How annyoing are the time share hawkers?

[eliz603]

We are experienced WDW people, and we're considering a spring trip. We are contemplating an off site stay (heresy to me!). We are giving serious consideration to the Wyndham Bonnet Creek, and to a lesser extent, some of the Marriott villa properties. I've read several review boards, and one of the common complaints is the sales pitch to renters. While we EXPECT some encouragement to go to a presentation, we don't want the pitches shoved down our throats. Some have reported this experience at the Wyndham when going to the parking pass desk. How aggressive are they really?

 

[jeff968]

The high-end brands like marriott and hilton aren't too bad. We've done these 90 minute tours over 20 times and have yet to buy. matter a fact, we are now "banned for life" from the marriott tours because we won't buy. The tours aren't bad. You get some food, they give you a tour, use some "fuzzy" math, and then i tell them i have kids in college and we are not going to purchase now. Then we get our free attraction tickets and are on our way.

 

[bankr63]

I'm pretty sure the answer to this question is "how thick is your skin?" I've never had a problem with this, even when staying at Grand Mayan resorts in Mexico; and they have pretty much the worst reputation for pressure in the entire TS industry.

I find the best approach is to be friendly; a couple of minutes banter brings out the request to attend the presentation. A friendly thanks for offering with a firm we are not at all interested has always sufficed to get us on our way.

GM has "greeters" at the entrance to entice you to the presentation, but once we established we weren't prospects they were just that - Hi Maria, how are you? Bueno Sr Ross y tu? How was your trip to town? Never another presentation offer...

Whatever you do, do not give them an opening. If you ask what the breakfast presentation is about, or what deals they are offering, etc then you have taken the bait on the first hook, and they are moving into sales mode. Just don't go there to start with and they'll be moving you along to get to someone with a thinner skin.

I agree with what the PP says, the big chains are really low pressure because they have a reputation to maintain; but there are always those out there who report horrendous experiences a these "easy" resorts. Perhaps I am blaming the victim, but I can only think that they are leaving themselves open to this by letting the salesperson smell a good prospect.

For the most part, the timeshare hawkers are just regular folks making a living as best they can (and some of them make a VERY good living indeed). They are interesting people selling an overpriced product that you don't want...

 

[eliz603]

Thanks.

I guess what I'm getting at is how well they take 'no.'

We don't give openings, we have exactly zero interest in a time share. Ever. We won't be doing any time share tours. My husband negotiates for a living, so he is quite adept at dealing this kind of stuff. We get that time share tour invitations come with staying at a time share resort, but the last thing he (we) want on vacation is incessant pestering. He can stay at work for that! LOL

 

[chalee94]

I guess what I'm getting at is how well they take 'no.'

We don't give openings, we have exactly zero interest in a time share. Ever. We won't be doing any time share tours. My husband negotiates for a living, so he is quite adept at dealing this kind of stuff. We get that time share tour invitations come with staying at a time share resort, but the last thing he (we) want on vacation is incessant pestering. He can stay at work for that! LOL

i've stayed at a number of marriotts and at the sheraton vistana resort. so long as you do your part (say no if directly asked and avoid picking up "special gifts" or whatever), there is no hassle at all. i think sheraton vistana leaves a phone message or two (without the phone ringing) to remind you to pick up your special gift, but it's not a bother.

edited to add: i would tend to avoid westgates as they have a more problematic reputation.

 

[darrius1st]

Just tell the person at the parking pass desk you got the rental from a family member and your income is under $30,000 or let just one spouse check in.

 

[darrius1st]

Just tell the person at the parking pass desk you got the rental from a family member and your income is under $30,000 or let just one spouse check in.

 

[aleksandr]

At WBC I just don't bother to go to the parking pass desk. You don't actually need one to get into the property or to park. At the security gate you just show your room key to be let in. They will keep calling you and leaving messages on your room phone regarding "completing the check-in process", but just unplug your room phone and it is a non-issue. After all, in this age of cell phones, what good is the room phone anyhow?

If you don't feel comfortable doing that, as others have said, make sure you leave your spouse in the car when checking in--Florida law requires spousal consent to purchase real estate, so they can't sell you a time-share if you tell them your spouse is not with you.

Obviously this only applies if you are staying as a guest of an owner and not taking part in any kind of special offer that *requires* a time-share presentation (I don't believe WBC does this though, but other properties do, such as Westgate). In those cases, if you don't attend your presentation the will upcharge you the full price of the room.

 

[eliz603]

Good to know about not needing the pass. We unplug the phone at every hotel to prevent our little one from masking calls. He is 2, and he makes a bee line every time!

We are cash paying customers, so no deals! And as far as Westgate goes - I've seen the Queen of Versailles (sp?) more than once. Never would I stay with that company!

 

[powellrj]

A little OT, but has anyone seen the movie "the queen of versailles"? It was on TV the other night and wow the timeshare sellers really have a low opinion of the people they sell to. It was about the family that owns Westgate.

 

[eliz603]

A little OT, but has anyone seen the movie "the queen of versailles"? It was on TV the other night and wow the timeshare sellers really have a low opinion of the people they sell to. It was about the family that owns Westgate.

See my post above We are such nerds - we actually saw it in the theater. I wasn't a time share fan anyway, but wow. Just wow.

 

[ABrement]

We filled out forms that said we made under $40K or so at Bonnet Creek. Never heard from them again.

 

[FreeThinker]

We just unplugged the phone at BC and never had a problem. I got the parking pass and everything, just told the girl we weren't interested.

This time I am contemplating doing the tour to get cheaper park tickets... wondering if anyone has experience with that?

 

[suemom2kay]

At WBC I just don't bother to go to the parking pass desk. You don't actually need one to get into the property or to park. At the security gate you just show your room key to be let in. They will keep calling you and leaving messages on your room phone regarding "completing the check-in process", but just unplug your room phone and it is a non-issue. After all, in this age of cell phones, what good is the room phone anyhow?

Yes this. Just avoid the parking pass desk. Or just have your negotiation savvy husband shut the sales staff down when you pick up the pass. WBC is a great resort. And from what I've read on the WBC thread, the effort to get you into a meeting is not quite as over the top these days. The actual sales presentation remains a very hard sell and goes way over 90 mins for Wyndham. If you ever do want to buy a timeshare, definitely buy resale. I picked up mine for closing costs. Saved thousands and thousands of dollars over buying from the developer.

 

[eliz603]

Thanks everyone!

I love TripAdvisor, but I get the feeling those complaining about the Wyndham pressure for a tour may have not fully appreciated how time shares work/that it is a time share property. There were more complaints about this issue there than in other reviews.

Anyhow, we can stay in a 2 bedroom at Wyndham for $700 less than a 1 bedroom at OKW. Think for this trip, we are probably Wyndham bound. Just wish my little guy was a better sleeper so that we could stay on property this time!!

 

[jeff968]

There are two types of presentation approaches. If you are there because you took advantage of a special price offering then you owe them to sit through the presentation and you'll have to be prepared to give them the 90 minutes and talk to them about a purchase. We rent so they call us and ask if we would be interested in free attraction tickets if we attend the presentation. We could say no and be done with it but we usually do it, get the food and tickets and then say no to a purchase.

 

[tjlamphere]

The high-end brands like marriott and hilton aren't too bad. We've done these 90 minute tours over 20 times and have yet to buy. matter a fact, we are now "banned for life" from the marriott tours because we won't buy. The tours aren't bad. You get some food, they give you a tour, use some "fuzzy" math, and then i tell them i have kids in college and we are not going to purchase now. Then we get our free attraction tickets and are on our way.

How do you know you are banned for life? I see you have had several stays at the Parc Soleil..we got a nice rate there a few years back, in exchange for agreeing to a TS tour...and we got a $ 100 Visa Gift Card for doing the tour. The guy that did the selling was nice, but my DW and I were firm that we did not want to buy from them and that the secondary market offered greatly reduced prices...he backed off...he brought his Supervisor in and they had no luck with us.

When we stayed at WBC, I put down our family income as $ 30,000...never got a call from them...that is the trick to avoid getting called at WBC.

My DW and I have done probably 8 TS tours...never have come close to buying....and I will exchange 90 minutes of our time for $ 100 or two tickets to Disney or Universal...good trade off...and you even get breakfast...we schedule the tour as early as we can and are at the park by 10:30 at the latest...and $ 100 or more ahead!!!

No big deal

 

[eliz603]

There are two types of presentation approaches. If you are there because you took advantage of a special price offering then you owe them to sit through the presentation and you'll have to be prepared to give them the 90 minutes and talk to them about a purchase..

We're not. We're straight up renting. If I did this, I would have a different expectation. I don't care to get a free trip/money/tickets in exchange for a presentation - just not our thing. It's our different stroke for being different folks!

 

[jeff968]

We're not. We're straight up renting. If I did this, I would have a different expectation. I don't care to get a free trip/money/tickets in exchange for a presentation - just not our thing. It's our different stroke for being different folks!

Well, the good news is that you are under no obligation to attend then so you can say "no" on the phone to the presentation and be done with it (or don't answer the phone, but they will leave a message). That said, it is not a bad deal. We always book the first tour in the morning, 7:30am, while the kids are still sleeping. We usually get a free breakfast, fruit to take back to the room, a gift (a shopping bag or something), and $200-$250 worth of free attraction tickets. Not a bad deal for 90 minutes of my time. We are back in the room before the kids even wake up.

 

[jeff968]

How do you know you are banned for life? I see you have had several stays at the Parc Soleil..we got a nice rate there
When we stayed at WBC, I put down our family income as $ 30,000...never got a call from them...that is the trick to avoid getting called at WBC.

My DW and I have done probably 8 TS tours...never have come close to buying....and I will exchange 90 minutes of our time for $ 100 or two tickets to Disney or Universal...good trade off...and you even get breakfast...we schedule the tour as early as we can and are at the park by 10:30 at the latest...and $ 100 or more ahead!!!

No big deal

We still get calls with offers of great offerings. I'm a marriott rewards member. But as we are going through the registration process they told me that they saw I have attended "a number" of presentations so I am no longer eligable for the special deal.

That said, IMHO, the secret here, and if you don't mind giving up your 90 minutes, is NOT to get yourself eliminated. Then they keep calling you back with great package offerings. Just tell them "not now because of college but MAYBE later" and they call back the next year with another great offer. The deals from corporate are often better then the rental market and helps my vacation budget to go even further....

Don't forget to build on the original offer. They usually call with a 5 day 4 night deal and I'll add 3 nights at a special rate. You can upgrade the room as well to a 1 or 2 bedroom suite. We always get president's week.

Again, if you are not interested and find the entire deal annoying then just skip it.