Happy Holidays from the Timeshare Relief Blog!

Timeshare Relief @ Kyte

As our readers know, Timeshare Relief is devoted first and foremost to consumer rights -- which is why we try to spread our message around as much as possible. Blogs, video shares, social networks, anything to get the truth about timeshares out there. I've posted a few of our videos on this blog before.

Recently I became aware of the video-share site kyte. It's pretty much the same as places like youtube and google vids with one monumental difference: you can engage in live chat with your viewers. Video chat, even, if your comp is rigged for those kind of hi-tech shenanigans.

The Timeshare Relief kyte vids are viewable here:

http://www.kyte.tv/ch/30307-timeshare-relief#uri=channels/30307/84963

And I've also added a kyte channel pod to the right, here in this blog!

Stop in, kick off yer shoes, watch a vid, and chat with us if we're around!

Timeshares in Popular Culture

I remember the first time I ever heard the word "timeshare" uttered. It wasn't on television, but by a friend of mine. We were both in fifth grade at the time. Apparently his parents had owned a timeshare in Palm Springs for several years. He brought it up when we had been scheming a practical location for a joint vacation between our families. "So, could we use the Palm Springs timeshare?" I asked.

"Probably not," he said, scratching his head.

In the early 90s timeshares were enjoying a golden age in America, although this is also the time period where they became closely associated with the scams that persist in the industry to this day. It was an entirely foreign concept to my friends and I, despite living in a burgeoning city in suburban California and thus being somewhat better acquainted with real estate and property terms than most kids (I remember getting excited when an empty lot across town had been zoned for commercial activity -- they wound up building a mall there 5 years later). Today it's a different story. Most people have at least heard a joke about, or seen a commercial for, or received a postcard invitation from a timeshare company. The word has become more or less embedded within popular culture.

Television, in its perpetual quest for easily identifiable material, was quick to pick up on the trend -- timeshares have been spoofed in just about every long-running sitcom from the late 90s on. Several of the families from South Park once attended a ridiculous timeshare presentation in Aspen. Doug and Carrie from "The King of Queens" once had an episode-long argument regarding the potential purchase of a timeshare. Characters from "King of the Hill" nearly got suckered into a Mexican timeshare scam. And Peter and Lois, from "Family Guy," perfectly illustrated the bait-and-switch sales tactic so common in timesharing today at the start of one of their misadventures.

Peter and Lois receive a postcard mailer claiming that they've won a free boat -- all they need to do is sit through a timeshare presentation to retrieve it. They attend the presentation with several of their friends, all of whom are given the following option: take the boat, OR the contents of a mystery box.

Lois, the intelligent consumer that she is, chooses the boat immediately, but Peter isn't sure. The box could hold ANYTHING, he says. After some hilarious deliberating Peter finally chooses the mystery box, which turns out to contain tickets to a cheap comedy club -- understandably disappointing Lois (at least Peter didn't actually BUY the timeshare, though).

The illustration in this episode isn't quite accurate -- after all, other attendees of the presentation walk out with free boats, which is hard to believe. But the spirit of timeshare sales is there, and it's spot-on. Too often the choice is already made for consumers, and instead of receiving the high-priced entertainment (the "boat") they've been promised, they're treated poorly and handed a "mystery box" of a timeshare no one is even able to open. And whether or not they use that mystery box, of course they still owe the timeshare company all the relevant fees, year after year.

Timeshare has become a stock scam on TV, but it's still a billion dollar industry. For once popular culture is right -- and it would probably be better to avoid both the boat and the mystery box altogether.

Where There's A Will...

One of the most unfortunate situations we encounter here at Timeshare Relief are timeshare scam inheritances. It's more common than you might imagine. An elderly relative purchases a timeshare while on his or her last vacation, not realizing that the property is a moneypit and impossible to use. The relative returns home with thoughts of using the timeshare and happily pays the maintenance fees. Then, one day, the relative passes on. The timeshare company hears of the news (probably due to a truant fee payment) and contacts the next of kin. He or she has never heard of the company before and never been to the city where the timeshare is located -- in fact, it's never been considered as a holiday location. And yet, this family member has just become embroiled in what is perhaps the most menacing of timeshare contract stipulations, an agreement known as perpetuity.

The easiest way for me to describe perpetuity is to ask my readers to imagine a timeshare with the stamina of the Energizer bunny. Indeed, the life of the timeshare contract -- and all agreements therein, including payment of fees -- keeps going and going and going and.... You get the idea. Perpetuity ensures that timeshare contract outlives its owner -- maybe even a few generations beyond its owner, if it isn't taken care of properly, as through a sale or title transfer.

Timeshare inheritance is far too common, the reason for it is simple -- con men prey upon the elderly. Several arrests have been made recently as part of an SEC crack-down on vacation scams targeting aging American adults -- a worthy, if somewhat minor, reaction to what has become a very serious problem. Often times these con artists operate below the border or in the Caribbean, where there are delays in seeking legal reprisal. And the result is very often the same: middle-aged families, while grieving the death of a loved one, are struck with the double-whammy of a timeshare scam inheritance they didn't ask for, and cannot afford.

We've found a few resources online to underscore this unfortunate trend. Here's a good if short forum discussion outlining timeshare inheritance:

http://timeshareadventures.com/vacation/general-timesharing-information/1289.htm

And a brief advice column offering clarification on a real-life situation:

http://www.thinkglink.com/Figuring_Out_The_Inheritance_Of_A_Timeshare.htm

If you think a relative of yours may be at risk for timeshare scams and unknowingly leave a burden on your family, get the right information and try to plan ahead.

A Better Way to Travel?

If you follow my blogs, you'll notice a common theme in all of them. I have a tendency to come down pretty hard on the timeshare industry as a whole and I wholeheartedly caution people against considering a timeshare purchase. If you happen to own timeshares and make use of them, then this company and service isn’t for you. We’re here to help the people who own timeshares and for whatever reasons cannot use them, and are unable to extricate themselves from bad contracts.

Why should I come down on an industry so much? Surely it can't be all bad right?
The amount of time I spend in the industry doing research as a writer and educator leads me to believe that timesharing did have its place once, but now it’s not much more than an outdated method for taking vacations that continues mainly as an income stream. The initial concept was rather creative and certainly a lucrative deal for the resort developers. Who wouldn’t want to own a piece of their favorite resort? I believe that's largely why timesharing is still being pitched at every corner, every concert, every nook and cranny. There's money to be had by overcharging purchasers for a "right to use" holiday time which for some reason isn’t always available to use because it's often being reserved to lure in and rent out to the general public.
Sadly, timesharing doesn't always provide the dream vacation it should, but it reliably empties the coffers of regular folks who just wanted to buy a nice vacation for their family.

So, are there other choices for taking great holidays? Absolutely!

Advances in technology have provided us with instant everything from instant conversation on an instant messaging program, to instant bill payment at the bank, all from a convenient location: your home, your office, or your lap in a coffee shop. Computers and the World Wide Web have brought directly to us more options than ever for anything our heart's desire. Taking vacations at great discounts and with terrific amenities is easier than ever. Online options for booking airfare, hotels, cars, entertainment is as simple as entering your information and clicking the send button. For those who don't take regular vacations, timesharing never made sense, because they would pay for a timeshare every year even if they couldn't use it. Using the advances in technology to our benefit to find the best travel deals is a great way to go.

Keep in mind as well that if you’re a frequent traveler, you can sign up for a vacation concierge service for a fraction of the cost of timesharing, and only pay for the travel services you use, when you use them. If you have a busy lifestyle, and a taste for outstanding customer service, using a concierge service takes the footwork of hunting down the best deal, or the best location, and passes it along to an expert in the field who can then make note of your travel needs, and make sure to surpass every single request, all from a phone call or online inquiry. It’s near impossible to upstage that kind of personalized care and quality.

With the plethora of options for greatly discounted dream vacations, what are you waiting for? Go travelling!