Caveat Emptor

From a reader:

When we went to the Worldmark sales office at Wolf Creek to find out more about vacation ownership, I won’t lie, we were interested in buying. However, we had never really looked into it before and had no idea what the cost of a membership was.

When our salesmen revealed the price, we were visibly and verbally shocked. We had previously mentioned our interest in buying and noticing our shock at the price, our salesmen began giving us suggestions on how to offset the cost by having our membership pay for itself. He suggested we do something he had done to pay for his membership.

He goes on to say, “I couldn’t afford to go on vacation while I was paying off my membership credits, so I let my family and friends use my credits along with Bonus time, to book there vacations”. He goes on to give several examples of hotel prices in places like Las Vegas, Hawaii and other pricey destinations. Explaining that “It’s easy to make money having other people use your credits. They paid me and I used the money to pay for my membership credits, so they were basically free, and now that my membership is paid off” he explains “I let family and friends use Bonus Time and charge them double my cost, a few times a year, and pay my dues that way. Even at double the cost they are still getting a great deal”.

When we asked “What if we can’t find anyone who wants to use our credits or bonus time”? Our salesman was again very helpful and explained that we own our membership and we could sell anytime. Then he proceeded to show us a chart explaining that as the company grows the price of credits goes up, leading us to believe that our credits would appreciate in value.

As you can imagine, at this point with all our questions answered we felt quite at ease and we began the purchase process. We purchased in the summer and immediately began spreading the word to friends and family that we could get them a discount on accommodations for there next vacation. We had many takers and tried to book using credits or bonus time on many occasions. We were unable to find availability at any of the desired locations, even with help from members of the Worldmark staff.

Becoming more and more aware that what our salesmen suggested we do was not a possibility, we looked into selling. My heart sank as I realized the credits we bought less then three months earlier had decreased in value by 50% and selling was not an option.

Why is this OK? HELP!!!!! Can we get our money back?

Sigh.

This reminds me of the latin phrase, Caveat emptor, which translates to Let the buyer beware. Or perhaps it should be There's no such thing as a free lunch.

As to the price of credits going up — yes, the price goes up, but their value doesn't. Just because somebody sells a cheeseburger for twice the price, it doesn't mean that its twice as good.

When I attended my session, there was no way I was going to sign anything on the night. A big investment like that is something that needs thought and analysis. If someone walked up to me on the street and asked for $15, I'd think twice before handing over the cash. I'd certainly think twice when it's $15,000 (or more!).

Can you get your money back? No. Maybe you could sell holidays on eBay using your points, but you'd be liable for any damage done by renters. I recommend you sell to Red Season or via eBay and get back whatever you can, before you end up paying even more in quarterly fees.

Let this be a (rather expensive) lesson in trust and due diligence. In my case, I'm making the information on this blog available to the public, so that people can do their own research on the topic before committing to the purchase.

It reminds me how, during my sales session, I was told that the offer was only available if I signed that night. I said "surely I can come back another day and get the same deal?", to which I was told that "nobody ever comes back another day". Looks like those people did their research, too.

-- Fabbo


Tags: trendwest worldmark