Why Timeshares Aren’t Worth It

The fact that there is now an industry of lawyers that exclusively deal with getting people out of timeshare contracts is all you need to know.

She took a 30k loan with 15% APR to buy a timeshare? If Capital Vacations wasn’t going to scam her, someone was.

My wife and I attend timeshare presentations once a year, usually in Florida. We do it for the sole purpose of getting a free week stay at the resort, no less. It gives us great pleasure wasting 1 or 2 hours of their time, to then walk out with our free week, and sometimes more. I would never recommend this to impulsive buyers or those that don't know how to say no. You have to go into these things with a mission in mind.

My friends and I have literally crawled out of a hotel window to get out of sitting through a timeshare presentation 😂

I recently found out my future in laws got suckered into buying a timeshare/vacation club. My stomach dropped when they told me. Already explaining to my fiancé that under no circumstance will be ever have anything to do with these. I truly can't fathom why anyone would want to go in massive amounts of debt with interest just to be limited on where they can vacation and be stuck with nonstop fees. Just save up for the vacations you actually want to take. If you cant afford to pay for it in full, then you can't afford to go on vacation. It's that simple.

One of my friends invited my husband and myself to their timeshare in Mexico. All we had to pay for was the all inclusive fee for food and drinks. My friends who owned the timeshare were required to pay this fee as well to use their timeshare. I called the hotel and was able to book the room for less than my friends. They had already spent a good amount of money for this timeshare, plus annual maintenance fees. I was able to vacation for less than them for a week. Don’t ever buy a Mexico timeshare.

I told the sales rep that we have a policy of never making a major commitment until we have slept on it. He stressed that the “special deal” was only available today. My response: “So after I’ve slept on it, if I decide I want to take that deal, I shouldn’t bother calling you?” Of course, he back-pedaled in a hurry. I’ve been telling people to avoid timeshares since I first heard of them around 1990.

Got suckered into two timeshares while visiting Orlando in 2023. Wyndham has a booth at Seaworld. They picked me out of the crowd and said that I look like a guy who wants to save money. Ended up going to a Disney resort for a timeshare with the promise of a free week of vacation. They used high pressure sales tactics to get me to sign up for a $20,000 vacation club. I guess you could say my guard was down. What’s worse is that Westgate also offered me a vacation club which I accepted that same trip. Realizing I had made two gigantic mistakes, I had only 3 days to cancel my Westgate contract and 10 days to cancel Wyndham. Once you sign the contracts, they could care less about you. Good luck talking to anyone to even book trips. It’s the most legal scam ever. After several cancellation letters and next-day mailing totaling $250, I got out of my two contracts by the skin of my teeth. Don’t ever get suckered in. If you do, make sure you following the cancellation terms to a T.

This is a time when we need to either heavily regulate or outright ban this "timeshare" system.

Many years ago my husband and I were vacationing in Mexico, and were told we'd get a free breakfast buffet if we went to a "short" presentation. Well, we were hungry so went went and brought our appetites. They held us captive fir over an hour while we could smell the delicious food in the other room but weren't allowed to touch it. Finally we got to eat, and the food was delicious! After breakfast they still wouldn't let us out. We had to sit through another pitch. Then they came around with the contracts. I couldn't believe that some people actually signed up! Be we kept saying no. They went through salesperson after salesperson trying to work on us. When it was clear we wouldn't sign, they brought over this big tough guy to try to threaten and intimidate us to sign! Then the group leader said it was time ti tour the property, and that it would be mandatory for us to go with them. As soon as we got outside we bolted. NEVER CAVE IN!! IT'S A SCAM!!

I remember being lured to time share presentation back in 2004. I was 23 years old. But even then,the whole experience was extremely strange and suspicious to me. Years went past,and I was almost certain that people learned that time sharing was a scam of the past. After watching this, im in state of shock. i couldn't be more wrong. It's amazing that now,in 2024, more people are falling for this despite having instantaneous access to an enormous amount of information. People will never stop being stupid and naive

As a tourist in Florida, they made me sit through a timeshare presentation just to get free/discounted tickets to Disney world. It was worth it, but they do employ decent sales tactics. I can understand how Americans would be tempted as a foreigner who went through

I love timeshare presentations. I would go to the ones where they give you free 3 day vacations just for attending the presentations. They spend hours like car salesmen to sell it to me, I keep saying no and take my free vacations. I have done it like 6 times. Went to Mexico, Hawaii, Jamaica and Dominican Republic for pennies on dollar. Without ever signing up for anything.

I had to sit through one of their pitches with my wife after the in-laws invited us on a vacation. These people are blatant, ruthless liars. They tried to justify numbers that didn't make any sense and had a stupid rebuttals anytime they were confronted with basic math or logic. At one point they brought over their "two best salespeople" and tried dividing my wife and I because she seemed more interested in their BS. After standing firm, one of them got condescending but when you go low, I take it to the floor. They no longer wanted to speak to me shortly after. Never waste your money on a timeshare.

I sat thru their presentation cos i was told i had a pair of free tickets to Japan worth $3000, but when we showed no interest to invest in their other offerings, they were not only rude, they said their policy was to book the trip with a mandatory booking of their selected hotels which will cost us $6000! Very sad that these are still legalised scams today.

TOP TIP for dealing with High Pressure Timeshare Sales Presentation: I brought along a full sized bag of extra crunch potato chips. Every time the presenter got to a dramatic sales pitch part, I started rolling my bag of chips. It was loud. Then I would stand up and say "My bad." and sit down, because I am English and that's the polite thing to do. That lasted about 10 minutes then they asked me to step outside. As I went outside, I passed by the table with the giveaways and I took my two champagne bottles and two envelopes filled with COCO BONGO tickets with me. That's called WIN - WIN!

TimeShare is an industry created from the hotel industry that has on average 30% vacancy rate throughout the year. The floating weeks is pretty much what they offer to fill up what would be empty reservations. TimeShare is a forever contract and you are stuck for life.

Thanks CNBC for bringing awareness to the public

The fact that the government acted against the 'exit' companies but not actual time share companies says it all

When I attend a timeshare presentation, it’s only for the well researched free gift. I also check the minimum time I must attend (usually 90 mins) and announce my intentions at the very beginning. I then set my timer and at the end of 90 minutes, get up and collect my gift. That’s the only thing these presentations are worth attending for. My “gifts” have included lift tickets, amusement park tickets, free weekend stays and kindle tablets.