Keep Speaking Up, Timeshare Owners

I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with timeshare owners for quite some time now. Last month, I was in Phoenix working with Dial An Exchange on the first of their Timeshare Educational Sessions. Earlier this month I hosted Holiday’s webinar on RCI Points and then spoke to the Florida Timeshare Owners Group in Venice.

You know what I found out? People like to vacation and people like their timeshares! There’s just too much confusion about how to use them and growing aggravation about the price increases associated with them.

To that end, I have always advocated that timeshare owners speak up and ask questions. Ask questions before you buy, ask questions after you own, ask questions about the fees, ask questions about your options, and always stand up for your rights.

If you already own a timeshare, make sure you know when the yearly HOA meeting is and get yourself there or at the very least exercise your proxy. Get to know who is on the Board of Directors, or run for the Board yourself.

Does your resort have a newsletter? Write them and ask that they put out some really important information about timeshare instead of who the new PBX operator is.

Ask really good questions about exchanging. The resort won’t tell you about your options unless you ask. Despite what you may have been led to believe, RCI and Interval International are not your only options for exchange. That’s not saying anything bad about the “big two,” but you need to know about the “little guys” as well.

If you haven’t bought a timeshare yet, by all means do your homework and realize that buying from the developer is not your only option. If you were in the market for a car, you wouldn’t shop at only one dealer, would you? Of course not. In these trying economic times, it makes no sense to spend $15,000 or $20,000 on the basis of spending two hours with a salesperson who generally doesn’t even know the other options out there.

To use the car analogy again, don’t let the salesperson talk you into a pink SUV that gets 15 miles per gallon before you know that’s what you want. You may want a silver two-seat convertible. And if the salesperson continues to show you the pink SUV, get up and walk out.

The traditional timeshare industry is facing some tough times right now as you may have heard. Years of luring clients with the “three-day, two-night mini-vacation and two dinner show tickets for only $99″ have finally caught up with them. And while I don’t wish any misfortune on anyone in the industry, part of the reason such strategies no longer work as well as they used to is consumers are becoming more educated, asking more questions and not settling for whatever the salesperson is pitching them.

Over the years, I’ve been accused of being anti-consumer because I came from the developer’s side. Then the tide turned and the industry saw me as anti-developer because I counseled consumers. The truth of the matter is I am anti-nothing! I am pro-timeshare, pro-consumer, pro-free market and most of all pro-vacation.

So speak up, ask questions, question the status quo . . . and don’t forget to have a great vacation now and then!

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