amusing article that discusses the stigma of timeshare ownership

http://www.newportnewstimes.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=91&story_id=44884

was an entertaining read at least!

Pretty funny.

I don't 'hide' that I own timeshare, but I also don't start conversations about it. If someone asks about the trips we take, I'll openly talk about the mileage we've gotten out of our resale t/s, and all the great trips over the past 12 years or so.

Most of our friends probably wouldn't buy a t/s, not even resale. But they sure do enjoy coming along on the trips!

I am very reluctant to admit I own, even though I bought resale 2 Point Memberships and 1 floating week I resold.

I often tell people that I own them, and that I'm probably the only person they've ever met who loves timeshares. And then I tell them I own 10.

I'm surprised how many times people will reply and tell me they own one too, but they are obviously embarassed about it (likely because they don't know how to use what they own.)

Interesting. Thx for the post.

Best,

Greg

Yeah funny article. I've also noticed the same thing, people fess up to owning one after I mention we are staying in one. People give me a shocked look when I mention that we own more than one. I think its two reasons, they realize that they spent to much and as Greg said they don't know how to use what they have.

Ian

I don't usually talk about it for a few reasons:
- I don't want to be perceived as a sucker
- most people are extremely ignorant about timeshares and I don't always feel like educating them
- most people have different vacation preferences than I do (they like more variety, they don't care about a kitchen, etc)

But when I do talk about them, if someone seems interested in buying I tell them to buy resale, not from the developer.

VegasBella said:

I don't usually talk about it for a few reasons:
- I don't want to be perceived as a sucker
- most people are extremely ignorant about timeshares and I don't always feel like educating them
- most people have different vacation preferences than I do (they like more variety, they don't care about a kitchen, etc)

But when I do talk about them, if someone seems interested in buying I tell them to buy resale, not from the developer.

Click to expand...

Agree with all your points, i mentioned it with a few friends, but many of my co-workers roll their eyes at timeshares.

Lively discussion on TUG a while ago!

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208517&highlight=own++a+Timeshare

I somewhat "brag" about our timeshare. I will say we "have a place" in Northern Vermont. If they ask more questions, I will say it's a condo and if they persist on more info, I will with honestly answer it is a timeshare and we own two weeks in two seasons. A lot of people don't even understand what timeshares are, believe it or not. I am so happy to have a "second home" to visit for vacations twice a year, with 2 more added through rentals from other owners.I am actually proud of it! I think some are jealous that I go away more than a week per year! Sure- some people might think we are stupid for owning a timeshare, but we are happy and that's all that counts!

Funny article and reasonably accurate.......but that's not me. I have an entire web page dedicated to photos of the timeshares we own and the timeshares we've visited. I haven't wpseen to many personal websites rpod hotel rooms where people have vacationed. We ARE proud of our timeshares and the vacations we take. We also warn others it's not necessarily the vacation lifestyle choice for the majority of travelers.

I just realized...

So this forum is like AA for timeshare owners. "Hi, my name is Brett and I own a timeshare."

Oh, dang ... I just plain out and out lie. I refer to my TS weeks as my condo in South Florida. I even have pictures. Great location. Blue ocean and sand pictures all look the same to people who are freezing cold with snow under their feet.

IT's like I have a second vacation home, all over the place. And when I am there I am not repainting something or fixing something or check ing out the damage from the renters....no I let marriott or disney do that I just go and enjoy!
Although I do wish I had known about resale before.....
But that is water under the bridge and I just "make the best of it".....in maui, ko olina, paris, disney, rome.....

Silly article--but he's a comedian and silly can be funny

I don't share the author's experience with only Pollyanna timeshare salespeople. On a visit to a Hilton property we were offered the usual 90-minute presentation by the concierge. We said we didn't care to get the premium (a $200 AmEx gift card), because all we wanted was to find out about the new development across the street. She was very insistent that it was just fine if that's all we wanted but we still qualified for the premium. Should have known better.

We spent at least an hour of the 90 minutes sharing mutual gloom with the sales guy who openly accused us of just doing it for the freebies. We said just give us the information we want, skip the premium, and let us stop wasting each others' time. No--we must wait the entire time and he would tell us what we wanted to know at the end.

I understand salespeople exercising every tool in the box to try to close a sale (at least until the recision kills it), but that was the strangest strategy I've ever seen.

I'm happy with how my wife and I have managed our timeshare purchases (some developer, but mostly resale after the first couple) into many wonderful vacations for ourselves, family and friends, and donations of full week-stays in Hawaii to charity auctions. It takes a lot of management of both your time and the reservation rules of timeshares and trading companies, but we had some wonderful vacations as a result.

We did a lot of them

hugh6m said:

I don't share the author's experience with only Pollyanna timeshare salespeople. On a visit to a Hilton property we were offered the usual 90-minute presentation by the concierge. We said we didn't care to get the premium (a $200 AmEx gift card), because all we wanted was to find out about the new development across the street. She was very insistent that it was just fine if that's all we wanted but we still qualified for the premium. Should have known better.

We spent at least an hour of the 90 minutes sharing mutual gloom with the sales guy who openly accused us of just doing it for the freebies. We said just give us the information we want, skip the premium, and let us stop wasting each others' time. No--we must wait the entire time and he would tell us what we wanted to know at the end.

I understand salespeople exercising every tool in the box to try to close a sale (at least until the recision kills it), but that was the strangest strategy I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

My late wife had high sales resistance as do I, and neither of us had any compunction about taking the premiums. We took several of these gigs for the free stay and gifts. In fact, when we were called on the phone and invited, I would often negotiate for better gifts before agreeing to go. "What do you mean, an AM/FM/cassette boom box? How about a color TV?" We even told the recruitment agency "Look, we've gone on a couple of these this year already. We never buy." to which the response was "Look, we don't care. We get paid if you're qualified and attend, regardless."

We had a variety of responses ranging from the salesperson plodding tonelessly through the entire presentation to responses of grunts and um-hums; to one who said after 15 minutes "Look, I know you're not going to buy. Let's not waste your time and mine. I'll get your gifts."

Talking about strange strategies, the one I remember best was one who angrily said "Look, we're tired of you folks who come for the free gifts and never buy. If you don't buy from me today, I'll blacklist you and you'll never get a call from a resort again." My response was "No more calls during dinner? Nooo Problem!" And the calls indeed kept coming.

My wife is gone--nine years now--but my girlfriend and I took a great 4 days at the Wyndham Old Town in Alexandria over Christmas last year. I was all prepared for the discussion with eBay and TUG prices for their units but didn't even have to show them. Just a very pleasant low-key chat.

Larry

More Funny Stuff

As long as we have a thread concerning resorts and funny stuff, here are some comments received by a famous British travel agency regarding resort bookings they made for their clients.

THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS"FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:
1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."


2. "Its lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during siesta time -- this should be banned."


3. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."


4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."


5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."


6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."


7. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."


8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."


9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."


10. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."


11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."


12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."


13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."


14. "The brochure stated: No hairdressers at the resort. We are trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."


15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."


16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."


17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."


18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."


19. "My fiancee and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

vacationhopeful said:

Oh, dang ... I just plain out and out lie. I refer to my TS weeks as my condo in South Florida. I even have pictures. Great location. Blue ocean and sand pictures all look the same to people who are freezing cold with snow under their feet.

Click to expand...

You're not alone. I've heard many people talk about "their condos" in Hawaii or Florida but after asking questions I realize that they're talking about a timeshare. Many of them don't even realize anyone might consider it a lie. They actually think "condo" and "timeshare" mean the same thing!

Maybe I'm in the minority but I have no hesitation about telling folks I own a timeshare. I usually say something like- we were at our Marriott timeshare in North Palm Beach or we used our Marriott timeshare to go to (Hawaii) (France) (Disney World) (Newport Beach) (Fill in the blank).

It often starts a timeshare conversation where I will explain that it is the best investment I ever made and allows me to gift vacations to my daughters or go to diverse places all over the world. I even gained one referral bonus out of such a conversation.

I often mention vacationing with timeshares. In the same breath I usually say they're great, and a good value, as long as you buy resale. I've met tons of people in our area (Rochester and Buffalo NY) that own timeshares. It's cold up here and we like to travel to warm places, lol!

No Bones About It

Fun article. My wife and I actively acknowledge our t/s ownership (9 of them!) and that it allows us access to better accommodations and the opportunity to save some on food (and at least try to hold the waistline in trim) when we travel. We've even helped a couple of highly disillusioned t/s buyers learn how to use and appreciate their units via travel strategies education.

This entire thread has been amusing.