I read your recount of your “timeshare” experience yesterday, but time did not permit me to answer - I was heading out the door.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
It’s a real eye-opener to live through one of these “sessions” and I can see how some are pulled in and place themselves in a dubious financial situation - it can happen to them in many ways.
However, Trump is running to the the president and his character counts - he knew, or darn well should have cared enough to know, that what he told these people was a lie - they did not have wonderful professors and adjunct professors - the best people to teach them how to be successful like himself - it was a boiler room, high presser money extraction scam, where professional pitchmen pushed and pushed these people to take out more and more credit to buy the “classes” that were in the tens of thousands of dollars, and they didn’t get a timeshare where, if nothing else, they had some “fun vacations.” They were fleeced, their credit was ruined and they got nothing (while Trump banked that money).
I can see how some are pulled in and place themselves in a dubious financial situation - it can happen to them in many ways.
One thing that really concerns me about any of these high pressure sales situations is that people with abuse in their past are woefully vulnerable to them. The problem is that I don't know how to write a law that protects the vulnerable without going too far in the interfering with honest business people direction.
Timeshares do have some very specific limitations on them. In most states, the salespeople have to go through a sheet explaining exactly what the person is getting for their money, with the person initialing each point, AND they record both that presentation and the buyer's responses. So even if the salesperson promises the moon, the buyer is clearly warned that the contract does not cover that, and that the salesperson's verbal promises (or what they thought were the salesperson's promises -- timeshare sales always present the most expensive package, but rarely sell people that particular deal) do not apply unless those promises are backed by writing.
I am not at all sure that Trump University jumped through as many hoops as timeshare companies have to. And, while the people who went to Trump University didn't get saddled with a lifetime of yearly maintenance fees (some timeshares have an end point, but I think lifetime is still the average), I think you're right that most people who went to Trump University did not benefit financially from the experience.
Also agree that character counts, and that Trump's character looks to be pretty flawed. I think he sticks to the right side of the law, but when it comes to morals he falls seriously short. He says a lot of things that sound good, but I have little faith that he'll follow through. And he has a long, long history of ignoring, or walking over, "the little guy."
It amazes me how many people think he has their best interests at heart, ditto on those who see him as a political outsider. In my eyes, he's just another crony capitalist, and the difference between crony capitalists and self-serving politicians is negligible.
One of the things I like about Trump is that I think he does sincerely love America, and that he loves an America that actually exists (or has existed), which puts him way ahead of the current inhabitant of the oval office. But I'm not always sure that the America Trump loves is the America I love. :p
Thanks for you reply, and hope you don't mind the ramble.