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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 mistak

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.
  - lsaferite 3y ago
    You should absolutely know the value of your time. Leisure time has a value to you. I pay someone to maintain my yard because I don't want to do it. I don't want to own the equipment either. It makes financial sense. So, even if I'm inside watching TV and hanging with my family, it's money well spent for me.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      It certainly has value. It just does not generally have literal monetary value that relates to, for example, what your company pays you. Some tasks may mean you can forego equipment purchases/maintenance but you're probably not literally saving money by having someone do something for you. Which is fine! It's perfectly OK to say I don't like doing yard work and can afford to pay someone to do it for me. You're probably both happier as a result.
      - kelseyfrog 3y ago
        If we start to believe in the difference between use value and exchange value then we'll somersault our way into difficult economic theories rather quickly. It's best to, instead, say that nothing has value unless it can be purchased, a process by which value is instantaneous reified.
        rightbyte 3y ago
        This belief in the invisible hand pricing everything right is silly.
        kelseyfrog 3y ago
        The alternative (difference in use value and exchange value) is chapter 1, page 1 of Das Kapital. We have to conclude that children, love, friendship, &c are all valueless because they do not have an exchange value ie: price.
    - jemmyw 3y ago
- rightbyte 3y ago
  I am not taking time off to mow my lawn. In practice there is zero elasticity to take time off to do garden work, repair the roof or whatever.
- icedchai 3y ago
  Of course. The only reason I went was to placate my partner. She wanted to split the cost of the vacation and this was one of her ways of doing it. I said I would've paid for the whole thing but she didn't want me to. There were a lot of problems in the relationship. I try not to think about those days.
unhappy_meaning 3y ago
Free airline tickets were what we got offered in the mail. Went and sat through the presentation and got pounced on by the sales reps to sign for a timeshare after the presentation. When we refused they sent us to the "boss" and he tried to further convince us to sign up for a timeshare in his office. Still kept refusing and at the end, he slammed the vouchers for free airline tickets on his desk and said, "Here you go, have a nice night" with a pissy attitude.

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.
- lsaferite 3y ago
  You should absolutely know the value of your time. Leisure time has a value to you. I pay someone to maintain my yard because I don't want to do it. I don't want to own the equipment either. It makes financial sense. So, even if I'm inside watching TV and hanging with my family, it's money well spent for me.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    It certainly has value. It just does not generally have literal monetary value that relates to, for example, what your company pays you. Some tasks may mean you can forego equipment purchases/maintenance but you're probably not literally saving money by having someone do something for you. Which is fine! It's perfectly OK to say I don't like doing yard work and can afford to pay someone to do it for me. You're probably both happier as a result.
    - kelseyfrog 3y ago
      If we start to believe in the difference between use value and exchange value then we'll somersault our way into difficult economic theories rather quickly. It's best to, instead, say that nothing has value unless it can be purchased, a process by which value is instantaneous reified.
      - rightbyte 3y ago
        This belief in the invisible hand pricing everything right is silly.
        kelseyfrog 3y ago
        The alternative (difference in use value and exchange value) is chapter 1, page 1 of Das Kapital. We have to conclude that children, love, friendship, &c are all valueless because they do not have an exchange value ie: price.
  - jemmyw 3y ago
rightbyte 3y ago
I am not taking time off to mow my lawn. In practice there is zero elasticity to take time off to do garden work, repair the roof or whatever.
icedchai 3y ago
Of course. The only reason I went was to placate my partner. She wanted to split the cost of the vacation and this was one of her ways of doing it. I said I would've paid for the whole thing but she didn't want me to. There were a lot of problems in the relationship. I try not to think about those days.

unhappy_meaning 3y ago

Free airline tickets were what we got offered in the mail. Went and sat through the presentation and got pounced on by the sales reps to sign for a timeshare after the presentation. When we refused they sent us to the "boss" and he tried to further convince us to sign up for a timeshare in his office. Still kept refusing and at the end, he slammed the vouchers for free airline tickets on his desk and said, "Here you go, have a nice night" with a pissy attitude.