We started out on this venture with the best intentions. But you should only buy a timeshare if you have the money right then and there to pay for it.

Many years ago I used to hear people talking about timeshares and owning a week.   This never really peaked my interest.  My big brother is always vacationing at one place or another; he loves to travel.  One day he told me how he managed to pay for all these vacations, actually he didn’t.  He told me that these resorts will call you and invite to come stay for the weekend, they will pay for your gas, set you up in a luxurious suite and offer you cash.  They even go as far as giving vouchers to dine out and eat some of their  finest cuisines.  The only thing that you have to do is sit through a 90 minute presentation and take a tour of the units.  The timeshare sales representative are smooth talking and out to make a buck.    These people will do and say anything to suck-you-in, they are charming and extremely manipulative. 

Timeshare is a form of ownership or right to use of property.   These properties are called resort condominium units.  Multiple parties hold rights to use the property, each share is allotted a period of time. These resort condominium units are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world. 

This concept is used by many resort developers such as:

Wyndham

Accor

Hilton

Marriot

Disney

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This has become a very lucrative business for the share holders. 

My brother  finally managed to talk my husband and I into going down to Wyndham one weekend for a presentation, since it cost practically nothing why not! We stay at one of the units, which had amenities such as, washer and dryer, refrigerator, stove etc., it was beautiful.  The next day we sat through the presentation, after being shoveled back and forth from one sales person to another, we decided to invest, (”really big mistake”.)   I don’t care if they serve you champagne with cheese and crackers to seal the deal.   What this really boils down to is you get locked into a contract that is forever your financial responsibility.   These people have hidden agendas like you would not believe.  You are no longer using these properties 1 year out of a week, now this transaction is done on a point system, you can you these points any place in the world as long as they have a resort located there.  The more money you spend the more points you receive, you  also have to pay a monthly maintenance fee.  I don’t mind that part, but what happened next I was not prepared for.  They are always booked-up, or either we don’t have enough point, so in essence I haven’t been able to use my timeshare.  Now they told us that we would have to bank our point if we didn’t use them, otherwise we would lose them.  We receive  our points on even years, so I banked them with another company they are connected with called Leisure Plan.  When I attempted to use the points I banked with Leisure Plan, they told me that I had to pay to use them, but I was already paying monthly for them as it was.

Being a timeshare owner is a nightmare, a lot of people are stuck with the mortgage on these timeshares and can’t use the property.  Then we started receive phone calls from people pretending to want to help use get rid of the property, but you must pay them up front, (don’t).  These people will not provide you with any written contract and will not give you any deadline as far as time is concerned, all they want to do is take your money.  Recently I had a guy trying to lure me into another scam involved with my timeshare, but this time he wanted me to give him my bank routing numbers.  Believe  it or not they get your information from the resort you bought the timeshare from, (”a bunch of snakes slivering in bed together”). 

If you have the money to pay for a timeshare in advance and can avoid those high interest payments (11.50%), then maybe this might be a good idea.   It’s okay to get a free vacation if all you have to do is sit through a 90 minute presentation, but just say “N0 Thank you”. In the long-run you would be better off saving you money throughout the year and then when your vacation time comes around you’ll have it.