Anyone really turned off by the DVC "pitch"?

[bighoo93]

My husband and I went on the DVC tour at Saratoga Springs the other day. We were told that the entire thing would take 60-90 minutes and would be "no pressure." We were very disappointed to find out that was not going to be the case.

Our "tour" took a little more than two hours, and the guy who we were assigned to, Joe, gave us a VERY hard sell at the end. He left the room to give us time to think and write down questions, and when he came back, he kept asking us why we hadn't signed yet. We told him we needed a few nights to think about it, and he essentially called us stupid for not having already signed up, given how much money we spend on Disney vacations.

He was essentially asking us to fork over $500 immediately of our savings, having only been introduced to the idea of DVC two hours before.

Anyway, it completely soured us on even the idea of DVC. We just felt it was completely unprofessional to be accosted like that at Disney.

Wow, that's awful. We experienced not one hint of pressure. And we are very sensitive to it, so I would have been likely to walk out if any were applied. Sounds like a salesperson who has previous experience in car sales or other timeshares where high pressure is the norm. I'd let DVC know about the experience and the guide.

 

[bighoo93]

Disney is a business and DVC is a cash cow. If you don't buy, The Guide doesn't get paid for the sale and poor performance could result in termination. He was probably a newer Guide under pressure to sell. Most Guide aren't as pushy.

If this is the case, then blame DVC, not the guide. People respond to incentives and employers should be held accountable for setting up ones that lead directly to an undesirable behavior. Interesting though that this doesn't seem to be the norm.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Thanks for all the responses. I sent an e-mail over to DVC today.

 

[rosanab1031]

Wow this was not my experience at all and I bought within the last year

I am sorry that you had to get a typical "car salesman"

I have purchased both of my contracts direct at Disneyland. After my initial tour I don't think my guide called me at all unless I called him first. Lol. I had a lot of questions and he was always very happy to answer. There was no pressure to buy AT ALL.

My sister and I are planning a trip to Italy for next summer using DVC through RCI and we wanted to try to fit a short trip to DLP in there too. He worked with us for quite a while trying to figure out how we could do it with our current contract and not ONCE did he mention adding on to our current contract. I finally brought it up because I knew VGF had just opened up! Lol!

I hope that some good comes out of your email and that you get a much more helpful and less pushy guide the next time around. Good luck!

 

[Mickbee]

When we took our tour, our guide was great! He told us in advance the duration of the tours. We promptly ended on time including questions along the way. At the completion of his presentation he simply said "We have completed our tour, at this time this is where we would say goodbye or if you would like to learn more we can continue".

It was a great learning experience and the education drove our purchase.

 

[francie57]

We just did the tour on the 15th out of the BW office and had Mark. We was wonderful and never pressured us at all. We actually went in and told him we didn't need a tour since we always stay at a villas. He answered our questions and offered info that we hadn't thought of. We were never pressured and he gave us all the info at the end for us to consider. I am actually now looking at resales as the way to go for us since it is a considerable savings and I don't care about the cruise line and the few "collections" that we won't get.

 

[MoreTravels]

Thanks for all the responses. I sent an e-mail over to DVC today.

There are people with so much time....you were not a customer and you did not like his sales style, so what is the problem? Just turn around and leave then. Were you held against your will? Was the door locked?

Also, let me ask you to see it from the other angle about your complaint, if you are the business owner and you have a top sales person, generating for example, 50% of your sales volume whereas the rest of team each sells only 5-10%. Then you have some potential (ie, non-paying) customer complaining that person is "too pushy". What would you say?

Most business owners, whether ethically right or wrong, will say "tough but this is my best guy, if you don't like him, it's okay as long I like him for his top sales generation".

It's a different story if he used profanity or violent. As long as he was professional, I don't see the issue.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

There are people with so much time....you were not a customer and you did not like his sales style, so what is the problem? Just turn around and leave then. Were you held against your will? Was the door locked?

Also, let me ask you to see it from the other angle about your complaint, if you are the business owner and you have a top sales person, generating for example, 50% of your sales volume whereas the rest of team each sells only 5-10%. Then you have some potential (ie, non-paying) customer complaining that person is "too pushy". What would you say?

Most business owners, whether ethically right or wrong, will say "tough but this is my best guy, if you don't like him, it's okay as long I like him for his top sales generation".

It's a different story if he used profanity or violent. As long as he was professional, I don't see the issue.

Clearly, you're the only person in this thread that feels that way.

 

[Minniesgal]

We have to chase our guide for our VGF purchase he was t pushy at all.

 

[MoreTravels]

Clearly, you're the only person in this thread that feels that way.

That is because I am a business owner and not on salary. I don't have any "entitlement" sentiment. I have many potential customers coming in complaining about our staff not answering our phone fast enough, when there are paying customers in our facility that need our attention right away. These complainers wanted to ask numerous questions and took a lot of time, but not leading to any revenue. I always tell myself, customer first, but you have to pay first, to be my customer. If you just want to voice complaints or be difficult, then too bad for you. The door is not locked.

I always remain professional on speech tone and greetings. However, I have no sympathy for crying babies.

This is how I feel if someone complains about my business staff / employees. Hey, they generated revenue for me but not the complainer. No soup for you!

 

[bumbershoot]

There are people with so much time....you were not a customer and you did not like his sales style, so what is the problem? Just turn around and leave then. Were you held against your will? Was the door locked?

Also, let me ask you to see it from the other angle about your complaint, if you are the business owner and you have a top sales person, generating for example, 50% of your sales volume whereas the rest of team each sells only 5-10%. Then you have some potential (ie, non-paying) customer complaining that person is "too pushy". What would you say?

Most business owners, whether ethically right or wrong, will say "tough but this is my best guy, if you don't like him, it's okay as long I like him for his top sales generation".

It's a different story if he used profanity or violent. As long as he was professional, I don't see the issue.

How do you know this guy is their top guy? You don't know at all.

They still have the potential to be a customer. This guy put them OFF of being a customer right now. This guy had a negative effect on them. Maybe they only needed a week to think and research (a knowledgable DVC owner is a good thing who bugs guides less often down the road except for when want to throw more money at DVC) and then he would have gotten those papers signed. Now that's not going to happen *with that guide* directly because of how the guy behaved.

If I ran a reputable business I don't want a guy just trying to get people to make emotional decisions so fast. I want truly happy customers. Business owners who are ok with the icky type of salesmen put me off. I do not want to provide revenue to them at all.

Our guide was as happy to sell to us when he did as he would have been 1.5 years before when we met him. Happier since we paid more lol.

 

[Dean]

That is because I am a business owner and not on salary. I don't have any "entitlement" sentiment. I have many potential customers coming in complaining about our staff not answering our phone fast enough, when there are paying customers in our facility that need our attention right away. These complainers wanted to ask numerous questions and took a lot of time, but not leading to any revenue. I always tell myself, customer first, but you have to pay first, to be my customer. If you just want to voice complaints or be difficult, then too bad for you. The door is not locked.

I always remain professional on speech tone and greetings. However, I have no sympathy for crying babies.

This is how I feel if someone complains about my business staff / employees. Hey, they generated revenue for me but not the complainer. No soup for you!

I don't believe in the customer is always right idea, I believe there has to be a balance that cuts the deadbeats loose without losing good customers. As this issue applies to DVC sales, I think Disney and DVC in general have routinely been too slack on the complainers. We've seen a number of people over the years that seemed completely wrong (all we have is what they tell us) but DVC or Disney compensated them in some way such as returning points. I'd venture to say that around 80% of the people who start a complaint post here on DIS are at least mostly wrong. The problem we have is we weren't there and the nuances certainly come into play.


Part of the problem with the approach Disney takes is it is chaotic and inconsistent. One may get the world and the next may get nothing. I'll reference when those were moved from AKV concierge to SSR, some were compensated and most not. OTOH, those who simply lost animals on a savannah were often given too much. Anything over a refund of the difference between the 2 views was likely unreasonable. Or those that go and the pool is down and complain. I'd agree that a significant portion of people who post on such matters on DIS seem to approach things more from an emotional standpoint than a practical one. Personally, I look at both sides with a slant toward the company side and I believe I do so more from an objective standpoint than most. I also look at how a given issue compares the rest of the timeshare world. As posted this seemed to be small potatoes (again we weren't there).

When it comes to timeshare sales, Disney is a little different or at least they have been in the past (I believe they're changing). This type of issue happens routinely at other timeshares. In fact, as presented, I'd say this is more the norm. The harder sell can be done professionally and that's where I believe DVC should be. It does sound like he may have overstepped if the OP is a true representation and he was derogatory to the couple but the buy now, you need to do this, what's stopping you, keep pushing is normal and expected, IMO, even for DVC even if it's not been that way previously. The one area I'm not very tolerant off for timeshare sales, and it sounds like it did occur here, is being upset the person toured in the first place. Other timeshare companies generally offer incentives for the tour and do so routinely to those who have toured before including members. It's their decision whether to off an incentive or offer the tour to anyway. They can black list anyone they want and not offer the tour/compensation again.

One thing I've seen over the years (personally, in discussion and a lot of posts various places) is that some timeshare sales people feel the need to simply get nasty and personal once they see one is not buying. I've seen it enough to feel that either it's a sales technique which I can't figure out OR the industry attracts a certain element of crazy. I've asked a number of good sales people and related management about this very topic over the past 3-4 years and no one seems to think it's a sales technique though I'm still not convinced. The one thing comes to mind that they're purposefully trying to make sure some people don't tour again to improve sales percentages later. I feel they do far more harm than good though.

 

[Dean]

How do you know this guy is their top guy? You don't know at all.

We don't but you do know that he'll almost certainly keep on with these type of approaches and if he's not producing, he won't last long. My point related to this issue would be that they'll overlook a lot IF he's a top performer. A rule in timeshare sales (and many others) is that if it's not documented (writing, video), it didn't happen.

 

[CarolMN]

That is because I am a business owner and not on salary. I don't have any "entitlement" sentiment. I have many potential customers coming in complaining about our staff not answering our phone fast enough, when there are paying customers in our facility that need our attention right away. These complainers wanted to ask numerous questions and took a lot of time, but not leading to any revenue. I always tell myself, customer first, but you have to pay first, to be my customer. If you just want to voice complaints or be difficult, then too bad for you. The door is not locked.

I always remain professional on speech tone and greetings. However, I have no sympathy for crying babies.

This is how I feel if someone complains about my business staff / employees. Hey, they generated revenue for me but not the complainer. No soup for you!

I have to agree with you in principle.

There is nothing I hate more than standing in front of a real person trying to get them to take my money, only to have them pick up the phone!! I will wait about 30 seconds before I leave. Car dealer lost a sale that way - and I told him why when he called later in the week trying to make the sale (I had just gone down the street and bought another brand).

That said, I don't think the OP's experience was typical or that the salesman was a particularly good one. If that were true, he/she would have noticed the customer's discomfort and changed his tactics.

 

[Shleedogg]

We haven't had that experience. Our original guide was Jenna, she was completely no pressure. We were so sad to hear she had left when we wanted to add on. Our new guide is nice, no pressure, answers all my questions but we just haven't clicked with him :/.

If I were you and interested in DVC still, I'd switch guides. Everyone on the board can offer recommendations . Sorry you had that experience!!

 

[disneynutz]

We are buying a product, not a Guide.

The Guide might be low key, might be young, might be older, could be a man, could be a woman, may be pushy, it really doesn't matter. You will probably never see or talk to them again unless you want to buy another contract.

The Guide doesn't set the price or process the contract, they don't set up your account or load your points, so it doesn't really matter if you get along with them.

Bill

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

We are buying a product, not a Guide.

The Guide might be low key, might be young, might be older, could be a man, could be a woman, may be pushy, it really doesn't matter. You will probably never see or talk to them again unless you want to buy another contract.

The Guide doesn't set the price or process the contract, they don't set up your account or load your points, so it doesn't really matter if you get along with them.

Bill

You're missing the point. The point was that the DVC guide was calling us stupid for not buying DVC then and there, which we were NEVER going to do. I don't care how awesome the product is (and I'm not sure DVC is all that great for our needs), nobody deserves to be treated like that.

 

[disneynutz]

You're missing the point. The point was that the DVC guide was calling us stupid for not buying DVC then and there, which we were NEVER going to do. I don't care how awesome the product is (and I'm not sure DVC is all that great for our needs), nobody deserves to be treated like that.

I understand but there are jerks everywhere, and you aren't stupid so let him say what he wants.

Don't let a bad sales person turn you off to a product that may be a benefit to you.

Bill

 

[HM]

At least he didn't make you cry, like the sales manager of another timeshare place did to me. We were 'trapped' for 2 1/2 hours trying to get out of the place with the incentives they promised. What we learned from the experience there was to never ask questions or act interested in the product, or they think they have you. We really went in with no intention of buying but we were interested in how the points system works (unlike the week system) so asked questions. Big mistake.

OP, I am sorry you had a bad experience. Like others have said, if DVC is something you think can work for you, don't let one guy keep you from looking into it further.

 

[deedisneydream97]

I would have gotten up and walked out as soon as the salesman called me "stupid". Would have gone right to the front of the lobby/greeting place and asked to speak to a supervisor. We have had a wonderful "guide" since 1997 (I don't think they called them guides then...). He has given us great advice and has never steered us wrong. Every time we are staying at one of our DVC's, there is always a message on our phone from him (complete with our first names, so only a semi-robo call) saying welcome home and give him a call if we have any questions (i.e. letting us know he's still there and if we want to add on, let him know).

I find it hard to believe that this guy has been with DVC for six years.....did that six years include 'sales' or just the kind of person that shows you around and then brings you to the seating area to wait for a salesperson? I am shocked that DVC would tolerate this type of behavior......how could it go unnoticed for six years? Maybe he just recently got promoted to "sales" from being a greeter or something.

I am curious as to how you came about doing the tour at SSR. I went once with my daughter when she was interested in AKV....but we could see BLT was being built. Our guide from '97 gave us good advice. Went again with husband when BLT "rooms" replaced the AKV at the SSR sales center. Our same guide helped us and again gave us good advice. We have bought some contracts through him and others through resale. I think we are done now...we have plenty of points.

I am so sorry to hear of this type of treatment. I wonder if others have complained to management about him.