Do people have good experiences with Time Shares?

[Soapbox Killer]

If the current narrative is to be believed (sports talk radio) Time shares are a creation of the devil and was originally conceived to temp Jesus while he spent 40 days in the desert. And the fact you can't cancel them without a lawyer (is this true) is insane to me but perhaps they are not all bad.


Anybody have one and are HAPPY with them?

 

[alr1ght]

My parents loved theirs until it was time to cancel since they didn't want to burden us kids when they passed. From what I've heard, it was a total nightmare.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

There has to be someone.

 

[Klyka]

View: https://youtu.be/Bd2bbHoVQSM

 

[Juraash]

My dad owns like....3 weeks at a timeshare in Hawaii (and has for like 20 years) and he's been really happy with it overall. He goes nearly every year and has been able to...trade(?) to be able to stay in many other places. I think Hilton owns his, which is probably part of why it's easy to shuffle and stay elsewhere.

Don't know about the lawyer thing, but he's also never tried to get rid of it. But I also know I have no interest in taking ownership of any of that time when he's gone.

 

[Squarehard]

 

[Soapbox Killer]

View: https://youtu.be/Bd2bbHoVQSM

Click to shrink...

Oh awesome!

 

[adj_noun]

My parents loved theirs until it was time to cancel since they didn't want to burden us kids when they passed. From what I've heard, it was a total nightmare.

Click to shrink...

Can you legally refuse to inherit a timeshare?

 

[Sobriquet]

I've heard my whole life that they are a scam. So that narrative has been "current" for decades.

 

[Dimensional Fortress]

If you book it early enough and don't care about being in the most prime locations, most of the facilities under our program are pretty decent.

And since they aren't the cream of the crop the other tenants are mostly quiet and retired. There have been a few families with noisy children and you can hear them run on the floor above you but 95% of the time it's always been quiet for us and some of the locations do not charge for extra parking.

I think almost every location is set up with it's own kitchen so it's a great way to save on food if you prefer to cook vs having to eat out for every meal.

 

[Gouty]

There's a lawyer in my area that runs radio adds constantly about hiring him specifically to get out of time share contracts.

 

[Gay Bowser]

Timeshares are almost universally a terrible value. A lot of people get older and travel less than they used to and dump their timeshares just to avoid paying the dues, which is why resale values are so terrible.

The one exception has, up until this point, been the Disney Vacation Club. If you're absolutely sure you're going to want to go to Disney every year (and for a long time, not just for a few years while your kids are young) it could be a decent value because it insulates you from the price increases at Disney, which have far outpaced inflation. And if you do decide to sell and leave the program, resale values tend to be far stronger since Disney has a right of first refusal on sales that they do use. The problem is, though, that you're still making a big financial commitment to essentially one company. What if Disney, knowing that so many DVC members' trips are essentially guaranteed, decides to stop investing in and growing the parks with new attractions?

 

[Lobster Roll]

Timeshares are almost universally agreed upon to be a terrible idea and if you're out there seeking for outlier experiences that are actually positive, you already know what to think of them.

 

[entremet]

Horrible and known for predatory sales practices.

 

[davepoobond]

it sounds awful and with air bnb type services, why wouldnt you just do that instead

There's a lawyer in my area that runs radio adds constantly about hiring him specifically to get out of time share contracts.

Click to shrink...

yeah theres one in the LA area too... its like, are there really that many people sucked into timeshares that not only get them but want to get out of them where this is a marketable proposition?

sheesh

 

[BWoog]

There has to be someone.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, the people selling them.

 

[Ensorcell]

Time shares as a concept never made much sense to me. Having said I still mooch off a family members time share when they let me. :)

 

[gozu]

I have nothing but good experiences with timeshares. They paid me 200 dollars once, just to listen to their scam.

5/5 - very satified

 

[mute]

The one exception has, up until this point, been the Disney Vacation Club. If you're absolutely sure you're going to want to go to Disney every year (and for a long time, not just for a few years while your kids are young) it could be a decent value because it insulates you from the price increases at Disney, which have far outpaced inflation. And if you do decide to sell and leave the program, resale values tend to be far stronger since Disney has a right of first refusal on sales that they do use. The problem is, though, that you're still making a big financial commitment to essentially one company. What if Disney, knowing that so many DVC members' trips are essentially guaranteed, decides to stop investing in and growing the parks with new attractions?

Click to shrink...

That an the whole climate change thing and WDW being in Florida.

We've thought about it before and honestly should have gone in when we were younger but I think we are past the point where we want to be making that kind of commitment.

 

[Trouble]

Timeshares are almost universally a terrible value. A lot of people get older and travel less than they used to and dump their timeshares just to avoid paying the dues, which is why resale values are so terrible.

The one exception has, up until this point, been the Disney Vacation Club. If you're absolutely sure you're going to want to go to Disney every year (and for a long time, not just for a few years while your kids are young) it could be a decent value because it insulates you from the price increases at Disney, which have far outpaced inflation. And if you do decide to sell and leave the program, resale values tend to be far stronger since Disney has a right of first refusal on sales that they do use. The problem is, though, that you're still making a big financial commitment to essentially one company. What if Disney, knowing that so many DVC members' trips are essentially guaranteed, decides to stop investing in and growing the parks with new attractions?

Click to shrink...

My wife and I are DVC owners. I looked at it as pre-paying for vacations with a pretty significant discount. There are some nice perks as well (discounts, Moonlight Magic events, exclusive lounges, etc), but none of that stuff was really a factor in the purchase.

I just wish they added DVC resorts to the non-U.S. parks, that would kick so much ass.

Also, there are not nearly enough DVC members to make up for the loss of regular customers if the parks truly go to shit. Plus they have many more hotel rooms to fill.

E: Should also mention that one of the reasons I was willing to go with DVC is that there is actual demand in the resale market, so getting out is just a matter of putting your contact up for sale. A lot of timeshares have basically zero resale demand, so they are insanely difficult to get rid of.

 

[Helmholtz]

It's a scam. My parents are having a great time trying to get rid of theirs.

 

[littledipster]

My parents have a time share that lets them choose from a number of resorts in most states/destinations (some international like canada, australia, mexico, no europe) - My whole immediate family uses it to vacation for several weeks a year, book rooms for other family members etc.

We use it a ton and when I ask him about it he says he still regrets doing it, I'm not positive on the costs but I believe he pays property taxes and HOA fees on one of the hotel rooms each year and then also additional fees.

It benefits me a lot since they have more points to book with each year than they can use so I get to use them, but based on what he has told me I have no interest on having it passed to me or getting one myself

 

[djplaeskool]

My folks are some ludicrously high rank within Club Wyndham.
They travel so much that they get a lot out of the program though.
Whenever we do big family vacations, we're always getting Presidential suites and whatnot, regardless of where we go.
The digs are nice and the service has been pleasant... but of course, I'm not the one paying into it.
Funnily enough, they're at the point where they aren't really bothered by Wyndham to put more money in anymore.

 

[Rocketz]

My in-laws have one. Wife really enjoyed it growing up and now that we have kids we've gone twice so it's a free trip for us that I can't complain. They have one through Interval.

They gave us one of their weeks for our Honeymoon and let us pick anywhere we wanted in the US.

 

[Crissaegrim]

My in-laws got out of theirs like 2 years ago. Always seemed like a scam to me. I never understood it, like you still had to pay for rooms, and stupid cleaning tokens and some other bullshit. They definitely didn't use them enough at all to warrant $20k or whatever they paid.

 

[spyroflame0487]

They're not a bad idea if you can foreseeably see yourself going on a vacation around the same time every year for decades.
My mom and dad had one for South Carolina for years that we frequently used, and at one point it was in a program where you could exchange the week for another, allowing us to stay in many pretty nice resort type places when we traveled during the summer.

After my mom passed my dad decided to try to get out of it and its thus far been a horrible nightmare. We're still waiting on final confirmation from the place we got the timeshare from that we're out of it, even with the fact that we've consistently told them we're in a program getting out of it and they haven't gotten any money in like 2 years now from us.

I think its a total scam in the end basically since you're trapped. But it might work for some people.

 

[Mandos]

I remember my mom having a headache maintaining my family's as a kids(including my grandparents). Couple fun trips as I remember. Tho they happily got rid of em by the time we kids got out of highschool

 

[captive]

my mother in law has had one for 30 years. shes been happy with it.

the "Weeks" are transferable both to other properties as well as other people. There's even an off market pool of people that buy and trade "weeks" at the property she goes to. I've used it a few times with my wife. Seems like a good way to have a familiar place to go to without all the hassle of actually buying property.

 

[Mesoian]

If the current narrative is to be believed (sports talk radio) Time shares are a creation of the devil and was originally conceived to temp Jesus while he spent 40 days in the desert. And the fact you can't cancel them without a lawyer (is this true) is insane to me but perhaps they are not all bad.


Anybody have one and are HAPPY with them?

Click to shrink...

So my family has one, (two actually, one inherited from my grandparents when they passed). There is a use-case for having one, and that is you are on vacation 3 months out of the year at major tourist locations. If you aren't doing that, you don't need one, you will be better served by a hotel in every instance.

I would never recommend anyone buy into the system as it exists now. Other than a few specific places, it's almost universally a bad experience in one way or the other. When I was coming out of college, I would use it and go to Miami or Orlando with 5 or 6 friends, everyone would pay basically 100 bucks and we'd stay there for a week and it was great. Now a days, it's like "Do I want to spend a week in vegas? Do I want to spend a week in miami? What am I even going to do there....again?" Most of the actual resorts are nice but every instance I've had where they try to pawn off a pair of hotel rooms on you has been miserable, and they try to do that all the time. I've gotten into verbal altercations with their staff over them cancelling bookings with no warning, I've had them try to convince me to buy ANOTHER TIME SHARE while complaining about the toilet not working in my hotel room. I've had the conversation with my parents that, when the time comes to inherit it, I will be refusing it. If one of my siblings want it, they can have it.

The only worse experience I've had than used car sales man taking 6 hours to write up paperwork to buy a car was the 6 hour meeting they had to try and convince me to buy MORE time shares. They don't respect your time or money. If they want me to go to meetings, I just refuse. What are they gonna do, take away my time share?

 

[Vinx]

yeah theres one in the LA area too... its like, are there really that many people sucked into timeshares that not only get them but want to get out of them where this is a marketable proposition?

sheesh

Click to shrink...

In the John Oliver video he investigates them as well, the "I'll help you get out of your time share contract" is also a billion dollar scam business.

Everything surrounding time shares is a scam. I dont know how they are still a ting too, time shares being a complete scam has been a well known joke since the 80s.

 

[Jakisthe]

Gigantic scam unless you're going to be staying in roughly a similar set of mid-level places, at roughly similar mid-level time blocks, for the entire rest of your life and your children's life.

Flexibility? Get ready to get scammed.
Upgrades? Get ready to get scammed.
Wanting to leave? Get ready to get scammed.
Wanting to give it your kids? Get ready to get scammed.

In virtually every other conceivable situation, it's better to treat any given trip as a one-off.

Heck, even the bonuses they give you to ignore their scam presentations are, themselves, a scam. They will make it as hard as humanly possible to engage with anything.

 

[davepoobond]

It's a scam. My parents are having a great time trying to get rid of theirs.

Click to shrink...

so, what exactly is the difficulty when trying to get out of it? they want you to pay money at the time, or they just wont let you out of it (meaning you pay for the upkeep)? Like what is the roadblock typically? The timeshare company who holds the contract over your head and says they will sue you?

Are the initial agreements usually in perpetuity or are they for a limited time? (IE 10 years)

 

[moriquendi]

My dad owns like....3 weeks at a timeshare in Hawaii (and has for like 20 years) and he's been really happy with it overall. He goes nearly every year and has been able to...trade(?) to be able to stay in many other places. I think Hilton owns his, which is probably part of why it's easy to shuffle and stay elsewhere.

Don't know about the lawyer thing, but he's also never tried to get rid of it. But I also know I have no interest in taking ownership of any of that time when he's gone.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much the same for my parents - they have 3-4 weeks in Mexico. Have used it yearly for 20 years and have been able to swap around locations with little difficulty.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

They are good until you don't want or need them then they are poison

 

[Alcoremortis]

Never been interested because there's nowhere that I want to go for a few weeks at the same time every year. If I like a place enough to go back, i want to go at a different time to get a new experience.

 

[Tobor]

FOR FUCKS SAKE NO!!!!!!

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVEN CONSIDER A TIMESHARE.

Even if someone offers you one for free, think about it for even one second and ask yourself why someone would give you something so good for free? They are suckers and trying to pass their burden on to you.

I know from first hand experience with my own family. These things are cancer.

IF YOU EVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SAID ON THIS WEBSITE LISTEN TO THIS.

 

[mrmoose]

Now I'm wondering how long the contracts are on these that they're potentially passing on to heirs.

 

[Tobor]

Now I'm wondering how long the contracts are on these that they're potentially passing on to heirs.

Click to shrink...

Forever. Literally. You have to fight tooth and nail to get out of it, and only then if you're lucky.

They sell them as a benefit you can pass on to your kids, but it's a curse. You are buying a curse that passes on to your children. They should be outlawed.

The John Oliver segment is not an exaggeration.

 

[shintoki]

You know horror films when the old woman comes out to curse you and your family for a thousand years because you broke her vase?

That would be easier to deal with.

 

[oni_saru]

I won a free trip to Vegas at the Nier concert location in Dallas

Googled it and turns out the catch was they would try to sell me on a timeshare :(

Nothing is every free :'(

 

[m_shortpants]

My wife's aunt gave us a stay at their timeshare for our wedding.

It was...alright I guess. Got to stay in a 3 star lodging for free outside of San Diego.

They made us sit through an hour long sales pitch and we got free tickets to the zoo. lol.

 

[THErest]

I enjoyed the ones my grandparents had when I was growing up.

Now my parents have it and...I don't want it, hopefully they figure it out.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

There are far, FAR better ways to waste your money…

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OYYen9-Y6k

 

[Sir Wiart]

 

[Protome]

They're literal scams. I'm sure some people are happy with theirs, but they're happy while being a victim of conmen.

 

[captive]

Everything surrounding time shares is a scam. I dont know how they are still a ting too, time shares being a complete scam has been a well known joke since the 80s.

Click to shrink...

...because its not a scam?

just because you dont know what you're doing or what you're agreeing to, doesnt make them a scam.

its not something I would do personally, because i like to go to different places myself. But if you know a place you love going to and want to go there every year, or you buy into a management company that has locations in multiple places you want to go for many years then it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Dynedom]

Yeah I really hope I'm not in some sort of heir clause with my parent's one. I told my parents I DO NOT want to inherit their time share.

 

[gaugebozo]

My in-laws loaned us theirs for our honeymoon, and yeah it was awesome. The getting out of it when you don't want it anymore part is not awesome.

 

[Tobor]

Yeah I really hope I'm not in some sort of heir clause with my parent's one. I told my parents I DO NOT want to inherit their time share.

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately, you probably are. Find out the company they went with and look up your states particular laws. In most cases they go to the children whether you want it or not.

It took my Father years and a lot of effort to finally get the company to clear his.

 

[Autumn]

Who is still getting sucked into Timeshares?