Posted on 05/11/2010 3:46:57 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Branson, MO.
I booked into a 2 bedroom time share condo. At like $150 per week. Beautiful condo. Ridiculously low rate.
The catch: Attend a 90 minute sales presentation. That’s all - they said. Oh. And you must bring a valid major credit card.
The morning of the sales meeting, I present my Visa debit card. They would not take it. (Not like I was gonna allow them to charge anything anyway)
Long story short. I still got to stay at that beautiful condo for the 5 days at $150.00. I just didn’t get all the other free crap.
But - I didn’t have to sit through a tag-team sales presentation.
I came out definietly ahead.
If the breakfast, lunch or whatever is better than average, I may give them an extra 10 minutes and ask them for their card. Funny how few of them actually have cards to give out.
If the deal actually sounds good, I tell them I like older properties, off seasons (when crowds are sparse), etc. If they haven't excused me by then, I tell them to put it in writing and I'll check in before I leave town. Once when I thought I had a good deal, I showed it to a timeshare reseller who had an office near the resort and he showed me a number of better/cheaper properties he had for sale.
Almost every major resort has reseller offices nearby to check it out!
Looks like somewhere less than $4,000 ,, week 15 (April) is listed for $4k at Grandview at Las Vegas and that’s an asking price .. http://www.timesharesonly.com/timeshare/1035310
Roughly, about half the sales price goes to sales commissions. So, selling one or two units a month, isn’t bad work.
Run like hell. Don’t look back.
Week 50 , a 2bed/2bath is $1000 ask http://www.timesharesonly.com/timeshare/1291774
I live in Vegas...there is an easy way out of the come-ons when you are here. When they ask where you’re from just tell them: “We’re from here”. They will drop you like a hot potato.
And yes, nothing is free here — truth be told, everything here is overpriced by A LOT. But you can have a ton of fun here if you just do a little research and study before you come here. We have more of the greatest restaurants in the world than anyplace else...and right now they are offering some pretty good prices for what you get. But the restaurants that comes with “free” offers are always the garbage places. Never go to those...ever. Pay for what you want, you’ll enjoy it all much more and have a more relaxing time.
Syphilis, Gonorrhea, HIV, and a Time-Share.
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Gonorrhea. You can get rid of Gonorrhea.
What you described is picture perfect. These things always work exactly the way you described. We did this in Hawaii, knowing what would happen. Only difference was they had a shill they “signed” during the hard-sell and went through a little ceremony with popping a tiny bottle of champagne, and lots of cheering and smiling and hand-shaking for their new “club” members. This was supposed to make the rest of us want a little bottle of champagne too.
At any rate, we listened for the allotted time and a bit more and then demanded our free prizes, which were quite generous actually, including a free helicopter ride for two around the Nepali coast of Kauai, free tour boat ride for two around the west coast, and a free restaurant meal for two, all of which were great.
However, this sort of activity is highly regulated in Hawaii, and these hard-sell outfits are required by State law to live up to their promises regarding the prizes offered.
And, naturally, there was no way in hell that we were ever going to buy any of their Glengarry Glen Ross type “investments”. I subjected myself to the experience as an educational venture and to undergo some very intense sales pressure as a means of personality testing and hardening myself to peer pressure, and oh yeah, the great free prizes!
If you had to show them a credit card you need to check the bill really good for the next few months. A few years ago my wife and I looked at a Vegas timeshare and my credit card got charged $250 for a “cleaning fee”.
Rent a “float” week for $400 , under 1/3rd of just the maintenance fee... http://www.timesharesonly.com/timeshare/1222115
Timeshares are a joke. $40K*50 weeks = $2m (2 weeks scheduled downtime for repairs yearly is the norm) plus $1.5k*50 ($75k) yearly for maintenance and new cheesy furniture every 5 years... all for a condo that would sell for 5-10% of that price outside of the high pressure sales.
They have the same in Sedona. I said no to begin with but they followed me around the place bugging bugging bugging
Oy vey!! Yes, aint nuthin’ for free!! I’d pay $250 to AVOID one of those hellish mornings! But you made a nice profit, dude! Good for you!
Never again...
I loved how you shut him down by saying that a week at the resort of your choice, a new one each year, would be the same as the MAINTENANCE fees at the timeshare unit!!!! Good one.
I *love* reading stories like this, don’t know why...Thanks for sharing your suffering!
Scott, I love your city - WITH kids. We always find fun things to do. We too like to avoid the usual crowds, but sometimes there are a few fun things on the strip too. I agree with you — some great places to eat, and fun things to see. I don’t gamble either (except on the Triple Crown).
Yes, I was going to write a post on that too. It didn't necessarily offend me as I knew I was in Vegas but it was annoying as hell. Even with my wife by my side, they would try to shove the cards in my hand at every street corner.
Let's just say that if Nevada ever adopted the Arizona law, they would disappear overnight because I don't think any of them were U.S. citizens, if you get my drift.
I'm actually surprised the strip allows this to happen if only for the fact that the streets are literally covered with these cards all day long because most people who take them throw them down to the street.
Hey, I get a postcard about every week offering to buy my timeshare. Except I don’t own one.
Gambling a little bit can be part of the fun...stick with table games or sports bets. I’d stay away from video poker or electronic games and slots. And just have a budget and stick to it. I can see where some people would like to go without kids...but if you do have kids there is a lot to do during the day (Madame Tussauds, The Eifel Tower, Fremont Street, M&M World and so on) and even some of the shows (some Cirque Shows, The Lion King and the one at the Wynn) can be kid friendly (if a tad pricey). Or stay at Red Rock Station and wear the kids out at Red Rock Natural Area during the day and play hard at night!
I’m glad you love it here...come often, we need the business these days!
My wife and daughters suffer the time share hard sell for free tickets on vacations. Me? I go golfing.
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