No matter how many times I try to block them, spam from companies offering me bargain trips to Bulgaria or Florida to view properties keep filling me in-box; it's not unusual to get twenty or thirty a day. Holiday homes and timeshares and big business and sales techniques can be aggressive. If you are thinking about taking up one of these offers its best to have an idea of what in store.

Timeshare agents have two ways of luring potential customers. One is to approach people when they are on holiday and invite you to a meeting later that day when they'll drive you out to a resort, ply you with some snacks and sangria and apply the hard sell.

The other is to offer you a "free vacation" during which time, they say, your only obligation is to attend a brief talk their definition of brief may not be the same as yours.

Of course, their definition of "free" may be open to some debate too. If you are thinking about accepting one of these offers be sure to check out the small print. Some companies offer only a free flight and accommodation costs may be inflated. Others offer free accommodation and you need to pay for your flights; chances are you'll have no choice about the airline and you'll have to travel on the flights the company tells you.

You need to know how long the vacation offered is for. Take into account traveling time and then decide if it's worth it, the amount of free time you get to enjoy there may be minimal. The sales talk may be scheduled to last ninety minutes but it could (and probably will) overrun. Not only that but if you aren't staying at the resort they want to sell they'll probably transport you by bus and ask you to be ready half an hour before the bus arrives. Gradually your free time is whittled down and even if you aren't interested in buying a timeshare, once you are there it may be impossible to make your own way back to the accommodation.

You also need to know where you'll be staying. You may be staying in the resort they are trying to sell but in Spain you are more likely to be staying in a hotel. Often the quality of the hotel is pretty average which may seem fair enough if you are getting a free holiday but the aim is to make the timeshare look more attractive in comparison with the hotel.

You need to know who can go on the vacation. If you are a married couple, they agents will insist that both of you go on the holiday and that both of you attend the sales talk. They aren't going to waste three hours work

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