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The 1.5 hour presentation...

rsnash

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In many of the threads, many people mention going to a sales presentation that was only supposed to take about an hour and a half and then leave 4-5 hours later having agreed to a full retail purchase. Some on here look for presentations just to get the incentive prize (cash, points, tickets for an excursion, etc), but still complain about the presentation taking hours and it wasn't worth the time they wasted.

Has anyone ever set a timer? If I ever go to one of these presentation again (which I probably won't be because DH won't waste vacation time that way), I would bring the invitation with me that stated the timing of the presentation and then show the sales person that I am setting a timer. When the timer goes off, get up, insist that you have heard enough, are not going to buy and would like the award now. They aren't holding a gun to your head.

Has anyone ever brought a timer or set their watch alarm to go off? What do they do to make you stay longer? Do they refuse to give the award?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
The Timeshare Sellers Control Access To The Freebies Window.

What do they do to make you stay longer? Do they refuse to give the award?
They take advantage of people's good nature & they exploit people's realization that the freebies window doesn't open till the head timeshare seller (or his or her delegate) signs off on the freebies chit.

I won't say they don't take No for an answer, but it can take'm a l-o-n-g time before they get round to taking No for an answer. Even then, they're apt to bring in another set of timeshare sellers to try another angle, offer something "special," put forward a cut-rate trial package, & I don't know what-all.

I doubt saying Yes will get me over to the freebies window any quicker. If I give in, they'll just herd me over to 1 of those little office cubicles & blanket me with paperwork for another hour or so.

Think of timeshare tour incentives as "freebies" if you want, but in almost every case the recipient has to put in some significant time & work before getting those freebies.

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

tombo

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It might work, but it is still not worth the misery the salesman and closer will put on you before you get the gift.

I don't believe that there is a 90 minute timeshare presentation any more than I believe there is a Sasquatch called Bigfoot. They are both urban legends.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Back To Back Timeshare Tours ?

0I don't believe that there is a 90 minute timeshare presentation any more than I believe there is a Sasquatch called Bigfoot. They are both urban legends.
What if, about halfway into the pitch, I say to the timeshare seller, "Hey, could you speed it up? I'm due for a timeshare tour over at WestGate Lakes in 45 minutes." ?

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

Art4th

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We're usually out of there before the 90 minutes, but if it does go that long I just advise the salesperson that the 90 minutes is up and we're not interested. Most of the time, once they find out we already own several timeshares that we've purchased on the resale market, they don't want to spend too much time on us. Our last one was only an hour and our personal best was 25 minutes.
 

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My husband likes to ask lots of questions about resale, specifically eBay. He also happens to have a very deep voice that carries well. We have joked about having tshirts made that read something like "buy timeshare resale save thousands" and reveal them underneath a top shirt at the 90 minute mark. Can they govern what we wear?
 

Passepartout

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We ALWAYS carried printouts of available and recent resales from eBay, TUG Marketplace, HolidayGroup of their resort when available. At about the 1 hour point we produce those, ask if they are prepared to meet/beat the listed or Buy-It-Now price. They of course can't and at the agreed-on time limit we stand up and loudly, if necessary, thank 'em for their time and ask which way to the gift desk.

We don't usually attend the full court press presentations anymore, and try to postpone the 'owner's update' type things until very late in the week- after we have already used any free tickets we can get promising we'll attend. Phone unplugged. Anyone who needs to reach us knows our cell phone numbers.

Jim Ricks
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Minimal Freebies From "Owner Updates."

We don't usually attend the full court press presentations anymore, and try to postpone the 'owner's update' type things until very late in the week- after we have already used any free tickets we can get promising we'll attend.
In our (extremely limited) experience, owner update freebies are usually not much by contrast with freebies from timeshare tours involving coming in from the cold after an encounter with a headhunter.

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

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We usually have plans set up for about 2 hours after presentation starts, whether it's meeting someone for a meal or activity, or a golf tee time.

We tell them as we shake hands hello, that we are on a schedule for the day and must leave at ___ o'clock. About 20 minutes before the 90 minute mark, we remind them when we have to leave (if we are still engaged in the meeting). And YES, DH sets the timer on his watch!!

The last time DH had a tee time, and when we told the salesman, he laughed. DH said you might think it amusing, and can call the course if you wish, but we are out of here at ---
 

ivorius007

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It's a matter of expectations

I think the key is setting the right tone at the beginning. I make it clear that in the interest of saving their time and effort they should know I'm not there to buy and in fact have attended many presentations and have never bought from any of them. I tell the salesman I have three timeshare weeks, all bought resale, and I don't want anymore. They see from the outset I'm not a prospect and either don't go into the sales pitch at all but sit and chat, or wind it up in the allotted time.
 

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I have enjoyed learning some really great sales techniques, and when the time is up I say no and say we are leaving, never a problem getting the freebies. People that get held up aren't sending the right signals. Look them in the eye and say NO.
 
S

Steamboat Bill

The method I have used lately is immediately tell tehm I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FOR FREE.

I just want a 15-30 minute preview of the property, tour of the inside of a unit, and a price sheet. They still try a hard sell, but I usually walk at 30 min or sooner.

Take away their incentive (free stuff) and you now have the power to walk whenever you want.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
? ? ?

Without freebies, what's the point ?

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

falmouth3

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Got out of the last one in about 35 minutes by starting out telling the salesperson we were there after exchanging a week we bought on eBay for $600. He tried telling us about Wyndham points and I said I could buy them on eBay a penny a point or less. He looked shocked (and sick). Poor guy made a couple of trips to get water, etc. and then told us that we could leave. He told the freebie person that we had another appointment.

Some will keep you there 90 minutes just to hold you to the agreement. In Maui, we were there for 2 hours while the sales person badmouthed my resort. I should have just gotten up and left. As we do more of these sales meetings, we seem to be getting better at leaving in < 90 minutes. ;) My poor DH just lets me do all the talking. He used to get nervous, thinking that I would buy, but now he knows better.
 
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rsnash

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To all the expert "get out in under an hour" people... Do you get your full freebies? Anything good?
 

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In our (extremely limited) experience, owner update freebies are usually not much by contrast with freebies from timeshare tours involving coming in from the cold after an encounter with a headhunter.

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

Depends on who you own with.

I have frequently received $100 gift certs in addition to other gifts. If doing the deal in-town, there's usually $40 Red Lobster/Olive Garden, coupon book (like Entertainment Book) and sometimes a gas card on top of that. When we were newer, twice we got combo tv/radio sets, which has been great in our conversion van when the original one konked out, and there was always Red Lobster - we schedule for 6, hit the door by 7 and go on over to fill the seafood lovers in us.
 

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My husband likes to ask lots of questions about resale, specifically eBay. He also happens to have a very deep voice that carries well. We have joked about having tshirts made that read something like "buy timeshare resale save thousands" and reveal them underneath a top shirt at the 90 minute mark. Can they govern what we wear?

ROTFLMAO with this one. Go to www.vistaprint.com and they give away free printed t shirts about every other week, so check back often, go under their specials.

We are at Historic Powhaton resort as we speak. A Diamond Resort, formally Sunterra...I'm not too impressed with the way the upkeep is on the grounds. We are in a refurbished unit, so the unit is OK, but the grounds still have dead leaves all over from the fall, and yeah, if they blew over from the woods someone should be out there cleaning them up also all the grass is dead and I haven't seen sprinklers on once yet.
We did a presentation yesterday and the lady told us they are affiliated with Marriott. Are they? My husband kept asking her if Diamond resort goes out of business, what do I own and also he kept asking how many deeds do you give out per unit, still no answer. The answer she gave was, they are not units they are points.
 

Passepartout

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To all the expert "get out in under an hour" people... Do you get your full freebies? Anything good?

We'll give them the full 1 1/2 hr, but before we start we get in writing the goodies included. In Wmsburg, admission to CW, admission to Busch Gardens, dinner, but can't remember where. At Sedona, Pink Jeep tour, cash. At PB Mazatlan, Fiesta, tequila factory, and in house meal vouchers. There have been others, but usually we commit for about $300 cash or equivalent value.

If it's an 'owner update' a meal and ~$100 is about what it's worth.

Jim Ricks
 

Cathyb

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Generally you have signed an agreement that you are free for the next umteen hours so your 'excuse' wouldn't work. In Mexico there is practically NO way anything will speed it up -- timer or anything.
 

Sunterra

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We did a presentation yesterday and the lady told us they are affiliated with Marriott. Are they? My husband kept asking her if Diamond resort goes out of business, what do I own and also he kept asking how many deeds do you give out per unit, still no answer. The answer she gave was, they are not units they are points.
Lie, THE Club is affiliated with Interval International, Marriott is affiliated with Interval International. THE Club is not affiliated with Marriott, but a THE Club member you have access to Marriott after all the Marriott owners have picked the deposits over for 24 days or so.

You would own a portion of the Trust that they are selling. The Trust is a group of deeds for units. If there was no Diamond there'd be no THE Club, but the Trust would still exist. The amount of points you own represents a per centage share of the Trust.
 

Mjasp

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Lie, THE Club is affiliated with Interval International, Marriott is affiliated with Interval International. THE Club is not affiliated with Marriott, but a THE Club member you have access to Marriott after all the Marriott owners have picked the deposits over for 24 days or so.

You would own a portion of the Trust that they are selling. The Trust is a group of deeds for units. If there was no Diamond there'd be no THE Club, but the Trust would still exist. The amount of points you own represents a per centage share of the Trust.

So basically you really eventually could own the tiniest percentage of that trust. For instance...If they have 1 trust worth 1 million dollars and sell a trillion points in that trust each point you own would be worth next to nothing, correct?
 

pcgirl54

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Tours !

You have the salesperson and then in come 1-2 closer managers. As a rule we do not go to them because I do not want to waste 2 hours on vacation. Everyone says they are not buying and many end up buying. The rule of three no's.

Our first ever many years ago took 3hrs and we did not buy and had 3 antsy boys with us. I bought resale a month later at a Cape Cod resort after much research. We bought a Marriott HHI week resale thru Marriott 2 yrs later.

The newbies who do not own and are clueless take longer. The amount of questions asked takes longer or the interest shown.

We just came back from Maui and on the morning of the last day decided we wanted to learn more about Starwood/Westin.What a resort! It took 2 hours, we got 7500 points and the 2 upper managers sat with us for about 10 minutes each. We had a plane to catch so that limited time for a tour and we did this on purpose.

Everyone was professional and polite and in fact apologized for wasting our time. I told them politely and firmly that we were still paying off college tuitions and could not afford a purchase at this time no matter what the payments were in order to pay off college debt per our plan. I had to repeat it three times but they accepted the no.

Went to Florida years ago with the kids and to see about buying there. Curious about Fairfield and Vistana so took the tour and got 2 free tixs to Universal which helped us. We trade to Orange Lake and sat with a salesperson but do not think a gift was given. Both were 2 hrs or more and we said never again.

Short presentation on a Marriott Custom House $199 promo tour for a 3 day stay as we were owners.

Short tour at Harborside Atlantis in the Bahamas during our stay. Price sheets are in the unit.

When we went to Marco last year where you could just preview a unit at Eagles's Nest with no gift/ no pressure and be out in 30 minutes. There is an office at Charter Club where we stayed . Again short, informative and no pressure. Same trip we popped over to Hyatt Coconut Plantation in Bonita Beach due to all the hype and saw the model unit in the sales office. Short tour with no gift and were out in 45 minutes because we asked questions.

This idea came from Tug posts so we did it. When on HHI one year we biked to other Marriotts and asked the front desk Marriott owners could we take a peak for a future stay. If a room was open they let us after showing ID and I brought my Marriott owner card. Best to do this on check in day before check in time in case it has full occupancy.

We did walk ins in Sarasota and were able speak with the staff at Veranda BC but resort was full so there was no room to view as was Longboat Key but saw the grounds and pool areas. At Sarasota Sands we met the delightful owners who gave us a key to see a unit by ourselves. WOW!! Calini Beach Club was very rude.

I did want really to learn about Hyatt and Westin as to me they would be comparable to Marriott. For the most part I only want to see a resort units for future exchanges or if interested in buying in that area. I have ruled out a purchase to a location I was interested in owning by doing this. For us it is not about the free gifts it is more about a trade or purchase and being on the beach.

For us we still think Marriott suits us because of the amount of resorts on the east coast and other locations of interest. If I lived on the West Coast or Rocky Mtns I would consider Westin or Hyatt.
 
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Patri

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I showed a salesman a printout of a bargain from eBay. He said, "Yes, but when you buy from eBay you don't know what your're getting."
I said, "It would be a week in a unit at YOUR resort."
He had no reply.
At our last visit we had two free nights in the resort's onsite hotel plus four free tickets to an amusement facility. We did not buy.
We were referred by friends. They get some credit towards maintenance fees when the people show up. They said one friend bought two units!!! So it does pay for the resort to use that method to attract victims.
 

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My husband never would do a TS tour, but then we went to the Marriott one in NJ and it was so low pressure we went to the Sheraton owner update at our home resort Vistana Resort, still not painful, then we went to the one at Diamond resorts and she was caught in so many lies its not funny, they should know who they are talking to before they lie.
 

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Children are a godsend at TS tours. Try to get an infant or toddler to sit still for 2 hours. But the last tour backfired on me. The Hilton Waikoloa had an absolutely great play room for the kids that was open and within arms reach of us. It had soft colorful lighting, flat screen TV and each kid had their own headphones to listen to the TV.

My daughter didn't want to leave!
 
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