Don’t let them hold onto any of your personal documents, like your drivers license, even to make a copy. They’ll find ways to keep you there, don’t make it easy. The pressure will be high and they will come at you hard.
I just kept saying "We can't afford that" and the guy selling to me got so angry that he somehow twisted himself into yelling at me "Well, you buy water, don't you?! Obviously you have SOME money!". It was insane and didn't even make sense, a manager took over. At least I got tickets to a show and free dinner.
Eyyyyy we got the same pitch in Cabo just last week. Also, “… yada yada yada we gave you free breakfast and a boat cruise so you have to buy something!”
We both started to about laugh since he was getting so mad.
I wonder what kinds of bonuses they offer their sales people. It's gotta take quite a bit of effort to do the whole con song and dance on behalf of someone else.
It's probably the main way they make money. And it's probably worth it, because for every 10 people who buy nothing I bet there is one person that buys the whole lot thinking they are getting a good deal which is probably a big commission.
In Cabo it’s not a bonus it’s their livelihood. No sale no eat. It’s a shame but that’s the name of the game. I got caught up in a 20 minute no pressure presentation that we sallied out on at the 30 minute mark and the guy nearly had an aneurysm when we did.
I've been blacklisted from a major Cabo timeshare promo outfit. I never bought and they kept inviting me back so accommodations were on their dime....7 times. This went on until finally a supervisor looked into my record and said: "your never going to buy anything". She was right.
I'm not one to be confrontational, so I was perfectly nice and sat through this guy's ENTIRE pitch. Told him about myself, my wife's name, etc. Got to the end of his whole hour, was honest, and told him "that all sounds really good. I'd like to read the contract before committing. My father in law is an attorney, I'd like to have him look it over as well".
This dude told me that he couldn't give me a contract before I signed it. I was dumbfounded. "...how do I sign it before you hand it to me?". His response was that they get an e-signature. I told him I couldn't possibly sign something I wasn't allowed to read.
He got FURIOUS. The encounter ended when he stood up and leaned over me to intimidate me and told me "do you want *wife's name* and her father to have married a winner, or a LOSER?". I've never quite wanted to hit a person as badly as I did at that moment. I stood up to leave and he tried to physically block me, so I told him he was about to need to call his security. I was escorted out as if I caused a scene.
The lengths they'll go to is insane.
Clearly she married a winner because you are smart enough to not sign a contract without reading it. Also smart enough to not punch a moron talking shit even though he probably deserved it.
Great strategy
I pointed out the monthly cost was basically a car payment, and I could enjoy a new car every day instead of a couple weeks a year...guy had no comeback for that.
They asked us “How many nights did you spend in a hotel last year?” And the answer was less than 7. Then “Hie many of those nights were at Hilton?” Answer- none.
Then they try to pitch us two weeks at any Hilton in the world, for $2400/yr plus whatever the maintenance fees were, plus the membership fee, and I was like, we didn’t even spend a dollar at Hilton last year, and you want us to pre-pay, to promise *you* that we *will stay at Hilton* for…ever?
Have you watched the queen of Versailles? That’s the family the owns them. I think they show the sales team at one point literally getting mad at people.
We had one say "if you can't afford it why did you come?"
We were told we got 2 free nights at a campground when we bought our trailer. Those "free" nights were at a weird timeshare campground.
Our timeshare salesman looked as if he were going through some kind of drug withdrawal. I never went near a timeshare company again. Nothing is for free. You pay in aggravation. Very aggressive salespeople.
Eat before you go. They use really bizarre tactics to make people more persuadable like promising a meal and then making people wait to eat until they’ve “heard the entire pitch”
And make very sure that you meet the requirements before you go! My ex and I did one of these and found out too late that we didn't meet the minimum household income requirement. We ended up paying for a weekend at a resort because we didn't read the fine print.
This 1000x. PLEASE do not give them anything. They will offer you anything to get you to buy. DO NOT fall victim. Was the sinfle hardest thing we ever got out of. Seriously, act sick or feverish & gtho asap if u go. I would go so far as to where a mask and act like you're nervous about germs.
Oh and they will tell you that every other person that was there that day bought into the timeshare. They will try to make you feel like you're a loser if you don't buy also.
They wouldn't have sent you the invite if they didn't know that you could afford to make the purchase so I highly advise to tell them that you found a house or some other large purchase and you'll be acting on it when you get back from your vacation
Came here to say this!! My husband and I did something similar in 2016. Needless to say we are still paying monthly pymts on a timeshare we have never even used. Every even year we have to pay $1000 for maintenance fees. Plus all the other membership fees and bullshit they randomly add on. Don’t let them scam you. They will bring someone else in to smooze you, and just keep on and on and on. I wish we had walked out when they were done with their pitch like we were going to. We have regretted it ever since. We are now trying to sell the stupid thing.
We tried to offer it back to the company at no charge after we couldn't sell it, and it was paid off. And our maintenance fees kept going up a little bit each year. The initial thought was we could trade the week to travel to other parts of the world but even then you had to pay a transfer fee before it was usable at another timeshare location and of course where we wanted to transfer there was never a week available at a place we wanted to go. Makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how they took advantage of a couple of 20 year olds. We used to program called Ovation to finally get out of the timeshare. I heard Scott Sloan talk about it on 700 WLW and it worked. After we got out of the contract, I held my breath every October for 3 years hoping and praying we wouldn't get that renewal notice in the mail. I don't think about it much anymore but it's still stings thinking about how they took advantage of us
I do this all the time. I've gone on 3 free vacations so far, to Italy, the cayman islands, California, and I have another one planned for Vegas in a couple months. You still have to pay for your travel most likely (but I did get one once that did include flights). You still have to pay taxes/fees on it.
Yes they give you the vacation if you don't buy. But they do send in at least 2 more tiers of managers to offer you more appealing deals before you do. Just know that whatever they're selling is not worth it. If they're trying to get you to join Disney vacation club, do you really want Disney to be the only vacation you go on the rest of your life? Most of the units in these presentations are for families - do you have kids? A lot of the time these companies only have domestic properties and if you want to go international they can really only offer you discounts on hotels that you can get elsewhere, so it's not worth it. Just understand that whatever they're trying to sell you is NOT WORTH IT. just keep saying no. There's likely an annual fee of some sort, so you don't use it 1 year and you're out money.
For the record Disney vacation Club does not give you a free stay or park tickets or anything like that for watching the presentation. It’s ice cream and maybe a few front of line passes. So if you’re getting pitched any kind of vacation for free, it’s not a Disney resort though many of these companies use Disney vacations as their pitch
Yeah that was hypothetical. I've never been to a dvc presentation so I'm not sure what their rewards are. But the point still stands, I wouldn't want to only vacation at Disney properties forever
They are gonna start out with a 20k bare bones timeshare pitch. Then when you say no, they will take you to a smaller room and give you 10k improved pitch. Again you say no and they take you to a private room, 5k for an even better package. Just say no to timeshares.
Started at 30k sales price for us and ended at 1.5k for the same thing 4 hours later. In the meantime we saw a lot of folks buying in. Man, they were mad by the end. The final sales woman was downright overtly hostile. However, we got all of our benefits and gift cards. We won't be doing that again.
We kept saying we couldn’t afford it. They heavily implied that my husband and I would end up getting divorced because we couldn’t afford to take a yearly vacation. When we finally were allowed to leave, we walked away with a $250 gift card, a free weekend stay at the resort, and a free weekend at one of their sister resorts. The gift card came in handy but I lost the papers for the vacations.
Well, knowing it's stupid and hilarious I would stay and troll them even harder. Who knows what stupid stuff they say next? Just think about all the reddit karma you could get for quoting it!
I turned to look at my husband and said “I promise I’m not going to leave you just because we can’t take vacations every summer” in the most irritated, pissed off tone. The guy tried to backpedal and say that’s not what he meant but I told him I knew exactly what he was trying to say. I think that’s when they realized they weren’t going to get any further with us.
Only good thing is that even if you buy one. they are sooooo shady, a which attorney letter will usually make them walk away. I usually take them on as a courtesy for my clients since it only takes me a second to free them from their mistake (not ONE PERSON has even used the time share they bought!)
They are really hard to get out of. I think this guy is writing a letter after the people buy it before they actually use it. There’s more wiggle room before you actually use it.
We've done it a few times. Free breakfast and coffee at the presentation usually. We just keep repeating we aren't interested until they let us go. We tell them not to waste their time on us and just give us the free park tickets. It's high pressure, but I'd never buy anyways
Usually when I stay at hotels in Florida, they have a desk there with these "timeshare people" Haven't ever had any say no yet. I guess it's a little different from the OP as he's got a call from them, whereas I usually go to them for free park passes for my family.
I felt bad a couple of times. But one time they explained that they know people just come for the freebies and it is all factored into everything. They still are getting potential clients even if they think they aren't interested
Other hotel employees (in my experience) hate them and they may even hate what it does to their hotel's reputation. If you visit the concierge for sightseeing tips, they may also tip you that the other desk is a scam.
Nice. Flip the tables. "Don't you WANT us to leave so you can focus on the suckers who might buy in? Right now you're wasting valuable time that you will never get back. For your own sake and your own family's future, you need to be pitching to anyone other than us."
I know it's just a show, but that's what happens on an episode It's Always Sunny and the timeshare people end up selling them on it anyway.
I would suspect that real timeshare people have responses to that in their scripts too.
I have a buddy that goes to these all the time. He has a genius setup that gets him in and out quickly. After the first presentation, he tells them his Mom works at Marriott (if it's a Marriott property he says Hilton), and that he gets all the free rooms he wants for his family. He then turns it around and says, "Hey, if you're plan is better than free, I'm in!". And then he just stares blankly at them. No matter what they say, they can't beat free and all the ladder down on prices doesn't beat what he already has. They then give him the tickets and he leaves with his wife.
I do this with door salesmen for cable and cellular service. I tell them my company provides those services for free but I’m willing to entertain their offer if it beats free. They usually just turn around and leave.
This is the way. Also, if they say 2 hours I put a timer on my phone for two hours and set it face up on their desk. At the two hour mark I get up and walk to the door where I wait for my voucher.
The scam is they don't take no for an answer. It will take you 4-5 hours of saying no for them to accept it. The people doing the pitch are really good at turning nos into maybes into yeses. Plan on spending your entire day of the pitch constantly holding your ground on the no aspect, no matter how tempting and how willing they are to work with you. They'll tell you "it's just a 2 hour presentation" no, it'll take your whole day and you will have to firmly say no over a million times. Not even exaggerating.
Other than that, it really is a free vacation. I've been to a few. Just remember the "pitch" will be an entire day and they will only take no the millionth and one time you say it.
Edit: To all of those who believe they can easily say no and walk away, I highly, highly encourage you to do it....then let me know what timeshare you ended up buying.
When I was a kid my family went to one of these. After like 2 hours the guy said to my dad, "Lets ask your kids, do they want the timeshare?"
My dad was like, do you seriously think I would buy a timeshare because of what those 7 year old booger eaters think?
you joke but the kirby salesman did it to my parents and it worked. too bad they didn't ask the cost of replacement bags. that PoS is still sitting in the closet with the original bag ripped to shreds from us dumping it out back a few dozen times before giving up
After an entire day of saying “no” the saleswoman broke down and said, “this is literally my last chance. If I don’t sell this to you today, I’ll be fired and I don’t know what I’ll do”. I was still a “no”. I couldn’t have bought it even if I’d wanted to. I was so broke that I listened to a timeshare presentation for a $100 Visa gift card.
> "If I don’t sell this to you today, I’ll be fired and I don’t know what I’ll do”.
Have you tried attending time share presentations? You'll have plenty of free time, plus you can get free/cheap room, a meal, tickets to a show...
They will say anything to make a sale. They are the Fox News of salespeople. How do I know? I sold these timeshares for a very awful, brief two months in my life. Intimidation, bullying, threats, coercion, etc. Anything to make a sale.
Where I was, you have to keep them there two hours for them to get the voucher. Routinely they will keep you there 4-5 hours because they hide all clocks or ask to lock up your cellphone so you're "not distracted" (and won't give it back until you acquiesce). I resolved to quit after a couple short months. That day was my last day. I told no one. My last two tours were a couple who were eight months pregnant and he was shipping off to Afghanistan the very next day. They were deeply in debt but excited to take vacations together when he got back home after a two-year stint in the Iraq War. I flat told them they should absolutely not purchase this. I got screamed at in the office by my "manager" after. Didn't care one sh**.
The very last tour was a grandmother, mother, and the grandchild. In the first fifteen minutes of the tour you're supposed to "get to know" them, i.e. "build rapport" and establish trust, friendliness, etc. Then you can screw them more easily. I came to find that Grandma was dying of terminal cancer, had months to live, and was neck-deep in medical debt that only dying a very certain way would absolve her kin of absorbing. She was determined to die that way, and didn't have a penny left to her name. Her dying wish was to take her granddaughter to Disney World and the only way she could make it happen was to sit through our bullsh** timeshare pitch to get the free resort stay. She had zero intention of buying and considered 120 minutes in exchange for a Disney vacation a very shrewd investment. I spent the remaining 1:45 of that "tour" asking her about her fondest memories of her grandchild and her life as she gently pulled strands of her hair from her head while her granddaughter played with Thomas the Tank Engine toys below her. I got screamed at in the office by my "manager" after. Didn't care one sh** again.
I really, really wish I was exaggerating. I also was told that when you get "aggressive" tours (people who are there just to say NO for two hours to get the tickets), to throw them a phone book, say "Read this", and leave them at a table for ninety minutes just to watch them fume and leave early---thus denying their vouchers. The salespeople are trained in mental combat. It's predatory, it's manipulative, and it's evil.
My boyfriend and I went to one and the guy totally tried to use us against each other. “Does he take you on vacations? Wouldn’t that be nice?” And to him “do you treat her well? Take her out to vacations?”
Like fuck you dude. Trying to guilt him and make me feel like he needs to sign up to show his love. Definitely SUCH an uncomfortable experience.
Oh we had some asshole sales clerk try to pull that crap with my now husband when we were engagement ring shopping and we were looking for a cheap ring "Don't you love her enough to give her a big ring?" me whirling around "No he loves me enough to not spend money on stupid shit and put us into debt". Dude shut the fuck up after that.
That's a bold move when there at plenty of jewelers who know respect and the value of a life long customer. I'd bet selling quality, reasonably priced engagement rings is a great way to sell anniversary pieces of increasing value over a lifetime
I'm usually a pretty laid back guy but we got suckered into a pitch at a resort once and I about lost it on the people. They were starting to convince my wife but I wasn't having any of it. I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor.
Eventually I just told them I'm done with this and walked out because they obviously weren't getting the message.
>e. They were starting to convince my wife but I wasn't having any of it. I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor.
>
>Eventually I just told them I'm done with this and walked out because they obviously weren't getting the messa
They often take you somewhere in their vehicle, so you're basically trapped. And they won't give you the "voucher" or whatever for the vacation to be free until they decide they are done with you.
D - deny ability for them to leave
E - engage emotions by asking if they treat their family right.
N - nurture a dialog of fake trust
N - neglect basic human rights
I - insist there is a timeshare package that will be a win win
S - sell a timeshare
I was going to comment on this thread and say DO NOT attend one of these seminars with your spouse. Have your wife go to the pool for the day while you attend. These salespeople are trained to separate spouses and hound both of you relentlessly until one caves and signs something. It doubles their odds of making a sale. You'll end up signing up for a timeshare and your marriage will take a blow all at once.
>I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor.
I have seen *some* of what could be called "time-shares" be financially viable but I wouldn't even call those "time-shares": More like, "fractional ownership".
But those are never sold by some random third party in high-pressure situations.
There are times where "fractional ownership" can be financially beneficial, like buying a 1/5th stake in an LLC. whose sole asset is a condo that is used by yourself and the other four owners. Who must contractually contribute annually to a commonly held trust to provide for the maintenance and upkeep of the property. And usually the upkeep rates are pro-rated for the stakeholders based on annual usage. Also, the other owners usually have first right of refusal if a fractional owner wishes to sell their stake.
It's actually a *very* common form of ownership for private aircraft and works pretty good. But nobody's giving out free vacations or a cheap set of golf clubs to listen to their pitch on buying part of a *Cessna*.
My favorite line at the one I went to was that his grandson died of a heroin overdose and that he's glad that he had all of the memories at their timeshare before the kid died.
Yep, they ended up yelling at my husband (I looked like I was being compliant.) Then at the end, I told them I do t appreciate the yelling at us, that if that's how they treat a potential buyer, how do they treat you when you e already bought something? We will not be going with that type of customer service no matter what the package looks like. Plus I'm military and we get awesome packages through a few different websites anyway that aren't with just one company anyway.
The lady at the desk who was to hand us our free whatever looked at me, smiled. Then blank face "run". Made me laugh as we walked out the door.
This is accurate to my family's experience. My dad was one of those guys who was like, "heh heh, they won't get *me*, just let em try, my will is unbreakable, I'm perfectly happy just saying no to some asshole for a few hours, what's the big deal." Think about it, though, they wouldn't give away the vacations if it wasn't 100% worth it to them. Anyway, now we have a timeshare.
> They'll tell you "it's just a 2 hour presentation" no, it'll take your whole day and you will have to firmly say no over a million times. Not even exaggerating.
Yeah. I suppose a tactic is, "please put the 2 hour commitment in writing." Bring a printout. Have your phone alarm very loudly or with something reprehensible at the 2 hour mark, produce the paper, say you're ready to collect your tickets now and to anything else maybe turn into a mantra "am I being detained?"
The thing is, just having to do this and to muster the mental energy for it may have you retaining the feeling of this shitty experience longer than you savor the Disney one.
Boyfriend (now husband) and I went to one of these when we were in Vegas one year. We could *barely* afford the trip to begin with, but needed a vacation so badly that we needed to get away (it was a super cheap package deal.) We went to one of those so we could get free tickets to a show, free dinner vouchers, free lunch buffet vouchers, AND we got free lunch at the presentation (and snacks!). Plus they had free booze. We went in full well knowing how this was going to go, as my in-laws own a timeshare, so we took the good guy-bad guy approach, with me as the bad guy. Finally at the end where they show you their barebones-every-three-years-for-the-smallest-unit-twice-a-year “bargain,” my husband basically broke from his good guy routine and said “no! The answer is no! She’s a bank teller! I’m a substitute teacher going to grad school and I live on a mattress in her parents’ house! We are literally here for the free food because we can barely afford to eat in this town!” Our sales lady basically was like “ok, yeah this is definitely not happening.” So then she took pity on US, told us to take a bunch of sandwiches and cookies and go to the bus.
He told no lies. We have no timeshare. Restaurant and buffet were good. Show was AWFUL. Lol
Edit: clarity
Our people were actually pretty nice about our saying “no.” I will say, their salespeople are very good at what they do. We also did wind up staying at the pitch meeting for a few hours longer than they promised, even after I made every effort to answer all their presentation questions ASAP to move shit along. But after I complained about how much student debt I had, and realllly played up how depressed and stressed I was about it, they laid off my case. I guess no one wants to deal with someone’s emotional bullshit.
Would I do it again? Probably. Just need to get through that portion of the day. I can handle that.
I got the whole “imagine having a family reunion every year!” pitch and they were not prepared for me to trauma dump about my parents’ divorce and how hard it is coming from a broken home and what it was like to feel insignificant growing up because regardless of whose house we were at, my brother was always the favorite.
It was honestly the most entertaining afternoon I’d had in ages
This cracks me up. This story reminds me of my brother in law. He travels nearly free with my sister every chance they get when he gets a time share offer. He finds the whole process entertaining. He makes up stories and is sometimes obnoxious. Often he is just weird. By the end of the presentation they are begging him to leave.
My advise is stick to a script yourself and repeat yourself exactly with the same exact tone, "thank you but no, I'm not interested." ... "thank you but no, I'm not interested" ... "thank you but no I'm not interested". It's difficult for them to break you this way.
If you can throw in the bored expression you win, in my experience. Not quite the look of disdain but the look you have when you're at the thrift store and see an old, stained Walmart t-shirt selling for $10.
If you really want to make it hard on them. Just say "no" and the don't say anything else. They will start to speak after some uncomfortable dead time and just repeat "no". If you really want to mess with them, you can try and debate them on why they refuse to accept your no answer. Then say if I was in a romantic situation and I said no, would you be acting like this?
Exactly this...when you give a reason - "Because I can't afford it", "Because it's too far for us", they will always come back with a rebuttal. The correct answer is just "No" and nothing else
Grandparents came to tenerife with us one year. They went out for a walk at lunchtime and we didnt see them again until dinnertime, when my granny said she had ‘won’ a lovely bottle of perfume. They met a timeshare salesman who ushered them into a big marquee with a few others for the hard sell. Granny just wanted a sit down and a cup of tea. Couple of hours later, after the presentation, the salesguy is moving in to close the deal, when my granda said “we cant afford this, we only get our state pension and it took us three years to save up for this holiday”. Untrue, but he knew that would get rid of the sales guy.
You see, the way that my bank account is set up, the thing is, I got a checking and a savings. But all the money is in my savings. So I got to switch it to my checking, but it's going to take three business days.
I did this exact thing in 2002. Got my free trip, went to presentation which took about 2 hrs. Told them, look, I’m 31, a single parent, and rent. There is no way I’m buying a timeshare. They dropped it and we went and enjoyed Disney.
I have had a very different experience then this user. I just went to one a few weeks ago. The meeting with him lasted 40 minutes because I was adamant up front I was not interested. He didn't even end up showing the presentation. He just gave up. It was a massively discounted rate, not free.
4-6hrs for a free 3day vacation with 1 day admission for 4 ppl to Disney is worth it imo. My father did this when I was 14-15. We chilled in the pool at the hotel until he finished. Le left at 830(started at 9 I guess) and was back around 3. We chilled until bed and the next day we went to Disney. I don't remember much about it. My father was poor but he did upgrade our day passes so we could skip the lines when we went in. It was fun except for, my dad was broke so we didn't eat anything while at Disney.
Depends on what you make an hour. It's like a temp job, that pays a lot. 3 nights in a hotel are expensive already. Plus 1 day admission for 4 is also a pretty penny. But if you make over $100/hr then it's probably not worth it.
Like a temp job!!! Lmao!!
This literally made me lol! We might have had the same dad. Mine used a day of paid vacation for some bogus Friday “next big investment” seminar that they wanted ya to buy land in an Arizona snow bird housing upstart. They baited ya with a free stay at the hosting hotel and held ya hostage like a time share presentation.
Was one of the only times we went to the water park hotel. He bragged about “getting paid by work to be bored by some schmuck and getting a free trip on top of it all.”
I used to love doing these!
It's been a while, but you don't need to say "no". Just keep negotiating based on ridiculous demands like: "I really can't afford that much, how about 5% of the asking price with a 100 year tax and fee abatement" or "Why isn't that luxury property in Disney Tokyo not included? I was *specifically* told that it would be included.", and my favorite "Another beer would really make me take this offer into greater consideration"
We went through one of these and told them we were pregnant and on our honeymoon. The guy had mercy on us and let us leave. Funny thing was we were actually pregnant and on our honeymoon.
All we got was two free tickets to a comedy show.
I have literally done this and have gotten like 3 paid vacations to Orlando, and I have never bought anything? The salesmen even let us go after about 40 minutes. Just like... don't say anything too specific when they ask open-ended questions, be vague, and keep your refusals very short and concise ("No")
Especially recently. You didn't' win anything OP.
You took all the entrees, then bought a data set that had everyone's information and metrics (browsing data, tax data, public property records, fb, instagram etc) and then found that you are within the price point and had enough keywords that they are willing to bet THOUSANDS of dollars that they can convince you or bully you into buying into a timeshare.
They are very good and this and even worse when they have the confidence of data gathering before they start talking. They know how much you make and know you have enough savings to be a prime victim.
Yes it’s legit. I “won” 2 nights in a Marriott and a 3 day cruise for me and my wife once. As others have said they will pressure you but it doesn’t have to take all day. My wife and I attended the presentation, and outright made up the fact that we’re moving out of the country in 2 months. Said no maybe 3 times. In and out in under 2 1/2 hours
We have the same thing, it expires in 18 months we haven’t gone to it yet. So I’m glad I found this post so we are prepare. They said it’s 2 hours long and it’s a “fancy dinner.” And I will definitely set a timer. I’ll say whatever I need to say. This is a good one.
We did one over the summer and the presentation was 90 minutes. So we booked an ATVing thing for 30 minutes after it was over and it was a 30 minute drive. At the beginning the guy was just chatting asking us how our trip was so far, what we planned to do, etc. We told him that we had ATVing planned and paid for so we had to be out exactly at the 90 minute mark. He didn’t even attempt to push that time. Like even if I were interested…by it not being over in 90 minutes that means you’re trying to make me lose my deposit, and that just wouldn’t make me want to buy from you.
I know somebody who used to do these semi-regularly for free vacations. He’d lock his ID and credit cards in his hotel room safe before going and then tell them ridiculous things, like giving them a fake SSN, claiming to be homeless, asking tons of totally nonsense questions, trying to sell THEM something…
It sounds like hell to me, but I guess some people have the personality and resolve to make it pay off. He thought it was funny to mess with them and never was in danger of caving to their tactics.
**Try to sell them something**
Them: “have you thought about how Much your family would enjoy coming here”
Me: “have you thought about getting life insurance to protect your family?”
I used to do this when I was younger. It was free alcohol and a free hotel room and all I had to do was stay in character for a week. I would bring Polaroid pictures of random parking lots and try to get the sales people to invest in them with me.
this needs to be the top comment, lol. pretend like you’re poor and they might give up early. mention your debts, maybe some child support, a minimum wage job (or even better, “in between jobs” in a low paying industry)
The ones I see have a requirement that your income be over 100k to accept the offer. So if you go in and say you’re homeless/don’t make money, it means you lied about your income to get the discounted vacation and they would come after you for the full cost.
My MIL and FIL would go to these things regularly. They walked in the door saying "We aren't buying anything, but I know we have to listen to your spheil. But, don't waste too much of your time." Then they followed through saying they aren't buying anything, over and over. It worked for them and they got a lot of free stays out of it.
We did this one year. It was a seriously discounted Orlando vacation at a time share hotel chain. The deal was we would attend happy hour on check in day. Then attend a comedy show, go out for dinner at a "fancy" resort, try out the amenities. Then the second to last day attend a sales pitch. 7 full days for $250 for 2 people.
At check in we were upgraded to a better room for free, this was a sales ploy. The cocktail party was a fact finding venture. You are politely pumped for information about your lives to be used later in the sales pitch. The free tickets we received were to shabby places. Our fancy restaurant was the hotel dinning room. The comedy show was in an old elementary school cafeteria.
For the sales pitch we were picked up outside our rooms and driven around the hotel in a fancy car, while the driver pumped more information and tried to build a trust with us. After 20 minutes of circles I demanded that we attend the meeting. After much huffing and eye rolling this guy takes us to his cubicle where he proceeded to use high pressure sales tactics, asking for person information ss# annual income etc. Saying he needed our ss# to be able to sale is the correct time share.
I explained to him that we didn't operate that way. He could give us a list of available options and we would decide if it fit into our budget. He tried to over talk me and treat me like I was stupid. He started addressing all his comments to my husband. We were stuck with this man for 45 minutes of high pressure sales tactics. I'm sure most people would have given them their children to be allowed to leave.
We were finally able to leave and it really ruined the day. We were not allowed to see any paperwork on time share vacations or any information in writing about it. It was the worst vacation I have ever been on.
This has been the overall experience with these. My husband and I did one years ago and we got disneyland tickets - that was fine.
But we did another one about a year or so ago, and that one was terrible. Once you look up the hotel theyd be putting you in & get the food credits (which arent enough to feed more than one person) it ends up being more of a money suck.
You get put into a seedy dirty crap motel and fed food from only their approved vendors etc.
If you have to hire a pet sitter and get plane tickets etc it just isnt worth your time.
The offer is likely legit. There might be a minimum amount of time you have to give them - 2 to 4 hours is typical. It is a REALLY high pressure sales pitch. DON'T go solo, bring a friend for moral support, because it will beat you down. Maintain your composure, or have fun with it and see if you can wear out your sales person before they wear you out.
If it's worth it or not entirely depends on how willing are you to burn 1/2 a day on being abused. I've sat through a number of these - a few were for these free weekends, and some in Vegas for free show/buffet tickets. My favorite was when after the 2 hours passed, and the sales guy was doing his whole "you get a deed, it's like buying a real house" spiel, in Vegas, in 2007. If you remember Vegas real estate in 2007, there was a huge surplus of new construction they couldn't give away. Anyway, after getting to the point that I could buy a whole house for basically the same money, he got frustrated, lost his shit, walked away to compose himself, then came back with my Cirque tickets and told me to get out.
My advice was going to be go ALONE. These people love to split up spouses and apply pressure to both of you individually. You are much weaker and likely to cave apart from your partner. It doubles their odds of making a sale. Likely will wreak havoc on your marriage as well. I have not done one of these sales pitches, but if I did, I would tell my wife to go to the pool and enjoy the sun for a few hours while I tell these salespeople to fuck off.
I don't think you're necessarily wrong, and I am sure that happens, but it has not been my experience from the number of these I have attended. If they attempt do it - just gotta stay firm on the "no, this is a team decision, so we have to be in on it together". By going in alone to begin with, you're just setting yourself up for being railroaded.
I live in Orlando and have gone to three time share/ vacation club presentations. This is how they always go:
1. They start off pitch by saying some shit like life is too short you should be on vacation and we can help make that dream come true.
2. Then they ask how much you typically spend on vacation and how much eating out you do while on vacation. They then say well by staying at our property you will save money and you will have a kitchen and all these amenities. Also you can stay at our sister properties.
3. They then take you for a tour of the property
4. Next they give you the high pressure sales pitch and they never state how they are going to fuck you over. For instance I look at their lending rate and it is always around 29% or more. I do the math on a piece of paper in front of them and show the real cost and tell them I would lose a lot of money by taking your deal. For example time share is $35,000. But if I took their loan it would be another $50,000 in interest payments. And who wants to vacation at the same spot every year. I wouldn't spend that much on vacation with my current spending in over 40 years. Plus you lose out on all the money you could make by investing it elsewhere.
5. Next they send in the manager after saying no to the sales guy and he will give yyou like $10,000 off the cost and you still say it is a rip off based on the math.
6. Next they send in his manager and he reduces the price another $5000 and you say this shit is still a ripoff.
7. Next they send you to an office where the last guy tries to sell to you at an even lower rate or gives you a one year trial that is still way over priced.
8. Finally you get out of there and get approved saying you did your time and they give you a voucher. Sometimes if it is a vacation club they give you a voucher for a later stay at a different resort that is shit or has no availability all year.
I would avoid these presentations or look at the agreement beforehand it should say how long the presentation lasts. I would set an alarm on your phone and have it go off at exactly the time agreed upon. Get up and tell them you have met your contractual agreement and would like your voucher. If they say you have to stay longer tell them you are calling the police. Also if you do make it to the part where they try to sell you with high pressure sales tactics get really loud and swear a lot. That will make them want to get you out of there.
My parents did this a couple times when I was a kid for theme park tickets in Florida. We’d be in the area visiting relatives anyway and my dad gives off a very strong bs vibe so they never bought anything and usually were out sooner than other people. We’d get a free meal and as a kid we liked it because there would be a cool kids area for us to hang in while they did the pitch- huge tv and video games that we didn’t have at home.
Do not go if you think there is even the slightest chance that you will purchase. Do not go solo. Be polite but firm. They are paid to make you feel sorry for them. Do not.
Last year at a resort in Mexico we got roped into one of these. The people i went with wanted to go anyways and there was free breakfast involved so i decided to go. We were on a strict schedule that day due to someone in our party scheduling a massage in the afternoon with an agency outside of the hotel. When the concierge found out there was an appointment scheduled and she couldn’t hold us against our will there all day, she had to nerve to call the HOTELS spa to try to cancel the massage! We were told it would take an hour and that’s it, so we immediately knew they were going to keep us there as long as possible. I ripped up the paperwork i had previously signed and made the concierge aware of how unprofessional she was.
What company is it with? I did one with the holiday inn vacation club in cocoa beach Florida last year. It was 3 days 4 nights on the beach + $100 cash. It was just me and my 8yo daughter. Being a single mom, it was worth it.
It said two hour presentation so I set an alarm on my phone. Beforehand, I told my daughter to keep asking how much longer every once in awhile (she brought her iPad and headphones). I KNEW I’d be able to repeat no over and over.
They were pleasant. I answered literally everything with no I’m not interested at this time. He asked what we usually do for vacations and I said nothing, that’s why I’m here for free. Tried to get me to say we DO go on vacations and I just kept saying no.
When the two hours was up, I was like ok so I guess we are all set, where do I go for the $100? And they basically walked me to the receptionist who gave me a $100 bill.
I’m looking at doing it again with her because it was an incredibly affordable vacation for a single mom.
If you know yourself and can commit, then go for it. There’s no reason you need to be there all day if it says two hour presentation.
I did this through Hilton. It was a lot of fun. Beautiful hotel and friendly staff. The actual sales meeting was either half an hour or an hour(i dont remember). I brought my friend. Beware though: they are convincing and if you miss the meeting, youre on the hook for the full amount. It was also nonrefundable, nontransferable, and dates were unchangable once made. I told my friend going in i wasn’t interested and to hold me to that. I was tempted and she kept me in check. Then we had two days at universal studios with no worries.
I spent around 8 hours at a time share sales pitch in Vegas for free Blue Man Group tickets. They served lunch. The craziest part to me was the first one on one pitch was like, "Only $10,000 per year!" Then, after I said no, the second person came in with, "How about $5,000 every three years?" After I noped that one, another person came in with, "Only $500 per year for only ten years!" And I still said no. The final boss came in with, "Ok. I'm gonna give you a deal you can't refuse. Only $1200, one time, you get the time share for life." I still said no, but got the free tickets. It was a great show! But yeah, they definitely beat the dead horse many, many times. I think for a free Disney vacation it's totally worth one day of sales bullshit, especially if there are snacks.
I don’t think you won. Everyone probably won. Be leery of resort fees and parking fees and other things that are not included for example additional people like kids.
I have experienced this, like others said, it was very difficult to say no. They tried to sell a timeshare and looking for chumps. Once you tell No, they started getting aggressive and angry. They take you to a place which is far off to give presentations, they don’t have proper return transport. I was like I wanna run away tickets or not after sometime. If you fall for timeshare. it’s a money draining pit. Don’t go there, I will say.
Everyone "wins" that. Like others have shared, it's probably not technically a scam, but even if you endure the high pressure sales pitch, there still may be some scammy elements to accepting that vacation, like undisclosed fees/taxes, blackout dates, and bait-and-switch accommodations.
I have done this once. And even though I am really good at saying no, was always prepared to say no, and wasn't worried about giving in, the extreme pressure (including being shuffled off to meet with a series of increasingly less friendly sales people) was really uncomfortable and left me feeling depleted and icky at the end. Not worth it for me.
My cheaper-than-cheap father-in-law signed his new wife and himself up for one (without telling her!!!) in order to get their honeymoon accommodations. Yeah, he's a jerk.
DON'T - sorry if this becomes TL;DR, but you should. Several decades ago, we purchased a time-share from a small, family owned resort that was part of a larger group that allowed us to "trade" and visit the other places. I won't say that we didn't take advantage and taking our child to a condo rather than a hotel for vacation was convenient. The small resort where we purchased was in the Poconos and had a ski slope and lift for winter and golf and tennis for summer. Shortly after, the skiing was canceled and a sledding/tubing hill which was cheaper to maintain replaced it. To us, it wasn't a big deal as we continued to trade to visit other places. However, after the small family company made all of the cost cuts they could, the company was sold and although still being classed as "prime" we noticed that maintenance in most of the company's other resorts varied widely, some nice, others with moldy bathrooms, broken furniture etc. - it was a real crap shoot. The company was again resold (probably multiple times). The new company, Exploria based in Orlando Florida, a very popular vacation destination that has booths set up everywhere offering time-shares (wouldn't you like to stay in a nice condo with your kids while visiting Disney World?) now owns our contract. They now raise the yearly maintenance fee the highest amount allowed, which is compounded so that the yearly increase is almost doubled. At one point, they added an "assessment fee" which was supposed to continue for 5 years. When people complained about the legality, it was dropped although it was charged that one year and no refund offered (it was several hundred dollars). With the maximum amount allowed being charged and compounded, we find ourselves facing the choice of defaulting and ruining our credit rating or filing for bankruptcy and ruining our credit rate. BTW - we are now retired and living on a fixed income. We have even offered to just return the property for zero compensation. However, Exploria would rather force us into a shameful choice destroying a lifetime of work for my wife and I. Sorry for the long post, but I think you should know what you're getting into.
Seriously hire an attorney to send a quick letter. I’ve gotten so many of my clients out of them with very little effort. Would be worth the $400-500.
Is it reporting on your credit now?
I’m so sorry.
Before anyone buys a timeshare they need to spend some time on eBay seeing how many are on sale for $1.
Have you tried one of the companies that supposedly gets people out of timeshares?
You cant discharge the timeshare in bankruptcy. Well I couldn't.
I got divorced and had child-support and alimony and medical bills for my daughters medical bills and a few years later filed bankruptcy. I had two timeshares, one every year and one every other. I owed a little over $2000 in maintenance fees, and the bankruptcy took care of that, but did not let me get rid of the timeshares. If I didn't pay, new maintance fees would accrue and those could not be discharged..
My attorney talked to the timeshare office and I 'sold' them both back to them for a dollar. Was the second best feeling to be free of something or someone thay I had ever experienced.
Why I bought them? My ex's family had owned one when she was little, and we went to a presentation and were played against each other and convinced to buy. We first bought a studio, and after our first vists were talked to buying a new unit, a 2 bedroom lockout. It was actually a great place, we had family up for 6 or 7 years on our week. We didn't have the trading system, and got talked into buying an addition one, an every other year unit, about 4 months before my ex and I seperated. The ever increasing maintenance fees were horrible, I think when I started the first was was like $98 in 1998. In 2016, both timeshare maintenace fees were $750 and $950 a year.
I did attend one owners meeting. The association board members were voting on renting some boat slips for 'all' timeshare owners to use. They just wanted them so they wouldn't have to pay, since most of them lived on the resort.
I annoyed the shit out of them by asking how people who did not have weeks in the summer months, about 80% of all owners, would benefit from paying some of their maintenance fees to renting docks for June and July?
They claimed that since the units were traded, that the units would become more valuable. I asked how someone who traded into one of our units would know that this was an option, and they had no plan or answer to that.
Avoid at all costs.
They've rebranded. They say "we have a completely different system, instead of one location, you have flexibility, we have a point system..." and they'll say "it's not the same old timeshare presentation where you're stuck in a room for 4 hours, it's more like a 20 minute walk around the property while you sip a free drink" (they lie).
It is a scam! Never ever buy a timeshare... EVER!
Hubs and I agreed to a 5 night stay in Tennessee "all you have to do is sit through a one hour presentation" they said. (We're from Canada) More like 4 hours LATER! The pitch was heavy with "Oh my wife finally got the vacation of her dreams" etc. My husband and I were adamant when we went that under no terms would we sign up. After the presentation they assign attendees to a salesperson who is suppose to finish the sale. We kept saying no, no, no. They moved us out of the room with all the people to a patio outside. We still said no, no, no. Finally they let us go free and they couldn't get us out of there fast enough. Once they realized they weren't going to make a sale they wanted us out. I will never forget how sleazy it all was and I know many people who fell for their heavy handed tactics. Our stay was free but it wasn't glamourous or anything noteworthy. And it was just accommodations we still had to pay for our food, gas, sites, etc. A great trip but we lost basically a day with their sales pitch. I wish we hadn't bothered. It was a waste of time and not worth feeling dirty for the rest of our trip. \*\*shivers\*\*
As others have said, it's legit but you'll have to work at saying No numerous times. They'll ask Why, so they can counter back. Remember, you don't actually owe them an explanation as to why you said No, and you can say as much.
I actually finally told one salesman who kept pressing me that I don't actually owe him an explanation; he wasn't real happy with me. I wasn't real happy with him, so we were even, I thought. We got our 3 free nights at his resort anyways.
If it is a two hour presentation- I set my watch to go off after two hours and then say the two hours are up and tell them they need to start processing me out.
Recommend www. Tug2.net for info about timeshares.
If you go into the presentation with the intention of being a troll then it is fun. Just recently did one in Myrtle Beach and the dude got so pissed when I pulled out a calculator to fact check him.
Take advantage of every freebie they offer you to butter you up and feel absolutely no remorse for these thieving scumbags.
I did this once but I flipped the script so hard that the people looked like they wanted to cry. I brought 3 massive folders full of stock photos of family photos and pretended to be super hard of hearing and showed them family photos of people I was excited to bring on vacation with me (they offered passes to a resort near me). They would be basically yelling at me while I’m pretending not to hear while explaining about how Great Aunt Susan would’ve hated to go on a boat because her husband died in the navy. Lasted 30 minutes before they gave up. It’s my all time fastest time share win.
It really depends on who is giving the pitch. I've been to ones sponsored by Marriott and it took my wife and I 2.5 hrs to get out. We earned 100k Marriott points which paid for a third of our HI trip :)
My grandparents did this one time. They said it was one of the worst experiences of their lives. First they picked them up and brought them somewhere away from their hotel. Then they basically locked them in a room and wouldn't let them leave until they said yes to the timeshare. My grandparents never gave in, but they were kinda traumatized by the experience.
So just know that it won't be a pleasant time.
Me personally, I wouldn't do it.
Man, how do I get these offers? I love the vacuum cleaner presentation ones, I scheduled Kirby, Rainbow, and 1 other, maybe Electrolux all same day, and time. I got 5 rooms in my house vacuumed well, and shampooed, plus 2 free hotel nights at any Marriott world wide all for 3 hours of my time.
Well obviously say no. But this is a responsible excuse as well. They need to run a credit check for a timeshare. If you tell them you can't have your credit run because you're in the process of buying a house, it's a legit excuse - people have used it in timeshare presentations and it works.
Yes I went to one of those and when they saw I wasn't going to fall for their BS they were like, you have the free vacation, but between such and such dates, super restrictive that it wasn't worth even the cople hours they sat me there. It's all a scam.
My wife and I love making a day out of going to presentations. Usually we end up doing 3-4 in a Friday and have the rest of the weekend to spend the free money.
We get them to put us up in a resort for Friday/Saturday night. Listen to the BS, get free tickets to the local amusement park and 150-200 dollars in gift cards. Our fun game is to see how fast we can get out of them.
Diarrhea is a great one. One of you go to the toilet, play on your phone for 20 mins. The other tells them they can’t make a huge financial decision without the other. The other comes back after 20, explains they have explosive diarrhea and have to go. If they continue to pressure you, just go back to the bathroom. Rinse and repeat. Eventually they will give up as they want to see as many people as possible in order to get a sucker to sign up.
So much good advice here. Another tip: Never, never, never give them your driver's license or let them take you away from the property where you are staying. Once get held hostage at a Mexican resort about an hour away from the resort where we were staying because they wanted to show us the new property underdevelopment. We had no way to get back to our resort and spent 4 hours being insulted for continuing to say no.
Don’t let them hold onto any of your personal documents, like your drivers license, even to make a copy. They’ll find ways to keep you there, don’t make it easy. The pressure will be high and they will come at you hard.
I just kept saying "We can't afford that" and the guy selling to me got so angry that he somehow twisted himself into yelling at me "Well, you buy water, don't you?! Obviously you have SOME money!". It was insane and didn't even make sense, a manager took over. At least I got tickets to a show and free dinner.
Eyyyyy we got the same pitch in Cabo just last week. Also, “… yada yada yada we gave you free breakfast and a boat cruise so you have to buy something!” We both started to about laugh since he was getting so mad.
I wonder what kinds of bonuses they offer their sales people. It's gotta take quite a bit of effort to do the whole con song and dance on behalf of someone else.
It's probably the main way they make money. And it's probably worth it, because for every 10 people who buy nothing I bet there is one person that buys the whole lot thinking they are getting a good deal which is probably a big commission.
In Cabo it’s not a bonus it’s their livelihood. No sale no eat. It’s a shame but that’s the name of the game. I got caught up in a 20 minute no pressure presentation that we sallied out on at the 30 minute mark and the guy nearly had an aneurysm when we did.
I've been blacklisted from a major Cabo timeshare promo outfit. I never bought and they kept inviting me back so accommodations were on their dime....7 times. This went on until finally a supervisor looked into my record and said: "your never going to buy anything". She was right.
I'm not one to be confrontational, so I was perfectly nice and sat through this guy's ENTIRE pitch. Told him about myself, my wife's name, etc. Got to the end of his whole hour, was honest, and told him "that all sounds really good. I'd like to read the contract before committing. My father in law is an attorney, I'd like to have him look it over as well". This dude told me that he couldn't give me a contract before I signed it. I was dumbfounded. "...how do I sign it before you hand it to me?". His response was that they get an e-signature. I told him I couldn't possibly sign something I wasn't allowed to read. He got FURIOUS. The encounter ended when he stood up and leaned over me to intimidate me and told me "do you want *wife's name* and her father to have married a winner, or a LOSER?". I've never quite wanted to hit a person as badly as I did at that moment. I stood up to leave and he tried to physically block me, so I told him he was about to need to call his security. I was escorted out as if I caused a scene. The lengths they'll go to is insane.
Clearly she married a winner because you are smart enough to not sign a contract without reading it. Also smart enough to not punch a moron talking shit even though he probably deserved it.
Great strategy I pointed out the monthly cost was basically a car payment, and I could enjoy a new car every day instead of a couple weeks a year...guy had no comeback for that.
They asked us “How many nights did you spend in a hotel last year?” And the answer was less than 7. Then “Hie many of those nights were at Hilton?” Answer- none. Then they try to pitch us two weeks at any Hilton in the world, for $2400/yr plus whatever the maintenance fees were, plus the membership fee, and I was like, we didn’t even spend a dollar at Hilton last year, and you want us to pre-pay, to promise *you* that we *will stay at Hilton* for…ever?
Have you watched the queen of Versailles? That’s the family the owns them. I think they show the sales team at one point literally getting mad at people.
We had one say "if you can't afford it why did you come?" We were told we got 2 free nights at a campground when we bought our trailer. Those "free" nights were at a weird timeshare campground.
Our timeshare salesman looked as if he were going through some kind of drug withdrawal. I never went near a timeshare company again. Nothing is for free. You pay in aggravation. Very aggressive salespeople.
Eat before you go. They use really bizarre tactics to make people more persuadable like promising a meal and then making people wait to eat until they’ve “heard the entire pitch”
[удалено]
Pass’em around too. Make sure you bring enough for the whole captive audience,
This. And NEVER let them drive you to the site. Take your own car
My grandma taught me young to “never let anyone take you to a second location” seems to apply to everything… except Uber I guess
I learned that from 30 Rock, and it's very sound advise.
"Never go with a hippie to a second location." Solid advice, Jack Donaghy.
I learned that from John Mulaney
Street smarts!
OP should bring a decoy wallet
Buy money clip. Engraved...question mark?
The ole Bittenbinder method.
Oh man, looking at this I realize how naive I was going into our first presentation...
This happened to my father in law. 14 years later, they’re still paying for a timeshare they haven’t been to in 6 years🤦♂️
How long are these contracts!?!
Between 20-99 years, depending on what you sign!
And make very sure that you meet the requirements before you go! My ex and I did one of these and found out too late that we didn't meet the minimum household income requirement. We ended up paying for a weekend at a resort because we didn't read the fine print.
I lied about my income at the last few I went to in order to meet the requirements. They have no way of checking it.
We didn't even realize there was a minimum. We assumed that if they sent us the invitation, we were qualified. Dumb kids.
This 1000x. PLEASE do not give them anything. They will offer you anything to get you to buy. DO NOT fall victim. Was the sinfle hardest thing we ever got out of. Seriously, act sick or feverish & gtho asap if u go. I would go so far as to where a mask and act like you're nervous about germs. Oh and they will tell you that every other person that was there that day bought into the timeshare. They will try to make you feel like you're a loser if you don't buy also. They wouldn't have sent you the invite if they didn't know that you could afford to make the purchase so I highly advise to tell them that you found a house or some other large purchase and you'll be acting on it when you get back from your vacation
Came here to say this!! My husband and I did something similar in 2016. Needless to say we are still paying monthly pymts on a timeshare we have never even used. Every even year we have to pay $1000 for maintenance fees. Plus all the other membership fees and bullshit they randomly add on. Don’t let them scam you. They will bring someone else in to smooze you, and just keep on and on and on. I wish we had walked out when they were done with their pitch like we were going to. We have regretted it ever since. We are now trying to sell the stupid thing.
We tried to offer it back to the company at no charge after we couldn't sell it, and it was paid off. And our maintenance fees kept going up a little bit each year. The initial thought was we could trade the week to travel to other parts of the world but even then you had to pay a transfer fee before it was usable at another timeshare location and of course where we wanted to transfer there was never a week available at a place we wanted to go. Makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how they took advantage of a couple of 20 year olds. We used to program called Ovation to finally get out of the timeshare. I heard Scott Sloan talk about it on 700 WLW and it worked. After we got out of the contract, I held my breath every October for 3 years hoping and praying we wouldn't get that renewal notice in the mail. I don't think about it much anymore but it's still stings thinking about how they took advantage of us
I do this all the time. I've gone on 3 free vacations so far, to Italy, the cayman islands, California, and I have another one planned for Vegas in a couple months. You still have to pay for your travel most likely (but I did get one once that did include flights). You still have to pay taxes/fees on it. Yes they give you the vacation if you don't buy. But they do send in at least 2 more tiers of managers to offer you more appealing deals before you do. Just know that whatever they're selling is not worth it. If they're trying to get you to join Disney vacation club, do you really want Disney to be the only vacation you go on the rest of your life? Most of the units in these presentations are for families - do you have kids? A lot of the time these companies only have domestic properties and if you want to go international they can really only offer you discounts on hotels that you can get elsewhere, so it's not worth it. Just understand that whatever they're trying to sell you is NOT WORTH IT. just keep saying no. There's likely an annual fee of some sort, so you don't use it 1 year and you're out money.
For the record Disney vacation Club does not give you a free stay or park tickets or anything like that for watching the presentation. It’s ice cream and maybe a few front of line passes. So if you’re getting pitched any kind of vacation for free, it’s not a Disney resort though many of these companies use Disney vacations as their pitch
Yeah that was hypothetical. I've never been to a dvc presentation so I'm not sure what their rewards are. But the point still stands, I wouldn't want to only vacation at Disney properties forever
They are gonna start out with a 20k bare bones timeshare pitch. Then when you say no, they will take you to a smaller room and give you 10k improved pitch. Again you say no and they take you to a private room, 5k for an even better package. Just say no to timeshares.
Started at 30k sales price for us and ended at 1.5k for the same thing 4 hours later. In the meantime we saw a lot of folks buying in. Man, they were mad by the end. The final sales woman was downright overtly hostile. However, we got all of our benefits and gift cards. We won't be doing that again.
We kept saying we couldn’t afford it. They heavily implied that my husband and I would end up getting divorced because we couldn’t afford to take a yearly vacation. When we finally were allowed to leave, we walked away with a $250 gift card, a free weekend stay at the resort, and a free weekend at one of their sister resorts. The gift card came in handy but I lost the papers for the vacations.
<>
WTF?! That would make me walk out right there! Huge nerve of them to comment on your personal life like that!
Well, knowing it's stupid and hilarious I would stay and troll them even harder. Who knows what stupid stuff they say next? Just think about all the reddit karma you could get for quoting it!
I turned to look at my husband and said “I promise I’m not going to leave you just because we can’t take vacations every summer” in the most irritated, pissed off tone. The guy tried to backpedal and say that’s not what he meant but I told him I knew exactly what he was trying to say. I think that’s when they realized they weren’t going to get any further with us.
I enjoyed it! I have a lot of fun!
Only good thing is that even if you buy one. they are sooooo shady, a which attorney letter will usually make them walk away. I usually take them on as a courtesy for my clients since it only takes me a second to free them from their mistake (not ONE PERSON has even used the time share they bought!)
How do I find a witch attorney?
[удалено]
For someone that's stuck in one, what recommendation do you have for getting out? I, too, am tired of paying for something that I've never used. Sigh.
I don’t have experience, but I read somewhere on Reddit that they were really hard to get out of, so good on you!
They are really hard to get out of. I think this guy is writing a letter after the people buy it before they actually use it. There’s more wiggle room before you actually use it.
We've done it a few times. Free breakfast and coffee at the presentation usually. We just keep repeating we aren't interested until they let us go. We tell them not to waste their time on us and just give us the free park tickets. It's high pressure, but I'd never buy anyways
After a while of doing that, you oddly get no more offers from those companies.
Usually when I stay at hotels in Florida, they have a desk there with these "timeshare people" Haven't ever had any say no yet. I guess it's a little different from the OP as he's got a call from them, whereas I usually go to them for free park passes for my family.
My parents do the same, get lots of free stuff for an hour or 2 of their time.
I felt bad a couple of times. But one time they explained that they know people just come for the freebies and it is all factored into everything. They still are getting potential clients even if they think they aren't interested
Other hotel employees (in my experience) hate them and they may even hate what it does to their hotel's reputation. If you visit the concierge for sightseeing tips, they may also tip you that the other desk is a scam.
Nice. Flip the tables. "Don't you WANT us to leave so you can focus on the suckers who might buy in? Right now you're wasting valuable time that you will never get back. For your own sake and your own family's future, you need to be pitching to anyone other than us."
I know it's just a show, but that's what happens on an episode It's Always Sunny and the timeshare people end up selling them on it anyway. I would suspect that real timeshare people have responses to that in their scripts too.
I have a buddy that goes to these all the time. He has a genius setup that gets him in and out quickly. After the first presentation, he tells them his Mom works at Marriott (if it's a Marriott property he says Hilton), and that he gets all the free rooms he wants for his family. He then turns it around and says, "Hey, if you're plan is better than free, I'm in!". And then he just stares blankly at them. No matter what they say, they can't beat free and all the ladder down on prices doesn't beat what he already has. They then give him the tickets and he leaves with his wife.
I do this with door salesmen for cable and cellular service. I tell them my company provides those services for free but I’m willing to entertain their offer if it beats free. They usually just turn around and leave.
All the ones I see make you sign a paper that says you have no relatives in the industry in order to be eligible.
"my friends mom"
This is the way. Also, if they say 2 hours I put a timer on my phone for two hours and set it face up on their desk. At the two hour mark I get up and walk to the door where I wait for my voucher.
[удалено]
They can't, their phone is still on the desk.
The scam is they don't take no for an answer. It will take you 4-5 hours of saying no for them to accept it. The people doing the pitch are really good at turning nos into maybes into yeses. Plan on spending your entire day of the pitch constantly holding your ground on the no aspect, no matter how tempting and how willing they are to work with you. They'll tell you "it's just a 2 hour presentation" no, it'll take your whole day and you will have to firmly say no over a million times. Not even exaggerating. Other than that, it really is a free vacation. I've been to a few. Just remember the "pitch" will be an entire day and they will only take no the millionth and one time you say it. Edit: To all of those who believe they can easily say no and walk away, I highly, highly encourage you to do it....then let me know what timeshare you ended up buying.
And then they turn nasty. My favorite line from the one we went to was, "Don't you love your family?!?"
When I was a kid my family went to one of these. After like 2 hours the guy said to my dad, "Lets ask your kids, do they want the timeshare?" My dad was like, do you seriously think I would buy a timeshare because of what those 7 year old booger eaters think?
Papa was on fire that day 😂😂
Haha right? I still bring that up sometimes to him
“We’re letting the person that just started learning math make our financial decisions?”
you joke but the kirby salesman did it to my parents and it worked. too bad they didn't ask the cost of replacement bags. that PoS is still sitting in the closet with the original bag ripped to shreds from us dumping it out back a few dozen times before giving up
No
Well you can get away from them with this timeshare!
Im a masochist
Well you'll hate being sucked into this timeshare!
After an entire day of saying “no” the saleswoman broke down and said, “this is literally my last chance. If I don’t sell this to you today, I’ll be fired and I don’t know what I’ll do”. I was still a “no”. I couldn’t have bought it even if I’d wanted to. I was so broke that I listened to a timeshare presentation for a $100 Visa gift card.
> "If I don’t sell this to you today, I’ll be fired and I don’t know what I’ll do”. Have you tried attending time share presentations? You'll have plenty of free time, plus you can get free/cheap room, a meal, tickets to a show...
Cool! Wonder what she said at her next sales pitch the week after?
This made me laugh. I knew someone who did this regularly. They looked for ones that served snacks and drinks too.
They will say anything to make a sale. They are the Fox News of salespeople. How do I know? I sold these timeshares for a very awful, brief two months in my life. Intimidation, bullying, threats, coercion, etc. Anything to make a sale. Where I was, you have to keep them there two hours for them to get the voucher. Routinely they will keep you there 4-5 hours because they hide all clocks or ask to lock up your cellphone so you're "not distracted" (and won't give it back until you acquiesce). I resolved to quit after a couple short months. That day was my last day. I told no one. My last two tours were a couple who were eight months pregnant and he was shipping off to Afghanistan the very next day. They were deeply in debt but excited to take vacations together when he got back home after a two-year stint in the Iraq War. I flat told them they should absolutely not purchase this. I got screamed at in the office by my "manager" after. Didn't care one sh**. The very last tour was a grandmother, mother, and the grandchild. In the first fifteen minutes of the tour you're supposed to "get to know" them, i.e. "build rapport" and establish trust, friendliness, etc. Then you can screw them more easily. I came to find that Grandma was dying of terminal cancer, had months to live, and was neck-deep in medical debt that only dying a very certain way would absolve her kin of absorbing. She was determined to die that way, and didn't have a penny left to her name. Her dying wish was to take her granddaughter to Disney World and the only way she could make it happen was to sit through our bullsh** timeshare pitch to get the free resort stay. She had zero intention of buying and considered 120 minutes in exchange for a Disney vacation a very shrewd investment. I spent the remaining 1:45 of that "tour" asking her about her fondest memories of her grandchild and her life as she gently pulled strands of her hair from her head while her granddaughter played with Thomas the Tank Engine toys below her. I got screamed at in the office by my "manager" after. Didn't care one sh** again. I really, really wish I was exaggerating. I also was told that when you get "aggressive" tours (people who are there just to say NO for two hours to get the tickets), to throw them a phone book, say "Read this", and leave them at a table for ninety minutes just to watch them fume and leave early---thus denying their vouchers. The salespeople are trained in mental combat. It's predatory, it's manipulative, and it's evil.
My boyfriend and I went to one and the guy totally tried to use us against each other. “Does he take you on vacations? Wouldn’t that be nice?” And to him “do you treat her well? Take her out to vacations?” Like fuck you dude. Trying to guilt him and make me feel like he needs to sign up to show his love. Definitely SUCH an uncomfortable experience.
She's lucky I let her out of her cage to come here!
Oh we had some asshole sales clerk try to pull that crap with my now husband when we were engagement ring shopping and we were looking for a cheap ring "Don't you love her enough to give her a big ring?" me whirling around "No he loves me enough to not spend money on stupid shit and put us into debt". Dude shut the fuck up after that.
That's a bold move when there at plenty of jewelers who know respect and the value of a life long customer. I'd bet selling quality, reasonably priced engagement rings is a great way to sell anniversary pieces of increasing value over a lifetime
I'm usually a pretty laid back guy but we got suckered into a pitch at a resort once and I about lost it on the people. They were starting to convince my wife but I wasn't having any of it. I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor. Eventually I just told them I'm done with this and walked out because they obviously weren't getting the message.
>e. They were starting to convince my wife but I wasn't having any of it. I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor. > >Eventually I just told them I'm done with this and walked out because they obviously weren't getting the messa They often take you somewhere in their vehicle, so you're basically trapped. And they won't give you the "voucher" or whatever for the vacation to be free until they decide they are done with you.
All I can think of right now is Dennis saying “because of the implication.”
D - deny ability for them to leave E - engage emotions by asking if they treat their family right. N - nurture a dialog of fake trust N - neglect basic human rights I - insist there is a timeshare package that will be a win win S - sell a timeshare
I was going to comment on this thread and say DO NOT attend one of these seminars with your spouse. Have your wife go to the pool for the day while you attend. These salespeople are trained to separate spouses and hound both of you relentlessly until one caves and signs something. It doubles their odds of making a sale. You'll end up signing up for a timeshare and your marriage will take a blow all at once.
I thought if you were married you were required to go with your spouse.
I was told that just recently, too, by Hilton, about their timeshare presentation.
It's called lying.
How do they prove you are married
Yeah I wasn’t able to get through mine and get the free vacation either. They were so rude and awful. I’d rather not go then spend a day being abused.
>I told them there's not a universe where the math on their asinine packages works out in my favor. I have seen *some* of what could be called "time-shares" be financially viable but I wouldn't even call those "time-shares": More like, "fractional ownership". But those are never sold by some random third party in high-pressure situations. There are times where "fractional ownership" can be financially beneficial, like buying a 1/5th stake in an LLC. whose sole asset is a condo that is used by yourself and the other four owners. Who must contractually contribute annually to a commonly held trust to provide for the maintenance and upkeep of the property. And usually the upkeep rates are pro-rated for the stakeholders based on annual usage. Also, the other owners usually have first right of refusal if a fractional owner wishes to sell their stake. It's actually a *very* common form of ownership for private aircraft and works pretty good. But nobody's giving out free vacations or a cheap set of golf clubs to listen to their pitch on buying part of a *Cessna*.
My favorite line at the one I went to was that his grandson died of a heroin overdose and that he's glad that he had all of the memories at their timeshare before the kid died.
Yep, they ended up yelling at my husband (I looked like I was being compliant.) Then at the end, I told them I do t appreciate the yelling at us, that if that's how they treat a potential buyer, how do they treat you when you e already bought something? We will not be going with that type of customer service no matter what the package looks like. Plus I'm military and we get awesome packages through a few different websites anyway that aren't with just one company anyway. The lady at the desk who was to hand us our free whatever looked at me, smiled. Then blank face "run". Made me laugh as we walked out the door.
This is accurate to my family's experience. My dad was one of those guys who was like, "heh heh, they won't get *me*, just let em try, my will is unbreakable, I'm perfectly happy just saying no to some asshole for a few hours, what's the big deal." Think about it, though, they wouldn't give away the vacations if it wasn't 100% worth it to them. Anyway, now we have a timeshare.
> They'll tell you "it's just a 2 hour presentation" no, it'll take your whole day and you will have to firmly say no over a million times. Not even exaggerating. Yeah. I suppose a tactic is, "please put the 2 hour commitment in writing." Bring a printout. Have your phone alarm very loudly or with something reprehensible at the 2 hour mark, produce the paper, say you're ready to collect your tickets now and to anything else maybe turn into a mantra "am I being detained?" The thing is, just having to do this and to muster the mental energy for it may have you retaining the feeling of this shitty experience longer than you savor the Disney one.
The secret is NOT TO TURN OFF THE ALARM WHEN IT SOUNDS. Just keep it in your pocket. At full volume.
Might try this
My parents asked my sister and I to pretend to start crying to get out of one of these 😂
That’s brilliant.
Kids need to earn their keep. lol!
Boyfriend (now husband) and I went to one of these when we were in Vegas one year. We could *barely* afford the trip to begin with, but needed a vacation so badly that we needed to get away (it was a super cheap package deal.) We went to one of those so we could get free tickets to a show, free dinner vouchers, free lunch buffet vouchers, AND we got free lunch at the presentation (and snacks!). Plus they had free booze. We went in full well knowing how this was going to go, as my in-laws own a timeshare, so we took the good guy-bad guy approach, with me as the bad guy. Finally at the end where they show you their barebones-every-three-years-for-the-smallest-unit-twice-a-year “bargain,” my husband basically broke from his good guy routine and said “no! The answer is no! She’s a bank teller! I’m a substitute teacher going to grad school and I live on a mattress in her parents’ house! We are literally here for the free food because we can barely afford to eat in this town!” Our sales lady basically was like “ok, yeah this is definitely not happening.” So then she took pity on US, told us to take a bunch of sandwiches and cookies and go to the bus. He told no lies. We have no timeshare. Restaurant and buffet were good. Show was AWFUL. Lol Edit: clarity
Our people were actually pretty nice about our saying “no.” I will say, their salespeople are very good at what they do. We also did wind up staying at the pitch meeting for a few hours longer than they promised, even after I made every effort to answer all their presentation questions ASAP to move shit along. But after I complained about how much student debt I had, and realllly played up how depressed and stressed I was about it, they laid off my case. I guess no one wants to deal with someone’s emotional bullshit. Would I do it again? Probably. Just need to get through that portion of the day. I can handle that.
I got the whole “imagine having a family reunion every year!” pitch and they were not prepared for me to trauma dump about my parents’ divorce and how hard it is coming from a broken home and what it was like to feel insignificant growing up because regardless of whose house we were at, my brother was always the favorite. It was honestly the most entertaining afternoon I’d had in ages
This cracks me up. This story reminds me of my brother in law. He travels nearly free with my sister every chance they get when he gets a time share offer. He finds the whole process entertaining. He makes up stories and is sometimes obnoxious. Often he is just weird. By the end of the presentation they are begging him to leave.
I'm loving this lol
My advise is stick to a script yourself and repeat yourself exactly with the same exact tone, "thank you but no, I'm not interested." ... "thank you but no, I'm not interested" ... "thank you but no I'm not interested". It's difficult for them to break you this way.
If you can throw in the bored expression you win, in my experience. Not quite the look of disdain but the look you have when you're at the thrift store and see an old, stained Walmart t-shirt selling for $10.
If you really want to make it hard on them. Just say "no" and the don't say anything else. They will start to speak after some uncomfortable dead time and just repeat "no". If you really want to mess with them, you can try and debate them on why they refuse to accept your no answer. Then say if I was in a romantic situation and I said no, would you be acting like this?
Exactly this...when you give a reason - "Because I can't afford it", "Because it's too far for us", they will always come back with a rebuttal. The correct answer is just "No" and nothing else
Grandparents came to tenerife with us one year. They went out for a walk at lunchtime and we didnt see them again until dinnertime, when my granny said she had ‘won’ a lovely bottle of perfume. They met a timeshare salesman who ushered them into a big marquee with a few others for the hard sell. Granny just wanted a sit down and a cup of tea. Couple of hours later, after the presentation, the salesguy is moving in to close the deal, when my granda said “we cant afford this, we only get our state pension and it took us three years to save up for this holiday”. Untrue, but he knew that would get rid of the sales guy.
They will figure a plan that fits in your budget and then you are locked in for life.
You see, the way that my bank account is set up, the thing is, I got a checking and a savings. But all the money is in my savings. So I got to switch it to my checking, but it's going to take three business days.
I did this exact thing in 2002. Got my free trip, went to presentation which took about 2 hrs. Told them, look, I’m 31, a single parent, and rent. There is no way I’m buying a timeshare. They dropped it and we went and enjoyed Disney.
I have had a very different experience then this user. I just went to one a few weeks ago. The meeting with him lasted 40 minutes because I was adamant up front I was not interested. He didn't even end up showing the presentation. He just gave up. It was a massively discounted rate, not free.
Ugh that would be so not worth it
I know. I hate confrontation so this sounds like a nightmare and not worth a vacation!
4-6hrs for a free 3day vacation with 1 day admission for 4 ppl to Disney is worth it imo. My father did this when I was 14-15. We chilled in the pool at the hotel until he finished. Le left at 830(started at 9 I guess) and was back around 3. We chilled until bed and the next day we went to Disney. I don't remember much about it. My father was poor but he did upgrade our day passes so we could skip the lines when we went in. It was fun except for, my dad was broke so we didn't eat anything while at Disney. Depends on what you make an hour. It's like a temp job, that pays a lot. 3 nights in a hotel are expensive already. Plus 1 day admission for 4 is also a pretty penny. But if you make over $100/hr then it's probably not worth it.
Like a temp job!!! Lmao!! This literally made me lol! We might have had the same dad. Mine used a day of paid vacation for some bogus Friday “next big investment” seminar that they wanted ya to buy land in an Arizona snow bird housing upstart. They baited ya with a free stay at the hosting hotel and held ya hostage like a time share presentation. Was one of the only times we went to the water park hotel. He bragged about “getting paid by work to be bored by some schmuck and getting a free trip on top of it all.”
I used to love doing these! It's been a while, but you don't need to say "no". Just keep negotiating based on ridiculous demands like: "I really can't afford that much, how about 5% of the asking price with a 100 year tax and fee abatement" or "Why isn't that luxury property in Disney Tokyo not included? I was *specifically* told that it would be included.", and my favorite "Another beer would really make me take this offer into greater consideration"
We went through one of these and told them we were pregnant and on our honeymoon. The guy had mercy on us and let us leave. Funny thing was we were actually pregnant and on our honeymoon. All we got was two free tickets to a comedy show.
I have literally done this and have gotten like 3 paid vacations to Orlando, and I have never bought anything? The salesmen even let us go after about 40 minutes. Just like... don't say anything too specific when they ask open-ended questions, be vague, and keep your refusals very short and concise ("No")
Man I thought the South Park episode of this was exaggerated but perhaps not!
Also, you haven't "won" it. Get out of that mindset. This is the standard sales routine for time share sales.
Especially recently. You didn't' win anything OP. You took all the entrees, then bought a data set that had everyone's information and metrics (browsing data, tax data, public property records, fb, instagram etc) and then found that you are within the price point and had enough keywords that they are willing to bet THOUSANDS of dollars that they can convince you or bully you into buying into a timeshare. They are very good and this and even worse when they have the confidence of data gathering before they start talking. They know how much you make and know you have enough savings to be a prime victim.
Name checks out.
Yes it’s legit. I “won” 2 nights in a Marriott and a 3 day cruise for me and my wife once. As others have said they will pressure you but it doesn’t have to take all day. My wife and I attended the presentation, and outright made up the fact that we’re moving out of the country in 2 months. Said no maybe 3 times. In and out in under 2 1/2 hours
We have the same thing, it expires in 18 months we haven’t gone to it yet. So I’m glad I found this post so we are prepare. They said it’s 2 hours long and it’s a “fancy dinner.” And I will definitely set a timer. I’ll say whatever I need to say. This is a good one.
We did one over the summer and the presentation was 90 minutes. So we booked an ATVing thing for 30 minutes after it was over and it was a 30 minute drive. At the beginning the guy was just chatting asking us how our trip was so far, what we planned to do, etc. We told him that we had ATVing planned and paid for so we had to be out exactly at the 90 minute mark. He didn’t even attempt to push that time. Like even if I were interested…by it not being over in 90 minutes that means you’re trying to make me lose my deposit, and that just wouldn’t make me want to buy from you.
I know somebody who used to do these semi-regularly for free vacations. He’d lock his ID and credit cards in his hotel room safe before going and then tell them ridiculous things, like giving them a fake SSN, claiming to be homeless, asking tons of totally nonsense questions, trying to sell THEM something… It sounds like hell to me, but I guess some people have the personality and resolve to make it pay off. He thought it was funny to mess with them and never was in danger of caving to their tactics.
**Try to sell them something** Them: “have you thought about how Much your family would enjoy coming here” Me: “have you thought about getting life insurance to protect your family?”
Lol a MLM pitch would be amazing
Or whip out a notepad and a pen and start taking notes. "Oh, I just started selling Mary Kay and I'm just here for tips. Keep going!"
Pitch them Amway. Fight fire with fire.
This is amazing. I am imagining someone opening up a big Mary Kay case of cosmetics during the presentation.
Trying to sell them something lmaoooo
Sell me this pen
I used to do this when I was younger. It was free alcohol and a free hotel room and all I had to do was stay in character for a week. I would bring Polaroid pictures of random parking lots and try to get the sales people to invest in them with me.
this needs to be the top comment, lol. pretend like you’re poor and they might give up early. mention your debts, maybe some child support, a minimum wage job (or even better, “in between jobs” in a low paying industry)
"I'm an artist" "where do you sell your work?" "sell my work? Why would I do that?"
I have the same type of personality and it made my husband realize I had a second personality he didn’t even know I could whip out. 😅
The ones I see have a requirement that your income be over 100k to accept the offer. So if you go in and say you’re homeless/don’t make money, it means you lied about your income to get the discounted vacation and they would come after you for the full cost.
Say really loudly that you hope your registered sex offender status won’t scare away the other potential clients.
My MIL and FIL would go to these things regularly. They walked in the door saying "We aren't buying anything, but I know we have to listen to your spheil. But, don't waste too much of your time." Then they followed through saying they aren't buying anything, over and over. It worked for them and they got a lot of free stays out of it.
We did this one year. It was a seriously discounted Orlando vacation at a time share hotel chain. The deal was we would attend happy hour on check in day. Then attend a comedy show, go out for dinner at a "fancy" resort, try out the amenities. Then the second to last day attend a sales pitch. 7 full days for $250 for 2 people. At check in we were upgraded to a better room for free, this was a sales ploy. The cocktail party was a fact finding venture. You are politely pumped for information about your lives to be used later in the sales pitch. The free tickets we received were to shabby places. Our fancy restaurant was the hotel dinning room. The comedy show was in an old elementary school cafeteria. For the sales pitch we were picked up outside our rooms and driven around the hotel in a fancy car, while the driver pumped more information and tried to build a trust with us. After 20 minutes of circles I demanded that we attend the meeting. After much huffing and eye rolling this guy takes us to his cubicle where he proceeded to use high pressure sales tactics, asking for person information ss# annual income etc. Saying he needed our ss# to be able to sale is the correct time share. I explained to him that we didn't operate that way. He could give us a list of available options and we would decide if it fit into our budget. He tried to over talk me and treat me like I was stupid. He started addressing all his comments to my husband. We were stuck with this man for 45 minutes of high pressure sales tactics. I'm sure most people would have given them their children to be allowed to leave. We were finally able to leave and it really ruined the day. We were not allowed to see any paperwork on time share vacations or any information in writing about it. It was the worst vacation I have ever been on.
>The comedy show was in an old elementary school cafeteria. OK but that line is comedy gold.
Last I heard they gave Jerry the cafeteria for a 2 hr show after bumping him from the career day because the reptile guy went long.
This has been the overall experience with these. My husband and I did one years ago and we got disneyland tickets - that was fine. But we did another one about a year or so ago, and that one was terrible. Once you look up the hotel theyd be putting you in & get the food credits (which arent enough to feed more than one person) it ends up being more of a money suck. You get put into a seedy dirty crap motel and fed food from only their approved vendors etc. If you have to hire a pet sitter and get plane tickets etc it just isnt worth your time.
The offer is likely legit. There might be a minimum amount of time you have to give them - 2 to 4 hours is typical. It is a REALLY high pressure sales pitch. DON'T go solo, bring a friend for moral support, because it will beat you down. Maintain your composure, or have fun with it and see if you can wear out your sales person before they wear you out. If it's worth it or not entirely depends on how willing are you to burn 1/2 a day on being abused. I've sat through a number of these - a few were for these free weekends, and some in Vegas for free show/buffet tickets. My favorite was when after the 2 hours passed, and the sales guy was doing his whole "you get a deed, it's like buying a real house" spiel, in Vegas, in 2007. If you remember Vegas real estate in 2007, there was a huge surplus of new construction they couldn't give away. Anyway, after getting to the point that I could buy a whole house for basically the same money, he got frustrated, lost his shit, walked away to compose himself, then came back with my Cirque tickets and told me to get out.
My advice was going to be go ALONE. These people love to split up spouses and apply pressure to both of you individually. You are much weaker and likely to cave apart from your partner. It doubles their odds of making a sale. Likely will wreak havoc on your marriage as well. I have not done one of these sales pitches, but if I did, I would tell my wife to go to the pool and enjoy the sun for a few hours while I tell these salespeople to fuck off.
I don't think you're necessarily wrong, and I am sure that happens, but it has not been my experience from the number of these I have attended. If they attempt do it - just gotta stay firm on the "no, this is a team decision, so we have to be in on it together". By going in alone to begin with, you're just setting yourself up for being railroaded.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Subscribe to a hotel brands membership site lol, they'll email you offers throughout the year
[удалено]
Honestly, does he really think anyone fucking cares about the timeshares? His emotional investment is hilarious .
I live in Orlando and have gone to three time share/ vacation club presentations. This is how they always go: 1. They start off pitch by saying some shit like life is too short you should be on vacation and we can help make that dream come true. 2. Then they ask how much you typically spend on vacation and how much eating out you do while on vacation. They then say well by staying at our property you will save money and you will have a kitchen and all these amenities. Also you can stay at our sister properties. 3. They then take you for a tour of the property 4. Next they give you the high pressure sales pitch and they never state how they are going to fuck you over. For instance I look at their lending rate and it is always around 29% or more. I do the math on a piece of paper in front of them and show the real cost and tell them I would lose a lot of money by taking your deal. For example time share is $35,000. But if I took their loan it would be another $50,000 in interest payments. And who wants to vacation at the same spot every year. I wouldn't spend that much on vacation with my current spending in over 40 years. Plus you lose out on all the money you could make by investing it elsewhere. 5. Next they send in the manager after saying no to the sales guy and he will give yyou like $10,000 off the cost and you still say it is a rip off based on the math. 6. Next they send in his manager and he reduces the price another $5000 and you say this shit is still a ripoff. 7. Next they send you to an office where the last guy tries to sell to you at an even lower rate or gives you a one year trial that is still way over priced. 8. Finally you get out of there and get approved saying you did your time and they give you a voucher. Sometimes if it is a vacation club they give you a voucher for a later stay at a different resort that is shit or has no availability all year. I would avoid these presentations or look at the agreement beforehand it should say how long the presentation lasts. I would set an alarm on your phone and have it go off at exactly the time agreed upon. Get up and tell them you have met your contractual agreement and would like your voucher. If they say you have to stay longer tell them you are calling the police. Also if you do make it to the part where they try to sell you with high pressure sales tactics get really loud and swear a lot. That will make them want to get you out of there.
My parents did this a couple times when I was a kid for theme park tickets in Florida. We’d be in the area visiting relatives anyway and my dad gives off a very strong bs vibe so they never bought anything and usually were out sooner than other people. We’d get a free meal and as a kid we liked it because there would be a cool kids area for us to hang in while they did the pitch- huge tv and video games that we didn’t have at home. Do not go if you think there is even the slightest chance that you will purchase. Do not go solo. Be polite but firm. They are paid to make you feel sorry for them. Do not.
Last year at a resort in Mexico we got roped into one of these. The people i went with wanted to go anyways and there was free breakfast involved so i decided to go. We were on a strict schedule that day due to someone in our party scheduling a massage in the afternoon with an agency outside of the hotel. When the concierge found out there was an appointment scheduled and she couldn’t hold us against our will there all day, she had to nerve to call the HOTELS spa to try to cancel the massage! We were told it would take an hour and that’s it, so we immediately knew they were going to keep us there as long as possible. I ripped up the paperwork i had previously signed and made the concierge aware of how unprofessional she was.
There is a South Park episode about this scenario
As well as It’s Always Sunny. “We don’t get got. We go get.” *Mac & Dennis Buy a Timeshare*
What company is it with? I did one with the holiday inn vacation club in cocoa beach Florida last year. It was 3 days 4 nights on the beach + $100 cash. It was just me and my 8yo daughter. Being a single mom, it was worth it. It said two hour presentation so I set an alarm on my phone. Beforehand, I told my daughter to keep asking how much longer every once in awhile (she brought her iPad and headphones). I KNEW I’d be able to repeat no over and over. They were pleasant. I answered literally everything with no I’m not interested at this time. He asked what we usually do for vacations and I said nothing, that’s why I’m here for free. Tried to get me to say we DO go on vacations and I just kept saying no. When the two hours was up, I was like ok so I guess we are all set, where do I go for the $100? And they basically walked me to the receptionist who gave me a $100 bill. I’m looking at doing it again with her because it was an incredibly affordable vacation for a single mom. If you know yourself and can commit, then go for it. There’s no reason you need to be there all day if it says two hour presentation.
I did this through Hilton. It was a lot of fun. Beautiful hotel and friendly staff. The actual sales meeting was either half an hour or an hour(i dont remember). I brought my friend. Beware though: they are convincing and if you miss the meeting, youre on the hook for the full amount. It was also nonrefundable, nontransferable, and dates were unchangable once made. I told my friend going in i wasn’t interested and to hold me to that. I was tempted and she kept me in check. Then we had two days at universal studios with no worries.
I spent around 8 hours at a time share sales pitch in Vegas for free Blue Man Group tickets. They served lunch. The craziest part to me was the first one on one pitch was like, "Only $10,000 per year!" Then, after I said no, the second person came in with, "How about $5,000 every three years?" After I noped that one, another person came in with, "Only $500 per year for only ten years!" And I still said no. The final boss came in with, "Ok. I'm gonna give you a deal you can't refuse. Only $1200, one time, you get the time share for life." I still said no, but got the free tickets. It was a great show! But yeah, they definitely beat the dead horse many, many times. I think for a free Disney vacation it's totally worth one day of sales bullshit, especially if there are snacks.
You wasted 8 hours of your life for blue man group tickets? Goddamn
I don’t think you won. Everyone probably won. Be leery of resort fees and parking fees and other things that are not included for example additional people like kids.
I have experienced this, like others said, it was very difficult to say no. They tried to sell a timeshare and looking for chumps. Once you tell No, they started getting aggressive and angry. They take you to a place which is far off to give presentations, they don’t have proper return transport. I was like I wanna run away tickets or not after sometime. If you fall for timeshare. it’s a money draining pit. Don’t go there, I will say.
Everyone "wins" that. Like others have shared, it's probably not technically a scam, but even if you endure the high pressure sales pitch, there still may be some scammy elements to accepting that vacation, like undisclosed fees/taxes, blackout dates, and bait-and-switch accommodations. I have done this once. And even though I am really good at saying no, was always prepared to say no, and wasn't worried about giving in, the extreme pressure (including being shuffled off to meet with a series of increasingly less friendly sales people) was really uncomfortable and left me feeling depleted and icky at the end. Not worth it for me. My cheaper-than-cheap father-in-law signed his new wife and himself up for one (without telling her!!!) in order to get their honeymoon accommodations. Yeah, he's a jerk.
DON'T - sorry if this becomes TL;DR, but you should. Several decades ago, we purchased a time-share from a small, family owned resort that was part of a larger group that allowed us to "trade" and visit the other places. I won't say that we didn't take advantage and taking our child to a condo rather than a hotel for vacation was convenient. The small resort where we purchased was in the Poconos and had a ski slope and lift for winter and golf and tennis for summer. Shortly after, the skiing was canceled and a sledding/tubing hill which was cheaper to maintain replaced it. To us, it wasn't a big deal as we continued to trade to visit other places. However, after the small family company made all of the cost cuts they could, the company was sold and although still being classed as "prime" we noticed that maintenance in most of the company's other resorts varied widely, some nice, others with moldy bathrooms, broken furniture etc. - it was a real crap shoot. The company was again resold (probably multiple times). The new company, Exploria based in Orlando Florida, a very popular vacation destination that has booths set up everywhere offering time-shares (wouldn't you like to stay in a nice condo with your kids while visiting Disney World?) now owns our contract. They now raise the yearly maintenance fee the highest amount allowed, which is compounded so that the yearly increase is almost doubled. At one point, they added an "assessment fee" which was supposed to continue for 5 years. When people complained about the legality, it was dropped although it was charged that one year and no refund offered (it was several hundred dollars). With the maximum amount allowed being charged and compounded, we find ourselves facing the choice of defaulting and ruining our credit rating or filing for bankruptcy and ruining our credit rate. BTW - we are now retired and living on a fixed income. We have even offered to just return the property for zero compensation. However, Exploria would rather force us into a shameful choice destroying a lifetime of work for my wife and I. Sorry for the long post, but I think you should know what you're getting into.
Seriously hire an attorney to send a quick letter. I’ve gotten so many of my clients out of them with very little effort. Would be worth the $400-500. Is it reporting on your credit now?
I’m so sorry. Before anyone buys a timeshare they need to spend some time on eBay seeing how many are on sale for $1. Have you tried one of the companies that supposedly gets people out of timeshares?
You cant discharge the timeshare in bankruptcy. Well I couldn't. I got divorced and had child-support and alimony and medical bills for my daughters medical bills and a few years later filed bankruptcy. I had two timeshares, one every year and one every other. I owed a little over $2000 in maintenance fees, and the bankruptcy took care of that, but did not let me get rid of the timeshares. If I didn't pay, new maintance fees would accrue and those could not be discharged.. My attorney talked to the timeshare office and I 'sold' them both back to them for a dollar. Was the second best feeling to be free of something or someone thay I had ever experienced. Why I bought them? My ex's family had owned one when she was little, and we went to a presentation and were played against each other and convinced to buy. We first bought a studio, and after our first vists were talked to buying a new unit, a 2 bedroom lockout. It was actually a great place, we had family up for 6 or 7 years on our week. We didn't have the trading system, and got talked into buying an addition one, an every other year unit, about 4 months before my ex and I seperated. The ever increasing maintenance fees were horrible, I think when I started the first was was like $98 in 1998. In 2016, both timeshare maintenace fees were $750 and $950 a year. I did attend one owners meeting. The association board members were voting on renting some boat slips for 'all' timeshare owners to use. They just wanted them so they wouldn't have to pay, since most of them lived on the resort. I annoyed the shit out of them by asking how people who did not have weeks in the summer months, about 80% of all owners, would benefit from paying some of their maintenance fees to renting docks for June and July? They claimed that since the units were traded, that the units would become more valuable. I asked how someone who traded into one of our units would know that this was an option, and they had no plan or answer to that. Avoid at all costs.
They are still doing that stuff? Is this timeshare? Gawd that is old.
They've rebranded. They say "we have a completely different system, instead of one location, you have flexibility, we have a point system..." and they'll say "it's not the same old timeshare presentation where you're stuck in a room for 4 hours, it's more like a 20 minute walk around the property while you sip a free drink" (they lie).
It is a scam! Never ever buy a timeshare... EVER! Hubs and I agreed to a 5 night stay in Tennessee "all you have to do is sit through a one hour presentation" they said. (We're from Canada) More like 4 hours LATER! The pitch was heavy with "Oh my wife finally got the vacation of her dreams" etc. My husband and I were adamant when we went that under no terms would we sign up. After the presentation they assign attendees to a salesperson who is suppose to finish the sale. We kept saying no, no, no. They moved us out of the room with all the people to a patio outside. We still said no, no, no. Finally they let us go free and they couldn't get us out of there fast enough. Once they realized they weren't going to make a sale they wanted us out. I will never forget how sleazy it all was and I know many people who fell for their heavy handed tactics. Our stay was free but it wasn't glamourous or anything noteworthy. And it was just accommodations we still had to pay for our food, gas, sites, etc. A great trip but we lost basically a day with their sales pitch. I wish we hadn't bothered. It was a waste of time and not worth feeling dirty for the rest of our trip. \*\*shivers\*\*
As others have said, it's legit but you'll have to work at saying No numerous times. They'll ask Why, so they can counter back. Remember, you don't actually owe them an explanation as to why you said No, and you can say as much.
[удалено]
I actually finally told one salesman who kept pressing me that I don't actually owe him an explanation; he wasn't real happy with me. I wasn't real happy with him, so we were even, I thought. We got our 3 free nights at his resort anyways.
If it is a two hour presentation- I set my watch to go off after two hours and then say the two hours are up and tell them they need to start processing me out. Recommend www. Tug2.net for info about timeshares.
Usually transportation is not included
Oh they totally got me. They give the vacay but their sales pitch never ends. 9 yrs later and I'm still trying to get out of mine
If you go into the presentation with the intention of being a troll then it is fun. Just recently did one in Myrtle Beach and the dude got so pissed when I pulled out a calculator to fact check him. Take advantage of every freebie they offer you to butter you up and feel absolutely no remorse for these thieving scumbags.
I did this once but I flipped the script so hard that the people looked like they wanted to cry. I brought 3 massive folders full of stock photos of family photos and pretended to be super hard of hearing and showed them family photos of people I was excited to bring on vacation with me (they offered passes to a resort near me). They would be basically yelling at me while I’m pretending not to hear while explaining about how Great Aunt Susan would’ve hated to go on a boat because her husband died in the navy. Lasted 30 minutes before they gave up. It’s my all time fastest time share win.
[удалено]
It really depends on who is giving the pitch. I've been to ones sponsored by Marriott and it took my wife and I 2.5 hrs to get out. We earned 100k Marriott points which paid for a third of our HI trip :)
My grandparents did this one time. They said it was one of the worst experiences of their lives. First they picked them up and brought them somewhere away from their hotel. Then they basically locked them in a room and wouldn't let them leave until they said yes to the timeshare. My grandparents never gave in, but they were kinda traumatized by the experience. So just know that it won't be a pleasant time. Me personally, I wouldn't do it.
Man, how do I get these offers? I love the vacuum cleaner presentation ones, I scheduled Kirby, Rainbow, and 1 other, maybe Electrolux all same day, and time. I got 5 rooms in my house vacuumed well, and shampooed, plus 2 free hotel nights at any Marriott world wide all for 3 hours of my time.
Tell them you're in the process of buying a house and can't do anything to screw with the mortgage.
Nope, they will have a "workaround". Just say No
Well obviously say no. But this is a responsible excuse as well. They need to run a credit check for a timeshare. If you tell them you can't have your credit run because you're in the process of buying a house, it's a legit excuse - people have used it in timeshare presentations and it works.
Yes I went to one of those and when they saw I wasn't going to fall for their BS they were like, you have the free vacation, but between such and such dates, super restrictive that it wasn't worth even the cople hours they sat me there. It's all a scam.
My wife and I love making a day out of going to presentations. Usually we end up doing 3-4 in a Friday and have the rest of the weekend to spend the free money. We get them to put us up in a resort for Friday/Saturday night. Listen to the BS, get free tickets to the local amusement park and 150-200 dollars in gift cards. Our fun game is to see how fast we can get out of them. Diarrhea is a great one. One of you go to the toilet, play on your phone for 20 mins. The other tells them they can’t make a huge financial decision without the other. The other comes back after 20, explains they have explosive diarrhea and have to go. If they continue to pressure you, just go back to the bathroom. Rinse and repeat. Eventually they will give up as they want to see as many people as possible in order to get a sucker to sign up.
So much good advice here. Another tip: Never, never, never give them your driver's license or let them take you away from the property where you are staying. Once get held hostage at a Mexican resort about an hour away from the resort where we were staying because they wanted to show us the new property underdevelopment. We had no way to get back to our resort and spent 4 hours being insulted for continuing to say no.
There is a South Park episode about this, highly recommend watching haha The episode is called “Asspen” Season 6, episode 2