We just got kicked out of a presentation

[plpgma]

We have never attended a presentation - not a single one! Whenever we're assaulted with 'we'd love for you to attend an owner update' at check-in, we simply respond with a wall of No's which usually does the trick. I have had to get rather heated with my 'No' response from time to time -- but that has been rare. Bottom line, I go on vacation to rest -- not to attend sales presentations.

 

[chaparrusa]

i don't mind attending a presentation if the gift is right , which goes with my tip to you . the marketing representative will offer you the lowest gift possible as their commission diminishes if she/him have to lure you with the best they have , so, Don't ever say yes right the way , just go with , "i don't know , we are suppose very busy and those things take like half your day , correct ?" , they will then try to explain that it is only gonna take 90 minutes . REMEMBER their name and make sure you let your salesperson know that MICHELLE as example told you so , one thing to consider is that if you are going to a meal , like they offer you breakfast for instance , the time spend at the meal doesn't count , it really doesn't . but you do have somewhere to go 90 minutes after that , and mention that up some point at the beginning ,maybe at the meal itself . The key to better handle the presentation is to take the lead , DO NOT let them guide you , that is the BIG mistake and then try to run away at the very end . i kind of enjoy attending the presentations because it really gives you a better idea of the resort itself , most of the time i actually have a good time and once again the gift gotta be worth it . Be aware that in Mexico they will try to switch your gift . specially if you are being referred by an outsider , like the person at the booth inside a supermarket or the one at the rental car . Presentations in Mexico are the best ones because they give you great meals and even drinks but they are the trickiest . Do not upgrade your gift ever . like if they offer you admission tickets to Xcaret for your family , and at some point once they know you are not buying anything , they offer you to upgrade your admission with the VIP package by just $50 per ticket . offering you transportation and Buffet lunch at the park + no lines because it is a VIP ticket . of course it is a scam , you will only find out once you are at the park the next day when you are at the buffett and they bill you $32 per person , and you said , i got this VIP wristbands , the cashier will then tell you , the VIP only means you got the tickets for FREE as attending a presentation . then you realize , you got scammed . happened to a very good friend of mine . and they did it to me too once as my friend did'nt attend the presentation ,so i was by myself and at the end they came with half the gift $75 Vidanta dollars , which are dollar you can spend at the resort ,but the gift offered was $150 , they were pretty clever about it , "we trully appreciate your time , so we are giving you your portion of it ,but your significant other didn't show up , so "

plain and simple they are there to lie to you and trick you into buying something you don't need , and they know that so do you , lets make the best of it and have fun
i spend an entire day at a resort in Cancun they fed me and gave us drinks , yes they said ugly things at some point but i don't take anything personal , so we won

 

[chaparrusa]

put their guard down . at the very beginning they will try to find out how much you know about this SCAM call timeshare , have you attended a presentation before ? are you an owner ? most people lie , cause they think is best to keep it secret , but in reality if you let them know you are an owner , just like that . immidiately they will try to find out how you became an owner , how much did you pay ? right . then you tell them you got it for free , someone you know knew someone and they just gave it to you . you already won 3 quarters of the battle . for this salespersons is so easy to trick someone who doesn't know anything about timeshares , they can really elaborate on how good this is and bla bla bla . the moment they know that you know about this , it is like a punch in the stomach . later on the presentation call a friend and pretend they are sending you something , open ebay with the search for "timeshares for sale" 500 will show up most are free , and show it to the salesperson , now you are 95% there . you just showed them politely that what they are trying to sell you has not value whatsoever and that people actually want to get rid off this timeshares . just put yourself in their shoes , how are you gonna convince these people to pay thousands of dollars for something they see on ebay for free . GOOD LUCK

 

[Larry M]

My late wife and I used to do these all the time. We were up front about not buying when we received the solicitation phone calls and when we sat down at the presentations. In fact, after a while when they called, the first thing we did was negotiate the gifts. "No, we can't do it for a toaster-oven and a $100 gift card. How about a microwave oven and $250? Believe it or not, they actually would raise the ante. We viewed it as a contest; whether our resistance was stronger than their persuasion. Only once did it end badly. The salesman got a little angry, but when he threatened "We'll blacklist you with all the timeshare companies and you will never receive another invitation, we could only work hard to suppress our grins."

After my late wife passed, my dates and I (visiting Wyndham Ocean Ridge) would take the update for the restaurant/excursion tickets. These used to be a "sit through the group presentation, then quickly end the individual meeting" scenario. Only once did one of the dates make the mistake of showing interest in the individual meeting. (She's still too chatty.)

Now I have another life-partner. She wanted to visit her kids near DC over Xmas a few years ago and just at that time I got a Marriott solicitation for a nearby property. I told her about the great Marriott property I had booked in Alexandria--stay was in the Marriott hotel adjacent to the timeshares--and all I had to pay was parking lot fees. We weren't married, so Marriott insisted we take TWO rooms. My partner became nervous and scared but I assured her it would all turn out fine and ninety minutes of our time was a good exchange for four days with two rooms. Before we left, I printed TUG and eBay listings for a couple of units in the property and brought them in a closed folder to the meeting.

It turned out that they wanted to offer units a different property, Baltimore Harbor(?). And I no longer had the Wyndham property they thought I owned. But we had a pleasant discussion. Eventually everybody smiled and we got the cash cards. And as an extra treat, we brought her grandchildren and let them spend the night in the other room.

 

[geist1223]

Two years ago we got $400 or $500 for attending Grand Mayan in San Jose del Cabo. We spend more time negotiating the Exchange Rate because we wanted the Pesos for our 3 week trip. We ended up at 16 or 17 to 1. Running the numbers I am pretty sure it was $500 at 17 to 1.

They tend to offer more if you make contact in your first 24 hours in Cabo and you have not attended another timeshare show. A couple days later we were offered $800 in Cabo San Lucas if we were in our first 24 hours and had not attended timeshare pitch. Oh well

 

[x3 skier]

We weren't married, so Marriott insisted we take TWO rooms.

When was this, 1890?

Cheers

 

[Steve2]

I have had real bad experiences with the high pressure sales tactics and had to get lets say assertive but just regular time share updates. I will not go for less that 200 if even that not worth my time besides in Vegas I told them I had a time share to sell them when they were trying to sign me up

 

[LannyPC]

They guy kept telling us we were lying...

This coming from a TS sales person?

 

[csxjohn]

Just curious, how many presentations are you required to go to with the sampler from them? When you purchase a sampler as a non owner in the Bluegreen System you are required to attend a presentation on your first stay using the sampler, none after that.

 

[karibkeith]

I previously owned at a resort that insisted on an annual "update". They were trying to convert me from RCI Weeks to RCI Points. The representative would recognize me and knowing I would again say "No" would just hand me my gift and let me go.

Since then I unfortunately became a DRI Club member. They lie from the beginning by telling you it is an update. My last experience was another lie where they told me I would be meeting an Apollo representative (Apollo owns DRI). When you reserve, you get a phone call inviting you to an adventure of a lifetime which of course includes a presentation. These are pretty good rewards but I have had enough of DRI lies and misrepresentations and now tell them that I would rather drill a hole in my head than go to their presentation. This sometimes get a chuckle.

For a good chuckle of your own go to https://www.diamondresorts.com/diamond-clarity and read the Clarity statement. If you ever have the misfortune of attending a DRI presentation, take a copy with you along with copies of a few ads offering DRI points at bargain basement properties (This will get you the line about not being able to use them for resorts other than the one for which they are designated.)

I want to find an hour glass or more specially one that lasts for the agreed time so I can slam it down on the desk at the beginning of the presentation with the words "start talking: you have ???? minutes and then I am out of here". Keeping them to the allotted time is a struggle. You have to endure Three people (they are like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future that come one at a time. The first is the person who greeted you. Then along comes someone else with a deal. and just when you think you are getting tired of saying "No", along comes number three with the final pitch.

I always watch them scrawl all over a printed form without regard for the headings on the form. At the end when you ask for the form to take away they won't let you have it because their lies are there in their handwriting. Take a blank piece of paper with you and write down whatever they write down. It bugs the hell out of them.

 

[spudmouse]

We have a hard time saying no when the poor person handing out the parking permits puts the squeeze on to attend a session. Finally came up with a "solution" that gives us a way to say no without guilt. The parking permit person always promises the presentation will only take 1 hour and we agree we'll attend if it's only one hour with the understanding that for each MINUTE it goes over an hour it will be a Month before we attend the next presentation. We share the One Minute = One Month with the sales person just before or after we tell them we aren't interested in buying, IE at the very beginning. About 90 to 180 minutes later my wife is mad because it's taken so long and I'm getting happier by the minute. Here is the status of our last two presentations:

Worldmark - Long Beach Wa 4/7/2019 - 2 hrs and 6 minutes after promising 1 hour. 66 minutes over. Next owner update not before October 7, 2024

Diamond Resorts 2 hours & 22 Min Oct 2019 after promising 1 Hr, 82 minutes over, results in next owner update no earlier that Aug 25, 2027.

 

[calphone1]

touching upon karibeth's request and csxjohn's signature line... has anyone tried placing your cellphone on the table, setting the timer for 90 minutes and just letting it count down? (activate airplane mode if you wish to ensure the countdown proceeds uninterrupted) at the end of the allotted period, the phone's alarm will let everyone know presentation time is over... and perhaps you'll even be able to enjoy the final minutes as you're pitched wild promises about that paddleboat pond/ice skating rink planned for Phase IIB, establishing 401v accounts, and maintenance fee rebate programs.

if the salesperson is unable to extract $21,500(ish) from you in under 60 minutes, that's much more a reflection of their skills than your unwillingness to listen.

 

[jme]

We certainly don't mind attending a presentation when we get something of value from it,
like a gift card which will pay for 3-5 great meals, or enough DC points to add a couple of nights onto another trip, etc.
90 minutes is very short, frankly, and if you go to their first morning session, you simply leave and go have a nice breakfast somewhere and enjoy.
I will never understand the angst that people suffer from a sit-down meeting, over which YOU ultimately have the control.
Not to mention we do in fact walk out having learned something new.

 

[davidvel]

We certainly don't mind attending a presentation when we get something of value from it,
like a gift card which will pay for 3-5 great meals, or enough DC points to add a couple of nights onto another trip, etc.
90 minutes is very short, frankly, and if you go to their first morning session, you simply leave and go have a nice breakfast somewhere and enjoy.
I will never understand the angst that people suffer from a sit-down meeting, over which YOU ultimately have the control.
Not to mention we do in fact walk out having learned something new.

Many people are not strong willed, afraid of confrontation, and feel bad saying no to others. Did you know there are people who won't hang up on a telemarketer because they think it's rude? Or others that feel they have to talk to the people outside stores with petitions, or feel bad if they don't donate to the kids charity at checkout? Sitting ducks.

 

[moonstone]

touching upon karibeth's request and csxjohn's signature line... has anyone tried placing your cellphone on the table, setting the timer for 90 minutes and just letting it count down? (activate airplane mode if you wish to ensure the countdown proceeds uninterrupted) at the end of the allotted period, the phone's alarm will let everyone know presentation time is over... and perhaps you'll even be able to enjoy the final minutes as you're pitched wild promises about that paddleboat pond/ice skating rink planned for Phase IIB, establishing 401v accounts, and maintenance fee rebate programs.

if the salesperson is unable to extract $21,500(ish) from you in under 60 minutes, that's much more a reflection of their skills than your unwillingness to listen.

Yes, I have done that quite a few times. I always confirm the presentation time (usually 90 mins) with the sales person and tell them I will be setting my phone alarm time for 5 minutes less than that time as we have places to go and things to see during our vacation. We also make it clear right from the start that we are there purely on their invitation and are not at all interested in buying, especially at their prices. We tell them the prices we paid for our 2 timeshares and about buying resale. I tell him/her that when the alarm goes they will have 5 minutes to wrap things up and direct us to gifting. Quite a few times when the alarm goes for the 2nd time the sales person says they need to get a supervisor to do a quick 2 minute (HA!) survey on how we were treated which is always another sales pitch. We tell them we have fulfilled our time requirement and stress again we are not buying so please direct us to gifting before I start loudly telling folks where to get exactly the same as what they are selling for pennies on the dollar. Our quickest presentation to date was less than 30 mins after telling the salesman about buying resale and what we paid (free) for our Points, and that we had more timeshare time than vacation time from work.

A few years ago we had a family (our adult kids, spouses & grands) vacation booked in Kissimmee FL. We also booked a cheap Last Call for the week preceding that week since we had both just retired. During that first week we were invited to 4 timeshare presentations. We had nothing better to do as we were just killing time waiting for the kids to arrive so we thought what the heck! We ended up making enough money in gift cards that week that we were able to take the entire family our for dinner twice and still had enough left to fill the gas tank for our drive over to St. Augustine the week after the kids left and lunch out on the way.

I know the sales folks have to make a living but we have developed a very thick skin for presentations and only attend at their invitation to view their product so we will continue to go if we have nothing better to do.


~Diane

 

[dandjane1]

Vallarta Gardens cured us of ever attending another sales presentation.

Vallarta Gardens!!!!! So someone else had that experience! They have "Towel Nazis" that track how many towels you have at the pool, they will offer you "Twice what you paid" for your T/S if you sign with them. Of course their paperwork lies are unenforceable, and they actually called the cops on us when my wife was using her phone to record their lies! SOOOOooooo glad to get outta there! It's run by the Mexican Cartel, I'm sure. Truly the worst experience ever, but what a beautiful resort!

 

[dandjane1]

Has anyone gone through a DRI presentation where they offer a 30 cents a point benefit that can be used for cruises, etc. with no limit, and
NO MORE Maintenance Fees? That's what our last offer was in November. Sound too good to be true?
Well, we asked for all the details in writing, and after about 45 minutes, the Rep. brought out the nasty truth - all we had to do was give DRI $91,000.00!
In other words, 10 years' MFs for our Platinum membership IN ADVANCE! As many questions as we had asked, he would never say anything about how this was possible, without buying any more points. We finally learned! Every few months, they come up with new gimmicks.

 

[pedro47]

When we are on vacation. We do not want to attend a sale presentation.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

We are picky about which ones we attend. Most in Mexico we avoid except for Westin Lagunamar and Diamond's never! I like to hear what's new with our timeshares and usually learn something or at least get a tour of renovations. We typically take long trips so don't mind an hour and a half. We always try to schedule them on rainy days

 

[izzymail]

It isn't always that easy. The first thing we are asked EVERY TIME is, why are you here. Ummm, I am here because YOUR marketing department invited me. It sometimes goes downhill from there....

Just sitting there isn't an option. They want dialog, back and forth. You ask, they answer, they ask, you answer.

I have turned the tables and ASKED lots of questions too

 

[easyrider]

We attended a presentation on Monday. Usually we would have just slept in on the first day of a trip. We were approached at Avis and the old guy working the timeshare dealio said he would pay for our car up to $300. I said no but thank you. He then threw in $150 of gift certificates to use at the PB resorts. So we went.

The concierge of our resort knew the offer we had and wanted to match it. I told the old guy at Avis I would go with him and we did. Our concierge told us she knew we went to the PB presentation and seemed a bit upset until I told her I only kept my word. She wanted us to go on her presentation but we are presentation-ed out for now.

I'm glad we went because we toured the newest villas on the SBPB property. I would not rent one of these. They are very nice but these villas are crowded into each other and are more like a duplex than a villa. From the upstairs you are looking at the neighbors in their pool area. I know the family I waved at was not to happy having the tour home next to their villa.

The presentation was with a short haired hippy type guy from maybe Canada or Australia. I told him off the get go we wouldn't be purchasing anything without having examined the product. He was fine with that but at the end of the presentation when I said wrap it up, he said something to the likes of he was a predator and we were parasites. I looked him in the eyes up close and I told him " the mightiest predator in the world is the parasite." He was a nice enough guy but he had no real sales technique.

Bill

 

[cali-gal]

The last time I went on a presentation I thought to myself that I ought to get business cards with something like "Want to Buy A Timeshare for Pennies on the Dollar? Ask Me How", and put the link to this website. Offer to hand them out if the presentation goes over 90 minutes.

 

[moonstone]

The last time I went on a presentation I thought to myself that I ought to get business cards with something like "Want to Buy A Timeshare for Pennies on the Dollar? Ask Me How", and put the link to this website. Offer to hand them out if the presentation goes over 90 minutes.

I actually have a typed sheet of paper with all sorts of info on it about rescinding, benefits of buying resale and about TUG. It is saved on my desktop computer at home or I'd post it here, it might actually be buried in this site somewhere. I fold it up small with the headline showing and hand it out to folks waiting on doing their presentations or ones I meet around the pool who start talking timeshares. I even gave one to a sales guy once at a timeshare presentation who said he didn't realize there was a resale market!

~Diane

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

I actually have a typed sheet of paper with all sorts of info on it about rescinding, benefits of buying resale and about TUG. It is saved on my desktop computer at home or I'd post it here, it might actually be buried in this site somewhere. I fold it up small with the headline showing and hand it out to folks waiting on doing their presentations or ones I meet around the pool who start talking timeshares. I even gave one to a sales guy once at a timeshare presentation who said he didn't realize there was a resale market!

~Diane

My husband has given many lessons in the hot tubs and pool on resale and TUG. You should post your handout.

 

[klpca]

Keeping them to the allotted time is a struggle. You have to endure Three people (they are like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future that come one at a time. The first is the person who greeted you. Then along comes someone else with a deal. and just when you think you are getting tired of saying "No", along comes number three with the final pitch.

Perfect description of the experience lol.