# pleasant surprise at Wyndham Grand Desert



## socal4me (Sep 10, 2012)

hi all,
just back from a week at Wyndham Grand Desert. my review should be up shortly...but I wanted to comment on this board was about how we did not have the hard sell we were expecting at the sales presentation...our salesperson learned that we were there on an exchange..she tried to tell us all the reasons why we should convert our existing unit to a Wyndham points unit, how using a Wyndham credit card helps pay for the MFs, and on an on...but when I told her we were not interested in a conversion, she had us get up, move to the secondary area, presumably for someone else to give us a 'trial offer', we waited less than 5 minutes and were told we could leave and pick up our gift. We were pleasantly surprised at this...and on our way to enjoy the week ahead.  

Carol
Pasadena CA


----------



## MelBay (Sep 10, 2012)

You are lucky!  Ours was not so pleasant.  

Say, is the "come on people" guy still there?  He was like the fluffer who was supposed to get us all excited before we went off with our individual  high-pressure salesperson.  He had a much younger wife and very young children, and was way too tanned.

He said "come on people" about 25 times during the presentation - drove me nuts.  Funniest thing is that when I was trying to hook up to the resort's WiFi, I noticed one of their network routers was named "come on people".  It's still in my remembered list of connections and I giggle every single time I see it.


----------



## Rent_Share (Sep 10, 2012)

Question to both of you


WHY DID YOU AGREE TO GO

JUST SAY NO


----------



## ronparise (Sep 10, 2012)

I also had a good experience at Grand Desert.  They double teamed me. right from the start, made their pitch, took no thanks for an answer and left me to enjoy the breakfast buffet....

Also enjoyed the limo rides to the strip...The limo fleet is there for Gold and Platinum VIPs but if they dont have an appointment anyone can ride for free...just tip the driver.


----------



## Sandi Bo (Sep 10, 2012)

My 25 year old daughter stayed at the Grand Dessert with some friends. They were ready to go out about 10pm -- which is about when the shuttle stops running.  We laughed - that's what you get for staying in a time share (they're going out when we're going to bed).

She also got a "you're pre-qualified" letter in the mail about a week after she got home. Otherwise, no sales presentation pressure for her. She had a great time.


----------



## ronparise (Sep 10, 2012)

Sandi Bo said:


> My 25 year old daughter stayed at the Grand Dessert with some friends. They were ready to go out about 10pm -- which is about when the shuttle stops running.  We laughed - that's what you get for staying in a time share (they're going out when we're going to bed).
> 
> She also got a "you're pre-qualified" letter in the mail about a week after she got home. Otherwise, no sales presentation pressure for her. She had a great time.



I know the shuttle is free, but the cabs are cheap...


----------



## simpsontruckdriver (Sep 11, 2012)

I posted in another thread that I *also* received a pre-qualified letter for a mortgage on a minimum $150k Wyndham purchase. At least a letter is easier to refuse than a pushy salesman!

TS


----------



## ronparise (Sep 11, 2012)

simpsontruckdriver said:


> I posted in another thread that I *also* received a pre-qualified letter for a mortgage on a minimum $150k Wyndham purchase. At least a letter is easier to refuse than a pushy salesman!
> 
> TS



Like any sales organization Wyndham knows its easier to sell to an existing customer, than to make a new customer so they keep coming after us...it only makes sense and These pre qual letters are a big part of their strategy. they mention it in all their earnings calls..heres what Steve said on the July 25 call

_......Finally, let's turn to Vacation Ownership. WVO continued to achieve stellar results, with revenue increasing 5% and EBITDA increasing 15%. Tour flow and volume per guest remained strong, *aided by our credit prescreening tool.* ....._

the whole call is here


----------



## timeos2 (Sep 11, 2012)

As Ron notes Wyndham has apparently decided that carping on existing owners is the most productive sales approach. Now that we no longer own and are simply renting all the Wyndham time we desire there has not been one call or parking pass pick up demand that we attend any type of pitch or update. It makes the visits extremely pleasant and now we wonder why during our ownership more than once a vacation was marred by the unending pressure to upgrade what we were perfectly happy with. 

It seems a poor approach to us but what do we know? We only paid the bills so why did we expect a pleasant, non-pressure filled vacation stay at "our" resorts? Thankfully we have now found a great way around it and we're saving big money this way.


----------



## bnoble (Sep 11, 2012)

It turns out to be a very profitable approach.  If you get a moment, page through this presentation for investors/analysts from this past May.  Very enlightening, particularly slide 37.

http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/Por...5-02-wyndham-timeshare-presentation-final.pdf


----------



## Crohnos01 (Sep 11, 2012)

Ok, so I know this is showing just how soft hearted I am, but one of the reasons I got sucked into the owners update was due to the pleadings of the elderly woman at the concierge desk....After my wife agreed that we would go and we went back later to get the directions to where they were holding the owner's "update", the lady was still there and she confided to us that she was very "thankful that we elected to go to the update. Because if we don't get at least 80% of the guests to attend, management makes us go through more training". 
So Wyndham does the strong arm tactic to its own non-sales staff....nice, huh.


----------



## bnoble (Sep 11, 2012)

Tour flow generation is a simple numbers game: 1 out of 8 tour guests buy on average---these people are good at what they do.  So, the way to improve your numbers is to improve your tour flow.  It's really as simple as that.


----------



## timeos2 (Sep 11, 2012)

Lets hope the retraining numbers required just keeps rising! They are unnecessarily obnoxious and at the very least twist the facts and at worst outright lie while pressuring owners (sadly even those older that are particularly vulnerable) into purchases for tens of thousands of dollars they know aren't worth $1 resale. It borders on fraud but they never stop. Avoid them at all costs or carefully milk them for every penny in "bribes" while NEVER purchasing retail are the only ways to go. A return of $.01 or $.02 on your purchase dollar is NEVER a "deal"!


----------



## Rent_Share (Sep 11, 2012)

Crohnos01 said:


> . Because if we don't get at least 80% of the guests to attend, management makes us go through more training".
> So Wyndham does the strong arm tactic to its own non-sales staff....nice, huh.


----------



## Crohnos01 (Sep 11, 2012)

Rent_Share said:


>



LOL....

My boss has the same sign up..... Apparently way too close to the truth for the Wyndham desk people.....


----------



## ilenekm (Sep 11, 2012)

We also just returned home from Grand Desert. We did go to an update and had a nice chat with a rep but there was no pressure whatsoever to buy more points. At one point, he asked if we had considered adding Access points to our portfolio. My reply was that we don't care so much about ARP and he didn't say another word about it.  We had a similar experience recently in Sedona.

I even mentioned that I hate the high pressure in Williamsburg, were we go many times a year.  We have been told by the sales staff that we are wasting their time going for updates if we are not buying.  The GD rep said that he only had a job because of owners and even if we were not considering buying more points at this time, he was doing his job.


----------



## gmayden (Oct 13, 2012)

Crohnos01 said:


> Ok, so I know this is showing just how soft hearted I am, but one of the reasons I got sucked into the owners update was due to the pleadings of the elderly woman at the concierge desk....After my wife agreed that we would go and we went back later to get the directions to where they were holding the owner's "update", the lady was still there and she confided to us that she was very "thankful that we elected to go to the update. Because if we don't get at least 80% of the guests to attend, management makes us go through more training".
> So Wyndham does the strong arm tactic to its own non-sales staff....nice, huh.



Also they are like waitresses working for tips. It was $25 or $50 for each "update", "survey", or 'education" for each person that they talk into signing up.


----------



## Rent_Share (Oct 13, 2012)

gmayden said:


> Also they are like waitresses working for tips. It was $25 or $50 for each "update", "survey", or 'education" for each person that they talk into signing up.


 

Something tells me if they aren't earning the required number of $25 credits they will be soon be looking for new employment


----------



## gmayden (Oct 13, 2012)

Rent_Share said:


> Something tells me if they aren't earning the required number of $25 credits they will be soon be looking for new employment



Yes, that is my understanding also. Now you can understand the high pressure and, lets say, the "untruths" that they say while all you want is a parking pass.


----------



## MFT (Oct 13, 2012)

Have never had issues at Grand Desert.  Last few visits, we had Matt "the Boxer" visit us, and he's always very nice.  In fact, no issues here, Bonnett Creek, Ocean Blvd... Worst place has always been Smokey Mtn and also Smokey Mtn Lodge in TN.  Both are very high pressure, and they lie through their teeth (ya... I know, what WVC sales don't), but here it was abnormally worst than any other place we've been.


----------



## akfoss (Oct 13, 2012)

*Owners Information Meeting*

Last two times I was at GD they invited me to attend owners update group sessions.  There were 6-8 owners taken to large conference room.  Person reviewed Power Point slides to explain various features of ownership.  No real sales pressure, although they said if anyone was interested, they would move you to sales area.  Everyone wa given a thumb drive with additional resort information to play on home computer. You then went to another area to claim your gift and left.  No sales pressure, nice people and good information -- although nothing new for anyone that has been a TUG member or any length of time.

Allan


----------



## ronandjoan (Oct 14, 2012)

gmayden said:


> Also they are like waitresses working for tips. It was $25 or $50 for each "update", "survey", or 'education" for each person that they talk into signing up.



We are so desperate NOT to go and the last gal was so persuasive I said we'd ever pay her $20 commission if we didn't go.... She looked at us in disbelief


----------

