time share offer.

[hannah40]

My husband filled in a survey on line and has now had a call from a telesales rep saying we can go to malta for 7nights with our children for £99 ,plus we book our own flights.when we are there we have to spend half a day doing a tour of the site and watching a dvd of the resort.I then suspect they try and sell us a time share .has anyone else had this or heard of this or been on one of these holidays if so what does anyone think?thanks.

[VHG]

I cant believe people are so stupid nowadays to fill in a survey online AND give them your phone number.

Have you not heard of idenitiy theft?

Do you have any idea how many criminals there are out there just trying to get hold of your personal information.

Most "surveys" are not surveys anyway, they are just ways to get hold of your personal information.

How did you know it was not a bunch of criminals who set up the web site?

How do you know if you take the holiday (if one exists) the criminals who run the web site will know your house is empty for that week and come round and emtpy it?.

Sorry to be so alarmist, but you cant trust everybody on the interent and there are some nasty people out there.

Think carefully before giving away your personal information.

More here

http://www.istockanal...ews/articleid/3787865

[VHG]

Just the opening lines from the article I linked to above:

Guard your personal information consumers to the stealthy ways that companies get your private information -- and understand what they do with it.

Then, follow some advice from three privacy experts.

They said there's nothing you can do about the shocking volume of information about you that businesses you know and trust secretly collect and sell to database companies that put you on lists and sell to anyone.

But you can stop giving away your sensitive personal information.

-- You give away your information when filling out opinion surveys and warranties. Never fill out surveys, especially not online, if you want to safeguard your privacy, said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum in California.

"What those really are designed to do is capture your information and put you on the most amazing number of marketing lists that you could possibly imagine," she said.

See the article for the rest

[KARL]

I would simply add that while the warning is warranted, you should not assume that the "hook" used is always untrustworthy. A promise of free potatoes for life might as well be the hook as timeshare. On the other hand, I would say genuine offers of freebies should be weighed up as to whether you find them attractive or not, then simply decide, but make sure you are not duped by lots of drip-feed add-ons in terms of fees, etc. By all means accept the freebies so long as you are not irrevocably committing yourself to anything and also do not pay any money up front unless it is with a firm written statement as to what it is for (not to be sent but there and then - keep a copy) and on a credit card (not cheque, debit or cash - in order to get the cover against failure to deliver). My advice would be, if attending a sales meeting, never buy at a resort, only through reputable resale outlets because it is likely to be very much cheaper. Unfortunately, Britain is behind many/most European countries in that we cannot obtain direct from the courts the record (suits, judgments, etc.) of individuals or companies and we are therefore permanently at a disadvantage compared to rogues. It is built into this country's way of life. We cannot separate rogues from people with a good record.

[boxtops]

Don't "suspect" you are going to get the hard sell when you get there, it is almost guaranteed. If you are considering buying timeshare then it's worth going, but otherwise the holiday is a hook to get you out there - and believe me I have myself spent over three hours in the sales offices of these guys whilst they try to get you to sign on the dotted line. This happens even if you already own timeshare, they try to get you to buy more points or weeks. Timeshare is fine if it suits your lifestyle but it's not a cheap option, and the sales guys will want to know everything about you during that afternoon. Proceed with care!

[Hymie]

A colleague at work took his family on a similarly offer deal to Portugal.

He knew there would be a ½ day time-share sales pitch, which he had to attend as part of the deal, but he reckons that he got a bargain holiday, at the resort complex they were trying to flog.

I would suspect you are being offered a similar holiday – they are not paying for your flights/transfers etc. And in exchange for cheap accommodation, they might get a sale.

[dzug]

If you do actually want a timeshare - DON'T buy it from these guys. They will charge massively over the odds for it. Tenfold, maybe more.

[lorash]

Dont do it!!! We used to have a timeshare, which was very nice but every year the maintenance fees went up and it became a real worry. On top of that even when youve bought one and are on holiday there the sales people wont leave you alone - wanting you to buy bigger and more. I would NEVER recommend it to anyone.

[hannah40]

Thanks for your replys .we didnt give out any home phone numbers just my husbandswork mobile.The offer is similar to Hymies colleague but we wont want pressurised selling ,so all your replys have been appreciated.