We apologize for the delay in posting on this blog. Timeshare Insights is going through a bit of an identity crisis as of lately.
I've taken on the role of "The Timeshare Crusader" and decided early on that I would NOT sell, rent, buy, broker, list or represent any timeshare or any timeshare company.
Unfortunately, as an independent timeshare consultant and educator, that means that the money is shall we say, slow to arrive.
Making matters worse, there are some other companies and organizations out there that proport themselves to the public as consumer advocates and educators, but who make their money buying and selling timeshare. To me, this seems like a clear conflict of interest, but as we've come to expect, consumers are easily fooled when it comes to timeshare matters.
While is it NOT all about money, there are bills to be paid. So, the identity crisis I'm going through right now is a simple one...should Timeshare Insights continue, or should we give up after nearly 6 years?
Thoughts?
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
5,500 Attributes vs. 5 Questions
There's a company out there that claims to have a formula based on 5,500 "attributes" of a consumer to then make accurate predictions on the consumer's propensity to purchase a timeshare.
5,500 attributes? Really? If there were 50 attributes, I'd be more willing to believe this. Even 100 attributers. But 5,500? That is hard for me to believe. Especially when I've said from the onset that timeshare marketing is NOT rocket science.
This company has been VERY successful, i.e. very successful in marketing themselves to timeshare resorts around the world and making a ton of money.
I think back to my timeshare selling days when it came down to these five (5) questions:
Do you like the timeshare?
Do you understand how timeshare would benefit you?
If you had a timeshare, would you use it?
Would paying for the timeshare still allow you to live your life?
Would you like to own this timeshare?
Doesn't get much simpler than that, does it? Gee, I wonder if any of the 5,500 attributes cover "buying today" or "buying from the developer when the same product is available on the secondary market for 30% of the cost"?
5,500 attributes? Really? If there were 50 attributes, I'd be more willing to believe this. Even 100 attributers. But 5,500? That is hard for me to believe. Especially when I've said from the onset that timeshare marketing is NOT rocket science.
This company has been VERY successful, i.e. very successful in marketing themselves to timeshare resorts around the world and making a ton of money.
I think back to my timeshare selling days when it came down to these five (5) questions:
Do you like the timeshare?
Do you understand how timeshare would benefit you?
If you had a timeshare, would you use it?
Would paying for the timeshare still allow you to live your life?
Would you like to own this timeshare?
Doesn't get much simpler than that, does it? Gee, I wonder if any of the 5,500 attributes cover "buying today" or "buying from the developer when the same product is available on the secondary market for 30% of the cost"?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
What's With The Word "Timeshare" Anyway?
I don't know what it is about the word "timeshare" that causes so many otherwise rational people to lose their common sense and all semblance of reality.
Yesterday, at the LTRBA meeting in Orlando, one of the state officials said that his office heard from an individual who had paid a company more than 20 times to the tune of over $100,000 to sell his timeshare. One person!
Now, I know that the big discussion at the meeting was about the "upfront fee" companies vs the licensed (i.e. no upfront fees) brokers. But honestly, the average consumer is not going to know the difference between "commissions", "advertising fees" or "listing fees" or anything else. And I've said before that nothing is free.
So, I think the industry would be better served to issue warnings to consumers to NOT do business with any company that contacts them first. I mean, I can't imagine anyone, not even the poor sap out more than $100,000 and STILL holding on to his timeshare, would fall for these schemes for a house, a car, a computer or a pair of designer jeans.
"Hello, Mr. Consumer...we have a buyer for your 1995 Camry...the one that you haven't even thought of, much less put up for sale. All we need is $3,000 for title transfer and we'll send you the remaining $20,000..."
What is it about the word "timeshare" that causes people to lose touch with reality?
The bottom line is don't do business with companies that contact you out of the blue. Maintain all the control you can. And some smarts for heaven's sake.
Yesterday, at the LTRBA meeting in Orlando, one of the state officials said that his office heard from an individual who had paid a company more than 20 times to the tune of over $100,000 to sell his timeshare. One person!
Now, I know that the big discussion at the meeting was about the "upfront fee" companies vs the licensed (i.e. no upfront fees) brokers. But honestly, the average consumer is not going to know the difference between "commissions", "advertising fees" or "listing fees" or anything else. And I've said before that nothing is free.
So, I think the industry would be better served to issue warnings to consumers to NOT do business with any company that contacts them first. I mean, I can't imagine anyone, not even the poor sap out more than $100,000 and STILL holding on to his timeshare, would fall for these schemes for a house, a car, a computer or a pair of designer jeans.
"Hello, Mr. Consumer...we have a buyer for your 1995 Camry...the one that you haven't even thought of, much less put up for sale. All we need is $3,000 for title transfer and we'll send you the remaining $20,000..."
What is it about the word "timeshare" that causes people to lose touch with reality?
The bottom line is don't do business with companies that contact you out of the blue. Maintain all the control you can. And some smarts for heaven's sake.
Friday, October 21, 2011
It's Not About Saving Money
Back in the dark ages-circa 2000 when I began selling timeshare full time-all the training salespeople received was about the money saving benefits of timeshare. All of us were carefully taught to take the so-called average price of a hotel room of $100 and using a "moderate" 10% rate of inflation, calculate for the benefit of the client that their "average" hotel room would cost them $235 per night in just ten years, even without the room tax.
When you look at it that way, timeshare made great economic sense, even when you factored in the annual fees and the usage fees.
Flash forward to 2011 where during the recent SOIC conference, we all discovered that the average ADR (average daily rate) of a hotel room in the United States last year was around $106 and we begin to see one of the problems facing the industry today.
People who purchased back in 2000 have been faced with rising annual fees (an average of $731, or almost exactly what it would cost to rent a hotel room), the ability to find discounted hotel rooms and rent timeshares for half of what their annual fees are. Prospective owners can't be "shown the math" any longer as the math doesn't make any sense.
But, even as a novice salesperson back in 2000, I realized what the timeshare industry is starting to realize now...it's NOT about saving money, it's about increasing the quality of vacations.
As readers of this blog know, I am a huge Apple fan and I've written about what the timeshare industry can learn from Apple. Sure, you can purchase cheaper phones than the iPhone and cheaper computers than a Mac. But it's not about saving money in those cases for millions of fans, is it?
What timeshare needs to get across is the value propositon, both of "new" and "used" timeshare. It can be done. There are a lot of intelligent people in the business, many of whom I had the privilage of meeting this past week. Consumers are NOT stupid...show them what they can have through owning timeshare and the industry will be well on the way to further market penetration and owner satisfaction.
Who is ready to lead the way?
When you look at it that way, timeshare made great economic sense, even when you factored in the annual fees and the usage fees.
Flash forward to 2011 where during the recent SOIC conference, we all discovered that the average ADR (average daily rate) of a hotel room in the United States last year was around $106 and we begin to see one of the problems facing the industry today.
People who purchased back in 2000 have been faced with rising annual fees (an average of $731, or almost exactly what it would cost to rent a hotel room), the ability to find discounted hotel rooms and rent timeshares for half of what their annual fees are. Prospective owners can't be "shown the math" any longer as the math doesn't make any sense.
But, even as a novice salesperson back in 2000, I realized what the timeshare industry is starting to realize now...it's NOT about saving money, it's about increasing the quality of vacations.
As readers of this blog know, I am a huge Apple fan and I've written about what the timeshare industry can learn from Apple. Sure, you can purchase cheaper phones than the iPhone and cheaper computers than a Mac. But it's not about saving money in those cases for millions of fans, is it?
What timeshare needs to get across is the value propositon, both of "new" and "used" timeshare. It can be done. There are a lot of intelligent people in the business, many of whom I had the privilage of meeting this past week. Consumers are NOT stupid...show them what they can have through owning timeshare and the industry will be well on the way to further market penetration and owner satisfaction.
Who is ready to lead the way?
Monday, October 17, 2011
A SOIC Preview
Interval International's annual conference, Shared Ownership Investment Conference (SOIC) begins today and we are honored that we have been granted a Media Pass to cover the event.
I hope that I'm able to bring you, my readers, positive stories. I'd like nothing more to report that there are positive changes happening in the timeshare industry. I've made a career out of writing about what those changes should be. Timeshare moves very slowly and it's important to remember that the people at the top of the food pyramid have no real incentive to change a system that has brought them millions upon millions of dollars in the past.
No doubt, the conference will be attended by people and organizations that have been ill-informed and dismissive of what Timeshare Insights and other like minded organizations are all about. I've been called a "troublemaker" and worse and been treated like I didn't matter by many people who of course haven't bothered to find out what Timeshare Insights is all about. They of course now command huge speaking and consulting fees and are looked at as the "new timeshare mesiah" for saying the exact same things that I've been saying for years now...really, it's a big suprise to anyone that consumers like to buy and don't like to be sold to? Wow, where have I heard that before?
However, despite the fact that the conference will be full of these people, I'm going to attempt to take the high road and spend my time reporting on what is going on as well as spending time discussing what positive changes can be made with the people that are interested in these changes.
If you are one of the former...I have one word for you..."karma." If you are one of the latter, I look forward to working with you.
Stay tuned.
I hope that I'm able to bring you, my readers, positive stories. I'd like nothing more to report that there are positive changes happening in the timeshare industry. I've made a career out of writing about what those changes should be. Timeshare moves very slowly and it's important to remember that the people at the top of the food pyramid have no real incentive to change a system that has brought them millions upon millions of dollars in the past.
No doubt, the conference will be attended by people and organizations that have been ill-informed and dismissive of what Timeshare Insights and other like minded organizations are all about. I've been called a "troublemaker" and worse and been treated like I didn't matter by many people who of course haven't bothered to find out what Timeshare Insights is all about. They of course now command huge speaking and consulting fees and are looked at as the "new timeshare mesiah" for saying the exact same things that I've been saying for years now...really, it's a big suprise to anyone that consumers like to buy and don't like to be sold to? Wow, where have I heard that before?
However, despite the fact that the conference will be full of these people, I'm going to attempt to take the high road and spend my time reporting on what is going on as well as spending time discussing what positive changes can be made with the people that are interested in these changes.
If you are one of the former...I have one word for you..."karma." If you are one of the latter, I look forward to working with you.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
More Bad Guys Busted
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gilles, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Frank Adderley, Chief, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, announced Oct. 6 the filing of an information charging defendants Scott Faraguna, 41, Charles Blomquist, 52, Peter Borkowicz, 31, Raymond Harcar, 39, James Taylor, 23, Ryan Greene, 23, Jason Hampton, 28, Chris Faccone, 43, Steven Sokoloff, 47, Marco Sguera, 30, Joseph Giancola, 38, Ryan Soltow, 27, and Donna Ackermann Brown, 50, in a one-count Criminal Information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
The defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances in court Tuesday morning October 11, 2011, in West Palm Beach before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linnea Johnson.
According to the Information, the defendants worked for Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group, Inc. (TMMMG), on Oakland Park Boulevard, in Fort Lauderdale. From in or about October 2009 and continuing to May 2010, the defendants and others at TMMMG called owners of time-share units and told them that they had buyers for their time-share units if the time-share unit owners would send $1,996 to TMMMG for the fees associated with the sale of the unit, such as closings costs and a title search. In fact, however, the defendants knew that they did not have buyers for the time-share units, and nor were the units previously sold.
The Information alleges that after the time-share unit owners agreed to pay the fee associated with the sale of their units, the time-share unit owners would be called by another employee from TMMMG who acted as a “verifier.” The “verifier” would try to get the time-share unit owners to admit on tape that they knew that the fee they were paying was for the advertising of their time-share units and that TMMMG could charge their credit card. Some of the defendants would pay the “verifier” $50-$100 per sale in order to either not call the time-share unit owners or to process the transaction with the credit card company, even though the victim did not want to go through with the transaction.
According to the Information, in order to make it more difficult for the time-share unit owners to obtain a refund of their money, the defendants were instructed by coconspirators not to give the time-share unit owners closing dates for the sale of their time-shares, or if they insisted, to give closing dates more than 60 days after the receipt of their money. When time-share unit owners would call TMMMG inquiring about the sale of their time shares, coconspirators would try to “lull” the victims by falsely stating to the time-share unit owners that the original buyer had a credit problem and was not approved, but that TMMMG had another buyer and that the sale would take place in the near future, in order to keep the victims from complaining to the credit card companies or the authorities.
If convicted the defendants each face a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in connection with the investigation of this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan.
An Information is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
SOURCE: US Attorney General’s Office of the Southern District of Florida
The defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances in court Tuesday morning October 11, 2011, in West Palm Beach before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linnea Johnson.
According to the Information, the defendants worked for Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group, Inc. (TMMMG), on Oakland Park Boulevard, in Fort Lauderdale. From in or about October 2009 and continuing to May 2010, the defendants and others at TMMMG called owners of time-share units and told them that they had buyers for their time-share units if the time-share unit owners would send $1,996 to TMMMG for the fees associated with the sale of the unit, such as closings costs and a title search. In fact, however, the defendants knew that they did not have buyers for the time-share units, and nor were the units previously sold.
The Information alleges that after the time-share unit owners agreed to pay the fee associated with the sale of their units, the time-share unit owners would be called by another employee from TMMMG who acted as a “verifier.” The “verifier” would try to get the time-share unit owners to admit on tape that they knew that the fee they were paying was for the advertising of their time-share units and that TMMMG could charge their credit card. Some of the defendants would pay the “verifier” $50-$100 per sale in order to either not call the time-share unit owners or to process the transaction with the credit card company, even though the victim did not want to go through with the transaction.
According to the Information, in order to make it more difficult for the time-share unit owners to obtain a refund of their money, the defendants were instructed by coconspirators not to give the time-share unit owners closing dates for the sale of their time-shares, or if they insisted, to give closing dates more than 60 days after the receipt of their money. When time-share unit owners would call TMMMG inquiring about the sale of their time shares, coconspirators would try to “lull” the victims by falsely stating to the time-share unit owners that the original buyer had a credit problem and was not approved, but that TMMMG had another buyer and that the sale would take place in the near future, in order to keep the victims from complaining to the credit card companies or the authorities.
If convicted the defendants each face a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in connection with the investigation of this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan.
An Information is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
SOURCE: US Attorney General’s Office of the Southern District of Florida
Friday, October 14, 2011
Four Things Timeshare Can and Should Concentrate On
Here's a link to my latest article in RCI Ventures magazine about the four things that the timeshare industry needs to focus on if it is ever going to stage a comeback and be the success that it can be.
http://bit.ly/rm7fB4
As usual, we welcome your thoughts and comments.
http://bit.ly/rm7fB4
As usual, we welcome your thoughts and comments.
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