My fiancé is being scammed and she won't listen to me [hit me with your best lock]

Lewisham

My fiancé and I attended a Bridal Expo in January. We filled in various cards to receive updates, enter draws and such. My partner was called today to come to an "exclusive presentation" tomorrow and that she had won a prize if she attends. This prize is a 3 day all expenses paid trip to the Dominican Republic! My scam alarm went off straight away.

Later today, I was telephones myself to inform me that, yes, I had won a trip to the Dominican Republic as well!

When I told my fiancé this had all the hallmarks of a huge scam, where you don't get something for nothing, she replied that we have to attend a presentation, which is something and that there's no way they can take our money without us giving it to them. She is skeptical, but thinks that going may have some upsides, at the least we would eat their free food. After being lambasted for being "overly negative" I have agreed to attend, if only to stop her doing something stupid by herself.

What should I be watching out for? What are they going to try and pull? If my partner deludes herself into thinking that there is actually a free trip, when would the (inevitable) problems start? I need some ammo in case it goes too far.

Elin

It's probably a time share thing. There was another thread all about time shares on here maybe a month ago? A trip to Florida for a honeymoon?

Invisible

Sounds like a timeshare presentation.

Don't give them any money and be prepared for a high pressure sales environment. Also, take the boat not what's in the mystery box.

.kbf?

Invisible wrote: »

Sounds like a timeshare presentation.

Don't give them any money and be prepared for a high pressure sales environment. Also, take the boat not what's in the mystery box.

It could even be a boat!

Scrublet

Was there any fine print you can post? I bet it can be unraveled by the legalese in there pretty quickly if you have it.

Lewisham

Nah, we were both telephoned. I was telephoned later and given the hard sell about all these amazing gifts they had on-site as well. If I book with them to do my wedding, then we get an all-expenses paid honeymoon in Jamaica too, apparently. Had they just had my number I'd have told them to go to hell, but because they also called the missus she is beginning to take the stance that I'm negative and this would be a fun thing to do "as a couple."

I swear I will never understand some women. Being scammed together is not a bonding experience.

TexiKen

Don't give out your credit card or checking account info, no matter what. Don't care if it's just to check in, no. Push the "all expenses paid" button as hard as you can, hopefully by doing so and when your fiance sees them backtrack, she might get it.

You don't share any kind of checking account with her yet, do you?

There was a King of the Hill episode about timeshares, I suggest you both watch it before you leave. It can be infotainment!

Lewisham

TexiKen wrote: »

Don't give out your credit card or checking account info, no matter what. Don't care if it's just to check in, no. Push the "all expenses paid" button as hard as you can, hopefully by doing so and when your fiance sees them backtrack, she might get it.

You don't share any kind of checking account with her yet, do you?

There was a King of the Hill episode about timeshares, I suggest you both watch it before you leave. It can be infotainment!

No, I don't share financials with her, on principle more than anything else.

It sounds exactly like the South Park episode where they go to Aspen. I've never had someone try and play this shit with me before.

Your avatar is awesome.

PotatoNinja

Don't give them any money. Don't give them any personal information including Social Security or Date of Birth (anything that could be used to apply for credit). Don't take any money from them, don't cash any checks for them, don't sign any contracts.

If this is on the up and up, then its probably an obnoxious timeshare. Be prepared to ignore everything they say if you go.

locopostal

I went to one of these with an ex, started about the same way. Trip to Phoenix, but we had to watch a presentation. Cookware! To be fair, it looked like pretty decent cookware, but oh god was it expensive. And it was definitely high-pressure. I damn near gave them a down payment.

TexiKen

I say the King of the Hill episode mainly because they will try the "I need this sale to save my marriage/feed my kids/ we're struggling in this economy" BS. No emotion allowed.

Lewisham

TexiKen wrote: »

I say the King of the Hill episode mainly because they will try the "I need this sale to save my marriage/feed my kids/ we're struggling in this economy" BS. No emotion allowed.

Yeah, I remember that one too. The whole thing can go to fucking hell. I'm really angry that she's made this into a "you're so negative" thing rather than a "this is a FUCKING SCAM" thing.

Hopefully she will change her mind once she finds out that I also "won" the Dominican Republic trip. I don't think being under a high-pressure sales thing is going to be as much fun as she thinks it is.

Casual

As others have said odds are that this is a time share pitch rather than a full on scam per se. This just means that you are going to have hours of your time wasted in a boring presentation where they are going to do everything short of holding a gun to your head to get you to buy shit you don't want. Sounds like your fiancé is just the sort of gullible person who will crack under their extreme pressure sales pitch.

Stay with her so she doesn't commit to anything and get her the fuck out of there the second she realises what an idiot she has been.

Of course if they say anything along the lines of "give us a small payment of $300 to receive your free holiday" (for all the sense that makes people still fall for it) then it is an outright scam and you should end any thoughts of humouring your fiancé and just bail as quick as you can. I'm sure you would rather her be in a huff with you for a couple of days than loose possibly hundreds of dollars right?

Al_wat

Damn being in your position would piss me the fuck off.

You should throw in some kind of "If I'm right, and this is a scam, you gotta do X".

Where X can be anything from , :evil: or :winky:.

LaOs

To be fair, I'm thinking that the reation of "THIS IS A FUCKING SCAM" may be a bit much and I can totally see why your fiance thinks you're being Negative Nancy about the whole thing.

While I do agree that it's probably a bullshit high-pressure lame Timeshare sales scheme, I don't think it's a scam. You are getting a free trip out of it and you do only have to listen to their afternoon or so of presentation. Sure, you will all but assuredly have to deal with their extremely high-pressure bullshit sales tactics, but unless you buy in (and don't actually want a timeshare) then it's not a scam. You get what they say you get and don't have to give them anything for it.

I think it's great that you're cautious and it's a good thing you want to help protect your fiance, but you may want to approach the situation a bit more delicately and tactfully. Especially since your fiance is of the mind that you're just being negative. Sure, this is a great opportunity for a trip to take as a couple and to listen to a presentation as a couple, and, hopefully, to ignore sales pitches as a couple. Try to put a spin on that. Play up how awesome it will be to get a free trip to a nice tropical climate, joke about ignoring pushy salespeople, and maybe even bring up how you don't think you'd be comfortable with or that it is a good time to be buying property in a timeshare setup.

Don't make it into YOU and SMARTS VS HER and SCAMS. She probably might feel a bit insulted that she fell for what you so clearly identified as a SCAM, so she might have her back up about it. Be easy, be nice, and be a bit more understanding about the situation. Obviously don't let her get talked into anything the two of you can't do or don't want, but don't totally shit on something that is, so long as you're not retarded, free, and that she is psyched about.

But, yeah, if anything else pings your SCAM radars, let her know (nicely) and get the fuck out. Don't give them money, financial information, or anything you're not comfortable with. Plus, ENJOY THE TRIP! :P

Casual

Al_wat wrote: »

Damn being in your position would piss me the fuck off.

You should throw in some kind of "If I'm right, and this is a scam, you gotta do X".

Where X can be anything from , :evil: or :winky:.

There can't be a woman in the world that would work on.

More than likely than not he'd just piss her off even more by rubbing her face in it. :P

Ganluan

Just FYI - almost every time, these "free trips" are only for exact days (i.e., they have to be used on specified days and no other) and don't include things like airfare, rental cars, etc (even though they're "all expenses paid").

I got this same thing and I highly doubt it's timeshares - it's more than likely cookware. I don't remember the company name, but they sell very aggressively to newlyweds and market that their cookware prevents cancer or some shit. It's crazy expensive as well.

TexiKen

She has put you in a lose/lose situation.

She gets suckered in, possibly putting you on the hook, or you are right, and she won't accept it, which means any future things like this may make her not even tell you. I see this more as a way of her trying to gain dominance over the marriage before it even starts. It shouldn't be like that, especially when you start showing her the reasons why you're "being a mr. negative"

And I'll say this right now, if she signs something, you don't get anything where you both are the joint owners of. A house, car, bank account, credit card, nothing. Don't let her drag you down.

And as a last ditch effort, show her why a timeshare is a scam. Show her what it does to your credit, how trying to sell your part can be ridiculous and you will still be paying. The first two links that pop up in a search have decent general info:

http://www.scambusters.org/timeshare.html

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/timeshare7.htm

Lewisham

Fortunately, she has come to her senses and researched on the web independently, and also decided it's a scam. I've told her that we'll use the time to go on a date and spend time together instead.

I can be overly negative sometimes, and I think this is a case where Boy Who Cried Wolf got me back. I'm going to use it as a wake up call to be more positive about things and try and spend more time doing positive things with her. I don't think it's a dominance thing, just a reaction to me being negative sometimes and how that impacts things for her. She may be feeling that I rain on the parade too much, so she should just do what she wants anyway, which isn't a good place to be. I'll start working on changing that.

Thanks guys, this one can be locked.

Al_wat

Casual wrote: »

Al_wat wrote: »

Damn being in your position would piss me the fuck off.

You should throw in some kind of "If I'm right, and this is a scam, you gotta do X".

Where X can be anything from , :evil: or :winky:.

There can't be a woman in the world that would work on.

More than likely than not he'd just piss her off even more by rubbing her face in it. :P

Ha, yeah. I guess when you get down to it its a tactic to show how stupid and retarded you think her position is. So yeah if you don't want to inflame her more, avoid this.

But if you use a :winky: response it could turn into something positive.

Ponge

You'll spend all day in a boring, pressurised sales pitch, you might get a crappy sandwich or two. Then you'll recieve a scratchcard or something for your 'prize'. You'll probably win a 'weekend for 2' or something that will probably be at their resort that you'll have to listen to their sales pitch again for the entire weekend. They'll probably ask for several hundred dollars as a deposit.

The best case scenario here is that you have a hellish day of boredom. The worst case scenario is that your fiance keeps falling for their shit and wants to buy a timeshare. Or wants to give them hundreds of dollars to 'win' the holiday. I'm sure there are reports all over the internet of similar 'scams' that you could show her before you go (if you must go) so that she gets this 'winning mentality' out of her head. Because that could cost you bigtime.

Ponge

Lewisham wrote: »

I've told her that we'll use the time to go on a date and spend time together instead.

Good move sir.

Buttcleft

Considering that the Dominican Republic is a hub for drug cartels shipping drugs to the US and beyond, I would be even more scared of leaving the country to attend something like this.

Thank god you got out of it mate.

Aoi Tsuki

Ugh, my sister was really excited over one of these fucking things recently. She's usually pretty smart, so she got annoyed with me and dug her heels in when I tried to tell her it'd be a massive waste of time.

This blog I posted in the other scammy time-share thread was what convinced her--reading it aloud made the whole thing funny instead of a battle of wills.

*actually reads rest of thread* Ah, no need? Excellent. Have fun on your night out.