Well, I never!

[SheriB]

Last night about 8:00 p.m. my phone rings. I didn't have my portable phone with caller ID on it, so I answered. I hear someone say my husbands name very directly (there was no "May I speak to so and so"). I said, "He's not here right now."
He said, "Oh, this is just a courtesy call." I said, "May I take a message?" Then he said, "This is 'so and so' from Westgate Resorts. This is just a follow up call. Mr. (last name) had requested some information and I was just getting back to him."
I said, "Really??? That's funny, because we already own a Disney timeshare that we're very happy with, and I'm sure my husband did not request any information from Westgate ."
CLICK. He hung up on me! How rude. Do you think it was the fact that I mentioned Disney timeshare, or the fact that I knew he was callilng about a timeshare that scared him?
I don't even know anything about Westgate, other than the fact that it is a timeshare. I wasn't being rude to him, but he was clearly lying to me. When I told my husband about it later, he said he had never even heard of Westgate, and how did I know it was a timeshare? I have my ways. Anyone with similar experiences or opinions?

Thanks,
Sheri

 

[WolfpackFan]

More than likely he heard DVC and knew he would have no chance of selling any other timeshare so decided not to waste his time even trying.

I had this happen to me about a month ago - telephone salesperson called and started talking to me - I was very negative in my answer - so he immediately said "he was going to save me the trouble of hanging up on him, by hanging up on me" and he did.

 

[ErinC]

It makes me furious for anyone that bothers to call you selling something, and then to hang up on YOU! I don't think that we have had anyone from a timeshare call, but citibank hung up on me once and I called them back and filed a complaint with them. Probably did no good, but I felt better. Thank goodness for the advent of caller id. I mostly never answer, and as a stay at home mother you wouldn't believe the number of calls we get per day! It's the only part about being at home that I hate.

 

[floridafam]

Where do these other timeshares get our phone numbers from?

Why do so many people receive calls from other timeshares after they join DVC?

Do they get our names from the deeds after they are recorded?

 

[SheriB]

I really rely on my caller ID. My husband, on the other hand, loves to answer the phone when it is anyone soliciting something. He'll tell them to hold on a minute, then walk away from the phone. One time someone called to sell something to my teenage daughter. He told them she was at her friends house, but he was going to pick her up, if they wanted to hold on for about 5 minutes. They did! He just put the phone down on the edge of the pool table and started playing pool. He picked the phone up a few more times and asked, "Are you still there? OK I'm going to get her now." I asked him, "Why do you even bother? Just blow them off!" He said, "Because it's fun, and if I can keep them on the phone for 5 minutes, I'm saving about 5 other people from getting the same annoying phone call." He really gets a kick out of it. He's a sick pup. But he's right. The way I look at it, if I want to buy something, I will look up a phone number and start calling to ask questions. I don't need someone calling me to buy something that they know I don't want anyway.
I get so many calls about winning vacations, and a lot of calls from timeshares. It's so annoying and aggravating. Especially when they call you, then hang up on you! I should just let my husband answer all the phone calls.

Sheri

 

[spiceycat]

you people are so sweet - when I answer the phone - and I don't recognize the voice - I ask what they want - (the new laws says that they have to) - when they start the selling - I just hang up.

they are distributing you - not the only way around - they deserve no consideration.

I would definitely call Westgate - also send a letter - I would also send a letter to the Florida dept that regulates timeshares.

I own at Westgate and they treat me horrible.....when we go on vacation time there I don't answer the phone - it gets mother upsets - but I assure her that relatives have my cell phone number and if they want to get in contact they would call that number.

 

[ErinC]

"I get so many calls about winning vacations"

Oh yes I forgot, I win a Disney Vacation EVERYDAY around 2:00p.m.!!! I go to pick my DD up from school and have the same message everyday when I return home!

 

[DebbieB]

My neighbor owns at Vistana. A couple of times he left my name as a referral there. Maybe they were pressuring them to give some names, maybe they get a prize or something. Anyway, they called me and when I said I own DVC and was happy there they hung up on me!

We've had the PA "do not call" list for about a year. It has really worked, we get very few unsolicited calls.

 

[WDWguru]

Not timeshare related, but phone solicitation... My mom lives in Florida, so she gets a lot of sales calls targeted to retired folks (cruises, insurance, medical stuff, etc).

About 15 years ago (long before caller ID) she used to get called at least once a week by somebody at Arthur Murray trying to sell her dance lessons. She always said "no thanks" and hung up, yet they kept calling.

Finally, after a few months of it, she just got fed up. The next time they called, she listened to the whole pitch, then began quietly (fake) crying toward the end. The person stopped talking, then mom said, "I'm in a wheelchair." They immediately hung up! She never heard from them again, either.

It certainly wasn't intended to make fun of or offend those who are confined to wheelchairs, but it definitely worked with the dance lesson folks! We always wondered if they changed their procedures on who they called or how they worded their spiel, as there are an awful lot of people in Florida who ARE in wheelchairs, use walkers or otherwise can't get around very well.

 

[LarryM]

I figure they get our info from the records registered in orlando, for example the deed, and any other paperwork that would have our info.

 

[Certifiable WDW Nut]

Originally posted by ErinC
"I get so many calls about winning vacations"

Oh yes I forgot, I win a Disney Vacation EVERYDAY around 2:00p.m.!!! I go to pick my DD up from school and have the same message everyday when I return home!

Me too. I work out of the home so I'm never there. Thankfully we have a new digital answering machine that allows us to delete the message in the middle. Don't have to wait until the end to hear the next message. I looovvve hitting that delete button.

 

[SheriB]

I was looking for a phone number to call Westgate and vent my anger, and couldn't find one that looked as if it were the correct area to contact. But I did find a site where I could e-mail Westgate directly. This is what I said (I pretended to be my husband):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone from Westgate called my home last night and asked for me. My wife told him I was not available and asked to take a message. The man at Westgate said that I had requested information and that he was doing a follow-up call. First of all, that is a lie. I never requested anything. Then when my wife said we already owned a timeshare and she was sure I didn't request any information, the man hung up on her. If this is the way you solicit business, your employees' customer service skills are severely lacking. That's one of the reasons we bought into the Disney Vacation Club. There is no chance that would ever happen with their customer service. How dare someone from your company call me soliciting sales, then hang up! Your people could learn a few things from Disney. Go sell it somewhere else. Perhaps some other unsuspecting person will fall for those deceptive sales tactics, but I'm not one of them. Please permanently remove my name from any mailing or calling lists. If I receive another phone call of that nature again, I will consider it harassment and take appropriate action.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think? I felt I had to try to contact someone at Westgate. I don't feel they should be able to get away with that type of behavior.

Sheri

 

[PamOKW]

I think these companies may also get our names through various things "Disney" we may sign up for, contests, etc.

That brings up something I heard yesterday -- To get around the new "no call" you may begin receiving offers in the mail for coupons, sweepstakes, etc. If you take advantage of any of these you are now "doing business" with the company who sent it to you and they may legally start calling you at home again. Sheesh! There's just no stopping them -- sort of like cockroaches.

 

[CRobin]

Originally posted by PamOKW
That brings up something I heard yesterday -- To get around the new "no call" you may begin receiving offers in the mail for coupons, sweepstakes, etc.

That exact thing happened here. Some kid was handing out coupons to win a car in a raffle. Just fill it out with name, address, phone number and throw it in the box. And, who reads the fine print on the back where it says that by entering the contest they now have your permission to remove your name from DNC lists.

 

[RumpleMom]

Yes, PamOKW, I agree that sure is a sneaky way to get around the no-call list.

After years of trying to say no nicely to phone salespeople, I have a standard answer of- I do not do business over the phone and I never do a phone survey.


If I feel in a talkative mood I explain we are in the middle of 8 years of college tuition for the kids (which is true), boy do they hang up fast!!

 

[flexsmom]

My brother lives in the Florida panhandle. A telemarketer called at 7am on a Sunday. When my brother asked him if he knew what time it was he said "sure, it's 8am". When told that Panama City was on central time and NOT eastern time, the guy INSISTED that it was 8am and my brother should fix his clocks!

 

[ncligs]

We have Caller ID and "Privacy Manager.......and we don't get any telemarketer calls

anymore. In fact if any of the calls on our Caller ID are private,unavailable or unknown our phone doesn't even ring. The caller gets "Privacy Manager" and has to identfy itself.......if the caller doesn't our phone doesn't even ring.
If the caller identifys itself we have 3 options....

1.accept the call
2. Play the sales call refusal
3.Let the call go to answering machine
For our area, this service (Privacy Manager)is about $4 a month and well worth it.

 

[Doc and Family]

Sheri,
Have you signed up for the national DO NOT CALL list yet. It is WONDERFUL. I signed up when it became available here in Louisiana. I have received only one call in the past two weeks from a telemarketer, whom I promptly cut-off by informing him to check the DO NOT CALL list. The call was ended in 15 seconds. We went from getting 4-5 calls/day, to 1-2 week, to effectively 0 calls in only 4 weeks. God bless the DO NOT CALL registry. You can find it at www.donotcall.gov. Good Luck, and now I am going to enjoy another uninterrupted dinner (from telemarketers, anyway).

 

[PamOKW]

The national registry doesn't require them to stop calling until October 1. If you register after September 1, they can continue to call you for up to 3 months from the time you register.

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by PamOKW
I think these companies may also get our names through various things "Disney" we may sign up for, contests, etc.

That brings up something I heard yesterday -- To get around the new "no call" you may begin receiving offers in the mail for coupons, sweepstakes, etc. If you take advantage of any of these you are now "doing business" with the company who sent it to you and they may legally start calling you at home again. Sheesh! There's just no stopping them -- sort of like cockroaches.

Minnesota has several other little loophole in the law (and I'm not sure how it reconciles with Federal Do Not Call Law). Telemarketers can call if they have a "previous business relationship with you" or if they are calling to set up an appointment to see if you want to buy something (rather than trying to sell it to you right then and there on the phone). So we get calls from one branch of a multicompany conglomerate where we once bought something from one of their companies. We also get calls from a "representative of Mrs. Smith's cleaning" to see if we would be interested in having Mrs. Smith actualy call us to see if we would like her service.
My all time favorite is the auto glass place that called recently to make an appointment to look at the windshields in our cars to se if we needed any autoglass repairs. When I told her that we were on the national and state Do Not Call lists, she said the list does not apply to them, since they are offering an appointment to arrange for service, not selling anythings. Then she said that if we had ever had a windshield repaired, we had a prior relationship with her company, since they have "relationships with all the auto insurance companies."

To get back to the DVC slant, we get a call about every month from various companies asking if we want to buy a timeshare in Florida. When I say we already own DVC, they ask if we want to sell or rent our weeks for this year. Some of them obviously know we have DVC because they ask specifically if we ant to rent our DVC out. I know the deeds are public record, so that's probably how they get it.