Sales Tours in Kauai - - worth attending?

[Conan]

We'll be in Kauai in September, at Shearwater and Lawai Beach.

We quit taking sales tours years ago, after some torturous experiences in Mexico. But this trip we have some extra time and I'd like to learn about what's on offer, if the pitch isn't too intense and the gift is adequate.

Any suggestions what I should look for?

 

[wilma]

Avoid the one at Poipu Point Resort/old Embassy as Diamond Resorts has some new, aggressive/obnoxious salespeople. The one at Marriott Poipu is low-key and not much pressure.

 

[Kauai Kid]

I concur with Wilma. Avoid sales people at the Point like they were lepers.


Sterling

 

[rifleman69]

Wyndham Bali Hai Villas is very very low pressure these days. Once they bring in the closer, decline the "Try VIP" option (why do you need a deposit for us to try something, AND how easy is it for us to get our money back if we don't like the VIP program?) and you're out of there.

 

[charford]

I didn't like the Pahio Bali Hai sales pitch - too high pressure. The Marriott Waiohai was quite pleasant though.

 

[divenski]

Westin at Princeville is another lower key possibility, but how many are you thinking of attending? After all, it's supposed to be a vacation, not work

 

[Conan]

Westin at Princeville is another lower key possibility, but how many are you thinking of attending? After all, it's supposed to be a vacation, not work

I doubt we'll attend more than one, so I want to make a good choice in terms of the ratio of

useful_info:sales_bunk

and

quality_of_gift:hassle_factor

 

[MaryH]

I went to the Wyndham one at Bali Hai since I loved Shearwater and wanted to see if there are some resale via Wyndham. They tried to sell me Bali Hai and then tried to sell me 300K+ Wynham points necessary to book the 3 bdrm unit I was in for $100K which I thought was ridiculous. They typical Wynham gift is $100 but they gave me $125 which I took in restaurant and Hilo Hattie GC.

The Westin Princeville one is pretty low pressured but the prices are high. They used to give more SPG points but seem to give walk in only half of those that decided to tour based on the 5 night stay package.

 

[rifleman69]

I went to the Wyndham one at Bali Hai since I loved Shearwater and wanted to see if there are some resale via Wyndham. They tried to sell me Bali Hai and then tried to sell me 300K+ Wynham points necessary to book the 3 bdrm unit I was in for $100K which I thought was ridiculous. They typical Wynham gift is $100 but they gave me $125 which I took in restaurant and Hilo Hattie GC.

The Westin Princeville one is pretty low pressured but the prices are high. They used to give more SPG points but seem to give walk in only half of those that decided to tour based on the 5 night stay package.

Yeah I liked the "We'll give you 300,000 points for a few years to enjoy VIP" crap line from the Wyndham guys. I'm betting they're really hurting trying to fill all of those new units that are built.

Those Westin Princeville places are nice, but they're not that nice.

 

[travelnut]

We attended a Shell Vacations presentation. Very informative as to their system (I like it!) and very low key. They know that no-one is buying in this economy. We got a great discount on the sunset catamaran "luau" along the Napali Coast. While we were completing the paperwork another attendee came in, held out his hand, and collected a cool $100 cash!

We made the reservation for the tour on the sidewalk in Koloa Town.

 

[JoeMid]

We attended a Shell Vacations presentation. Very informative as to their system (I like it!) and very low key. They know that no-one is buying in this economy. We got a great discount on the sunset catamaran "luau" along the Napali Coast. While we were completing the paperwork another attendee came in, held out his hand, and collected a cool $100 cash!

We made the reservation for the tour on the sidewalk in Koloa Town.

same here and I got over $750 in discounts for the cruise and a helicopter ride for 10 people!

 

[Jpollo]

Terrible Experience at Shell Vacations

We had a horrific experience at the Shell vacation resort.

For starters, she wouldn't allow us to take notes during the presentation. (Is that common?) When we said we weren't interested in buying as we felt uncomfortable making such a big decision without the ability to pencil it out or to write down key figures, she started berating us about how she needs to make a living, etc. etc. and that how we wasted her time, etc. etc. When the "presentation" ended we tried to leave on good terms, she looked away and ignored us completely.

So avoid Shell Vacations in Kauai. Worst sales experience of my life (non-TS or TS).

On the other hand, Marriott Waiohai was quite low-key, informative, and absolutely no pressure.

Jason

 

[Conan]

We ended up doing Wyndham Bali Hai - - the reward was cash off on Na Pali coast boat trips and helicopter rides.

90 frustrating minutes - we explained to the salesman that we owned RCI Weeks, RCI Points and Wyndham Points, all bought at resale for pennies on the dollar. So he spent his time badmouthing all three systems - - according to him the only thing worth owning is VIP Wyndham, and he could sell us an additional 130,000 points for $20,000 that might get us there (if what we already own could be qualified for VIP).

I told him VIP would be nice, but not nice enough to pay $20,000 for points that go for less than $1,500 at resale.

When it was clear he wouldn't make a sale, he questioned my wife how long she'd been able to stay married to me (the answer being, "longer than you've been alive"). His parting word to me was that two kinds of people don't buy from him - - people who "don't have dollars" and people who "don't have sense."

 

[rifleman69]

I just have to laugh at the salesperson's actions from the last two comments, no writing anything down and the dollars and sense rip? Definitely glad I or anyone I know is not involved in this type of industry.

 

[philemer]

We had a horrific experience at the Shell vacation resort.

For starters, she wouldn't allow us to take notes during the presentation. (Is that common?) When we said we weren't interested in buying as we felt uncomfortable making such a big decision without the ability to pencil it out or to write down key figures, she started berating us about how she needs to make a living, etc. etc. and that how we wasted her time, etc. etc. When the "presentation" ended we tried to leave on good terms, she looked away and ignored us completely.

So avoid Shell Vacations in Kauai. Worst sales experience of my life (non-TS or TS).

On the other hand, Marriott Waiohai was quite low-key, informative, and absolutely no pressure.

Jason

The Shell tour at Kona Coast Resort on the B.I. was awful too.

 

[lprstn]

Its always the luck of the draw. I went on the tour as I wanted to hear about the Hawaiin resorts, and mine was low pressure even though I didn't purchase. I just had a good salesperson. Sometimes you don't.

 

[californiagirl]

Another thumbs down for Shell! We did a Shell tour in Kauai a few years ago and it was terrible! High pressure and they kept us for 2 hours. The agreement was 90 minutes. They kept bringing another person over to try and "sell" us. Finally we told them they were over their time and at this point even if we had been interested initially, there was nothing they could do to sell us one now. They gave us our discount coupon and we left.

I had dragged my husband to this so I could get a discount on the helicopter ride. It was done so poorly in comparison to Marriott that mid-way through the presentation my husband leaned over to me and whispered: "You owe me big time for this!!" As we were walking out he flatly said he would never attend another presentation again as long as he lived!!! It was so bad that I promised never to ask him.

I routinely go alone to the sales offices at the resorts where we stay just to get updates. We have bought two other timeshares since that experience, but have not attended another presentation.