I'm not sure what I got myself into at Eddie's LA show (night 2)...

walkunafraid · April 2008

westsidepie wrote:

And how do you know this company actually exists. Maybe the guy had no affiliation with the resort, and he was just trying to scam people out of 30 bucks. Call the company quickly. And, yea, there is an element of S&M to this. Why would you pay someone $30 for someone to verbally torture you?

Thanks for the advice. We have already called the company, seen our names on their website, received multiple e-mails from them, and confirmed that they are indeed real.

walkunafraid · April 2008

nowayimfaithfull wrote:

The problem is, the stuff they sell really isnt all that bad when your amped and maybee drinking. I have seen times when they may of had an open bar. You may go to the sales meeting and they are offering a great deal over 10 years time and be like great we could use a time share condo for 200 a month. Than come home and staighten your thoughts and be like crap what I just get myself into.
So its really no differant a process, you recieved 1 small getaway for 30 bucks, next time it will be 20 getaways for 12.000 bucks.
Just be crefull, its not that they are all crooks they just put you in a position to make crazy decisions.

Yeah...that's what I've been hearing. Thank you for that advice.

Luckily, we have absolutely no interest in timeshares, absolutely no money to spend on one, and have done some research and gotten some great tips to avoid falling into their traps.

The best I have heard so far, actually, is to bring a calculator to do the math they throw at you. That way when they say we can own a place for only $150/month over ten years, we can input that and say "why the hell would we spend $18000 to stay at a place for two weeks a year?".

SDHSClassof82 · April 2008

walkunafraid wrote:

Luckily, we have absolutely no interest in timeshares, absolutely no money to spend on one, and have done some research and gotten some great tips to avoid falling into their traps.

The best I have heard so far, actually, is to bring a calculator to do the math they throw at you. That way when they say we can own a place for only $150/month over ten years, we can input that and say "why the hell would we spend $18000 to stay at a place for two weeks a year?".

I wouldn't even engage with them that much. Don't respond positively to anything they say. Just say: 'After seeing your presentation I have no interest in ownership.'

I'm a big softie and I had no trouble turning it down and cutting short the sales pitch. I felt a bit bad for the salespeople because they seemed so desperate, but you know, not THAT bad. The salespeople are likely to be young and inexperienced. There's a big turnover of staff in that industry. The guy tried to guilt me and I literally laughed at him and said "I'm supposed to spent $20k because you've invested 20 mins of your time on me?" Believe me, it's not like mind control. You'll be fine.

nowayimfaithfull · April 2008

walkunafraid wrote:

Yeah...that's what I've been hearing. Thank you for that advice.

Luckily, we have absolutely no interest in timeshares, absolutely no money to spend on one, and have done some research and gotten some great tips to avoid falling into their traps.

The best I have heard so far, actually, is to bring a calculator to do the math they throw at you. That way when they say we can own a place for only $150/month over ten years, we can input that and say "why the hell would we spend $18000 to stay at a place for two weeks a year?".

Or just listen to an ipod, Ive said no, but honestly I alsmost did when I was 25, ansd thinking back that is when I was most broke, thank god I said no.
Good luck.

IAmMyself · April 2008

walkunafraid wrote:

Yeah...that's what I've been hearing. Thank you for that advice.

Luckily, we have absolutely no interest in timeshares, absolutely no money to spend on one, and have done some research and gotten some great tips to avoid falling into their traps.

The best I have heard so far, actually, is to bring a calculator to do the math they throw at you. That way when they say we can own a place for only $150/month over ten years, we can input that and say "why the hell would we spend $18000 to stay at a place for two weeks a year?".

I'm in sales, and that is a buying sign, they will just get harder on you because they think you are interested. They actually want you to come to that conclusion, so they can drop the price on you-then you are nailed! Sucks, I know but very true.

Your best bet, is to look broke!

Also, don't let them interfere with the rest of your trip, sometimes they will add on a free breakfast or dinner etc and then set with you during the free meal still trying to talk you into it.

CaptainEvenflow · April 2008

Reminds me of the time that all five of the branches of military bought me dinner. When I graduated from high school, I ate steak dinners for two weeks while these guys tried to recruit me ( had excellent asvab scores).

Just have the willpower to kick them in the teeth, and roll them when they are down!!

westsidepie · April 2008

irieinindy wrote:

I

Your best bet, is to look broke!

Also, don't let them interfere with the rest of your trip, sometimes they will add on a free breakfast or dinner etc and then set with you during the free meal still trying to talk you into it.

I think these are great bits of advice. Also, if you want to gear yourself up for the experience watch the episode of South Park where a bunch of people get a free weekend at a ski resort in exchange for listening to a 90 minute presentation of time-shares. It turns into a weekend from hell, but it is the funniest thing ever. After seeing the episode, it may help to imagine the sales people as the ones in the episode. They will loose their power.

The episode is from Season 6, and it is called Asspen.

walkunafraid · April 2008

irieinindy wrote:

I'm in sales, and that is a buying sign, they will just get harder on you because they think you are interested. They actually want you to come to that conclusion, so they can drop the price on you-then you are nailed! Sucks, I know but very true.

Your best bet, is to look broke!

Also, don't let them interfere with the rest of your trip, sometimes they will add on a free breakfast or dinner etc and then set with you during the free meal still trying to talk you into it.

Great advice. Thank you!

rorrim_weiv_raer · April 2008

Yeah I would of kept on walking!

One of my buddies (the kinda guy that bought speakers from a white van) paid into some kind of deal like this also.

He left on vacation to Vegas with all kinds of "vouchers" and then came back home to find his house totally empty. Coincidence? Who knows......

Firecloud · April 2008

westsidepie wrote:

I think these are great bits of advice. Also, if you want to gear yourself up for the experience watch the episode of South Park where a bunch of people get a free weekend at a ski resort in exchange for listening to a 90 minute presentation of time-shares. It turns into a weekend from hell, but it is the funniest thing ever. After seeing the episode, it may help to imagine the sales people as the ones in the episode. They will loose their power.

The episode is from Season 6, and it is called Asspen.

Stan Darsh!

And the best movie reference ever in a tv show: "Quaaaaid.... start the reaaaactor..."

But in all seriousness, I'm glad I checked out this thread, cause I've been subjected to this kind of pitch a few times before, and always walked the other way thinking it was just a scam. In some ways it is, but it's good to know you can make it work in your favor.

ardy · April 2008

my brother and (now ex)sisinlaw fell for this while down in florida. got in on a presentation for timeshares in exchange for 'vouchers' for disney tickets, dinner, whatever. they fell for it completely and ended up signing their lives away for 2 weeks each year in a condo.....for about $15,000.....which was payable in "easy installments"....for the rest of their fricken lives.

super stupid. some of the smartest people can be the dumbest. couldn't believe they didn't get what was happening to them at the time. but, at the very least, he signed his half away to her in the divorce. now her and her *new* husband are enjoying 2 weeks...each year...in a condo...for about $15,000....payable in easy installments...for the rest of *their* fricken lives.

keep your hands away from *any* writing instruments, good luck and watch your back!!

vital5 · April 2008

walkunafraid wrote:

As my girlfriend and I were walking down the lobby to get to our seats, we were stopped by a guy next to a stand that had been set up along the wall.

Being generally nice people, we stopped to hear what he had to say instead of breezing past him and ignoring him (as most people did).

Turns out he had a "tremendous opportunity" to offer us. In exchange for taking a tour of "the Welk Resort" (in Escondido, near San Diego), he was going to give us a free vacation package to Las Vegas, Catalina Island, or San Francisco, along with a voucher for $200 to buy tickets to any LiveNation show.

Sounded unbelievable, but after he gave us the rundown of how it all worked, we decided to sign up.

Now we have a tour set up for May 17. We know what the purpose on their part is -- they think that by giving us a 90-minute tour we're going to be unable to resist buying into a timeshare -- but we really have no desire to own a timeshare in a place we never visit, and never would even if we owned one. Plus, we don't have the money.

So it's going to be 90 minutes of ear torture listening to someone(s) use all kinds of persuasive techniques to try to get us to buy something we really don't want.

Of course, we could just not show up...but then we'd lose the vacation, voucher, and $30 deposit we had to put down.

Anybody else sign up for this at the show? Or, has anyone else ever done one of these "tours"? Are they as bad as I think this one will be?

Aargh...

I think I saw that same guy on The Simpsons at the weekend...

You know the episode where Bart and Homer are Grifters in order to fix Homer's car after a russian space station drop a gigantic fish on his car.... "Grifty McGriff"...

The guy that took your $30 and many other peoples' that night was the same man that stole Homer's car....

Sorry to hear that heh

walkunafraid · April 2008

ardy wrote:

my brother and (now ex)sisinlaw fell for this while down in florida. got in on a presentation for timeshares in exchange for 'vouchers' for disney tickets, dinner, whatever. they fell for it completely and ended up signing their lives away for 2 weeks each year in a condo.....for about $15,000.....which was payable in "easy installments"....for the rest of their fricken lives.

super stupid. some of the smartest people can be the dumbest. couldn't believe they didn't get what was happening to them at the time. but, at the very least, he signed his half away to her in the divorce. now her and her *new* husband are enjoying 2 weeks...each year...in a condo...for about $15,000....payable in easy installments...for the rest of *their* fricken lives.

keep your hands away from *any* writing instruments, good luck and watch your back!!

yikes. that sucks!

good thing for me/us is that there is absolutely no possible way that i am going to buy (or sign) anything. i mean, seriously, the whole idea of a timeshare is idiotic to me. if they want to give me free money for listening to them for 90 minutes i am more than happy to do so, but the only way i would ever actually buy anything is if they drugged me up somehow.

i plan on telling them that right at the beginning, too.

thanks for the anecdote...it further confirms my resolve to take my free stuff and run.

pjalive21 · April 2008

walkunafraid wrote:

As my girlfriend and I were walking down the lobby to get to our seats, we were stopped by a guy next to a stand that had been set up along the wall.

Being generally nice people, we stopped to hear what he had to say instead of breezing past him and ignoring him (as most people did).

Turns out he had a "tremendous opportunity" to offer us. In exchange for taking a tour of "the Welk Resort" (in Escondido, near San Diego), he was going to give us a free vacation package to Las Vegas, Catalina Island, or San Francisco, along with a voucher for $200 to buy tickets to any LiveNation show.

Sounded unbelievable, but after he gave us the rundown of how it all worked, we decided to sign up.

Now we have a tour set up for May 17. We know what the purpose on their part is -- they think that by giving us a 90-minute tour we're going to be unable to resist buying into a timeshare -- but we really have no desire to own a timeshare in a place we never visit, and never would even if we owned one. Plus, we don't have the money.

So it's going to be 90 minutes of ear torture listening to someone(s) use all kinds of persuasive techniques to try to get us to buy something we really don't want.

Of course, we could just not show up...but then we'd lose the vacation, voucher, and $30 deposit we had to put down.

Anybody else sign up for this at the show? Or, has anyone else ever done one of these "tours"? Are they as bad as I think this one will be?

Aargh...

this reminds me of the King of Queens episode where Doug wanted a flat screen TV and they had to survive a weekend at a skii resort..hopefully you stick to saying no unlike he did..haha

PearlJain · April 2008

PLEASE STEP AWAY from the TIMESHARE Salesman!!! OMG Look what you have gotten yourself and your WIFE into. If you couldn't say "NO" at the "get-go" (offer) then - by all means enjoy your NEW time share located in......does it matter?

Sprunkn7 · April 2008

My brother in law does stuff like this all the time. Take what they give you for "free", then walk away.
Don't give into pressure!
If you feel you can't do that, take it as a $30 dollar life lesson.

ringo · April 2008

I've thought about doing this but never have.

I thought of another way they could you besides being drugged. Don't pretend you're on some sitcom while going to the presentation. if you do, you will sign the papers despite your best efforts.

Good luck.

filthy_frank · April 2008

90 minutes is probably just the intro. Wait til hour 4 when you still haven't left. Just accept it as one of those lift lessons that cost you $30. Don't go!

spinDrAtl · April 2008

I have been to several of these, mostly in ski areas. I like to do them on occasion because I am interested in seeing the insides of some of these new properties. They gave us 2 free lift tickets (about $70 each), $100 at a restaurant, and free lunch. We made our appointment at lunch during our free ski day. So we ski down, eat lunch, we are in our ski clothes, and we have the automatic out of 'got to get back to the slopes'. We took our tour, ate our lunch while listening to the young sales guy, then said no. He took it pretty well, minimal pressure, but then said one more minute and just let my manager ask a few questions. So this lady comes out and hits us for one last sales pitch. Then another guy comes out with a 'special' good only that day. We say 'we never buy anything without thinking about it overnight no matter what'. Not much they can say to that except try the 'this price is only good right now' pitch. We say 'sorry, that's our policy - gotta get back to the slopes'.

Marriott and several others have gotten into the timeshare business and somewhat 'legitmized' it. Some places, if you go there every year and the place is not overpriced, would not be a bad buy, EXCEPT for the yearly maintenance fee, which can add $800-1000 PER YEAR. Marriott was selling 2BR condos in Park City some years ago for about 19000 for a ski week. Considering Marriott rents those 2br condos for $300+ per night, not a bad deal until you throw in the maintenance fee, which also tends to rise over time.

walkunafraid · April 2008

filthy_frank wrote:

90 minutes is probably just the intro. Wait til hour 4 when you still haven't left. Just accept it as one of those lift lessons that cost you $30. Don't go!

That's why we plan on making it clear that we have an urgent appointment to go to after the presentation. There's no way they can hold us longer under that umbrella.

spinDRatl, thank you for the advice! "We never buy without thinking about it overnight" is a great line!

Someone else suggested "We never buy without discussing it with our accountant first."

Which is better?

I'm not sure what I got myself into at Eddie's LA show (night 2)...

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