Do you always have to sit in on a presentation ?

[pawtastic]

Hi, new to all of this but wondering when we finally get the notion to figure it all out and make a trip...where ever we go is there going to be a presentation that we HAVE to attend..is this a manditory thing we are into ? Do all resorts or places to stay have these presentations. IF we use a few days or a week as a gift to a family or friend..do they also have to attend. ? Question is for both using Wyndham places or if I use points on a RCI place...thanks for replies.

 

[Jya-Ning]

The only time you required is you take the promotion tour, or gift. If you use your point or exchange, it is not required. And it extends to the trip you give to the others.

Be aware that now they cut the cost, they may claim you have something irregular on your account, or that you have to attend some xyz to get your parking pass, or someone has to visit you in your room. Unless you want to get the free gift, tell them to back off or you would like to have call the state AG ask them about the ruling

Jya-Ning

 

[FlyerBobcat]

the ruling???

Can you give more details about this:

....tell them to back off or you would like to have call the state AG ask them about the ruling

 

[Jya-Ning]

TS sell is controlled by local real estate government AG. So if you think they are trying to solicate you while you are on vacation paid by you, you need to ask the person that has a say if they have the right to do it or not.

Jya-Ning

 

[timeos2]

They probably can ask you to attend but usuallly you can say NO

Hi, new to all of this but wondering when we finally get the notion to figure it all out and make a trip...where ever we go is there going to be a presentation that we HAVE to attend..is this a manditory thing we are into ? Do all resorts or places to stay have these presentations. IF we use a few days or a week as a gift to a family or friend..do they also have to attend. ? Question is for both using Wyndham places or if I use points on a RCI place...thanks for replies.

Unless you agreed to a discounted stay and/or promised bonus gifts you are under no obligation to attend any presentation nor are your guests. The sales company may have an agreement with the resort to allow them to contact you ONCE - if you say no that's it. If they continue to harass you ignore it and, if it bad enough, report it to the resort and/or the regulating authorities.

If you are traveling as a renter, owner or exchange guest tey have NO RIGHT to demand you attend any sales pitch. None. Zero. Tell them to take a hike. If you go to a (shudder) Wastegate then refuse the cart ride to your unit as it too is the start of a never ending barrage of pressure to attend a high pressure sales pitch. Demand you unit key - loudly if necessary. For Wyndham when they send you to get the parking pass at the other desk you are in for the full press to attend. Just get your pass and walk away. Or wait until you've gone to the unit then only one of the party get the pass - say you can't schedule without the other then never return. You owe them nothing and its your vacation time. Don't be pressured into wasting it being tortured by obnoxious sales weasels. Same for all the others - each have their own approach. Ignor and enjoy your vacation time.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Watch Out For "Stealth" Timeshare Presentations.

After taking the (resale) timeshare plunge in 2002, we were so filled with newbie pride of ownership during our 1st vacation at our newly acquired timeshare that we naturally signed up for the Owner Update.

Much to our surprise, the only thing the owners were being updated about was the latest wrinkle in full-freight timeshare offerings from the timeshare company -- for big bux. Fool us once . . .

"Stealth" timeshare tours like that have various names at various timeshares -- Maintenance Meeting, VIP Briefing, RCI Member Breakfast, etc. The timeshare companies apply themselves creatively in what they call these things. The idea is the same -- lure in the prospects any way they can & give'm the old hard sell.

In our (limited) experience, paltry freebies are offered for those "stealth" in-house timeshare presentations by contrast with freebies offered for taking conventional timeshare tours for which the timeshare companies pay headhunters to attract prospects via more & better freebies. Your mileage may vary. There have been TUG-BBS reports of $300 cash for taking timeshare tours down Mexico way. The most we've seen offered for Orlando FL timeshare tours is $120 cash.

Sometimes it's possible to get the headhunters & in-house canvassers to up the ante.

When we stayed at Vacation Village At Parkway, right after check-in we were invited to come have breakfast or lunch & receive $50 to hear all about their exciting new vacation ownership opportunities. We said No Thanks.

Midweek they called us inviting us to come have breakfast or lunch & receive $124 to hear all about their exciting new vacation ownership opportunities. We said OK.

We're going to Vacation Village At Parkway again next month. It will be interesting to see whether & how they try to lure us in again. (The fact that we said No Thanks previously is no deterrent to them at all in trying to hard-sell us again & again.)

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

 

[Corky]

I visited Wyndham resorts in Rhode Island five times in 2008, as an owner and on exchanges/getaways. Each time, at check-in, I was "invited" to an update/review of the resort with promises of lunch and a gift card. Now that the salesmen recognize me and realize I am NOT going to buy anything, they told me not to accept the "update" offers because I was wasting their time, and stealing possible selling opportunities from them. The charm vanished.

 

[teepeeca]

Corky

Tell them "TOO BAD" !!! "YOU" invited me, and I expect the "gifts". If "YOU" don't want me to attend the presentation(s), then don't invite me !!!

I "WILL" attend; accept the gifts; and waste your time if you continue to invite me !!!

Tony

 

[Sandy VDH]

I just unplug the unit's phones when I am there, so I don't get invited. Anybody who really must reach me already knows my cell phone number.

That way I avoid the calls and the too early in the morning wake ups.

Try to remember to plug them back in when you leave.

 

[jdb0822]

I visited Wyndham resorts in Rhode Island five times in 2008, as an owner and on exchanges/getaways. Each time, at check-in, I was "invited" to an update/review of the resort with promises of lunch and a gift card. Now that the salesmen recognize me and realize I am NOT going to buy anything, they told me not to accept the "update" offers because I was wasting their time, and stealing possible selling opportunities from them. The charm vanished.

This is exactly why I don't bother with them. I am an owner, and I don't need an "update" to tell me what I need or don't need to vacation. The only "update" I need on Wyndham I can find here on Tug.

I love the parking pass trap to get you to sign up for a meeting. Its rather pathetic.

 

[Kozman]

At a recent trip to Wyndham Nashville they tried a new approach to get me to listen to a sales pitch. At the parking pass routine they said they had a gift for me and wanted to schedule a time for a rep to come to my room to give me the gift and to find out if all went well at check-in and if there was any maintenance problems.

Even though I was suspicious I agreed and told them that at the first sign of a sales pitch the person would be kicked out! At the appointed time a nice lady showed up and as soon as she entered the room she asked where my wife was? I said she wasn't along on the trip. She said...Oh, she has to be here too. She immediately got on her cell and called the office or where ever and told them that my wife was not there and that she was moving on to the next owner. I proceeded to escort her to the door and said good bye.

About 15 minutes later I received a phone call and the nice lady said it was all a mistake and that I could STILL do the review. I told her that she entered my room under false pretenses so take a hike and don't call me again. End of story.

 

[AwayWeGo]

No, Seriously. Really. You Don't Have To Take A Timeshare Tour. For Real.

The association in people's minds between setting foot on timeshare property & being subjected to the old hard sell is so strong that we take care to mention in our rental ads that No Timeshare Tour Is Required -- making it clear that the rental is being offered by an individual private owner & not by a timeshare company -- no agents, no offices, no go-betweens, just regular walking-around people.

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