Inside information

Mike Williams said he had worked five years as a vacation planning counselor for the Marriott Vacation Club. He said he found that despite promises to the contrary, it was often impossible for normal owners to obtain the most desirable weeks within their ownership periods — such as during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, when units might be rented by lucky owners for as much as $1,000 a night.

"If you called right at opening at 7 a.m. the day they were supposedly first available, you would find they were gone." He said they were always given to "priority owners" first. "You know how many reservations I made (for regular owners) for the week of the Sundance Film Festival through the years? None."

Janet Daniel of Vernal said she had good and bad experiences with a timeshare at Lake Tahoe. She said the first three years were good, then the resort cut services (including not opening the swimming pool, not removing snow from tennis courts and not offering clean linens), despite increasing maintenance fees. Vacations were no longer fun. Her family eventually sold it but only for a quarter of the original cost.

"In sum, we have three years of great Thanksgiving memories at Lake Tahoe. The next 10 years almost took away all of the good memories," she said.

George Munton said he felt deceived by an offer that began with a mailing to him with a Hampton Inn logo displayed but which was from a timeshare company instead.

"The card offered a three-day, two-night vacation at one of its hotels in exchange for listening to a new concept in low-cost vacations. We were told that this was not a timeshare. We were to be given $50 and gas vouchers, a vacation at a hotel for three days and two nights, and dinner for two at several restaurants. The presentation was to be held at the Hampton Inn in Orem."

He said when he declined to buy a timeshare at the presentation, "We were given worthless vouchers," he said.

He said that recently, "We received another card with Marriott on it. I called to see what they offered. Guess what, (it was really) Trendwest. When they offered all the same thing the other company offered, I knew it was the same type of offer."

Happy customers

Many readers also told how they love timeshare vacations and how they can be a good deal. Glen Biesinger of West Jordan was one, and told how he loves the timeshare points he purchased through Trendwest.

"We have traveled more in the past seven years than the previous 18 years combined (about how long we have been married) in large part because of our timeshare ownership. It makes you take a vacation every year....