What's the catch with this Sam's Club deal?

[Captain's Wife]

I apologize if the details are sketchy - my friend asked my opinion and I told her the Dis would know.

So Sam's Club in the US and Canada is selling this vacation package of 3 nights at Diamond Resorts Grand Beach, including 2 "Touch the Magic" two-day passes to DisneyWorld for about $200. From what I can find on other forums, like "red flag deals" etc. the Sam's Club salesperson is claiming that you will NOT be obligated to so much as sit through a timeshare presentation. However, many on these other forums are discussing whether or not this is "to good to be true."

Here's a link that explains it a little better:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7693595

My friend is very curious because her father has purchased this as a Christmas present for her family, and she's a skeptic, much like me. She very much wants to take her kids to Disney, (they haven't been) but even the 4+3 deal right now isn't doable.

I get something like 4 faxes a day offering me vacation deals and I completely ignore them - there's just something about this that has a ring of unreality to it. I've searched th forums here, but the search function doesn't seem to work for me.

Can one of you experts weigh in?

Thanks

Shelley

 

[MM32830]

Chances are this involves some sort of timeshare presentation but, so what if it does?

Unless you can't so no, I don't think spending 90 minutes in a presentation is a bad thing, especially when you can get a great deal on a vacation.

I don't do these anymore (I have a house is Central Florida as well as lots of DVC points so I don't have a need to). But when I was younger, we (DW and I) took advantage of many of these deals.

I was always upfront with the sales people when I arrived at the resort. I told them I am here for the vacation and I am not buying, no matter how persuasive they thought they could be. They all tried to sell me numerous timeshares but I always reminded them of what I told them going into the presentation. Most of the time this was kind of fun.

The only "timeshare" I purchased was Disney.


______________
Armand

 

[christygobar]

I actually wondered this as well - we saw it last week at Sams, and also a similar one for Cancun. I briefly read the back and didn't see anything about sitting through a presentation.....but maybe it was in even finer print elsewhere. So I'm definitely curious!

 

[Halbleib1]

I saw these as well. They were located in a side aisle right in front of the registers at ours. They did not look like timeshare trips to me. If a sales person was their trying to push them onto people than I would think they are timeshares. But at ours it was just a cardboard envelope that you had to take up to the register to pay for it. (Like they do with video game consoles and other high end products.) I think they are just able to offer a great deal to their members. They probably have an even better deal this year than normal because of the economy. If they are timeshares they have to tell you somewhere on the outside of the cardboard envelope. Just to be double sure I would also ask a CM before purchasing if you are still concerned about it.

 

[Politzania]

DH and I saw this offer at Sam's Club as well - the fine print said something like "you are not obligated to BUY anything else for this offer" -- so there could still be a required timeshare presentation you have to attend.

Remember - if it seems too good to be true...

 

[BriarRosie]

I Googled the name of the resort and found reviews on TripAdvisor.

The deal is a timeshare presentation, and the person at the time of reviewing said it was "only 90 minutes":

Here's her review (I omitted the website she got the deal from):

My husband and I stayed here because I got a deal for a 3-night stay for only $100 if we sat through a time share presentation. First off, The time share presentation only took 90 minutes, which was a pleasant surprise. If anyone is interested, I found this deal at [website].

The resort was better than I expected. After reading reviews, most were good, but some weren't. Well, my husband and I have NO complaints. I would recommend this to anyone. We stayed in a 1-Bedroom suite and it was the perfect size for a couple. There were two pools and extra large hot tubs that we relaxed in every night. The grounds are beautiful, the staff is friendly, and the rooms are clean. We had no complaints.

The best part is the LOCATION. You can't get much better without being at a disney resort. We were close to everything.