Tactics: High-pressure sales and deception still common

Rick Johnson, who bought a timeshare at Marriott's MountainSide in Park City, which he is trying to sell at a discount, said about the sales presentation where he made his purchase, "Man, was it good. They knew how to walk you down this path and close the deal. They educated clients and then just led up to this logical conclusion that this really makes sense, we should do this."

Paul Larsen, who bought a timeshare at Westgate Park City, said, "The initial salesperson was nice and educated us — I love how clean that sounds — about how timeshares help us take the vacations we always wanted. Then when we said no, she brought over her boss, and, yes, the hard sell was afoot."

He adds, "Was it something that sounded good at the time? Sure — especially after we told them no repeatedly and they kept dropping the price. But as we have discovered, they want to make the sale that night because they know that if they give us a chance to think about it, their sales would suffer immensely."

To show how persuasive the sales pitches can be, Larsen had made those criticisms and others shortly before he spent his annual week vacation at Westgate. While there, he decided to attend another sales meeting for owners — and ended up buying an even bigger unit through it.

He said, "During the presentation we registered many of the same complaints that we shared with you with the salesperson (the presentation was painted as a survey), and I was reminded of so many of the things that I did not like about the process."

But he said that during the discussion, he decided he liked vacations at the resort and that his family could use a bigger unit. He said earlier experiences "led me to ask more pointed questions and hound them until I got direct answers."

He added, "While we were signing the papers, I also was much more aware of what we were doing, and I came across several discrepancies between what we were promised and what we were signing. I sent each of the incorrect documents back."

He adds as advice to others, "Expect to be pressured. ... Get every promise in writing. ... Make sure you get all the details and assume nothing. ... If you don't get what you want, walk away. Do not let the salespeople control you. They are masters at this shell game, and they know how to get you to say yes. In the end, though, this is your money, and they can do nothing to you if you walk away."

Merdine Renne, a Trendwest timeshare owner hoping to sell for $5,000 what she and her husband paid $15,000 originally, said, "We would never consider purchasing a timeshare, and I wish we hadn't gotten into this one. ... It was a total impulse purchase that we both regret. We honestly bought into their promise that it would only appreciate in value — and we should know better."