WELCOME TO TIMESHARE SOUTH AFRICA

This site has been designed to guide you through the minefield of South African Timeshare. Although it does have its benefits, South African Timeshare has often been used to manipulate people into investing and parting with their hard earned cash. Not every timeshare operation or marketer is underhanded but it pays to go into any dealings with them with both your eyes wide open. Local operators have perfected the methods long tried and tested by their European and American counterparts. If you have any comment, positive or negative about any of the topics on timeshare, then please feel free to leave a posting.

PURPOSE OF THE BLOG

For too long the South African public has been bled dry by unscrupulous Timeshare operaters and marketing companies. The sole purpose of this blog is to identify pit-falls, scheme's and underhanded methods that these vampires use to ensnare you and bleed you of your hard earned money. As an ex-industry insider (with 15 years experience in the industry) I am able to give you good, unbiased and sound advice. This advice is often lacking when counselling is needed when faced with a timeshare dilemma. South African consumer are growing wise to their rights and its about time that the wolves are seperated from the sheep. It is not my intention to blacken the reputations of any company that may be mentioned or on the other hand to promote those who do operate above the law and in good faith. Rather, it is to give you, the consumer, the best possible unbiased advice that is normally unavailable and if it is, comes at a premium. I do request, however, that you be honest in your posting, giving as much detail as possible. If the advice is taken and you still get no relief from the offending party then our section on consumer watchdogs will be of much help. These operater's hate having their dark deed brought into the light. Please share this blog with as many friends as you can. Its success relies on your word-of-mouth advertising.

METHODS OF TIMESHARE MARKETING

All timeshare operators follow at least one of the following methods of marketing. I will advise you on pit-falls of each so you can be prepared when marketed. Remember that NOT all operaters are underhanded - there are geniune, as few as they are, operators in the timeshare industry - so we need to be fair in our approach.

METHOD ONE: THE TELEMARKER

How many times have you received a call informing you that you had won a prize or rather one of several prizes? The catch? Both you and your spouse have to attend a 60 minute presentation together. Firstly, the reason that they want you to be together is that they want you to make a financial commitment and make it one the day of the presentation. They will not allow you to go home to ponder the benefits but will lambast your emotions and reason - beating down all forms of intellectual resistance. The prize! You will NEVER be guaranteed a single prize but rather one of the selection of prizes on offer. If you are guaranteed the top of the range prize then it is unlikely that they will give that guarantee to you in writing without the small print. Their marketing is aimed at your greed which will lure you into their waiting hands. The bigger the prizes the greater the lure! Normally a holiday is offered - and this is the most likey prize that you will receive. The reason: the holiday is in one of the resorts that the operator has access to therefore it costs them nothing to give it to you. The catch is that the holiday time (when) and location (where) is at the discretion of the timeshare operator or marketer and is invariably only out of season and for a maximum of two adults (sorry the kids stay at home for this one!). Further, the catch is that you have to pay a registration fee (which you will forfeit if you don't accept their offer of WHEN and WHERE). This registration fee is a nominal fee of normally between R200 and R500 - which if you consider, is not a bad price to pay for a weekend (friday to monday) or a midweek (monday to friday). It is excellent value if you can get one of these holiday vouchers to work. Now back to the telemarketer. S/he earns commission only if you pitch to the presentation and you spend the nominated time there. So s/he is hell-bent on getting you there at any cost. Some operators don't mind the method that they use only that they get you there so their salespeople can work their magic on you. The telemarketer earn's on average of R2500 to R5000 per month and it has to be the worst job on earth. They have to deal with rejected EVERY minute of the day. But, work is hard to come by in the New South Africa so they perservere. You are reminded to bring either your cheque book or credit card with you. "Why?", you ask in horror. "To identify yourself", of "you stand a chance to win an additional prize if your numbers match our lucky numbers". This is hogwash. They need you to pay a deposit (on the night) so you need these little items handed. They won't let you go home to fetch them, because, alas, they no that you won't return after all the pressure that they have applied on you is finally released once you are safely back in the comfort of your own home. The telemarketer will tell you that there are NO catches and NO cons and furthermore that you are under NO OBLIGATION WATSOEVER! Try telling that to the persistent salesperson - you'll be humilated and taunted like you've never been before! So lets say you look past what I have said and you decide to go to the presentation (maybe you feel you may stand a chance to win because the telemarketer sounded so convincing and sincere or/ maybe you felt sorry for the telemarketer or/ maybe it may be educational) please move on to the next section called THE PRESENTATION.

METHOD TWO: THE OPC

This is the person that bumps into you at the local shopping centre of as you stroll along the Durban beachfront. They will ask you to complete a survey or to enter a competition. Once you stop and entertain this person it is unlikely that you will escape! They will proceed to tell you that you have in fact won a prize and that you have been entered into a larger competition to win a grander prize. The catch? Follow them to a quick show followed by your prizegiving or to tell you that someone will be in contact to invite you to collect your prize (then you become a 'lead' for the conventional method of telemarketing'. A word of warning - just as in the case of the telemarketer you are unlikely to win that top prize, infact, you'll probally be a couple of thousand poorer with an hour lsot left clutching a bottle of cheap sparkling wine.

METHOD THREE: TV Advert

A colourful animation in the morning invites you to phone in. Your number is then logged and you can expect a call from a telemarketer (once they get your name - they don't let go).

METHOD FOUR: The Maildrop

This is normally practised by the better off and higher calibre timeshare groups. They send you a colourful prospectus and brochure and invite you to make contact with them to come and have a complimentary weekend or midweek stay with them. The catch is you pay a minimal fee and that you allow a sales consultant to give you a presentation during your stay. It is a good method - one that I prefer. Normally, one of your friends, family or associates has joined and they have referred your name. This is sometime worth a look because you get all the details (including the fine print) in your hands even before you commit even a minute of your time to these people. This is a much more honest way of marketing - it gives you much more choice even before you attend.

A word of caution: South African legislation has been amended to make cold calling and telemarketing illegal this year. The route these companies are planning to go is to stop you outside shopping centre's and have you complete a competition or questionaire. BY COMPLETING A COMPETITION OR QUESTIONAIRE YOU ARE GIVING THEM PERMISSION TO TELEMARK YOU IN THE FUTURE! The fineprint is misleading - it speaks about further communication regarding notifying you of your prize. Once you have completed any type of application/questionaire/competition you cannot stop them from telemarketing and harrassing you in the future.

THE PRESENTATION

When you arrive (along with your spouse if you are married - so that you can make decision on the day of the presentation) you are asked to fill out a registration sheet. You are asked to do so in order to 'qualify you'. If your income bracket is below the stipulated figure then the marketer who managed to get you to attend is not paid or may be paid less. It also catogrises you into how much you can possibly afford and depending on your financial status you are then passed on to a consultant. The higher your income the stronger the consultant is assigned to you in selling and psychology. You are then given an emotional presentation. The whole presentation it to take you on a high - making you feel good about taking your family on regular well deserved holidays as oppossed to being a low-down child abuser who neglects their family by staying at home. Right through the presentation they will get you to agree with them (called a tie-down in timeshare speak) and then at the end when you want to re-consider or have time to think about it, throw it in your face. The best thing to do during a presentation is to remain unresponsive! The more you speak, the more you will allow that salesperson to see what angle to 'sell you' with. Be very careful, these people are extremely well-trained and have many years of selling psychology behind them not to mention the pressure that it is placed upon them if they do not make the sale.

THE PRODUCT

There are two main timeshare products on sale in South Africa:
1). Coventional timeshare
2). Points (or sometimes marketed as 'shares')

CONVENTIONAL TIMESHARE
This is when you invest in a particular resort at a particular time of the year in a particular size of apartment. It is very un-flexible but at least you are guaranteed availabilty each year. The timeshare can be sold for a limited term (ie 20 years) or for in-perpetuity (for life - can be passed on to heirs). Sure, you are told that you can make use of RCI (Resorts Condiminiums International) to exchange to other resorts but often this in uncertain because members of RCI do experience availability problems. Exchanging does attract an exchange fee. This fee is quite expensive for a local exchange but normally a good deal if you exchange abroad. Coupled with these costs you pay an annual levy from R2000 and up. This levy is subject to change and it does go up each year. Should the resort need to raise a special levy for whatsoever reason then you are liable. Some resorts also offer what they call a 'flexi' week which is a more flexible option whereby you can holiday anytime within a prescribed season (low, mid, high, peak1, peak2 & peak3).

So is timeshare a good deal?

It can be a very reasonable guaranteed annual holiday and inflation fighter provided:
1). You buy from a reputable marketing company
2). You buy a 'Gold Crown' (top quality) resort (you will need this if you want to make good exchanges.
3). Check the levy history (and if buying 2nd hand timeshare, that all the levies have been paid up-to-date).
4). You must make use of it each and every year to get the full benefit.
5). Expect to pay anything from R35,000 for a good week (anything less I would be wary of).

POINTS (OR SOMETIMES MARKETED AS 'SHARES')
These are sold on the basis of you can go anywhere and you can go anytime. This is the least favourable of all timeshare options. The way it works it that the Developer buys timeshare weeks and puts them all into a pool and then markets it on the basis of flexibility. Often you won nothing and always have availabilty problems. STAY WELL CLEAR OF ANY POINTS ORGANISATIONS! Even while some of them may have good intentions of providing members with good annual holiday almost ALL of them fall short of their promises. Ask any points owner what their biggest gripe is and they will tell you that there is NO/LIMITED AVAILABILITY.
You are investing in.............. NOTHING! Sure you get an owners certificate/share certificate but it means nothing. All you have invested in is the right to use accomodation within that developers pool of stock. You still pay a levy (which is marketed as subs or membership fees) which is almost certainly higher than that of any timeshare week within the same time.
Points have absolutely no resale value. Check out the news paper or Junk Mail for second hand points - they sell for a small fraction of their original cost! For example: The Holiday Club (marketed as South Africa's biggest points organisation) sells their points for almost R2000 each. Ten points (R20,000) may give you a week in the lowest of all seasons and the worst of all their resorts. If you try to sell these points to a timeshare resale company you will only be offered in the region of R50 (yes FIFTY RAND) and R250 per point. Calculate your loss!!!!! The reason for there been no re-sale value is the high commissions paid to the sales people combined with the high marketing costs that the marketing companies incur. Out of the initial investment amount up to 65% is used to pay marketing costs and commission, 10% is used for administration and the balance (25%) is used for development costs. Hence, there is NO value to second hand points.

THE PRIZE (OR GIFT FOR ATTENDING)

There is always a catch when it comes to the prize. Remember that the prize is an end to a means. It is the bait to lure you to the presentation. You are always told that you have one of the following rather a specific prize. The reason that they do this is to get you to think that you stand a chance to win one of the big prizes while the odds are stacked against everyone attending that they will each get a complimentary prize with little value (and almost certainly with some cost to redeeming it). THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.

If you are promised a prize then get them to promise in writing that you have won a specific prize (get the marketer to name the prize and its value) without the obligation of buying anything!

Check out this soundbite about a couple in Durban who were conned into thinking that they had won a prize. This was featured on East Coast Radio's CONSUMERWATCH:

http://www.ecr.co.za/audio/consumerwatch/CW02MayTimeshare.wma

THE SALES PITCH

Invariably you are offered a deal that is only valid for the day and should you choose to walk away then you will loose it. NO REPUTABLE BUSINESS CONDUCTS BUSINESS LIKE THIS! Normally, what they do is to offer a discount. The truth is, there is no discount! If you come back the next day and invest you will get it at the same price! Why? The salesperson inflates the normal price and then offers a discount bringing it back to the regular price! (this is against the TISA code of conduct but every company that I know of still does it!). Another way is to double the price then offer you the equal amount of timeshare or points back if you invest on the day free - all you have done is buy twice as much as you should have (there is NO discount - all timeshare companies work on one set price - don't be fooled).

ALWAYS:

1. Ask for everything in writing - contract, details of the developer & outlay of the scheme
2. Request at least two weeks to consider, re-consider, research
3. Look for 2nd hand prices of the same scheme (it will be minus the high marketing costs and commissions).

NEVER!

1. Sign on the day (disregard any promises of what you will lose if you do not sign)
2. Commit to anything
3. Hand over your credit card
If you follow my advice you will thank me for it later - I promise you!