FREE VACATIONS!
FREE VACATIONS

The free vacations scam has been around forever. Admittedly, part of the vacation is free, but the price you need to pay to enjoy that vacation can be irritating at the least. Again as I’ve said here time and time again, nothing is free. The free vacations scam generally offers you to or three nights at a “resort” generally in Florida. However it could possibly be in the Caribbean, Mexico, the Southwest or other resort locations in the U.S. The first thing you must know is that the room may be free, but the transportation is not. You will have to pay to drive or fly to the destination. So why is someone giving you a free vacation? It is because they most likely want to sell you a timeshare. Most of you probably know what a timeshare is but I will give a brief explanation. Basically, you purchase the right to stay at a “resort” for two weeks a year. Not only do you have to pay for that right but you also generally have to pay annual fees and other expenses when you stay there. Some vacation licenses offer you the opportunity to stay at a variety of resorts, some in the United States, some might be in Mexico or others might be in the Caribbean. However, your “vacation dates” are priced depending on the time of year that you would like to spend at your timeshare. The more popular the dates, the more expensive the cost of the timeshare. Even the fees charged during your stay may differ depending on the dates you choose. So if you wish to use your timeshare during peak vacation season, it will cost you plenty. Not only can the annual costs become a drag on your finances, but if you return to the same location year after year, that could become rather boring. Those licenses that allow you to visit different locations will most likely charge you an additional amount to use a separate location.

Back to the “scam”. So this is not really a vacation but rather an opportunity to confine you to a controlled environment where you are bombarded by sales pitches, high pressuring you to purchase one of these vacation licenses. In fact, you are told when you take the free vacation that you will be required to attend a “seminar”. Generally, you will spend at least an hour or two listening to a presentation for the entire group. You might be required to attend multiple seminars. Next, you will be separated into either smaller groups or individually to get more of the high-pressure pitch. It is extremely important to note that the people or offering you this “opportunity” are highly trained and seasoned salespeople. They have been taught various techniques, especially psychological ones, to draw you into the web of vacation licenses and induce you to purchase. Sure, you think, “I can resist just about anything.” Think again. The people who are dealing with you already know your mindset. They already know that you are there and you are going to do everything you can to resist. But but they will work very hard with the sales techniques and psychological tricks they have been taught to do everything they can geisha license sales pitches, then it wouldn’t be profitable for them to give away free trips. (Of course, you will be staying in quarters that have either not been sold or are not fully occupied, so it may not be much of a expense to them.) The presentations always seem so great, and of course, you need to realize, that if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Some years ago, I attended a local presentation offering a vacation license. No free vacation, but the draw was a free new 35mm camera. I was into photography so I figured I actually might get something of value. So I attended the seminar out in the western suburbs of Chicago and listened to a presentation about a property in Europe. First of all, was I willing to pay the airfare to fly to the same place in Europe every year? Not likely. The presentation lasted about an hour and then we were required to meet with a “representative” to get into more details about the project. Fortunately, due to the knowledge I had gained regarding international currency transactions through my experience in financial futures, I began to ask a variety of questions regarding currency fluctuations in the way that they might affect the cost and ongoing expenses that might be incurred. Clearly, my representative was completely unprepared for that discussion and I was able to talk circles around him. That was how I convinced the representative that this was not the greatest deal there was. After finishing, I went to get my new camera. It was a piece of crap, an all plastic camera that probably had a value of about five dollars. I should have known better. You never get something for nothing. Now, back to more details on timeshares.

Another consideration is upkeep. There have been instances where after someone has purchased a vacation license, the property they visit every year begins to deteriorate because the company does not provide the maintenance necessary to keep up the property. After all, when you’re visiting once a year, there is no way for you to really know what type of work they are doing to keep up the property. Without constant oversight, and after all vacation licenses have been sold, there is little incentive for the management to provide the upkeep necessary or advisable to keep the property safe and appealing. Further, based on the way the documents are written, it becomes nearly impossible to cancel a vacation license. Even if you don’t go, the annual fees keep piling up and are considered obligations that you must fulfill.IN other words, it is a debt. Subject to collection, etc. The management can sue you for back payments. In fact, you may have heard or seen advertisements for companies that specialize in helping you break a vacation license agreement. That, in itself, should be a red flag when it comes to purchasing a vacation license. It may seem like a great deal when you are there on site and they are pitching the paradise of a lifetime, but rarely do such pitches result in blissful and worry free vacations. This is not to say that there are not honest operators out there. One way people like to determine whether someone or something is reliable is to check reviews I am not even sure you can trust reviews, because many scammers put phony outstanding reviews on review websites. So be careful.

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