# How Bad are the Massanutten Tours?



## CMF

I've been curious about Massanutten and recently received and invitation to stay for 3 days/2 nights.  But there is a "90 minute" tour involved and they don't put you up in a timeshare unit. They put you up in a hotel room.  I'm thinking this will not be a good experience (my twin 5 year olds will not be amused if we drag them along on a tour).

Has anyone reading this taken the Massanutten sales pitch?  Is it as awful as I predict it will be?  How are the hotels?  Too small for 3 adults and 2 kids?

Thanks,
Charles


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## Spence

CMF said:
			
		

> I've been curious about Massanutten and recently received and invitation to stay for 3 days/2 nights.  But there is a "90 minute" tour involved and they don't put you up in a timeshare unit. They put you up in a hotel room.  I'm thinking this will not be a good experience (my twin 5 year olds will not be amused if we drag them along on a tour).  Has anyone reading this taken the Massanutten sales pitch?  Is it as awful as I predict it will be?  How are the hotels?  Too small for 3 adults and 2 kids?  Thanks,  Charles


It was a long time ago, my first TS tour as a married couple.  Put us up in a Holiday Inn Express type accomodation and wouldn't give us the cert to check out until after 'completing' the tour.  It was the hardest sell I've ever had, miserable, I swore off tours and TS for 15 years!


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## JoAnn

Years ago..maybe 10-12, we exchanged into Massunutten and took their tour.  It was a very hard sell and, alas, we ended up buying (pre-Tug).  They really wore us down.  We did get them way down in price, and we still own it, but have never been back.  Just used it for exchanging and it does OK.  

You have one advantage...the 5 year old twins  ...load them up with sugar and maybe the sales people will be glad to get rid of you


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## BarCol

Ours was a few years ago now, but it was 3 hours of hard sales...of course that was before we had endured the Mayan Palace schtick...but i wouldn't do it again regardless of the incentives.....just my $.02 worth


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## Robnsunny

The worst part is that they take you in their car to show you a unit. Once in the car, you're trapped. They'll drive you all over the resort, which is quite large. We've taken it several times as we go there a couple of times a year. We've never gotten out in less than 3 hrs.


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## chicklet

My husband and I took this tour a couple of years ago and they were downright rude.  Plus they hit on my while my husband was sitting there (mentioned something about keeping my husband busy and my husband said he was right and that we could hardly even make it to the presentation)  Had to laugh and they lost all credibility.  I told them i was not interested...brought in the big guns and they asked me if i would want it if was $l.00...told them I would be nuts not to buy it for $1.00...you see where i'm going with this.  We were not going to buy so they got mad...i told them they were the ones repeatedly calling me for a tour so I finally went again (had been 1 year before) for the Massunutten $100 bucks.  We were out of there in 1 hour!!


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## Egret1986

*I wouldn't do it again!*

We had exchanged into Massanutten several times over the years.  It had been probably 20 years since we went on a timeshare tour.  We exchanged in three years ago into a Summit unit.  When we checked in, we had to go pick our parking pass up at another area.  They told us they need some opinions on the resort and offered $100 Massanutten bucks if we would do their survey.  Since it had been so long since we took a tour, we didn't realize that it was for a timeshare presentation.  The salesman was nice enough, but we were with these folks for almost four hours.  The person after the salesman was okay and understood we weren't going to buy.  However the person we had to speak to to get our bucks was extremely rude and nasty.  I wouldn't do it again no matter what, anywhere, again.  It takes away from my vacation time and when they become rude and nasty in the end when you don't buy, it really is the pitts.  Also, I have twins (12 years old).  The last stay in a hotel room for two nights made me decide I can't do hotel rooms any more with our family of four.  If you're an RCI member, get a cheap extra vacation at Massanutten and you can see enough to decide if you would want to own there.  Our favorite units over the years have been Mountainside Villas.  After that horrible experience, I picked up a summer week at the Villas for $350 + a reasonable closing cost.  I love the unit because it is an end unit and it's a vacation to do as much as we want or as little.  Good luck with your decision!


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## CMF

*I'm not doing the tour - thanks!*

But I'll keep my eye out for good Massanutten deals.

Charles


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## mishugana

Wonder how long they will keep you in there if you wear a tshirt with"I only buy resale at 20% or less!!"


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## NTHC

I will gladly supply t-shirts that say...."I BOUGHT MINE FROM THE NATIONAL TIMESHARE HELP CENTER":whoopie: 

Cindy


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## CMF

*Ok so I checked out the NTHC website.*



			
				NTHC said:
			
		

> I will gladly supply t-shirts that say...."I BOUGHT MINE FROM THE NATIONAL TIMESHARE HELP CENTER":whoopie:
> 
> Cindy




The prices are a bit more than the bargain I'm looking for - especially the week 17 with an asking price of $30K.  


What kind of help does NTHC offer exactly??

Charles


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## ocowner

The only time I was there was last spring with a group of friends for a golf weekend.  We received "the call" to take the tour.  I said I was there golfing with a bunch of other guys and we had been drinking all weekend.  She couldn't say good bye fast enough realizing there was no sales lead here.


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## bigrick

We exchanged into Massanutten in May of this year.  We took the tour on one of the last days we were there.  We learned a lot about all they had to offer on-site.  We were too busy hiking and caving to do anything on-site.  The pitch was interesting but we already knew we weren't going to buy from the developer.  

The bucks we received we didn't use (since we wanted to see the area not the resort) so we gave them to an incoming family with several kids.


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## wrkirt

We bought our first timeshare at Mountainside villas about 6-7 years ago, sell was not too hard. I would not worry about the hardsell as i would come armed with some resale data from TUG as well as ads on TUG and i would make it clear from the beginning that you are a TUG member and do not buy RETAIL. 
I would be more concerned with going for 3 days and 2 nights and staying in a motel with twin 5 year olds. Once you travel with timeshares and families, separate bedrooms, full kitchens, washer/dryers, living rooms, etc; its very hard to stay in a motel unless you are Disney.
Bill in Germantown MD


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## Spence

CMF said:
			
		

> The prices are a bit more than the bargain I'm looking for - especially the week 17 with an asking price of $30K.


No matter what you tell some people, they still believe the salesman who insinuated that their 'investment' would gain in value.


			
				CMF said:
			
		

> What kind of help does NTHC offer exactly??  Charles


If you want their version of what they do, you probably saw it here but they're just real knowledgeable people who can give advice and help you use or rent or sell your timeshare.  They charge a nominal membership fee and commission on any rental or sale.


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## teachingmyown

bigrick said:
			
		

> The bucks we received we didn't use (since we wanted to see the area not the resort) so we gave them to an incoming family with several kids.



Speaking as a family with several kids   that was a REALLY NICE thing to do!!!

We did the tour early this year, took the bucks and had a great time using them for crafts, a massage class, at the waterpark, on the tube slope, etc.  (We also bought the activity pass).   I feel we actually got a fair return for our time, especially considering that we got a full breakfast (not just a pastry and juice like in Orlando) for the five of us in the bargain.  It did take too long, however.  Our salesman wasn't rude, but he was "schmoooove" (smooth) and really laid it on thick but we wouldn't budge and we insisted that we had to be done before 11:30 due to a 12 o'clock appointment.  I'm convinced that was the only thing that got us out in just under 3 hours!  DON'T get in their car!!  He first told us he was only going to take us to see two units, but we actually saw either 3 or 4, plus drove up to the top of the mountain to look out over the entire complex.  He did omit the Waterpark which had been the hook they had used when pitching the tour to us to begin with, but we assured him that we were planning to spend the day there the next day anyway.


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## NTHC

Charles,
Keep in mind that everything is negotiable. We list weeks for what the owners want for them.  It often takes awhile for reality to set in with people when it comes to the value of their timeshares.

Thanks,
Cindy


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## hvsteve1

I have never had a salesman take me through the whole tour when I show up wearing my TUG t-shirt. They have to chat with me for a minimum time, usually over breakfast or refreshments, to validate the "tour", but give me my gift and get me out of the way pretty quickly.


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## glenmore

Went to our first and only timeshare presentation at Massanutten about 15 years ago - never had such a "hard sell" or dealt with such rude people in our lives. Only good thing is that it kept us out of timesharing until we found TUG. Love timesharing now - but would never repeat that experience for any price.


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## carl2591

*tour at mass*

we did a tour last year during exchange to mountionside villas, they called offering first 50 mass bucks, then 100. I told them I wanted 125. they said OK. We went to breakfast and sat down with nice guy in owners sales.. they tend to be more low key as they are dealing with owner/exchangers. Told him i had several SA timeshare and we exchanged for gold crown most of the time. He was familer with TUG so the pressure was off. We did not go on tour just sat aroiund for 90 min and talked about timeshare..

Before the tour had them put the 125 mass bucks offer on paper and took that in to tour..
they tend to forget sometimes..

125 mass bucks are good anywhere on the resort except for beer and such..


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## btcctomtb

hvsteve1 said:


> I have never had a salesman take me through the whole tour when I show up wearing my TUG t-shirt. They have to chat with me for a minimum time, usually over breakfast or refreshments, to validate the "tour", but give me my gift and get me out of the way pretty quickly.



Where are these shirts avail?


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## Jamerican71

*Massanutten Tour*

I did the tour September 2006 and would do it all over again.  I got a $150 Visa check card and 2 free nights so it was worth it to me.  Plus got t-shirt and backpack for the 20 fake names and addresses I gave them.

After sitting down to breakfast with the rep, I told him I own already and was only interested in resale plus most of my TS advice has come from TUG.  Still polite and friendly, he said I shouldn't have been offered this type of promo so he gave us the "abbreviated" tour.  We did the tour anyways and it lasted about 3 hours and you are driving around the property in their personal vehicle so you are trapped.

The room is 2 double beds, small sitting area, balcony, regular size bathroom and has a small fridge.  I went with my mom, cousin and pregnant sister and we were comfortable but another night would have pushed us over the edge.

I did get a July 2007 exchange so I'm hpoing they do call me with a gift tour as I will do it again but just not getting in the car for the property tour.


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## CMF

*T-Shirts for Sale*



btcctomtb said:


> Where are these shirts avail?


http://www.cafepress.com/timeshare/


Charles


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## 26pnt2

*No way in hell would I do a tour again*

After completing a tour in 2010, I would not recommend this to anyone. I was given a 3 day 2 night free weekend stay and told that in order to complete the free weekend my guest and I just had to complete a 90 minute "tour." My guest was my boyfriend, with whom I was hoping to have a nice, relaxing weekend. I booked the reservation and put down the required $100 deposit, which I put on my credit car. After completing the tour, the deposit plus a $100 gift card would be returned. When we went to check in they told me my name was not listed as having a reservation. Instead, they had used my boyfriend's name -- this sexism did not go over well with me.

They told us we had to be at the tour center at 7:50 am for an 8 am tour. I wasn't looking forward to waking up so early but because of the perks I felt it was worth it. Besides, I thought I'd be out by 9:30 and have the rest of the day to enjoy the resort. They matched each person/couple up with a salesperson who sat you down in a room with the 50 plus other people at a small table with piped in top 40 music circa 1982 and offered a continental breakfast that consisted of terrible coffee, watered-down apple juice and non-filling bagels and pastries.

Then, they put you in a car with the salesman and gave you a driving tour of the resort showing you ever possible inch of the resort. We lucked out and had a very nice salesmen who didn't look or act like a total scum bag like some of the other salespeople appeared to be. However, the tour of the resort went from "90 minutes" to 6 hours. It was unbelievable. They had us trapped in the car and showed us things we had already seen from driving around the day before. We were only staying for the weekend and at that point lost half of our day to get to enjoy the slopes or any of the other activities we had planned.

We finally made it back to the sales office and were asked what we'd pay for a time share. I said that I wasn't interested but thought it was a nice resort, which was greeted with "I'll sell it you for for less than half of the first offer" -- and then half of that a few minutes later. Finally, after convincing the salesmen I wasn't going to buy, he had to bring his manager over I guess as part of the procedure. The manager offered prices and went on trying to sell the place.

They finally let us leave to collect the deposit and gift card. I felt free at last. But there was one more trick up their sleeve: after being "checked out" they sat us down with another salesman who asked what price we were given and if we'd purchase the a place if we were offered an additional 50 percent price cut. After saying no, they let us leave and gave us the deposit back and gift card.

We finally walked out around 3:00 feeling drained, exhausted, hungry and as if we had just woken from a bad dream. Our morning and afternoon was completely wasted. At that point, all I wanted to do was leave the resort and go home.


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## Hornet441

Visited last Sep, stayed with friends in Meadows so can't speak for the hotel. We are golfers so took the $100.00 activity card for the tour. We have been to some hard sell and have had some very pleasant experiences as well. This was not a pleasant experience but not the worst either. Definitely a hard sell with the car ride from hell thrown in for added discomfort. As we said, being golfers we put up with it for the discounts on the green fees. If you want the reward and can stick to your guns when they bring out theirs, go for it. If you get uncomfortable easy with the pressure tactics, avoid this one. Good luck and enjoy the rest the Nutt has to offer. It is a great resort otherwise.


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## SBK

They are gosh awful, in our opinion.

That said, we may do it in April to take the edge off of the Water Park tickets for the great-grandchildren. 

We got off with only about 2 hours last time.  We went armed with what we had paid for our resale at the Summit and we REALLY pushed back when the sales weinie woman started badmouthing a local Time Share reseller.

I ALWAYS tell the parking pass person (they set up the appointments) that we have no intention of buying anything from them.  They ALWAYS say it doesn't matter, please just come.  We usually wait for the phone call offering a better deal.  I do not feel badly about taking their incentives -- we have told them we are not going to buy, and they still beg us to come.   

Beware of their gift card.    Last year we tried to use it for their Beer Makers Dinner.  When we got there, they said we could only use the card for the food portion of the bill, so what we thought would be a free dinner ending up costing us about half.  I have no idea what their justification is for not allowing it for the beer portion, but there was no way to fight it and they did NOT mention that beforehand.  

Also -- after you have used the card the first time, they do not allow you to use it if the purchase price is more than the balance.  You can end up with wasted money left on the card.  

I'll let you all know if we sell our souls on the upcoming trip.


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## carl2591

NTHC said:


> I will gladly supply t-shirts that say...."I BOUGHT MINE FROM THE NATIONAL TIMESHARE HELP CENTER":whoopie:
> 
> Cindy



do you have some?? i am going to mass in june and wanted to do something like that during a tour..  I was going to wear it under another shirt and pull off during the sales pitch.. maybe i can get a camera in there and film the whole thing.. 

that would be a HOOT...


ps a couple years ago we read on tug where the sales office call the unit trying to get the appt and the person told them he/they would only tour for 150 mass bucks.. the lady said i can do 125.. so holding off and asking for more might workk.. wonder is they read this board ??


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## Kozman

carl2591 said:


> do you have some?? i am going to mass in june and wanted to do something like that during a tour..  I was going to wear it under another shirt and pull off during the sales pitch.. maybe i can get a camera in there and film the whole thing..
> 
> that would be a HOOT...
> 
> 
> ps a couple years ago we read on tug where the sales office call the unit trying to get the appt and the person told them he/they would only tour for 150 mass bucks.. the lady said i can do 125.. so holding off and asking for more might workk.. wonder is they read this board ??



A few years ago we got $125 in the form of a check by constantly saying no to their room calls (until then).  That day they were short of help and we were told if we could fill out the survey before a person showed up to serve us, we could go get our gift and leave.  We were out in about 20 minutes with check in hand.  On the other side, you can expect up to three hours if you let them get you in a car!  There will be a couple of followup bosses each with more jewelry hanging from parts of their body.  Just say no.  Don't show a glimpse of interest or you'll add a half hour more to your tour.


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## dryden

*not worth the family time...*

last year was my first year at mass. with the family after buying a fixed summer SV unit on ebay for under $5.  i read all about "the pitch" and unplugged the phone once in the door of the unit!  when checking in i noticed a family of 5 leaving the area of the tours.  two hours later i saw them getting out of a car and looking at SV units.  three hours later i saw them at the tubing park and just HAD to ask about the experience.  they said they were more exhausted from the 3 hour tour (no gilligan's island pun intended) than the park!  they were given visa gift cards- i think they said for $250.  they said the starting prices for a 3 bd/3 ba (same as i purchased) was like 16k and after 2 hours of saying no it was down to 6k.  i told them about TUG, it's marketplace, my ebay buying experience and NTHC- they were apalled at the difference in resort resale and realized they'd wasted 3 hours of good family time listening to some guy tell them blah blah blah.  TUG & it's members saved me and hopefully it saved this family too!

Carl now has me very motivated to purchase a tshirt and pull a Clark "TUG/NTHS Resale" Kent while i take the tour in august!

one other funny note- i met an older gentlemen whose hobby was patrolling Nelson Court telling people on the tour, right in front of the saleswoman mind you, "before signing any papers with those hackers, visit NTHC on the main road- they'll save you thousands!". It was great watching saleswoman hurry the folks back in the car!


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## Egret1986

*I guess if you get $100-$150 and can escape in under 3 hours...*

....it's a fair hourly wage.  I'm not there to work (trying to get out from under these people) when I'm on vacation.  I'm there to relax and enjoy my time.  If I can't afford the activity, then I won't be doing it if it would require me to tour to get Mass Bucks.  I will never get tricked into another parking pass survey again.  Vacations aren't long enough for me as it is, so I'm not giving these folks or any other timeshare sales people my time for a sales tour.  The only thing on par with a Massanutten sales tour was the one we were a captive audience for and couldn't escape (TradeWinds Cruise Club).  What could have been one of the best vacations of my life ended up being much less than it could have been.  

I do believe some of you kind of enjoy it, which makes it worth the time to you.  Enjoy!!!!!


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