New Members - Please Introduce Yourself!

[summervaca]

Hello! I am new to this forum but have been a member of TUG for a couple of years. We joined after buying a Marriott Grande Vista (Retail EEK!! It was too late to rescind, but that is water under the bridge and we have been having a ball ever since. Since then we have acquired 535K Wyndham points (resale!!) and are stil waiting for some of them to close. I have been visiting the Wyndham owners website and have known about this site for awhile. I decided tonight that it is time to join. I must be a bit of a "geek" because I enjoy learning the ins and outs of systems and how to get good deals and use them as much as I enjoy the vacations themselves. I think my husband and kids think I'm a little obsessed, but I don't hear them complaining everytime we are packing up for a vacation!

I recognize many of your user names from TUG and Wyndham and look forward to being part of your discussions. I thank all of you who share your expertise and volunteer to keep this site running. I know it is alot of work and it does not go unappreciated.

Have a good day.

Debbie

P.S. I am from Minneapolis and would really like to see more resorts withing a reasonable driving distance. We are actually a first world country up here and not the "flyover land" that many people think

[Spence]

Originally Posted by firstimer

Hi!
My name is Deb and I joined this forum just about a week ago I think. I'm very new to timeshares, having never owned before. My story is, I am a travel RN on assignment in Arizona. I wanted to see Sedona and in looking up lodging on Google I found a room at Los Abrigados for a discounted rate if I would listen to a 90 minute presentation. Well, 90 minutes turned into the most painful 3 1/2 hours I've ever endured, including childbirth. I actually gave them a $500 check to "hold" just to get them to leave me alone and give me my letter of verification needed to get my discount off the room. After I was finally freed I vowed never ever to attend a timeshare presentation again.

On my way home, I stopped to look at a brochure and lo and behold...another fast talking guy and the next thing I know....I'm pulling up to The Ridge on the way out. I walked in still upset at myself and told them they could keep my $25 deposit, but I was going home..just couldn't do the pressure presentation again, no way. Well, these people are VERY good at what they do (aside from the fact that they had a very gullible victim). I agreed to "wait for a manager" to "sign off on the deposit" and wouldn't you know, they sent Mr. "I'm the perfect person to calm down this crazy female" in to talk to me. I agreed to stay and just listen and they promised no more than 90 minutes or I could get up and walk away. The sales rep that talked to me was by far the nicest person on the planet (at least that day any way) and by the time the manager came back to 'sweeten the deal', I was hooked and bought 2500 points for $9000+ @ 14% interest with Diamond Resorts.

The morning after I woke up with the worst case of buyer's remorse and started posting like crazy on a travel nurse forum, which led me here. After reading both here and the travel nurse forum, I decided not to recind and to hang out here and learn as much as I can about timeshares, points, etc. There seemed to be enough positive comments to keep me from changing my mind entirely. Because of my attitude going in to the presentation, there was so much that I didn't find out, I just barely got a tour of the place! I have so much to learn. I may have made a huge mistake in keeping this but you live and learn and I am here to learn. Thanks so much for being here as a resource for those like myself.

Looking forward to reading, learning and getting to know you all.

Deb

Well, I guess you're a DRI owner, welcome and visit our DRI forum!

[bezerk]

Welcome summervaca....you sound a lot like me....I enjoy the learning curve and deal getting and such almost as much as the vacations also.

My friends and family know I am obsessed! No they never complain when on those great vacations either!

Welcome again.

[janapur]

Welcome summervaca! How old are your kids? We can carpool to the Dells from Minneapolis. (kidding . . . sort of) We have three 2br units at Glacier Canyon for spring break in March that we can't possibly fill by ourselves.

My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I frequently catch him bragging about our resale deals to others . . . as if he had anything to do with it!

Jana

[1niceharley]

Hello,
I'm a Blue Green owner. I got ripped buy the high pressure sales and one of those free weekend all you have to do is sit in a pressentation things. Now we have a timeshare that we owned for 3 years and haven't used it yet (used bonus time one weekend). Hopefully I can now start renting it out to cover the maintenance fees and then in a couple of years or so start useing it. Since we bought the timeshare I have changed jobs, bought a new house and we have a baby. So the time nor the money has been there to go on vacation (other than to see the families). So I at least wanted to say hello. and Thank everyone in advance that may help answer any questions that may come up from me. Thanks again,
Troy

[babymakesfour]

Hi, I'm Rachel. Mom of two boys 3 & 7 months. We're new to timesharing and very excited. See ya'll around!

[bezerk]

Welcome babymakesfour....souinds like you have your hands full with two young ones...

You are going to learn a lot about timesharing here..so read away and enjoy.

[babymakesfour]

Originally Posted by bezerk

Welcome babymakesfour....souinds like you have your hands full with two young ones...

You are going to learn a lot about timesharing here..so read away and enjoy.

OMG - super full!!! Thanks for the welcome.

[dbchalk]

Hi!
My husband and I purchased our first timeshare directly from Whiski Jack because we wanted to have access to Bonus Time in Whistler ($70/night Canadian pretty much anytime you want to go). We had done our research and had also found a couple of weeks on the secondary market that we were interested in, but ended up going with the sales pitch for the new deeded value system through Whiski Jack (Raintree) versus the fixed week on the secondary market. Our experience has been terrific. We've used bonus time frequently. Booking during ski season has been easy, even at the last minute. The service by Whiski Jack is flawless (everything you need is always in the condos or they bring it to your door). Trading into ski weeks through Raintree has also been easy, as well as Mexico. So - overall experience excellent.

We have the best of all worlds - we are guaranteed to be able to get into a quality condo during ski season with flawless condo management. We can get into other ski resorts if we want to go outside of Whiski Jack to Raintree. (Note: if you buy your Raintree value system outside of Whiski Jack you have to book Whistler through Raintree - much more difficult.)

If you have questions about the Raintree value system - I can help. I have all of the charts online for all of the properties including Whistler.

Note: The Whiski Jack sales office has been closed due to a lack of buildable land - prices at Whistler are just simply outrageous now. Whiski Jack has renamed itself as the Whistler Rental Accommodation Centre - same fabulous staff minus the sales staff - same location.


Whistler Accommodation BC Canada | Whistler Rental Accommodations Centre

[MamaKevin]

Hi I'm Karmen. Mother to a beautiful 1 year old son and 2 Crazy Labradors. We own an every other year week at Tahiti Village in Las Vegas. I'm really glad I found this site and plan on picking everyone's brains frequently ;)!