Timeshare Fun

That phone call was surprising enough that I talked to my wife and thought about it for a few days. My mobile phone normally sits on "Do Not Disturb" mode so no calls or messages ring through. If I am doing absolutely nothing, I might notice my phone lighting up briefly and pick it up, otherwise, most unsolicited phone calls go to voice mail. I was probably not doing anything or I might have picked up my phone for sending a message when this came through. Unlike other marketer phone calls, this one proudly displayed Caller ID as Hilton Hotels. I think I have a loyalty membership and I had recently stayed at a Hilton - so, I picked up. They were calling about offering me a 3 night stay at a destination of my choice (from several that they offered) for less than the price of a single night's stay. How could I say no to that? There were a few strings attached. The biggest one was that I had to agree to sitting through a 2 hour presentation about their Time Share offerings. Even though they say "presentation", I am sure that is going to be a sales pitch. The other condition was that once I did book and came close to the travel dates, I could not back out. If I did back out, I would have to pay the going property rate. Awesome! I paid the money and ask them to call me back later to schedule my trip.

That was in April of 2024. Today, on April 25th, I am finally taking the trip. Yay!

One part of me says: "Wow! I signed up to be a sitting duck". That could happen. I might land up, go through the presentation and fall into one old scam of selling timeshares. I have never evaluated purchasing timeshare properties. I have only heard about scam stories. I knew one person who inherited a timeshare property from his grandfather which he and his family visit once a year. That one is in Daytona and his grandfather probably purchased it maybe 20 years ago. That is something! It could be that it is a timeshare that neither the grandfather nor the grandson were able to sell off and hence have resigned themselves to visit it once a year, or, it could be that the timeshare is truly awesome and my friend the grandson truly likes to go visit once a year. I don't have any idea how my "presentation" will go. I have no prejudice for or against purchasing anything. I am going to go there with an open mind. Then, I am going to promptly say "NO".

Oh! What fun!