my wife found this deal for our vacation in orlando. $99.00 for 4day/3 night at the hilton inside disneyworld. The catch is we have to listen to what she was told will be a 1/2 hour seminar and if we don't like it just say goodbye afterwards and its over.  i don't beleive it. ther has to be more to it than that.


What are your seminar experiences?

I have.

They're a bunch of lying, thieving crooks.

Other than that, they're okay.

Quoted: I have. They're a bunch of lying, thieving crooks. Other than that, they're okay.

ROFL - and I used to be one of them!  

Seriously, I used to sell timeshares.  That 1/2 hour will turn into 2 hours minimum.  You'll have to fight like hell to be able to leave, and the vacation won't be worth squat anyways.  Lots of conditions, etc. to using it.

Unless you are really interested in a timeshare (and if you are, we need to talk - they aren't all they are cracked up to be) don't go.  Trust me.

More merit to the "If it's too good to be true.. it probably is." A guy at work is contracted by corporate to sell time shares, he seems like a sleazeball, I won't even acknowedge him, much less try to sell me anything.

I concur, total waste of time unless you're intent on owning a timeshare.

The company I work for gives us resort tickets to a timeshare place because we print their brochures. I get to go unimpeded by the lectures and sales seminars.

I see some very unhappy people when I'm there.

I would NEVER go otherwise.

Quoted: Quoted: I have. They're a bunch of lying, thieving crooks. Other than that, they're okay. ROFL - and I used to be one of them!   Seriously, I used to sell timeshares.  That 1/2 hour will turn into 2 hours minimum.  You'll have to fight like hell to be able to leave, and the vacation won't be worth squat anyways.  Lots of conditions, etc. to using it. Unless you are really interested in a timeshare (and if you are, we need to talk - they aren't all they are cracked up to be) don't go.  Trust me.

we have one, it does take about 2 hrs, these guys push harder than used car salesmen with a 95 corsica

my folks love their time share, but they know alot of the tricks to make vacation that much better

You can buy a timeshare second-hand from someone who already has one.  Much cheaper that way.  They lose a LOT of their value immediately after the sale from the real estate company.  If you're only interested in the vacation, I'd just skip it.  It's not worth the brainwashing and bullshit -- at least to me.

Been there - dragged into that.

Run away.

yea. All I want is the hotel. the guy told her that they are giving $1600.00 worht of hotel for $99.00.

Run away, fast!

"Oh my god, you got the red sticker!"

"And we certainly dont want to pressure you."

"Hey guys, how would you like to tell that secretary, 'I got this little place in Aspen?'...Just kidding wives"

The one hour sales pitch turned out to be three hours.

They paid for the room in Atlantic City, but since the "discussion" took so long the hotel charged me a late checkout fee!  

Never Again.

B_S

Before I clicked on this thread, I just KNEW there had to be a wife involved...No man ever consents to attending one of these sore-bun academies without some serious nut-twisting from the better half.

My suggestion would be to buy her something expensive as a consolation prize, and forget about the whole thing.

Quoted: You can buy a timeshare second-hand from someone who already has one.  Much cheaper that way.  They lose a LOT of their value immediately after the sale from the real estate company.

Ebay, perhaps?

The first time my wife and I went to DisneyWorld in 1997 she made some "super awesome discount" deal for park tickets-I should have asked more questions in retrospect.

To make a long story short, that "30 minute presentation" turned into a three hour ordeal with increasingly higher pressured managers taking turns attempting to close us on a timeshare. I realize that these guys have to eat too, but we weren't interested in a timeshare at the time.

I was pretty pissed at my wife for going into this purely for the sake of getting park tickets. Even though these guys were pretty high pressure it's still pretty shitty to stroke a salesman if you have no intention of ever buying the product or service he/she is offering.

I would rather have my toe nails trimmed with a chain saw than go thru that again.


Bobwrench

Just out of curiosity (if a little off topic), how exactly does a time share work?  I have heard enough about the sales meeting to avoid getting into one.

I went to several local ones in the San Diego area.  Don't let them corner you.  Get the free shit ironed out first.  Don't lie to the sales person.  Tell them you don't give two shits about a time share and that you think they suck goat balls.  Watch their jaw drag on the ground, laugh, and go about your business.  If you are under 30 yrs old, you may be able to tolerate the BS.  If older, you might kill every one in the room.

...........and watch your 6.

And if they offer a free "Texas Barbeque", it will be some cheap barbequed hot dogs on stale buns.  Just like fucking magic.

Quoted: Just out of curiosity (if a little off topic), how exactly does a time share work?  I have heard enough about the sales meeting to avoid getting into one.

Here is how they work.  They look for a sucker.  Someone who doesn't plan well.  They make it look appealing, and you sign up.  Then, after a few years of non-use, you dump it off for a huge loss.  Or your get a divorce and lose have of your luke warm time share shit, and still never use it.

Kinda like buying a $150000+ motorhome to keep up with the jones'es'es+1.  Airfare and hotels would be much cheaper if  you do the math, and you get fresh linen every day.

...........and as always, be sure to completely ignore good advice.

I went to local one about 10 years ago.  For a guy with no interest in a timeshare it just looked like a total con job to me.  High pressure sales and a fake party atmosphere.  Everyone they conned would get this bullshit small bottle of champagne and get confetti thrown at them and all the  salesmen would gather around them and sing a little bullshit song.....made me nauseous.  

Here's how they work (though the post above is pretty close!)

Instead of buying an entire condo, you get a "share" of it to use every year.  Most timeshares now, instead of giving you a specific week, give you points to use.  If used properly, you could get between 15-25 days a year at various timeshares around the world during off-peak season.

However, here is the problem with timeshares:

You are totally dependent on their availability, like a hotel.  And you pay ever increasing "maintenance fees" every year - this covers your share of the taxes, insurance, utilities, staff wages, etc.


If you have a family, like to vacation a lot, go to different places, or know when every year you will vacation, then it might work out for you.  Better than staying in a small hotel room, as you will get a condo with a kitchen, etc.

However, the best deals out there are the timeshare resales - pennies on the dollar, and no bullshit high-pressure sales crap.

I like my parents' timeshare. They paid the initial purchase and all the BS fees, I just pay my airfare to get down to the location. But then, I'm still on vacation with my parents....

Kharn

I think San Diego was the capital of timeshares when I lived there. Here's a list of some of the stuff I got for going to the seminar's.

3 days and 2 nights in Vegas w/Airfare
Cruise for 2 to Ensenada
Sony Boombox
2 sleeping bags and $100

My Fiance's parents own 3 timeshare slots around the country.  They gave us a week in Williamsburg this year.  I have stayed in better regular hotels.  During check in, the staff started hitting us up to sit in a sales meeting that week.  I refused but the Fiance started to balk a little.  That was until I brought up the fact that her parents owned the 3 all ready and they almost never use them.

We went to the main complex and walked by several of the sales meetings in progress and people meeting with the "managers".  It looked like a living hell.  I will never do that.  If I do, when the 30 minutes are up, I will fight my way out.  But I better have my free gift.

My wife and I go all the time.  There are several different companies, and each has a limit (something from no more than one in 6 monthes to 1 in 2 years....they will charge you if you show up to often).  We have taken a lot of vacations stays and received everythying from cash to gift certificates.  We have better luck in places like Gatlinburg and Orlando...Did you know your free gift's can be negotiated.  One time we negotiated from $50 cash and dinner for two up to $150 and two dinners for 4.

Anyway, for occupation tell them you are a lawyer or engineer.  We are both engineers and about 50% of the time the salesperson says up front...they won't bother with engineers or sometimes, odly enough, they say that they overbooked and ran out of sales people, but we get to take our gifts and go on our way.  

They usually have a game room or something set up for the kids, so they get to play.  Whatever you do just keep telling them you don't make any decisions on the spot but you will take the information home and consider it.  They know the sale is busted once you walk away.  Once they understand this, the floor manager will come over, offer you an even better deal.  Tell him the same thing.  After that you will be given you stuff and shuffled out the door very quickly.  Then you can enjoy the rest of you stay.

If the don't 'overbook' or kick you out right away, plan on the sales event taking a minimum of 1/2 day.

Dan