Comments on: Timeshare fail

By: Timeshare Relief

Timeshare Relief — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:58:46 +0000

The greetings of some closing companies are really enticing. But the reality is the transaction could take a longer time. It seems that you have missed lots of opportunities to dump your timeshare. You’re right. You have nothing to lose if you contact again those other people whom you just turned away and see if they are still interested in your timeshare.

By: Brian Greenberg

Brian Greenberg — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:36:19 +0000

I have this ~~argument~~ discussion with my parents all the time. They bought a week in Aruba more than a decade ago. The sales pitch included a “do it for your children” argument. For them (both retired), it’s a wonderful thing – they go there every year, they know where their room is, they have their favorite restaurants, their favorite spot on the beach, their favorite bell captain, etc..

But for us (two 40ish working people with young kids), the thought of going to the same place each year is not appealing. They get a little upset whenever we say we’re not going (we go once every few years), and they don’t seem to remember that when they were our age, they balked at the idea of taking us (then, small children) to the same place every year as well…

By: Ilya

Ilya — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:10:44 +0000

Oh we could use it even while we did not live in the US – the interval exchange program theoretically allows us to go to any one of hundreds of member resorts worldwide instead of the one we own. (And there is no points system in our case; the swap, in theory, is very simple: You deposit your week into the pool and have a two-year window to pick a week elsewhere in return.)

The problem is that it does not fit our travel style at all. We do not like to come back to the same place over and over, so exchanging the week is the only useful route for us. Plus, there are limited occasions when we stay in one place for a whole week (which, depending on the resort, may not start on a weekend day). Even in those cases, we want very specific locations, which we have not been much successful in finding available for the weeks we needed them.

Timeshare ownership is perfect for people who either like spending holidays repeatedly at the same resort or are flexible with where/when they go depending on exchange availability.

We have been “giving” the week away to friends and family for years. Yearly maintenance fee of several hundred dollars is not such a big drag, but it’s the fact that we own it and have no interest in using it that bugs me.

By: Jeri

Jeri — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:57:39 +0000

Is it something you can use now that you’re returning to the US? I’ve never considered buying one, and some close friends who did only used theirs for a couple years and then haven’t messed with it — the points system for alternate locations is just too painful to screw with.

By: Vince

Vince — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:01:57 +0000

Ah, yes. Those gentle reminders when what appeared to be a good idea doesn’t pan out quite the way you expected. Not snarky, not nasty, but… let’s say a slight bit of satisfaction in being the smarter partner.