.....And, I would never insult anyone? The scariest part of that whole statement is that you may actually believe it. By definition, conentious means causing argument or strife. Are we afraid to fight for our brunch? We are clearly not afraid to take " dozens of tours". Because, how could it be considered an insult if during the "45 min pleasant chat" all that you can possibly think about is the "free brunch"? Because, remember, "45 min of polite chit chat is all you get". And, that surely is treating the rep like their time is valuable. Well done. But, let me ask you a question. Do you simply treat them like their time is valuable or do you sincerely believe that it is? Like you said - your mind is on the brunch. I think it must have been there when you wrote this post.
Wow...Sure don't know where your reply came from (some might call it contentious---did you realize that 33.333% of your posts are contentious?) , but I'll address our feelings again. We enjoy a tour. If a gift is offered, we take it. We use it as an opportunity to see the resort, ask questions (in the old days, re: new properties opened, new properties under construction, new properties under consideration, etc. ---that info is typically good to know), etc, etc. The time is not wasted.
The chit chat (your words) is not idle banter. We have intelligent questions to ask, and/or comments to make, but my main point was that we don't ask "gotcha questions" which might cause a rep to become defensive, rude, or insulting. We don't give that chance, and we don't emit that vibe. ....We come in with a good attitude and don't talk down Marriott or act like prima donnas. We "most likely" know more than they do, simply because of our YEARS of ownership and years on TUG, but we do not let that be known. We assume he/she has valuable info too, and try to glean some of that from them.
We see the property, which was the original major intent (tour required), so that is accomplished. (By the way, it's not our policy that you cannot see the resort and units without doing the tour, so....in order to do that, we must take the tour. Right there, there could be a conflict for many-----the reps are there to sell; we're there to see. If they don't sell, SHOULD they get mad? I don't think so. It's their job to meet whatever need we had in signing up for the tour. Our need, not theirs. Regardless, both parties still have to sit thru the program.) Most of the time, the new info we learn isn't earth-shattering, as i said, but it CAN be helpful. If the rep says, "hey, have you tried doing this with your weeks?", we listen.
Previous posters suggested that it was waste to even be there, but we don't think that way. (Would you prefer that we stay home?) We know that even if the tour is not a scholarly event, we still have a brunch to enjoy afterward, so we didn't get up early for nothing. (BTW, I never said a FREE BRUNCH, as you said----we go out afterward because it's that time of day, and we enjoy being together on vacation-----it's time together for my wife and me-----I never meant we use that tour to get a freebie meal......)
For us, a tour is fun, and not a waste. We go in trying to make it educational.....the rep may not wish for that.........An hour and a half of my time is not THAT valuable for one morning. Back at work, my time is very valuable.
As for your comment that it's "scary that I may actually believe" that I wouldn't insult someone, i absolutely stand by that.....I wouldn't insult a rep who I just met, for no reason, just because he/she feels i should be there only to buy. What good would that do? Silly. My point, which you missed, was that our attitude would never be such that a rep would turn ugly in the conversation to begin with. I'm well aware of the meaning of the word "contentious", and we are not that. I meant to say, about the brunch thing, that regardless of the experience of the tour, even if "bad" (never happened) , we would STILL have something positive to look forward to......is that a bad thing?
A rep's time IS VALUABLE----I never said it wasn't--------but he/she may not realize exactly WHY we are there-----it may not be for the same reason he/she thinks we are there. But remember, I was the one who RECEIVED an unsolicited phone call on the second morning of my vacation, while i was sleeping, asking if i could please attend a meeting in return for a "prize" of some sort.
If it's offered, I can take it, right? Are there stipulations that i buy something? don't think so. Do i offer the opportunity to try? Sure. Have i spent a hundred thousand dollars previously to support the developer and its reps? Yes, so say "thank you".
Matter of fact, we are the reason it all happens, and personally, I KNOW that we are the best thing that ever happened to Marriott (other owners included!!!). We are the kind of customers Marriott covets. Somehow it gets lost on SOME that the reps indeed exist because we have "bought", and we continue to spend money. I'm going to assume you were trying to test me. Nice try. So, as a 'guest' poster, come on and join TUG....after 3 posts, your fun is only beginning.