Timeshares: Waste of Time or Worth the Hassle?

Before I begin, I'd like to make a small disclaimer. I did NOT purchase a time share, I simply attended a presentation for one in exchange for a free gift. I'm basing my entire review on today's experience, the information given, and how everything happens. I am not experienced in the actual ownership of a timeshare, but after today I feel as if I learned enough to make an educated decision on how to move forward. Here's what happened:

While we were at the Reptile Super Show (see that post HERE), we were confronted by a lady asking if we'd like to partake in their contest of guessing the number of corks in a jar. While I normally steer clear of gimmicks like this, something told me to check it out. So I went over, made my guess, and while I was filing out my form she told me about an opportunity for a free gift, with absolute guarantee I wouldn't have to buy anything. 

Intrigued I listened. 

Long story short she invited me to a timeshare presentation that offered free breakfast, my padawan could come, a 3 day 2 night vacation to any of their hotels, and no requirement to buy. The gift was for just going. After reading the fine print, I agreed.

Yesterday was the actual presentation at a local hotel, with free valet parking also included. Upon entering the room we were meant to wait in, I realized it was rather small, leaving me to believe that this wasn't necessarily something many people were partaking in. 

A little briefing then we headed up to another floor where breakfast and a long conversation took place. 

I'll admit I just wanted the free food and free trip.

This very kind lady came up, introduced herself, showed us the breakfast bar, and sat us at a table with food in hand. Eventually we were taken to another room for a video presentation, where majority of the programs information was presented to us.

Bullet point version:

- You're buying a share in their company to stay at homes
- You have to put a down payment
- Monthly payments are no less than $200
- You can go anywhere in the world to one of their properties with your points
- You own it forever 
- If you can't pay it, you have to sell the share, not them

We then headed back out to the nice lady from earlier, where she and her boss began breaking down how much I needed to put down, what my finances were going to be, and that I was owning a piece of realty. 

I rejected every offer, got my free gift (after slightly upsetting the boss man due to my denial), and walked away a trip richer.

I will say this, while there weren't any high pressure sales, I definitely won't be making plans to check out another timeshare meeting any time soon. As for the trip, we haven't chosen where we're going to celebrate this small victory, but you can believe we will be documenting it for you all!!!

UPDATE: We will no longer be going on the trip to Lake Tahoe for a multitude of reasons. Our car is no longer able to make the voyage, paying the tax for the trip isn't feasible anymore (saving for a new car), and the aren't up front about EVERYTHING! Check out my blog post HERE to see what happened to make us change our minds.