Wildebeest wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:57 pm
I have never been to any free dinner investing seminar. If your friend reports to his experience on Bogleheads , it will be my privilege to donate $100 to Bogleheads.
So i don't know if this counts, but this happened when I was 16.
One day my mom gets a call from a telemarketer whishing her a happy mothers day, and they would like to celebrate her by giving her free popcorn and a chance to win a million dollars... for attending a timeshare presentation.
My father and (mostly) I try to beg her off, offering her anything else, but she was determined that this was what she wanted on her day.
So we drive to the middle of nowhere to a building that's pretending to be a cabin, and our assigned salesman is a former special-ed teacher, who is too kind to survive long in such an industry. He drives us around in his honda beater, while his associates chauffeured their marks in BMWs and Mercedes, wearing watches that could cost as much as their car payments.
- As he drives us to a model home, we can hear the kids screaming next door, as my father notices that the VCR is in a loop (they didn't have cable)
- He explains to us they can't legally sell us a timeshare here, as they're sold out, but they can in Texas and we can convert them into points.
- He explains that like the family memories, the timeshare can be deeded to children who would love the gift. (I, of course, swore there is no way in the world I would want to inherit this, and inquired about the maintenance fees, he said he'd have to get back to me.)
- My mother kept insisting we stay until the end so that we'd get our chance at a million dollars
- At the end, everyone was exhausted, as they dragged us into the closing room, a huge noisy room, with a bell they'd ring whenever someone would sign the mistake of a lifetime.
-The closer offered a timeshare $50,000 which they'd be happy to loan us.
- Having watched my more violent colleagues in HS at the time, I gave them an icy stare and twitch, indicating we did not wish to entertain such a venture.
- They eventually sent us to a trailer where my mom was given a scratch-off ticket for our 4 hours of hell.
- When we got home, we all agreed our existing home had more amenities than the timeshare and found a listing for the exact timeshare on Ebay for $30 with no offers... I declined to buy it.
- We looked up the ticker symbol they proudly displayed everywhere and found they had been delisted years ago and were under several investifations according to their most recent annual report.
- My father wanted to call the former special ed teacher turned timeshare salesman to warn him of the moral hazards of his new occupation, but alas they did not give out business cards