Day in and day out I hear from once happy timeshare owners who are now miserable, angry and in many cases broke because of an unscrupulous upsell.
Today’s video should serve as a wake up call-If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Do not be fooled into believing some outrageous story about needing to buy more timeshare in order to do anything; whether that be sell it back, pay off maintenance fees, use it for airfare, use it for hotel stays or anything else.
Salespeople who pitch these lies should be prosecuted in my opinion. Developers who allow it should be put out of business in my opinion.
Diamond or Apollo if you’re reading this, you’re doing yourself irreparable harm. This stinks.
https://youtu.be/zAkBlfyhVYQ
Monday, February 26, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
And The Hits Keep Coming
The timeshare industry is now trying a new tactic on their social media sites; ‘Timeshare Myths.’
I don’t know whether the stuff they churn out is true or not. Frankly, I don’t care anymore.
Here’s what I do care about. Major lawsuits. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers coming with increasing frequency.
Here’s the two latest:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/01/prweb15084332.htm
https://www.insidethegate.com/2018/02/major-developer-sued-for-alleged-violation-of-securities-act-of-1933/
WVO being sued for elder abuse and Diamond/Apollo being sued for securities violations. Let that sink in.
After creating the product and the laws that govern it more than 40 years ago, two of the largest timeshare developers in the world are being sued for some incredibly serious violations.
And yet, main stream media is loathe to cover this.
How many more hits can this industry endure before some clever journalist or attorney takes a good long look at the systemic issues going on here?
If you think these two latest suits are isolated incidents, wake up.
I don’t know whether the stuff they churn out is true or not. Frankly, I don’t care anymore.
Here’s what I do care about. Major lawsuits. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers. Major lawsuits against major timeshare developers coming with increasing frequency.
Here’s the two latest:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/01/prweb15084332.htm
https://www.insidethegate.com/2018/02/major-developer-sued-for-alleged-violation-of-securities-act-of-1933/
WVO being sued for elder abuse and Diamond/Apollo being sued for securities violations. Let that sink in.
After creating the product and the laws that govern it more than 40 years ago, two of the largest timeshare developers in the world are being sued for some incredibly serious violations.
And yet, main stream media is loathe to cover this.
How many more hits can this industry endure before some clever journalist or attorney takes a good long look at the systemic issues going on here?
If you think these two latest suits are isolated incidents, wake up.
Monday, February 12, 2018
The Inflation Pitch Is Flawed-Very Flawed
Back in 2000 when I started selling timeshare, we salespeople routinely used the ‘hotel inflation’ pitch to persuade consumers to purchase the timeshare.
That pitch is, to the best of my knowledge, still being used.
The problem is that it’s flawed. Very flawed.
We used to use $100 as the price of an average hotel room. So far so good. Then we used an annual inflation rate of 10%. Annual inflation rate. Using that math, over an 18 year period, you’d figure that that ‘average’ hotel room would be going for over $500.
Statistics from TripAdvisor show that the average hotel room in the US is about $126. Furthermore, a 4 star hotel room in places such as San Francisco, New York or Boston, where you’d be hard pressed to find a timeshare, averages less than $360.
To make matters worse, the industry likes to put out nifty, colorful infographics comparing the 20 year cost of a timeshare to renting a hotel room. A careful look at their numbers show that they’re using a cost of over $400 to represent the ‘average’ hotel cost. They also ‘conveniently’ forget to factor in the cost of eating when tallying up the cost of the timeshare.
But I digress.
The point here is that the inflation pitch you’ll get from the timeshare salesperson is flawed. Use your own numbers. Do you own research before purchasing anything.
A timeshare may very well cost you more than a hotel room even in the long run. If that’s OK with you, then go for it. Just remember not to fall for a flawed inflation pitch.
That pitch is, to the best of my knowledge, still being used.
The problem is that it’s flawed. Very flawed.
We used to use $100 as the price of an average hotel room. So far so good. Then we used an annual inflation rate of 10%. Annual inflation rate. Using that math, over an 18 year period, you’d figure that that ‘average’ hotel room would be going for over $500.
Statistics from TripAdvisor show that the average hotel room in the US is about $126. Furthermore, a 4 star hotel room in places such as San Francisco, New York or Boston, where you’d be hard pressed to find a timeshare, averages less than $360.
To make matters worse, the industry likes to put out nifty, colorful infographics comparing the 20 year cost of a timeshare to renting a hotel room. A careful look at their numbers show that they’re using a cost of over $400 to represent the ‘average’ hotel cost. They also ‘conveniently’ forget to factor in the cost of eating when tallying up the cost of the timeshare.
But I digress.
The point here is that the inflation pitch you’ll get from the timeshare salesperson is flawed. Use your own numbers. Do you own research before purchasing anything.
A timeshare may very well cost you more than a hotel room even in the long run. If that’s OK with you, then go for it. Just remember not to fall for a flawed inflation pitch.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Hey Wyndham, Why The Upsell?
I’m publishing yet another unedited Guest Post concerning the very troubling epidemic of upselling existing timeshare owners.
When will these developers realize that lying to their owners does them more harm than good? The best and most effective marketing that any company can initiate is Wird of Mouth. These words anger me and I hope you as well.
Hi Lisa, I hope you can help me or direct me on my issues with Wyndham Vacation Resorts. I have been a Wyndham owner for 8 plus years and it has always been difficult to schedule vacations, I had to wait over a year to book and at that with limited selection. Every time I complained, they had me "update" my package. Last year we purchased so many points, we could not even use them, which is difficult to use when there are no availability so we just transferred them to RCI, now there's an even worse wait time and more fees.
Every Thanksgiving we stay at the Glacier Canyon, Wisconsin Dells, as we did this Thanksgiving and once again I complained and once again they found the reason..... you don't have the right deed. If you deed it with Glacier Canyon instead of Florida, you will be much happier and look at all the availability there is for you. Not only that.... we will assign you to the "count on me team" who will even book your vacations for you!!!! The same gentleman that "upgraded" our package and promised he will schedule everything for me, I need a vacation, I call him, best to give him some time of course but still he will research it and won't book until I approve the vacation.
We already discussed dates for 2018, I pulled up my calendar and told him when my kids are off of school so those days are open for travel. Seven hours they kept us there to "update" our package. We finally left and they even emailed me the next day that they are here for me if I have questions.
After the 5-day rescind period, we return home and I start emailing them on moving all the unused points or can they book something in Chicago for me as they promised at the signing that they would. Deaf silence, no reply. I email the "count on me team" every day and every other day and leave voice messages, still waiting for a reply. Needless to say, nothing in my "new upgraded package" is available and nothing has changed except my expense of $300 monthly maintenance fees in additional to the new $1,200 a month loan. THAT'S CRAZY AND I AM SO EMBARRESED THAT I GOT SUCKERED AGAIN!!
I had a booking this January for my daughter's birthday for 2 nites, we stayed there again, and again at check-in, they try to have you go up and listen to their presentation and they will give you $150 gift card. I told them they can shove their presentation and their gift where the sun don't shine. The staff said, if you don't like it here, why are you here? I said that my children and I enjoy the facility, but I certainly don't enjoy the lies that Wyndham is selling. I told them that I understand it is their job to find suckers but I am done listening to the lies and empty promises and quite frankly that's "breach of contract" as far as I'm concerned. They tried to call up someone to talk to me but I said I had nothing more to tell them and that I am speaking with attorney to get out of it. (Not sure if that was the right thing to say but I'm sure they were not moved by my threats).
At this point, we decided to get out of this SCAM. I have to accept the fact that it will NEVER get better. I can book quick and much cheaper same vacation on ebay than waiting for them to "fix" the booking or over-booking issues.
My questions is, do I just stop paying? They have my credit card from where they pull the $300 a month maintenance fees and now are calling me about the $1,200 I signed into, which as of earlier in January I have defaulted. I also had to give them a $3,000.00 check on the spot for the "closing fees". So I am out a lot but am ready to be done with this. I do work for a law firm, spoke with one of the attorney's but even that, I will have to pay something for their involvement. I'm just wondering, with your experience, what would your suggestion be???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)