On 11/8/08, after the initial timeshare presentation that went way past the 90 min. promised, the hard sell began. The timeshare did sound fantastic. Wonderful properties all over the world we would have access to using timeshare points. Also, fantastic prices on cruises and airfare. But, we were still unsure. It sounded too good to be true. The salesman said if we signed the contract, we would get a free 7 day cruise anywhere, anytime, any cruise ship. We have always wanted to cruise on Seabourn, but it's a luxury cruise line that costs over $12K. He told us, of course we could go on the Seabourn because they get wholesale prices. We felt better about signing when he told us we would have 7 days to cancel. We still found it too good to be true.
So, we signed the contract. We could not use an attorney because if we didn't sign that day, we would lose the great deal we were getting. We were purchasing another owners points because he was upgrading. We were also told us if down the road we decided we didn't want the timeshare, Festiva could easily sell our points as well as they keep escalating in value.
Needless to say, we soon found out it was all fraud. We didn't get a free cruise and the global properties were only available for less than a year. The cancellation policy was 5 days, not 7. We were told we could use the timeshare immediately...also a lie. We couldn't use it until Jan. 31,2009 after we paid the maintenance fee. We will never use this timeshare or give them another dime.
Arlene
Bloomington, Indiana
U.S.A.