The Most Common Things That Are Misrepresented At A Timeshare Sales Pitch

If you’ve ever sat through a timeshare sales pitch, you know that they can be high pressure. The sales staff has been trained to do one thing and one thing only—-influence you to purchase on the spot. Because of that high pressure, these sales pitches can be laced with, ahem, some misrepresentations. Here are the most common things that are misrepresented at timeshare sales pitches: 

>Price Today vs Price Any Other Time

This is the one that is used the most, often in conjunction with ‘quoting’ some State Statute. If there is such a statute, such as in Florida, it has to do with whatever gifts you’re being bribed with to sit with the salesperson, not the price. Trust me, they’ll take your money tomorrow, next week or next month. 

>Resale Value And Your Ability To Resell

The truth of the matter is that the resale market is awash in timeshares that owners are willing to sell for $1,000 or less. Sales agents simply refuse to disclose that. In some cases, licensed brokers will refuse certain listings because the timeshare literally has NO resale value because of the draconian restrictions placed by the developer in secondary market purchases. 

>Maintenance Fee Relief Programs That Do Not Exist

There are many permutations of this misrepresentation. Suffice it to say you should not purchase additional timeshare under some bizarre plan that you’ll be able to pay off your fees with the points. Read that again, makes no sense, does it?

>The Value of Travel Awards

Again, there are a myriad of promised schemes using timeshare points and the ability to purchase certain travel rewards. Bottom line, buy timeshare only to use as timeshare, not for the promise of being able to use it for airline tickets, etc.

>Stating A Lower Interest Rate Can Be Obtained From A Bank Or Credit Union

In the event you’re smart enough to balk at the ‘convenient’ 15%, 16% or 17% financing the resort will offer you (and you’d be stunned to find out how many people agree to those insane rates), some salespeople will tell you that you can get a personal loan. Wrong. I have yet to find a bank that will finance a timeshare. What are they going to do if you’re foreclosed on?  There is however a reputable source for people with good credit history. Check out LightStream.com. 

>Ease Of Ability To Return To Your Home Resort

Unless you purchased a fixed week/fixed unit timeshare, highly doubtful, you’re going to have to make reservations to come back to your home resort. You’ll be battling other owners and owners who are exchanging into your resort for prime season. You had better fully understand exactly when you need to make a reservation and what the process is before you purchase. Don’t rely on the salesperson, talk to other owners. 

>Ease Of Ability To Trade/Exchange

If you think coming back to your home resort takes some doing, it’s nothing compared to attempting to trade or exchange into another resort. In addition to the fee averaging over $200 (!) most owners find out too late that they need to make plans either 12-13 months out or less than 60 days out in order to get what they want. An week in Branson, Missouri is not going to get you Christmas Week in Hawaii. 

Bottom line here is do not do anything in haste. If you’re looking for assistance in determining what’s true and what’s false, figuring out if a timeshare is for you, or like millions of people who already own and no longer want or use what they have, contact me at lisaschreier617@gmail.com. 

Optics Count

This is the unedited copy off of the Club Wyndham section of ResponsibleExit.com, the website for ARDA’s Coalition for Responsible Exit. The coalition is, in their words, “...dedicated to providing useful information for owners who are looking to safely sell, change, cancel or exit their timeshare.”

If you feel that your Club Wyndham timeshare no longer meets your travel needs, Ovation by Wyndham representatives are ready to hear from you — for free. 

*The team can identify a solution based on your unique needs. 

*Ovation by Wyndham will handle the process for you from beginning to end. 

*There’s no pressure to accept an Ovation by Wyndham option. 

*There are NO additional costs or hidden fees. 

Contact a Wyndham Cares representative at 866-948-4690 to learn more about the available options. 

Now, I don’t know about you, but if I was a Wyndham owner who wanted to exit, this clearly gives me a way out. There’s no fine print. No disclaimers. No exceptions noted. Good news, right?

Wrong. At least for more than 100 long time owners of Carriage Hills and Carriage Ridge resorts in Canada who, despite having paid off their times and being current on all maintenance fees are being met with a terse “Sorry, not for you” when they call. 

I’ve received an excellent education on the entire nature from someone with extensive knowledge of this and it is indeed, complicated and a textbook example of a nightmare situation for all involved. I hope to one day bring all the details out in this blog if for nothing else than to illustrate the necessity for consumers to ask in-depth questions before purchasing any timeshare as well as staying involved in the operations and management of the resort. Timeshare is not just about paying for and going on vacation; despite how easy the salesperson makes it sound. 

But let’s return to Club Wyndham’s copy that makes it sound like all you need to do is call. They owe their owners more. Transparency is important. Optics are important. Club Wyndham-FIX THIS. 

Do Timeshare Advocates Advocate For You Or For Themselves?

It seems as if there is a new self-appointed consumer advocate focused on timeshare issues on a weekly basis. This week I found one that has no names associated with it and not even a street address, just “Las Vegas Blvd.”...I mean, come on. 

I’m not at all convinced that these people/organizations/coalitions have the experience/qualifications/motivations necessary for you to throw your belief or money at them. 

I got my start in the timeshare business 20 years ago and even with all that experience, I don’t claim to have all the answers. I also don’t make empty promises or profess that I have thousands of consumers throwing their support, monetary or otherwise, at me. It’s this practice of making empty promises and making it seem as if they’re the “voice” of the timeshare owner that grates on me. 

The fact of the matter is that timeshare owners do not have a unified voice. Many are very happy with their timeshare. Many aren’t. The happy ones aren’t unified. The unhappy ones aren’t unified, in large part because timeshare companies are radically different in the products they offer, how consumers use the products and the fact that there’s no one source of unbiased information. Believe me, I tried back in 2004 when I wrote Timeshare Vacations For Dummieswhich, despite the fact was written as a way to get unbiased information about purchasing, using and selling all matter of timeshare to consumers, failed in its attempt to be a runaway bestseller. 

So while it’s true that I feel the timeshare industry could use some retooling and that the Federal government should set standards and implement legislation, I want you, the consumer to exercise extreme caution when throwing your support behind a self-proclaimed timeshare consumer advocate-including me. Ask questions. Look for real credentials. Delve into their experience. Most importantly, question their motives. 

And whatever you do, don’t blindly follow the advice that so many unhappy timeshare owners are happy to throw out on Facebook pages. Timeshare, financial and legal advice should come from unbiased sources. That means not from the timeshare salesperson and not from an unhappy owner with an axe to grind.