Timeshares

[Master]

Has anyone had experience of timeshares?

Basically you buy yourself into a network of 5 star accommodation anywhere in the world.

The price I was quoted was a flat with 2 bedrooms that can accommodate 4 people in Gran Canary in July for 1 week. The cost was £4,950 which covers you for 31 years. You also pay £280 a year maintenance.

If you want to go someone where else in the world you pay an additional £160 such as Australia or USA.

You also have to pay an additional amount if you wanted to take another time off not in that week in July.

You only play for your flights and food.

They also said you can sell the slot and make some money or at least cover your annual fee.

The accommodation that they showed did look a bit dated.

The advantage is that at least you are not tied into going to 1 place every year which is what happened to traditional time shares.

The disadvantage is that you only get your worth if you holiday regularly every year and stay a hotels. I normally stay with family abroad.

Is that a good deal?

[Memphis]

@smashup is your man for this.

I'm sure there are lots of people enjoying their time share year in years out. It always appears to be such a risk though, too many horror stories, too much stigma I guess. Turn up on site and the fucker has got no doors, windows or internal walls, let alone a private pool.

[Mark TKO]

my mate bought one years ago and his maintenance cost went up annually - sometimes stupidly

every year I went with him for when he had it and they were always pestering him to go look at somewhere better or 'upgrade'. In the end to get out of it after about six years he pretended he'd been made redundant and couldn't afford it any more - they let him out of it.

Always made me laugh how the people with the timeshares referred to themselves as 'owners'.....

in my experience you have to be an arsehole to buy one - so you probably will

[X]

Master ...... Don't touch a timeshare deal with a barge pole.

• there is almost no resale value to a timeshare
• you are taking the risk of property price fluctuations
• You generally don't own a fraction of the property, you own a fractional lease on the property.
• A purchase of 1 week in a timeshare multiplied by 52 is often more then the going rate for a holiday in a similar place in the same area.
• terms of a timeshare are heavily stacked in favor of the timeshare developer (think about it .... instead of simply selling the property for a lump of money, they are selling chunks of leases to many people. That way, they triple their earnings at least AND still own the property. Why on earth does that sound like a good deal?
• renting or subleasing the timeshare has restrictions
• annual fees are almost the cost of renting a hotel in the same area.
• You are Locked into a holiday location, with some hefty fees to trade time share locations to a new destination.
• you are at the mercy of increased maintenance costs, which are seldom capped or guaranteed by the vendors

I have heard numerous horror stories from people who have been ripped off, scammed, conned and cheated by these. Even those people who made a legitimate deal have realised it wasn't ever worth it.

If you are paying 4950 for one week, covering you for 31 years, then the vendor is potentially making 257,400 by leasing all 52 weeks. That's very likely more than the market value of the property, and then they get the property back after 31 years ..... so what have you made from your investment?

[Primo Carnera]

When I was younger, I used to have some, and I still have a share of a week in Kent on a golf course.
It's like anything, it depends how much you pay for them and how much the management fees are.
@X is right . They have no resale value whatsoever.
I never paid more than a few hundred quid for a week.
Eventually I got out because the management fees started to get silly.
Yeah, they threatened to take me to court and this that and the other, but I just told them to carry on.
Never heard anything since.
It was what I could afford at the time and I was very happy with it. I had some great holidays and exchanged them to go to some fantastic resorts every now and then.
I wouldn't buy one with steep management fees, I wouldn't ever spend more than a few quid buying one, and I definitely would not touch timeshare points with a barge pole! Now that is a serious scam!
Ps. Does anyone remember John Palmer? A gangster from Bath.
He made an absolute fortune building Timeshare resorts in Tenerife as a way to launder money. They reckon he singlehandedly is responsible for the timeshare boom and Tourist industry in Tenerife.

[El Kabong]

How the holy hell is this NOT in the Spam section?!?!? I would have thought anything 'Timeshare' related would automatically end up there

[walrus]

Master 99 percent of the time they r one of the worst investments you can make

[brocktonblockbust]

not to piss in a pot but I have no health insurance, no credit score, no drivers license, no credit cards, no bed, no furniture and 2 part time jobs, I can't even understand WTF a time share IS let alone even begin to afford one FFS

[Master]

It sounded like a good deal but when you lot put it that way I think it is a huge rip off.

Why was I even contemplating getting one? It was when I was on holiday and they were showing us around and nearly signed up.

Glad I did not, just got the free boat ride to see dolphins worth £120.