Bill
Buyers need to understand what they're buying, the guide's job is simply to sell.
Our very first trip to Disney, we rented points from my GF and stayed at AKL Jambo House. We loved it, but after doing lots and lots and lots of research we decided to buy resale at SSR for the lower cost and the lower maintenance fees. We have yet to stay at SSR, we have stayed at BLT last October and we will be staying at Poly this October.
Anyone that accepts a salesperson's word at face value with no other input is asking for trouble. Even the best and most honest salesperson isn't going to know your situation well enough to truly help one make the best decision and that's not their job, it's to sell plain and simple. To answer your question, you educated yourself which is far easier to do today than at any other time in history and you read the legal paperwork with a critical eye during the cancelation period. For the car you get the records and car fax or similar. In your exact example they'd likely have to disclose it because you couldn't get a clear title in many situations. Think of someone who bought a timeshare for $20K that was literally worth pennies on the open market, it happens every day. My view is that anyone who can't hold their nose related to the timeshares industry and sales shouldn't own a timeshare of any type.
You would have to prove any dishonesty in a legal sense and that such dishonesty affected your decision and purchase. This really is an ultimate impossibility when it comes to timeshares unless one can go to the trouble of a class action and pool enough into to be convincing until itself, there's nothing with DVC to suggest that as a reasonable approach. Ultimately this is the way it is and neither you nor I will change it. IF that's enough of an issue for you, not participating is likely your best option. DVC is about as mild mannered as it gets when it comes to timeshares sales. My suggestion is the next time you're in an area where there's a westgate resort, do their sales presentation or even Wyndham's. Historically the top timeshares sales people (general terms) are simply legal con men, often with salaries well above 6 figures.
Someone mentioned the DVC tour's ice cream parlor ending above. That's so warm and fuzzy compared to the ending of most time share presentations. I was basically called stupid for not recognizing what a great deal a certain timeshare would be. Now for me, that ended it right there--once the line to abuse was crossed, that salesman was getting nowhere with me. It must work, though, or they wouldn't do it. They wanted $15K but it's worth only a few thousand resale.
I've seen directly and many reports of some abusive and demeaning actions by sales staff at a number of resorts and systems. There is a theme to the point where I've actually done significant and direct investigation with some very high level and successful staff with at least 3 companies (all non DVC). This type of behavior is so common that I was convinced there had to be a method behind it but I couldn't come up with one. At the end of the day no one has ever hinted that they thought or knew it was a sales tactic. The 2 answers I've gotten were just they didn't know or the more believable one, Bully kids trapped in adult bodies. My Son in Law asked one in HI why he should buy when he could mooch off the FIL, end of discussion. He tried the same technique in Nashville and the salesperson told him he should buy in case he ever got divorced. I know of far worse things such as in MX where one might be driven hours from the resort and effectively be held hostage or worse, physically threatened. I've taken to getting the promised length of the tour in writing and starting the clock at the time of the appt even if they are late (assuming I was on time or early (early is on time in my book)). I did apparently get one guy fired a few yrs ago.
Maybe I'm not understanding what you are saying. I read several things from you suggesting that one was OK relying on the sales person only and holding that salesperson to an unrealistic standard. The OP was simply wrong in their assessment of the situation. I think we all can sympathize when one doesn't get something they wanted but that's different than someone else being at fault.
