Should I Rescind?

[timeos2]

Most Orlando resorts are nice but flawed. Some seriously.

Having just returned from Orlando (for work meeting) - I do not know why anyone would want to buy a TS there other than for exchanging reasons. There are 1000s in a very small area - and most it seemed next to some sort of highway.

I stayed at the Marriott Sabal Palms (2Bd nonLO, ~1500sqft) for about $300 per night (rented via Marriott) when I could not get in the Marriott World Center (hotel). It was nice and recently remodeled, and much better than the hotel next door for about the same price, but tacky.. (as most things in Orlando are).

Thats why a smaller, sold out, owner controlled resort in a planned community just 1 mile from Downtown Disney appealed to us. It offers the nearly unheard of ability to walk to nearly every store/service you may want on sidewalks (!) - you can literally park the car and walk all week to what you want to do. It is a short drive (10-15min TOPS) to every attraction yet the planned setting offers quite streets, ponds, landscaping - a real neighborhood rather than a strip of development along a highway that requires a car to get to the amenities!

We bought when it was a vision. It has now matured into a nearly unique timeshare for the Orlando area and has been continuously upgraded to be competitive with newer resorts. It will never grow, fees are reasonable and we enjoy every trip back. THAT is why you buy in Orlando. I cannot say that for our one purchase we regret - Wastegate - too big, unkempt, tacky (to be kind), poorly managed and more. Same with one we are happy with but don't care for the Orlando locations they have - Wyndham - as they are either TOO large & isolated (BC - overwhelming size but near nothing for services) or have never really been finished as promised and meet the "next to the highway" bugaboo (Cypress Palms, others). Location and surroundings make the resort and only one has that for us. We are very glad we bought there and it would be the last we'd ever give up.

 

[jerseygirl]

David -- we need to turn you on to getaways. We stayed at SVR for less than $300 the week before last. We only stayed 3 of the 7 nights ... went on a Disney cruise for 4 of the nights, and it was nice to leave a bunch of our stuff in the SVR villa as we were on a 4-week marathon vacation and had overpacked just a wee bit!. Marriott World Center was in our backyard ... our view from the balcony. Nice, renovated Lakes unit (but I'm still grumpy about the lack of any starter coffee, shampoo and that the bed wasn't even made, let alone changed, during the midweek tidy -- felt sort of motel 6-ish, especially in light of the ridiculous maintenance fee increases).

 

[DavidnRobin]

This was a work-thing - and they paid (not me) and needed to be on-sight at the Marriott World center - Sabal Palms was a 5 minute walk. I spent the whole time indoors in a conference room at the World Center except to go see Phantom at night (having seen it in London in Sept - I was very disappointed). I did get to see parts of SVV and some unknown SVR from the freeway...

 

[dukebigtom]

Rescind?

I'm probably the odd man out here, but I have expressed this opinion on other boards too. I really sometimes question our logic in encouraging people to rescind a purchase. While I am all for buying timeshares on the resale market and saving people money, having people purchase from developers is also key to the future development of the timeshare industry, creating new resorts for us to enjoy and keeping some alive and well.

I also have seen situations where we encourage people to rescind and they find out they are too late and then just feel terrible about how badly they have been ripped off.

I do share the sentiment with some others that when someone has bought from the developer that we should just welcome them to timesharing, help them understand how to get the most out of what they just purchased and provide them info on how they can expand their portfolio in the future and save money through resales.

There you go - my two cents. Probably all that it is worth, but when I open the update e-mails and see the celebration of another person rescinding, there is a little piece of me that just doesn't feel good about it because while that person has clearly been helped, the developer has been hurt and in the long run, perhaps so have all of us who love to try new places and see resorts maintained with excellence.

Have a great day!

BigTom

 

[dukebigtom]

Rescind?

Sorry, somehow this got posted in the wrong place earlier. I clicked the "Yet another owner finds TUG in time to research product and rescind!" line in yesterday's Tug Newsletter.

I'm probably the odd man out here, but I have expressed this opinion on other boards too. I really sometimes question our logic in encouraging people to rescind a purchase. While I am all for buying timeshares on the resale market and saving people money, having people purchase from developers is also key to the future development of the timeshare industry, creating new resorts for us to enjoy and keeping some alive and well.

I also have seen situations where we encourage people to rescind and they find out they are too late and then just feel terrible about how badly they have been ripped off.

I do share the sentiment with some others that when someone has bought from the developer that we should just welcome them to timesharing, help them understand how to get the most out of what they just purchased and provide them info on how they can expand their portfolio in the future and save money through resales.

There you go - my two cents. Probably all that it is worth, but when I open the update e-mails and see the celebration of another person rescinding, there is a little piece of me that just doesn't feel good about it because while that person has clearly been helped, the developer has been hurt and in the long run, perhaps so have all of us who love to try new places and see resorts maintained with excellence.

Have a great day!

BigTom

 

[AwayWeGo]

Timeshare Companies Are Unnecessary To The Future Of Timesharing.

While I am all for buying timeshares on the resale market and saving people money, having people purchase from developers is also key to the future development of the timeshare industry, creating new resorts for us to enjoy and keeping some alive and well.

Shux, all the timeshare companies could vanish this afternoon & there will still be all the timeshare units to buy & sell & stay at & exchange into & rent out & rent into, etc., that we could ever want.

The presence of the timeshare industry is irrelevant to the existence of nice timeshare resorts for us to enjoy.

Keeping alive the ones that are already here is up to the elected homeowner associations -- i.e., the representatives of the regular walking-around timeshare owners themselves, once the timeshare companies are out of the picture.

I agree that it is unkind & unnecessary to rain on the parade of the full-freight timeshare buyers, once the rescission period is past. For those still in the cooling off period, however, the loudest & clearest & most helpful message is still Rescinda-Sinda-Sinda -- Get Out Of It While You Can.

Buy timeshares resale. Save thousands of dollars on the same thing, or the equivalent, or something even better.

Nothing the timeshare companies sell at full freight is worth the money.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Captron]

I think the very small impact of the people that come here and we convince to rescind would be unmeasurable to the large timeshare companies. I also believe that the impact on the individual of getting out and buying resale once educated and informed is likewise unmeasurable - but in the other direction.

I believe the HUGE amount of good we can do for these individuals is worth the MINUSCULE potential damage to the overwhelming and unethical sales machine!

That is why I will repeat my message to whomever asks it.

 

[DeniseM]

dukebigtom - Starwood is very, very expensive and people may be spending $50K - $100K or more for a single week of timeshare and financing it. There is no way that I can, in good conscience, with hold info. about rescinding, when they can buy resale and save 50-90%.

As far as maintaining the resorts - Starwood raises the maintenance fees on the Avg. of about 10% a year, so I am not the least concerned about that.