Exhibits, Shows and Displays

Timeshare pitches - free gifts - are they "free"?

My wife got a pitch from "Ulimate Vacations" that if we sit through their presentation, plus "free" airfare anywhere in the continental U.S., plus airfare and tickets to Las Vegas and a show. Then I did a little research on Yahoo Answers, and people were talking about how they had to pay money up front. Also, do you have to give them your credit card number ?

Public Comments

1. Never done that, but there is almost nothing advertised as "free" that actually is. The sales pitch that you must sit through is VERY high pressure, but probably very subtle about it as well. I would not be at all surprised if the "free" part of the offer is so crappy and unattractive that you would be a fool to take it - lousy flight times, worst seats on the plane, cheap hotels, stupid and unpopular shows. The people who put these things on are completely prepared for people who think, "Well, we can just go to that dumb presentation and say no, so what's the harm..." They KNOW people are thinking that way, and are way ahead of you in techniques, come-ons, enticements and sales pitches to counter the most stubborn hold out. They will have cooked up all kinds of questions and situations to which it makes perfect sense, and sounds completely innocent and nonthreatening to say "yes" or to agree with some statement they make - and then there will be another similar kind of question to which you can say "yes" again... and after you say "yes" to a bunch of simple, logical, innocent questions, it becomes much harder to say "NO" as they escalate the commitment they want from you. These people can be superb manipulators, to the point where you will not realize that it is happening until it is too late. It is literally lambs to the slaughter to these people. That's my guess, anyway. If you decide to go to the presentation, leave your wallet, check book and credit cards at home to remove some of the temptation.
2. In the long run they ARE free, IF you do not succumb to their PITCH. I succumbed years ago....and KICK myself over it all the time. DO NOT GO , the free gift pitch is just a DRAW, to get you in. If you have little sales resistance to their LIES, then you could end up SORRY and have less money. This is NOT the investment they try to say....NOT AT ALL. You will NEVER get all your money back! NEVER!!!
3. Ok, I've been through alot of time share presentations. This is how it works. You sit through their sales presentations and in return you receive gifts. Some are good, some are not. Almost all those free airfare gifts aren't worth it Now when they sign you up, they do ask you for like a $20 deposit that you get back when you show up. It is to insure that you actually show up. I've never been asked for a Credit Card number.