Timeshare Sales Presentations - How to Avoid the Secret Timeshare Sales Pitch
Emma Martin
March 16, 2009
If you do a lot of timeshare exchanges or rent condos at timeshare resorts when you go on vacation, chances are you've run into a timeshare sales pitch disguised as something else. Usually it goes something like this: you check into your resort, but before you can go to your room, you are directed to see the concierge for your parking pass. The person handling your parking pass is going to invite you to a free continental breakfast, courtesy of the resort. Well, if you want to skip the sales pitch, skip the breakfast. Because one doesn't come without the other.
Sometimes the timeshare sales presentation is called an "owners' update". This is when the timeshare developer tries to get you to buy more points or weeks in the timeshare you already own. Another favorite disguise is the "Check-in Survey". This is the usual ploy to capture the exchange guest or the timeshare renter. While there might be two minutes devoted to your check-in experience, the rest of the time will be devoted to trying to get you to buy into another timeshare.
If you don't sign up for one of these pitches, in its various guises, while you are checking into a resort, you can trust that someone will be calling your room every day to see if you are interested. So if you don't want the hassle, go ahead and unplug your room's phone. On one recent exchange, a note was slipped under my door inviting me to pick up a free gift. I never did get around to picking it up, so I don't know if it really was a free gift. I strongly suspect, however, that it was a gift with strings -- i.e. an invitation to attend a timeshare sales pitch.
Recently I went ahead and attended one of these "owners' updates" at a Wyndham timeshare resort. With the promise that it would only be an hour I decided that it would be worth my time in order to pick up a $50 gift card. It ended up running a bit over an hour, but still not too bad compared to a regular timeshare sales presentation. There wasn't a hard sell and I did get a few tips on how to take better advantage of my Wyndham Fairshare points.
Of course, it can be different with other companies so you'll have to decide whether the enticement gifts are worth your time. But for me it was well worth it to spend about 70 minutes. The $50 came in handy when I went shopping for groceries to bring back to the resort. Sometimes though it can pay to hold out for a better offer. Frequently you'll find that if you refuse the first offer to attend one of these disguised presentations, you can get a better "gift" the second time they ask.
Sometimes the timeshare sales presentation is called an "owners' update". This is when the timeshare developer tries to get you to buy more points or weeks in the timeshare you already own. Another favorite disguise is the "Check-in Survey". This is the usual ploy to capture the exchange guest or the timeshare renter. While there might be two minutes devoted to your check-in experience, the rest of the time will be devoted to trying to get you to buy into another timeshare.
If you don't sign up for one of these pitches, in its various guises, while you are checking into a resort, you can trust that someone will be calling your room every day to see if you are interested. So if you don't want the hassle, go ahead and unplug your room's phone. On one recent exchange, a note was slipped under my door inviting me to pick up a free gift. I never did get around to picking it up, so I don't know if it really was a free gift. I strongly suspect, however, that it was a gift with strings -- i.e. an invitation to attend a timeshare sales pitch.
Recently I went ahead and attended one of these "owners' updates" at a Wyndham timeshare resort. With the promise that it would only be an hour I decided that it would be worth my time in order to pick up a $50 gift card. It ended up running a bit over an hour, but still not too bad compared to a regular timeshare sales presentation. There wasn't a hard sell and I did get a few tips on how to take better advantage of my Wyndham Fairshare points.
Of course, it can be different with other companies so you'll have to decide whether the enticement gifts are worth your time. But for me it was well worth it to spend about 70 minutes. The $50 came in handy when I went shopping for groceries to bring back to the resort. Sometimes though it can pay to hold out for a better offer. Frequently you'll find that if you refuse the first offer to attend one of these disguised presentations, you can get a better "gift" the second time they ask.
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