Thursday, July 23, 2020

Deceit Should Not Be A Badge Of Honor

Yet more news about how Wells Fargo seem to continually treat their customers poorly...an understatement at best.  

It’s very easy to see how certain consumers, desperate to believe that they didn’t make a mistake years ago by trusting a certain timeshare developer continue to buy more in an attempt to “upgrade” to some level when the newest salesperson they’ll achieve vacation bliss. 

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, three times or seven times, shame on me. 

A company that is deceitful and treats their customers poorly as in the case of Wells Fargo and certain timeshare developers won’t even have the common sense to pretend to be something they’re not. It’s almost as if they wear their poor behavior and the inevitable slap on the wrist in terms of paying a million dollar fine as a badge of honor. 

Pay attention!

Monday, July 20, 2020

This Is Not Hospitable, Or Acceptable

Imagine you arrive at your timeshare resort, tired from a few hours in an airplane or a car trip. You just want your room key, get to the room, drop your bags and have something to drink. 

But instead of the check in process being welcoming, you’re hounded by the woefully misnamed concierge/hospitality staff pressuring you to sign up for an update/resort preview before you get your keys and/or parking pass. 

You may be tempted to write something like this:

Is there a way to check into a hotel without spending 20 min being harassed to go to owner update? The last two times we’ve checked into Los Abrigados Sedona we left registration feeling frustrated and upset by very aggressive and borderline rude agents trying to get us to do owner updates making us feel stupid for not wanting to get the most out of our timeshare..this last time she said Diamond was going through financial issues they needed to share with us as well..it is ruining the start of our trips. We’ve heard “I guess you just don’t want to save money so your the ones missing out”. This last check in when my husband finally got firm with no after 20 min. Asking for our room key she said “geez I’m just trying to have a conversation with you”. Any advice for easier check in I’m listening.

If work at a timeshare resort and allowing or worse yet, instructing your employees to hound your guests like this, you need to stop...like immediately. This is the antithesis of hospitality. How would you feel if you were treated to this nonsense?  There’s a way to invite guests to a sales pitch...this isn’t it. 

Friday, July 10, 2020

Eliminate Your Timeshare...Now With Magic Beans!

I know by now you’re sick of hearing about COVID-19. I myself involuntarily flinch anytime I hear the phrase “social distance” or hear yet another story of an unmasked consumer wrecking havoc in a store. 

But, just because you’re fed up is no reason to let your guard down. In fact, it’s more important than ever to stay alert to timeshare related fraud. 

Even in “normal” times, timeshare owners are consistently being solicited by any number of self-proclaimed exit companies promising, yet almost never delivering on their promise to get you out of your timeshare, get your money refunded and provide you with magic beans. 

Today however, it’s much worse. The sheer number of these firms, which in actuality are nothing more than a few people with a bank of phones, is astonishing. Each day I come across at least 2 or 3 new ones. 

What’s behind the sudden increase?  For months now, timeshare salespeople have been furloughed, laid off, fired or at the very least experienced severe cut backs. Many of these salespeople have access to owners’ lists; replete with full information on you, what you own, how much you own, how much you owe, your annual maintenance fees, etc.  All of this information comes in handy when they contact you.

Now, I’m not saying that all salespeople are doing this. I’m not saying that their current/former employers condone or even know of this. But facts are facts-owners’ lists are fairly easy to obtain by any enterprising person with time on their hands and bills to pay. 

Do not be fooled. There is no easy or simple way out of a timeshare contract. You do not need to buy more timeshare so that you’ll somehow qualify to either sell it back to the developer, deed it back to the developer or get a refund. 

So, unless you’d like to pay several thousand dollars for empty promises and a handful of magic beans, do not engage with anyone on the phone, email, messenger, etc. no matter how much information they have about you and your timeshare. 

If you’ve been approached by one of these scammers, let me know so that it can be reported to the authorities.