The Mouse Will Get Your Money Either Way..

[twe1vestone2]

So last month I was walking through Downtown Disney, and I stopped at a DVC stand because an Aulani picture caught my eye. So I decided to stop and check out the pics. A DVC sales rep comes up to me and begins doing his thing. I explained to him that I normally rent from other DVC owners (Thanks Disboards!) and I have no reason to actually buy my own DVC membership. As he proceeded to try to find good reasons for me to buy one, I kept coming back with good reasons for me to NOT buy one.

At this point his frustration is building, and its becoming very obvious. So he throws in the final attempt and invites me to a session the next morning, to which I replied "No thank you, I have breakfast reservations". As I walked away he nastily retorts, "That's fine. The mouse will get your money either way..." and walks away.

Are you serious??? lol I was stunned! Anybody else have any similar experiences??

 

[CarolMN]

No similar experiences, but we don't stop at the DVC Kiosks if they are staffed at the time. FWIW, those folks get paid based on the number of people/prospects they get to go to the meetings with the sales group. I'm not surprised the guy was disappointed, although I am surprised at his outburst.

 

[twe1vestone2]

No similar experiences, but we don't stop at the DVC Kiosks if they are staffed at the time. FWIW, those folks get paid based on the number of people/prospects they get to go to the meetings with the sales group. I'm not surprised the guy was disappointed, although I am surprised at his outburst.

Yes i figured they worked based off of some sort of commission, but I had never expected something like that. I walked away thinking "Am I the only one that he's ever come across that rents dvc points??" lol

 

[Deb & Bill]

He was right. The Mouse is going to get your money someway. You'll go to the parks and pay admission there. You'll go shopping at one of the stores. You'll participate in a tour. You'll dine on the property somewhere.

Unless you rent a reservation from a member, don't go to the parks, don't shop and you cook your own food.

 

[twe1vestone2]

He was right. The Mouse is going to get your money someway. You'll go to the parks and pay admission there. You'll go shopping at one of the stores. You'll participate in a tour. You'll dine on the property somewhere.

Unless you rent a reservation from a member, don't go to the parks, don't shop and you cook your own food.

We all know this, but that wasn't the point! The point was I couldn't believe a Cast Member would say something like that to somebody!

 

[Dean]

We all know this, but that wasn't the point! The point was I couldn't believe a Cast Member would say something like that to somebody!

I'm always amazed at how unsuccessful sales people often treat their prospective clients. It's one thing to marginalize someone who is unlikely to buy such as ignoring the guy in the boots and overalls who actually has a wad of bills to pay cash, it's quite another to be overtly rude. I don't mind pushy up to a point but I don't react well to rude. One thing I've seen with timeshare sales is that a subset of them, when unsuccessful in selling, turn simply nasty. I've always wondered why and figured there must be some reason that I was never able to pin down. I've asked this question of 3 or 4 fairly high level timeshare sales staff in the last few months who worked for companies where this happens fairly regularly and they were not able to offer a reason why other than some people are jerks. It happens consistently enough that I suspect it's more than that. Maybe they think they can weed out those that are less likely to buy by such an attitude to keep those less likely to buy from taking the tour but I don't know for sure.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I'm always amazed at how unsuccessful sales people often treat their prospective clients. It's one thing to marginalize someone who is unlikely to buy such as ignoring the guy in the boots and overalls who actually has a wad of bills to pay cash, it's quite another to be overtly rude. I don't mind pushy up to a point but I don't react well to rude. One thing I've seen with timeshare sales is that a subset of them, when unsuccessful in selling, turn simply nasty. I've always wondered why and figured there must be some reason that I was never able to pin down. I've asked this question of 3 or 4 fairly high level timeshare sales staff in the last few months who worked for companies where this happens fairly regularly and they were not able to offer a reason why other than some people are jerks. It happens consistently enough that I suspect it's more than that. Maybe they think they can weed out those that are less likely to buy by such an attitude to keep those less likely to buy from taking the tour but I don't know for sure.

Dean, I worked with a marketing professor for over 10 years and this is what I understand about this behavior.

The salesperson intimidates the buyer and trys to make them feel guilty for taking up their time when they KNEW they weren't going to buy anything. They play on the guilt. They are basically preying on the less intelligent or less educated buyer. It won't always work, but it works often enough that sleezy salesmen use that tactic.

My coworker gave me this wondeful piece of advice...if someone is yelling at you in an advertisement...NEVER go in their door. They WILL try to take advantage.

 

[Sammie]

So last month I was walking through Downtown Disney, and I stopped at a DVC stand because an Aulani picture caught my eye. So I decided to stop and check out the pics. A DVC sales rep comes up to me and begins doing his thing. I explained to him that I normally rent from other DVC owners (Thanks Disboards!) and I have no reason to actually buy my own DVC membership. As he proceeded to try to find good reasons for me to buy one, I kept coming back with good reasons for me to NOT buy one.

At this point his frustration is building, and its becoming very obvious. So he throws in the final attempt and invites me to a session the next morning, to which I replied "No thank you, I have breakfast reservations". As I walked away he nastily retorts, "That's fine. The mouse will get your money either way..." and walks away.

Are you serious??? lol I was stunned! Anybody else have any similar experiences??

Never had that experience, however, I would never stop and take up their time if I was not seriously considering buying and I most certainly would not take up their time pointing out to them why I rent over buying.

As you stated, I am sure Frustration set in. No excuse for being rude, but a reason.

 

[nsalz]

This cast member was totally out of line. I had an agent who was so wonderful and no pressure. It was three months later we called back after we decided to buy and asked for that some agent. It doesn't matter if you wanted to buy or not when you walked up, the sales agent should have never said anything except "Have a nice day".

 

[twe1vestone2]

Never had that experience, however, I would never stop and take up their time if I was not seriously considering buying and I most certainly would not take up their time pointing out to them why I rent over buying.

As you stated, I am sure Frustration set in. No excuse for being rude, but a reason.

But I didn't stop and attempt to waste anybody's time! I was walking by, as I said, and they had a book out front opened up to Aulani's pictures. I literally didn't even step onto the carpet! And I wasn't trying to be rude to him, but he kept asking me why I won't buy one, and I kept telling him my advantages from my perspective on why its better for me to just rent. He didn't wanna quit though, and I understand he is working on some sort of commission so I tried to keep the mood light. Frustration was noticeably settling in but from where I was standing, it didn't seem to be to a point where I would get that sort of response! That's why I was so taken back!

When I told my wife, who was shopping in the pantry at the time, she couldn't believe it and wanted me to report him. But I would rather not contribute to somebody possibly not having a job tomorrow, I'll just let myself be his one strike lol.

 

[twe1vestone2]

I'm always amazed at how unsuccessful sales people often treat their prospective clients. It's one thing to marginalize someone who is unlikely to buy such as ignoring the guy in the boots and overalls who actually has a wad of bills to pay cash, it's quite another to be overtly rude. I don't mind pushy up to a point but I don't react well to rude. One thing I've seen with timeshare sales is that a subset of them, when unsuccessful in selling, turn simply nasty. I've always wondered why and figured there must be some reason that I was never able to pin down. I've asked this question of 3 or 4 fairly high level timeshare sales staff in the last few months who worked for companies where this happens fairly regularly and they were not able to offer a reason why other than some people are jerks. It happens consistently enough that I suspect it's more than that. Maybe they think they can weed out those that are less likely to buy by such an attitude to keep those less likely to buy from taking the tour but I don't know for sure.

Another thing that shocked me was the fact that this wasn't the first time I had to turn down a DVC Sales Rep w/ these same reasons I gave this man. In fact, maybe 2 days prior, I came across somebody in the Boardwalk lobby who as I was walking out the back door to the deck tried to engage me about buying a DVC timeshare. When I told him all my reasons he politely said, "Well, I always say, DVC isn't for everybody! You gotta make life work for you! Have a great time on your stay!". Great guy!

 

[DizBub]

I've asked this question of 3 or 4 fairly high level timeshare sales staff in the last few months who worked for companies where this happens fairly regularly and they were not able to offer a reason why other than some people are jerks. It happens consistently enough that I suspect it's more than that.

I think it's just that some people ARE jerks. They simply can't help it, it's who they are. Those people should not be DVC salesmen.

I haven't seen that many DVC kiosks "busy" and feel kind of sorry for them most days. Most people seem to avoid them like the dentist. They are like glorified direction givers. We stop and chat when they have no one with them and promptly leave when someone else approaches. Personally I would never engage one of these guys and tell them we bought resale or that we were renting points, none of their business. But it's kind of like taunting them and taking bread off their table. But maybe that's just me.

OP, I know that's not what you were doing and that guy was totally out of line.

They have a great product to sell and nobody seems to want it especially when they find out what a HUGE cash outlay is involved. Now it will even be a harder sell when the new pricing rolls out.......... No wonder they are frustrated.

 

[Dean]

Dean, I worked with a marketing professor for over 10 years and this is what I understand about this behavior.

The salesperson intimidates the buyer and trys to make them feel guilty for taking up their time when they KNEW they weren't going to buy anything. They play on the guilt. They are basically preying on the less intelligent or less educated buyer. It won't always work, but it works often enough that sleezy salesmen use that tactic.

My coworker gave me this wondeful piece of advice...if someone is yelling at you in an advertisement...NEVER go in their door. They WILL try to take advantage.

I'm well aware of the shame approach, don't you want to be good to your family, etc. I don't react well to that either. However, the situation I described is when you're past any possibility that one will buy, it's simply done to belittle someone and really no different than being cursed out. Again, it seems to be fairly common in certain timeshare sales situations. It's the commonality that seems to make me think there must be an underlying method/plan but maybe the profession simply attracts a higher share of rude people than some others.

Never had that experience, however, I would never stop and take up their time if I was not seriously considering buying and I most certainly would not take up their time pointing out to them why I rent over buying.

As you stated, I am sure Frustration set in. No excuse for being rude, but a reason.

DVC doesn't offer true incentives for touring and generally doesn't tour people repeatedly but other companies do both. There are those that go just for the incentives and I would not do so for that reason alone. However, I enjoy learning about resorts and systems so I often accept their unsolicited invitation to do so. They can be quite insistent and if they offer enough to make wife wife agree, I'll often sign up. I figure that it's their ballgame, if they want to invest the time, I'll do the same. I have started getting the length of the presentation in writing and holding them to it. We had quite an interesting adventure in Daytona this past year when the ASA offered several incentives including a late checkout and a guaranteed 45 min tour. We were 15 min early and I held them to 45 min from the time of the appt as I had it in writing. We spent most of the time discussing whether I was being reasonable or not. I had an appt following but I had wanted to get some real information and see the model units, we never got around to it. I'm pretty sure the sales person lost his job related to the incident but you never know.

This cast member was totally out of line. I had an agent who was so wonderful and no pressure. It was three months later we called back after we decided to buy and asked for that some agent. It doesn't matter if you wanted to buy or not when you walked up, the sales agent should have never said anything except "Have a nice day".

I agree they were out of line but IMO, Disney has been far too easy going on the sales side. There are consequences to this approach that negatively affect the members including we've lost at least 3 or 4 previous resorts and had VB scaled back directly related to this approach.

 

[mjc2003]

He was right. The Mouse is going to get your money someway. You'll go to the parks and pay admission there. You'll go shopping at one of the stores. You'll participate in a tour. You'll dine on the property somewhere.

Unless you rent a reservation from a member, don't go to the parks, don't shop and you cook your own food.

So your position is that the salesman's comment was appropriate? lol.

 

[crisi]

This cast member was totally out of line. I had an agent who was so wonderful and no pressure. It was three months later we called back after we decided to buy and asked for that some agent. It doesn't matter if you wanted to buy or not when you walked up, the sales agent should have never said anything except "Have a nice day".

My thought was "how refreshingly honest."

Its so easy for so many of us to forget that Disney is a corporation out to make money.

Too many stories like this - not the salesperson being rude, but the base story of "I couldn't get him in because he rents points" getting back to DVD are, IMHO, likely to create additional restrictions to renting. For instance "only members can get a dining plan - you must be a member or traveling with a member." Or "only members can use ME." Or "only members can make room requests - if you aren't a member (or traveling with a member) you get whatever rooms are left." Because, as a corporation, they want "the mouse to get your money one way or another" and they'd prefer that way be the one with the biggest margins to Disney.

 

[Brian Noble]

The salesperson intimidates the buyer and trys to make them feel guilty for taking up their time when they KNEW they weren't going to buy anything. They play on the guilt. They are basically preying on the less intelligent or less educated buyer. It won't always work, but it works often enough that sleezy salesmen use that tactic.

I distinctly remember one person who posted a few years ago. They were staying at POP, took the DVC tour with really no intention to buy. The Guide more or less said to them: "Well, people who stay at the Values really can't afford this." There were pages and pages of sympathetic posters on here on DISboards along the lines of Well I Never and Cast Members Should Not and You Must Get a New Guide etc. etc.

You know what happened? The young couple showed their Guide who was boss a few weeks later by calling him and buying.

As an aside: OP, there's really nothing wrong with a generic "No, we wouldn't be interested" rather than the equivalent of "I'm actively subverting the sales process."

 

[bumbershoot]

I distinctly remember one person who posted a few years ago. They were staying at POP, took the DVC tour with really no intention to buy. The Guide more or less said to them: "Well, people who stay at the Values really can't afford this."

You know what happened? The young couple showed their Guide who was boss a few weeks later by calling him and buying.

That method definitely works on some! DH sold cars for awhile and many of the experienced sales guys loved that method. Offends some (we had it used on us and we left as soon as they gave DH's license back after the test drive) but gets them enough sales to keep on using it.



I wonder if the kiosk guy would feel that he was offensive or just funny.

 

[mjc2003]

The young couple showed their Guide who was boss a few weeks later by calling him and buying.

I would propose that he showed them who's boss by enticing them to buy with an effective approach. After all, they shelled out thousands of dollars and he got a commission.

 

[a742246]

I stop by the DVC Kiosks all the time and I never had a problem with them, I
would tell them I am a happy member and if they continue with a sales pitch
I tell them they are very good at their job and wish them luck. But I would never contradict each of their sales pitches with a negative reply. I always tell people to treat people the same you want to be treated.

I do not agree with the salesperson's final reply especially if it was not done in good humor.

But, to the OP you need to have thicker skin. You can not let something like this bother you for over a month.

 

[Brian Noble]

I would propose that he showed them who's boss by enticing them to buy with an effective approach. After all, they shelled out thousands of dollars and he got a commission.

Yes, that was exactly my point.