Why Do I Torture Myself?: Greed!!
By singout
@singout (1008)
United States
September 6, 2008 9:42am CST
Greed can create aggravation. It can also cost you a lot of money. I am living testimony. It started with a "pigeon-hole" on the beach at Daytona 27 years ago, with the promise of a new camera; and still it continues today. Now I own two timeshare condominiums which I can't afford, and one I can't possibly get rid of without taking a financial loss. Each time I'm approached, I'm offered a gift which is hard to turn down and just for 30 minutes of my vacation time. I keep telling myself, "I can resist" even though I know what is coming. Then I'll get $125.00 just for listening for 30 minutes (the latest offer). But I keep forgetting how good these sales people are at what they do. Well, 30 minutes turned into 2 hours and still I walked out $3,000.00 poorer. This past week I was approached 4 times. I was able to fend off 3 of them but one got me.
. Although it wasn't a condo, it was along the same lines of incredible vacations deals which still come with a hefty price tag. Retirees like myself, looking for something to do in the waning years of their lives seem to be the most vulnerable; although I was rather young when I bought my first. Beachfront condos are very appealing but you tend to forget how susceptible they are to hurricanes. I am now stuck with a condo on the beach with not only a maintenance fee and taxes, but a hurricane assessment tacked on as well. It is now not cost effective. I looked at selling on Ebay and noticed the hundreds of listings with no bidders. It was an eye-opener. 
I give this warning to all who might be interested: No amount of incentive is worth the onslaught of high pressure you will receive when you go to these sales sessions. However, if you should be in the market for a condo, and you feel you can afford the maintenance fees and taxes which are part of owning one, and you don't mind the fact that once you buy it, you may never be able to sell it, my advice to you would be to at least get one further inland, away from damaging storms. At least you won't have to pay a share of damages. Otherwise, beware!
Unless you have money to burn, leave your greed at home. It can get you into trouble.
. Although it wasn't a condo, it was along the same lines of incredible vacations deals which still come with a hefty price tag. Retirees like myself, looking for something to do in the waning years of their lives seem to be the most vulnerable; although I was rather young when I bought my first. Beachfront condos are very appealing but you tend to forget how susceptible they are to hurricanes. I am now stuck with a condo on the beach with not only a maintenance fee and taxes, but a hurricane assessment tacked on as well. It is now not cost effective. I looked at selling on Ebay and noticed the hundreds of listings with no bidders. It was an eye-opener. I give this warning to all who might be interested: No amount of incentive is worth the onslaught of high pressure you will receive when you go to these sales sessions. However, if you should be in the market for a condo, and you feel you can afford the maintenance fees and taxes which are part of owning one, and you don't mind the fact that once you buy it, you may never be able to sell it, my advice to you would be to at least get one further inland, away from damaging storms. At least you won't have to pay a share of damages. Otherwise, beware! Unless you have money to burn, leave your greed at home. It can get you into trouble.2 responses
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
7 Sep 08
You sound very much like my sister did. She'd fall for every sales pitch that came her way. We were always bailing her out of trouble. (She was Pisces, too! 
)
I've always been able to resist those pitches. If I don't want something, I just get annoyed, then angry, when the salesmen won't give up. I know exactly what you're talking about because I went for a toaster oven once. I got it and also walked away with all my money. I did NOT want a timeshare!
On the other end of the spectrum, when I bought my last vehicle, I KNEW what I wanted because I did thorough research on it. The salesman insisted on giving his 'pitch'. I got annoyed then because he wouldn't shut up! I told him that I wanted it and that I knew everything there was to know about it. He didn't need to keep going with the sales pitch but he did, anyway. It was like he was a robot, programmed to say specific things and couldn't be persuaded to stop. Unbelieveable! I almost went to another dealer!
I'm not fond of salesmen.
)
I've always been able to resist those pitches. If I don't want something, I just get annoyed, then angry, when the salesmen won't give up. I know exactly what you're talking about because I went for a toaster oven once. I got it and also walked away with all my money. I did NOT want a timeshare!
On the other end of the spectrum, when I bought my last vehicle, I KNEW what I wanted because I did thorough research on it. The salesman insisted on giving his 'pitch'. I got annoyed then because he wouldn't shut up! I told him that I wanted it and that I knew everything there was to know about it. He didn't need to keep going with the sales pitch but he did, anyway. It was like he was a robot, programmed to say specific things and couldn't be persuaded to stop. Unbelieveable! I almost went to another dealer!
I'm not fond of salesmen.
Thanks for the response.
@lexus54 (3572)
• Singapore
6 Sep 08
I'm sorry you have encountered so much headaches in your timeshare experience. I stumbled upon this discussion from your other post you made about timeshare. I had shared in the other discussion a year ago about not jumping into timeshare options unless it suits a person's traveling habits. I do hope you will be able to dispose of the shared property you had bought into, rather than be saddled with maintaining something that is not cost effective for you.
It's good you warn others not to be so easily tempted by the gifts these timeshare companies offer to entice people into signing up for their offers. Timeshares are longer term commitments, and it may not always save people money the way these companies selling such packages want people to believe. They will usually glorify the good points about such schemes, and hide the unpleasant ones. That's part of their marketing tactics to get people to sign up with them. Interestingly, the majority of complaints from consumers received by our country's consumer watchdog are associated with timeshare companies.
@lexus54 (3572)
• Singapore
6 Sep 08
We all learn from our past experiences and mistakes Carl, (and that includes me as well), but we are wiser from these experiences. I may not have committed myself in a timeshare and regretted it, but I certainly have learned that many of the schemes and opportunities on the internet are scams. As a result, I have lost quite a bit of my hard-earned money to these scammers, and that can be painful to take sometimes. I consider that as the price to pay for the learning experience.
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