Did my husband and I make the right choice by buying a timeshare with Silverleaf?

[stacykaye23 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stacykaye23]

My husband and I went to Silverleaf's Seaside Resort in Galveston, TX yesterday for one of their "90 minute tours". We went thinking that we would only get information about what they had to offer and wouldn't buy anything but, we did.

We bought a E.O.Y Blue Starter package at The Villages (every other year / off-season - Thanksgiving week to be exact) for $5980.00 and $38 a month fees. Our contract includes E.O.Y - 3 days on 7 days off Bonus Time (Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs = Free / Fri, Sat = $49.99) and year round day access, and RCI Membership.

The only reason we bought the timeshare was for RCI, day access, and the Bonus Time. We will probably never use the condo at The Villages. We travel A LOT but most of our trips are "Hey I'm bored lets go somewhere for the weekend" type trips and one BIG vacation a year which we now hope to exchange with RCI to help save us money (our salesman said a trip ANYWHERE with RCI would only cost $199 for a week).

Now... I didn't exactly feel 100% great about our purchase because I didn't feel like I completely understood everything but my husband felt good about it so I went along with it.

Today I started doing some research on how all of this "exchange" stuff works and I am seeing HORRIBLE reviews about Silverleaf and RCI. And, I still don't understand how it all works.

- How many *points* is our timeshare worth for RCI?
- If we want to trade our condo with RCI for a trip to Figi; How do we do it? (and will it really only cost $199)
- Can we actually use our "Bonus Time"?

We have 6 days to cancel our contract. Should we cancel and get our money back or is this a legit deal?

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Rescind as quickly as possible. You can buy resale at a much better price. Do a search for "Silverleaf's Seaside Resort Resales" and you will find lots of resales. Before buying, learn as much as you can by asking questions on this web site. Personally, I would be renting a timeshare rather than buying. You can check out rentals by also doing a search.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

ALL timeshare salespeople tell you it is possible to exchange to anyplace for only $199.00. What they don't tell you is that your timeshare has a specific "trading value." If it doesn't habe enough trading value to get a timeshare in London or Figi, you'll never see a unit in either of those places; it simply won't appear in your search.

The second thing they don't tell you is that you can't trade for what isn't deposited. A person who owns a ski week in Vail over Christmas has to decide not to use the week before it will be deposited-----now, how likely is that? (And of course, even if that person does decide not use the week, your week has to have enough trading power to "see" the week----and that doesn't even factor in the person who owns the Christmas week who decides he will rent it out himself and make a big profit on his maintenance fees).

Get out of the deal you made immediately. Follow the printed instruction for how to do that EXACTLY. Do not give them any loophole to say you did not comply. If they say it must be sent to them by Federal Express, send it that way. Leave no loopholes.

Then, at your leisure, find out about timeshares, how they work, and most important, how to buy them for practically nothing--or to get them free.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

From your post, it sounds like you would be much better off with just renting from other owners and not buying a TS at all.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

I want to add that RCI does have specials for weeks for $199. fairly often. They have never offered a location that I would ever want to stay at. So, I wouldn't even consider that as part of a buying thought.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Lousy season, people who own it may pay someone to take it off their hands. Rescind immediately and stick around to learn if timeshare is right for you and learn what the best place and time to buy may be.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Rescind.

[SallyHoover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SallyHoover]

I want to add that RCI does have specials for weeks for $199. fairly often. They have never offered a location that I would ever want to stay at. So, I wouldn't even consider that as part of a buying thought.

I think the $199 was referring to the exchange fee to trade their week EOY with RCI. Your off season week is not going to have enough trading power to get you everything offered. And to get the good weeks you have to luck into them by searching often between 2 years and 2 weeks of your intended travel along with having an ongoing search. If you search matches you will need to commit to the vacation within 24 hours.

Last minute stuff for low prices works well for Orlando and Las Vegas for most of the year. The desert and florida during the summer and Branson, Williamsburg, Massanutten and a few other places for most of the year but may require a little more planning in the summer. Most of the places that you can find cheap last minute rentals at are the places with the most availability in RCI.

You will also have to pay an additional $89 yearly fee to RCI.

You should definitely rescind. You can find an equivalent TS on ebay for $1.00 but will then find it is not even worth a dollar. If you take time to learn timeshare systems you might find that spending a little more on ebay will get you something that works for you or you may discover like many have that owning a TS doesn't work with their travel needs and just rent TS from owners as needed.

[stacykaye23 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close stacykaye23]

Thank you all SOOOO much! I had a 'gut' feeling that we had made a mistake. I am going to cancel!!!

Our "Purchaser's Right to Cancel" contract states the following:

1) You may cancel this contract without penalty or obligation before the sixth day after the date you sign and receive a copy of the purchase contract, or receive the requires timeshare disclosure statement, whichever is later.
- Our contract is dated July 13

2) You may cancel by mailing notice by prepaid united states mail or by overnight common carrier delivery service. Your notice of cancellation is effective on the date sent or delivered. For you protection you should either send your notice of cancellation by certified mail with a return receipts requested or obtain a signed and dated receipt if delivering it in person or by overnight common carrier.

Is it safe to send our cancelation notice via USPS Priority Mail? (with tracking # and signature confirmation)

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The place to buy itmeshare resales very cheap is eBay. Rescind this developer purchase and have a look there.

[mithun Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mithun]

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I think the $199 was referring to the exchange fee to trade their week EOY with RCI. Your off season week is not going to have enough trading power to get you everything offered.

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[mark555 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mark555]

Such a questions are always asked before the time but any how the resale value is good so you can get the better output again.

[dzgdsfsd Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dzgdsfsd]

From your post, it sounds like you would be much better off with just renting from other owners and not buying a TS at all.

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[mark555 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mark555]

such a questions are always asked before the time but any how the resale value is good so you can get the better output again.

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