exaggerated rental and exchange possibilities and offered a once in a lifetime deal using really fuzzy math.
I think they typically put you up in a 2 star hotel, so when you look at the 2BR unit with a full kitchen you are amazed. The 90 minute tour usually turns out to be a 2 to 3 hour (sometimes as long as a 5 hour tour) of high pressure, very slick sales routine that have seemingly plausible answers to any of your concerns (too expensive, finance with us, only $100 per month, you can spend $100 per month for your children right?; no mention of balloon payment or 20% APR).
Typically a $20,000 timeshare will sell for $2,000 or less on ebay. Even very high quality Westin, Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton timeshares can be bought anywhere from 25 to 75% off tour prices by resale from a broker, ebay, or classified ads.
Since you are locked in a timeshare tour, I would follow the advice of the folks at www.tug2.net 1) Minimal small talk, 2) Do not ask any questions (this prolongs the tour and makes it seem like you are interested), 3) After 90 minutes, claim you need to go to make an appointment and that you aren't interested, 4) After they bring in the closers and rapidly drop the price, pull out copies of resale prices of the resort from ebay, tug2.net, redweek.com, and myresortnetwork.com, noting the price disparity.
They will usually sign you off so you don't get charged for your free gift or discounted hotel.
I found the Disney Vacation Club to be a great value for our family.
We were able to take 3 or 4 vacations per year to places like NYC, London, England, dude ranch, Grand Cayman and of course, Disney too. We went on about 5 or 6 cruises (not just Disney Cruise) for only a $75 fee.
The sales information meeting was not high pressure at all. They told us about the program and never asked us to buy at all. We ended up buying about a month afterward and during that time we were never contacted to purchase.
After about 10 years of ownership, our lives and needs changed so we sold our DVC membership for more than we paid for it. All in all, for us it was a great value.
I found the Disney Vacation Club to be a great value for our family.
We were able to take 3 or 4 vacations per year to places like NYC, London, England, dude ranch, Grand Cayman and of course, Disney too. We went on about 5 or 6 cruises (not just Disney Cruise) for only a $75 fee.
The sales information meeting was not high pressure at all. They told us about the program and never asked us to buy at all. We ended up buying about a month afterward and during that time we were never contacted to purchase.
After about 10 years of ownership, our lives and needs changed so we sold our DVC membership for more than we paid for it. All in all, for us it was a great value.
This is some good information, I am going to look in to the DVC membership it sounds like a great deal. Thanks for posting the info.
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