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Don't say I didn't tell you

MOXJO7282

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My BIL who is doing very well for himself calls me to ask my advise on a trip for his 25th wedding aniv in Jan. Believe me when I say he could easily afford flying 1st class anywhere he wanted and stay at the nicest of resorts, that's how loaded this guy is.

He had done some research and wanted to go somewhere warm. Even though I could've used to receive some value, I had a few cheap alturnatives for him via an unused II cert that were Marriotts. I was only going to charge him for the exchange fee and the guest cert.

Some units at the Aruba Surf were avail, as was a few Royal Cancuns. If he was smart he would have jumped at my offers, but as successful as he is, nobody ever accused him of being smart. Cheap is what he is, and to think its for his 25th aniv and money is no object for him.

So what does he do? He signs up with GR Solaris in Cancun for a timeshare tour and is receiving 5 days all-inclusive for $249, about what he would have incurred through me.

So I instruct him to Tripadvisor which shows just dozens of "beware" of the horrid food/drinks and the timeshare sharks. I try to convince him to avoid but he's cheap and stupid and says, "How bad can the food be?".

He also thinks the presentation will be no big deal even though others have warned him. He thinks he can just walk out at 90 minutes and that is it.

So to probably save $500-$700 he is forcing his wife that gave him 4 beautiful kids and 25 years to go through this presentation and accept the poor food. I told him he was being penny wise and pound foolish but he didn't want to listen and booked it already. I told him he will get what he paid for plus alot of aggrigation.

I told him "don't say I didn't tell you" when you get back because in my mind there is very little chance he will enjoy his vacation. I hope I'm wrong.
 

sail27bill

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You know, you could be talking about my sister-in-law.:eek: She is very well off and does things like this to save a few bucks. She always ends up complaining in the end, so I have given up trying to help her vacation plan. Heck after this Christmas, I don't think I will speak to her again, but that is another story and my brother's problem, not mine.

Just be happy in the thought that you tried to do the right thing. When it backfires, and it probably will, at least you warned him. Hopefully you can get good use out of the II accommodation certificate instead and have a wonderful time. People like this will never learn, so unfortunately, it is what it is. I feel for your BIL's wife, but after 25 years, I am sure she knows exactly what he is like.

Kudos to you for trying to be a good brother-in-law.:cheer:

Anita
 

MOXJO7282

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You know, you could be talking about my sister-in-law.:eek: She is very well off and does things like this to save a few bucks. She always ends up complaining in the end, so I have given up trying to help her vacation plan. Heck after this Christmas, I don't think I will speak to her again, but that is another story and my brother's problem, not mine.

Just be happy in the thought that you tried to do the right thing. When it backfires, and it probably will, at least you warned him. Hopefully you can get good use out of the II accommodation certificate instead and have a wonderful time. People like this will never learn, so unfortunately, it is what it is. I feel for your BIL's wife, but after 25 years, I am sure she knows exactly what he is like.

Kudos to you for trying to be a good brother-in-law.:cheer:

Anita

You're absolutely right. I've tried over the years to offer him any of my units at MF costs and he refused because he says I should offer them for free to him. I don't know why I keep trying to help them because he just will never get it.

9 out of 10 people would have realized my offer was not only at a much nicer resort, but the "value" was better. Tripadvisor comments just had so many negative reviews about the food and drinks I don't know how he could have accepted it.

They also talked about how the one decent restaurant jerked around with reservations with guests having to call at 8am to reserve which wasn't easy to get through. they said if you didn't get the reservation by 8:15am you were out of luck for that day. And to make matters worse, even if guest never showed up for their reservation they wouldn't give the table to someone else, so it was hard to reserve and even if there were empty tables you couldn't get seated without reservation. So some would say they couldn't get through in the morning and then saw many open tables but still couldn't dine there.



He was quick to point out the good reviews but it was so obvious some of the good ones were shills for the resort. Even if they weren't there were so many negatives most would go near with a 10 foot pole.
 

Passepartout

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Maybe, just maybe, buying stuff on the cheap is why they are 'well off?' We've been accused of being cheap when we travel much more thriftily than we could, but since we were brought up by 'children of the depression', we came by cheapskateness honestly. Older cars, smaller house, resale timeshares, reuse, repair, recycle whenever possible.

Jim
 

vacationhopeful

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This is YOUR wife's relative - a brother?

Have your wife contact his wife - have your wife provide the TripAdvisor reports. Let his wife accept YOUR OFFER - and YOU give them the holiday. After all, if they had a big anniversity dinner, you would have brought over the wine and a gift, wife would have brought a dress, babysitting for the kids with movie and pizza, and maybe even an overnight at a hotel or travel costs for your family.

I gift my assorted (idiot) siblings/relatives all the time .... for special occasions. Now, a normal vacation: NO WAY - they pay my costs.

And as for my every 5 year birthday party week (10 days last time) - I pay for ALL the T/S accomondations; they pay for all my food, drink, entertainment, tee shirts, etc. And they love coming. The next Birthday Party Week is in Kauai for 2 weeks in April 2012 - for 4 couples and me.
 

am1

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What are the chances that he buys and wastes thousands in the process?
 

Timeshare Von

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After 40+ years of T/S ownership, I am no longer "an owner"

DaveNV

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Sounds like the husband of a close friend. He's the cheapest know-it-all on the planet, and nobody can ever tell him anything. He's first in line to tell me how much he admires the vacations we take, and how envious he is, but the last one to listen when I try to offer him tips on how they can improve the quality of their own vacations. Nothing I ever say about this kind of thing hits home, and he comes back from their trips complaining on how things didn't work out like they expected, and how he wishes he could do things like we do. Huh???

I never seemed to get my tips across to the guy, so finally stopped trying. Now I just smile and nod when he complains about their lousy vacations. I guess some people just never learn.

Dave
 

Sea Six

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He'll find out how bad the Timeshare sharks are in Cancun by the time he leaves the airport on his way to the resort! Those guys are obnoxious!
 

dmharris

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Another caution: For these previews they often put you up in small, undesirable accommodations, not nice views or locations. One more coal for your fire, Joe.
 

am1

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He'll find out how bad the Timeshare sharks are in Cancun by the time he leaves the airport on his way to the resort! Those guys are obnoxious!

Maybe, but people still buy.

The sales person could close this guy easily. Stress how much money one can save by buying. If you are an owner you would have someone take care of the dinner reservations, get the best view at the resort, etc. What the OP "brother in law" does is easy and with an ownership at said resort you could get even better trades. If the OP purchased resale the sales person will just bring up all the additional benefits are included with buying from the resort.

Also if he buys he will be able to walk away.

If the BIL has second thoughts he seems more likely to believe the sales person than the OP.

This may not happen in this situation but it happens a lot. The sales people just need a few hooks to make a sale.
 

MOXJO7282

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My BIL would never buy a TS. I offered him to get in on the ground floor of my Marriott TS portfolio and the main reason he wouldn't was because he was certain a hurricane would come and wipe out the resorts.

He isn't wealthy because he's "thrifty", he's wealthy because he was a penny stockbroker when those guys were making a killing. He earned alot of money on other's people's lossess, including some of mine.

His logic, just like in this case ends up costing him more in the long run. I'm certain he will end up paying more in this case as he does with most things he buys in the form of edible food and drinks. And he will most certainly regret the TS demo.

Here's another example. We both bought BBQ grills about 8 years ago. I bought a Weber and he bought the cheapest one on the shelf. I told him at the time that "you get what you pay for" and he will end up owning 3 to my 1 Weber and performance would suffer big time.

This was when he was really doing well and he looked at me and said his philosophy was to buy the very cheapest and get the most out of it and replace when it starts to underperform. In his mind in doing that he would spend much less money over the long run and get similar service.

Now there is definitely some sense to his comments and I'll do this in maybe not buying the very top of the line but something a peg or so down from that. His problem was he was so cheap he'd buy the very cheapest product and would get bad performance right away and defects in workmanship. So when I spent $499 he spent $149 and the second one he's purchased has been crappy for years and he's again looking to purchase his 3rd while mine is still performing at 95% effeciency.

The strange thing is all that matters to him is the price. He'll come back and acknowlegde it was gross but won't be too bothered by it because he got the great deal. He'll be like "Hey what do you want for $300 for the week".

I try to help him because he is family and I do consider him a friend to some degree. He's not a bad guy, just very misguided. We're just on polar opposites when it comes to being smart with our money and he never considers anyone elses opinion, to his own detrement.
 
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MOXJO7282

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Its also funny that he just dismisses every concern I raise.

Like this one below.


He does like top shelf booze but doesn't want to pay for it of course. I saw the offer and it read " Unlimited domestic drinks by the glass" I told him he better find out what that means because reviewers have said the domestic beer and alcohol was horrid and he just dismissed it. I told him that is where they get you and he said he would get the guy to put in writing that the $289 includes top shelf and that the presentation would be no more than 90 minutes. I told him to dream on.

So he asks and this is what the guy says. "The alcohol includes imported brands like Vodka, Gin, and Whiskey. The bartenders will be very accomodating to your requests" Regarding the TS demo the guy says " All you have to do is say no and they won't hold you much beyond 90 minutes if at all"

And my BIL accepted that to mean he'll get top shelf if he asks nicely and will be spared the ugliness of the demo if he just says no.

Hey he got his price so that is all that matters to him.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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I never seemed to get my tips across to the guy, so finally stopped trying. Now I just smile and nod when he complains about their lousy vacations. I guess some people just never learn.

Dave
I remember having an "ah ha" moment with a family member like that when I realized that the person simply had a fundamental psychological need to complain. It probably wouldn't have made any difference if that thing hadn't had those problems they were complaining about; they would have simply found something else wrong about it.

I realized that on some subconscious level the individual always set things up so that afterward there would be something they could complain about.
 

MOXJO7282

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I remember having an "ah ha" moment with a family member like that when I realized that the person simply had a fundamental psychological need to complain. It probably wouldn't have made any difference if that thing hadn't had those problems they were complaining about; they would have simply found something else wrong about it.

I realized that on some subconscious level the individual always set things up so that afterward there would be something they could complain about.

The interesting thing about my BIL as I alluded to is he will complain but will accept it like he didn't know about it or had no control over it. Then he's like "hey I only spent $300".

And its kinda of ackward because I'm trying to nicely point out that it is his 25th anniv and for just $700 or less he can have a much better time and no TS demo hassle. I'm trying not to call him cheap to his face.

All he says is he just wants to park himself at the pool bar and if he's not at an all inclusive he will pay much much more.

He is just one of those people that doesn't consider anyone's else recommendation and creates his own truth no matter how ever illogical it is.
 

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We both bought BBQ grills about 8 years ago. I bought a Weber and he bought the cheapest one on the shelf. I told him at the time that "you get what you pay for" and he will end up owning 3 to my 1 Weber and performance would suffer big time.
.

Two notable quotes come to mind.

“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey.”
― John Ruskin



“When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.”
― John Ruskin
 

pjrose

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MOXJO7282

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+1 more



^^Famous Last Words ^^
I'll bet he falls for the lines about what a great investment it is.



Me too!

I really would love to be there. He thinks he's going to manage the demo and get out after 90 minutes. This is coming from a TS neophyte who has no clue how it works, even though Tripadvisor reviewers told a very cautionary tale.

And he is the type that may just walk out on them. I told him they will make him sign something that you don't get the cheap rates unless you stay until the end but he's an expert so he knows it all. I wouldn't put it past him to walk out in frustration and end up paying the higher rates which were like $500 more.

Then he'll come home and be like " I still only paid $800." He's a real piece of .... work.
 

Sea Six

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I'd also bet that after trying to sell him a timeshare, they will try to keep him another hour trying to sell discount tickets to Chichen Itza, Xcaret, Tulum, and everywhere else people go.
 

artringwald

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Two notable quotes come to mind.

“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey.”
― John Ruskin



“When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.”
― John Ruskin

I hadn't heard of John Ruskin before, but I love his attitude.
 

Patri

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Dollars to dimes he buys a timeshare. And will miss the rescission period after he gets home.
 

MOXJO7282

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Dollars to dimes he buys a timeshare. And will miss the rescission period after he gets home.

Then he'll call me and ask how to best use it. This scenerio is not totally out of the question because don't Mexico TS sharks try to sell you on how you can turn one week into 10 somehow? He'll think "vacations at $1 a night, who cares if I have to sleep in a dump."
 

ronparise

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Be glad this guy doesn't take your advice...if he does, and his vacation isnt perfect,,,Who is to blame??
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Then he'll call me and ask how to best use it. This scenerio is not totally out of the question because don't Mexico TS sharks try to sell you on how you can turn one week into 10 somehow? He'll think "vacations at $1 a night, who cares if I have to sleep in a dump."
Yeah - a common pitch is that you can always rent your week, and they quote you the resort rack rates as your rental income. They compare that to your maintenance fees and show you how that pays for the unit.

Often it's packaged as buying a certain number of weeks, which you can take any time over a period of years. So you take four of them per year, rent three to pay the fees for the four, and get that fourth week for free. Of they include a certain number of bonus weeks of some type with your purchase - you then rent those to pay for the annual fees.

Of course, there is no rental guarantee. They often connect the buyer with some type of rental agency that takes an upfront fee and does nothing.

A few years later the buyer realizes they have been had, but by then the sales person is long gone, the opportunity to rescind is vanished, and the person discovers that nothing that was promised was actually written into the contract.
 
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