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Recent timeshare discussions have caused me to reflect on the last 25 years.
25 years ago, timeshare was pretty simple, and a viable product. Sure, sales was scammy, but probably not as deceitful as it is now, and you actually had something when you bought. The problems were simple compared to now. Why can't I trade into? . . . How do I know what's available? . . . Red, White or Blue? . . . RCI or II? . . . Every Year or EOY? Mundane stuff.
Owners were mushrooms, kept in the dark and . . . Public lodging and accomodations were relatively expensive, without the strong competition of the Internet, so timeshares really were a value. You actually could save money vacationing with a timeshare.
There was a resale market. Problematic, with companies like Stroman and upfront fees, which is a topic so "long-ago" now, but there was market and you could find buyers.
So, there was an exit strategy, not perfect, but enough of one to cover the industry's rear-end in that regard. So, all of the industry could wash their hands of it.
Slowly, things crept in to undo that simple concept.
The Internet:
1. affording owners the ability to communicate amongst themselves.
2. Exchange company members gained the ability to search for themselves (1997), and sort out fact from fiction.
3. We gained the ability to unravel some of the intentional, proprietary BS.
4. The exchange companies gained a way to police their members, and they did.
5. Eventually, bargain-basement vacation lodging became available with the touch of a few keys, instantaneously.
1996: Cendant. The beginning of the slippery slope.
Over time, due to lack of the industry to respond to change, to address it's own weaknesses, to police itself, things began to unravel. Simple became complicated. Complicated became convoluted.
Things remained relatively simple until 2002, but the results began to be seen in 2004.
Today, there is no other way to say it than the industry is a mess. Thus, the mass exodus.
25 years ago, timeshare was pretty simple, and a viable product. Sure, sales was scammy, but probably not as deceitful as it is now, and you actually had something when you bought. The problems were simple compared to now. Why can't I trade into? . . . How do I know what's available? . . . Red, White or Blue? . . . RCI or II? . . . Every Year or EOY? Mundane stuff.
Owners were mushrooms, kept in the dark and . . . Public lodging and accomodations were relatively expensive, without the strong competition of the Internet, so timeshares really were a value. You actually could save money vacationing with a timeshare.
There was a resale market. Problematic, with companies like Stroman and upfront fees, which is a topic so "long-ago" now, but there was market and you could find buyers.
So, there was an exit strategy, not perfect, but enough of one to cover the industry's rear-end in that regard. So, all of the industry could wash their hands of it.
Slowly, things crept in to undo that simple concept.
The Internet:
1. affording owners the ability to communicate amongst themselves.
2. Exchange company members gained the ability to search for themselves (1997), and sort out fact from fiction.
3. We gained the ability to unravel some of the intentional, proprietary BS.
4. The exchange companies gained a way to police their members, and they did.
5. Eventually, bargain-basement vacation lodging became available with the touch of a few keys, instantaneously.
1996: Cendant. The beginning of the slippery slope.
Over time, due to lack of the industry to respond to change, to address it's own weaknesses, to police itself, things began to unravel. Simple became complicated. Complicated became convoluted.
Things remained relatively simple until 2002, but the results began to be seen in 2004.
Today, there is no other way to say it than the industry is a mess. Thus, the mass exodus.
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