Timeshare through rose colored glasses

I write about timeshare, and I have for about 8 years now. It's fair to say that I like timeshare, and what my family is able to do because we own.
But I am not a shill for the timeshare industry. Nor do I look at everything the industry does through rose color glasses. Quite the opposite. In fact for many years I was as skeptical as anyone when it came to timeshare.
My sister gives me grief about the derision we showed here when she returned from her honeymoon with an ownership. That was 1989.

On the other hand, after visiting with her at a couple of resorts that she traded into, I started to take a closer look, and found there was much timeshare had to offer. I became an owner, as well as a salesman.

On the sales side, whoo!!, did I see some sleazy, high pressure tactics. More about that in another column. What I came to believe was that timeshare was a good product, poorly sold. I should also mention that I've visited hundreds of sales showrooms, and while some commonality exists – a lot of round tables and loud music - most of them do not resort to the shenanigans I witnessed at some rooms I worked and some rooms I visited.

But the the other thing I found both at the tables, and in speaking with owners and former owners is a very high level of frustration. They couldn't get timeshare to do what they wanted it to do. It cost a lot, and they didn't get much in return. The exchange they wanted was never available.

A lot of what I heard is “user error” - the timeshare owner not understanding the intricacies of successfully completing a trade, or being unaware of ways to maximize the value from what they own.

The other part of that problem is a lack of ongoing education via the timeshare industry. Worldmark at Wyndham (formerly Trendwest) offers ongoing owner education workshops at their show rooms, but the owners need to take advantage of the classes in order to benefit from them.

Both RCI and Interval International can and will offer advice, but it has to be sought. Both their exchange directories and their websites contain all sorts of information that can benefit owners. But it cannot be force fed to anyone.

Websites, such as those run by TUG and Street Talk, as well as this one and others, offer tips and hints.
But then there many sites, where if you search “timeshare” you just get a bunch of people griping about their bad experiences, or someone they know who was ripped off, or how much they spent, or how little they are worth on the resale market, or on and on and on.

In many cases it's the blind leading the blind. People who don't know how to get what they want, preaching (or griping) to other people who probably know less. Or worse, the people on the soapbox are griping about things they only know second hand - “my co-worker/mother/postman” was never ever able to get a trade.

 

 

On a separate note - in this season of Thanksgiving we all have causes we like to help. One that Gil Gross and  the KGO Radio family has backed for 20 years is the Thanksgiving Food Drive. 100 percent of the funds raised go to Sacred Heart Community Service of San Jose, St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco, St. Vincent DePaul in Alameda County, and Fresh Start of Walnut Creek. Even the credit card fees are picked up by  the good people at Fremont Bank.