3. Read the fineprint!

I was reading through the Trendwest website and saw that they're listing cheap holidays to destinations like Townsville.

This piqued my interest because, according to what I was told by Trendwest, only WorldMark unit holders or their guests are entitled to stay in WorldMark properties. So are the holidays on offer at WorldMark locations, or other locations? Why are they offering these holidays?

In reading through the Terms & Conditions, I found this:

This offer is designed for permanent residents of Australia, and is not available to groups (two or more affiliated couples). You, or if married or in a relationship, both parties must attend an informative sales presentation of approximately 90 minutes (whilst on your holiday) on the benefits of WorldMark resort holidays – an innovative, affordable, flexible timeshare enjoyed by over 225,000 families worldwide. Non-attendance at the WorldMark resort holidays presentation will result in full charge of the package price. Once payment has been received, package & package price is non-refundable.

So, it appears that this is just one more sales tactic to get people to attend the Trendwest information sessions.

I've heard stories of people attending other timeshare information sessions (not necessarily with Trendwest) where they get a holiday to a nice location, but have to spend some of their holiday time attending the information session. Okay, so they get a holiday -- but there would be a bit more pressure to accept the offer in exchange for the free holiday. Australians have a very strong concept of "fairness" and accepting the free holiday might make some people feel guilty.

Too-strong a sales tactic? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

-- Fabbo



Tags: trendwest worldmark