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Considering the Wyndham timeshare evaluation?

February 07, 2018 12:51PM
This is a nice simple rundown of what to expect:
[frequentmiler.boardingarea.com]

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February 07, 2018 03:35PM
Wow I've always wanted a true play by play of what those are like. I previously thought to myself, if I have to sit through the entire presentation, would I rather get $100 cash AND have to write a report but forfeit the freebies, or would I rather get the incentives. Free disney tickets would be awesome! I can see why either choice would be appealing. My husband would kill me if I made him do that so it's not happening. If they allowed solo people I might do it just to get the incentives - not for a mystery shop. Now if you want to pay for my plane ticket to HI to evaluate the timeshare there, we can talk.
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February 07, 2018 03:53PM
Ive done both Disney and Marriott (3 times, actually) vacation club presentations. Neither were as low-class as this. Both were highly personalized and entirely 1:1. Reading this makes me rethink taking the Wyndham jobs.

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February 07, 2018 04:15PM
I've soured on timeshares in general over the years, but Wyndham were probably some of the more respectful sales agents. At least the ones in Vegas. I've ONLY done shops where I was allowed to keep the gifts + get paid. (I did once get Disney tickets)

You definitely have to be coordinated with your partner if you bring one. They play against one another...which is often funny if I'm bringing someone who's not really my wife. It actually feels a bit harder to do a solo one IMHO.

I wouldn't do this on a shop because it may rub the client wrong, but I have learned a great tactic for getting in/out of the timeshare presentations quickly if you just want the gift. I once brought a same-sex roommate to one and we claimed to be married. I think they suspected we were trying to scam them for the gift at one point and demanded proof that we lived together. One we produced driver's licenses with the same address, they couldn't get us out of there fast enough. It was a group presentation with a bunch a families there for a tour and they obviously felt it would harm their chances to sell to other families...
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February 07, 2018 04:24PM
Wow. That's awful. I would think that the client WOULD want to know that, if that were the case.

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February 07, 2018 04:26PM
I love timeshare presentations, especially when I'm not on a shop! Things are pretty easy when you're single, because they usually kick me out and still account me as attending their presentation. But for the shops, the toughest part is when you reel them in showing interest... That's when I have to sweet talk my way out of it.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.
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February 07, 2018 04:27PM
I was asked to do this and the pay is great, as is Wyndham. Problem being they want it done Sat., and I do not have equipment...bummer!! Having been in Real Estate, I know how to say no.....

Live consciously....


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 04:28PM by Irene_L.A..
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February 07, 2018 04:41PM
I once did a solo that went 3.5 hours with them bringing in higher and higher pressure senior folks. I say "No," about as well as any experienced real estate agent, but they would not let go. Finally, they said that I should sleep on it and contact the head honcho with my answer in the morning, where I would get my gifts either way. I then walked around the immediate area and found a great lunch spot. In my "tour" of the neighborhood I was offered drugs 3 times, observed "the stoll" complete with hookers of at least 3 gender profiles, several folks sitting on front steps nodding out, and saw the police sitting in patrol cars eating lunch. The next morning I saw the head pressure salesman and told him my reasons for not buying, including what I had observed in the same city block as the "luxury time share." He screamed at me words to the following effect, "You come from Washington, DC and claim you have never seen a place with drugs and hookers? You lie!" He threw the prize vouchers at me and stomped away. The receptionist who saw and heard the whole thing looked at me and shrugged. I so wish that that had been a recorded shop!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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February 07, 2018 04:56PM
@walesmaven wrote:

I once did a solo that went 3.5 hours with them bringing in higher and higher pressure senior folks. I say "No," about as well as any experienced real estate agent, but they would not let go. Finally, they said that I should sleep on it and contact the head honcho with my answer in the morning, where I would get my gifts either way. I then walked around the immediate area and found a great lunch spot. In my "tour" of the neighborhood I was offered drugs 3 times, observed "the stoll" complete with hookers of at least 3 gender profiles, several folks sitting on front steps nodding out, and saw the police sitting in patrol cars eating lunch. The next morning I saw the head pressure salesman and told him my reasons for not buying, including what I had observed in the same city block as the "luxury time share." He screamed at me words to the following effect, "You come from Washington, DC and claim you have never seen a place with drugs and hookers? You lie!" He threw the prize vouchers at me and stomped away. The receptionist who saw and heard the whole thing looked at me and shrugged. I so wish that that had been a recorded shop!

Lol I love the 'whole' sleep on it and come back later. On a past timeshare presentation, the salesman wanted me to take me to lunch and buy some rounds of drinks to help me 'think it over,' but I had plans already set to meet with some friends in the area, so I had to really hammer down on my 'no' hammer.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.
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February 07, 2018 08:45PM
@Hoju wrote:

Wow. That's awful. I would think that the client WOULD want to know that, if that were the case.

Agreed that's info they should know...but we never even got into the sales portion of the program, which is what's usually being evaluated. I don't tell clients what they should be looking for unless they are paying me a LOT more money. I also don't think timeshare companies are concerned about appealing to people who are not their demographic.

That said, my roommate and I were comfortable with the scenario because a boutique hotel company had paid us a a really good fee + all expenses in the past to check into every one of their hotels as a same-sex couple and see if we were treated any differently (I had previously visited each of the hotels with my GF). It DOES matter to some companies....
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February 07, 2018 08:55PM
Even in the state of MD, where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation had been banned in real estate transactions for YEARS, clients recoiled in horror at the idea (presented by a couple of MSCs at my suggestion) that my same sex house mate and I present as a partner couple at new home center. As a long time agent in MD, DC and VA, I sold quite a few homes to/for same sex couple, long before any state except MA was legalizing same gender marriage. Made me wonder what planet the national home builders were living on. The MSCs thought it was a great idea for "couple only" shops, since it was often a problem to find a couple that was a man and woman who were of similar ages given the shopper pool.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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February 07, 2018 09:31PM
@walesmaven; I think it's really about the demographic...and sales.

The hotel company in question that asked us to do the evaluations was a fashionable chain which was started by someone from the LGBT community. Guests at those hotels wouldn't look twice at same-sex couples checking in beside them.

New homes and timeshares are often heavily focused on families, and sell to a more conservative audience. Even if the company fully believes in equality, they may bow to consumers who do not.
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February 07, 2018 10:23PM
tHEY SHOULD, AT LEAST, WANT TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEIR SALES AGENTS TREAT POTENTIAL BUYERS ALIKE WHEN THE BUYER IS OF A LEGALLY PROTECTED CLASS. aFTER ALL, THE STATE OF md HAD TESTERS OUT DOING APARTMENT AND NEW HOME SHOPS, AND THE FINANCIAL STAKES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE WERE/ARE VERY HIGH HERE.
Sorry! I hit caps lock and am too busy to go back and retype!

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
February 07, 2018 10:32PM
@Hoju wrote:

This is a nice simple rundown of what to expect:
[frequentmiler.boardingarea.com]
Nice blog, Hoju. Bookmarked it later to go through it completely. Thanks for sharing it.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams
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February 12, 2018 06:11AM
This has been a very interesting discussion. My same-sex legally married wife and I have considered attending one of these shops, mostly for the sheer interest factor, but now I'm extra curious as to how we'd be treated as a gay couple. Especially if we are visiting any of the deep southern states (we live in very liberal Minnesota).
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February 13, 2018 07:43PM
We happened on one of these on our honeymoon in Virginia 20+ years ago. Not a chance in the world we would spend the $$$. They tried to sell us on something that had not been built yet. The deflated look in the salesman's eyes when we said we were newlyweds and were planning on buying a house in the next year was priceless. He just sent us to the video portion and handed us out tickets to Colonial Williamsburg.

MissChele - Shopping KY, IN & OH
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