Monday, February 27, 2012

Never go in without the caffeine.

Yesterday wasn't a very good day. For a lot of reasons, but pretty much nothing about yesterday was good and it only got worse as the day progressed. While I could talk about my frustrations with Matt being incredibly lazy as of late and me feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, I am going to talk about how you should never go to a vacation timeshare meeting with no caffeine in you, and worse yet, be persuaded by your husband when he gets giddy.

Oh yeah, you read that- we totally got scammed. BUT, this story has a *pending* happy ending, but for now, sit back and laugh at us. Because if nothing else, my increased blood pressure and anxiety that I am currently experiencing can be a funny highlight to your evening.

A couple of weeks ago we got a post card in the mail telling us that if we go to this "travel opportunity meeting" we would be awarded two round trip flights to anywhere in the continental United States as well as three nights in a resort. We totally bit on that because we are poor and want a vacation, but also because we've been through the timeshare crap before and held strong. I figured we were on our home turf and not some tourist trapped in a van being driven far, far away from your hotel, so we had the upper hand.

We got to the meeting way early, as directed by a coworker of Matt's who said then you got $50 in restaurant credit. So we got there early, got our credit marked down, filled out paperwork, and then watched a half hour of America's Home Video on Netflix. Not even kidding, that was their entertainment while we waited.

The presentation itself was fast, maybe thirty minutes? The guy doing the presentation, not even kidding, was on something. Nobody, absolutely nobody, paces that fast back and forth across the room speaking as fast as he was and gulping water. Not even televangelists are that frantic.

And we were the first group of the day, I'd be interested to see what the last group is like.

Of course, I was blown away by the prices they were showing us but I knew we didn't have no $7995 to plunk down on some program that enables you to travel. Matt though? Was SO excited. And for me to sit there and basically crush the enthusiasm, when he normally has NO emotional response to anything?

Not even I'm that terrible of a person.

So Matt completely said we'd buy in when the guy came to our table. And to be completely honest, the next 20 minutes were a blur. I really can't tell you how it all happened but we walked out of there owners into some weird vacation club. There is more to it, but I'm not going to throw Matt under the bus (though I totally could, I'm just going to be owning the fact that I signed on the line as well and yeah. *sigh*)

Once I got home, the reality of it set in and I go into full on investigation mode as I do when I'm stressed out. I arm myself with as much information as I can and go from there.

After a few hours of looking at their website, using other travel websites comparing trips, looking at online reviews, etc and I felt like throwing up. I literally felt like throwing up. So I had to talk Matt down from his euphoria of somehow thinking we're going to go on endless vacations and burst his bubble. I felt terrible, I really did. But I told Matt he absolutely had to sign the notice of cancellation form otherwise I basically would forge his name, get our money back, and move on.

So today I mailed the form and I am basically am holding my breath. I hope we can get our money back.

Keep your fingers crossed.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

ugh chica that massively sucks. I think in our fam it's the opposite way. My husband is a stoic sob that doesn't give in to anyone and I'm a sukka for every pretty line. I'd be a shitty cop b/c I'd always hope people weren't guilty.
Wan to share the scam name so we can avoid it? Also, did you get all of the other perks they promised? What was the $$ clause? How did Matt react?

Jen said...

Don't beat yourselves up too much, they are VERY good at selling these schemes- it is just like infomercials- they work really well!!

They DO have to let you out if you follow all the procedures within the time frames. You will be ok, just stay on top of it, you may have to keep pushing them a bit.

Most people have got into, and out of, this kind of crap once or twice, you are not alone honey xxx

Ruth said...

There shouldn't be a problem. Most states have a "cooling off" law. They have to give you so long to change your mind.
I can't tell you how many times I have given in and paid more than I know we could really afford because of the man. I'd tell him before we ever started looking at cars or whatever and still he says "we can do that, can't we?"
After 15 years, it is easier to crush his dreams.

Life Love & High Heels said...

Fingers crossed!

Jennifer Kay said...

And WHY am I giggling over your recollection of the night?

I will cross my fingers that you get your $$$ back!!!

Dana said...

Holy! I hope you get your money back! What an icky feeling knowing that is hanging over your head but unsure if you can get it back. I'm such a sucker for all things. I almost committed to a timeshare type thing in Cocoa Beach, Florida for $10K+. So glad Michael was the level-headed one. Keep us posted!! P.S. I'm caught up with your blog!