# Tell me why a timeshare is a bad deal **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862 "2009-04-30T17:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/41 "2009-05-02T01:50:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I never get why people don’t just get a hotel room instead. Is it supposed to be so you can say, “I have a little place in Aspen/Mexico/Fiji”? When you stay in a hotel you are crammed in. You have to figure on eating out for three meals a day and it is expensive. I have put in about $15,000 for my membership. I can get 2 weeks a year normally. My maintenance fees are less than $800 a year. If I put the $15,000 in an 5% account I would get $750 a year so my cost would be $1,550 a year. Every year I stay in montery for 8 days. When I stayed in a hotel it cost me $1,200. I did get a contental breakfast that was noce for free. No lunch or dinner. I had to pay to wash my clothes. The room had two double beds and slept 4. When I stayed at the timeshares condo it cost me my annual fees plus $130 in taxes. We were able to cook breakfast in the condo. We used the the clothes washer and it only cost us the soap we provided. And I still have more time that I can use else where. We use to spend a lot of time camping when the kids were home. since buying the time share my wife thinks a 4 star hotel is ruffing it. **If you have the time off the best advantage of a time share is it forces you to take vacations.** \*\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/42 "2009-05-02T01:55:09Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I’ve always thought that the ideal situation would be for a family to buy one together. If you have parents and 4 or 5 kids that can kick in on a nice sized one, you always have a place to gather for large family events and you _know_ the people you’re sharing a space with for a long period of time. > > I don’t think I’d be interested in sharing real estate with people I’m not related to or at least VERY friendly with. Some of my best memories were when I reserved 2 or 3 units at one time and had the kids their families meet us at the time share for a long weekend. Another thing if you own a time share learn how to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/43 "2009-05-02T02:02:22Z")
Can we say that anything that is sold so aggressively is almost certainly a bad deal? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/44 "2009-05-04T17:15:43Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Can we say that anything that is sold so aggressively is almost certainly a bad deal? +1. If they are so good, why do they have to give you free/discounted stays to attend a 90 minute “presentation” and then drop the hammer on you to get you to buy? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/45 "2009-05-04T19:12:33Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > +1. If they are so good, why do they have to give you free/discounted stays to attend a 90 minute “presentation” and then drop the hammer on you to get you to buy? ancedote, but sounds true to me: I once read an interview in my local paper with a salesman for time shares who had a booth at a popular summer fair. He said that _nobody_ ever buys a timeshare after thinking about it carefully. They either sign on the spot during the high pressure sales pitch, or they never buy. He said it often happens that a potential customer looks interested, asks a lot of questions and then takes the sample contract home to review at his own pace. Now, in most businesses, that customer would be a good lead-- and a salesman would follow up on it, keep in touch with the customer and try to close the sale. But in the timeshare business, it’s just a waste of time.This salesman in the interview said he tosses the customer’s phone number into the trash, because experience has taught him that they never sign a deal if they’ve had time to think it over. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/46 "2009-05-04T21:38:12Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For a couple hundred dollars a year (I think RCI membership is in that range) you can even swap your week for a week someplace else. Maybe. I had a timeshare and tried to trade it for a week in San Francisco, any of the five places they had active there, any time from October thru March, the off season. Somehow they couldn’t pull it off but they kept the week I had traded it for and the $150 processing fee thankyouverymuch. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/47 "2009-05-05T03:07:33Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I agree with most of what he says, but… > > Will Dave please give us the name of that “12% profit” mutual fund? 😃 . Thank you. That jumped out at me more than anything else in the article and I’m a finance dummy. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/48 "2009-05-05T03:15:46Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I have no idea how much it cost him, but my father-in-law has the entire year of a time share in Mexico, and between all of the family members, they have 18 weeks in another unit in the same resort. Of course, my parents-in-law are retired, so they just pick up and go any time they want to, and it’s always there and available. The rest of the family uses all of the 18 weeks, too. My wife and I have gone there several times, and it’s saved us a bundle. Again, though, I have no idea how much is costs, since he doesn’t charge us. He’s a sharp fellow, though, and didn’t make the decision to purchase year until they were well entrenched in the first unit. What about the Swine Flu asshole? Is that part of the accomdations? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/49 "2009-05-05T03:37:37Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Can we say that anything that is sold so aggressively is almost certainly a bad deal? At the price it is being sold aggressively for, yes. But that isn’t the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/50 "2009-05-05T11:21:12Z")
Well I’d say the main problem is you’ll never use it as much as you think you will. Which means although it seems cheap, you’ll be paying for holidays you aren’t taking. If you inherit one and the upkeep is less than what you’d pay for your regular holiday, keep the thing. My thoughts about timeshares is that they are a good deal for a very small number of people. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862/51 "2009-05-05T11:31:27Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > What about the Swine Flu asshole? Is that part of the [accommodations]? I don’t think the swine flu has an asshole. It’s a virus, just a strand of DNA. Well, yeah, in order to “come to life” it has to infect a cell, and take control over that cell. I’m not sure if such infected cells continue to excrete metabolic waste. Even if they do, I’m fairly certain that cells don’t have assholes for that function. Assuming you’re just a poor writer (I corrected an obvious error rather than insulting you with _sic_ in the quote) and you really aren’t talking about viruses that have assholes, then perhaps you’d like to clarify? In the meantime, would a friendly mod please step in and try to figure out just why this idiot called **Cubsfan** is being a douche? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-why-a-timeshare-is-a-bad-deal/494862.md?page=2)