Have you ever visited a timeshare for tickets?

[dns2202]

My husband had a friend of his tell us to go visit a timeshare for Sea World or Disney tickets. Have you ever done this? Is it legit? Is it worth it?

 

[krdisneybound]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses here.

About 2 years ago we did one of these "tours". They really pressure you into buying into their time share - and it is OK if that is what you want - but it wasn't for us.

It also takes from anywhere from 1-1/2 to 3 hours.

 

[fakereadhed]

We did once. It was OK for us because I can say no. Just save your no until the end or they will spend the entire time trying to turn it into a yes. A time consuming process to say the least.

I was discussing this with someone once, and they said "Oh that's a great deal-we got free tickets 3 times!" and later they admitted they owned 3 timeshares. Very expensive free tickets, don't you think?

Bottom line, if you've never hung up on a telemarketer, or ever bought something from a door to door salesman this is not for you.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We generally feel that our time is worth more than whatever they are giving away. So we avoid them at all costs. Sometime in the future we might try but we don't want to deal with the salesmen pushing stuff on us.

 

[melomouse]

Hang around Orlando long enough and you can get approached by mail, phone or in-person for all sorts of offers.

I did this once as a single mom. A longtime Marriott customer, they offered 3 nights at Residence Inn Seaworld to tour the new Horizons timeshare. The 3 nights - upgraded to a 2 BR at checkin with that huge breakfast buffet for free - was $199 plus we got a free one day park ticket. In my opinion, Marriott has a class operation, and if i could've afforded it - I would've gone for it. The pitch was relatively low pressure and I told the woman right upfront I just wanted to hear the details and take the tour, scheduled right before checkout. Until the last five minutes, when her boss came to sign off and gave me some nasty nonsense it was interesting - not to mention a great deal.My presenter said that they tell their customers that they should ONLY buy Marriott or DVC! I thought that was interesting, too.

It was a short hop to the parks and they stocked my fridge at no charge over the grocery price.We then moved on to 5 wonderful days at WL!!!

They are calling again and I am thinking about it.

That said - there are many horror stories about other complexes and I know many who have been roped in. Though I know many here on the boards own at the various timeshares, most of the corporations are, in my mind, really sleazy.The PP is correct in suggesting that if you don't have good sales resistance - DO NOT DO IT!

Just not "worth"...

melomouse

 

[KristiKelly]

We did once at the beach for cash instead of tickets. It was a rainy day so we figured - why not? By the time we left (almost 3 hours later!!!), they made us feel like scum of the earth, they tried to shame DH into it saying things like "So you're saying your wife & kids aren't worth it?", "if you loved your family you would jump on this oppurtunity", blah, blah, blah... Finally, DH said we don't have the money. They said, "we're down to our lowest pkg., you don't have $6,000 to do this for your kids?" DH said "nope", and they started putting him & his job down. Of course he had the money but not for that crummy timeshare!!! We took the tour for DVC a year later and boy what a difference - No pressure whatsoever - we bought!!!

I personally wouldn't do it.

 

[dns2202]

This is very interesting. My DH is very easy to get telemarketers off the phone. I'm a little more polite, but not by much.

One time he got tired of the told the local paper calling every week asking us if we wanted a subscription. He finally said that they were hurting his feelings because he couldn't read. They've never called back.

 

[rhiannonwales]

another trick they try to use is to "valet" park your car for you - and then you cant get off the resort for like 3 hours because they "can't find your car" or some other nonsense like that. Honestly its not worth it because then you get on all the tlemarketing lists and then you get MORE useless solicitation calls.

 

[MickeyP]

This is very interesting. My DH is very easy to get telemarketers off the phone. I'm a little more polite, but not by much.

One time he got tired of the told the local paper calling every week asking us if we wanted a subscription. He finally said that they were hurting his feelings because he couldn't read. They've never called back.

 

[all4fun]

We've have a few of our own nightmare timeshare salespitch stories to tell as well, so we also avoid them at all costs. Like a pp stated, we feel our time is worth more than whatever they're offering. I just can't recommend it....

 

[Goofyta]

We did it in 99, can't remember the property name. We kept saying no, no, no. At the end, I went to get our tickets and my husband walked by where some of the sales people were smoking. He heard our girl say "she didn't get the sale because she had some cheap-a$$es." What a (fill in the blank) we were pissed.

My advice, RUN!!

 

[AngieWin]

This is very interesting. My DH is very easy to get telemarketers off the phone. I'm a little more polite, but not by much.

One time he got tired of the told the local paper calling every week asking us if we wanted a subscription. He finally said that they were hurting his feelings because he couldn't read. They've never called back.

I tell them my mommy's not home. I'm almost 31!!

 

[runwad]

I tell them my mommy's not home. I'm almost 31!!

I do that too and I'm almost 40!!!!

 

[Noleball]

In the state of Florida, timeshares are reviewed and regulated annually by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Department oversees the books and what is spent so that owners are not getting $crewed by "maintenance fees" and such that come as part of a timeshare. I worked in this department for awhile and have browsed through the books and records of many of these establishments.

That said, if you are seriously considering one of these, definately stay with a name you have heard before. Disney has several of the timeshares as does Marriott, Hilton, and a few of the other big name hotels. These guys do it right and run them correctly without a lot of problems for the owners.

In our office, we all talked about them and most of us agreed we would not buy one to start with since we live in Florida already. But we mostly agreed on a couple of things:

1. If we bought one, it would be either Marriott or Disney for the most part.

2. We would try to buy one with points rather than a set room or unit so that we could go to other locations and not be restricted to two weeks in Orlando during the same period every year.

3. If you are seriously considering one of these, do not buy them "new" directy from the broker. There are a number of places online that sell "second-hand" timeshares. Keep in mind that second-hand simply means that somebody does not want to pay the rest of their $5k or whatever and they want out... usually for what is owed. If you are both paying for a week in the same room, why pay the full price in the office when you can buy one from somebody else and have it reassigned. Check some of the timeshare brokers online and even call the office of the complex to find out if anyone is trying to dump their ownership bacause it can save a fortune.

Sorry about the rambling but thought I would share.....

 

[rt2dz]

Never done it as an adult. I'm not going to buy a timeshare, so I wouldn't waste someone else's time or, more importantly, my time.

My parents did it when we were teenagers. They (the timeshare people) locked us kids in their "playroom" while they kept my parents busy for 3 hours. It has a nightmare for my parents, and a bigger one for us. But that was years ago.

I've known others who have done it and they say it is so high pressure. And when you don't buy, they get absolutely beyond rude. Most everyone I know who has done it says it eats 2-4 hours of their day and you get the cheapest ticket available. Most won't do it a second time.

 

[dns2202]

NoleBall - I just realized that we are both from Tallahassee! Its a small world huh?

Sarah

 

[all4fun]

On our first trip to WDW we stayed in a Marriott resort and it was nice. It was my parents time share they had gifted us a week of time for Christmas and we chose to go to WDW. While we were there they gave us a free breakfast where we got a very low-key sales pitch. It wasn't bad.

Since that time we went through a miriad of other timeshare sales pitches, mostly ones we were roped into via "free time" we were given at a resort for seeing the time share. On one of these trips we decided to check out DVC. The Disney approach was no freebies given, but also, no pressure. We bought our first contract on the spot because we liked what we saw so much. Disney does offer a few incentives so sometimes it's worth considering. They offered us a good interest rate and we "sold" half of our first years points back to lower our total cost. (I think they still offer this). We bought our second DVC contract via resale and saved $$ (plus we gained some banked points from the previous owners previous year they hadn't used up). We also have a local timeshare we belong to that we bought through a resaler and saved $$. I would agree resale is the way to go for the most part, although with Disney it's worth considering both, especially since generally, their salespeople are pretty low pressure to talk to. But if vacations aren't something you want to "invest" in (meaning an investment in yourself, I don't look at this as a way to make money down the road) then timeshares prbly aren't what you want to put your money into. Just a few thoughts...