Westgate travel deal? hipe??

[Misty89]

just got an email for a 3 nt/4 day travel to westgate...have to sit through a time share meeting.....anyone done this one? we have been suckerd into 2 of these before and it upset us very much..we wasted a half a day and had to fight off the salesman, but to get a hotel for 4 nights for 200$........

any info on this timesahre meeting?

 

[WDWisTheBest]

There are many different opinions about timeshare presentations.

I wonder what exactly you mean by "we have been suckerd into 2 of these before and it upset us very much..we wasted a half a day and had to fight off the salesman, but to get a hotel for 4 nights for 200$........" ?

When you say that "...it upset us very much...", what do you mean? Any time that someone takes advantage of a reduced price in return for having to go to a timeshare presentation, there is a certain amount of patience that you have to have. In return for your time, the sales staff gets to try to sell a timeshare to you, don't they? In many of the presentations, the sales staff is very aggressive. That is how they earn their living.

Now, some presentations are less aggressive than others. From other posters, the Disney DVC presentations are not as hard sell.
Normally the presentations don't last more than 90 minutes. And, you do have the right to walk out, don't you?

I am not sure that you really mean that "...we have been suckerd into 2 of these before...", do you? You must have gone in exchange for your time to let the sales staff try to convince you to buy into that timeshare, didn't you? In return, you get a savings on staying at the timeshare, right?

Did you specifically go to the Westgate Vacation Villas? Or, was it another of the Westgate properties? I believe that you might find out what others have to say about attending timeshare presentations, by using the search feature, which it is functioning.

We just stayed at Westgate Vacation Villas, but did not attend the presentations because we used skyauction to bid on our stay.
Of course, we paid more for our stay than what you would if you agreed to to the presentation. That is the tradeoff.

 

[Misty89]

thank you for your reply.i think my ?'s were misunderstood.
my DH and I have felt upset leaving those meetings ......I had not mentioned that i was not thank ful for the cahnce to stay at a property for a discount, my point is/ was i am asking If Anyone has been to this sepific propertys time share meeting information sesion?
the 2 meetings i have been, which have never been in florida.....in my home state.

saud they would last 90 mins, and they lasted about 4 hrs. they said they were not a high pressure seel, but we were made to feel like we were taking advantage of wasting the time for not purchasing a timeshare.
i did not mean to offend you at all with my posts.....and i do not konw the specific rerost westgate they are pitching......like i said i just got the emil today and i have not followed up yet, as i wonderd if anyone on here had done this westgate meeting.

 

[spiceycat]

I don't anymore - at one time Westgate was the hardcord period - but they have received so many bad reviews on this - they might have changed.

WDWisthebest just stayed at Westgate villa and was not bother by salespeople once - this is not the Westgate that I knew that seemed to only have time to bother people and not to do the maintence....

So I don't know....

try it - Westgate Villa Resort is a beautiful resort - my problem has been with the sales force and maintence - according to WDWisthebest - they have improved the maintence......So I hope that the salespeole have improved...

Of course with my luck - everything got fixed except my villa.

.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I was just at the Westgate Vacation Villas, but did not go to the timeshare presentations.

Part of the presentation at many of the timeshares is to try to put the "heat" on a potential customer to buy then and there. But, according to what many other posters have said, they just tell the salespeople that they are only staying 90 minutes.

You can walk out after that. There is no need to spend two hours, three hours, or four hours with the salespeople.

And, again, you did not offend me in any way at all. I was just trying to let you know that you just are not obligated to spend more than 90 minutes with their sales staff.

But, just to be helpful, I would suggest that you look under the search feature, when it is operating, for "timeshare presentations" to see what others have to say. I also suggest that you look under www.hotelkingdom.com or www.skyauction,com for different timeshare options.

Do you have a timeframe when you are coming to WDW? If it is not going to be within the next month, you have plenty of time to look at the timeshares that are offered close to WDW. What I would suggest is that you pick out the general area where you would like to stay nearby to WDW and then go from there. Also, there are vacation rental homes that are very good for families to rent nearby to WDW. But, once again, there is no offense taken to your post or response. I was just trying to point out some of the things that happen in these timeshare presentations. Some of the presentations are considered more "hard sell" than others, as you probably know already. Westgate is generally considered as more "hard sell" by some of the posters on the DIS boards.
But, with the competition that there is in the WDW area, anyone who has presentations that are too hard sell will not succeed.

Finally, maintenance at the Westgate Vacation Villas, especially in the triple digit villas, is very good, at least it was last week.

 

[crazelion]

I would not do a Westagate timeshare presentation. It's probably one the worst timeshare presentions that there is.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

RUN dont walk.There timeshare presentations are AWFUL,just ask my DBIL and DSIL.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

crazelion said that the Westgate presentation is, "It's probably one the worst timeshare presentations that there is." And, luvindisneyworld said, "run don't walk".

Let me say that I am neither for nor against timeshare presentations. They are what they are. In my opinion, one needs to understand what is going on before attending a timeshare presentation. In exchange for the attendees time, the timeshare sales team is given an opportunity to try to sell their property to the attendees. In return, the attendees are given a certain incentive. Do you agree with my assessment?

Now, to be fair, would you please just give us specifics in your opinion why you say that "It's probably one the worst timeshare presentations that there is.", referring to the Westgate sales staff.

I would like to know what constitutes a "good" presentation versus a "bad" presentation. Going into the timeshare sales meeting, it should be known that the sales staff is given the opportunity to "sell" you something, i.e. a timeshare. So, what is a "good" presentation versus a "bad" one please?

As I said, I am neither for nor against timeshare presentations. But, I do think that it is fair to a specific sales organization, in this case the Westgate sales team, to state what they do that makes them "worst". Do you mind giving us your specific opinions?

I have been to various presentations and I know going into them that I am not going to buy. I tell the sales presenters that I am not going to buy (and I imagine that everyone tells the sales staff that) and I also say that I am going to leave in 90 minutes. I know that the sales person is always going to call in a "manager" to try to make the sale. I know that this "manager" is going to try to pressure us to buy immediately. Since I know this at the outset, I do not get upset or mad at anyone because I know what the technique is to make the sale. It is their job to make the sale. It is my job to tell them that I am not going to buy.

Therefore I don't have to make a value judgment about the sales staff or their sales technique because we both know our roles before going to the timeshare presentation. Does this make sense?

BTW, I was at the Westgate Vacation Villas last week and the stay was very satisfactory.

 

[crazelion]

When I said that Westagate has one the worst reputaions because they have so many complaints with the BBB that's funny. I always tried to do research on places where I stay.

You did make a good point that Westagate is in it to make a sale and if good into the presenation know that is fine. But if easy peruade do not go. I not one of those poeple. I am is fighter step by step if buy something and do research all the time before I buy. I downright picky.

But if like going to them get something free by all means go. But I one do not 90 minute sale presenations at all. My vacation time is ususally a weekend.

Please do not take it the wrong way.

 

[Badger Brent]

We stayed here in Aug. I wrote a report on it on this board. The rooms are beautiful if they are in good condition. The one we had wasn't. The landscaping left a lot to be desired. The pool was ok, but overrun with unsupervised children. We never took are presentation because of all the problems with our room. The salesperson said we had been through enough, and we were told to go back to our room and wait for a rep. of the resorts to personally look into this. Never happened, we ended up calling and complaining when we got back. They did give 1 nights refund. Everything I've heard and seen, I would avoid this timeshare presentation at all costs. I wish we would've just stayed somewhere else without the timeshare package. Like I said go back aways and read my report "Westgate Villas, read it and weap"

 

[WDWisTheBest]

We almost did not go there based upon your trip report, but decided to try the Vacation Villas. After reading your report, it appeared to me that you were undecided about staying there in April since your documents took awhile to reach you. I may have misread your report but it seemed to me that you didn't really want to stay there before you left home. Here is what you said,
"We first booked Westgate Villas on Feb 10th, 2003. As we waited for the confirmation letter and all of the promised add-ons, it never came. After e-mails, phone calls and such, we finally got all of our letters in hand on April 24th, 2003!! We tried to cancel on one of these call in early April."

We also had a SUV, but didn't have the same problem with parking that you did. You said, "Parking seems pretty tight if you have a suv or mini van." I think that the parking was no better and no worse than parking anyplace we have been.

As to the age of the villas, I believe you were in the newer units.
You said this, "The villas were the old ones. We stayed in ZZZ 2."
The triple digit units are in the newer sections The older sections are around the lake and have single digits, according to what we were told. We were in the triple digits units and our unit had fairly new appurtances, the bed covers looked new, and we had plenty of towels for the family.
As to TV size, after reading your report that, "The only thing not in the villa was the 50 inch big screen they listed on the website. ", I called Westgate and was told that many units did not have large tv screens, so I was not expecting one. We did have 4 televisions which was more than plenty for us.

The landscaping throughout the resort was well maintained, the grass was cut nicely, there were lots of trees, and I didn't see
anything negative about the landscaping.

There are 11 pools in the resort. Our pool was well maintained, the hot tub was good, and we didn't have any unsupervised kids running around. The athletic equpment was adequate and the tennis courts were clean, the nets were new, and we had no issues with the play equipment.

Is it possible that the water leak in your unit overshadowed your opinion of the resort? If I read your report correctly, one night of your stay was refunded and you didn't have to stay at the timeshare presentation. I am not sure what else you could expect.

In no way are my comments meant to minimize your opinion of the resort. However, we had a totally different experience than you when we were there last week. Ours was a positive experience. We enjoyed the resort, the quietness of the unit, and the closeness to WDW. Your experience appeared to be negative; ours was positive.

 

[Badger Brent]

I guess we agress to disagree on this one. Everybody's does have their own opinion, and that's what make this board great. I don't want to make this a "I'm right your wrong thread". The only thing I would like to respond to is the trying to cancel our res. We tried from feb-april to cancel the rooms because of the lack of response from Westgate. It was either lose the 550 or go. Now, if the room didn't have the leaks, I would loved the room!! We were able to eat a lot of meals in the unit. Bathroom space is awesome "when not leaking". The screened in patio was great. Yes, there was enough tv's . We will be staying on site next year.