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Questions to ask in the 90 Minute grilling.

Lazy8

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Hi all,
I stopped by a booth and signed up to take a tour of a resort.
They said I "must" sit in on a discovery session for 90 minutes.
I'm looking for a boat load of questions to ask them.
I'm a bit scared to think I have to listen to this high pressure sales guys and gals.
1. What can I ask them or do to get myself prepped up for this.
2. Is it really as bad as I think it is.
Yes, I already searched on here all day and found everthing you need to know for the newbie's.
3. I'm sure your thoughts will help me.

Thanks
Signed
Restless:confused:
 

rapmarks

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ask no questions. make no comments. don't act interested. you won't be grilled, you will be given gifts and leave . they are prepared to answer any question and will take it as a sign of interest if you ask them. they are also experts at reading body language.
 

DianneL

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No questions

I agree with Rapmarks. Ask no questions. Show no interest. Any questions they ask you, answer so as to show you are not interested. Any glimmer of interest and you will get the "full treatment" and pressure.
 

Patri

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Can I have that in writing?
Can I have that in writing?
Can I have that in writing?
 

Talent312

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1. Your MF's+taxes are roughly equal to a 7-night hotel stay, right?

2. How do you justify selling your units for 4 -5x the price they go for on e-Bay, Redweek and other resale outlets? Care to see my list?

3. The moment I sign a contract, won't I have an 80% loss? Care to see my list?

4. How do you sleep at night?

5. Does your mother know what you do for a living?
 

bobcat

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1. Your MF's+taxes are roughly equal to a 7-night hotel stay, right?

2. How do you justify selling your units for 4 -5x the price they go for on e-Bay, Redweek and other resale outlets? Care to see my list?

3. The moment I sign a contract, won't I have an 80% loss? Care to see my list?

4. How do you sleep at night?

5. Does your mother know what you do for a living?

Keep your arms crossed the whole time. This shows that you are not there to purchase.
 

gmarine

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I agree that you should show no interest. Most times if a salesperson feels he has no chance of selling to you he will shorten the presentation. Asking questions shows that you may have interest and your presentation will be longer.
Be honest, tell them that you have absolutely no interest in purchasing and are only there for the gift. You may find that they give you the gift and get you out very quickly rather than waste time on you.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Repetition Is The Mother Of Learning.

If you read the answer before you can click here & read it again.

Once might not be enough.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
And Another Thing . . .

. . . while you're at it, you can also click here to read a nightmare hypothetical scenario that's even worse than getting suckered into buying a full-freight timeshare for big bux -- i.e., it starts with that & then just accelerates downhill from there.

Forewarned is forearmed, no ?

( Putting it another way, not everything has to be learned the hard way. )

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
. . . Plus Just 1 More.

You can also click here (optional) for our (more or less) complete personal timeshare story -- just for whatever instructional value it may contain in the form of things to emulate on the 1 hand & things to avoid on the other hand.

( Nobody's perfect. )

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

ladycody

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I agree with the others. The only question you may want to ask is why you should buy from them instead of buying resale...just so they know you're aware of the resale market. When they tell you what you wont get buying resale...tell them you've talked with others who've bought resale and love what they own. That one question and the follow-up may shorten your presentation.

Any other questions you ask will indicate interest in buying which will make them hang on to you longer in the hopes that they can get a sale. Be honest...spare them and yourself and make it clear that you are not interested in buying but came in only for the gift.
 

x3 skier

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I tell them I have plenty of timeshares, bought them all at resale, use them all and have no interest in purchasing from the developer.

Next comment is that if they want to waste my time and theirs, I will listen for 90 minutes and that's it. If they don't want to waste time, give me the goodies and we can both get on with the rest of our life.:D

Cheers
 

khdem

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Questions to ask

Going into the introductions, let the salesperson know that you are not going to purchase. Let them know that you have plans and will leave in 90 minutes. The rest is up to them...do not ask questions as it only delays your departure. Give them an early warning when the time is almost up. Then at 90 minutes let them know of your decision to not purchase and that you must leave...get your freebie and go...

Kay
 

James1975NY

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Telling a sales person that you are not interested upfront does'nt mean anything. I can guarantee you they here that all day long.

I don't think that you should worry about the questions you want to ask. If you are interested in owning/buying for the resort you are visiting, ask all the questions about how the program works. If you like the program, ask about the prices and then make an offer to them at about 30% of what they are selling them for.

The last step in the sales process is usually the pricing. Enjoy the tour for what it is, learn what you want to learn, if you like it, ask to get to the pricing and then let your eyes pop out of your head and then make the low offer, and they will be done with you. Then call a resale specialist already having the knowledge of the product and buy at YOUR price!!!
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Good Advice -- But Be Ready With A Snappy Comeback.

Going into the introductions, let the salesperson know that you are not going to purchase. Let them know that you have plans and will leave in 90 minutes. The rest is up to them...do not ask questions as it only delays your departure. Give them an early warning when the time is almost up. Then at 90 minutes let them know of your decision to not purchase and that you must leave...get your freebie and go...
Great advice -- but always remember that the high-pressure, psychologically manipulative sales pitch is never over till you're out the door with your freebies, & maybe not even then.

When you tell'm you're not going to buy (thank you very much), they're apt to say something along the lines of, "Well why are you even here if you're not interested in buying? What are you, some kind of mooch or something?"

To that, you can look'm right in the eye, taking on a semi-sideways kind of angle, then lower your tone of voice to a semi-serious level, & say -- very distinctly -- "I'm here because your marketing department invited me to come take a no-obligation tour & receive a free gift. You got a problem with that?"

You'll still receive a Try Before You Buy offer from somebody else posing as a Quality Control Evaluation Specialist or some such -- then maybe 1 more agent will dangle newly received "foreclosures" or "trade-in weeks" in front of you, because it's really, really hard for the timeshare sellers to turn loose of you without running you all the way through the wringer.

To each new offer, the appropriate response is "No Thanks -- Not Interested -- and now I've got to be going."

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

spatenfloot

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Don't bother asking anything since most timeshare salepeople are clueless about the truth or will willingly lie to make a sale.
 

Rent_Share

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Yes, I already searched on here all day and found everthing you need to know for the newbie's.
Must have taken a speed reading course while you were at it :hysterical:

Seriously congratulations for doing research before subjecting yourself to the show
 

rapmarks

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I am laughing over the remark that the sales pitch is not over til you are out the door.
Many years ago we went to see a rv park with our pop up camper. We went to the sales tour to see what it was like, I don't think we even got anything. our frineds let us stay on their site with our pop up, and i think that is why we had to go on the tour. Doggone it but those sales people wouldn't let us alone the entire weekend. They kept popping by to twll us about anoher site or RV that was available.
At this time I had a two year old and the bathroom facility was over a half mile away. There was absolutely no way I was interested in the situation but they wouldn't let us alone.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Never Over Till It's Over -- If Even Then.

I am laughing over the remark that the sales pitch is not over til you are out the door.
What prompted that observation is our experience 1 time at a home resort "owner update" (stealth sales pitch) that did not end till after we thought it had already ended.

That is, the timeshare seller came striding down the stairway after us waving printouts showing that the value (within the timeshare company's "club" system) of the timeshare we already owned was $85,000 -- & so therefore just look how foolish we would be if we turned down their offer to sign us up in their system -- for only $11,500 or whatever bottom-line price the timeshare seller had quoted upstairs.

We didn't measure the $85,000 "club value" of our timeshare deed against the "low, low price" of $11,500 more that the timeshare seller wanted us to pony up.

Instead, we looked at that hefty $11,500 side by side with the paltry $1,925 we had recently paid for our outstanding resale timeshare.

That made saying No Thanks a no brainer.

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

 

JMAESD84

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I just got back from Las Vegas were I did five presentations, which lasted between 16 and 90 minutes each.

How many I own and that all were purchased resale usually ended any hopes they had of selling.

Questions:

Do you take deedbacks of fully paid for weeks which are current on all fees from owners that no longer wish to own? Marriott was perplexed by this question....they'll help you sell for a commision but wont take it back for free.

Do you have an in-house resale assistance program for owners who wish to sell?

Do you have an in-house rental program for owners who wish to rent?

Are there any features of ownership that are provided when purchased from the developer sales that don't transfer when the property is purchased resale?

Does the developer retain a ROFR on the weeks sold?

I was disappointed with HGVC-Flamingo were we stayed for a week on an RCI Points reservation. The lady at the welcome desk was ready to provide gifts until I slipped up and let her know that I had not purchased from a developer, then she said that they wouldn't provide any gifts....but would let me take a courtesy presentation. I even tried stopping back another day when someone else was managing the welcome booth, hoping not to repeat my mistake. Alas, they had recorded my "resale status" in their system and wouldn't budge on the gift.....no presentation.

Smart on HGVC's part but it made me feel slighted. Sceening out savy resale buyers before they promise a gift?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
The Headhunters Don't Care.

Sceening out savy resale buyers before they promise a gift?
In our dealings with the lobby- & kiosk-based timeshare tour headhunters in Las Vegas NV & in Orlando FL, we are very much open about being in it just for the freebies.

Several headhunters have become, in effect, willing co-conspirators.

And why not ?

After all, they get paid per qualified couple they sign up, period. Mox nix to the headhunters what happens after the folks they sign up show up & sign in for the timeshare tours.

If a headhunter signs us up for 2 tours for freebies, the headhunter gets paid twice. The hip headhunters may even run through their complete lists of available tour offerings for us, pointing out which are high pressure, which are less so, which pay cash (& how much), which offer the best attraction discounts, etc.

Others are "captive" (i.e., dedicated) headhunters, offering tours for just 1 timeshare company. But even those just want to sign people up mox nix, because all the compensation they get is on a per-customer per-tour basis.

The headhunter pockets the refundable $20-$50 cash deposit from the customer which is collected as a guarantee that the customer will show up for the tour. The refund the customer gets after completing the tour comes from the timeshare company, so the headhunter in effect gets paid in advance (i.e., by keeping the deposit money received from the customer).

I guess it's different for the on-site tour recruiters. No doubt their employers learned the hard way that resale timeshare owners won't pay full freight.

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

 

Lazy8

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Well,
It's my turn to chime and let you all know that I appreciate all of your comments.
I see that I have already been taken as I have put down the cash and there was no gifts or freebies mentioned.
I didn’t know that I had to beg for these or maybe I just signed up to quickly for the 5 nights and 4 days at the resort.
Now from all of these comments, I might just have to stand in front of a mirror and practice some of the lines you all gave me.
Or, just cross my arms, look at the floor and don't say anything.
2 trains of thought and I like them both.
Now I just have to see which one I like best.

Getting happier by the minute:)
 

Zac495

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Forget your credit card in the room.
Don't buy.
It's easy to be in the presentation and think that everything you learned on TUG is not true if the salesperson is good. Don't buy!
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Promotional Stay = Freebies.

I just signed up to quickly for the 5 nights and 4 days at the resort.
How did you swing that? Usually it's more like 5 days & 4 nights. And your 1st & 5th "days" are partial -- what's left of the day after you check in when you get there & the small part of the day you get before check-out on the day you leave.

In any case, a free or steeply discounted stay at the resort is freebies. The cash payment or show tickets, etc., offered as freebies at those headhunter operations are inducements to get people who are already in town to take timeshare tours while they're there.

Promotional timeshare stays offer the advantage that simply by being checked in at the resort, you've already received your freebies -- in timeshare-seller lingo you've been "pre-gifted." You don't have to string along & go along with the pitch out of worry that they'll zap you out of your freebies if you try to leave before the timeshare sellers are good & ready for you to leave.

Also, if you're staying freebies at the actual timeshare, that's a cut above those promotional tours that put you up at a nearby Ramada motel for your free stay. Those motel-style tours heighten the contrast between the luxury timeshare accommodations & the basic 4 Bs of the motel -- Bed & Bath & Bible & Bill (though of course there's no bill when you're staying free as a timeshare tour inducement).

Whatever the freebies are, all that is arranged & understood on both sides in advance -- you don't have to plead or wheedle or beg once you're there. The headhunters write down the promised freebies in the appropriate space on your invitation slip that you need to take with you. If it wasn't arranged before you got there, you won't be getting it.

One of our trips to Las Vegas was timeshare tour freebies. For showing up & listening to a BlueGreen timeshare pitch, etc., they gave us a chit good for airplane tickets & 2 nights' accommodations. We signed up for the Tahiti Village tour so that it coincided with that trip -- compound freebies we called it. Click here to read all about that experience (more that you might actually care to know).

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

 

Rent_Share

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Promotional timeshare stays offer the advantage that simply by being checked in at the resort, you've already received your freebies -- in timeshare-seller lingo you've been "pre-gifted." You don't have to string along & go along with the pitch out of worry that they'll zap you out of your freebies if you try to leave before the timeshare sellers are good & ready for you to leave.

Also, if you're staying freebies at the actual timeshare, that's a cut above those promotional tours that put you up at a nearby Ramada motel for your free stay. Those motel-style tours heighten the contrast between the luxury timeshare accommodations & the basic 4 Bs of the motel -- Bed & Bath & Bible & Bill (though of course there's no bill when you're staying free as a timeshare tour inducement).


You will need to put up a credit card and agree to pay a rack rate if you bail on the presentation and do not show
 
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