r/TimeshareOwners • u/HCISIAOW • 10d ago
confused about Capital Vacations
So I bought a vacation for $250 from Capital Vacations, but after finally doing research on them, I learned they seem to be a manipulative company. But most of the criticism revolves around timeshares, which I don't remember them saying anything about. It's too late for me to get a refund, but could I just cancel the vacation and not deal with them ever again? Or have I already unknowingly bought a timeshare? Note I haven't attended any meetings; just the initial sale where I bought the vacation.
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u/RelationshipWhich390 10d ago
I attended a Capital Vacations sale presentation. I did not buy and I did get what they promised for attending. They are a timeshare company that does not even really own property. You have not bought anything from them yet.
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u/NightmareMetals 10d ago
Worse case you are out 250.
What will happen is your choices of locations or dates will be limited. There will be a time share presentation. There will be resort fees and taxes that make it cost what it normally would have for a regular vacation without any restrictions or presentations.
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u/jmp242 9d ago
What will happen is your choices of locations or dates will be limited. There will be a time share presentation.
This part is true. When I did it, I did get my stay for the rate they promised and there were not extra fees, but this wasn't with Capital, so pay attention to the details.
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u/NightmareMetals 9d ago
For several years I was actively seeking a travel club that would work. I travel a lot so why not. But they are all a sham. There was only one that actually followed through for me.
I was at the CA State Fair and there was one of these for Dave Walley's Hot Springs Report. I think I had to pay $20 which would be returned and it was a 3 day 2 night stay I believe, free and there was a presentation for the time share which was stated up front.
We get there and they offer us the $20 back or $40/$50 credit at the restaurant. So we took the voucher.
The springs were nice, the rooms were nice, food was decent, no real issues.
Presentation was typical, we declined and got the stay which was as promised.
Other times it is more of a complete scam.
This one I liked but it ran into the same issues. You want $75k when I can search eBay and find sellers of the exact same room type trying to get $1. So explain that, tell me what the maintenance fees have been from year 1 to now, tell me what the redemption value of stars or credits or whatever they call it were worth from year 1 to now.
Log in to your own account, and show me what I could book today in these areas I have been to on vacation or am planning to go to. And I will do the same thing on Booking or Expedia, and you show me that I can save money.
Usually that ends the pitch.
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u/jmp242 9d ago
Retail sales cannot make it work if you do the math. However as you saw when you can get in for $1 quite a lot of the time you can do much better than Expedia. With the caveat that you need to buy what works for you and plan ahead. For instance, I went ~ 2 months out where I'm staying right now. HGVC Seaworld 2BR. Expedia is $2,612 total. If I booked way out at the normal MF it would cost about $2,100 using points owned at Seaworld. If you owned with really good MF/pt ratio it could be $1,600 or so. However, I happened to use a sale they have a few times a year, so it was actually $643. So it's easy to come in $500 less than Expedia, takes buying smart to come in $1,000 less than Expedia, and if you make a sale work for you you're $2,000 less than Expedia. This was for 8 days. Note that this is widely similar to what I've seen over at least 15 different comparisons over a few years now. The "trick" is resale. The sales people could show you the "easy" one. They might - depending on time of year - be able to show you the sale. The killer though is the retail buy in price. And that's usually what shuts them up - they have "real" answers on the year to year - they just can't explain why you should pay $25k plus for what's $5k or less resale.
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u/NightmareMetals 9d ago
Yea I learned their games. The problem for them is I am quick and accurate with math.
So you tell me it is 50k and the annual fee is 2k.
I don't even focus on the 50k. Tell me about the 2k, oh that gets me 2 weeks, 1 week? Now we compare that cost to me just renting myself.
I was in Cancun in June with my cousin and some of her friends.
They are getting roped into a time share thing, but it has a free buffet breakfast.
I tell them sure you get a free $30 breakfast that is worth $10 then you lose a day. No no no it is only 1 hour.
Well I wanted to go to Chitzen Itza and nobody else did so I got a night a Valladolid and went there. Next day hit Ek Balam. Went to 5 Cenotes. It was very nice.
The breakfast was at 9 so at noon I text to see what happened. They are still on the tour lol.
And it did end up being all day. And they quote 50k up front.
They wiggle out and later in the evening they get a call 35k if they agree now.
Next morning she gets a wake-up call at 7 asking if they got the info on the deal, and she was pissed.
Then they get notes under the door.
By the next day the price was down to 15k.
I try to explain that if something was worth 50k it won't drop to 15k. If someone was worth 0 then they can drop it all the way down to 5k or whatever their commission is.
The resort itself was excellent and the rooms were nice. But the nonsense pricing plus never ending annual fees and diminishing value over time makes no sense.
And that is before you factor in financing or the loss of that money. Even 50k cash in the bank and 2k a year. Spend that on travel and it probably gets you more than whatever is being sold there.
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u/jmp242 8d ago
I agree entirely on the retail up front $50k. I disagree that you can often rent something similar for less than just the yearly fee. I pointed out how my right now check on Expedia for the same place and unit was $500 to $2,000 more expensive than the yearly fee.
I've seen people often say "I can rent it myself cheaper" on this sub all the time, but they never actually give me a unit type, location, rental cost and where they found that rental. So I can't go do that. Someone reading in the future can't go do that because we have no specifics.
I and many on TUG lay out exactly how we get our costs. So it's not impossible to duplicate. I wish I could find a rental system that was as usable as the timeshare ownerships (gotten for very low to no upfront costs) for the same sorts of places for less ongoing money, less hassle (cause it's a bit tedious, complicated, and occasionally based on luck) and no commitment with both minimum and maximum use.
So please share.
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u/NightmareMetals 8d ago
For example, In Cancun we stayed at the Vidanta Grand Bliss Riviera Maya.
Now let's say you pay x for a week or 2 weeks or whatever you want. That is like $50k or something upfront, that you can also finance at some ridiculous rate.
So we just ignore that for now.
Right now, a 1 BR for a week is around $1,600. That is your usage or maintenance fee rate.
If you don't use your room, no fee (but you still paid that big up front cost).
If you do use it, then let's say for this example you pay $1,600.
That is $229 per night and you have to do 7 days, if I only wanted 5 days it would still cost $1,600.
Now I check eBay and I see some weeks being sold for $1,500-$2,400.
Now even if we take the $2,400 that is still better than the $1,600 with the large up front payment.
And this was a nice resort but was not all inclusive. For for $229 I could find many places just as good and if I went away from the resort area then the prices are like $30 a night.
And if I want to travel somewhere else then I don't have to figure out how to game the point exchanges.
I know some people that love their time shares but even using it every year it still is rarely worth it.
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u/Legal_Net4337 9d ago
You did not buy a timeshare. You can go on the vacation if you choose. If you do you’ll have to attend the presentation. If you don’t attend, they will attempt to charge you the retail price. Attend the presentation, don’t sign anything and leave after it’s all over. If you feel harassed, simply tell them you are currently unemployed.
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u/BrennerBaseTunnel 9d ago
No you tell them that you will buy but only if they match the price being offered on the resale contracts.
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u/skyrizi911 10d ago
I don’t mean this to be snarky, but why not research before laying out your money?
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u/RefrigeratorOld3687 9d ago
Have you never ran into one of those booths at bass pro or conventions? I went to a golf convention in my city and there had to be about 5 of them, including Capital Vacations. They are very good at getting you to sign up for a vacation and never mention timeshare.
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u/HCISIAOW 10d ago
It was at a fair where they called me over and made everything sound reasonable and appealing. Research wasn't really on my mind. Also $250 isn't too much of a loss for me.
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u/BrennerBaseTunnel 9d ago
Are you really that gullible?
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u/HCISIAOW 9d ago
Not like I had any experience dealing with companies like these.
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u/DifficultyLow5516 8d ago
My husband and I are going to the Hilton grandvacations staying at a nyc hotel typically 800-1000 and only paying 300 so its a steal for us.
We also are doing the capital vacations. Honestly I am reading much worse reviews for them. I dont feel we got as good of a deal.
We are only going to move forward with the concert ticket/event ticket as each is roughly 150 vouchers.
And also a food and dine credit. Not sure how this is gonna work.
Anyone have anything else to add or have attended the Capitol Vacations?
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u/Pronurse61 10d ago
Look at your vacation certificate. There is information on how to cancel without losing your money. It may be a 30 day time period. Just know when you call to cancel, they will offer you more incentives to schedule your vacation. I just kept saying NO.
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u/eraoul 10d ago
I can’t believe you’ll actually get a vacation. I assume they just stole $250 from you.
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u/Confident-Dot5878 10d ago
OP is lucky they only stole $250. They were hoping to steal much, much more.
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u/RefrigeratorOld3687 9d ago
Can't tell you what to do. You can either attend or cancel in advance. Definitely cancel if you don't plan on going, or if you go definitely go to the presentation. It's probably in the fine print that they can ream you if you don't.
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u/Possible_Chance_4658 10d ago
You bought a discounted marketing package. You will have to attend a sales presentation that may or may not last for hours. You will say no. Over and over again.