6 ms·

"Never, ever, no matter what, go to a timeshare presentation"

67 points by fortran77 3y ago

fortran77 3y ago
> Fortunately even timeshare owners get to die, but the company isn’t done with you yet. The perpetuity clause in most of these contracts means that the timeshare will become part of your estate—one of your beneficiaries is going to get stuck with those fees for the rest of her life, if she doesn’t file a so-called disclaimer of interest by her state’s deadline. Wow! I had no idea you could sign a contract that obligates your benificiaries after your death.
- ano-ther 3y ago
  Debt is sometimes inherited, particularly on home equity. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-you-inherit-debt/ https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-you-inherit-...
  - ceejayoz 3y ago
    Only if you wanna keep the house it’s attached to. If it’s underwater and there’s not much else to the estate, you can reject the house and it’s debt. They can only collect the difference from the estate’s assets. (Never co-sign for someone!)
    - trogdor 3y ago
      >Never co-sign for someone! Unless you’re prepared to write off the entire amount as a gift. (Though in that case, it’s probably better to just give them the money. After all, there’s a reason their signature is insufficient on its own.)
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > I had no idea you could sign a contract that obligates your benificiaries after your death. You do any time you buy property subject to an HOA with fees (which is, in fact, how lots of timeshares are structured.)
- gitfan86 3y ago
  Anyone can make a claim against an estate. But there is a deadline usually 6 months to a year after the death where the estate can be closed. Even when someone makes a claim the executor of the will can tell a judge that they don't think the claim is valid. So it comes down to the timeshare company needing to know about the death and filing a claim quickly enough and a judge accepting the claim as valid.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    Its not an existing debt. its a periodic obligation which creates a new debt on a reoccurring schedule tied to heritable real property, similar to (and often literally) an HOA fee, so to avoid it you have to actively stop the property from being inherited the way it usually would be, the timeshare conpany doesn't need to make a claim against the estate.
    - mindslight 3y ago
      If the property gets inherited, then wouldn't any obligation for maintenance payments exist purely as an encumbrance on the property? Like if the claim to the property is transferred via operation of law or even deed of executor, the recipient hasn't entered into any contract to make ongoing payments. Meaning if they don't pay, the worst that can happen is the property gets foreclosed upon? Or is there some other legal aspect I'm missing?
      - toast0 3y ago
        Depends on state law, they may be able to get a judgement against you for costs incurred above the foreclosure value, and it may depend on the type of foreclosure procedure if judicial and non-judicial are available; similar to how in some states a mortgage lender can get a judgement for the load balance and costs above the foreclosure auction value. I'm guessing a timeshare foreclosure shows up on credit reports, and in the period between when they figure out you're not likely to pay and when they file for foreclosure, that you're past due on those payments will likely also show up, and I'm sure they'll try to convince you to pay.
- klyrs 3y ago
  I know exactly the cousin to foist this on... should I be such a fool in the first place.
  - flir 3y ago
    New timeshare business model there. Find people with six months to live who really hate their cousin.
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  It’s just another bit of the scam. You aren’t under any obligation to accept a bequest of this nature. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/inheriting-timeshares https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/inheriting-timesh...
toomuchtodo 3y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2bbHoVQSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2bbHoVQSM (“Timeshares: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”)
- sillyfluke 3y ago
  My preferred educational video is the South Park episode on timeshares. Great and accurate to a T.
  - panick21_ 3y ago
    Literally every topic in South Park
  - mauvehaus 3y ago
    Pizza/French fries
  - SilasX 3y ago
    Great episode, but no, not completely accurate, unless a) every exit you take leads to another sales pitch, b) they illegally detain you, and c) local police refuse to do anything about that because they work for the timeshare people. Btw for those who are interested, the episode is Asspen (s6e2): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asspen?useskin=vector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asspen?useskin=vector
mplewis 3y ago
I mean, don’t go to one if you’re susceptible to this sort of sales presentation. If you can withstand two hours of a pressure cooker, you can get an excellent deal on a multi-night resort vacation.
- gitfan86 3y ago
  If someone is known to be a high pressure sales person that takes advantage of people I wouldn't expect them to actually follow through on the gift that was offered for staying
  - mplewis 3y ago
    These places offer you a gift in a legally enforceable contract which is contingent on you attending a specific duration of the timeshare sales pitch.
  - birdyrooster 3y ago
    It's really not that bad, I just tell them there is no way they are making a sale, that they made a mistake to ever let me come, and they let me go early.
    - trogdor 3y ago
      When I was much younger, my ex and I used to do this somewhat frequently. It always worked. Timeshare salespeople don’t want to waste their time trying to sell to someone who knows what’s up, came solely for the promotional gift, and is categorically not going to buy. Sometimes we had to refuse to play their numbers games, when they asked for our income so they could “show” us just how good a deal their crap was, but we never had to sit through a full presentation. We went on a fun, totally free cruise courtesy of one of those companies. Good times.
- BeetleB 3y ago
  > If you can withstand two hours of a pressure cooker, Big mistake. Don't assume it will be only two hours.
ProjectArcturis 3y ago
Ah, Caitlin Flanagan, chronicler of the many modest tribulations of the upper middle class, back again to tell us about the immense anxiety she experienced when, um, she sat through the sales pitch she signed up for. Timeshares are obviously a scam, but why did I just read 5000 words about how she agreed to go on a discounted vacation in exchange for a timeshare pitch, and that's exactly what happened. The hotel was fine. The sales pitch was a sales pitch. She wasn't detained or assaulted or forced into anything. Her husband seems like an absolute saint and I can't imagine why he puts up with her.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  True, it's exactly what happened. But the point is, there are people who are a lot better at making you want to buy something than you are at resisting their tactics. Think twice before you voluntarily put yourself in their hands, even for a discounted vacation.
  - coldtea 3y ago
    That's the bait. The real point of the article is to showcase the upper middle class lifestyle, philosophy of the world, and petty concerns.
    - chiefalchemist 3y ago
      It's so kind of the elites to go out of their way to protect us from ourselves. If the elties were truly benevolent and generous, they would instruct us on how we protect us from them. Funny how they're never *that* insightful.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Mistletoe 3y ago
  “The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and about all time.“ -George Bernard Shaw
icedchai 3y ago
I was on vacation with a (now-ex) girlfriend. She wanted to go to a timeshare tour and presentation so we could get free theme park tickets. We went. Big mistake. We were there for several hours, then they had us meet with some sales rep which droned on for another hour. After claiming poverty and refusing to sign any contracts, we were given our free tickets... I would've rather paid for them.
- Loughla 3y ago
  We did that as well, to get three free nights in a resort. We signed up for the last possible slot in the day for the day we were set to check in to the hotel. We also borrowed a friend's baby (friend was traveling with us). The salesman was tired and ready to go home. Instead of the regular 2-3 hours, we spent 15 minutes with him while the baby fussed a bit. Then he handed us our hotel voucher. Just be strategic. Like most things.
  - rasz 3y ago
    Sounds like Bundy's vacation https://marriedwithchildren.fandom.com/wiki/Stan_Mendelson https://marriedwithchildren.fandom.com/wiki/Stan_Mendelson
- Swizec 3y ago
  > I would've rather paid for them. You did pay for them. “Several hours of time” easily adds up to hundreds of dollars. Think about it this way: How much would you pay to get 1 hour of your time back? Like paying for takeout instead of going to get it yourself. Or paying to get your lawn mowed. Or your house cleaned. That’s how much your time is worth to you.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    The problem is that, for most people, the answer to how much their time is worth is nothing quantitative. I pay to get my lawn cut and for a once a month housekeeper, but those are basically luxuries to do tasks that I could do myself in 2 or 3 hours that I would rather not do. But I, like most people, am not actually forgoing paid work if I were to do them myself. So it's a luxury. My time is not actually worth hundreds of dollars an hour.
erehweb 3y ago
I once talked to someone who used to work in the timeshare business, at a European tourist city. Their job was to get tourists to come to the pitch. They would get paid different amounts depending on the tourist's nationality, with Northern Europeans being worth the most, except for Finns, who were "worth" nothing (his boss said that all they wanted to do was drink, and would never sign up). So his trick was to find Finns, get them to come to the pitch with the lure of free drink, but just say that they were Swedish, so he would get paid at that high rate.
- guhidalg 3y ago
  This sounds like the start of a new comedy show. What city was this?
  - erehweb 3y ago
    I think it was somewhere in Spain, like Benidorm or some other coastal holiday town? He was a taxi driver in England when I was talking to him.
- Handprint4469 3y ago
  Wow everyone in this story sucks
  - flir 3y ago
    Nah, I can't get worked up about nudging harmful business practices towards unprofitability. I do the same thing every time I try to waste a phone spammer's time.
  - WaxProlix 3y ago
    It definitely has some Always Sunny vibes. At least it makes a funny story.
- asylteltine 3y ago
  That man is a genius. It’s a win win finns get to drink and the man gets a paycheck
jvanderbot 3y ago
We went to one for the free resort tickets while on vacation. Like other commenters here, it went on a lot longer than I wanted. But the icing on the cake was after we said "pass", the salesperson was angry and berated us for being "irresponsible" for not "having something to leave for our children". Bro, the money.
- b0sk 3y ago
  That's exactly the SOP. They are the nicest when they are selling the POS timeshare but the moment they know you aren't going to budge, their true colors show and they can be utter jerks. It makes sense - the commission is their livelihood but it's cathartic to see their day ruined.
rco8786 3y ago
This article was about 4500 words too long. Meant to satisfy the author’s ego rather than convey information to the reader. I’ll save you some time: “Timeshare sales pitches are high pressure and hard to say no to. Avoid them.”
- jmye 3y ago
  ? Sometimes people enjoy reading a story (especially in a magazine like the Atlantic). Everything written isn’t done solely to convey one sentence worth of facts, and that doesn’t make it about anyone’s ego.
oldgradstudent 3y ago
A former colleague of mine loved going to these type of events. He enjoyed toying with the reps, almost agreeing to sign, then in the last moment suddenly asking a hard question. Watching them apply all their dirty tricks. He and his wife would go out to such event once in a while and come back with stories to tell.
- hedora 3y ago
  I wonder if there’s space for a second level financial setup where you buy a piece of an organization that arranges for your attendance at the best timeshare pitch deals.
underseacables 3y ago
I think some people derive pleasure from resisting sales pitches.
bloopernova 3y ago
My ex-wife was gullible when it came to "too good to be true" money-making schemes. In one such occasion, she took me to an "auction" where we were "guaranteed" to win appliances or thousands of dollars. It of course turned out to be a timeshare sales pitch. She was so angry at me for walking out when the "sales manager"[1] began to insinuate that we've been wasting their time and that "authorities could get involved". My ex-wife hissed at me that I was embarrassing her and why don't I understand what these awesome people were trying to do for us. In her eyes, the sales folks really found her funny, pretty, well dressed, and so so smart, and they're "so sad that she'll miss out on earning 1000s of dollars a month with zero effort!" (I think there may have been an element of multi-level-marketing involved). One tactic was to state that we could "just take the paperwork home to look it over!" Except of course, we just had to put down a deposit and sign these docs. I'm 100% sure that anything signed would have led to years of financial hassle. Several days of stony silence later she admitted she had been completely tricked and was ready to sign something stating we'd be paying something like 2k a month (in 2005) forever. [1] The sales manager was huge and intimidating. He was brought out after I refused to sign any kind of contract and tried to bully me into signing.
rdl 3y ago
I sort of enjoy things like this a a way to observe sales/manipulation tactics. Usually as long as you're committed to no-buy, you can give them a fun and totally fictional story about why, have fun, and get free stuff out of it. Last one I went to (in Las Vegas) the guy was actually very chill and we spent the whole time talking about the sales tech/presentation tech he was using, about the LV market generally, etc.
ThinkBeat 3y ago
I tend to react poorly to sales pitches. The longer and dumber they are the more pissed off I get. Something many a tech sales rep has discovered. I think finally reps started to make notes in their CRM systems about me. I am not opposed to buying in principle if something seems useful, but I need the facts and the prices up front, then for some questions to be answered in a logical and accurate way. Asking a rep to write down what he just said and sign it is a good way to ensure accurate information. Some have adapted and some of them made sales. A lot of them will never come back again. Win - Win.
teslabox 3y ago
The longest day of my life was when I was maybe 5 years old: the day my parents bought their timeshare. A few months ago I went with my father to a presentation by a company that helps people get rid of their timeshares. The presenter said buying a timeshare is like pre-paying for your next 30+ years of vacations. The annual maintenance fees pay the property taxes for the resorts, state governments like their property tax revenues, so they allow the racket to continue. The 'time share relief' presenter asked everyone how much their annual fees were, and pegged their company's fee to the annual fee charged by the timeshare company. Dad was all ready to sign up to pay $X,XXX to get rid of it. He's at the point where he doesn't have the energy to travel anymore, so he thinks the maintenance fees are just money wasted. I looked into the matter. Our state's law makes it relatively easy to get rid of timeshare fees, without having to pay for the services of a timeshare exit firm. Furthermore, many of the timeshares have programs for people like my father to get rid of their obligations: https://responsibleexit.com/who-we-are/diamond-resorts/ https://responsibleexit.com/who-we-are/diamond-resorts/ My brother ended up offering to split the fees with our father, as he likes to use it for his little trips. The properties do give preferential treatments to their 'owners', and the cost-per-night isn't so bad, as long as you use the nights you've paid for. My GF and I have used it twice this year, and have another trip coming up. I guesstimated the room's cost was about $50/night for a studio with refrigerator and cooktop. The same room was going for $150+/night on priceline & the other booking sites. The Timeshare Users Group is probably one of the best internet forums about timeshares: https://tugbbs.com/forums/ https://tugbbs.com/forums/ tl/dr: if you're thinking about buying, DON'T. But in our case, what mom & dad paid out 30+ years ago would cost $80,000+ today, so we might as well just keep paying the maintenance fees and try to use it for all our little trips. <shrug>.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Owning a vacation property, much less a timeshare, just never really appealed to me. I barely keep up with my own house much less another property. And, if I went the condo route, I'm never going to drive up to the mountains every other weekend and if I'm not going to use a property on a regular basis, I'm fine with just getting a hotel. I can see there might be a difference with family and kids but I don't see the appeal personally.
smitty1e 3y ago
I let myself get sucked into one of these things some decades ago. There is a 72hr "cooling off" law in my state that I leveraged to cut my losses at a couple hundred $.
mike503 3y ago
It makes me sad that humanity is so entrenched in capitalism that we're subjecting our own class to high pressure (nearly) scams and it's perfectly legal. There's plenty of nice properties that could be filled normally and I'm sure the salespeople would rather not be having to play mind games and try to guilt people into things for their commission. But instead we have this toxic sales situation for something that I feel like should sell itself in other ways naturally.
literallyroy 3y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20231111164526/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/hawaii-timeshare/675974/ https://web.archive.org/web/20231111164526/https://www.theat...

67 points by fortran77 3y ago

> Fortunately even timeshare owners get to die, but the company isn’t done with you yet. The perpetuity clause in most of these contracts means that the timeshare will become part of your estate—one of your beneficiaries is going to get stuck with those fees for the rest of her life, if she doesn’t file a so-called disclaimer of interest by her state’s deadline. Wow! I had no idea you could sign a contract that obligates your benificiaries after your death.

ano-ther 3y ago
Debt is sometimes inherited, particularly on home equity. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-you-inherit-debt/ https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/can-you-inherit-...
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  Only if you wanna keep the house it’s attached to. If it’s underwater and there’s not much else to the estate, you can reject the house and it’s debt. They can only collect the difference from the estate’s assets. (Never co-sign for someone!)
  - trogdor 3y ago
    >Never co-sign for someone! Unless you’re prepared to write off the entire amount as a gift. (Though in that case, it’s probably better to just give them the money. After all, there’s a reason their signature is insufficient on its own.)
dragonwriter 3y ago
> I had no idea you could sign a contract that obligates your benificiaries after your death. You do any time you buy property subject to an HOA with fees (which is, in fact, how lots of timeshares are structured.)
gitfan86 3y ago
Anyone can make a claim against an estate. But there is a deadline usually 6 months to a year after the death where the estate can be closed. Even when someone makes a claim the executor of the will can tell a judge that they don't think the claim is valid. So it comes down to the timeshare company needing to know about the death and filing a claim quickly enough and a judge accepting the claim as valid.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  Its not an existing debt. its a periodic obligation which creates a new debt on a reoccurring schedule tied to heritable real property, similar to (and often literally) an HOA fee, so to avoid it you have to actively stop the property from being inherited the way it usually would be, the timeshare conpany doesn't need to make a claim against the estate.
  - mindslight 3y ago
    If the property gets inherited, then wouldn't any obligation for maintenance payments exist purely as an encumbrance on the property? Like if the claim to the property is transferred via operation of law or even deed of executor, the recipient hasn't entered into any contract to make ongoing payments. Meaning if they don't pay, the worst that can happen is the property gets foreclosed upon? Or is there some other legal aspect I'm missing?
    - toast0 3y ago
      Depends on state law, they may be able to get a judgement against you for costs incurred above the foreclosure value, and it may depend on the type of foreclosure procedure if judicial and non-judicial are available; similar to how in some states a mortgage lender can get a judgement for the load balance and costs above the foreclosure auction value. I'm guessing a timeshare foreclosure shows up on credit reports, and in the period between when they figure out you're not likely to pay and when they file for foreclosure, that you're past due on those payments will likely also show up, and I'm sure they'll try to convince you to pay.
klyrs 3y ago
I know exactly the cousin to foist this on... should I be such a fool in the first place.
- flir 3y ago
  New timeshare business model there. Find people with six months to live who really hate their cousin.
ceejayoz 3y ago
It’s just another bit of the scam. You aren’t under any obligation to accept a bequest of this nature. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/inheriting-timeshares https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/inheriting-timesh...

toomuchtodo 3y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2bbHoVQSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2bbHoVQSM (“Timeshares: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”)

sillyfluke 3y ago
My preferred educational video is the South Park episode on timeshares. Great and accurate to a T.
- panick21_ 3y ago
  Literally every topic in South Park
- mauvehaus 3y ago
  Pizza/French fries
- SilasX 3y ago
  Great episode, but no, not completely accurate, unless a) every exit you take leads to another sales pitch, b) they illegally detain you, and c) local police refuse to do anything about that because they work for the timeshare people. Btw for those who are interested, the episode is Asspen (s6e2): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asspen?useskin=vector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asspen?useskin=vector

mplewis 3y ago

I mean, don’t go to one if you’re susceptible to this sort of sales presentation. If you can withstand two hours of a pressure cooker, you can get an excellent deal on a multi-night resort vacation.

gitfan86 3y ago
If someone is known to be a high pressure sales person that takes advantage of people I wouldn't expect them to actually follow through on the gift that was offered for staying
- mplewis 3y ago
  These places offer you a gift in a legally enforceable contract which is contingent on you attending a specific duration of the timeshare sales pitch.
- birdyrooster 3y ago
  It's really not that bad, I just tell them there is no way they are making a sale, that they made a mistake to ever let me come, and they let me go early.
  - trogdor 3y ago
    When I was much younger, my ex and I used to do this somewhat frequently. It always worked. Timeshare salespeople don’t want to waste their time trying to sell to someone who knows what’s up, came solely for the promotional gift, and is categorically not going to buy. Sometimes we had to refuse to play their numbers games, when they asked for our income so they could “show” us just how good a deal their crap was, but we never had to sit through a full presentation. We went on a fun, totally free cruise courtesy of one of those companies. Good times.
BeetleB 3y ago
> If you can withstand two hours of a pressure cooker, Big mistake. Don't assume it will be only two hours.

ProjectArcturis 3y ago

Ah, Caitlin Flanagan, chronicler of the many modest tribulations of the upper middle class, back again to tell us about the immense anxiety she experienced when, um, she sat through the sales pitch she signed up for. Timeshares are obviously a scam, but why did I just read 5000 words about how she agreed to go on a discounted vacation in exchange for a timeshare pitch, and that's exactly what happened. The hotel was fine. The sales pitch was a sales pitch. She wasn't detained or assaulted or forced into anything. Her husband seems like an absolute saint and I can't imagine why he puts up with her.

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
True, it's exactly what happened. But the point is, there are people who are a lot better at making you want to buy something than you are at resisting their tactics. Think twice before you voluntarily put yourself in their hands, even for a discounted vacation.
- coldtea 3y ago
  That's the bait. The real point of the article is to showcase the upper middle class lifestyle, philosophy of the world, and petty concerns.
  - chiefalchemist 3y ago
    It's so kind of the elites to go out of their way to protect us from ourselves. If the elties were truly benevolent and generous, they would instruct us on how we protect us from them. Funny how they're never *that* insightful.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Mistletoe 3y ago
“The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and about all time.“ -George Bernard Shaw

icedchai 3y ago

I was on vacation with a (now-ex) girlfriend. She wanted to go to a timeshare tour and presentation so we could get free theme park tickets. We went. Big mistake. We were there for several hours, then they had us meet with some sales rep which droned on for another hour. After claiming poverty and refusing to sign any contracts, we were given our free tickets... I would've rather paid for them.

Loughla 3y ago
We did that as well, to get three free nights in a resort. We signed up for the last possible slot in the day for the day we were set to check in to the hotel. We also borrowed a friend's baby (friend was traveling with us). The salesman was tired and ready to go home. Instead of the regular 2-3 hours, we spent 15 minutes with him while the baby fussed a bit. Then he handed us our hotel voucher. Just be strategic. Like most things.
- rasz 3y ago
  Sounds like Bundy's vacation https://marriedwithchildren.fandom.com/wiki/Stan_Mendelson https://marriedwithchildren.fandom.com/wiki/Stan_Mendelson
Swizec 3y ago
> I would've rather paid for them. You did pay for them. “Several hours of time” easily adds up to hundreds of dollars. Think about it this way: How much would you pay to get 1 hour of your time back? Like paying for takeout instead of going to get it yourself. Or paying to get your lawn mowed. Or your house cleaned. That’s how much your time is worth to you.
- ghaff 3y ago
  The problem is that, for most people, the answer to how much their time is worth is nothing quantitative. I pay to get my lawn cut and for a once a month housekeeper, but those are basically luxuries to do tasks that I could do myself in 2 or 3 hours that I would rather not do. But I, like most people, am not actually forgoing paid work if I were to do them myself. So it's a luxury. My time is not actually worth hundreds of dollars an hour.

erehweb 3y ago

I once talked to someone who used to work in the timeshare business, at a European tourist city. Their job was to get tourists to come to the pitch. They would get paid different amounts depending on the tourist's nationality, with Northern Europeans being worth the most, except for Finns, who were "worth" nothing (his boss said that all they wanted to do was drink, and would never sign up). So his trick was to find Finns, get them to come to the pitch with the lure of free drink, but just say that they were Swedish, so he would get paid at that high rate.

guhidalg 3y ago
This sounds like the start of a new comedy show. What city was this?
- erehweb 3y ago
  I think it was somewhere in Spain, like Benidorm or some other coastal holiday town? He was a taxi driver in England when I was talking to him.
Handprint4469 3y ago
Wow everyone in this story sucks
- flir 3y ago
  Nah, I can't get worked up about nudging harmful business practices towards unprofitability. I do the same thing every time I try to waste a phone spammer's time.
- WaxProlix 3y ago
  It definitely has some Always Sunny vibes. At least it makes a funny story.
asylteltine 3y ago
That man is a genius. It’s a win win finns get to drink and the man gets a paycheck

jvanderbot 3y ago

We went to one for the free resort tickets while on vacation. Like other commenters here, it went on a lot longer than I wanted. But the icing on the cake was after we said "pass", the salesperson was angry and berated us for being "irresponsible" for not "having something to leave for our children". Bro, the money.

b0sk 3y ago
That's exactly the SOP. They are the nicest when they are selling the POS timeshare but the moment they know you aren't going to budge, their true colors show and they can be utter jerks. It makes sense - the commission is their livelihood but it's cathartic to see their day ruined.

rco8786 3y ago

This article was about 4500 words too long. Meant to satisfy the author’s ego rather than convey information to the reader. I’ll save you some time: “Timeshare sales pitches are high pressure and hard to say no to. Avoid them.”

jmye 3y ago
? Sometimes people enjoy reading a story (especially in a magazine like the Atlantic). Everything written isn’t done solely to convey one sentence worth of facts, and that doesn’t make it about anyone’s ego.

oldgradstudent 3y ago

A former colleague of mine loved going to these type of events. He enjoyed toying with the reps, almost agreeing to sign, then in the last moment suddenly asking a hard question. Watching them apply all their dirty tricks. He and his wife would go out to such event once in a while and come back with stories to tell.

hedora 3y ago
I wonder if there’s space for a second level financial setup where you buy a piece of an organization that arranges for your attendance at the best timeshare pitch deals.

underseacables 3y ago

I think some people derive pleasure from resisting sales pitches.

bloopernova 3y ago

My ex-wife was gullible when it came to "too good to be true" money-making schemes. In one such occasion, she took me to an "auction" where we were "guaranteed" to win appliances or thousands of dollars. It of course turned out to be a timeshare sales pitch. She was so angry at me for walking out when the "sales manager"[1] began to insinuate that we've been wasting their time and that "authorities could get involved". My ex-wife hissed at me that I was embarrassing her and why don't I understand what these awesome people were trying to do for us. In her eyes, the sales folks really found her funny, pretty, well dressed, and so so smart, and they're "so sad that she'll miss out on earning 1000s of dollars a month with zero effort!" (I think there may have been an element of multi-level-marketing involved). One tactic was to state that we could "just take the paperwork home to look it over!" Except of course, we just had to put down a deposit and sign these docs. I'm 100% sure that anything signed would have led to years of financial hassle. Several days of stony silence later she admitted she had been completely tricked and was ready to sign something stating we'd be paying something like 2k a month (in 2005) forever. [1] The sales manager was huge and intimidating. He was brought out after I refused to sign any kind of contract and tried to bully me into signing.

rdl 3y ago

I sort of enjoy things like this a a way to observe sales/manipulation tactics. Usually as long as you're committed to no-buy, you can give them a fun and totally fictional story about why, have fun, and get free stuff out of it. Last one I went to (in Las Vegas) the guy was actually very chill and we spent the whole time talking about the sales tech/presentation tech he was using, about the LV market generally, etc.

ThinkBeat 3y ago

I tend to react poorly to sales pitches. The longer and dumber they are the more pissed off I get. Something many a tech sales rep has discovered. I think finally reps started to make notes in their CRM systems about me. I am not opposed to buying in principle if something seems useful, but I need the facts and the prices up front, then for some questions to be answered in a logical and accurate way. Asking a rep to write down what he just said and sign it is a good way to ensure accurate information. Some have adapted and some of them made sales. A lot of them will never come back again. Win - Win.

teslabox 3y ago

The longest day of my life was when I was maybe 5 years old: the day my parents bought their timeshare. A few months ago I went with my father to a presentation by a company that helps people get rid of their timeshares. The presenter said buying a timeshare is like pre-paying for your next 30+ years of vacations. The annual maintenance fees pay the property taxes for the resorts, state governments like their property tax revenues, so they allow the racket to continue. The 'time share relief' presenter asked everyone how much their annual fees were, and pegged their company's fee to the annual fee charged by the timeshare company. Dad was all ready to sign up to pay $X,XXX to get rid of it. He's at the point where he doesn't have the energy to travel anymore, so he thinks the maintenance fees are just money wasted. I looked into the matter. Our state's law makes it relatively easy to get rid of timeshare fees, without having to pay for the services of a timeshare exit firm. Furthermore, many of the timeshares have programs for people like my father to get rid of their obligations: https://responsibleexit.com/who-we-are/diamond-resorts/ https://responsibleexit.com/who-we-are/diamond-resorts/ My brother ended up offering to split the fees with our father, as he likes to use it for his little trips. The properties do give preferential treatments to their 'owners', and the cost-per-night isn't so bad, as long as you use the nights you've paid for. My GF and I have used it twice this year, and have another trip coming up. I guesstimated the room's cost was about $50/night for a studio with refrigerator and cooktop. The same room was going for $150+/night on priceline & the other booking sites. The Timeshare Users Group is probably one of the best internet forums about timeshares: https://tugbbs.com/forums/ https://tugbbs.com/forums/ tl/dr: if you're thinking about buying, DON'T. But in our case, what mom & dad paid out 30+ years ago would cost $80,000+ today, so we might as well just keep paying the maintenance fees and try to use it for all our little trips. <shrug>.

ghaff 3y ago
Owning a vacation property, much less a timeshare, just never really appealed to me. I barely keep up with my own house much less another property. And, if I went the condo route, I'm never going to drive up to the mountains every other weekend and if I'm not going to use a property on a regular basis, I'm fine with just getting a hotel. I can see there might be a difference with family and kids but I don't see the appeal personally.

smitty1e 3y ago

I let myself get sucked into one of these things some decades ago. There is a 72hr "cooling off" law in my state that I leveraged to cut my losses at a couple hundred $.

mike503 3y ago

It makes me sad that humanity is so entrenched in capitalism that we're subjecting our own class to high pressure (nearly) scams and it's perfectly legal. There's plenty of nice properties that could be filled normally and I'm sure the salespeople would rather not be having to play mind games and try to guilt people into things for their commission. But instead we have this toxic sales situation for something that I feel like should sell itself in other ways naturally.

literallyroy 3y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20231111164526/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/hawaii-timeshare/675974/ https://web.archive.org/web/20231111164526/https://www.theat...