TCA have reported on many occasions that timeshare companies, especially in the USA, use free giveaways to encourage participation in a supposed “tour” of timeshare resorts. We all know that this is not so much a tour, more of a 6 or 7 hour very hard sell to buy a timeshare.
Recently we spotted an article on travel based website Loyaltylobby.com. The article was an announcement from Bluegreen Vacations covering their new incentive to “take a tour”:
$279 for a 3 night stay is great value by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t end there. Below we will investigate further then look at the catch, and it’s a big catch at that.
The offer in greater detail
For a starter, the terms and conditions are pretty onerous to take the tour such as having a certain level of income and have a certain level of credit worthiness and many more hoops to jump through so as not to waste valuable selling time on non qualified clients. There is also the condition that we would have expected:
“I agree that I (or We if married or cohabitating with a significant other who is participating in this offer with me) must attend and complete an approximately two-hour Bluegreen Vacation Club® sales presentation and tour on the benefits of timeshare ownership at the Bluegreen Vacations preview center in my selected destination area.”
No surprise there, but that done with, apart from the cheap room rate offered, what else is thrown in as a sweetener?
So doing the maths, you pay $279 for the stay, but get back possibly $300 via an Amex gift card you are actually $21 in profit, or if you don’t book within 30 days, the cost to you is $4. Needless to say, the Amex gift card has terms and conditions with the biggest drawback being that you cannot simply use an ATM to draw cash, you actually have to use the card to buy product at venues that accept Amex but hey ho, it’s still free money.
TCA comment
Enter the TNSTAAFL theory, meaning “There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”. The realities of these types of offers obviously come with a catch, as we have seen, the supposed “2 hour tour” of the resort. Timeshare presentations are riddled with lies and over exaggerations; here is the first of many. The tour will not last only 2 hours, in fact, be prepared to forfeit a whole day of your 3 day getaway enjoying what will be a savage attack on all your senses, aggression, lies and some serious hard selling.
You should NOT sign up or purchase any of these “preview” offers that require you to participate in hours-long presentations unless you are confident being able to say FIRM NO at the end (or it will end up being the most expensive free trip of your life).
These types of offers only go to reinforce that no one ever goes out with the intention of buying a timeshare. To entice potential buyers, developers have to resort to offers such as this article describes. Ask yourself does your local shopping centre with all its variety of shops throw $300 at you to visit? Of course not. OK there may be the odd money off or discount coupon, but that’s where it ends.
In conclusion, let’s call it two days away, on the understanding that one day will be lost being sold to. Let’s say at worst its cost you $4 plus travel and food expense. As we said above, if you are really strong willed enough to keep saying no at every opportunity, go for it. Show the slightest modicum of interest and waiver then you could end up kissing goodbye to $20,000 or more, plus enter into an expensive to maintain holiday product that goes on forever and probably will never deliver any of the promises made which swayed you to give in and sign on the bottom line in the first place.
Remember, timeshare resorts are normally high class well maintained venues but that’s all they are, keep in mind you aren’t buying the resort. Timeshare is the product you are being sold, and that’s an entirely different ball game.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk