Timeshare Presentations

[Purseval]

Hello
Does anyone know of a good site to find out about tours maybe in your area.
I think I would like to buy a time share at some point maybe an RCI where I can trade for Disney. But until I am ready to buy I would not mind checking some out and getting some free stuff.
Brian

Google "Timeshare Users Group" you will find all the information you need there and even people willing to pay you to take over their timeshares. Just remember that if free was such a bargain they wouldn't be trying to pay you to take it.

You don't really "buy" an RCI. When you buy a timeshare they are part of an exchange system. RCI is the one that lets you trade into DVC.

 

[Purseval]

We often leave feeling badly. We feel that timeshares are a complete rip off (except maybe for Disney's properties)

DVC is the biggest ripoff of all. Way overpriced, not as much living space and you don't even get to say you own it, you just rent it for X amount of years. In the best of circumstances it takes many years before it starts to pay for itself. You can get Bonnet Creek for pennies compared to the Disney dollars and exchange into DVC. 1 or 2 exchanges and you're ahead of the game. Yes, you get the Disney "Magic" but it's quite a price to pay for it.

 

[DawnM]

No, especially when they have LIED to us and told us it was just a "presentation slide show to see what is new at our resort, NO SALES PITCH" and then you get roped into a timeshare sales pitch for 3 hours!

Ok, so we knew they were lying, but it was a nice way for us to say, "Hey, look, we don't want to waste your time, we were told X up front at the desk, and now you want us to sit through Y."

The guy actually did say he knew we weren't interested and wished he could just let us go, but his boss was watching and so we had to sit through the entire time so he could get paid.

Dawn

 

[akcire]

A couple of years ago my husband attended a winter conference in Vegas. I went along just for a winter warm up. I do enjoy slot machines, but really had no interest in gambling all day long. To pass the time, I did a lot of walking and window shopping. After being asked to a do a couple of time share presentations, I finally relented. The first one was really nice, they gave me exactly what they promised, and I left with a good feeling about their company.

The next day, I figured what the heck, and did a second one. Oh boy--was this the wrong company; and did they have the wrong person to screw. This time share presentation required you to visit their site which was a mile or so off the strip. They took me in a really nice van, and I was able to tour the facility. They then put me in an office and started their individual pitch (by now it had been more than the 90 minutes, but I was in no great hurry). I politely explained that I would not be purchasing anything today. Next came the manager, once again explained I would not be purchasing anything today.

Together the two of them left the room, and I heard the door lock. Now I am pissed. I get up and find that I am locked in this office--I was ready to go, even without their transportation (I figured I'd just walk back to the strip). At this point I don't even care if I get their "gift". Well thankfully cell phones are common place today. I called the Las Vegas Police Department non emergency number and told the dispatcher the timeshare people were holding me in an office, and left me in a locked room. It was not more than 3 minutes before a very nice LV police man came loudly barging into the office, and demanded I be released. He then demanded I be given the "gift" (I guess this was not the first time they had been there). He wanted to know if I wanted to press charges; and I explained being from IL it would be difficult for me to return for a court date; but I would gladly provide any needed information. A couple of days later I got a call from the DA and they prosecuted the company. Oh, and the police man gave me a ride back to my hotel.

My only timeshare advise is bring a charged cellphone and watch out for doors that are keyed on both sides.

 

[plummer925]

A couple of years ago my husband attended a winter conference in Vegas. I went along just for a winter warm up. I do enjoy slot machines, but really had no interest in gambling all day long. To pass the time, I did a lot of walking and window shopping. After being asked to a do a couple of time share presentations, I finally relented. The first one was really nice, they gave me exactly what they promised, and I left with a good feeling about their company.

The next day, I figured what the heck, and did a second one. Oh boy--was this the wrong company; and did they have the wrong person to screw. This time share presentation required you to visit their site which was a mile or so off the strip. They took me in a really nice van, and I was able to tour the facility. They then put me in an office and started their individual pitch (by now it had been more than the 90 minutes, but I was in no great hurry). I politely explained that I would not be purchasing anything today. Next came the manager, once again explained I would not be purchasing anything today.

Together the two of them left the room, and I heard the door lock. Now I am pissed. I get up and find that I am locked in this office--I was ready to go, even without their transportation (I figured I'd just walk back to the strip). At this point I don't even care if I get their "gift". Well thankfully cell phones are common place today. I called the Las Vegas Police Department non emergency number and told the dispatcher the timeshare people were holding me in an office, and left me in a locked room. It was not more than 3 minutes before a very nice LV police man came loudly barging into the office, and demanded I be released. He then demanded I be given the "gift" (I guess this was not the first time they had been there). He wanted to know if I wanted to press charges; and I explained being from IL it would be difficult for me to return for a court date; but I would gladly provide any needed information. A couple of days later I got a call from the DA and they prosecuted the company. Oh, and the police man gave me a ride back to my hotel.

My only timeshare advise is bring a charged cellphone and watch out for doors that are keyed on both sides.

Holy cow! I'm glad you had that cell with you! I'd have pee'd my pants I'd been so scared and H*LL YEA I'd press charges and probably sue them too (but for the record, I suffer from severe anxiety and something like that may have hospitalized me). Just reading it made me have an anxiety attack (and made me SURE to NEVER do a timeshare without hubby!!)

 

[Disneyhayes]

I actually want to learn more about DVC - I know I must be crazy How do I get them to ask me to go to a presentation or how do I schedule one...I wouldn't mind a free gift too

 

[Judique]

I actually want to learn more about DVC - I know I must be crazy How do I get them to ask me to go to a presentation or how do I schedule one...I wouldn't mind a free gift too

DVC doesn't usually give much in the way of gifts.

If you are interested in information, check out the DVC boards here on the Dis. The points charts are there as well as a lot of information. If you like what you read, then go for a tour.

I've owned for 11 years and I've enjoyed my membership. I bought in at what seems like a low price now. I'm not sure I would do it again if I were looking at today's prices, even resale as dues have definitely gone up.

 

[Gillennj]

I've only been to one and it was a nightmare. It was in an empty office suite. There was a "cattle call" room where we all sat and watched Johnny Carson re-runs on an ancient big screen TV. LOML was asked to fill out paperwork--which she did, and I was not happy

We all got the rah rah speech while the paperwork was checked. Anyway, we were then divided--some (like us) were put into a large room with rows of desks and salesman behind them. We were encouraged to check out the website of the company to see their excellent BBB rating--they were using cached websites on PC's not even connected to the Internet . I asked them about it and it was "Uhhh, our cmputer guy just left and..."

Of course, others were sent into "private" offices where they were given special treatment with the "boss". Their paperwork must have been better than ours . I hated the whole experience, it was so unprofessional and cheesy. I felt cheap and stupid just being there.

Are all presentations this bad? Does everyone need to fill out the paperwork beforehand?

 

[HelenePA]

I've done one and it was awful!! We did the tour, the place looked like something you'd see in a b movie from the 90's but the price was low low low and we could have traded into DVC with it. I really wanted to buy but not that day but after how we were treated at the end I'd NEVER EVER buy in there.. There was a five minute screaming match between my dh and the "last chance best price" guy then almost a fist fight. The "offer" would have to be amazing for us to ever do one again.

 

[SunnieRN]

Google "Timeshare Users Group" you will find all the information you need there and even people willing to pay you to take over their timeshares. Just remember that if free was such a bargain they wouldn't be trying to pay you to take it.

You don't really "buy" an RCI. When you buy a timeshare they are part of an exchange system. RCI is the one that lets you trade into DVC.

Keep in mind that Disneys affiliation has, and could, change again. When we bought, Disney was affiliated with Interval International. They are at this time affiliated with RCI. There are people that are happy and unhappy no matter which organization Disney is affiliated with.

Make sure that if you buy a timeshare to 'trade into Disney' with, that it is a place you will either be happy staying at, or that you can trade within your organization to something you like. Just because you have a 'trader' it doesn't mean you can trade for the resort, season or type of accommodations you may desire.

There is an adage in 'timeshares'. Buy where you want to stay.

Also some traders, like Hilton, pull a lot more than other places do. Lots to think about!

 

[seashoreCM]

Usually it is not good to get Disney tickets from a timeshare presentation. In most cases you cannot upgrade them and if you want to spend more days at Disney then the timeshare tickets only save you five dollars or so compared with not using them and just buying new tickets.

 

[cheshireqt]

I have been to two timeshare presentations (not DVC) about 7 years apart and different companies/locations. Both times they succeeded in making me so angry there is no way I felt guilty about anything. Both promised a prize, and neither delivered. Both managed to steal quite a bit of my time though; it took me at least 4 hours to get through the "90 minute" requirement; lots of strong arming and lots of emphatic No's on my part.
Maybe I would listen to a DVC presentation if I was seriously interested, but I will never ever waste my time like that again.

 

[DawnM]

I would sit through another one for some Universal tickets. My boys really want to see Harry Potter.

Dawn

 

[Trixieplus2]

A couple of years ago my husband attended a winter conference in Vegas. I went along just for a winter warm up. I do enjoy slot machines, but really had no interest in gambling all day long. To pass the time, I did a lot of walking and window shopping. After being asked to a do a couple of time share presentations, I finally relented. The first one was really nice, they gave me exactly what they promised, and I left with a good feeling about their company.

The next day, I figured what the heck, and did a second one. Oh boy--was this the wrong company; and did they have the wrong person to screw. This time share presentation required you to visit their site which was a mile or so off the strip. They took me in a really nice van, and I was able to tour the facility. They then put me in an office and started their individual pitch (by now it had been more than the 90 minutes, but I was in no great hurry). I politely explained that I would not be purchasing anything today. Next came the manager, once again explained I would not be purchasing anything today.

Together the two of them left the room, and I heard the door lock. Now I am pissed. I get up and find that I am locked in this office--I was ready to go, even without their transportation (I figured I'd just walk back to the strip). At this point I don't even care if I get their "gift". Well thankfully cell phones are common place today. I called the Las Vegas Police Department non emergency number and told the dispatcher the timeshare people were holding me in an office, and left me in a locked room. It was not more than 3 minutes before a very nice LV police man came loudly barging into the office, and demanded I be released. He then demanded I be given the "gift" (I guess this was not the first time they had been there). He wanted to know if I wanted to press charges; and I explained being from IL it would be difficult for me to return for a court date; but I would gladly provide any needed information. A couple of days later I got a call from the DA and they prosecuted the company. Oh, and the police man gave me a ride back to my hotel.

My only timeshare advise is bring a charged cellphone and watch out for doors that are keyed on both sides.

Oh god I have terrible anxiety and would have probably called 911 right after I totally lost it and destroyed the office, that would send me into a raging panic attack for sure!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

Oh god I have terrible anxiety and would have probably called 911 right after I totally lost it and destroyed the office, that would send me into a raging panic attack for sure!!!

Yes, call 911.
No, don't destry the office but, it is illegal to lock someone in a building without proper exit and in such a case it is okay to use any means of gaining exit.

 

[Purseval]

Usually it is not good to get Disney tickets from a timeshare presentation. In most cases you cannot upgrade them and if you want to spend more days at Disney then the timeshare tickets only save you five dollars or so compared with not using them and just buying new tickets.

Your logic is twisted at best. You assume that someone would throw away the free tickets and buy multiple day tickets instead, saving themselves only a few dollars, or they would use the free tickets then buy more days. I, otoh, assume that someone savvy enough to get free tickets at a timeshare presentation is also savvy enough to use them at a time which will benefit them the most costwise. Even if they were going on one trip to WDW with no chance of ever returning again they could sell their timeshare tickets to recoup some of the cost of the multi day tickets.

 

[chrissyt27]

DH has a timeshare, well we do now, but he bought it before I knew him. it’s a nice one, where you can pretty much go anywhere, even one near WDW.

They were relentless in trying to get us to buy even more points. It was HORRIBLE. we are already owners, but only silver and they wanted us to get up to Platinum. We have enough trouble using the points as is. even though there are lots of properties, we did 2 cruises last year with other deals that were better and now have 2 years of points to use up.

Anyway, it was just awful. I had no idea. they invited us to a owners breakfast, it was our first year using it together, and I don’t call stale Danish and bad coffee breakfast. The woman was super rude and reprimanded us for not buying more points.

We went the next year only because they gave us a $75 giftcard. Last year they upped it to $100. But it’s THE worst hour. The woman actually told us we were being uncaring and unfit to our unborn child by not upgrading!! That if we bought more points we could do Disney in the summer and book a year in advance and so on. um. I don’t do Disney in the summer and we never plan a year in advance. Her boss told us that we would be saving money by getting more points and that there was lots of milk for the baby to drink. I have no idea what he was talking about.

We only had to stay an hour each time.

We had the same woman this last time and she didn’t remember us at all. I quickly reminded her. told her that we had a miscarriage and now needed the money for infertility treatment and she told me that we just shouldn’t have kids, that we should upgrade our points and just go on vacation and we would probably get pregnant!!

My parents went with us one year and we took advantage of the 2nd condo unit free deal and they tried to say we had to upgrade since we brought them with us.

The only thing still makes me mad and even with a giftcard we won’t do it again.

They used to have a local office and would leave weekly and sometimes daily phonecalls about coming in. and we are owners!!

 

[chrissyt27]

Oh god I have terrible anxiety and would have probably called 911 right after I totally lost it and destroyed the office, that would send me into a raging panic attack for sure!!!

That is for sure scary!! I can't believe they locked you in the room. OMG.

 

[EllenFrasier]

I don't feel guilty about it at all. The timeshare people tell you that you are under no obligation to buy anything to receive the free gift, so why feel guilty?

 

[nelson84]

Nope. There may be one person in the presentation who will purchase at the least. They know why you really came. I got trips doing this. I did buy one and am happy with the purchase I made.

Which one did you buy?