Is TUG Helpful?

An interesting thing about TUG is that very few of the prolific know-it-alls, the obsessed ones who seem to have been living at the computers, letting people know how smart they were, from 15 years ago, are not around any more.

Some have died, but, mostly, the deals du jour of then that they were advocating, have soured, and those who were bragging about them have gotten rid of them, or, worse, are having problems even finding someone to give them to.

But, alas, history repeats itself, and those timeshare experts from the early 2000s have been replaced by even-more prolific and abrasive know-it-alls, bragging about today's deals du jour.

(insert smilie here)

I would like to direct this to those who are trying to decide if timesharing is for them. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, from those who hate them to those who love them.

What I suggest you do is listen to those who love them, in fact, love them so much that they are almost-daily (hourly) on TUG, letting everyone know how smart they are. What I suggest you do is listen to what they inadvertently say.

Find a thread about deedbacks or exit strategy, discussions about ways to get out of a timeshare ownership. The first thing you will notice is that in short order someone will make it clear that they don't want any discussion about those topics. They will team up against those who do want to discuss it, and the moderators, and even the owner, eventually, will side with those giving a hard time to those wanting to discuss it.

What's most revealing is when they explain why they are opposed to anything that would allow owners at their resorts to end their ownership. Those timeshare-lovers, the ones who brag and gloat about their resorts, are concerned that if annual renewal was optional, that if owners could get out, giving up everything they had paid in, and even a significant final payment to end their ownership, so many of their fellow owners are so dissatisfied that they would opt out and that it would put their resort in jeopardy.

So, they prefer that their resort harass, threaten, intimidate and sue dissatisfied owners.

nooneyouknow wrote:

What I suggest you do is listen to those who love them, in fact, love them so much that they are almost-daily (hourly) on TUG, letting everyone know how smart they are. What I suggest you do is listen to what they inadvertently say.

Here's an example of what people who love timesharing really feel about the status of the industry:

https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/the-war-between-the-timeshare-industry-and-exit-companies.297987/

Mr. No One - you seem to know so much about Tug that you are obsessed with it. Maybe, if you stopped reading the posts on Tug, you could sleep better, and get your life back to normal.

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was here.

nooneyouknow wrote:

I would like to direct this to those who are trying to decide if timesharing is for them. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, from those who hate them to those who love them.

What I suggest you do is listen to those who love them, in fact, love them so much that they are almost-daily (hourly) on TUG, letting everyone know how smart they are. What I suggest you do is listen to what they inadvertently say.

Find a thread about deedbacks or exit strategy, discussions about ways to get out of a timeshare ownership. The first thing you will notice is that in short order someone will make it clear that they don't want any discussion about those topics. They will team up against those who do want to discuss it, and the moderators, and even the owner, eventually, will side with those giving a hard time to those wanting to discuss it.

What's most revealing is when they explain why they are opposed to anything that would allow owners at their resorts to end their ownership. Those timeshare-lovers, the ones who brag and gloat about their resorts, are concerned that if annual renewal was optional, that if owners could get out, giving up everything they had paid in, and even a significant final payment to end their ownership, so many of their fellow owners are so dissatisfied that they would opt out and that it would put their resort in jeopardy.

So, they prefer that their resort harass, threaten, intimidate and sue dissatisfied owners.

To be fair, I understand the concern some owners have about there being a way for dissatisfied owners to be able to exit. Obviously, everyone will want to exit their timeshares eventually, for one reason or another, and it's not like people are beating down the doors to enter. So, just from a natural state of affairs, without anything being done to counter it, the owner base will dwindle.

Did I say that right?

I sold a timeshare using TUG2 last year.

Personal Help from the Owner of TUG!                   $99.00

Thanks for taking the time to post your knowledge here, really helpful to have mostly unbiased information

I am truly puzzled by the above expressed animosity toward TUG, a (non-profit, volunteer run) site which currently has over 90,000 registered users. Are all those people on TUG just idiots and dolts, ignorant and all drinking the same "Timeshare Kool Aid"? Not hardly...

There are multiple centuries worth of first hand knowledge and experience about timeshares distributed among the many participants on the TUG site. Does sharing their knowledge and experiences (...both good and bad experiences, by the way) somehow make those folks "know it alls"? That seems to me to be a very narrow minded, bitter and judgmental point of view, but everyone is entitled to express an opinion.

Speaking only for myself, TUG has helped me over the years to avoid many expensive timeshare mistakes, including to NEVER buy directly from ANY timeshare developer. I own, use and enjoy just a few fixed timeshare weeks, for which I originally paid very little money, all of those weeks having been acquired in the "resale" market. I could easily get rid of any or all of them in a heartbeat, but have no interest at all in doing so; we look forward to enjoying those few weeks each year.

To each their own. Personally, I am very grateful for the knowledge and experience voluntarily offered and routinely shared on the TUG site. Thanks, TUG!

nooneyouknow wrote:

Personal Help from the Owner of TUG!                   $99.00

Answers to questions that people of all levels of knowledge regarding timeshares have and offer: Free.

One answer I have not seen, for free or otherwise, is what to do about the asinine $8800 special assessment at Roark resort. If Capital intends to follow through with that, they're as much a jerk (being really diplomatic) as Pat Joyce/Summerwinds.

Those owners at Roark just need to all walk, and screw those Branson scumbags (which I see all-too-often).

I own with Capital and they have screwed everyone (Apollo). My suggestion is contact the MO attorney Generals Office. Next see if Capital is offering a deed back program. I intend to deed my Capital points back this year even though it will cost $1200+ to do so. If that doesn't work I would probably tell them to pound salt but honestly I don't know what that would do to your credit so you might want to check with an attorney before doing so.

tracey75 wrote:

I intend to deed my Capital points back this year even though it will cost $1200+ to do so. If that doesn't work I would probably tell them to pound salt but honestly I don't know what that would do to your credit so you might want to check with an attorney before doing so.

Why would it cost $1200+? I'm no attorney but I'm under the impression you can get a blank quit claim deed just about anywhere, execute it, and walk away. Maybe somebody "out there in Redweek Land" can clarify my impression.

Also check the Walk Away From Timeshare forum here on Redweek.

Capital charges $450 per contract. You can't quit claim to someone (even the developer) who doesn't give you express permission. Just because you record it, it is still not legally binding without knowledge and consent. If we could do it your way, the developer could just turn around and quit claim it back to you and just for good measure throw in a couple of extra off season weeks.

markl18 wrote:

Why would it cost $1200+? I'm no attorney but I'm under the impression you can get a blank quit claim deed just about anywhere, execute it, and walk away. Maybe somebody "out there in Redweek Land" can clarify my impression.

Your "impression" is not correct. To be legally valid, a deed (any deed; it doesn't matter whether it's a quit claim deed or a warranty deed) requires acceptance by the "grantee". In essence, this means that the "grantee" in any deed must be a knowing and willing recipient. You cannot just unilaterally "execute" a deed as "grantor" without an informed and willing "grantee" and then "walk away". If that was legally possible, anyone could just pick a random name out of the phone book to "deed" over a timeshare they don't want anymore to a new (but unwilling and unsuspecting) "grantee". Any such deed would be void.

As far as the fee goes, resorts essentially charge whatever they please for (valid, lawful) "deedbacks". A representative low end figure would be about $250. Some resorts charge the equivalent of 1-3 years of the annual maintenance fee amount to accept a deedback. Some will not consider or accept a deedback at any price. Figures and practices are basically all over the map, with no real consistency or pattern.

ken1193 wrote:

I am truly puzzled by the above expressed animosity toward TUG, a (non-profit, volunteer run) site which currently has over 90,000 registered users. Are all those people on TUG just idiots and dolts, ignorant and all drinking the same "Timeshare Kool Aid"? Not hardly...

There are multiple centuries worth of first hand knowledge and experience about timeshares distributed among the many participants on the TUG site. Does sharing their knowledge and experiences (...both good and bad experiences, by the way) somehow make those folks "know it alls"? That seems to me to be a very narrow minded, bitter and judgmental point of view, but everyone is entitled to express an opinion.

Speaking only for myself, TUG has helped me over the years to avoid many expensive timeshare mistakes, including to NEVER buy directly from ANY timeshare developer. I own, use and enjoy just a few fixed timeshare weeks, for which I originally paid very little money, all of those weeks having been acquired in the "resale" market. I could easily get rid of any or all of them in a heartbeat, but have no interest at all in doing so; we look forward to enjoying those few weeks each year.

To each their own. Personally, I am very grateful for the knowledge and experience voluntarily offered and routinely shared on the TUG site. Thanks, TUG!

Pretty much true . . . get rid of the a-holes and it would be a nice place to hang out.

"I am truly puzzled by the above expressed animosity toward TUG, a (non-profit, volunteer run) site which currently has over 90,000 registered users."

TUG is a FOR PROFIT business!

The number of TUG's "registered users" is impressive but should not be confused with the number of active users. The site has been up for 26 years. If they don't delete inactive members there is no way to know how many of the 90,000 are currently using the site or how many of those users have not been there for decades.

I don't think the "quote" and your reply displayed properly.

Thank you! I fixed it.