The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.
- Proverb 22:7
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
- 1 Corinthians 7:23
It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s vows.
- Proverbs 20:25
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
- Luke 14:28
I have been getting a lot of ads lately, maybe one third of all ads on my phone, for a company who wants to help me get out of my timeshare.
I do not have a timeshare, but to get the puzzle “reward” I have to have the commercial on for at least 30 seconds.
I have learned, if this guy is the only timeshare resolution person who is honest… Okay, he says that over half of all timeshare victims who want out of their timeshares spend all their available cash with a crook who takes their money and the victim is still stuck with timeshare payments. He also says there is a “right to lie” clause in the contract that they did not know they were signing.
If this is not illegal, it should be.
But it got me to thinking, what subscription type things have I signed for and how did I get out of it? It kind of describes how this world has gone to the evil side in my lifetime.
First, at about thirteen years old, maybe fourteen, I signed up for a record club. You bought maybe 2-3 LP vinyl records, and then you got something like twelve from a selected list. Then, you had to buy another number of LPs over the first year, either the featured LP or one from the catalog. I think the total was 6 LPs. I never listened to the radio, okay rarely. I became a fan of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. I purchased every LP of the original band, even before it became a band. My mother had veto rights. I purchased some Englebert Humperdink LPs, Ray Coniff LPs, Burt Kampfert LPs, and such to make her happy. But I snuck George Carlin (Class Clown) under her radar. That’s the one with the seven words you can’t say on television. But then again, I had 3-4 Carlin LPs. Some of them, I never played while she was in the house. And I liked Johnny Mathis.
But the way the system worked was that they sent you a card to send back to them. If you did not send it back in time, you were mailed the LP of the month. I lived in rural Mississippi at the time, and we were slow. But I never failed in getting the card sent in on time.
When I was tired of the club, I checked a box on the card, and I never got another card. The system worked.
Second, I joined a technical book club when I graduated college, the list of books that had to be purchased up front were references that I needed anyway. The card system was the same as the record club. It worked great until I was shipped to Europe in the Army. My first card in Germany arrived a month after the due date to send the card back. Oddly, the book that I never wanted arrived a week later. Sometimes, I got the book without ever getting the card. I cancelled the system soon after paying for the book that I was a co-author of – long story of betrayal.
But while still in Europe, they made that kind of card mailing illegal. You now have to send the card in to get the book or record, if they still have those clubs. I guess too many people were like me and bought a shelf of books they never wanted because the mail was delayed.
But then in recent years, they have these streaming services where you pay a monthly fee. I cancelled one that was a bundled thing, three different subscriptions in one. My wife wanted to have something the grandchildren would like, but they rarely visited. Okay, they almost never visited. I cancelled the service, but my computer crashed when trying to print the confirmation. They kept billing me. I could not complain via the internet because I was no longer a receiver of the service. And without a confirmation number, I could not talk to them over the phone. I had to cancel the credit card.
At the same time, we had a wholesale warehouse membership that we did not use, since the other warehouse was nicer with better amenities – and required us to come in to pay for renewal. After they found out that my card was cancelled, I got weekly requests for renewal compared to the once a month magazine. They still mail me something monthly, years later.
This taught me something. We had another streaming service. My son was using it – authorized for two users, but both users had to be in the same house (small print they do not tell you up front). I called my son to ask if he was still using it and he said no. This was the month that the bill had tripled in cost. I called them up and told them to cancel. They emailed me a confirmation, and also mailed a confirmation, even after they gave me the confirmation number on the phone.
The confirmation said, “Dear Ahmed, We hereby confirm your cancellation. Contact us anytime to renew.” Ahmed? Ahmed wasn’t his name but you get the idea. Ahmed had hacked my account. Billing my credit card with my name on the card for an upgrade to their premium service.
No glitches this time, but when the location of the service changed, and the service name did not match the credit card, did the service call me? No. I just got the bill. Their plea for me to reconsider fell on deaf ears.
So, I can believe that over half the people wanting out of a timeshare need a lawyer, and even then, they are stuck with payments without reaping the benefits of using the timeshare. You know, because you cancelled your timeshare.
The Scriptures are clear. Do not buy unless you know what you are getting. If it seems too good to be true it is too good to be true. If you are invited for a free weekend at a timeshare and you are wined and dined, you will pay for that weekend dearly if you sign anything.
As I said with any offer of that nature, I will pray about it. And then my answer became clear, don’t!!!!
Do not rush into it.
Even then, you have no idea what life will bring you. You might be like me, and you are waiting on that promised promotion for forty years. And the janitor makes twice what you are making, while I supervised the supervisor of said janitor.
And what Paul says, do everything to the glory of God. That might just mean most of the subscriptions go out the window at that point.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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