Why the Timeshare Industry Doesn’t Really Care About It’s Bad Reputation
Offer a free trip, a tour or extra cash to tourists who are visiting the resort, and you will not have a problem filling chairs. Everyone loves to get something for free, and this psychological marketing tactic ensures that the seats are full, every time there is a timeshare presentation. Not because they want the timeshare, but because the consumer is exploring the opportunity to get something meaningful as a gift, for enduring the presentation.
It doesn’t matter how many contractually bound customers are angry, or sharing negative reviews on YouTube or online. The truth is that in America, there is always someone willing to believe what they are told about the value proposition of timeshare ownership. There are always families that will consider it as an affordable option, despite the fact that it is a money losing, one-sided contract.
The Contract Is Hard to Cancel (And They Know It)
When most timeshare owners start to seek options to exit their timeshare contract, there is a financial reason. Whether job loss, illness or other life adversity, the first person they consult with is the timeshare resort administration. That is also when the full weight of the legal contracted obligation becomes understood by the timeshare owner, and they become angry, feeling like they were duped into a bad deal. And they were.
Because the motivation for canceling a timeshare contract is frequently financial, the options (if any) that a resort provides are expensive. This does not address the financial need to save money, but rather complicates the process. Timeshares will fight to keep paying customers, and one of the ways that they do it, is to charge ridiculously expensive fees to assess the property, or assist with renting unused weeks, to help the owner offset the costs that are creating hardship. Unfortunately, any help that the resort provides, is often accompanied by additional fees; a secondary source of revenue for the resort.
Timeshare cancelation services involve the guidance of an attorney. As such, there are fees for this legal and administrative service. Those fees may be a deterrent to a timeshare owner, who doesn’t want to lose any more money, for the sake of the contract. The timeshare industry knows how binding the contract is, and that it takes an investment of time and money to negate and cancel the timeshare agreement. They count on consumers being unwilling or unable to pay the fees, to legally cancel their timeshare.
The Timeshare Industry Has Expert Level Marketing
There are schools and training facilities online, and in every major southern resort area, to give sales teams the skills they need to close the sale. This expert level marketing is deliberately conditioned to overcome every single one of the consumers objections or hesitations to signing the contract.
From fake or paid testimonials from other timeshare owners in the resort (we can spot them easily), to contests and big budget incentives, including free tours, restaurant meals and even cash, the system is strategically designed to draw in consumers, and not take ‘no’ for an answer. And the industry gets an A+ in distraction techniques designed specifically, to get you to sign a contract that will offer long term financial obligation, uncertainties and legal obligations that are binding.
Digital marketing and pay-per-click advertising tools, allow timeshare marketers to zero in on unsuspecting consumers, who may not even consider a timeshare a viable option for their families. Did you know that simply clicking through popular travel sites like Orbit, or Travelocity, that Google AdWords campaigns can detect your interest in vacation options? By targeting consumers looking for affordable vacations, timeshare resorts can send information and place advertising to generate leads, and prospective buyers.
Even websites that offer community forums and information, including fraud resources for timeshare owners, sell advertising opportunities to allow timeshare sales teams to send you an offer you can’t refuse.
Consumers Do Not Always Research Timeshares Online Before Buying
In our fifteen years of experience, helping families cancel their timeshare contracts, we know that consumers often do not research a timeshare online, before buying. It is not until they start to have issues and disputes with their timeshare, that they begin to look online, and see complaints. Consumers are looking then, to compare their experience to others in the same situation.
If consumers were as skeptical about the timeshare industry as most financial experts are, they would have an easier time saying ‘no’ to the proposition, when it is presented at a sales pitch. Our advice to consumers about any purchase, particularly one that is contractually binding for a long period of time, is to take the time to do the research. Where there is smoke, there is fire and that is true with timeshare companies large and small, who have thousands of dissatisfied members, and pages of complaints online.
Human nature allows for potential buyers to believe what they are being told about owning a timeshare. Timeshare sales scripts are memorized by sales professionals, and designed to keep consumers from asking or dwelling on some of the more concerning aspects of a long-term contract. They don’t want you to ask the questions you should be asking. They don’t give you time to talk to other fractional owners on the resort. If you did, you may find out that the contract is more like a financial trap, than an opportunity to save money and enjoy fun, family vacations.
Because we all want to find a way to make memorable, relaxing vacations happen, the timeshare industry banks on our willingness to see the bright side of the opportunity. It’s novel and new, for first-time owners, but timeshare resorts and vacation membership organizations count on showing you the best possible case scenario (cheap, affordable vacations) without discussing the financial implications. And if you do ask the questions in a sales presentation, you’d be amazed at the training that timeshare sales teams have, to change the topic, and dodge the opportunity to provide a real, factual answer.
If you have ever wondered why people continue to buy timeshares, despite the presence of so many negative website reviews, consider the industry to be a well-managed machine, lining up customers every hour, to sell the dream of cheap vacations through timeshare ownership.
Free your vacation! Start today and cancel your timeshare for good, with Aconsumercredit™. Call us at 1-800-587-EXIT for your free consultation.
