Is it worth seeing a timeshare presentation to save a few bucks?

[innoculation]

We saw a comercial offering great 3 and 4 night deals in Orlando boasting "Disney" packages. After looking into all the details, you get a great hotel rate and 2 adult tickets to WDW, US, IOA, or SeaWorld IF you sit through a 120 minute timeshare presentation. If you are willing to spend 2 hours of you vacation, is it worth it????

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Just BE CAREFULL. Every single person that I know that has gone to do one of these packages has ended up buying into them. One friend absolutly could not afford to do this and felt so pressured into it that they agreed with the intention of stoping the deal within the three days allowed. They were like one hour late and are now stuck and can not pay for it. i hear they are very high pressure!!


Jordan's mom

 

[Nebsky]

Man, its the biggest game in the world...

this is a little long...but funny...

We did it one time and never again...well, if its DVC, I would do it again

Wife son and I are there, cant remember the place...it was 2002. They were doing a deal...5 days 4 nights for 150 pp. This got us a hotel (Travellodge Maingate East----NASTY) plus 3 days admission to WDW attractions....Figured no big deal, I can handle it...1 week prior to arrival they call to see if we would like to upgrade and stay on the property we will be visiting for 30.00 extra a night....said no...I asked when our meeting would be..They say, Tuesday morning at 8am. I say, how bout we come in on Monday afternoon. Nope..cant do it...has to be morning..

We fly in on Monday, get car and zip to Cocoa Beach...
Tuesday we have to go the timeshare spiel...Starts at 8am...
We get there......Give us a free breakfast...They get us a salesman to show us around. Very pretty place..Salesman is so slick he drips and leaves puddles of water around.
He is acting like he is our best friend. Tells us he and his fiance will be moving in there in a month and they cant wait...can you say liar.....Half way through his pitch, I say...Cut to the chase...How much do you want for this....He wouldnt tell me.

After 1.5 hrs we are back in the office talking numbers and how often we vacation etc. Shows us how we can "save" money by doing this, investing in this property, and using it whenever we want. I say, well, what if I want to go skiing in Colorado..He says..thats the great thing about this...we have places all over the world...

Now he tells us he wants to have us fill out paperwork...I said nope..Not gonna do it. Too much money..Wants us to pay close to $18000 for this little jewel...He gets bent...says, its really not...I say well, I dont do anything without talking to my dad first. He says "who is your dad". I lie and say he is regional VP for Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter in Chicago...Then our smart sales guy says...well, lets get him on the phone. I can get him to understand the numbers so you willl see its a great deal....I say, sorry, he is on Vacation in Austrailia and cant be reached as he is in the outback camping. (dads a big spender and likes the outdoors...ha ha ha). To lead him on some more, I ask him if I can arrange my own financing...He says nope...Has to be inhouse..Intrest rate was close to 16%...I laughed at him..He tells me that we should buy it, but then refinance with someone else.

Bout this time, my son has to use the potty...I take him because I need a break. As soon as I walk away, he is latched onto my wife saying, how can you live like that. You do everything as his dad tells you..blah blah blah....Wife says, well, he has saved us ALOT of money and has helped us get cars, houses, boats (dont have a boat) CD's-tbills, etc and we always have extra money.. He is floored...I could have kissed her right there...She is a great compliment to me........If your reading this hon....Love ya!!!

Ok, Im back...We tell him again..we do not want the property and are ready to go....He says, ok reluctantly...but we need to talk to his manager....

Manager comes over...Smells like a brewery and sounds like she is a garbage disposal full of coffee grinds..She says, how much would it take to get us to buy it...I said nothing, because as beautiful as it is, Im not buying anything. She then tells me, well tell you what. Since your interested and agree its nice, why dont you give us 700.00 today, this will allow you to come back down here and stay here, then after you have stayed here and decide to buy, that money can be deducted out of the final payment.

I said, you want me to empty my checkbook and give you 700? Do you not understand that this is only the second day of our Vacation...My son might get hungry.....She got hot and said fine...theres the exit...I said, thanks, can we get our passes now...Believe it or not, we got them, but total time spent was close to 4 hours....

IMHO, it is not worth the hassle. I will never do it again. Although if your looking for fun and giggles, it can be entertaining to "gee whiz" and be amazed at the place, then shoot the sales people down in flames...THe look on thier faces is priceless...

If you decide to do it..STICK TO YOUR GUNS. DONT LET UP. THEY CAN SMELL UNDECIDEDNESS and will pounce on you

Sorry for a long post....

 

[pilgrimage]

I recently did a Marriott pitch in Orlando. Less pressured than the last one for Fairfield 10 years ago, but still somewhat rude. Florida law says it must end in 90 minutes. At the 2 hour mark I said we 're not interested. Please sign our document and let us leave. The salesman said "well 90minutes doesn't include your time to eat." (They had bagels and muffins upon arrival>)

I will never do one again. The transition from interested in client as person to despicable was instantaneous. Disgusting experience.

 

[jgates]

If I remember correctly, they cannot make you stay over ?2 hours by Florida law. I remember someone listing the law at one time and you could 'throw that in their face' and get out of there if they were trying to drag it out.

 

[Puffy2]

No it's not worth it.

 

[4disneyfans]

We too have done time share and I am here to tell you..NO WAY WAS IT WORTH IT!!!...Recently there was a story on the news about the largest house in the United States is being built by the man who started the timeshare industry here. Can't remember if it is a 80 million dollar house being built or if it is 80 thousand sq. feet...anyway ...when he was asked by the reporter why they would want to build a house so large the comment was "because I can". But it was also reported how "generous" this family is. No wonder they can "give" passes away! Mind you , I do not know anything about this family but do know that our "timeshare" sales exp. was AWFUL !!!!

 

[Tigger22]

Last year we did one for Hilton Vacations - and they promised me no pressure....yeah, right! That was a big fat lie! It was probably less pressure than the only other one I've been to, but when the saleman brought over the "financial guy" - who insulted my intelligence with a remark about how because I was financially minded, I SHOULD see the value of what they were offering me - DH knew I was ready to blow!

We had stayed at AKL, and then left for our 3 nights at the Hilton Vac Club, and I hated leaving AKL. Should have never left!

Just my opinion,

Tigger22

 

[mixsap]

I never went to one of these time share promo's and the above stories reaffirmed my belief to never go. It simply isn't worth the hassle.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I agree that the sales staff can get Dr. Jekyll on you real Quick!

No it is not worth it PERIOD! (My opinion)

Is it worth the rest of your vacation to be in a funk, because they insulted you, or made you feel small? Is it worth being short with your kids because you are wrought with disbelief in how they could lie to you with a straight face.

Like they say nothing in life is free and once they know you are not buying, they could care less about your feelings, and I think they intentionally treat you like c$%&p so you won't enjoy the free stuff they have to give you.

We purchased DVC last fall, and I did not set foot in the sales office, until I was 95% sure I was interested in buying. Even after several reported how low pressure DVC is I just couldn't do it. I purchased DVC over the phone.

P.S. If that doesn't sway you, then consider all the costs involved in your vacation i.e. transportation, food, lodging, vacation time from work and you will see that vacation time is not "FREE" time and is more valuable than working hours.

 

[DisneyMomOK]

11111111111

 

[SavingsFan]

Sorry all....I just have to disagree with most of what is said here. Maybe because I have done so many presentations, but here is what happened at my last one:

I was stopped on the Las Vegas strip by a man trying to get me to do a presentation for a $100. I didn't feel like doing it that day and said, "But you would need me to have my husband here and he is in another state." The poor guy was getting paid for every person he brought in and told me it would be no problem and marked a check next to the single box on the paper. I took off my ring and he filled out the paperwork telling me how much I make a year and then asking me for a 'name of my business'. He took me across the street and I checked in.

The sales person greeted me within about eight minutes. I greeted him with my regular time share speil. "Hi, I am Christina and I am not at all new at this. In fact, this is either my 10th or 11th time share presentation." He seems amazed and asks why I do it. I reply for whatever they are offering at the time. I then say I am sorry I will have to waste his time and I know I can not get the gift unless I go through the whole 90 minutes. (a few have given up at this point and given me my gift!) I then go on to prove I know all about this stuff and am not bluffing. I tell him how he will take me on a tour of the apartment and how they will have fresh baked cookies made. I explain how this is due to a study that was made and that you are more likely to sell a time share/house/apartment if there is a smell of fresh baked cookies. I explain I know all about the book he will drag out and with all teh vacation spots you can trade your points for. I say I also know that, at the end, when I say no, he will be forced to go to his manager and she will come over and try to give me some unbelieveable deal that I will still say no to and then I will finally be able to collect my gift.

The sales person said he was sorry and said he was obligated to be wiht me for 90 minutes. We went to the office where everyone sits down and eats while going over all the details. He talked to me about my fake business. (I knew it was fake, he did not) We talked about how cheap I was and how little I spent on groceries last year due to couponing. His wife likes coupons and so I wrote out a few sites for him and gave him some tips. He asked if I wanted to go up and get seconds for lunch. He then went over the actual pricing details saying he had to do this and his manager might ask me if he told me the prices, etc....That took MAYBE five minutes. Then he stood up and got his manager. She came over and asked if I wanted a better deal and wether I understood everything. I told her what a great salesman she had and how wonderful he had been. He drove me back to the area where I got my gift and I left.

OK, it did take 1 1/2 hours, but I can not make that on my own in that amount of time. It gave me some extra play money and I was happy.

I think you just need to go in pretending like you have done these time shares a million times and you know every single detail about them. I think they leave you alone and know they are already defeated. That has been my experience.

Christina

 

[CheapMom]

Originally posted by DisneyMomOK


Of course, this was Missouri, too. Not Florida. In FL, I probably would not do it, just because your vacation time is so precious.

Sharon

We have done the timeshare thing a few times in Virginia. We had to be very forceful about the presentations not going over 90 minutes but otherwise it was fine. However I would never spend the time during my Florida vacation to do this. We go to WDW every 3 or 4 years and time is too precious.
The idea of being obligated to do something that you are dreading is the complete opposite of VACATION.

 

[djm99]

Originally posted by jgates
If I remember correctly, they cannot make you stay over ?2 hours by Florida law. I remember someone listing the law at one time and you could 'throw that in their face' and get out of there if they were trying to drag it out.

Do you think you can find that law? It would sure help sooooo many of us out.

And IMO it doesn't ruin you vacation if you know what you are up against. You've read clearly from the boards that 9 chances out of 10 its gonna be a hard sell, so be prepared. Some friends of ours last year went to 2 presentations during our week long stay. They thought it was "fun" (or funny) - getting something for a little of nothing - if time is nothing. They were VERY RUDE to the presenters and trust me I think they were well in their own right considering if they were not not rude to them the presenter would have NO PROBLEM being rude to them.

When my DH and I did our last presentation, we told them we would buy and sign papers right now under one condition - that we don't have to put down a quarter, nickle or a dime. We told them every Credit Card we had was maxed - and we were short on cash. Of course we were told that that couldn't happen, so we were in and out in 90 minutes (and the fact that my DD was restless and me falling asleep on the table - my head on the table- helped too!!!)

Shoot, I'd go so far as to bring a newspaper or magazine and totally ignore them. If you think about - say you go to a presentation and stay 2 full hours (this includes the presentation and standing inline to get your "gift".) If you get 2 free disney/universal/sea world, etc. tickets you are saving about $110. Thats $55 an hour and a full day of fun!!!! Now, is it worth $55 an hour while on vacation? That's the question. Every one may have their own answer, but I'd do again. Especially for those new 2 day 1 park universal studio/IOA tickets. But I wish I could find a place locally that I can do the presentation at my own time instead of vacation time.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

So far I've been to one - and only one - timeshare presentation. In my particular case we found what received worth the time lost from our vacation. As a matter of fact, the gift was what helped to truly MAKE our vacation !

Back in late august or september of '03 I was cruising the boards one evening, and someone mentioned Marriott timeshares. I hit their site, just to look at their properties and locations. While on their site, I found a promo they were running that fit our future plans quite well - 5 days / 4 nights at Grand Vista (studio accommodations) and two Discovery Cove Dolphin Swim tickets. We spent an additional $199 to upgrade to a 2-br. (at Cypress Harbour) bringing the total to $798.

Zoom forward to next June .... Cypress Harbour and Grand Vista are both verryy nice, Discovery Cove was fantastic, and I found the presentation to be very professional. No underhanded tactics, and we stayed longer than the 1.5 hours because of me, not them. MArriott has an excellent product, with good locations. However, If we ever do buy Marriott in the furure, we would probably by resale and somewhere else besides Orlando - we have DVC for that.

All in all, our one experience was very positive.

 

[tink2dw]

We were at WDW but wanted to go to UA/IOA, too. But didn't have all the cash needed for tickets. So we did a timeshare presentation late in the afternoon to get the tickets but as they always come in two's we needed one for our Dd, 14 considered an adult, so we sit thru the presentation,and the manager,to get to the tickets. Dh and I get the Free ones,but they said we could pay $50. for Dd's ticket so I gave the salesman the money. Thank goodness this huge room was empty. He comes back and says he can't find the money! Did I give it to him?? Of course,we say yes. And he leaves. But then he's back again saying he doesn't have the $50. I told he Will pay for the ticket out of his own pocket then. he says he must have lost it. At that I become livid as does my out spoken Dd. We tell him he isn't going to ruin our trip because we can't all go to the park. He leaves. He comes back the ticket saying he found where he had dropped the money!!

We won't have our vacations ruined by those kind of tactics. I would rather save forever than go to a timeshare presentation,again!!!!!

 

[Mike Jones]

...I wouldn't willingly sit next to a moron for 1 - 2 hours at any time, and certainly not while 3000 miles away at wdw on vacation. Life is short and I already have to do things that I'd prefer not to (like go to work everyday!). Save up the money and avoid the temptation. If you can't afford something, then go without...I'd rather sit for free at DTD or Celebration for a few hours than risk my sanity for another park fix. You could have a coronary or something during the presentation - what a way to spend your last hours!

Mike

 

[hjones0804]

I heard somewhere that since timeshares were illegal in Illinois(again, I HEARD...), that once you check into a place, you could then say "I'm from Illinois," before they schedule your presentation time, and they wouldn't make you sit through the presentation. They'd be mad, but wouldn't make you do it...

Anybody know if there is any validity to this?

 

[Lewisc]

They have a list of requirements (income, both spouses must attend). If timeshares were illegal in a particular state than I'm sure residents of that state would be excluded from the promotion.

If you're willing to give up at leat 2 hours (90 minutes plus travel plus extras) for a meal and approximately $100 worth of tikcets than do it.

Originally posted by hjones0804
I heard somewhere that since timeshares were illegal in Illinois(again, I HEARD...), that once you check into a place, you could then say "I'm from Illinois," before they schedule your presentation time, and they wouldn't make you sit through the presentation. They'd be mad, but wouldn't make you do it...

Anybody know if there is any validity to this?

 

[hjones0804]

Originally posted by Lewisc
They have a list of requirements (income, both spouses must attend). If timeshares were illegal in a particular state than I'm sure residents of that state would be excluded from the promotion.

If you're willing to give up at leat 2 hours (90 minutes plus travel plus extras) for a meal and approximately $100 worth of tikcets than do it.

I know about the requirements. As a matter of fact, I've done this many times to get the cheap condo. I don't mind sitting through the presentation - actually it's kind of sport to see how frustrated they get when you say NO from the start. I just thought if you could get out of sitting in the presentation and still be able to get the cheap rate, that would be great.