"What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas... NOT!" I would like to share this experience we had when we were in Las Vegas last year for those who have not visited LV yet so you will know what to avoid and to spare you from possible headache. We love to travel and all these years, we have never experienced something like this. I mean, we were given some offer and options before but we never fell for it till last year. There's always first time with everything I guess.
Anyway, here's how it all happened. Our flight arrived in Las Vegas very early so we couldn't check in to the hotel yet. We went to see
Lake Mead and the
Hoover Dam. So by the time, we checked in, we were so tired already. Circus Circus is a big hotel and we had a hard time navigating through our room. As we were looking for our way, this Asian lady offered us assistance. She pulled us to her cubicle and said that she will give us complimentary stuff that we can use while we are in Vegas. She said that all we have to do is attend a an hour presentation the next day which we thought an hour is not that long so we said yes.
That was the first thing that we went to the next morning hoping that by ten o'clock, we will be done and do fun stuff. A shuttle will take us to the property where the "presentation" will be held so we waited at the lobby after we ate breakfast.
The lady who talked to us initially said that we would be given $750 worth of freebies at the end of the presentation. Too good to be true right? I know, I was skeptical and wanted to just cancel what we agreed on but my husband wanted to honor our word so we went.
The company's name was Diamond Resort, as you can see in the photos below while my husband was talking to the ladies. As we waited for the shuttle bus, we found out that there are so many of us who will be attending. We said "great, we won't be the only one".
We got bored waiting so my daughter and I went inside the souvenir store to kill some time.
We arrived at this beautiful resort. There were refreshments and some snacks while all of us waited at the reception room. The people there really made you feel welcome, they served sweets such as donuts, cookies and all that sugary stuff. Since we ate breakfast already, we didn't entertained what they offered us.
When the presentation started, all the kids went to the game room with the other kids. I didn't really want to leave my kids there but they said they were okay as there are some other kids there too. It was a bit uncomfortable for me but since they said the presentation is short that I thought it would be over soon before they know it.
Every group was assigned an agent. Hubby and I let the agent know first hand that we are not interested in investing into anything. The agent then showed us the whole resort and the amenities that you can enjoy if you invest into a time share. We told him that we have friends and family who have time share and we know how it works.
These people are very persistent, no matter how much you said that you are not interested.
It is true that the resort is beautiful and that you can basically use it worldwide but the thing is, this so-called property you are paying for is not really yours. There are so many people that owns it too. What I don't like about it is, you will have to pay the maintenance for the said "property" (that you don't really own).
We told the agent that we do take the kids for vacation every year and that we are happy with our set up. We don't want to lock into a financial responsibility. The agent told us how much money we could save for having a time share. We told him that what they are not mentioning is that, hotel accomodation is just one part of the travel. Airfare is lot expensive than the hotels.
As we were talking back and forth, we told them we are not interested. They don't want to let you go that easy, they sent different people to talk to us and tried to convince us how great having a time share is. They even offered the lowest rate with us but we said NO.
My husband and I were really getting upset with the whole situation as they just keep coming and trying to sell us the time share after we repeatedly declined the offer.
Next thing we know, it was noontime already. I was getting really upset because I know my kids must have been bored already. We came to Vegas to have fun and this is what we were trapped into the first day.
This is what it looks like inside. These are the amenities that you will enjoy when you purchase a timeshare. I mean everything looks nice and all but think about it, it's not like you will be staying in it the whole time you are in vacation. All you need is a comfortable bed to lay at night to rest your tired body.
Not all of us wants to cook when on vacation so a fully furnished kitchen would do us any good. I mean it is cheaper to cook your food but it beats the purpose of trying local food and you are eliminating that experience in your travel. I mean, if you will stay there for a couple of weeks, that might be the best option, to cook your own food, but a lot of us just go on vacation for a week or less so there's no need for a kitchen.
You are basically maintaining these properties while the companies collect the profit. They said that you can let family use it for you or let them rent it but who wants to go through that hassle.
Anyway, as the agent is still trying really hard to sell us a time share, I just enjoy taking photos. He can tell that I wasn't interested and wasn't even listening to his rumbling anymore so he kind of get pissy at me so I asked him different question:
- Do you have a timeshare yourself? He said yes.
- How is it working out for you, do you use it all the time? He said sometimes.
- Is it worth it? He said yes.
- How is it worth the money if you only use it sometimes? He gave me this elaborate explanation that sometimes he let his family use it because he can't go for a vation all the time.
- So you're saying, based from your own experience, that you don't really use it all the time, then why on earth you are trying to sell us one? He laughed at me and said "Well, this is for your family's enjoyment and convenience."
After the series of questions I threw at him, he got his supervisor and talked to ud. The supervisor said the same things and we told him we are not interested then another person came and offered us even lower options "the very BEST deal" they said they can offer. Imagine how many person these people doped into doing this? If they sign up right away, those deals are out and you got suck into the payment without realizing that you could have had a smaller bill, grrr.
We finally got to go and they gave us the "freebies" they promised. We got some free tickets to go see the
Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef. That's what we did that afternoon.
We had to wait outside for the transportation they arranged to take us back to the hotel. It was so hot outside that my daughter was really in the bad mood.
Instead of ruining our mood, I took the opportunity to take some more photos of us while we wait.
Glad our son was a good sport and played along , he wasn't grumpy.
Aside from the Shark Reef tickets, the other freebies also include dinner for four at Stratosphere.
After we explained the situation to our daughter, she was fine.
We were also given a 3-day vacation package in Virginia which we did not claim because we found out, to use it, you will have to attend another presentation again. It's not really worth the time and hassle and headache. The moral of the story is to avoid those people that offers freebie in Vegas because there is no such thing as free, really. They are everywhere you go in Las Vegas especially in the malls and hotels. Those freebies are not worth it, it will take your time and patience. Never again, we will entertain this kind of scam.
