# What you will say to speed up timeshare presentation



## pianoetudes

I have attended TS presentations several times. I don't like them but I do like the gifts, meal certificates (sometimes free show tickets) and discounts. So I attended anyway. At the end of presentation, normally I was presented with a letter of offer that I have to sign and write "DECLINE" to say I do not want to buy.

I want to learn the tricks to speed up the presentation. The ultimate goals are to decline the offer, leave the room asap, and get the gifts.

Any advice?


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## dagger1

The last time we attended was in September at Wyndham Sedona, only because the concierge was so nice.  I made her sign the 90 minute clause before I gave her my cc for the $20 refundable charge.  When we went, we exchanged pleasantries with the Wyndham salesman, and I then set 90 minutes on my Apple Watch and laid it down on the table.  I informed him that we would not be buying more points and per our paperwork, we would give him 90 minutes.  I started the timer.  We responded politely to his questions and when asked why we were there if we weren’t interested in buying I explained that we were there only because of the concierge.  He kept us for about 70 minutes, and then processed us out.


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## x3 skier

I always tell the sales person I have zero intention of buying and we can skip the whole thing unless they want to waste their time and mine. Sometimes they agree but most of the time we just talk about something else, sports, travel, life in general or whatever we find in common. If they don’t agree to skip the whole thing, I start my stopwatch and note clearly when time is up. 

I estimate that maybe 20% of the time I’m out in 10 minutes or less but never longer than the stated time. 

Cheers


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## amycurl

Mentioning TUG usually speeds things along nicely, in my personal experience (record time: 17 minutes at Marriott SurfWatch a few years ago.)


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## moonstone

amycurl said:


> Mentioning TUG usually speeds things along nicely, in my personal experience (record time: 17 minutes at Marriott SurfWatch a few years ago.)



I do the same thing, and did that just 2 weeks ago at Mizner! Mentioning TUG and the current resales prices on the internet got us out of the presentation shortly after our free lunch with our Visa gift card! I even tried to give the sales guy a copy of my TUG info page but he wouln't take it. He did have a few "Oh really" comments when we told him how much we paid, how we bought our points, and how many weeks we get from them from the 1 maintenance fee.

~Diane


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## LannyPC

pianoetudes said:


> I want to learn the tricks to speed up the presentation. The ultimate goals are to decline the offer, leave the room asap, and get the gifts.



Have you thought about mentioning from the get-go that you are well aware of the rescission laws and that, even if the sales person does persuade you to buy, you will be exercising your right of rescission?


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## pianoetudes

LannyPC said:


> Have you thought about mentioning from the get-go that you are well aware of the rescission laws and that, even if the sales person does persuade you to buy, you will be exercising your right of rescission?


I did mention that one time. The sales person told me not to buy if later I rescind. I think they won't get the commission if members rescind.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk


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## theo

I have never attended a timeshare presentation --- and I never will.
There are no coupons, gift cards, tickets, discounts, or "free" meals that could adequately compensate for that wasted time, forever lost. YMMV.


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## presley

The last one we went to, I told them that I don't like timeshares and plan on getting rid of all of mine. During the presentation, whenever they asked leading questions, we didn't say a word. That made it go really fast. If you make a statement in the beginning and then never answer any questions, you probably shave off an hour of the discussion.


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## TUGBrian

love the comments mentioning TUG!

an added benefit of membership no doubt, cutting time off sales presentations =D


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## Panina

theo said:


> I have never attended a timeshare presentation --- and I never will.
> There are no coupons, trinkets, discounts, or "free" meals that could adequately compensate for that wasted time, forever lost. YMMV.


I have attended and never will again.  My time is worth more then the freebies.  There are many things to do that are free and enjoyable instead of getting freebies.  Going to a presentation is not enjoyable.


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## sun starved Gayle

I have attended one timeshare presentation, because I really wanted to see the property for future exchanges, and will never do another one. It was for Embarc Whistler, which was a brand new property at the time, but was called something else then.

Before the appointment, I made a list of the all properties I owned, their MF's, what I paid for them and the exchanges I had made with them. This was in the glory days of trading, when cheap South African properties could snag The Manhattan Club, Hawaii etc, which I had traded into. I think I was staying on a trade that I had done with a South African studio for a 3 bedroom 4th of July week to Whistler at the time. I gave the list to the saleswoman first thing, she looked at it and left the room with the list. She came back a short time later with her boss who told my husband "Your wife is a genius", and that was the end of the sales presentation.  I am still milking that "genius" thing with my husband, after 15 years ! Anyway, that was the end of the sales pitch, I got my tour and $100.00 dining credit which we used on a nice dinner in the village.

I miss those glory days of the cheap South African properties which you could use to trade into almost anything!


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## LannyPC

pianoetudes said:


> The sales person told me not to buy if later I rescind. I think they won't get the commission if members rescind.



That's true.  The sales people do not get their commission if the buyer rescinds.

And of course, my original suggestion seems to work because then you won't buy.  So hopefully that would work getting the sales people to cut the presentation short.


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## x3 skier

Compared to sitting in some Dr or Dentist office or someplace else waiting for a poorly scheduled appointment, wasting 60 minutes (or much less) frustrating a sales pitch to grab some freebies is a better use of my time.  A hour out of a cheap 3-4 day vacation from a sales promotion is nothing, especially if the freebies like dinner, a show or other nice freebies are on offer. Even they are not worth much, the 3-4 day vacation at 30% of the brochure price is worth the price of admission.

I once told an especially obnoxious sales guy I had a terminal illness and no heirs. (The terminal illness was age. I didn't share that part). 

Cheers


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## silentg

sun starved Gayle said:


> I have attended one timeshare presentation, because I really wanted to see the property for future exchanges, and will never do another one. It was for Embarc Whistler, which was a brand new property at the time, but was called something else then.
> 
> Before the appointment, I made a list of the all properties I owned, their MF's, what I paid for them and the exchanges I had made with them. This was in the glory days of trading, when cheap South African properties could snag The Manhattan Club, Hawaii etc, which I had traded into. I think I was staying on a trade that I had done with a South African studio for a 3 bedroom 4th of July week to Whistler at the time. I gave the list to the saleswoman first thing, she looked at it and left the room with the list. She came back a short time later with her boss who told my husband "Your wife is a genius", and that was the end of the sales presentation.  I am still milking that "genius" thing with my husband, after 15 years ! Anyway, that was the end of the sales pitch, I got my tour and $100.00 dining credit which we used on a nice dinner in the village.
> 
> I miss those glory days of the cheap South African properties which you could use to trade into almost anything!


We owned a SA week too, but sent it back, they took it, end of story


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## Luanne

I will never attend a presentation with dh again.  We've only done a few.  I could probably be out in a few minutes, but even though dh doesn't want to buy another timeshare, or into a program, he just can't keep his mouth shut.


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## aandmrun

We always skip the presentations, but the last trip we went to Branson, we wanted the theater tickets and master card gift card so we went.  As soon as we sat with the one on one salesperson, I told her that we have been timesharing for over 20 years and that we love it but we are happy with all that we have and do not plan to buy anything else since we are retired now.  I said "we don't want to waste your time" so all she said was "ok, will you just sign this paper indicating that I gave you a price and you rejected it."  That was all there was to it.


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## AwayWeGo

presley said:


> During the presentation, whenever they asked leading questions, we didn't say a word. That made it go really fast. If you make a statement in the beginning and then never answer any questions, you probably shave off an hour of the discussion.


That matches our experience. 

When the timeshare sellers say stuff we know is not exactly right or even flat-out wrong, we no longer dispute them or try to set'm straight, because that only prolongs the encounter.

We have learned it's best just to sit there quietly & politely, paying attention, not saying much of anything, occasionally nodding our heads (with a slight rolling motion added), & saying No Thanks when the moment of truth finally arrives. 

The only time I can recall when a timeshare seller gave up on us early was when we had recently purchased a $750 _tiger trader_ South African timeshare, which we had used for exchange into the timeshare where we were getting the hard-sell that ended early.  We mentioned that to the timeshare seller, saying we found about South African _tiger traders_ via TUG. She said she could tell that we were not going to buy -- & asked for the URL for TUG.  Beside that, we had been "pre-gifted" (her term) with discount Disney tickets, & we already knew what the units were like because we were staying in 1, so she said there was no point in going any further with the presentation. 

That was in 2003.  We figured we were golden on freebie timeshare tours from then on.  But it has not worked out that way at all.  The timeshare sellers pretty much give us the whole 9 yards every time.  So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## CalGalTraveler

When your alloted time is up simply stand up, politely thank them for the meeting and cross your arms.  They will get your signal that the meeting is now over. I do this at work to signal the end of a meeting - it is a technique that many executives use.

If the presentation area is open and they don't get your message, this will look really awkward to have two people with their arms crossed standing by a desk appearing fidgety and ready to leave. So sales will ultimately shuffle you out of there to avoid distraction from other sales meetings in the area.


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## Larry M

It's so easy to get out early. Before you leave home, print out some for-sale offers for the same properties from TUG and eBay. As soon as introductions have been completed, just lay them on the table, saying nothing.


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## hjtug

amycurl said:


> Mentioning TUG usually speeds things along nicely, in my personal experience (record time: 17 minutes at Marriott SurfWatch a few years ago.)



We tend to avoid sales presentations but will do one for the reward if we have nothing better to do.  I wear my TUG tee shirt.  It seems to drive the sales people crazy.  One time, during a break from the sales folks, another couple asked us about, and we discussed, TUG.  Another time the sales person quickly took us out of the room to chat outdoors about other subjects.


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## klpca

We have never been big fans of presentations/owners updates, but after the last one at Marriott Newport Coast where we learned about "Marriott people", we're done. It's such a waste of our time and theirs. We just returned from Nanea and I am so glad that we didn't waste a minute of our short one week trip sitting with them in the sales office. The shortest presentation is the one you don't attend


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## BocaBoy

I actually kind of enjoy the majority of the presentations we go to, and the gifts are usually well worth the time we invest in them.  I sometimes learn things and more often the sales person learns things from me.  My attitude is that it is OK to go solely for the gifts, but we have agreed to listen to their pitch in exchange for the gifts, so I won' t do anything rude to sabotage their presentation.  I think overt antagonism (unless specifically provoked by the sales person) makes the guest look small and petty.  Some sales people are actually honorable, and I won't condemn a specific one with a broad generalization.


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## Passepartout

Nothing works better than a TUG, "I paid more for this T-Shirt than my timeshare" t-shirt. But sometimes it backfires and they cancel the presentation and you don't get the perks/discounts/tickets/cash for attending.

Otherwise, printing out a few eBay resale ads for the resort works well too.

Jim


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## T-Dot-Traveller

Good recent post -
OP was an owner of 2003 Mayan Palace contract & at a Vidanta upgrade "  presentation  / salesperson  was using the: " pay us more $$ so your heirs don't end up saddled with a forever liability .

OP - threatened to put salesperson in their will . Salesperson walked & presentation ended .

Remember and use  when needed .


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## bauerej

One of the first pieces of advice is to repeatedly refuse to attend the "owner update" presentation and watch the incentive go up.  We were recently at a Spinnaker resort and the offer was increased from a discount meal certificate to a $100 cashiers check (along with a free breakfast during the "update"). Once we agreed to that, the key words to drop in the first few minutes are "eBay" and "TUG". When we told our salesman that we were basically paid to take someone's timeshare on eBay ($50 price, but first usage year maint fee of $750 was prepaid), he didn't even try to offer us anything. We walked out with our $100 check after about a 20 minunte casual conversation over breakfast.


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## silentg

pianoetudes said:


> I have attended TS presentations several times. I don't like them but I do like the gifts, meal certificates (sometimes free show tickets) and discounts. So I attended anyway. At the end of presentation, normally I was presented with a letter of offer that I have to sign and write "DECLINE" to say I do not want to buy.
> 
> I want to learn the tricks to speed up the presentation. The ultimate goals are to decline the offer, leave the room asap, and get the gifts.
> 
> Any advice?


Say No and don’t go.


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## pianoetudes

bauerej said:


> One of the first pieces of advice is to repeatedly refuse to attend the "owner update" presentation and watch the incentive go up.  We were recently at a Spinnaker resort and the offer was increased from a discount meal certificate to a $100 cashiers check (along with a free breakfast during the "update"). Once we agreed to that, the key words to drop in the first few minutes are "eBay" and "TUG". When we told our salesman that we were basically paid to take someone's timeshare on eBay ($50 price, but first usage year maint fee of $750 was prepaid), he didn't even try to offer us anything. We walked out with our $100 check after about a 20 minunte casual conversation over breakfast.


I attended a presentation at wyndham property near Poconos, Pennsylvania several years ago. The sales person looked offended when she knew my contract was from eBay. Since then, I never mentioned eBay.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk


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## vacationhopeful

pianoetudes said:


> I attended a presentation at wyndham property near Poconos, Pennsylvania several years ago. The sales person looked offended when she knew my contract was from eBay. Since then, I never mentioned eBay.....



Just a comment ... there is a strong presence of _'want to be'_ NYC Broadway performers as the Shawnee Playhouse is in the Shawnee, PA (not the resort, but the little town). It is way cheaper to live there, close enough to NYC, possible work at Shawnee Playhouse (or at least some info/contacts), etc.


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## rickandcindy23

Timeshares are marvelous things, and I am a huge fan of the concept.  My knowledge of timeshare exceeds the salesperson's knowledge most of the time.  There are a few programs with which I am not familiar, and that is why I cannot go to timeshare presentations.  I want to know how the system works and ask too many questions.  I have no intention of buying, I just want to know the value of the points they are selling.  

Yesterday I got a call from a Hyatt "concierge," since we are staying at the Hyatt Carmel after Thanksgiving via II exchange.  There were offers of 10,000 Hyatt points or $100.  Of course I would take the Hyatt points, but I cannot go to another Hyatt presentation.  Their hook is, "It's changed since you were at your last presentation."  "No, not since January, Sir."  And before that it was July of 2016.  I went to two of those with that hook.  I won't fall for that again.  The last presentation at Wild Oak Ranch, the big talk up was Hyatt Carmel.  Got it through exchange, so I am all set.  I don't need to own Hyatt points.


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## Tucsonadventurer

Often my husband educates the presenter about credit card points and in one case at a presentation at Grand Lodge Peak 7,  the rep. actually took notes on which card to apply for first and in what order. When I mentioned Tug he acted disgusted and said sales hated TUG. When I shared the benefits of TUG such as II codes and the Sightings/Distressed section, he became very excited and asked me how else I benefited from it. I wouldnt be surprised if he joined. He also began sharing his favorite II experiences. We enjoyed chating with him and he later sent us an email thanking us for all the information.  I learned some good II trading resorts from him as well. He of course made sure first that we had zero interest in purchasing. I actually enjoy learning about different programs for comparison sakes and the tours help us learn where we may want to trade in the future. As a Hyatt owner I will avoid owner updates as I like to get my yearly offers for 4 days, 3 nights and an owners update negates that.


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## skimeup

AwayWeGo said:


> That matches our experience.
> 
> When the timeshare sellers say stuff we know is not exactly right or even flat-out wrong, we no longer dispute them or try to set'm straight, because that only prolongs the encounter.
> 
> We have learned it's best just to sit there quietly & politely, paying attention, not saying much of anything, occasionally nodding our heads (with a slight rolling motion added), & saying No Thanks when the moment of truth finally arrives.
> 
> The only time I can recall when a timeshare seller gave up on us early was when we had recently purchased a $750 _tiger trader_ South African timeshare, which we had used for exchange into the timeshare where we were getting the hard-sell that ended early.  We mentioned that to the timeshare seller, saying we found about South African _tiger traders_ via TUG. She said she could tell that we were not going to buy -- & asked for the URL for TUG.  Beside that, we had been "pre-gifted" (her term) with discount Disney tickets, & we already knew what the units were like because we were staying in 1, so she said there was no point in going any further with the presentation.
> 
> That was in 2003.  We figured we were golden on freebie timeshare tours from then on.  But it has not worked out that way at all.  The timeshare sellers pretty much give us the whole 9 yards every time.  So it goes.
> 
> -- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


What is a tiger trader?


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## avad88

If we are at a resort for a week and the gift is enough (at least a $100 Visa card), we usually attend. Hubby sits mute and I tell them upfront that we have enough timeshares and bought all of ours on eBay.
 I guess I am strange because I find it amusing and entertaining to hear the lies and fabrications the salesmen tell. I sometimes politely correct their lies, which will make them want to get rid of us faster. 
 At Massanutten, a salesman told me I knew more about timeshares than he did and he offered me a job!


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## AwayWeGo

skimeup said:


> What is a tiger trader?


In the olden days of RCI, before the trading power formula was out in the open (i.e., before TPUs), some savvy TUG folks discovered that timeshare resorts in South Africa, which could be bought cheap, turned out to have amazing trading power for snagging RCI exchanges into premium USA timeshares during high-demand seasons.  Those South African timeshares were said to _Trade Like A Tiger_ & came to be referred to on TUG-BBS as _tiger traders_.

Word got out, & eventually the tiger trading power morphed to puma power & bobcat power & eventually just tomcat power.  But for a few years there, low-cost South African timeshares that got excellent RCI trades were a really big deal.  As I recall it, Dikhololo was the considered the granddaddy _tiger trader_.

Our South African timeshare was a 2BR unit at Lowveld Lodge.  The price, in full, was $750.  That included 6 years of paid-up RCI membership.  Our thinking was that if we got 3 advantageous trades into other people's USA timeshares, it would be worth it & anything more would be gravy.  (At the time, the U.S. dollar was worth lots of South African rand, so the favorable exchange rate added to the advantage of owning South African timeshares for RCI exchange purposes.)

I don't know about tiger trading power today, or whether Dikhololo is still the prized name among South African timeshares.  Lowveld Lodge converted itself to a non-timeshare resort, erasing any attraction it held for us, so we flat-out abandoned it.

It was fun while it lasted.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## ski_sierra

Passepartout said:


> Nothing works better than a TUG, "I paid more for this T-Shirt than my timeshare" t-shirt. But sometimes it backfires and they cancel the presentation and you don't get the perks/discounts/tickets/cash for attending.
> 
> Otherwise, printing out a few eBay resale ads for the resort works well too.
> 
> Jim



some good tips in this thread. I have attended a presentation with Marriott, HGVC and Vistana. The only ones I will do in future are for discounted stays. 4 nights at Marriott Mountainside in 2 BR for $895 is worth a presentation to me. The gift cards and points are not worthwhile.

So far, I've just said I really like your timeshare program but I don't have the money right now. Or I don't stay in places this nice so this is too expensive for me right now. I'll consider again in a few years. Or I'm saving for a house. I'm 34 so I think they believe me when I bring up financial reasons. I want them to invite me back for presentations so I prefer to give them hope of a future sale. Those discounted stays have worked out for long weekends.

The last one I attended and I said I am single. I didn't want to was my wife's time and reduce our return on time spent. There was no issue. I will sign up in my wife's name in future for the 3 night stay. I don't know if they can figure out from the address that we are the same family.


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## DrQ

T-Dot-Traveller said:


> Good recent post -
> OP was an owner of 2003 Mayan Palace contract & at a Vidanta upgrade "  presentation  / salesperson  was using the: " pay us more $$ so your heirs don't end up saddled with a forever liability .
> 
> OP - threatened to put salesperson in their will . Salesperson walked & presentation ended .
> 
> Remember and use  when needed .


Tip number 1, don't attend a Mexican T/S presentation ... they can isolate you and make it difficult to get back to your resort.

Tip number 2, set your phone to beep when their allowed time is up. Spend as much time with the pleasant chit-chat to waste time. When it goes off, remind them of the original agreement and you want to be cashed out.


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## LannyPC

DrQ said:


> When it goes off, remind them of the original agreement and you want to be cashed out.



We did that at the last one (and that will be the last one) we attended.  After I said the agreed-upon 60 minutes are up, one of the two salesmen sitting across the table replied rather rashly, "It's over when I say it's over."


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## DrQ

LannyPC said:


> We did that at the last one (and that will be the last one) we attended.  After I said the agreed-upon 60 minutes are up, one of the two salesmen sitting across the table replied rather rashly, "It's over when I say it's over."


My reply would be: "I'll be in the check-in area repeating your words to everyone who can hear, and your name is...?


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## easyrider

The only places that have enough incentive for us to attend a presentation is Mexico. We will go and be polite for two hours if the incentive is enough. Yup, politely say no is the way we go. I find that letting the sales people do their job results in less time at a presentation. The key is to not be rude and let them know that you will not be buying anything with out researching it first.

Bill


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## ecwinch

Apologies if this been mentioned before, but one way to speed up (and even end the presentation) is just mention that you are a little lightheaded from the three mai tai's you had by the pool right before you arrived.


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