Help, Help Please

[Msturg29]

No military for us. Just want to travel to different places. Guess that’s everyone’s goal and why it’s easy to sell too schmucks like me who want a good deal.

 

[CPNY]

Ok ask thanks for the advice. For cancellation do i need to go to their office as well and hand them the letter as well? Or just mail?

Look over your contract, the instructions will be there. Going into the office to cancel and they will do their best to lie to you to make you keep your crap contract. The only way I’d go into the office is if that is in the instructions to cancel. Usually the contract says “if you want to cancel or make changes to the contract, send a letter to” then will list a specific address. The postmark date is key, and sending it certified is indisputable

 

[CPNY]

No military for us. Just want to travel to different places. Guess that’s everyone’s goal and why it’s easy to sell too schmucks like me who want a good deal.

Is RCI the system you want? Nothing wrong with owning, 99% of tuggers own. Buying resale is key along with owning in the right system for you

 

[Msturg29]

Cold hard truth @TheTimeTraveler.
I’ll get the docs ready and mail tomorrow.
Would love everyone’s advice on what i should do to get good value on travel 3-4 weeks a year (Mexico, London, Jamaica, USA).

 

[Msturg29]

@CPNY we currently have interval and it’s sucks. Is RCI better?

 

[CPNY]

Cold hard truth @TheTimeTraveler.
I’ll get the docs ready and mail tomorrow.
Would love everyone’s advice on what i should do to get good value on travel 3-4 weeks a year (Mexico, London, Jamaica, USA).

Where in Mexico? Most Jamaica resorts in RCI and Interval are all inclusive, and you’ll be forced to buy the AI packages per person for the length of the booking.

 

[CPNY]

@CPNY we currently have interval and it’s sucks. Is RCI better?

I have both..... I prefer II because of the better resorts. RCI seems to have more/higher fees. The quality of resorts in II are much better than RCI IMO.

I only purchased RCI points to book DVC units where I can.

 

[Passepartout]

The $8995 for an every 3 years 33K points is too much to pay for too few points. 33K is barely a usable number of points to exchange for a mid-tier 1 bedroom TS. Then there is the additional $125 PER YEAR to join RCI, AND roughly $250 exchange fee for EACH RCI exchange. This is ASSUREDLY NOT a good deal.

Get your rescission letter in Certified USPS mail TOMORROW, when the Post Office opens. DO NOT go to the sales room again. Those people are not your friends and are purely out for their commissions.

You can get an ANNUAL, RCI Points TS on eBay or TUG for between $1 and $100. ALL RCI memberships come with those 'Last Call' and 'Extra Vacations' for cash- no extras.

Jim

 

[bnoble]

i want it to be viable

Of course you do!

that’s everyone’s goal and why it’s easy to sell

A good timeshare salesperson is, first and foremost, a good salesperson. They usually won't directly tell you something that is just patently false. But, they will certainly leave some things unsaid, and allow you to draw your own conclusions. Because you want this to be true, guess which conclusions you will end up drawing?

There are probably weeks in RCI right now at those prices. But, they won't be prime resorts, they won't be at high-demand locations, and they won't be during peak seasons.

 

[Karen G]

Ok ask thanks for the advice. For cancellation do i need to go to their office as well and hand them the letter as well? Or just mail?

Follow the instructions exactly as written in your purchase contact. Don't go back to the sales office--they likely will not be helpful and may try to convince you not to rescind.
It's best to mail the letter at the post office and send it certified mail.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

My wife and i are in Vegas on vacation and bought the sapphire jockey club timeshare. We travel about 3-4 weeks a year and this looked like a great deal for 8995........

RESCIND
You can get Sapphire ( Geo Holidays ) - for free /$ 0 on TUG

Sapphire- Geo is at best - a mid market program & is likely very hard to give away for $ 0
*********
Once you have rescinded - start your research for you resale works .
TUG is a great resource. I would suggest you explore systems such as :

Wyndham - HICV - Hyatt - Hilton- Worldmark - Vistana ( Westin-Sheraton) - Marriott

Grandview LasVegas in RCI points is a good resale option for RCI access
and a lower MF for RCI points. - there are nuances that TUG members can explain.
it is part of the Vacation Village TS group.

 

[northwoodsgal]

Add me to the list of people who STRONGLY advise you to rescind the offer.

 

[Passepartout]

Cold hard truth @TheTimeTraveler.
I’ll get the docs ready and mail tomorrow.
Would love everyone’s advice on what i should do to get good value on travel 3-4 weeks a year (Mexico, London, Jamaica, USA).

This is good. As to where you want to travel, Mexico is easy-peasy- though they have discovered All Inclusive as a cash cow. London. VERY difficult as a TS. In Europe, people LIVE in cities and holiday (vacay to us) in the countryside. I know of nothing in Jamaica that isn't an all inclusive resort- best to go to outfits like 'www.cheapcaribbean' for those. USA, still needs to be booked as early as possible- especially during school holidays- for top shelf resorts. Those cash paid resort stays you were shown are leftovers. Usually less than prime TSs or off season- think beaches in Winter or ski resorts in mud season- or resorts that are generating bodies to attend sales presentations- like where you are now.

I hope we saved you nearly $9 Grand, plus the aggravation of getting screwed by those weasels. Let your jets cool a bit. It can take 45 days to see the refund of your funds. Go get a nice drink (or two) and dinner. You deserve it for dodging the bullet. If you'd like pay the $15 to join TUG. It'll go to a good cause and you can feel good about it. It will unlock your access to tens of thousands of reviews on thousands of resorts worldwide.

Welcome to TUG!

Jim

 

[elaine]

You have gotten wise advice: Do not continue to “enjoy” your vacation. Go to the post office tomorrow am spend $7 or so and send rescission letter certified mail return receipt ASAP. Make a copy of the letter you send. Then go enjoy your vacaction and likely spend way under $5k for a much better option after you read tug for at least a month.

 

[Iggyearl]

To the OP, everyone is correct. To reinforce the reasoning, google "Geo-Holidays complaints" and see what you get. Pissedconsumer.com may have the most, but others will chime in. The problem you have believing what a salesperson said is that there is a clause in every timeshare contract that states that you didn't use information from the salesperson to make the decision to buy the product. In other words, you can't believe everything you heard. Yo need to research this kind of purchase (and any other) in advance. This is a great place to do that.

 

[Mongoose]

Rescind. Buy a resale on your terms at your timing. There really is very little the developer can offer you that you cant get resale and save 90%.

 

[tschwa2]

No military for us. Just want to travel to different places. Guess that’s everyone’s goal and why it’s easy to sell too schmucks like me who want a good deal.

Can you give an example of the 349/449/549 they offered.
When you asked how will I know something will be available when I want to travel and he said with 6000 resorts something will be available he wasn't lying. But the availability might be someplace you have no desire to go to or don't want to go to Vegas, Branson, or Orlando in a decent but not top tier resort for the 3rd time this year.

 

[LannyPC]

Would love everyone’s advice on what i should do to get good value on travel 3-4 weeks a year (Mexico, London, Jamaica, USA).

Try renting. See what you can get on Expedia. See what owners are offering for rent on TUG, Red Week, E-Bay, etc. This gives you the opportunity to "try before you buy".

 

[Msturg29]

Hello All,

Based on all your quick responses and really re-enforcing my doubt on this purchase I sent the recind letter to Sapphire Time Shares this morning via certified mail with it dated for today (2 days after purchase).

All that said, does the idea that they sold to me actually exist? Can I buy a timeshare that allows me access to RCI and I would get what I want (within reason.. no New Year NYC) cheaper than Expedia?

Also how is RCI compared to Interval? I find my interval membership basically crap. I rarely get what I want for the week I want and have to go through Expedia or the like anyway. Their availability is weak.

Finally where should I start if I wanted to better understand what a good timeshare is (if there really is)?

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Don't jump into any purchase of a Timeshare too quickly. Study up, do your homework and narrow down your actual needs and desires. Read lots and lots of threads!

Once you figure that out where (or what) you want to buy, then go out and take it for a test drive; i.e. rent a week there. It could be an eye opening experience which will show you what you may want to buy, and could show you what you definitely don't want to buy.

Buy resale for just pennies on the dollar, and use LT Transfers to handle your deal; www.LTTransfers.com


.

 

[Karen G]

Hello All,

Based on all your quick responses and really re-enforcing my doubt on this purchase I sent the recind letter to Sapphire Time Shares this morning via certified mail with it dated for today (2 days after purchase).

All that said, does the idea that they sold to me actually exist? Can I buy a timeshare that allows me access to RCI and I would get what I want (within reason.. no New Year NYC) cheaper than Expedia?

Congratulations on rescinding! You are among the fortunate few who found TUG in time to rescind and you followed the good advice you got here. Well done!

As to your other question: I think the people who are most satisfied with their timeshare ownership are those who bought a timeshare where they wanted to go most of the time. They used their ownership themselves and didn't try to always be exchanging it for something else. Trying to rely on RCI Last Calls is rarely that satisfying because you have access to the leftovers usually. Maybe that's what your experience with II has been, too. Always trying to exchange for something better than what you own is very frustrating.

Often you can rent a timeshare for less than or close to the annual maintenance fee and you don't have the ongoing obligation of ownership & ever-increasing maintenance fees. Renting isn't a bad way to go.

 

[sfwilshire]

@CPNY we currently have interval and it’s sucks. Is RCI better?

I have both because one of my resorts is only affiliated with II. I like RCI much better, but I do manage to exchange sometimes with II.

A lot depends on where you want to vacation. RCI has far more choices than II. I struggle to use the weeks I deposit with II.

Sheila

 

[Msturg29]

@sfwilshire yes that’s my experience with II as well, can’t find what i wanted when i want it. I get like 2 free certificates a year that go unused because nothing good for me. I trade in my week as well, same. Ive gotten lucky with a2 room suite in Vegas, but it’s the first time in 2 years since i found something.

I’m trying to take my kids in June to Hershey, Gettysburg, then Niagara and II has nothing at all.
Wondering if i could save by finding a time share to rent for 3 days in Hershey and Expedia for the Buffalo hotel.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Per the deal it’s 8995 for 33K points tri-annually. This is 5 weeks across 3 years at the jockey club in Vegas or one of 28 other locations owned by sapphire.
This also includes free membership to RCI, where we get 249-549 weeks. No taxes no resort fees.

Glad you are rescinding. I call BS on the sales rep for no resort fees. RCI resorts define the resort fee and they can be hefty on top of the exchange fee. Run away!

In addition to paying hefty resort fees, exchangers get the worst rooms with the view of the parking lot or A/C. I also heard recently from Tuggers that some resort systems, namely Diamond, Westgate, and Wyndham will put exchangers in older non-refurbished units. Different experience. The resort could be a gold crown but not every building.

 

[tschwa2]

@sfwilshire yes that’s my experience with II as well, can’t find what i wanted when i want it. I get like 2 free certificates a year that go unused because nothing good for me. I trade in my week as well, same. Ive gotten lucky with a2 room suite in Vegas, but it’s the first time in 2 years since i found something.

I’m trying to take my kids in June to Hershey, Gettysburg, then Niagara and II has nothing at all.
Wondering if i could save by finding a time share to rent for 3 days in Hershey and Expedia for the Buffalo hotel.

No one has timeshares in Gettysburg or Niagara. Hershey has one time share. I think in summer hotel sites charge about $250-$300 a night for the Suites at Hershey and have very limited availability. Gettysburg is about an hour from Hershey. If you are staying in a hotel then don't stay in Buffalo if you want Niagara, wouldn't you want to stay in the Niagara area?