Never Again

Have you ever gone to a new place or tried a new experience and thought to yourself, “I’m never doing that again!” Tell us about it. 

It took me about three seconds to come up with the answer to this question ~ Timeshare Presentation.

I think it was about 12 years ago.  A co-worker of Les' had a great deal for us to stay in a new resort on Maui.  We found super cheap flights and decided to go for it.  There was only one catch - we would need to go through a one hour timeshare presentation some time during our stay.

The presentation started off great.  Beautiful pictures of beautiful people in beautiful places.  Page after page.  We passed the one hour mark and our new friend kept right on going... and going...

We had booked another outing (I think we were going parasailing) and needed to be at the dock at a certain time.  When the presentation passed the 90 minute mark we started trying to leave.  We were NOT going to buy anything that day.  That is when our new friend really started putting on the pressure.  When we said we had to leave he tried to stop us.  It was not a pretty scene.  I think he even threatened to take back the gift certificate we were suppose to receive for attending.  He was very angry about watching a potential sales commission walk out the door.

In case you're wondering, here is a little info about timeshares that I found at The Street:

The American Resort Development Association (ARDA), a trade group for timeshare companies, said in 2012 that the average cost of a timeshare is around $19,000, with an annual maintenance fee of $660.

Read those ARDA numbers again. You are paying almost $100 per night in maintenance for a week’s stay and you already paid $20,000 for that week.

As you can see, this is not a small purchase!  I don't know about other people, but Les and I would never spend this amount of money without careful consideration.  We never buy large ticket items without a lot of research and budgeting.  We've taken some amazing vacations, but we have planned them for months. We certainly wouldn't buy in a pressure situation such as that one.

We finally escaped the building with a very angry presenter walking us to the door.  We looked at each other and said, "Never again!"  And we have stuck to that commitment.  I can't tell you how many offers we have been given through the years - "Come see our timeshare..."  "No, thank you!"  Each time it has happened, Les and I have just looked at each other and laughed.  "Never again!"

Have you ever had a "never again" experience?