I get several of these vacation offers in my inbox, I know I signed up for various memberships. I think they do a sales pitch, but you can say NO, correct? how high is the pressure?

You get a free weekend, they get two hours of your time. Just as long as you’re firm in your no, you can get through it. Waver for a moment and they’ll be on you like white on rice.

We used to do these pretty regularly. The most interesting last gasp attempt at one was to try to shame us into buying by telling us, "Well, it doesn't look like you can afford this, anyway." My response was, "Nope, we can't!" and then we left and enjoyed the rest of our time.

The oddest one we ever went to was at a small lake near us and it turns out they were trying to sell a week on a pontoon kind of boat. At the time we had a small outboard and had been to the lake a number of times. When they told us that the thing was a week on a pontoon boat I just started to laugh and asked the sales guy if he had spent any time on the lake. He hadn't; I told him he could see the whole thing in an hour on an outboard. Hard to imagine they sold any of those. This one wasn't a free weekend but rather a free TV. We used the TV for a number of years; it might have been our first non-tube TV.

We stopped doing them after one presentation when the 2 hours really was 2 hours but they had driven a number of us to the sales site and wouldn't let the bus leave until the last person in the group had signed their life away. It was about 4 hours and all of the "No" people were pretty po'ed. It was too far to walk back and there was nothing at all attractive about the area local to the sales site. Last time we did one.

Thanks for the comments, hard pass

Now that you mention it how it works, I think we did one about 15+ years ago, one of the kids was a new born and I offered to stay with the kid and wife went away for the dinner and sales pitch, she reminded me about it, She was strong enough to say NO and we didn't get hooked up.

these are not free, still a few hundred bucks but probably much cheaper than a normal trip

[clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2023 07:40AM by gadje.

I’ve been to a couple of Marriott presentations. They hammer the heck out of you and you must stay for the full presentation. Also you and your spouse/SO/partner must both attend. No good if only one shows up.

---

JoeM

Been to a few. One in Hawaii was good... they took us up in a high building that had a great view of Honolulu/Diamond Head. I took a bunch of pictures. Got a $100 meal voucher for any restaurant in the Hilton Hawaiian Village... at the time, that was enough for two dinners each for two people.

Did one down in Marco Island twice. First time, I used my DL. Second time, we used my wife's... she has a different last name. Got free dinners at a local seafood place. One of the two times, they made us sit through a long boring infomercial. The other time, after the tour, the woman asked if we were really interested. We said no, so she let us skip the movie and gave us our vouchers.

My folks went to one just for the free luggage... and wound up buying two weeks in Panama City Beach.

The good news is, that was 1983 and we just used the unit for the 40th summer in a row (not counting when it was closed for remodeling after Hurricane Michael). We traded those weeks for places all over the world on occasion, it really worked out well.

Of course, that was then, at 1983 prices, and this is now, so YMMalmost-certainlyV.

Quote
Will Collier
My folks went to one just for the free luggage... and wound up buying two weeks in Panama City Beach.

The good news is, that was 1983 and we just used the unit for the 40th summer in a row (not counting when it was closed for remodeling after Hurricane Michael). We traded those weeks for places all over the world on occasion, it really worked out well.

Of course, that was then, at 1983 prices, and this is now, so YMMalmost-certainlyV.

You're the second person that I've heard of who has appreciated their timeshare. Our friend likes theirs so much that they bought the same week next door so they can have their adult kids join them for the week. They're in Destin, so just up the road from yours in Panama City. They go every year; they've never attempted to trade the week. Each year they come back beaming. So it's apparently been a good investment for them.

I guess it works out for some people. Usually I see ads to help you get out of the contract. The taxes and fees can add up.

Quote
gadje
I guess it works out for some people. Usually I see ads to help you get out of the contract. The taxes and fees can add up.

I have heard the “get out of the contract” ploy itself is often a scam.

Quote
Michael
So it's apparently been a good investment for them.

I'm still convinced they could just stay in the same hotel every year and probably come out ahead.

---

Quote
Michael

Quote
Will Collier
My folks went to one just for the free luggage... and wound up buying two weeks in Panama City Beach.

The good news is, that was 1983 and we just used the unit for the 40th summer in a row (not counting when it was closed for remodeling after Hurricane Michael). We traded those weeks for places all over the world on occasion, it really worked out well.

Of course, that was then, at 1983 prices, and this is now, so YMMalmost-certainlyV.

You're the second person that I've heard of who has appreciated their timeshare. Our friend likes theirs so much that they bought the same week next door so they can have their adult kids join them for the week. They're in Destin, so just up the road from yours in Panama City. They go every year; they've never attempted to trade the week. Each year they come back beaming. So it's apparently been a good investment for them.

For many years, my dad has used one week and rented the unit out for the second week, which pays all the taxes and owner dues for the year, with a little left over. He loves it, and it gives his staff a week when they know they'll be able to take vacation as well.