A fellow walker at the gym shared a tale of woe.
She is in her seventies and her husband died last year. She started getting dunned by a timeshare that they had purchased more than ten years ago. She had assumed that the contract had a sunsetted because her husband handled the bills. She assumed that it was no longer "in the family".
Nope. Bad assumption. She was late on the maintenance fees and they added a $600 late-fee.
The property managers insist that there is no limit to the duration of the original contract and that it continued on into perpetuity.
She contacted a firm to un-stick her from the contract and they pressured her to "sign now!!!!" without telling her what it would cost...a practice which had gotten her into this situation. Pressure and non-disclosure of costs, that is. For all she knows, the firm that un-sticks contracts is a sister company of the time-share firm. They have the same look-and-feel.
Hell has a very hot corner for people who prey on widows and senior citizens.
A funny timeshare story
I had a boss named Ron who was a pretty sharp cookie and he liked to play golf.
He and his wife went down to Florida and signed up for one of the endless timeshare promotionals. They were given a fabulous room, endless breakfast, played golf on an elite course, all you can eat shrimp for lunch...and then they were run through the lavatories and into an auditorium for the hard-sell.
Ron introduced himself to the people sitting around him and noted their names.
As the first speaker cued-up, Ron and his wife reached into their totes and pulled out Sony Walkmen players and headphones. One of the ushers came over and demanded that they take them off. Ron said "There is nothing in your brochures that limit what I can bring into this auditorium. If you or anybody else touches me or my wife we will file assault charges. I already have the names and phone numbers of these witnesses."
The ushers backed off.
Ron and his wife closed their eyes and listened to music for three hours.
It is good to have a plan.
Heh, great idea!
ReplyDeleteBefore I Knew just what a screwin time shares were I went and listened to The Pitch. Looked at the place and thought about the wife and daughter, having a place like that and people to hang with..
ReplyDeleteDamm,I came Close, but something just made me uneasy and I didn't sign. Dodged a bullet that day.
I've been through those presentations several times.
ReplyDeleteThey have no qualms about lengthening it when you don't sign or about not giving the promised gift.
Many people don't realize that it is a property deed registered at their local courthouse and that the payments continue until you sell it.
States have started requiring a way to get out of them but it isn't cheap - in many cases almost as much as they cost to buy.
My parents have two they are debating whether to keep or get out of.
Personally, I don't go back to a place often enough to be worth it.
Jonathan