(The data on Twitter concerning Mr. McGarvey is: Journalist, Speaker, Columnist, Credit Union
Times, Blogger, Main Street, Mobile banking + bank tech + travel + real estate…he
has 23.5 tweets and 3,514 followers"…not exactly what I’d call a slouch or just “some
guy.)
WOW! So I replied within the hour: “There’s a lot that needs to change in the #timeshare industry, @rjmcgarvey Calling it garbage is WRONG and spreads misinformation."
I sat back, fully expecting other people and other
companies within the timeshare industry to also respond to Mr. McGarvey. After all, calling timeshare “garbage” and
referring to the people who sell it as “hucksters” is wrong…isn’t it?
However, as the hours and days passed…today is September 8th…NOT
ONE SINGLE RESPONSE HAS BEEN PUBLICALLY TWEETED.
Let me say that again…not one single timeshare developer, timeshare
organization, timeshare exchange company, or timeshare resale company publically responded
to Mr. McGarvey’s ill-informed tweet.
Where’s the indignation?
Where’s the outcry? Where are all the so-called experts within the timeshare community rushing in to stop this name calling and prevent
this misinformation from spreading?
I know from many personal experiences that the
timeshare community carefully monitors Twitter and other social media outlets for
anything having to do with timeshare…believe
me, I know. So it’s not that the Tweet
didn’t get seen…it obviously did. Not
only did anyone monitoring Twitter for timeshare see it, Mr. McGarvey;s 3,514
followers saw it…and didn’t see anything to the contrary other than my solitary
response.
Mr. McGarvey did respond to my tweet with this: “MT
@timeshareauthor: Calling it garbage is WRONG and spreads misinformation
>> RM Uh...it IS garbage. End of discussion #timeshare #ripoff”
I’m baffled…just baffled at the lack of response from anyone
in the timeshare community. A journalist is
going to call your product “garbage” and you ignore it? Can timeshare really afford 3,514 people who read that it's garbage?
4 comments:
I wish I'd seen your tweet! Thanks for calling out the misinformation for what it was!!
Thanks, Doug. The sad thing is that I know for a fact that the original tweet and my response were seen by "the powers that be" within the community and no one could be bothered. Sad.
Ya know, Lisa, we've talked about it here.
You said it "Time for a timeshare restocking fee". Where you "own" something that is just so worthless you have to *pay* to get rid of it. That is just not reasonable on any level.
I can't believe you suggested it and I called you on it at the time. It's not right.
Sounds like McGarvey might be more right than wrong. Garbage is essentially worthless, after all.
So the solution is to change the laws so timeshare owners have rights, rights to use what they own, rights to buy and sell, rights to stop paying without the resort credit bureauing them.
If you could call and reserve your week two weeks in advance and they could not turn you down, they couldn't rent the hell out of your property like they do so you can't reserve what you own, you would have a lot of much happier timeshare owners. After all, if it sits vacant, you *did* pay for it, right? It's your loss leaving it vacant. If the resort had to pay you all the rent they get for your weeks, well, that would make it all more palatable.
If you could sell your interest and no one could interfere, if you could just stop paying if you don't want it anymore and the recourse would be limited like it is on real estate in most states, limited to your property,
If that were to ever happen timeshare resorts and developers would lose power, and timeshare owners would gain power.
As it is now, the power is concentrated on the other side. So timeshares that you have to pay to get rid of, well, you have to pay to have your garbage hauled off, right?
Don't get me wrong, I see serious problems in the timeshare industry, and I have blogged here about them. I am only dissing the timeshare proposition because it's mostly a very bad deal for buyers. I don't recommend *anyone* buy into that on the basis they are sold today.
I have a friend who paid $7000 for a week at a resort. His maintenance is $900. He can rent for less than that, from them. He didn't need to pay for the timeshare, when he can rent without buying. Buying was a waste of money. The resort would be the same if you buy or rent, but guess what? When you rent, you are an important customer they make money from. If you buy you are *noise*. After you buy you are worthless to them.
It's a bad deal. That needs to be fixed so the timeshare becomes valuable. Instead of what it is now, worthless.
By the way, the link in your post is wrong, here is the correct link.
http://www.fox19.com/story/18628657/many-timeshare-owners-desperate-to-unload-bad-investment
You were interviewed for that fox19 story.
It's not the "the powers that be" couldn't be bothered, they are hiding under their desks.
They don't want anyone to suggest that if you buy something it should have value, and the seller should not be able to make your property worthless. Which is what I suggested.
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