Timeshares are big business. According to the American Resort Development Association, almost 4 million Americans own timeshares. Simply put, it's a $5 billion industry in the United States alone.
The competition is fierce. Companies will do whatever it takes, legally, to get a prospective buyer to listen to their sales pitch.
For some, the best place to get new customers is while they are on vacation - especially in another country. People's guards are down. They don't know the laws of the country they are visiting. And sometimes folks sign away the few rights they have because they are told that "great deal" is only available today.
A few lessons here:
One, if they won't let you take the contract home before you sign it, walk away.
Two, if you have signed the deal in Mexico, Mexican law provides a five-day window for you to cancel the contract. If that notification is not in it, be wary of signing the deal.
Three, some companies actually have you sign away that right. In Royal Holiday Club's contract, customers rescind the reconsideration period when they sign up.
Four, most hotels and resorts have Internet access. Just one look online and you can see if a company has problems with its customers.
Five, these are deals that will cost you thousands of dollars.
I know you are on vacation, but you may want to chill out on the margaritas before walking into one of these sales meetings. I want to hear your experiences, both good and bad, with timeshare companies.
And if you have any words of wisdom, pass them along too.
Click here fore full Investigators story.
please tell Jesse Jones not to dress like a pimp. that gray pinstripe suit with the purple tie tonight was a bit too much. also, the whole JESSE JONES, the way he says his name is just ridiculous. other reporters just say their names normally. can he please do that?
The other issue I have with Royal-Holiday - we paid the money for the resort and the annual maintenance fee (which is now 815 up from 250 a year from when we joined in 1987) and now several of their resorts in Mexico are all inclusive so now they want MORE of your vacation dollars - the price is $60 US per person (you don't have an option of not participating in the all inclusive) - my husband and I do not eat or drink $120 worth of food in a day when we are on vacation - this is a complete rip off and only benefits the resort. So you pay your maintenance fee of 815 to stay somewhere a week and then another $840 for the all inclusive on top of air fare - that's a joke. The locations that are all inclusive are Ixtapa, Cozumel and several of their Cancun resorts.
The other issue I have with Royal-Holiday - we paid the money for the resort and the annual maintenance fee (which is now 815 up from 250 a year from when we joined in 1987) and now several of their resorts in Mexico are all inclusive so now they want MORE of your vacation dollars - the price is $60 US per person (you don't have an option of not participating in the all inclusive) - my husband and I do not eat or drink $120 worth of food in a day when we are on vacation - this is a complete rip off and only benefits the resort. So you pay your maintenance fee of 815 to stay somewhere a week and then another $840 for the all inclusive on top of air fare - that's a joke. The locations that are all inclusive are Ixtapa, Cozumel and several of their Cancun resorts.
Timeshares are a bad idea, in my opinion. You have to shell out 20+ thousand dollars up front for the purposes of purchasing vacations now. What happens if you lose your job in the future? What do you do if you can't take a vacation one year? What happens if you want to stay somewhere else not in the network? These salespersons try to lure you in with the promise of it being a good investment, but look at ebay. You can find thousands of timeshares at a fraction of the price the developers sell it at. Finally, if it's such a good deal, why do they have to resort to the sleazy tactics in order to get you to sign your name on the dotted line? Take my advice and save up for vacations on your own terms. Go where you want to go, when you want to go, and for how much you can afford.
I purchased my timeshare over five years ago, and since then I have gone on many vacations and have countless memories that I otherwise would not have had. I take pride in my ownership and realize I would rather own my vacation than rent it. Pre-paying for my vacation has been the only way for me to afford first class accomodations. After paying a mortgage, college loans, car payment, etc. vacation would be at the bottom of my list of priorities, thanks to timeshare I'm able to take the vacations I've always dreamed of.
Thank you for your information re Royal Holidays. In 2007 my husband and I also became victims of the company. They are smooth as can be.
By the way the definition of Legal Fraud is:"The intentional use of deceit, a trick or some dishonest means to obtain anothers money or property...also it may include "an omission or intentional failure to state material facts, knowledge of which would be neccessary to make other statements not misleading.
Just thought I would throw that little lesson in for anyone who likes to learn something new each day.
We are in the process of contacting whomever it takes to get our money back. Over 15,000.00 (US) which turned into over $18,000.00 Canadian with exchange.
My hard working husband had just turned 60 and decided it was time that we started taking holidays on a yearly basis. After some questions our salesman knew exactly what we wanted, and wouldn't you know their company was able to fill our needs, so we were told. He said, all the things that he needed to say, to get us to sign up. Now, we did not think it was too good to be true, becuase by the time we were to be finished paying we would have spent over 24,000.00 (us) not to mention the yearly fee of $640.00 (US) to download our points of 30,000 which is not enough for a 2 week holiday in the type of room we were shown,one were we could prepare our own meals.Then the cost of plane trips which were to be our expense. In our budget this was not a cheap investment and we did not think we had gotten a steal of a deal.
The ease of booking our vacations,the 5star plus resort and much more..but when we got the book of the resorts, and the fine print with all the operating rules in the back of it, what a difference. Had we gotten this book of evidence when we were promised in 2/3 days we would have been able to cancell with in the 5 days allowed by Mexican law, but it was 18 days late.My husband even had to phone to find out were it was. Well,when we did get it we knew our problems had just began. I do have the UPS slip of when it left Mexico.
There is more but folks enter "Royal" in your computor, search it out and you will find many stories of other victims, from all over the world. I have had correspondence with a lady from Spain just to mention one area. Our story is there also. We were in Ixtapa last year.
My heart goes out to all who have been unfortunate enough to come up against this company with the BBB "F" rating. The money loss is one thing but the feelings of being violated and cheated are a whole other issue.
Please be careful readers. I am sure there are good holiday plans or time shares out there, but Royal is not one of them.
Sincerely
The Hopps' from British Columbia Canada
Let the buyer beware! The trick in buying timeshares is to buy in a resort that you want to visit each year so you don't have the trading headaches. I have a friend who owns two fixed weeks (Pueblo Bonito in Cabo San Lucas) and has no complaints at all.
That's horrid.
As the story opens, Time Share can be a great thing but, not all companies are the best place to get it.
Once you're a time share owner, you can use em all.
Everybody else's TS is available to you so, be smart about where you buy.
NEVER NEVER NEVER purchase a Time Share OUTSIDE the US.
They can get you good and drunk and US law doesn't apply. You are bound by that contract. There's also NO recision period (that time when you can change your mind).
Here in washington, it's 7 days and they cannot offer you alcohol at the presentations.
My wife and I own the #2 Points resort out of the 4000+ RCI resorts. we can deposit that week for points, and go up to 4 weeks and even longer to everybody else's time shares. Wyndham just bought the resort we own and what I purchased for $24,000 is now being sold for close to $50,000. That's equity..just like that house you own.
My wife and I would never have been to the places we've been since getting involved in this back in 2005. Prior to that we'd never gone anywhere...for over 20 years.
Be careful, but don't not do it..just purchase inside the US and purchase from one of the known companies who have something to lose if they don't deliver on what you were promised.
Make sure you see, in writing, everything you were told by the sales rep.
With Time Share, you get to stay in places that would easily cost the general public $300-$800/night to use..but the general public can't go to these places unless they're an owner's guest.
Buy it..just buy at the right place.
Referring to comment above by Richard Anderson:
>>What happens if you lose your job in the future?
What do you do if you can't take a vacation one year?>>What happens if you want to stay somewhere else not in the network?>>These salespersons try to lure you in with the promise of it being a good investment, but look at ebay. You can find thousands of timeshares at a fraction of the price the developers sell it at.>>Finally, if it's such a good deal, why do they have to resort to the sleazy tactics in order to get you to sign your name on the dotted line?>>Take my advice and save up for vacations on your own terms. Go where you want to go, when you want to go, and for how much you can afford.<<<
do you remember when Motel 6 was $6? What does it cost now?
If you are aware of any hotel room that's cheaper Today than it was 10 years ago, I'd like to know where it is.
when my wife and I were in Hawaii recently, a week in the Hyatt cost over $5,000.
That's a hotel room about 1/10th the size of a vacation condo.
Due dilligence is required on the part of the buyer.
But the State gives you seven days after signing the contract to do that.
You can back out and get back every dime you were paid.
well that was certainly weird..most of what I said didn't post.
Let's try that agin.
Timeshares are a bad idea, in my opinion. You have to shell out 20+ thousand dollars up front for the purposes of purchasing vacations now. What happens if you lose your job in the future?
--the same thing that would happen to your boat that you only use once or twice a year.---
What do you do if you can't take a vacation one year?
--Book some time anyway and rent it to someone else.--
What happens if you want to stay somewhere else not in the network?
--if you make sure you purchase in the right place to start with, that shouldn't be an issue.
Buy at an RCI points resort and you've got 4000 resorts all over the world to choose from.
Plus, the advantage to points is it's one day at a time..a week is actually booked by getting 8 days and 7 nights somewhere.
You can use points to get RV's stay on Catamarans, Houseboats and lots more than just condos.--
These salespersons try to lure you in with the promise of it being a good investment, but look at ebay. You can find thousands of timeshares at a fraction of the price the developers sell it at. Finally, if it's such a good deal, why do they have to resort to the sleazy tactics in order to get you to sign your name on the dotted line?
--any time a time share salesman tells you that time share is a financial investment is when you get up and leave the presentation. it's not...and a reputable company tells you that during the presentation.--
Saving up for your own vacations becomes more and more expensive every year because the price of hotel rooms never goes down but does always go up.
Hey M,
A pimp? By the way, the suit was brown not gray.
We are members of Royal Holidays, have been for 7 years now, and love it. However, whatever you sign up for, it needs to work for you and you need to do the math. Only trust what is in writing. The sales folks, even in Hawaii, will pull math tricks on you and mislead you if they think it will make a sale. In Mexico, they will downright lie. Be prepared for that.
We didn't want a timeshare, didn't want to deal with trading through RCI, had no intentions of selling a week or trading outside of the club since we have numerous excellent choices and would want to stay at many of them again. Staying in a condo is great. I love to cook so its way better than a hotel room. I like grilling fresh fish in Hawaii and baking a turkey in a London flat. yum.
Anyway, doing the math using present dollars or future dollars can get tricky. Sales staff will frequently switch back and forth, regardless of which company. Using either (but not both) works. We're spending about 1/3 to 1/2 overall, of what we'd have spent renting on our own. The all-inclusive places can be OK because we actually think the food and drink is decent but they are definitely not a deal. The condos are. The all inclusives can be good when they are offered with zero or very few points. There are three places now to stay in Ixtapa, one is a hotel (las Brisas), one is a condo, and one is an all inclusive. So you can mix and match if you want.
Rules to remember if you are considering this:
1) Regardless of what is said, believe only what is in writing.
2) RCI trading and selling weeks (especially if you think you may profit) should NOT be part of the deal.
3) Don't buy the first time you look something over. Sales staff will lie and say you'll never get that deal again, etc. But just walk away and then do some research on the internet.
4) Only buy a deal that works for you. With royal holidays it works well if you are flexible about when you are taking your vacations.
5) Only buy if you aren't required to vacation at a certain time of year.
6) Only buy if you are certain you can use all of the vacation. Even if you lose your job.
7) Don't finance it. Pay cash. Ask for a cash discount. I got a 25% discount (and luckily that was in writing).
8) If you are over a certain age, buying a long term deal doesn't make much sense and, don't plan on leaving it to relatives who may not want it or can't afford the maintenance. You are better off being free with your cash and living it up!
9) realize that many of the "club" resorts are not actually owned by the club and are subject to availability. You can book the ones owned by the company years in advance but many of the ones not owned are posted only 9 months to one year out.
10) Couples are played off each other. Have a game plan and do not let "unspoken" assumptions between you give the sales staff an advantage.
11) We'll only need 2 hours means "we're keeping you here for the day, giving you your incentive gifts at the end, and having three different layers of sales staff put the thumb screws on you." I picked a day when we felt like laying low and were actually interested in the conract. I blew off the sales lines. As soon as the sales person said "the mind is like a parachute" I asked for another sales person and told them to cut the crap.
12) If you just can't say no. Let someone else go in, get info, and come out. When you've made your decision to buy, go with someone else to do the purchase. The sales staff live on comission and are usually pretty good at what they do, which is convincing you to pay as much as possible for their product, even if it wont work for you.
Look everyting over and consider it. If you go in with open eyes, these can truly be a great deal.
We just want to thank you for doing the investigative report on Royal Holiday (they have associated group called Premier Holiday.) We were ripped off by them in May '06 for several thousand dollars. It is also important for your viewers to know that the credit card companies are complicit in this scheme, in that they have known about it for years and years, but prefer to keep their relationship good with Mexican banks rather than working on behalf of their own customers.
We hope you can do more on this story, since there are way more than 500 (that we know of) who have lost probably over a million dollars to these same crooks. Thank you.
Ben & Dee
Washington residents
I think timeshares are an individual decision. We have been Disney Vacation Club members for 7 or 8 years and I wouldn't trade it for any other investment I've made during the same period of time. In fact the value of our original investment is up about 50%. We've bought additional "points" since then.
More important than the investment, though, we have a lifetime of memories that we probably never would have enjoyed had we not taken the plunge. The Mauna Lani in Hawaii, The Plaza in New York City off Times Square at New Years, multiple cruises on The Disney Cruise Line (including a 10 day Mediterranean this summer) and of course wonderful stays at Disneyland and Disney World. I might note that this summer's cruise was about 30% less by use of the "points" over a cash purchase. Via trade in of points there are hundreds of vacation possibilites.
The Disney plan allows delaying use of points one year and advancing use by one year that works out wonderfully. You can also allow others to use your points for visits - opening the door for rental of your points.
If I sound like I'm sold on timeshares, I certainly am on this one! I recognize it's not for everyone, but what is?
Can anyone offer me any advise? I purchased Royal Holiday membership in Nassau Bahamas in March 2006. I travel to Nassau yearly. Upon viewing the gorgeous model suites (as part of the sales presentation), I was willing to pay the membership fee. It was on my first (and only) trip with Royal that I found out the model suites are the only ones like that in Nassau. I was sold a product Royal can not provide. How can I get my money back?????
It's unfortunate that so many bad actors have operated in the timeshare industry. Mayan Palace, RCI to name a few have taken advantage unsuspecting consumers. People need to seriously research what they are getting into.
Jesse James - It was just unprofessional of you to even respond to the ludicrous post by m.
Kay - Wyndham Nassau towers that RHC inhabits is currently being totally redone. Hopefully you'll like what you see on your next visit.
Ben & Dee - I know of no associated association that you indicate exists between Royal Holiday and Premier Holiday. RHC has a great product if you read your contract and their literature and understand what you're getting and how to use it. Unfortunately, RHC will sell anyone a small contract of 5K/10K/15K etc. but an account of at least 30Kpts is needed to effectively work their system and have a reasonable maintenance fee/point. fees get less/pt the bigger the contract. RHC has some terrible bookeeping and I would advise everyone with an RHC contract to kee p diligent records of all use of points and all payments.
J&D - Great post. I love my RHC membership. I've been to Nassau (3x), Paris, Rome and Florence in summer, Puerto Rico, New York City (20x) for events like Macy's Thanksgiving parade and New Years Eve, Rio de Janiero for Easter, San Francisco summer (5x), Atlantic City summer (14x), Cancun. There's so much in their system that there's no need for RCI.