Consumer Advocacy
Bigger Wins, Bigger Scams
Think a Free Offer Sounds Tempting? Think Again.
One of the most identifiable aspects of the timeshare industry -- and probably the most mocked -- is the manner in which timeshare companies lure consumers to their resorts with offers of “free weekend getaways” or similar deals. In many cases these promotions are legitimate, but in order to accept them one must suffer through a high-pressure sales presentation, the entire point of which is to sell an individual a timeshare through any means necessary. So the “free” weekend could wind up costing quite a bundle.
That having been said, a consumer should be able to take advantage of a good offer if it comes their way but discerning an offer from a bait-and-switch promotion can be a tricky task.
Columnist Ed Perkins wrote an excellent Q & A piece on this very subject for his AskEd Travel Column. A reader wrote in with the following question:
"Do you know anything about a vacation club promotion in Acapulco? We won a one-week stay there but we do not know anything about the property. Airfare is expensive so we do not want to go unless it's a nice place."
Ed responds with an effective rule of thumb:
“The short answer is the bigger the ‘win,’ the bigger the risk.... All too often, travelers who think they've ‘won’ something actually wind up losing—their money, their time, or both.”
It seems to be true these days. The better the offer, the more one wonders -- why does the resort need such juicy bait to lure in customers?
Ed continues with an excellent, detailed list of the number of scams that a timeshare company can present to interesting consumers as an exclusive offer:
- Beware of any offers claiming that you’ve “won” a lottery or sweepstakes that you did not enter. In short, there is no lottery or sweepstakes, it’s a very common way to catch consumers off their guard.
- Another usual tactic is to offer a free weekend vacation (or vastly discounted one) where the room and lodging is free but every other imaginable price is through the roof. Ordinarily these will be sold as package deals: “Get a free Hawaii weekend if you buy airline tickets from Company X!” Why is the weekend free in the first place? Chances are the airfare prices are inflated.
- Or you might be offered a free vacation if you pay an upfront registration fee of some kind. Surely there is no need to elaborate on this scam...the promoter will take the upfront fee and hesitate to book your vacation until he severs all contact completely.
Ed ends on this note:
“Almost all of us who write about travel from a consumer standpoint agree on one basic truth: ‘If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.’ For some reason, many people will believe fantastic claims about travel that they'd reject out of hand in other consumer markets. And even if a ‘free’ deal really doesn't have any catches, you still have to declare the value on your income tax.”
Original article here. All quotes courtesy of SmarterTravel.com.
(SmarterTravel.com is published by Smarter Travel Media LLC, a member of the TripAdvisor Media Network.)
