When I posted my TRUE experiences at Westgate Resorts in Orlando Florida of April 3, 1998, I got hundreds of email messages from readers all over the world that had similar stories.
On April 24, 2003, I received an email message from a "Westgate Saleswoman" (I cannot verify this of course, she used an adelphia.net account). The salesperson had this to say:
I have to tell you that I worked at Westgate for 3 years as a salesperson and I've seen every type of person imaginable. I will also tell you that I've sold more timeshares to people that swore they would never buy one. I own a timeshare at Westgate Lakes Resort. I've been an owner since 1998. I have used my timeshare to go to Miami, Cancun Mexico, Dorado Puerto Rico, Palm Desert CA, Cocoa Beach FL, Singer Island FL, Atlantis Resort Nassau Bahamas, New Smyrna Beach FL, and I'm going to Captiva Island FL next month. Timeshare is the best product out there if you are going to vacation and use it. It is not a "scam".
The real scam of the timeshare industry is the thousands of people who come to timeshare tours on every vacation looking for a free handout and to scam the salesperson forced to endure their company. These scammers leave their young teenage children in their hotel rooms wasting their children's vacation time, waste a day of their honeymoon, anniversary, and ultimately half a day of their one vacation every year to save a buck. The reality of the situation is that they continue to vacation every year and to stay in places like Days Inn or some other Budget hotel and throw their dollars away. Eventually they will all realize that owning something for that money and spending time with your family in an accomodation that you can be proud of and comfortable in is so worth it. My only job at Westgate was to make them understand this. The smart ones do understand and purchase. I had hundreds of happy "owners" that traveled all over the world as a result of owning timeshare at Westgate.
As a timeshare owner, I will never have to subject my children to a budget motel. They are 2 years old and they have spent every vacation in a beautiful beach front condo with ammenities for them to enjoy in safety! Spoiled? Yes. I only wish that my parents and grandparents could take all the dollars that they wasted renting and put it into something that would have provided them and their family with years of enjoyment.
Here is my response.
That's an interesting point of view, and I will certainly post it.
You say that these people waste a half day to a full day. You admit that these people are promised 90 minutes - and that Westgate abuses this. Thousands of people have been told things by their salespeople only to have those statements be contradicted as lies after they sign the paperwork. You brush this off as unimportant. You do not deny any of the morally abhorrent things going on at Westgate. Your response is that "Luxury is worth it" and the "Smart Ones" value that luxury. Let us then address that issue and tradeoff.
Your stated implication is that anyone who does not agree with you - that buying a timeshare at a Westgate Resorts seminar is a great monetary value for a life of luxury - is "not smart". I am in Mensa and know many Mensans. So I am, in fact, "smart". Mensans love discussing the stupid things that companies get people to do. Westgate's exploits are fodder for much conversation. In every discussion on the topic, Mensans have discussed the serious flaws with the timeshare system in general, and with Westgate's policies in particular. Many Mensans are wealthy and love luxury. They did not gain their wealth by making poor monetary decisions. In fact many pride themselves on spending money *efficiently* so they can direct the savings into charity and education. The gist of our musings on this topic is that a "Smart Person" does not do business with a company which makes dishonesty a policy, and one which sets up a system with high prices and high interests rates for a product that can be had for MUCH less money elsewhere. That would be wasteful and "dumb".
I went into the Westgate tour wanting to investigate the offer and to probably buy. I was not "using" the company at all. At my salary, my time was worth more than the ticket price of the tickets they gave me. However, in return for my time and attention, I was lied to, abused, and mistreated. I had the money to buy and could have if it was the WISE choice. I choose to spend my money on companies that are ethical and that make monetary sense. Westgate was not either of these things. To me, refusing to sign a contract with a Westgate employee was the very obvious and smart choice. If Westgate was "smart", then when I voiced my very logical questions, they would have had answers. Instead, they resorted to nasty name calling and snideness. The actions I saw that day were not the actions of a "smart" seller that believes in her product. They were the actions of a "stupid" person who can only quote information off a sheet, and when that information is questioned, she reverts to her only defense.
With the web, every vacation we have taken - even ones of far higher quality than Westgate - have cost far less. Every person I have spoken with including many who worked at Westgate have said that buying at a Westgate seminar costs you up to 10 times as much as buying even the exact same room on the web. You can get a much better deal elsewhere for even less. The Westgate seminar's purpose is to get as much money out of the person as possible, and to say whatever is necessary to get that sale, even if it is not true and will not be honored after the contract is signed. It would be "dumb" of me to pay more for a room just because someone tried to force me to, and to sign a contract with a company that has proven already that it is not likely to hold up its end.
I have spoken with thousands of people about Westgate, and you are the only person to claim that buying at a Westgate seminar could *save* you money. That it could be cheaper than a budget motel cost. That it is the "smart choice". I would like to see the figures on that. Please tell me the starting quote that Westgate gives a couple when they are at your on-site seminar - the price and interest rate. I will gladly post your information on the site.
On your comments about your children being "Spoiled", I imagine most 2 year olds could not care less about *where* they stay. Most would prefer to stay somewhere that didn't involve wasting money needlessly, where they are with loving family, and be told in a few years that the savings in money has helped fund their college education, the national park down the street, and the starving families in Afghanistan. To deliberately spend up to 900 perent of the going rate for a commodity instead of directing that extra money into a meaningful cause seems a great shame.
My TRUE experiences at Westgate Resorts