Newb - won airline tickets, but got turned away from meeting...

[lsumikec]

So.... We signed up for some sort of drawing at a Christmas sales event in Baton Rouge... A Week or so later, we get a call from windam club saying we won 4 RT Airline tickets, all we had to do was attend a meeting to discuss timeshares in New Orleans.

We are interested in timeshares and enjoy New Orleans so we said why not.

We show up, an hour early because we expected worse traffic on a Saturday Afternoon. We had just attended a baseball game, so we were in baseball park attire. after sitting there for 20 minutes one of the registration ladies calls me up, and says congratulations you have been chosen not to attend the presentation, here are your free tickets and information... have a nice day... So I ask what if I wanted to attend the presentation... Ad her boss comes up and gives me a spill about this is their way of keeping the program honest, and that I could not attend, that I could call the travel agent number and reschedule within 6 months....

So with that said... I am wondering if we were profiled because of our attire... everyone else was dressed up in suits and such... No one ever told me about a dress code... For the record, my baseball attire was a nice warm up suit. I would not wear it to a 5 star restaurant, but I was not looking like a bum.... My wife looks good in anything!!!

Should I be upset about this, or take the situation at face value and try to use their free tickets and keep searching for better timeshare options.

 

[am1]

Are the tickets really free and easy to use?

 

[lsumikec]

from what i read and have heard, should be... im going to call the travel folks tomorrow to try to line something up... will reply here either way. this happened last night...

 

[DeniseM]

Where do you attend a baseball game in December?

 

[lsumikec]

My son plays travel baseball. He is a High School Junior. The fall season is wrapping up, we will be in gulf port, MS next weekend for a showcase and done till Feburary... Thank God!!!!

 

[Ty1on]

So.... We signed up for some sort of drawing at a Christmas sales event in Baton Rouge... A Week or so later, we get a call from windam club saying we won 4 RT Airline tickets, all we had to do was attend a meeting to discuss timeshares in New Orleans.

We are interested in timeshares and enjoy New Orleans so we said why not.

We show up, an hour early because we expected worse traffic on a Saturday Afternoon. We had just attended a baseball game, so we were in baseball park attire. after sitting there for 20 minutes one of the registration ladies calls me up, and says congratulations you have been chosen not to attend the presentation, here are your free tickets and information... have a nice day... So I ask what if I wanted to attend the presentation... Ad her boss comes up and gives me a spill about this is their way of keeping the program honest, and that I could not attend, that I could call the travel agent number and reschedule within 6 months....

So with that said... I am wondering if we were profiled because of our attire... everyone else was dressed up in suits and such... No one ever told me about a dress code... For the record, my baseball attire was a nice warm up suit. I would not wear it to a 5 star restaurant, but I was not looking like a bum.... My wife looks good in anything!!!

Should I be upset about this, or take the situation at face value and try to use their free tickets and keep searching for better timeshare options.

They don't do anything to keep themselves honest LOL. They may have rechecked your qualifications and found something that indicated that you aren't their target today. If they think they can sell you a contract, you can show up in a speedo


You should count your blessings you didn't have to go through the sales pitch.

 

[DeniseM]

Had you provided income, employment, or credit info to them?

 

[vacationtime1]

They don't do anything to keep themselves honest LOL. They may have rechecked your qualifications and found something that indicated that you aren't their target today. If they think they can sell you a contract, you can show up in a speedo

You should count your blessings you didn't have to go through the sales pitch.

+1

Count yourselves lucky.

And if you ever have to attend one of these high-pressure sales meetings, DO NOT BUY. There is an active resale market on which you can buy most timeshares for between 1% and 30% of the developers' prices (the 30% are for the ultra high-end timeshares; Wyndham would be towards the lower percentage).

 

[lsumikec]

only income... no credit etc... Showed my Debit card, not my credit card... When they qualified me... they said....

65K income range
Credit Card (can be bank debit card) I showed my slush fund card, i only keep X in that account for making online purchases...

I am at 90K, so that shouldn't disqualify me..

 

[lsumikec]

+1

Count yourselves lucky.

And if you ever have to attend one of these high-pressure sales meetings, DO NOT BUY. There is an active resale market on which you can buy most timeshares for between 1% and 30% of the developers' prices (the 30% are for the ultra high-end timeshares; Wyndham would be towards the lower percentage).

I wanted to attend to learn more about time shares in general.. My youngest son graduates next year and the boss and I intend to live for us finally..... I am not an impulse buyer... Didn't plan on buying anything yesterday... Actually found this forum when i was searching windam club online and learning plenty right now...

 

[DeniseM]

Interesting - Was there a survey which asked about your interest level, or how soon you would be buying a timeshare?

If they had a good turn out, and not enough sales staff, they may have filtered people who said they were only gathering info., or not ready to buy at this time.

 

[lsumikec]

only income... no credit etc... Showed my Debit card, not my credit card... When they qualified me... they said....

65K income range
Credit Card (can be bank debit card) I showed my slush fund card, i only keep X in that account for making online purchases...

I am at 90K, so that shouldn't disqualify me..

Slush Fund Account only has about 50 bucks in it right now, but they didnt copy numbers, she only looked at the name on it, so they shouldnt have had time to do any type of pre-authorization. unless they are set up like criminals... happy i didnt pull out my good cards now. lmao:whoopie::whoopie::whoopie:

 

[lsumikec]

Interesting - Was there a survey which asked about your interest level, or how soon you would be buying a timeshare?

If they had a good turn out, and not enough sales staff, they may have filtered people who said they were only gathering info., or not ready to buy at this time.

There was only two other couples there... We were there first, looked like they had about 6 staff members in the meeting room... they wanted us there at 3:30-3:45 for a 4PM meeting, We were gone by 3:30......

I never told anyone that I was not interested in making a purchase today, I did inquire about the length of the meeting, because I only fed the meter for 3 hours... She said they would let me go feed the meter if it went over...

 

[x3 skier]

No worries. You got four tickets and avoided at least 90 minutes of pure baloney from a "promise them anything" pitchman.

Take the tickets and enjoy. You'll learn more from this site in 20 minutes than you will ever learn in one of those pitches.

Cheers

 

[sue1947]

Those meetings are high pressure sales presentations. You won't learn much about timeshares except that you will want to avoid any future meetings. The saying is you can tell if a timeshare salesperson is lying if their lips are moving, i.e., the 'information' you would have received would likely be 90+% false to entice you into paying full, inflated freight for something you can get on the resale market for 10%.
Read through here, ask questions and spend some time sorting out what you want. Then buy resale and avoid the sales desks.

Sue

 

[Explorer7]

I hope your free tickets are better than the ones I got years ago.

If memory serves me correctly, about 7 or 8 years ago I was gifted airline tickets and maybe a hotel stay after attending a presentation. The airline tickets were for travel to certain locations like Orlando, I had to travel round trip and it had to be during midweek for about a 3 day stay. I don’t remember if I was required to attend another presentation while at the destination. I did not use them because of the restrictions. I felt hoodwinked.

 

[Tia]

You really want to learn about timeshares and save $ then stick around here and read up. You'll get honest information and opinions as no one is selling anything.

 

[Ty1on]

I wanted to attend to learn more about time shares in general.. My youngest son graduates next year and the boss and I intend to live for us finally..... I am not an impulse buyer... Didn't plan on buying anything yesterday... Actually found this forum when i was searching windam club online and learning plenty right now...

You will learn half truths at presentations, or worst. You'll learn more here than you could anywhere else in the universe.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I wanted to attend to learn more about time shares in general..<cut>... Actually found this forum when i was searching wyndham club online and learning plenty right now...

Corrected your spelling (bolded letters added).

Really? The timeshare sales staff RARELY owns any of the product they are selling. Rarely owns ANY timeshares and seldom goes on vacations not paid for by other people (like dates, parents, or their "marks"). They are the equivalent of "day labors" who are monitored like kindergarteners ... appearance, fitness for work, hygiene, makeup, manicures, haircuts, and speech. Why do YOU think they have to show up for work around 7AM when the first guests are invited later? So the managers can send the "not fit" home or match bodies to inbound targets. Plus, lying and slightly misrepresentation is allowed as the salesmen don't do any writing. AND the closer witnesses' your signing of the contracts? (and handles those papers ... so no written comments are added). Plus, many here believe the sale's room and tables are videoed and listened into ... why do you think you have to sit at a table in the chairs they offer?

And if you listen to their chatter .. it is like listening to a wayward 20 year old. Surviving on the edge ... but they tell you during the meeting about all the great resorts (which they may have interviewed at or USED to work at) they have stayed at AND how many points THEY own (to sell you more points).

 

[presley]

You are better off this way. You'll actually learn about timeshares and how to use them and how to buy them for the least amount of money and how to rent them for less than the cost of owning by reading this site.

Wyndham sales people lie like crazy in the "presentations." They are only interested in closing a sale and many don't even know anything about timeshares. They are taught how to pick up on cues of what you are interested in and then like about what they are selling so it sounds like what you want. Many people leave there after signing contracts for stuff that costs tens of thousands of dollars and then they don't even use it.

 

[csxjohn]

It seem to me that the biggest target of the TS sales sharks are those least likely to able to really afford purchasing a timeshare at retail prices.

I would have thought that you would go to the front of the line dressed "down" like that.

Perhaps the others who were dressed up were in a much lower income bracket and the limited sales force wanted to concentrate on them.

You will learn more about timeshares here than you ever will in a sales presentation so take your freebie and ask your questions here.