Escape Timeshare

We’ve been told of the following offer:

Mystic Dunes™ Resort & Golf Club (2 Nights ) + plus 2 Tickets = $139.00

2 FREE Theme Park Tickets
Get 2 FREE theme park tickets when you stay 2 nights at our award-winning Mystic Dunes™ Resort & Golf Club. Your choice of Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot® Disney’s Hollywood Studios™, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, Universal Studios Florida®, Universal’s Islands of Adventure®, or Sea World® Orlando tickets.

This exclusive Preview Rate* saves you over $600:

• 2 Nights plus 2 Tickets Just $139

But when I talked to customer service, the price he told me is $99.00 for 2 nights + 2 tickets for SeaWorld in Orlando.

You’ll often find that salesmen are happy to reduce the price on the phone to close the sale, as the only reason you’re paying anything generally is to assure that you come.

Keep in mind that these vacation deals often result in a not so enjoyable vacation as you’re expose to high pressure sales.  You’ll either spend the vacation regretting spending too much on the timeshare, or feeling bad because of the constant attacks and insults thrown at you for not purchasing.

You’ve been offered a highly reduced rate at some resort in Orlando, Hawaii, or Vegas.  Sounds great doesn’t it?

One thing to realize regarding free/reduced cost vacation offers is that failure to attend the timeshare presentation can result in them charging you the FULL rack rate on the resort, which is often several hundred dollars a day.  Many resorts have been known to threaten to do so to customers that walk out on or refuse to buy a unit during their presentation.

Always always ALWAYS read the fine print and ask upfront EXACTLY what will be required of you before attending a presentation.  It will make things easier and cheaper for you.

We’ve been hearing some good things about Disney Vacation Club, a service that allows members to travel around and stay at various resorts worldwide.

While the resort itself may not be the best deal, the tours are supposedly less high pressure than most timeshare presentations, so it can make for an easy free gift.

It’s worth pointing out that the gifts tend to be of a lower value than some other resorts will offer.  On the bright side, you’ll be less likely to get forced into buying.

A visit to their website will put you in contact with a representative happy to take your personal information.  Here’s what the rep said to us:

“Let me go over the basics with you and then I will be able to get a vacation guide to customize a complimentary package for you including pricing and points charts and send it in the mail. Also they will be able contact you to assist you further with your questions. Does that sound ok?”

A caveat emptor to timeshare presentations for honeymoon or vacation trips. Resorts occasionally react VERY poorly to those that do not succumb to their pressures to buy a timeshare. We’ve seen reports of withholding prizes and freebies enough that we feel it’s a very real danger to those going to resorts blindly.

One report states:

This reminded me of a “family vacation” we all took to a timeshare in Palm Springs back a few years back. All of our kids were stuck along in a condo for a few hours while the adults took their tour of the golf course and other amenities. On our last day there, we all got together in a large conference room for yet another salespitch and a free luncheon. When the sales people asked “Who wants to buy?”, no one responded and so they didn’t serve us any lunch.

Missing a free lunch may seem laughable, but what will you do if it’s your honeymoon and the resort is insisting on charging you the full outlandish resort fees because you didn’t purchase a timeshare from them?

Edna writes:

We did one of the sales pitches when we were in Hawaii. Our entire party received money off the excursions they did, so it was a pretty good deal for all of us. I told the guy upfront that we are not buying, cannot afford it, and were only there for the discounts. He was cool about it.

Sounds like you got lucky and got a nice sales agent. Sadly, he’s likely out of a job now. These salesmen are under intense pressure to make sales.

Candace also survived, writing:

I took advantage of a free weekend a few months ago. It was totally worth hearing the pitch to receive two free nights at the resort, free tickets to a nearby theme park, and a generous voucher for dinner out. The sales guy was visibly disappointed and kept trying to push me to buy, but I think he also understood that their recruitment method is bound to draw a lot of people who possess no interest in buying. Just stay firm and say “It doesn’t feel right” - they don’t really have a comeback to that one!

While we’re glad you both survived, we wish to warn readers that more often than not the timeshare company wins in the long run. Many survive 2 or 3 presentations only to succumb during the next visit to unexpected pressure.

A visit to Orlando will often result in a tourist being offered free, or reduced price tickets to Disney World in return for attending a ‘90 minute’ timeshare presentation.

Often, these presentations will turn into a 5 or 6 hour long high pressure sale experience in which the purchase of a timeshare is equated in importance to a life or death decision.

Most people give in, which is why these resorts are able to offer free tickets.  The real cost ends up being much more than one would pay just to get into Disney world in the first place.