I agree, low pressure sales. Yes, they try to make the sale, but the pricing is so high, it is easy to say no.

The presentation is not so high pressure. IMO the offer can be a tad sleazy - if they offer a nice condo "on the wait list" and "it's almost a sure thing" it's more likely is they will keep putting you off and give you a ROH partial oceanview room at the HHV hotel.

Thanks all...
I was under the impression from the mailer that they actually give you a timeshare room for the package stay. Is this correct or in reality do you wind up in the hotel portion if not available?

Unless the mailer indicates a hotel room, which I've never seen for Hawaii, you'll be in a studio in HHV or a one-bedroom at Waikoloa (no studios there).

The sales pitches are low pressure. If you decide you'd like to buy, buy resale. I'm a happy HGVC owner but saved thousands of dollars by buying resale--and resale prices have never been lower.

Just did a presentation in December. The pressure is nowhere near what we had before. The length of the presentation depends how much interest you are showing. It has the usual sales person – talk to manager scheme. But it never so high to make us uncomfortable. In our case, we are half interested, but could not decide. So they offered us a package to try it out. ($$). I am still inclined to buy resale.

Don't do it.

Run the numbers. The maintenance cost alone will pretty much kill you. I could GIVE you a timeshare condo, and it would end up being a bad deal for you.

The points posted quickly.

The presentation was frustrating. It started out low-pressure, and quickly ratcheted up. And the "close" was just ridiculous: who buys such an expensive item with zero detailed paperwork to explain it. Our "consultant" was very, very hurt that we would want to see some information in writing. He finally wrote a few figures on the back of a scrap of paper and thought we should be grateful for such extraordinary effort.

Never again.

I did the HGVC NY on 57th street last year - very low key - hotel chain doesn't want to irritate you too much with the waves of "pricing managers" a la the stand alone time shares.

Don't listen to this. Anyone who makes these "all timeshares are scams" blanket statements simply doesn't know what they're talking about. Yes, there are thousands of timeshares out there that are completely worthless.

That doesn't take away from the fact that well run TS companies like HGVC and DVC can be a great value for the right person. Would I recommend them for everyone and anyone? Of course not. But if it fits your lifestyle, it can be a tremendous value, and a lot of fun.

GIVE me a DVC or HGVC timeshare for free and then we'll talk. :rolleyes:

I think it depends somewhat on the salesperson. We've done several HGVC presentations at the HHV and HWV and they varied from very low key to very high pressure. The worst was in December 2008 when the young lady got very insulting when we told her that no matter what, we weren't going to buy that day. She started saying things like she didn't think we could afford it, etc., I think just to bait us into buying. As if her opinion of me would somehow force me to buy one just to prove to her that we could afford it! She also had a very strange tactic, promising a ride in a Cadillac Escalade over to view the properties, and made a big deal out of the fact that we weren't going to get the ride. Who cares?


I've always thought this to be the case. They are without question very beautiful properties, but the maintenance costs are a huge liability, and approach what I think most people would pay for a hotel or condo for an equivalent period of time. I think they were something like $1200 a year at the time (this may be off), which is enough to get a condo for well over a week in the Waikoloa resort area. The numbers just didn't make sense to me.

I know that many have bought and are happy with them and I'm not implying those have made a bad decision, just that the argument that the salespeople make about how it's more economical to buy the timeshare is faulty.

AGS

It was worth the 30k points to me. I actually found the presentation interesting from a business model perspective. For the 'units' they were selling, I went on line afterwards and found the same ones for about 60% of the Hilton price on the open market.

I agree with the poster above that the main issue is not the initial cost -- if that were the only cost, then the timeshare was probably worth it. The big issue was the ongoing maintenance costs which made the deal unattractive.

We had the exact same experience, and the points were posted quickly.

Right I don't know what I'm talking about.

http://www.vacationtimesharerentals.com/listings/900/

Timeshare ID#900 Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Las Vegas Hilton
Unit Size: Studio /1 Bath (sleeps 2)

Rent: US$139/day
Buy: US$25,000 plus closing costs
Annual Maintenance Fees: US$700


Why would you "purchase" a fractional interest in a hotel room/"condo" that you can rent on a whim for $139 a night?

I put "condo" in quotes because a studio condo is just a hotel room, when push comes to shove.


...

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50424

I was on vacation in Orlando, Florida and went to the presentation of a new Ruby Lake projekt for HGVC which will be launched in 2009.

I bought annual 5.000 points which cost me nearly 23.000US$ and annual maintenaince for 1.100US$. I found out that this is hell expensive since I saw other prices, but my problem here is the following.

It has been more than 20 days since I signed so my 10 days cancellation time has expired. And I paid a closing cost or whatever cost of 6500US$ already and missing the rest now which I should pay in less than 10 days.

...

http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com/ti...ResortID/7454/

...

Timeshare is nutjob real estate. It is not real property. It's a waste of money up front, and an ongoing burden each year to see if you can use it, or rent it for a fraction of your maintenance fees.

Don't believe me. Go to ebay and search completed auctions for the following text. The resale value of these things is mostly nil.

(hilton,hgvc) -head timeshare

Howdy,

I've heard argument it's cheaper just to rent what you want than buy a timeshare.

I wish it were not so - I would like an opportunity to save money; which is how timeshares have always been pitched; that a timeshare is less expensive than a comparable rental.

The few times I've checked the math of buying on the resale market vs renting the unit, it simply has not even come close to working out.

Now I have only looked at a few; if anyone is aware of any timeshare opportunities where this isn't the case I would love to know about it.

Thanks in advance - Keep the faith,

Pakse

By the way, for those of you who may not be into Math consider the following

Buy yourself a $25,000 tax free municipal bond at 5%

Do you know how much money it will give you in interest each year?

$1,250

which based on a 7 night stay is 178.57 per night. Go out on the free market and see what kind of hotel, timeshare, or private condo/home rental that money will provide for you - all the while keeping your hard earned 25k on your own balance sheet.

Take the timeshare tour and presentation if you like. Collect your points. But when the salesman tries to use a jedi mind trick on you, have the situation described above on hand. Ask them why you should buy that $25,000 or $50,000 timeshare, instead of just buying some bonds and spending the interest however you see fit. On short or long vacations. Here or there. Etc...