Non-dvc Time-share Presentations.

[Mokat76]

I think they take kidneys if you don't want to give up a lung. Funny story from co-worker.

Heb DH signed the family up for a "free" vacation. The caveat was, of course, that they had to listen to a timeshare pitch. When time came for the pitch, he refused to go and fed her to the wolves. Nice guy, eh?

 

[Mokat76]

I think they take kidneys if you don't want to give up a lung. Funny story from co-worker.

Heb DH signed the family up for a "free" vacation. The caveat was, of course, that they had to listen to a timeshare pitch. When time came for the pitch, he refused to go and fed her to the wolves. Nice guy, eh?

Oops. That's supposed to read "Her" not "Heb."

 

[Dean]

Okay, this might sound like a really dumb question (can't believe I'm really asking), but are you always obligated to attend a presentation when you are offered a "great deal"? Yesterday I got an invitation to 4 nights at the Sheraton Vistana in a 1 bedroom villa for $169 (for the whole stay, not per night) and no where in the invitation does it mention that I'd have to attend a presentation.

The offer is good for traveling any time in the next year (based on availability), but it expires tomorrow. I'd be game for an extra trip to Orlando (our APs don't expire until November), but DH says I can't even call to check to see what we'd be committing to. He's convinced we'd spend the whole time fighting off salespeople.

Not always but most of the time yes. If you are supposed to and don't attend, they charge you rack rates for the visit. You can bet that this is a preview tour for Vistana but check it out to make sure. Regardless, you need to be certain of two things before you accept. One is that you have a reservation in hand before you commit your money and the other is that you know what/where you're staying. Just because you're touring X resort doesn't mean your staying there. Often you're in the Fairfield or Hampton Inn down the street.

 

[Dean]

In the Unofficial Guide to WDW, theres a story of a family that took a timeshare tour that was supposed to be 45 minutes. It was a hellish 4 hours of hard sell.
When I took the DVC tour, It was pleasant and no hard sell, but we already wanted to buy. We just wanted to check it out and ask a few questions.

90 minutes is very unusual, I'd say 2.5-3 hours is the norm for most of them.

 

[DVC-Don]

Not in Orlando, but we did one in Hawaii once. The sales guy was pissed when we did not buy and did not want to give us our dinner voucher. But, we agreed to act as if we did buy and they announced we were moving on to the "next phase" of our purchase. Everyone in the room clapped when we followed him out and once out of sight he shoved the vouchers at us and told us to get out. It was a nice dinner cruise off Wikiki.

DVC was a so low key. We researched in advance and pretty much walked in and told them how many points we wanted up front and the guide was pretty much "okay, here's the papers".

 

[mikayla73]

Wow is all I can say. I knew there were hard sales and usually a couple hours "heck" to go through, but I never knew about all the other stuff (taking kids, leaving people in a remote place etc ...). Makes me really think twice about ever wanting to do one again. Maybe they need some sort of regulation to protect the potential buyers.

I know that even if it is something that I want, if the person makes me feel uncomfortable or they are rude/mean, that makes me even less likely to buy anything from them because I don't want them to get any commission from me.

 

[Rence]

I did one timeshare tour in Orlando years ago - NEVER AGAIN - I would rather have a root canal.

I would never buy a timeshare from a developer - too much $$$$$ and my time is worth more than any offer they would give me to sit through their presentation. If you are interested in a non-DVC timeshare - resale is the only way to go. I have 5 weeks of non-DVC timeshares (4 2-bedroom, 1 1-bedroom) all excellent traders through RCI and II - and I spent less then $1,500 total for all 5 weeks.

 

[JimC]

I did one timeshare tour in Orlando years ago - NEVER AGAIN - I would rather have a root canal.

I would never buy a timeshare from a developer - too much $$$$$ and my time is worth more than any offer they would give me to sit through their presentation. If you are interested in a non-DVC timeshare - resale is the only way to go. I have 5 weeks of non-DVC timeshares (4 2-bedroom, 1 1-bedroom) all excellent traders through RCI and II - and I spent less then $1,500 total for all 5 weeks.

I agree that the basic advice to buy resale is a solid recommendation when approaching the timeshare market. However, there are some situations when it might be advisable to consider a developer purchase. These considerations are aimed at the high end developers and for buyers looking primarily to use with limited trading.

1. you want a prime week - particularly a fixed holiday week
2. you want a new resort - before there is resale inventory
3. there are substantial incentives - which happens from time to time
4. you buy on the opening price - where you are likely to be okay on resale after a few years

One should consider all factors and the general market conditions for each purchase and then make the decision that is right for you.

 

[diznycrazed]

Dean, thank you for answering Tamar's question. We get this offer all the time and I was wondering the very same thing.

Terry

 

[Dean]

Dean, thank you for answering Tamar's question. We get this offer all the time and I was wondering the very same thing.

Terry

Glad to help. It can be a great way to get a cheap stay for 3-5 days if you do your homework.

 

[tomandrobin]

We have had the "good" and the "bad" timeshare presentations. From our experience, it seems the better the timeshare company and resort, the better the presentation went. Our worse timeshare tours have been from loe end timeshare resorts and lesser known brands.

Marriot, Westin and DVC have been the most professional towards us. Never have done a Hilton tour yet, but want too.

 

[Dean]

We have had the "good" and the "bad" timeshare presentations. From our experience, it seems the better the timeshare company and resort, the better the presentation went. Our worse timeshare tours have been from loe end timeshare resorts and lesser known brands.

Marriot, Westin and DVC have been the most professional towards us. Never have done a Hilton tour yet, but want too.

I think one of the common mistakes many people make in evaluating timeshares is linking the sales presentation to the system itself. They really are two different things with many resorts or systems being heck to tour and great to own/trade/use.

 

[garnet1240]

Haven't attened any in Orlando, but wow what a fiasco in Vegas. We attended because we were curious and interested...at first. We do laugh about it now, my husband who is usually not so low key when pushed, just thought the sales guy was funny. I didn't, we got quite loud with each other after he shouted, I mean shouted, stand up, arms flying, finger pointing shouting, how we had wasted his time....oh yeah, now there's a way to make a sale. I'm in sales, so in your face selling to another sales person, usually not a good idea. Because I was so ticked, I told him I appreciated all the info he gave us, will make it much easier when I buy via a re-sale. Never knew a person could turn that shade of purple before! Then I refused to leave without the promised gift, free seafood buffet. Again, things got loud to say the least. We didn't use the coupon by the way, on our way back to our hotel, I gave it to a young couple checking in , and told them to enjoy.

 

[aclov]

I've never done one in Orlando, but did one in Cancun (Krystal resort), Maui (can't remember someplace in Kahana) and Oahu (Marriott's Ko'olina Resort). The Marriott one was not bad at all. The one in Cancun was a little more hard sell. I kept telling the guy we had DVC and the units didn't compare to what we had. When he showed us a two-bedroom, I mentioned that the DVC rooms had washer/dryer. He couldn't believe and kept asking
"it's in the room???" They dropped the price to some riduculous low price which my DH was starting to wonder if we should buy but I stood firm.

 

[abeyst]

How is Hilton in Orlando? My mom signed up for a tour and I'm worried about her going on it. (It's her, my step-dad and my sister). Do I need to tell her to keep my sister with her and let my step-dad do the presentation by himself, or to keep 911 on speed dial?

 

[Dean]

How is Hilton in Orlando? My mom signed up for a tour and I'm worried about her going on it. (It's her, my step-dad and my sister). Do I need to tell her to keep my sister with her and let my step-dad do the presentation by himself, or to keep 911 on speed dial?

The info I've gotten from others suggests that Hilton an Hyatt are about like Marriott. It could be fairly low key but depending on the rep they get, they could have some pressure. They won't allow just the one half of a couple do the tour alone for a discounted stay or the freebies.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

We have taken both the Vistana and Vistana Villages sales tours in Orlando. We let them know up front that we already own DVC and a number of other timeshare weeks. The rep was friendly and informative and the models were pretty impressive - but when it was time to go he did bring in the heavy artillery (I just need to have my "supervisor" go over a few things with ou before you go) and start the high pressure stuff - asking lots of questions where the answer is "yes" and leading you into the BIG question while waving a pen in front of you.

At Vistana, they had already given us the $50 tour "reward" when we checked in (we were staying there on an exchange) - but we had to actually take the tour or they would charge back the $50 to our room.

The tour took about 90 minutes, we got a breakfast out of the deal (plus the $50) and escaped without signing anything except a form stating that the rep had explained the "program" to us. Fairly painless and while there was much more high pressure than DVC, it was still better than many other timeshare presentations we've been to.

 

[Judique]

Okay, this might sound like a really dumb question (can't believe I'm really asking), but are you always obligated to attend a presentation when you are offered a "great deal"? Yesterday I got an invitation to 4 nights at the Sheraton Vistana in a 1 bedroom villa for $169 (for the whole stay, not per night) and no where in the invitation does it mention that I'd have to attend a presentation.

The offer is good for traveling any time in the next year (based on availability), but it expires tomorrow. I'd be game for an extra trip to Orlando (our APs don't expire until November), but DH says I can't even call to check to see what we'd be committing to. He's convinced we'd spend the whole time fighting off salespeople.

I did a deal like yours for Sheraton's Vistana Villages a couple of years back. The sales pitch was medium pressure compared to DVC and low compared to Fairfield. They had the presentation the morning after we arrived and it lasted 90 minutes with continental breakfast included. We said no and didn't hear from them again for the whole vacation. I considered it research, as I eventualy bought 'something' later.

 

[starbox]

I paid the trial price for a Marriott stay at a boat show a few years ago and never had time to take the trip. I thought it had expired, but got a call yesterday inviting me to make a reservation, so I went ahead signed up for 3 nights in HHI at the end of June. Marriott is one of the timeshares we have not toured yet, and it will be very interesting to visit after doing DVC HHI.