"Congtrats..you just won 6 free nights at our 5 star resort.."

[redcedar]

I filled out a raffle ticket at Camping World to win stuff, received call that I won 6 nights at a local rv "resort". I checked it out online and it's a buy-in. The Yelp reviews are bad and say it's oversold. The guy keeps calling my voicemail. I think I'll stay away. I bought my TT to use as a mobile vacation cabin, why would you want to feel glued to a handful of camping sites?
Are any of these resorts ever worth it?

[Camping Couple]

We "won" something similar to that a few years ago. I saw it as a timeshare for campsites. The seller would not leave us alone. After we asked him to stop calling, he did. Then someone else from that office started calling. I ended up putting a block on that number.

[bedrck46]

Nothing is free anymore Its nice to win something like free camping but it does come with a price, like repeated unwelcome phone calls or voice mails etc. I never fill in those kind of tickets at Camping World or at any of the RV shows even if you don't win the free item you will WIN unlimited unwanted replies. Plus that is a good reason why I stay away from Camping World. Went and looked at a RV and even told the sales person I don't like to be constantly called or e-mailed asking if I was still interested or to put a deposit down till I made up my mind. Didn't do any good Got a reminder every other day for a good two weeks until I finally told him I brought elsewhere from a low pressure sales person

[Snake Plissken]

I like to threaten reporting them to the BBB and that usually makes them stop.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by redcedar

I filled out a raffle ticket at Camping World to win stuff, received call that I won 6 nights at a local rv "resort". I checked it out online and it's a buy-in. The Yelp reviews are bad and say it's oversold. The guy keeps calling my voicemail. I think I'll stay away. I bought my TT to use as a mobile vacation cabin, why would you want to feel glued to a handful of camping sites?
Are any of these resorts ever worth it?

IMHO, someone trying that hard to "give" you something is trying to make a lot of $$$. From who?
Yup, I'd say timeshare and I'd cry BS. There ain't no free lunch.
If it's something you'd use the "stuff" out of then it might pay off, but.....

[fielro]

Beware, I've won so many "free hotel/resorts, cruises" etc that i can't keep track. Always a catch, no free lunch

[rbrumfield]

I used to work with a lady and she and the hubby took all the "free" meals, hotel stays, cash and whatever. They never bought anything and she said that most times they just told the guy no up front and most times they never had to sit through any of the presentation. They got a lot of cheap vacations doing that for many years.

[3'senough]

Originally Posted by redcedar

I filled out a raffle ticket at Camping World to win stuff, received call that I won 6 nights at a local rv "resort". I checked it out online and it's a buy-in. The Yelp reviews are bad and say it's oversold. The guy keeps calling my voicemail. I think I'll stay away. I bought my TT to use as a mobile vacation cabin, why would you want to feel glued to a handful of camping sites?
Are any of these resorts ever worth it?

Most likely everyone who filled in the ballot "won" after a quick credit check . If you want a high pressure week of "free" then I would go for it. If you don't want to sit through numerous presentations and enjoy a week camping then pay and go somewhere else. I am sure there is a mandatory meeting just to gain access to something like the pool.

[DocBrown]

Whenever I see one of these "drawings", I turn the entry form over and read the "fine print". If there isn't any then it's legit. Otherwise almost all of them are for time share sales pitches. We only did these twice over the years, once in FL, and once at a place in the WI Dells. Both experiences were nothing short of nightmares. Never again.

At the one in FL we were separated from our friends and were there for several hours waiting for each other, when the reality was that we were both done after a short period. They kept us apart to make us think the other couple was cutting a deal. All that for $50.

In the Dells we got a free winter weekend at a local motel/indoor water park. The time share was actually very attractive. At the very end the sales manager replaced the very nice sales woman. He proceeded to insult our "inferior" camping vacations and pretty much called us stupid for how we were vacationing. Needless to say he didn't get a sale and I told him very loudly that he was an *ss as we were leaving. A few months later I got an apology from the association and learned from a 3rd party that the sales manager was no longer employed by them.

[Dirkdaddy]

In my experience with a ski area timeshare with Westgate, the sales folks are non-licensed and have nothing to reign them in on telling whopper lies. Ours could hardly move his mouth without lying. We were smart enough to not buy from them and check with a realtor in the area who dealt with timeshare resales, which sold the same thing at 1/3 the cost (slopeside ski season condos do have a value, unlike some other timeshare deals that are nearly given away due to the annual maintenance fee making them a liability not an asset). We ended up buying a resale and love the resort and the condo, go there every single year, but the sales people are relentless and even though we own one they still try to get us to sit down and tell us about "upgrades" and other crap but we ignore them.

[Scoutr2]

We went to Fox River Valley Resort some years back for "Free Gifts", just for listening to their sales pitch. They were selling time-shares for their resort condos. The first offer was for $45K (two weeks every year for life). We said no, then the next offer was for $30K. Then $20K. When they figured out we weren't going to buy, they tried to sell us a time-share for their campground. It was really a nice place, but we like to travel. I finally shut down that sales pitch by telling the guy, "There's a reason my trailer has wheels on it!"

I feel your pain. Once you open the door for these things, it's hard to close it!

[Flapper]

No, you couldn't have won, because they called me and I won!
$500 in value...but not at Camping World like they led me to believe.....