Timeshares are they really that bad nowadays?

Do NOT go near ANY of them. Huge amount of unfair contractual terms, hidden charges and dodgy 'fees' and virtually impossible to get rid off if you want to.

And the industry is full of some very heavy duty criminals too!

Did a 'trial week' in Tenerife about 20 years ago. Cost me £140 for the flights and my spending money whilst out there.

Had a fantastic week, two or three parties and BBQs thrown in to tempt us, plus a few free drinks and buffets throughout the week and all this at a five star complex.

When it came to the hard sell bit, I just said there's no way I can afford it. They tried the different mortgage route, the savings plan and the Credit Card route. I just said 'no thanks'.

They gave up on me after two hours - so got away lightly.

Absolutely fantastic time - even got some duty frees thrown in to take home.

Please don't even consider it: a massive rip-off.

Btw: an old schoolmate of mine eventually got into the timeshare business. Previously, after dropping out of dental school, he'd been a very heavy duty drug dealer with exceptionally heavy duty thugs at his command.

I suspect this might not be untypical of the timeshare business, so I'd give it a wide berth if I were you. Or at least don't complain in too bothersome a manner when you're dissatisfied with the service.

They get terrible press here in Phuket. Some are good (particularly in the USA) but most are not. I think if you were in at the beginning of the timeshare business in the 1980s you did ok but too many crooks and scammers in the business since then.

Using the internet you can find similar hotel and apartment deals at a cheaper price than the annual "administration fees" that are charged to look after a timeshare property, sometimes in exactly the same location.

So, quite simply, don't do it!

Under no circumstances buy time share from Club La Costa. A couple that I know bought from them and they've had nothing but trouble and zero possibility of getting their investment back. The McMoists own about 21 weeks of time share with McDonalds Hotels and Resorts (Scottish Company) and have 000's of points attached to those weeks but they have been acquired on the cheap over a number of years. If we didn't rent those weeks that we don't use, the maintenance would cripple us financially. With the number of points we have, we can literally go on holiday when we want to anywhere in the world. Whilst we're having a good time at the moment, we don't have an exit strategy and ultimately we'll probably have to write-off a lot of what is owned.

How does one get 'invited' to one of these discounted trial holidays? I can see it would be worth spending half a day being 'sold' to for a cheap holiday.