Owners Update at WKORV - Stupid Salesperson

[duke]

Went to Owners Update at WKORV. Salesperson was professional but could not answer our questions and was quite weak. Kept trying to get us to buy instead of providing answers to "update" type questions. This was a complete waste of time. We stayed so that we could get the 4500 starpoints.

The question is: Should we somehow tell SVO management? Does SVO want to know if 5* Elite owner's time was waisted? Or, is this the objective....salesperson acts stupid hoping you will still buy something?

Also, since we are owners and pay management fees .... are we somehow paying for this?

This approach was not the case at WMH where we have been to several owners updates and got the info we wanted.

Maybe we should have a "stickey" on TUG for good and bad salespersons........

duke

 

[smsavage]

We had a similar experience during our owner's update in April. I don't think that it wasn't that the salesperson wasn't bright, I think that we're far better informed. I didn't feel as though my questions, or those asked on behalf of other Tuggers, were fully addressed and I left 4500 points to the better, but that was it.

If anything, I'm not sure that the training that these folks receive prepares them for an educated audience. I think that they're taught to cater to the "wow" factor of being on vacation and to strike while the iron's hot to secure the developer sale. An actual conversation about business matters, pending developments, starpoint devaluations, staroptions adjustments, etc seems about out of reach at this point. I'm not sure if they see an in depth discussion of this nature as taking time away from potential "wow" sales, but it'd go a long way to maintaining owner satisfaction and brand loyalty.

I know that it's been said before, but as a Starwood shareholder, I wish that they'd monitor this board and take Tugger considerations to heart.

 

[Denise L]

Starwood does monitor these boards, or at least the WKORV staff does.

I would imagine that Sales pays for the "update," not the owners. The 4500 Starpoints are an incentive paid for by the Sales department to entice owners to listen and hopefully buy. Perhaps they should rename it Owner's Sales Presentation instead of "Update."

We went to an "Update" one year and felt a bit pressured to buy. The following year, we just asked for a "GI," general information tour, which allowed us to ask questions and get a tour without any pressure to buy. No Starpoints, but it was pleasant. Last year, I just asked if I could take photos of WKORV-N from the models .

 

[DeniseM]

I think the "Owner's Update," label is very misleading. We honestly didn't know what it was the first time we signed up for it, and when I said we were really just interested in what was going on at the resort, the salesman very aggressively informed us that this was a sales presentation and we should have already been informed of that by the person who made the reservation. The Elite Program had just been announced, and when we told him we had heard of it and would like to know more, he said we couldn't possibly have heard of it, because he had just learned about it that very day! He continued with the hard sell and basically told us we were wasting his time. He was a jerk...what can I say.

 

[KOR5Star]

Owners update tours should only be handled by experienced and knowledgeable people. It is very frustrating to sit with a salesperson who is spouting what you know is incomplete data... and in some cases downright false.

One would think an owner would be more likely to purchase again. If this is true, owner updates should be coveted by the sales force, so getting a top notch person shouldn't be a problem.

On the other hand, if owners do not tend to purchase more frequently than "newbies", all bets are off and we're lucky to get anyone.

 

[Loriannf]

WSJ Update

We went to the owner's update at WSJ when we were there earlier this month. The salesman freely admitted he was new (about 6 weeks) and had trouble answering our questions. They didn't even have the new StarOptions charts with the Laguna update. After a few minutes trying to tell us about the new Bay Vista units, he went and got a manager to try to answer my questions about StarOptions inequities and seasons. They all still tried to sell me another unit, and informed me that the Amelia phase at Vistana is designed as an economic way to get more Options.

Lori

 

[Transit]

The devaluation issue should be a easy out at these updates.

 

[bud_baker]

Why go at all? Is your time worth 4100 Starpoints? Seems to me one could learn what's new and future plans for the resort by observation and questions posed to the right people.. I am new to the Sheraton resorts (Vistana Villages) but at our other timeshare properties when I am asked if I want to attend an owners update the words "no thanks" seem to jump right out ;0)

 

[glenn1000]

Why go at all? Is your time worth 4100 Starpoints? Seems to me one could learn what's new and future plans for the resort by observation and questions posed to the right people.. I am new to the Sheraton resorts (Vistana Villages) but at our other timeshare properties when I am asked if I want to attend an owners update the words "no thanks" seem to jump right out ;0)

I agree. These are sales presentations with minimal incentives.

 

[mesamirage]

Here is a good article on Timeshare sales tactics that just came out today... it refers to TUG and Starwood in the article.

Enjoy....

http://www.smartmoney.com/thenewretirement/index.cfm?story=june2007&afl=myyahoo

 

[DavidnRobin]

Here is a good article on Timeshare sales tactics that just came out today... it refers to TUG and Starwood in the article.

Enjoy....

http://www.smartmoney.com/thenewretirement/index.cfm?story=june2007&afl=myyahoo

Thanks for the link - the author missed a few things. One biggee was the existing TS resale market that make buying TSs more affordable - or less of a poor investment.

 

[bud_baker]

I like that dose of reality... less of a poor investment ;0)

 

[hopetotimeshare]

We went to an "Owners Update" at Vistana. It's too long of a story to even get into (I believe I posted the story somewhere on this board) but it was BRUTAL.

Not to mention they locked our kids in the play area and told them that they couldn't leave because mommy and daddy were in a meeting.

In my review this was the only negative comment I had about the resort.