The Battle of Legitimacy Continues for Timeshare Industry

The Battle of Legitimacy Continues for Timeshare Industry June 19, 2009

Posted by John Copain in : Timeshare Resource , trackback

Timeshare Scams Enter Everyday Stops

Timeshare scams have long since blackened the otherwise bright skies of vacation property ownership. There are easy ways to avoid them and not get tangled up in hard sales pitches and “free giveaways,” but still timeshares take advantage of uninformed individuals and suck them into an irritating whirlpool of phone calls and empty promises.

Much like computer viruses, timeshare scams seem to evolve just as soon as we have figured out how to avoid them. Heed this warning and avoid the newest degradation in timeshare scams. This poor guy in Virginia thought he was just going out to lunch at a Subway restaurant. Turns out he was entering an establishment of the newest purveyors of timeshare scams. While waiting in line this man filled out a contest entry for a “vacation giveaway.” About a week later he received 3 phone calls telling him he won a Visa gift card, a Subway gift card and a free trip to Orlando for 3 days. Immediately noticing an offer too good to be true, he asked for more details. The caller told him he had to pay a $75 deposit and attend a 90 minute presentation at the resort. He was lucky, he had heard similar stories of timeshare scams. He turned the offer down, but still continued to receive harassing phone calls for some time after.

Stories like this are nothing new, but the tactics with which these companies trick people into submitting personal contact information are changing. Hopefully this story will allow you to see new scams coming from a mile away. There have been timeshare scam success stories where “contest winners” accept the vacation giveaway offer and suffer through the 90 minute high pressure sales pitch and then enjoy the rest of the time at the resort. If you can remain steadfast in your position to not submit to the salesmen at these pitches you may be able to get away with a “free” vacation, but more often than not the presentation sours the experience and it’s better to avoid the situation altogether.

Scams continue to plague the timeshare industry and leave companies like us continuing to fight for legitimacy. The best way to avoid these unethical approaches are to stay educated on the actions of legit timeshare outfits compared to illegitimate timeshare companies. Also, read the fine print of every contest you enter or form you submit with any personal information. Many times the fine print will tell you right out that you are surrendering your right to keep your personal information confidential. So please keep this story in mind next time you see an enticing offer that has the potential to be too good to be true. Best of luck from Buy A Timeshare!

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