I'm back...had a GREAT TIME!

Maddie&EthansMom wrote: It was just the kids and I this weekend. I made really good time down there. I stopped by the grocery store to get things to cook (the cabin has a full kitchen) I get there to check in around 4 and what do you know? They WON'T LET ME STAY THERE!!!! Scotty had to be with me. They said if he showed up by Sunday morning they'd let me stay...there was no way he could leave work so I made reservations at a hotel. It wasn't the best place to stay and I had GROCERIES in my car At least it had a fridge and a microwave. I called Abbie and she invited us over for dinner Friday night. I was able to take my freezer stuff to her house. We had a blast and the kids played so well together. She is such a GREAT friend. I know if it weren't for her I would have sulked in the hotel room all night. She and Bill are wonderful people and Taylor is such a beautiful, friendly little thing. Bill gave Ethan a tractor and Ethan hasn't put it down since. It fits his little hand perfectly. Abbie is so beautiful..inside and out. She is so much fun to be around and I feel so relaxed around her...I can really be myself. Thanks again, Abbie.

Saturday the kids and I went to Sea World. I think that was the most fun I've had in a long time. The kids were so well behaved and didn't complain all day. We saw a lot of things this time that we didn't get the chance to see the last time we were there. And I rented a wagon to pull the kids around in...that was a total lifesaver. No whining about tired/sore feet. I'm so glad I went ahead and took this trip. We went to eat with Abbie and Tay on Sunday, went shopping and then headed home. It only took us 3.5 hrs to get home. Scotty was very happy to see us.

On a side note: The guy at the timeshare told me he was sorry as I was leaving (friday). I said "You didn't spoil MY weekend...I'll still have a great time....I have friends in town and my kids are with me...don't think for one second that I'M sorry I came b/c I'm not." I'm so glad I said that to him. Those were the RUDEST people I've ever met. While I totally understand WHY Scotty needed to be there...there was no sense in the way they treated me. They tried to make me feel like scum...like I was trying to steal from them. I'm so glad I stood up for myself and didn't let them ruin my vacation. It just didnt' end up being FREE like I had planned. That's what Scotty gets for NOT going. Like I told him, I wouldn't have had that problem if he would have been with me. Then again, I'm glad we didn't do the whole timeshare deal if that's what kind of people they are. He did offer to let me stay there ONE night if I paid....this was after he and his assistants were so rude. Okay, uh huh, riiiiiiiigggghhhht. And to top it off, he wanted me to reschedule another time to come out and see the place. I told him that when we are ready to buy and Scotty has the time that we would be visiting another timeshare in the area, but we definitely wouldn't be buying from them. I was proud of myself for being so strong.

Anyway, I took some great pictures this weekend. Let me get them uploaded. I've been playing catch up around the house all day and I went to eat lunch with Scotty. Ethan had school and Maddie had some make up work. I'll try to get them uploaded tonight though. Scotty just pulled in from work He's home early......

1lilpeanut2love replied: back! Glad you had an awesome trip.

PrairieMom replied: welcome back!

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Girl you know I enjoyed our visit! Your kids are too sweet! We loved having you all to our home Tay can't wait to see Maddie and Ethan again You are a GREAT friend too!

C&K*s Mommie replied: What sweet things to say about Abbie. Her kindness is projected onto the boards, so now you can back it up fully and say Abbie is truly a kind person.

Sorry about the jerks at the timeshare.

Glad that you held your ground, and made it known that this was not a spoiler to the weekend. Good to know you and the kids had a great time all around.

gr33n3y3z replied: I'm glad you had a good time
Welcome back

3xsthefun replied: Glad you had a good weekend!

Welcome back!

mom2my2cuties replied: Glad you had a great time

amynicole21 replied: Good for you for sticking up for yourself! I'm glad you made the best of it and had a great time.

luvmykids replied: I'm glad you had such a good trip and didn't let those stinky condo people ruin it! Good for you telling them the truth too, I never have the nerve to do that and just steam about it

A&A'smommy replied: I'm glad you had a great trip honey!!!! Abbie definitly is a great person and how awesome that you two got to meet each other and have a great visit!!! I'm sorry to hear how you were treated but GOOD for you for standing up for yourself there was no reason for them to treat you like that!!

redchief replied: Well, I'm glad you had a great time despite the timeshare folks. I don't understand why Scotty had to be there. But I'm glad you didn't let it ruin your weekend. And I'm really glad you let them know you had a great time despite their game.

CantWait replied: Welcome Back. Glad you had a great time.

My2Beauties replied: Welcome back and I'm so glad you had a nice time with Abbie. That's awesome you guys got to meet. Sorry about the stupid timeshare people Glad you didn't let them ruin your trip.

holley79 replied: Sorry you couldn't stay there. I'm glad you had a wonderful trip otherwise though.

BAC'sMom replied: welcome back and glad you had a nice trip.

Richard_Cole replied: Hi there. Still finding my way around here. Haven't had a lot of contact here, but this thread seems pretty new and it's a subject I feel very strongly about. I had heard all sorts of horrible things about timeshares but I bought one anyway. Same scam. Got me up there, made me feel like some jerk who was stealing from them when they had offered it to me in the first place.
This when I was married with a two year-old who is now twelve. In any case, the guilt, the uxorial expectation, and the thought of see my son grow up year after year vacationing in the same familiar spot got the best of me...it was the beginning of the end in many ways. But that's a different story.
In any case, after using it for a few years, the bucolic spot changed, so did we (our timeslot never seemed to be in sync with our lives) and it seemed more and more like our timeshare was really the property of everyone but us. So we stopped going. That's when the trouble really started.
The cost of maintaining it gradually esculated. I tried to swap, rent, sell, nothing. Of course the resort didn't want anything to do with us, except to accept our check for maintanence fees, etc. And as soon as you open the front door the value evaporates.
I don't speak for everyone's point of view but I've talked to enough people to know that I'm not at all alone. Timeshares are essentially a scam in that the resort and salespeople don't even begin to tell you what you're getting into. The people who enjoy them seem to be of the type who have enough money to buy themselves out of any problem...therefore they have no problems. Everything's wonderful.
Anyway, I say this to warn anyone here to be very careful in buying into a timeshare. Because getting back out is very expensive and very difficult. It took me a long time and a lot of effort and money to get out. I feel very grateful to have gotten out at all.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Richard I appreciate your input. And welcome to the boards, btw

My husband tried to tell me that timeshares were nothing but a scam, but I wouldn't listen He said it's smarter to put your money aside and draw interest on it so you can vacation wherever you want, whenever you want without being a slave to their calendars. Their attitude really turned me off and ended up being a blessing in diguise. Anyway, my friends do have a timeshare there and haven't had any trouble so far. Not until they tried to refer people there. They said it was good for them b/c they would never take a vacation otherwise and they would never set that much money aside for one, either. There timeshare is also paid off. They only pay maintenance fees at this point.

Richard_Cole replied: Well I wish them all the best. Mine started out peachy as well. Hope they keep using it and enjoying it. If they run into problems, there are a number of avenues to get rid of it. But what direction you go depends greatly on the demand in the spot you bought it in. There are so many timeshares these days, I found out rather quickly that most are worth nothing...mine include.
I finally paid a company called Timeshare Relief to take it off my hands. You might laugh but if you've ever tried to sell one, you'll see how quickly selling costs and maintanence fees start adding up over time. Finally you just give up and say, take it, PLEASE.
Anyway, it's water under the bridge now, but still the subject brings me to the boiling point every time.
If you know someone whose timeshare has become an intractable burden have them look these guys up at www.timesharerelief.com.
There's a fair amount of positive and negative comments about them out there. I can only gather that a lot of the negative comes from industry insiders, as in my timeshare experience, they were the only ones who played straight...that is, what happened is exactly what they said would happen. And in the timeshare bus...that's priceless.
Hope I could be of service to someone. I'll keep checking in to see where I might add in.