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Strategy For Vistana Presentation

schubes

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Hi, Our family is going to Orlando the week of Thanksgiving. We were offered a deal to stay at Vistana 3 nights in a 2 bedroom Villa for a $338.00 total cost. We have to attend a 90 minute presentation. The last time we attended a presentation we purchased a timeshare at WPORV. We will not do that ever again after reading here at TUG.

Please give me some strategies to get out of the presentation unscathed and quickly. There is no worry about purchasing as it we now know how bad a deal it is. I just want to fulfill my obligation without sucking the life out of our day. BTW, this is going to take place on Tgiving morning! Thanks.
 

Ken555

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just keep saying "I'm not interested, and until the economy improves I will not spend any money on luxury investments like a timeshare." repeat as necessary until they ask you to leave.
 

LisaRex

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I always advise people to go late in the week so that if they do cave, they'll have plenty of time to rescind once they return home to sanity.
 

CeeWoo

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just keep saying "I'm not interested, and until the economy improves I will not spend any money on luxury investments like a timeshare." repeat as necessary until they ask you to leave.

I like that.

Another angle is to tell em---"But I found that unit for sale on the internet for under $1000". If a person mentions resales, they're pleased as punch to get you out of the presentation room ;)

(and the salesman probably want to go home early on Thanksgiving also)
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Getting Out Of There Quicker By Saying No Than By Saying Yes ?

I never thought of it till recently, but I wonder whether the folks who say No Thanks & No-No-No & 1,000 Times No, etc., get set free faster than those who cave & say OK.

Even though those 90-minute sales presentations commonly stretch out to 3+ hours, there's bound to be lots of back-office detail & paperwork, etc., that only start after somebody who gives in to the high-pressure, arm-twisting, psychologically manipulative sales pitch gets taken back to a business office cubicle for signing documents & actually going through with buying a full-freight timeshare for big bux.

So anybody considering saving time by saying Yes, with the idea in mind of rescinding pronto, might do just as well to hang tough & keep on saying No Thanks.

Just a thought. We've always hung tough & said No, so we have no idea what happens after somebody yields to the pressure & says OK.

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


 

suskey

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Print out the ebay Vistana listings before you go,bring them with you, and tell them they would need to come in lower for you to consider purchasing!

SUsan
 

SDKath

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Print out the ebay Vistana listings before you go,bring them with you, and tell them they would need to come in lower for you to consider purchasing!

SUsan

:rofl: I like that approach! :rofl:
 

Ken555

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Yeah, the printout is a great idea. Though, you need to be prepared to listen to a bunch of half-truths about how it's not the same, you can't trade it, it's not SVN, you won't get StarPoints (and without which, after all, what's the point of a timeshare?), etc etc etc. Some people (I was formerly in this group, but I'm a recovering TS meeting victim) actually enjoy that part of the conversation, where it's clear that the sales staff doesn't know as much as you about their product.

This reminds me of the time I visited Harborside and sat through the presentation because I was genuinely interested (even though they did not provide any monetary consideration for my time). At about an hour into the meeting, the sales "closer" (who joined us quickly when the initial staffer didn't know much) actually asked me "Why are you in this meeting if you aren't going to buy?" Of course, this was back in the days that I actually thought an "Owner's Update" was at least partly a real owner's update and not just a sales pitch. Needless to say, I was out of there quickly at that point.
 

schubes

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Those are some really good ideas.

What about if I say this: "We purchased a week at WPORV and have yet to use it. We would like to find out if our purchase is worthwhile before committing to another." And maybe throw in Ken's suggestion of "I'm not interested, and until the economy improves I will not spend any money on luxury investments like a timeshare."

And if I say the above or use any of the other suggestions, Should I do it immediately or wait until they take us on the "grand tour".

I would like to be up front from the start so that no one wastes their time, especially us! I am also afraid that if I start talking about the great prices on resales, that will start another whole long conversation that will make my ears bleed.

Has anyone ever been able to get out of their presentation within say an hour? I am planning on eating the free breakfast as our presentation is at 7:30 am!!!!
 

tlpnet

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I thought existing owners couldn't participate in those promotional offers that require the full 90-minute sales presentation (such as the Amex offers). Did the economy force Starwood to change that?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
The Required 90 Minutes Won't Start Till After (Free) Breakfast.

Has anyone ever been able to get out of their presentation within say an hour? I am planning on eating the free breakfast as our presentation is at 7:30 am!
We took the sales tour at Vistana Orlando in 2003 just for the freebies. We were on our very 1st RCI exchange, got shown the new units over at Vistana Villages. Didn't buy but were heavily wowed by the niceness of the resort & the condos there.

We were newbies with TUG, newbies with RCI, newbies with our far-off overseas timeshare (which was the trade bait with which we snagged that Vistana Orlando exchange), & full of ourselves with how well we thought we has mastered all the timeshare ins & outs in such a short time.

In any case, the timeshare seller that time (& that time only -- never before & never again since) actually did cut short the sales pitch. She closed her little folio, and said, "I know you won't be interested in buying here, since you were able to exchange in with that low-cost timeshare in South Africa. So there's no need to go any farther with the presentation. But before you go, would you mind writing down the URL for your South African timeshare & for that Timeshare Users Group?"

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

 

SDKath

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I thought existing owners couldn't participate in those promotional offers that require the full 90-minute sales presentation (such as the Amex offers). Did the economy force Starwood to change that?

Marriott just changed their policy. Starwood might have too?

Katherine
 

schubes

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I sure don't know how they decided to call me for the offer. It was early this year. I did not solicit the call. By May we had picked the November dates, I called them to see if that was ok and we were booked.

My confirmation letter, 1st sentence states: "Whether you're an old friend of Sheraton Vacation Ownership or a new acquaintance, we're delighted that you've chose us for your vacation needs. Blah Blah Blah."

So they must not care that we are owners already? Do you think I should just not mention that I already own? I want the best possible outcome to get out of there quickly without pressure. I would hate it if they determined that we are not eligible and charged us the full rate for the nights. Yikes.:eek:
 

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Ok you guys had me nervous....I dug around for the details of participation. In the Eligibility section it states:

"Owners may not use the package in conjunction with the ownership week and may not have participated in any Sheraton Vacation Ownership resort presentation in the last 6 months."

OK, so I am eligible.

Should I mention my purchase that has not yet been used in conjunction with the economy as the excuse for not being able to purchase at this time? And do I say it early on?
 

Ken555

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I'm confused. Do you own at WPORV? If so, then you are an "owner". Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they honor your reservation either way, given with what's going on right now.
 

schubes

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Ken, are you reading that sentence as owners cannot use the offer?

I am seeing it as owners can use it but not along with an ownership week or within 6 months of a previous tour.

I need to figure this part out, I don't want to mention that we are owners (we own WPORV) if it makes us ineligible.
 

DeniseM

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We don't do TS presentations at all anymore. No discounts is worth the hassle and the waste of precious vacation time. I don't think that $338 for 3 nights is that great of a deal, frankly. Have you tried other avenues that don't include a sales presentation?

Good luck!
 

tlpnet

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I sure don't know how they decided to call me for the offer. It was early this year. I did not solicit the call. By May we had picked the November dates, I called them to see if that was ok and we were booked.

My confirmation letter, 1st sentence states: "Whether you're an old friend of Sheraton Vacation Ownership or a new acquaintance, we're delighted that you've chose us for your vacation needs. Blah Blah Blah."

So they must not care that we are owners already? Do you think I should just not mention that I already own? I want the best possible outcome to get out of there quickly without pressure. I would hate it if they determined that we are not eligible and charged us the full rate for the nights. Yikes.:eek:

I agree with your thinking that you ARE eligible. Both things indicate that (although I'm not sure that some owners on TUG would necessarily consider themselves "old friends of SVO".) :hysterical:

In the terms, it specifically refers to owners. Their policy used to be that owners could not participate, so in typical Starwood fashion, it looks like they changed their policy and didn't tell their owners. You're not using this offer in conjuntion with your ownership week (by adding it on to your use week to include these nights etc.), so I think you're fine.

Regarding your OP, my experience with sales folks since I became an owner is that once I tell them I'm not interested, it doesn't take long for them to be done with me and to move on to other victims. :wall: I do own several weeks, though, so that may be why. If that doesn't work for you, tell them you have to check on your turkey!

-tim
 

clsmit

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They will probably have your paperwork that you are owners, especially if when they call to confirm your meeting you tell them where you own. Then you can continue the conversation around not purchasing any more in this economy.
 

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Thanks for all of the ideas. They are all good. I am thinking to go with the plan of saying: With the state of the economy and the hit to our retirement over the last couple of months, a luxury purchase like another TS is out of the question right now. We will know better where we stand after the new President's transition into office, plus a little time to see where we stand retirement-wise.

I don't think the sales person can argue with anyone claiming a hit on their retirement right now. No one that I know came away unscathed from that one.

Ok ....do we say this right away when we sit down, or do we wait for an opening. If I remember correctly, they really talk about all of the benefits before pricing. I would like to be able to skip as much of the sales talk as possible.

It doesn't matter that this offer wasn't the most spectacular deal, it did save us quite a bit of money on a trip we had planned to take anyway. Part of the trip we are staying elsewhere for a lot more money and a lot less room for 5 of us. The vistana portion of the trip is really just to lay around and relax in a nice complex.
 

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:rofl: I like that approach! :rofl:

If you are interested in owning at this property, make a low offer comparable to resale pricing. Of course, they will tell you the price is the price and at that time you should present the ad that you brought with you!:clap:
 

schubes

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I went to the ebay site and I don't understand something. For instance there is a Vistana timeshare going for $1.00 with one bid and 7hrs left to go. Will they actually sell this for the $1.00. It does not say anything about a reserve. There are other really cheap timeshares, with prices everywhere, all the way up to $22,000. I don't get it.
 

rickandcindy23

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The resellers on eBay don't own the timeshares, they took them, along with some cold, hard cash, from naive timeshare owners. The owners are people who really don't have a clue how to use their timeshare, so the spiel these guys give them just turns them off completely on their ownerships.

The bargains are definitely out there.

I agree with Denise; the rental price isn't that great. I see Bonnet Creek for rent for about the same price per night on the various websites out there.
 

schubes

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So if I were to bid $2.00 and the auction ends, the timeshare would be mine or do they come back and say it is not available or something?

I don't know what Bonnet Creek is, but at $112 per night for a 2 bedroom villa at Vistana for a family of 4 adults and one child, the price seems good enough to me. If it was a holiday inn or some other hotel, we would not have the roominess or kitchen and would still be paying more than this per night. And we would not have had the nice pool and other amenities. We were going to be in Orlando that week anyway, so it fit the bill.

I am sure there may be better deals out there for those in the know, I am just familiar with those deals.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
May Not Be What It Seems.

So if I were to bid $2.00 and the auction ends, the timeshare would be mine or do they come back and say it is not available or something?
You bid $2 & you get outsniped by somebody who bids, say, $500 during the closing seconds & buys it out from under you for $440 or so after the dust settles.

Just because the high bid is $2 with a couple of days or a few hours to go, that doesn't mean that people aren't scheming & watching & waiting & eSniping behind the scenes so they can try to buy it low during the final moments without tipping their hand ahead of time.

So it goes.

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



 
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