“Lying is a critical approach,” says John Oliver about timeshares 2023
ohn On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver investigated the $8.1 billion predatory industry of timeshares and the equally troubling sector of helping people flee them. Oliver remarked that timeshare ownership, in which “rights to use” are distributed among many persons with lifetime contracts but no ownership of the property, has increased in recent years despite being mocked as a fraud on numerous television shows. Over 10 million families in the United States possess timeshares, which are sometimes marketed as “vacation clubs” or “vacation ownership plans.”
It’s not only standard timeshares, where “you would buy a timeshare consisting of one week every year in a condo in Florida, for example,” as he stated. Several firms now advertise “floating weeks” that might potentially be utilized at any time during the year, as well as timeshare points redeemable at multiple timeshares.
John Oliver on timeshares: ‘Lying is a fundamental technique’
John Oliver on timeshares: “Lying is a fundamental tactic.”
The host of Last Week Tonight investigates the unscrupulous industries of holiday timeshares and timeshare exit businesses.
On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver investigated the $8.1 billion predatory industry of timeshares and the equally troubling sector of helping people flee them. Oliver remarked that timeshare ownership, in which “rights to use” are distributed among many persons with lifetime contracts but no ownership of the property, has increased in recent years despite being mocked as a fraud on numerous television shows. Over 10 million families in the United States possess timeshares, which are sometimes marketed as “vacation clubs” or “vacation ownership plans.”
It’s not only standard timeshares, where “you would buy a timeshare consisting of one week every year in a condo in Florida, for example,” as he stated. Several firms now advertise “floating weeks” that might potentially be utilized at any time during the year, as well as timeshare points redeemable at multiple timeshares.
According to John Oliver, “lying is a major technique”
Oliver said, “Whenever you refer to timeshares, their sellers believe that they are not only a wonderful deal, but also beneficial.” Yet, “timeshares do not save lives; in fact, in many instances they might endanger them. Because they are extremely easy to enter but, as you shall see, extremely difficult to exit.”
First, timeshares are typically promoted “aggressively” by “luring individuals into agonizingly long sales presentations with the promise of a free gift”, he added, citing the case of a diabetic lady who caved after a five-hour presentation because she “needed something to eat.”
He cited evidence from a 2016 lawsuit against Wyndham, in which it was revealed that the business employed the acronym Taft, which means “tell them any stupid thing.” Oliver said, “And at this point, just say ‘fucking’.” Because lying is one thing. It’s quite another to do it while speaking like a middle-schooler in the vehicle with their mother who is attempting to appear tough.”
Oliver highlighted a 2018 survey which claimed that 85 percent of timeshare owners who signed a contract regretted their purchase. Oliver compared this regret rate to that of those who purchased teacup pigs only to discover that they do not exist. What does occur are piglets that mature into 90-pound animals capable of suffocating a cat.”
