Summer Bay Timeshare Presentation...was I scammed?

[kristi626]

Hi there. I am new to this board and have a question. I'm not sure if I've been scammed or if this is ligit, I hope someone can help.

Last April a telemarketer type person called and talked me into buying two disney tickets for a total of $158 and that would include 4 days/3 nights in Orlando, 3 nights/2 days at a beach and 2 days/1 night on a cruise. The only thing we have to do is listen to the time share speech one day.

So, has anyone done this? Was I a total dork for falling for it??
We have 12 mos to book the vacation. I just went to the summer bay resorts web site and all my info is there. DH thinks it's too good to be true. Not sure if I should just cut my losses and stay on site, or if we should go for this?

Thanks for any help!!!
Kristi

 

[MiaSRN62]

Kristi,
I'm not expert on this, but I know alot of people do do timeshare sales presentations in exchange for tickets/money/inexpensive accomodations. I have done timeshare presentations for tickets/money in the past at the Sheraton Vistana resort. Usually, these sales pitches are very high pressure. The last one I attended was so stressful and stretched past 90 min----well into 2- 2 1/2 hours that I vowed to never do one again. But I did get the money/tickets as promised. But I had to question myself if it was worth what we went through (rudeness, high stress, loss vacation time).
In '99, there was a promotion going on at my local grocery store. If you purchased up to $200 worth of food, you were eligible to stay at either the Holiday Inn Maingate West (Orlando) or the Ramada nearby or a hotel in Las Vegas. It was a voucher my sil and I bought for $99 each that gave each of us 3 nights at the Holiday Inn MG West. We purchased these vouchers directly from our grocery store and we called and were confirmed at the Holiday Inn for April. When we got to the Holiday Inn around 8 pm, they told us we had to pick up vouchers at Summer Bay ? They gave us directions and off we went. When we arrived, there was noone at the desk we were supposed to get the vouchers at. Someone there told us to return the next day. Holiday Inn allowed us to check-in and we proceeded on with our 3 day vacation in WDW. The day we were to check out, went back to Summer Bay to get these so-called vouchers. At this time, we were informed we needed to take a timeshare tour in order to be guarenteed the $99/3 nights at the Holiday Inn !!!! I was shocked because this was the first time anyone had ever said anything about this to us. We were due to leave for home so I told them "no". Holiday Inn charged us full price (which was $99/night). We paid the extra $400 for our "bargain" vacation and I promptly went home and called the Bureau of Consumer Protection, as well as the FL attorney general's office in Tallahassee. Several phone calls/letters back and forth, we received a full refund about 6 weeks later.
So, my advice to you if you want to go ahead with this is :
1) read the fine print. Make sure you're aware of everything that is involved in this promotion and get it in writing.
2) Note names/numbers/contacts of all people you deal with
3) be prepared for possibly a very high pressure/hard sell sales presentation. You may get lucky and have everything fall into place. I only shared my experience with Summer Bay to show anything can happen---things can go wrong, but not necessarily. I have also heard of people who have had good luck doing what you describe in exchange for inexpensive accomodations.
Hopefully you'll get some more advice on this and I wish you a good vacation !

 

[mbb]

Hi there. I am new to this board and have a question. I'm not sure if I've been scammed or if this is ligit, I hope someone can help.

Last April a telemarketer type person called and talked me into buying two disney tickets for a total of $158 and that would include 4 days/3 nights in Orlando, 3 nights/2 days at a beach and 2 days/1 night on a cruise. The only thing we have to do is listen to the time share speech one day.

So, has anyone done this? Was I a total dork for falling for it??
We have 12 mos to book the vacation. I just went to the summer bay resorts web site and all my info is there. DH thinks it's too good to be true. Not sure if I should just cut my losses and stay on site, or if we should go for this?

Thanks for any help!!!
Kristi

First off, Welcome to the Dis!!

I've read of people paying $500 and more for the same thing...Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and a Bahamas cruise.

Scammed?...no But you will have to sit through very high pressure sales tactics to get your vouchers....and for some, that part takes away from all the "good" they feel on vacation.

The other thing that may be of concern to you is that you might not be staying at the actual Summer Bay Resort - even if they said you were...there's a cheapie "Inn at Summer Bay" across the street, that you may end up staying in, and they take your for the tour on the resort property.

Like Mia said, you may be absolutely fine and everything be perfect..if you're prepared for it to be "hassle-y" though, you'll be much better off

I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will chime in with their observations as well

Let us know what you decide

 

[spiceycat]

do you have the name of the business who called you. if you do call the BBB where that business is located.

call your BBB that should be able to help you find the right BBB to call.

I went on one of these things and it was the trip from hell. but you definitely sounds better.

I took the Orlando part first - go to the hotel at 11m - they never heard of me - didn't want to put me in a room. So I called the phone number the agency gave me. they got me a room - not a great room - certainly nothing like what was promised. We went to SW. went to a sales pitch. He realized I was not buying and we got to leave in the 90 minutes.

then I drove us Fort Lauderdale for the that part and the cruise - it was horrible....it was a day cruise - the ship needed work done badly!!!! No air conditioner, no drinks, no ice - it was horrible. I had a book to read - but I really felt for those people who except to be entertained.

then go to Bahamas - to the cheapest hotel I have ever been in my life. It was horrible. They actually claimed to be charging over a $100 a night. No airconditioning. the pool was dirty. the only good thing I found a cat and it let me pet him....the TV has 2 channels.....I didn't take the sales pitch here.

then went back to Fort Laudersale. here I got a really hard sales pitch - they managed to waste 7 hours of my time - 4 hours trying to sell me something I didn't want. I knew it was too far for me to drive so I wasn't buying period. Then because they won't tell me where their sales pitch was. I had to take their transportation. Well guess what since I didn't take their timeshares - we waited and waited and waited - 3 hours....they wouldn't have taken me then but I was so mad I say fine I will call the police about kidnapping.....

very, very rude people - about the same as Westgate....

 

[Chelley00]

You may also get stuck paying port fees. Definately read the fine print.

 

[riu girl]

I agree with the last poster. I almost bought what sounds like the exact same trip (but the price was a little higher) a few years ago but stopped when I was told that the port taxes for a one night cruise was almost $100 Cdn PER PERSON.
Also we would have had to pay for our flight from Toronto as well. So after chunching numbers, it just wasn't feasible.

I agree with the person who mentioned summer bay. I could be wrong but for that amount of money I assume you would be staying at the Inn at Summer Bay, not one of their condo units. Which probably would be fine also.

I have done a ton of time share presentations (in Canada and Mexico) and are finished with them, unless we are truly interested in the property we would be buying into. The last one in Mexico dragged on for almost 5 hours so both DH and I have had enough.

On the other hand we are hoping to go to Orange Lake later this year and may go on one. They sound like lower pressure and I have fallen in love with the Orange Lake web site.

Suzy

 

[kristi626]

Thanks you guys...I had a feeling it would be pretty high pressured. My husband is such a sucker, I'm a little worried about him not being able to say no. But I will definitely hold my ground.

I have read the fine print over and over and it does seem like we would actually be staying at one of their "hotels" not the resort. Plus, there is a port charge for the cruise. We planned on not doing the cruise though..

I don't think we are going to do this. I think I'll suck up the 158 I spent and remind myself to never be such a dummy again.

We were planning on staying on site for a week and wouldn't need a rental, plus we wanted the dining plan, plus park hoppers. When you add it all up, I'm not sure it would even be worth the hassle of doing the timeshare thing.

THanks alot for your input!!
Kristi

 

[MiaSRN62]

I don't think we are going to do this. I think I'll suck up the 158

Bummer about the loss of $, but I think this is a wise decision Kristi ! Welcome to the DIS. Have a great trip