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Timeshare perspectives - Know me, know my views
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James Poniewozik, writing inTime Magazine about opinionated panelists on “The View” said, “you know what the panelists believe, and can judge their work accordingly”.
While I don't want this to be about me, it's important for the reader to understand my background, as well as the background of any supposed timeshare expert, so you can sense any biases, agendas or preconceptions.
Hopefully this column proves itself to be both interesting and helpful to you, whether you are a prospective owner seeking to maximize your enjoyment of timeshare; an existing owner looking to sell, or even an industry professional looking to see what issues are on your buyer’s mind via the emails to this space.
Personally, I grew up in a family that traveled together 2-3 times each year. Since we had travel trailers and motor homes, I didn't stay in a hotel till my Jr. high-class trip when I was 14.
My first exposure to timeshare occurred in the late 70's during a trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey. A pretty girl in a bikini asked if I liked to travel, and if I wanted to learn about a really cool way to travel in style and save money at the same time. No free trip, no car I could win, just a big smile and a small bathing suit. Marketing was a lot easier in the early days of timeshare.I saw a presentation at the Park Lane Hotel, a vintage property near the boardwalk. Casino gambling had just come to AC, and they were looking for a boon to hit the city. The renovated rooms were very nice, but the real cool thing was we could trade for hundreds of other resorts around the world. Hundreds! I saw this really slick brochure from a new company called RCI, which would coordinate the exchanges.
Long story short, we purchased, and then did what about one in four buyers do, we canceled once we got home and reflected on it. Okay, we canceled after we told our family what we had done.
Truth is, I came to realize that it just didn't pencil out – forget the purchase price; the annual costs – maintenance fees, taxes, membership with RCI – totaled around $500 per year. Or about $70 per night – and I wasn't spending $70 to stay in motels.
Over the years, I enjoyed going to timeshare presentations. I had years of sales experience, from cars to insurance and stocks. I enjoyed the give and take of the “hard sell” timeshare presentation. My wife put up with it, well, because she put up with me. And at the very least, I would maximize the gifts we would receive for attending the sales presentation. Still wasn’t buying.
Meanwhile, my sister gets married. And she comes back from her honeymoon, and lo and behold, she bought a timeshare!! My poor naive sister. Oh well.
Then she invited my wife and I to meet her at a resort in Southern California that she exchanged into. We only stayed two nights, but it was nice.
Next she invited us to meet her at The Ridge in Lake Tahoe. This was in the late 80’s and the Ridge was one of the first purpose built timeshare resorts, and it was beautiful. Its philosophy was to bring the luxury cruise ship experience to a land based vacation. To this day it maintains those standards of excellence.
I wasn’t sold yet, but I began to see the allure of timeshare, and when the opportunity presented itself, I took a job selling timeshare, ultimately becoming a sales manager. Finally, with a sense of how we would use timeshare, and some exposure to the secondary market, we purchased a timeshare resale in Southern California.
We used it for exchanges; as a matter of fact, we owned it for more than ten years before we ever saw the place.
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