Consumer Advocacy
Sedona Timeshares 101
About two hours south of the Grand Canyon, Sedona has been one of Arizona's most beloved vacation spots for decades. Visitors come to connect with nature by observing the stunning Red Rock formations (including one that bears a striking resemblance to Snoopy) or enjoying one of only a few natural water rides at Rock Slide Park. And, like most popular vacation spots, it too has been infiltrated by timeshare resorts, companies, and salesmen.
The TCG was recently mentioned on a Sedona blog in an entry detailing timeshares in the area, and in general. For anyone traveling to Sedona on a regular basis, or for the first time, there's plenty of shrewd advice about what to expect if you're interested in a timeshare, or what to do if you're approached about purchasing one. In fact, much of it holds true for the United States timeshare industry at large, not just Sedona or Arizona:
"Go to any resort town and you will see salesmen hanging out of doorways offering you a map, asking if you want discounts on tours, where are you from,etc. Beware my friend. They are not just friendly people, they are going to lure you in and get you to agree to a 'short 90 minute presentation' in exchange for discounts, dinners,etc.
I can tell you I have attended many 'short presentations' and they are never 90 minutes. Most of the time they come and pick you up with a bus and drive you to their location. Serve you some water or coffee and have you sit in a holding room until the presentation begins. Then you will be taken in a room (usually) for a video to show you how wonderful the resort is and how you really need this. After you will be escorted out and you will meet your assigned sales man/woman.
He will go over all the reasons why you and your family can't live without this. Then if you say no, off he goes and will come back with the big dog boss who will offer you a better deal, more perks,etc. Naturally this 'great offer' is only for today and 'no' you can't go home and think about it. You have to decide NOW. That in itself should be a good enough reason why you need to just collect your free dinner certificate and head out the door."
"Also, never buy a timeshare from anyone that deals with points (RCI) You will buy a set amount of points and they will promise you the world and as soon as YOU own it, you will discover that you need to buy more and more points. They keep raising the amount of points you need. So my personal opinion is stay away from points (RCI) and look for one that deals with Interval International."
"What does annual/floating mean? Well, you can buy a floating week or a fixed week. Floating means you can use it anytime of the year based on availability. Fixed means you can only use it for that particular week. If you can't use it, you either lose it or need to deposit it with Interval International and they will find someone to use it. In exchange for your deposited week, you will be able to select another resort to use. But that will cost you an additional fee of around $140.
Now your salesman will tell you that you can go anywhere in the world, well I am here to tell you it is not that easy. Year after year I would try to book somewhere else and get nothing. Remember someone has to deposit a week for you to be able to you one. I would be depositing a Hawaii week and asking for a Florida week and couldn't get anything. The only thing they had was Orlando. Well I didn't want to go to Orlando!
It works like this, if you want to go stay at Silver Springs Resort in Texas, someone who owns a weeks at that resort has to deposit a week so that you can get it. Or say you want to go to Hawaii? An owner of that resort needs to deposit that exact week and you have to just be lucky and on the phone with an agent and then you would get it. Chances? Well, let's just say this, if you had a Timeshare in Hawaii, wouldn't you want to be going to it yourself?
We used to own one in Hawaii and our maintenance fees were $750 a year for a one bedroom, every other year. We paid $25,000 for it and after the fees kept going up and up we decided to sell and it took us 2 years and we jumped at the chance to dump it for $10,000. So that should tell you how cheap you can get them for."
To read the original article, which links to the TCG and our We Collect Timeshares article, click here. The opinions expressed above were initially published on Sedona Blog and do not necessarily represent those of TCG.
