John Oliver Says Timeshares Are Nothing but a Trap. Here’s Why He’s Right

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Considering buying a timeshare? Read on to see why you may want to rethink that. 

Some homeowners sign a mortgage and regret buying a place of their own after they realize how much work it entails. But if you purchase a timeshare, you may be more likely than not to wind up kicking yourself.

When you buy a timeshare, you get the right to use a vacation property for a limited window of time each year. In exchange, you pay an upfront fee as well as ongoing maintenance fees.

You might think that buying a timeshare is a smart move. And given that it’s an $8.1 billion industry, you clearly wouldn’t be alone. But if you ask John Oliver, he’ll tell you that timeshares are basically nothing but a trap. Here are some of the reasons why.

1. Timeshares can be really hard to sell

Timeshares, says Oliver, are “incredibly easy to get into,” But, he cautions, they’re also “incredibly hard to get out of.”

When you sell a home, you’re handing a property over to someone else. You’re not doing that with a timeshare, because you don’t actually own a home outright.

Also, because there are so many timeshares out there, it can be difficult to find a buyer due to stiff competition. So what sometimes happens is that people buy timeshares, decide they want to sell them, but wind up getting stuck with them for life.

2. The cost of owning one can increase over time

When you buy a timeshare, you might easily get in over your head financially. That’s because the cost of your timeshare may not be clear to you upfront.

What’s scary, according to Oliver, is that salespeople can get away with lying about how much a timeshare will cost. In fact, he insists, they’re often encouraged to lie.

Meanwhile, timeshare maintenance fees typically go up every year, says Oliver. And at higher-end resorts, they can amount to $2,500 to $3,500 per year. That may be a lot more than you bargained for.

Worse yet, Oliver says, “you are on the hook for those costs whether you use your timeshare or not.”

3. They can become virtually useless

In some cases, your timeshare might come in the form of points. But if so, you might have a really hard time booking your timeshare. You might, Oliver explains, have to book a stay way in advance for the option to use the property you’re paying for, thereby negating a lot of the benefit of having a timeshare to begin with, which is being able to plan and take a vacation with ease.

Also, you might, in time, get tired of traveling to the same place. Or your needs might change, like if your family grows. That could render your timeshare pretty useless.

A move you might sorely regret

Oliver quoted a survey saying that 85% of timeshare owners regret their purchases. If you want to avoid becoming part of that statistic, think twice before buying a timeshare. And if you’re asked to sit through a timeshare presentation while on vacation, say no — even if the salesperson in question tempts you with perks like a free extra night at your hotel or actual cash you can put into your savings account.

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