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Watch out for "free stuff"

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on July 25th, 2008, 12:48 pm | Life
Some cautionary tales for folks who actually take these bloody time share and travel club presentation hooks seriously.

Actually, my wife and I did get ourselves suckered into a few of these waaaaay back in the day. In Daytona Beach, we went to a timeshare presentation. Lucky for us, we were too poor and had too bad a credit rating to qualify for even THEIR standards of loans. But they gave us an honest free night stay in Kissimmee. In a hotel that was in the middle of being gutted and rebuilt from the ground up. And we had to pay $10 in hotel taxes, but hey -- we were only a few miles from both Gator Land and Disney World. We went to both, and paid for a couple more nights at a nearby Ramada while we were at it. So it worked out.

Our next foray was up in the mountains. That got us some free steak knives. We decided not to bother after that. The stress of saying "no" to these hard-sell addicts was ruining our trips to nice places.

I will say that we finally DID find a timeshare that was worth the money, and provides extremely good value. Won't mention it here because of the subject. But I do tend to encourage my friends to visit them when they really are able to get into a timeshare. :mrgreen:
 
 
Never been, but mom & dad have done the time-share deals before and said it was a horrible experience.
This is our chance to change things, this is our destiny.
July 25th, 2008, 1:33 pm
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Liv
I show you something fantastic and you find fault.
 
Location: Greensboro, NC
Liv wrote:Never been, but mom & dad have done the time-share deals before and said it was a horrible experience.

What? Attending their sales presentation, or actually owning one? I never attend them, primarily because I learned long ago that the sales pitch can really mess with your mind. But the actual ownership of a timeshare... I've always been curious whether anyone who did buy felt it was worth the investment.
July 25th, 2008, 1:47 pm
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
Location: 5th circle of hell -- actually not very crowded at the moment.
As far as I know it was just the "free" spiel.... I guess they load you up and take you to some desolate place where they don't let you leave until you sign for a time-share.
July 25th, 2008, 2:14 pm
User avatar
Liv
I show you something fantastic and you find fault.
 
Location: Greensboro, NC
Liv wrote:As far as I know it was just the "free" spiel.... I guess they load you up and take you to some desolate place where they don't let you leave until you sign for a time-share.

LOL! It's almost that bad. But the view is always terrific. :mrgreen:
July 25th, 2008, 2:32 pm
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
Location: 5th circle of hell -- actually not very crowded at the moment.
I've no experience with timeshares, but they were covered in a recent podcast I listened to. Click on THIS and listen to the beginning of episode 137 of the Skeptic's Guide To The Universe. If you want.
July 25th, 2008, 7:11 pm
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Nfidel
 
Nfidel wrote:I've no experience with timeshares, but they were covered in a recent podcast I listened to. Click on THIS and listen to the beginning of episode 137 of the Skeptic's Guide To The Universe. If you want.

Neat stuff. This show isn't in iTunes?

Now as to the timeshare info... Yeah. It's interesting how these timeshare folks do business to sell their stuff. Makes me glad I bought my timeshare without that pathetic hassle. Thing is, when I'm on vacation, I never have this thought "Is the free gift worth a couple hours of my time?" When I'm on vacation, in a wonderful place... my time is priceless. These people have no draw for me at all.
July 25th, 2008, 7:33 pm
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
Location: 5th circle of hell -- actually not very crowded at the moment.

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