Hi, I am a Timeshare salesman who cant read the rules!

[Mister Sir]

I've just read through this entire thread while formulating rebuttals and replies and I finally realized the only thing I want to say is:

DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!

 

[silentg]

The first timeshare we bought was a little one bedroom in Vermont. We were young married couple with one little boy. I saw an ad in a local (Boston) newspaper, for a weekend in Vermont for $9.00. My husband did not take vacations and was working for all of us, I was home with the baby. I persuaded him to take the weekend off and go on this timeshare vacation. As we drove to the destination, I became disenchanted with the idea, it was way up in the mountains, we hit thunderstorms etc. We arrived and two salesmen, very nice welcomed us and showed us our timeshare. We were excited at the thought of staying here for a few days, but in the back of my mind said this is not what I want. We were given a tour, and food vouchers for local restaurants and a sales pitch. I was ready to; walk away, but my husband was impressed. The thing that got me to agree to this was my husband, he said he would have to take at least one week of vacation each year if we purchased it. It was a 30 year RTU. for $4,500. We made payments over 6 months. and maintenance fee was under 100 dollars a year. We joined II and exchanged a few years in. We went there when our kids were small, we had a daughter a few years after we bought. Had a few hiccups with the resort, changing hands, being closed etc. but I can honestly say we enjoyed that timeshare very much. Especially when we traded it thru RCI. It was a red 4th of July week. So we got the best trades for it,, lot of 2 bedrooms etc. Now to get to the point, I am happy with the timeshares we have purchased since. Have bought and sold a few here with the advice of Tug members. I do not go to sales presentations. I tell them I am on vacation and want to enjoy all the amenities that you promise me without taking personal time to do a tour. I politely tell them I don't want to waste your time or mine, sitting thru a sales presentation. I have learned so much about timeshares thru my fellow tug members. This is not a fluff site.

We also let each other know what to expect when they go somewhere new, and write reviews for each other. There are some group meetings if I can make them I try to go.
This is a hobby, vacation planning, I enjoy doing it. Glad I listened to my husband now we have 5 weeks and bonuses. More than enough!
Thanks for reading my long but explanatory post !
silentg

 

[presley]

Got bored of thread before the end of the first page and didn't read all the posts. Just wanted to let the OP know that s/he isn't the first or the last "timeshare salesperson" who has come here starting a thread to stir the pot and then run off crying later that day or at the very longest, a couple days later.

 

[theo]

Yessa!

You compare resale weeks to a rebuilt BMW with a salvage title, which certainly says a lot about how you approach the distinction between resale and developer purchased weeks. When we stay at a resort the unit we receive likely was occupied by a developer purchaser the week prior and after us. There is no fundamental difference between their stay and mine, with the same access rights at the resort, the same ability to use amenities and services, and the same experience throughout. In most cases the staff at the resort have no idea we are resale purchasers and don't care at all (only the sales office would care...).

Absolutely true and very well said. A hungry sales weasel might (i.e., will) always make futile attempts to fabricate imaginary differences between developer-direct and resale purchases but, in the end, can never truthfully or magically make them "different". I think we can rest comfortably assured that our intrepid visiting sales weasel simply isn't going to even touch that topic, since there is nothing he can possibly say to alter or impact the undeniable truth. If he comes back at all, it will be with some non-responsive, irrelevant commentary and deflection attempting to somehow sanitize the parallel universe in which he lives and sells.
Personally, I'm done with this troll right here and right now. YMMV.

It is irrefutably true that there would be no resales without original developer sales, but I choose to leave it to naive and uninformed others to pay those hefty, inflated developer prices (and sales weasel commissions), having failed to conduct adequate research before their purchase --- as is certainly their right and prerogative.

 

[billymach4]

Timeshare salesman have a job to do. We reap the benefits.

Have glanced over this thread, and what I am about to say may have already been written.

Mr Timeshare salesman Welcome to TUG. Thanks for participating. You and your peers must sell a product that has been marked up for various reasons. As we all know the product is resell-able.

Most resorts systems and developers are not interested in the resale end since they don't make as much $$$. Marriott has a decent resale program, but it is not well promoted at all. More like word of mouth here on TUG. A salesman at a sales center is not there to sell resale.

You guys sell first. The First buyer then sells on the open market, and finds out the value has depreciated. The resale market then determines the price by way of location, amenities, and demand.

It is that simple.

Please continue to promote your product. So we here on Tug can the educate the truth to the members and guests.

Thank you, and please come back.

 

[silentg]

This has become a pissing match! I was putting in a good word or two for TUG. Not begrudging the OP for his point of view. Not defensive of mine. I love TUG but the negative comments, especially after my last post are rude! If you have an opinion, please read what I had to say without commenting how bored you are. Sorry I am not the best story teller but I gave my honest assessment on the subject of tug, which is it is not FLUFF! We Tuggers need to be on the same side, not critical or bored by each other!
Silentg

 

[davidvel]

He probably works for a "lesser" company that's afraid of "moochers". I've never shown ID nor proof of marriage at a presentation.

 

[Beefnot]

This has become a pissing match! I was putting in a good word or two for TUG. Not begrudging the OP for his point of view. Not defensive of mine. I love TUG but the negative comments, especially after my last post are rude! If you have an opinion, please read what I had to say without commenting how bored you are. Sorry I am not the best story teller but I gave my honest assessment on the subject of tug, which is it is not FLUFF! We Tuggers need to be on the same side, not critical or bored by each other!
Silentg

I doubt anyone was bored by your posts in particular, and I enjoyed that last post of yours personally.

 

[Ken555]

I doubt anyone was bored by your posts in particular, and I enjoyed that last post of yours personally.

+1

Of course, a thread like this will have a predictable outcome...


Sent from my iPad

 

[1950bing]

Sorry guy, timeshare salesman lie and promise the moon to get you to sign.
The pressure cooker IS alive and well. I still say that buying a timeshare was the worst thing I have ever done.

 

[taterhed]

This has become a pissing match! I was putting in a good word or two for TUG. Not begrudging the OP for his point of view. Not defensive of mine. I love TUG but the negative comments, especially after my last post are rude! If you have an opinion, please read what I had to say without commenting how bored you are. Sorry I am not the best story teller but I gave my honest assessment on the subject of tug, which is it is not FLUFF! We Tuggers need to be on the same side, not critical or bored by each other!
Silentg

I think he meant he was tired of reading the troll's posts/replies on the first page. I read your story and liked it. Wish we had started earlier.... thanks for sharing. It was not boring. Not sure about being 'fluffy'

from my cell...

 

[silentg]

Thanks for the support, I should not take comments personal, but my point is not about Salesmen and their tactics, just let us enjoy our timeshare vacations. we bought them got them use them and love them. Now I want a fluffernutter!
silentg

 

[Timeshare Von]

I've just read through this entire thread while formulating rebuttals and replies and I finally realized the only thing I want to say is:

DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!

Pretty much, YEP!

 

[Timeshare Von]

Got bored of thread before the end of the first page and didn't read all the posts. Just wanted to let the OP know that s/he isn't the first or the last "timeshare salesperson" who has come here starting a thread to stir the pot and then run off crying later that day or at the very longest, a couple days later.

Pretty much . . . yep #2!

 

[Iggyearl]

He's probably gone but....

I am a "timeshare voyeur" who has lurked on this site for the past 2 years. Additionally, I have gone through the process of googling all the major timeshare players along with the words "problems, complaints, lies, regrets," etc. Quite an eyeopener.

Having followed so many threads on this site, I can't imagine the word "fluff" being used to describe the content or the members. I think that TUG members are intelligent, sophisticated, compassionate, caring and helpful. They like to vacation, and have the means to do so. Cost effectiveness is a major goal.

For the OP (who is probably gone), do you own one of your "full freight" retail timeshares which you purchased for your own use? How many timeshares have you sold to family, friends, and business associates outside of your company?

And for future reference - if I bought a timeshare from you today, and paid list price, what would you say to me in 6 months if I lost my wife, my job or my health? How would you help me? TUG would - but I don't know about you....

 

[Timeshare Von]

To the original poster . . . here is my long (nearly 35 years) history with the timeshare industry . . .

Bought my first timeshare sight unseen from a sales office in Crystal City, VA. They had a nice mock up of the development going in up in the Poconos. As a young 20 something single gal, I bought into the concept for the future. What I bought was a 13 year RTU with the potential to buy a 7 year add-on for 10% of my original purchase price. I did it gladly . . . and thoroughly loved my timeshare ownership.

Yes, I saw many changes as the timeshare industry evolved . . . mostly with RCI . . . and not to the benefit of T/S owners. Did you know that back in the day, if your spacebanked deposit with RCI was not used by another exchanger within something like 30 days out of your week's date, you got it back to use yourself . . . in addition to whatever exchange you got for the deposit? I benefited from that twice in my first few years ow ownership at Split Rock Resort.

As I approached the end of the 20 year RTU agreement, I knew I would want to own another timeshare. I actually did a presentation and bought at Wyndham Kingsgate in 2000 or 2001. It was a points contract for around $12,000 as I recall.

I learned of resale while still in town, so I rescinded that purchase when I purchased from a local resale office in Williamsburg. I paid $5,000 for a three bedroom lock-off at Kingsgate; fixed week #18. I used that thing a lot! We stayed there many time; with the lock-off we could deposit for two weeks at RCI. Often we could use the 1BR side to get a week in a 2BR unit in Hawaii. MANY TIMES we did that. Of course, that little "internal value" benefit went away too. With the advent of TPU with RCI, this resort was significantly devalued, so I gave it away here on TUG.

Some might say I overpaid for that timeshare. I owned it for over 10 years, went to Hawaii with it at least half a dozen times . . . and their MF's were pretty reasonable, so I feel we got decent value with it.

In 2002, I bought a floating 1-52 week in Waikiki from someone I connected with through eBay. Paid something just over $2,000 for a unit that would be convenient for a conference I had coming up the following year. The MF's were under $300 at the time. This little bargain was an outstanding investment as we have stayed there probably 3 or 4 times; rented it out to friends a few times . . . and bartered it for an RV swap up in Alaska for 4 years of use.

A couple of years later (2004) I acquired another fixed week, #13 at Wyndham Flagstaff for free. The previous owner had bought it when she was single. Living in the Phoenix area, she loved her late March week to get away from the desert. With family changes, however, she got to where with kids, she rarely used the ownership and didn't really use RCI for exchanges either.

She gave me the week for free, plus what was left of her RCI membership including two weeks in the spacebank. I paid for the transfer and title work; she was just happy to be free & clear of the MFs.

As mentioned above about the changes with RCI, this little gem became less valued in our ownership and vacation plans, so when the resort's POA/HOA offered a free deedback program a few years ago, we jumped on it. We didn't pay anything for it so we lost nothing in giving it back to them.

The last ownership we acquired which we also still own, is a small 77k point Wyndham contract given to me by my sister. They bought it back in the 90's but wasn't using it as much as their vacation style changed from timeshare weekend type stuff, to cruising. They weren't using the points and found it difficult to send friends/family due to the Wyndham gift certificate policy. So they just gave it away.

We were happy to just have it . . . and have used the points for some RCI exchanges and some Wyndham stays mostly for my work. We did stay at our "home resort" this past Christmas and really liked it. Sure 77k points isn't much, but it works for us.

So you see, other than buying that very first one from the developer, we've done pretty well with our ownership through the secondary/resale market. The key is to recognize when things stop working for you and not staying emotionally attached. Divest when you need to and you'll be fine.

At some point our Waikiki ownership or the Wyndham points contract may stop working for us . . . and we'll gladly pass them on. The good news is that the Waikiki is still having some resale value, not much, but enough to be worth selling it rather than giving it away.

I do not ever see there being a reason why a savvy owner needs to buy from a timeshare developer or sales agent.

Speaking of which . . . I should also say that my hubby and I worked for Northcourse as independent contractors back from 2005 to 2007. Are you familiar with them? If not, what I will tell you is that we were contracted to do "mystery shops" of a variety of timeshare sales offices. Several of the major players in the industry would contract to Northcourse to have their sales offices and staff shopped. During that two year period, we personally saw the dark underbelly of the beast, first hand. Some of the things we experienced were the very reasons why many are leery of timeshare salespeople. It was a lot of fun, actually being paid to shop timeshares . . . buy and rescind . . . and see just what lengths some companies and salesmen would go to get and keep a sale.

Well this has been a very long winded response. I actually doubt you've made it to the end. If you did . . . I'm amazed.

Best wishes . . . and have a nice Memorial Day Weekend.

 

[DeniseM]

The OP is the very personification of why I don't go to "owner's updates," or any other kind of TS sales presentations. You are wasting your breath (er fingers) on him.

 

[DaveNV]

The OP is the very personification of why I don't go to "owner's updates," or any other kind of TS sales presentations. You are wasting your breath (er fingers) on him.

No worries from me - I'm done responding to him. I tried to be kind, but it soon slipped into the same old rhetoric.

Once he defended the gifting as necessary in order to draw in potential buyers, then referred to those potential customers as "moochers," and went on to basically blame them for wasting HIS time, I knew it was all over. It's like a doctor blaming his patients for getting sick.

Dave

 

[LannyPC]

Years of public disdain for timeshare is ultimately the reason the resale market is so cheap. If the overall view was different so would the price.

The reason why "the resale market is so cheap" is because the supply far outstrips the demand. There are way more owners trying to sell than there are people wanting to buy. That's the simple law of supply and demand.

And by the way, I don't have a disdain for timeshares. I love staying in them.

 

[TimeShareProfessional]

Calm down everybody I was busy welcoming a new family to the wonderful world of timeshare. I will respond to everyone just give me a few... Sales weasel is pretty funny! Actually I have a B.A. in Comp Sci but I work less and make wayyyyy more helping families IMPROVE their vacation life style.

Why the name calling??? Are you guys all doctors or something...

 

[TimeShareProfessional]

Also I'm pretty disappointed no one even attempted to answer the fine example I posted earlier in the thread. Ultimately the answer would have been both timeshares and BMW are known for luxury. While BMW has enjoyed praise, timeshare is essentially thrown under the bus. Keep in mind both are indeed LUXURY items.

Ronpraise? Hotels are simply a product. If you pay attention to them, 1 in 3 or 4 tv commercials is a hotel advertisement ie Priceline, Expedia etc... If you were to book a room at your favorite hotel, you would most likely use one of these sites to do so. If you knocked on 10 doors on the same floor, do you think everyone paid the same rate??

Lets say it costs $10mil to build a new Hilton hotel with 120 rooms. Each room goes for an avg. of $119. Do that math for a day, then a week, then a month and then finally a year.

Yet hotels are not a scam Have you ever lost sleep at said hotel wondering what your neighbor paid? Personally it has never crossed my mind.

 

[TimeShareProfessional]

BMWguynw You started out with such intelligent conversation, but the moment you hit a wall you went to the classic poo throw. First of all, I said the industry has such terms. The same as sales weasel for example has been tossed at in the last few posts. Second, I never said families were wasting my time, though a lot of reps often feel this way. I am grateful for any opportunity I have to help a family and make a sale. It is after all, my profession.

You also never answered my question about a free sales presentation! It's OK though I already know the answer. Consumers as a whole have been conditioned to repel sales people. For example; You're at your favorite clothing store looking for the pair of jeans you saw your favorite celebrity wearing. The sales associate at said store walks up to you, says a quick "hello" and asks if you need help finding anything. Knowing good and well exactly why you are there coupled with the fact that you still haven't located those jeans, you still respond with the classic "No thanks, I'm just looking" Why? He is attempting to sell you something.

 

[TimeShareProfessional]

And finally, if resale is such a great value and you all seem to be against the weasel developers, why not pay more for the resale? Why not help the very people you attempt to "defend" with your TUG jobs (sorry too good to pass up moderators) by simply saying something along the lines of:

"You know what, that awful company over charged you for that timeshare. I feel your pain. Wow! You paid $20k for that timeshare yet your listing it for $100. Rather than rip you off, why don't I pay you $6k" Thats 1/3 the retail price. Seems pretty fair for both sides.

The reality of the situation is what I said earlier. You care as much about that person as you say the developers do. The full scope is this. If sou spend $2500 a year RENTING vacations for the next 10 years you will spend $25000 correct?

If you spend $20k on a timeshare, use it for 10 years and then sell it for $100 did you not get a better return on your vacation dollar and have more quality vacations for the same money?? I know most of you have heard the example in same shape, form or fashion yet it's true. Renters don't sell receipts, owners have an opportunity to recoup at least some of the dollars they traveled on. :deadhorse:

*Mic drop*

 

[Jason245]

I thought I asked you some relevant and important questions. Are you going to answer any of them?

 

[slip]

You're comparisons are the most ridiculous ones I've ever heard of. I Think you
Know what your saying is incorrect. If not, do a little more research here on
TUG and then you'll find out.