Worst Sales Presentations (usa only)

So lets toss out the Mexican nonsense as thatll be at the top of any poll or questionnaire.

Who currently (or within at least the past few years) has the most notorious sales presentation in the industry today.

ie...lies/misleading statements not in the contract/etc

and if you want...elaborate...or just post your opinions! as they come in ill add a poll with the names to vote on.

Oh good - a thread to park those posts in.

I bet you a "cerveza" that we will get a post about a Mexican presentation within one week!

Based on many posts, I would nominate WESTGATE.

TS

Certain, but not all, sharks at Massanutten.

My oddest one was a silverleaf update where the salesman mentioned having PTSD , said his problems are well documented and that he handles it by keeping a ball bat , when he is stressed he strokes it. He went on to telling me that a manager ask him once if he was going to use the bat on him and he told him it was a suppository not a weapon. He asked me why I attended the update , when I told him to get the gift he stroked the bat and said they work on commision and some salesmen would resent that. He mentioned feeling homicidial to an ex over financial issues.

jejones3329 said:

My oddest one was a silverleaf update where the salesman mentioned having PTSD , said his problems are well documented and that he handles it by keeping a ball bat , when he is stressed he strokes it. He went on to telling me that a manager ask him once if he was going to use the bat on him and he told him it was a suppository not a weapon. He asked me why I attended the update , when I told him to get the gift he stroked the bat and said they work on commision and some salesmen would resent that. He mentioned feeling homicidial to an ex over financial issues.

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I think we might have a winner!

jejones3329 said:

My oddest one was a silverleaf update where the salesman mentioned having PTSD , said his problems are well documented and that he handles it by keeping a ball bat , when he is stressed he strokes it. He went on to telling me that a manager ask him once if he was going to use the bat on him and he told him it was a suppository not a weapon. He asked me why I attended the update , when I told him to get the gift he stroked the bat and said they work on commision and some salesmen would resent that. He mentioned feeling homicidial to an ex over financial issues.

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Oh my! I would have been slightly nervous, and just a little bit embarrassed at his "stroking" the bat

kwindham said:

Oh my! I would have been slightly nervous, and just a little bit embarrassed at his "stroking" the bat

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Time to call the police,

Nothing that scary but had a Westgate saleswoman pull out a picture of (presumably but who knows) her daughter with a three hankie special about being a single parent. When we refused to buy anything she berated us for "wasting her time," and "Taking food out of her child's mouth."

As for dishonest salespeople, they all move their lips. Although some of the come across as so sincere, I do wonder if they actually believe what they're saying.

I've been on some interesting ones. Most recently OLCC, Summer Bay Orlando, and Harborside.
Harborside the lady started out by introducing herself as a single mother, then referring to her dog (not children- she didn't have any). Went pretty quick when she figured out we weren't in the market and then after we asked for lunch (we had the meal plan and had already eaten breakfast, so she said we could have lunch after). Not terrible except I caught her lying about being a single mother.

OLCC we went on the tour with another couple, I had a 18 month old and 3 year old in tow and they had a 4 month old. The other couple likes to show off their money ( breitling watch, coach shoes, Fendi handbag, Juicy couture on the baby, etc.) even on vacation. Sales tour was fine, they got dicey on the points explanation and left out the parts about HIVC not being sellable if purchased at OLCC, and then the High pressure sales manager came over with pricing. They wouldn't let us leave, kids started getting super antsy (after sitting too long and being hungry I couldn't blame them). I had to be rude to the guy and tell him he was making us late for lunch and the kids needed to eat. His response: "There's cookies over there" pointing to the counter with cookies and coffee. I said "Yeah, great. cranky kids with sugar rushes, just what I wanted."
He gave me a dirty look and continued to hound the other couple about how great a deal it was until I showed him how much the true cost of ownership was . His response to that was "Well not everyone can afford to take 5 star vacations." My response was " I certainly can. I can just book the room via Holiday Inn and never have to worry about purchasing, for less than the cost of maintenance!" He turned red, took a deep breath, turned to the other couple who said they were not interested (for the 100th time) and got the "gift certifier" to come over who pushed us some more with an even more reduced "deal". I then invited my then 4 year old to sit on his lap. That got us out the door pretty quick- who the hell wants someone else's stir-crazy kid sitting on their lap? Certainly not that guy, which is what I was hoping. I told the other couple I was not going on a tour with them again. When The husband asked why, I said, "you do realize that the reason they kept hounding you is that you are dressed from head to toe in designer stuff, including the baby? And pushing a Bugaboo stroller? To them you are an easy target. They see you have money to spend." He said he never thought of it like that before.

The next summer we were staying at Summer Bay (where the other couple traded in via RCI) and in order to book the room we had to go on a tour as we didn't have a TS yet. It was just me, hubby , and the 2 kids, and we went just after breakfast again. Presentation was nice, relaxed, and no pressure. He showed us a few different units, the spray park, and then we went back to the sales center. Before even getting to the table, he stopped in a small office and got some disney coloring sheets and crayons for the kids (2 and 5 then). The salesman offered us a bunch of different things, and pointed to the ones we would most likely use and liked when we saw them. He pulled out the "foreclosure specials" right at the beginning, pointing to one that might work for us. He left us alone for a few minutes and after discussing the pricing and MF & trading power/points with hubby and hubby saying he liked OLCC better (in spite of the sales portion), we let the salesman know we were not interested, and the manager came over, and we explained why we were not purchasing to him too. They offered a vacation club for $1995, which seemed like and RCI type rental program, so I asked about that. They also offered for us to come back for around $700 for a week and do another presentation. We declined all of it, and asked for time to think about the vacation club. We were given the salesman's card and he wrote his cell phone on the back, as well as the manager's cell and extension. They thanked us and shook hands and sent us on our way within 2 hours, it would have been about 90 minutes except I asked for info on the vacation club, which added about 20 minutes. Best presentation we went on, kids never had time to get antsy, and they had fresh oranges (better kids snack!).

jejones3329 said:

My oddest one was a silverleaf update where the salesman mentioned having PTSD , said his problems are well documented and that he handles it by keeping a ball bat , when he is stressed he strokes it. He went on to telling me that a manager ask him once if he was going to use the bat on him and he told him it was a suppository not a weapon. He asked me why I attended the update , when I told him to get the gift he stroked the bat and said they work on commision and some salesmen would resent that. He mentioned feeling homicidial to an ex over financial issues.

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That is scary.

I will admit I was nervous but I felt the intent was to intimidate me and that he would not have acted and said the same to a couple or a single male. My background as a psychiatric nurse dealing with violent clients probably kicked in , I just looked him in the eye and said " I know that you make good money , I have had Silverleaf salesman tell me they make over $100,000 a year. This is the sales model that Silverleaf chooses to use and I do not feel guilty for being here to get the gift " . Full time he was talking I was thinking if he raises that bat I am screaming and running out. I really should have turned him in or at least spoke with the director as my basic feeling was that he might have issues beyond PTSD , be bipolar or whatever and had gone off his meds. He mentioned his issues were well documented. I think I was in such shock that I felt like no one would really beleive me and as stupid as it sounds I like doing the update meetings for the $ so did not want to get on a list as some kind of trouble maker.

jejones3329 said:

My oddest one was a silverleaf update where the salesman mentioned having PTSD , said his problems are well documented and that he handles it by keeping a ball bat , when he is stressed he strokes it. He went on to telling me that a manager ask him once if he was going to use the bat on him and he told him it was a suppository not a weapon. He asked me why I attended the update , when I told him to get the gift he stroked the bat and said they work on commision and some salesmen would resent that. He mentioned feeling homicidial to an ex over financial issues.

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A suppository?

Is there a new meaning?

oneohana said:

A suppository?

Is there a new meaning?

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Nope - I'm sure it was meant to be a humorous threat...

learnalot said:

I think we might have a winner!

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That one will be hard to top!

About six years ago. Historic Powhatan after DRI took over. We were weeks owners at Powhatan and they wanted us to buy at GreenSprings and also to buy points. Their two hour deal took six hours and the lunch they served was horrid!!! Completely wasted our day but we said NO. :annoyed:

Our worst took place in Oceanside CA with Wyndham. We were traveling with our 2 grandchildren, 3 and 5 at the time. We agreed to go to a "owners update" for around 90 minutes. The salesman greeted us and immediately told us to drop the kids in a room with a beanbag chair and a tv with cartoons on. Of course the kids did not want to be left alone and threw a fit. The salesman made some note about behavior issues, we should have walked out then. He asked us about our ownership and we told him we bought on eBay. Well, that was the beginning of the end for us. He the said so you aren't interested in additional points we said no, he then told us we were not even considered owners since we bought on eBay. Gave us a speech on how bad that purchase was. Then proceeded to take out his sack lunch and eat in front of us and the kids. He said we were obligated to 90 minutes which was cutting into his lunch. He didn't want to waste HIS time and miss lunch. The kids were of course now hungry and were squirming he just kept eating. I asked to speak to a manager and he said he was the manager. We just left, no gift because we didn't stay the entire 90 minutes. We were furious and even though this happened a good 6 years ago, we never forgot and have never attended another presentation nor will we purchase any more Wyndham points ever. We now go out of our way to educate people on the merits of resell. Met a couple at a Wyndham in a shuttle bus who had just bought, we talked to them and they ended rescinding their contract and buying off eBay. We actually made new friends that day. Before our horrible treatment we would have never done that. Now we are on a mission. I wonder how many other owners have been mistreated and now encourage others to by resale.

Grandview Las Vegas

By far the worst experience we ever had ! It was presented as a Welcome Breakfast. The "rep" picked us up in her car and took us several miles down the road. She made observations about properties along the way, and not one was close to being honest.

When we arrived, the "breakfast" offering consisted of stale bagels and donuts which we did not eat. Then the sales pitch started. We informed the person we had no interest in buying a timeshare and there would be no transaction that day. She kept right on and brought over the "encourager" ! Finally I started detailing the faulty construction issues, the comparative prices, and even how she had been blatantly wrong about the property values of neighboring sites, quoting the correct figures.

Once she finally gave up they escorted us outside to a bus that would take us back to the "resort". We had to walk by a group of smoking rude salespeople who actually booed us for not buying !

Once we got back to our unit, we left the site for the day, and only slept there for a couple of nights. I filed a written complaint with the management and never received any type of response.

We have never stayed there since. My belief is they will need to do some major repairs to those buildings before long, and of course that will involve massive owner special assessments. I wouldn't even buy one of those properties for $ 1 on ebay !

Nobody can beat Fairmont now Northwynd/Northmont. They were selling "Legacy for Life" program when Fairmont Villas was taken over by the Courts in 2010. Missing financial audits for 2009 and 2010, as too many doucments missing. The problem stated by Northwynd was poor management by Fairmont Resort Properties, but the new mangement group is the old management group.

At one Silverleaf update we attended, our salesperson was a young woman who was so scantily dressed on top it left nothing to the imagination.

DH could hardly pay attention to what she was saying! I imagine she gets some sales that way.

Afterwards he went to the sales manager (oh, sorry Member Services manager) and suggested they have their staff dress more professionally.

I think our experience pales by comparison to some of the horror stories. It might be a case of US being the salesweasel's bellyache.

We had exchanged in to Wastegate Williamsburg. We were given a 2nd floor studio with a double bed- not even a queen. I promptly unplugged the phone and put out the Do Not Disturb door hanger. We got discounted tix to Colonial W'msburg, Busch and Jamestown by saying we'd attend a breakfast presentation. We stayed busy with the area's attractions and threw away all the papers that had been shoved under the door. Finally, on departure day, as we were about finished packing, they caught us, and since we wanted a bite to eat anyway, we went to the boiler room. After a not-so-memorable continental breakfast a salesman sat down to start with the circles and arrows. After I was sure they had our names and before they got to 'needing' our credit cards, I said we had a plane to catch- at BWI, and it was check-out time anyway- Thanks for having us. And we left.

I haven't felt a strong desire to give either party- us or them- a crack at it again.

THEN there was the time at Los Abrigados when presented with a contract, my attorney DW wouldn't give it back or sign anything before she read every word and asked the salesbimbo and her supervisor all sorts of legalese questions that a herd of Philadelphia lawyers had crafted to confuse/confound innocent buyers. Guess what? They hadn't read or understood it either.

Jim

I always swear I won't do another and my wife always manages to get swept into it by the gift which inevitably saves us at least a couple hundred dollars on activities vs booking independently.

On Kaui we got pulled into a Wyndham presentation that had a hook for lunch. We had a friend along who also was going to book activities and in a previous time in our lives had all been involved together in a financial services sales company, so the three of us had sales experience and probably had several hundred hours of training between us.

Typical story you've heard before. We were VERY clear we buy all our properties from the resale market and aren't in the market for more. The sales weasel was late 20's with a 4" binder of sheet protector images and proceeded to go through every single page, dispensing mis-information and out and out lies on how the system works. It was painful. At the end of the presentation he wanted to know if we always come to presentations and waste the salesperson's time. He gave us his manager with whom we were VERY firm with that we weren't interested or buying, and then we asked where's lunch? He pointed us to a plate of appetiser sized sandwiches and a fruit salad which had been picked over.

We got out and our friend was floored we'd ever do one of these. Between the three of us we saved about $400 off our commercial activities we booked so for us it was "worth it", but we certainly earned it.

GTStone said:

By far the worst experience we ever had ! It was presented as a Welcome Breakfast. The "rep" picked us up in her car and took us several miles down the road. She made observations about properties along the way, and not one was close to being honest.

When we arrived, the "breakfast" offering consisted of stale bagels and donuts which we did not eat. Then the sales pitch started. We informed the person we had no interest in buying a timeshare and there would be no transaction that day. She kept right on and brought over the "encourager" ! Finally I started detailing the faulty construction issues, the comparative prices, and even how she had been blatantly wrong about the property values of neighboring sites, quoting the correct figures.

Once she finally gave up they escorted us outside to a bus that would take us back to the "resort". We had to walk by a group of smoking rude salespeople who actually booed us for not buying !

Once we got back to our unit, we left the site for the day, and only slept there for a couple of nights. I filed a written complaint with the management and never received any type of response.

We have never stayed there since. My belief is they will need to do some major repairs to those buildings before long, and of course that will involve massive owner special assessments. I wouldn't even buy one of those properties for $ 1 on ebay !

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One of those rude salespeople was probably Jorge He was by far the rudest one we have ever come across. We often stay 1 or 2 nights at the South Point hotel when we travel south and always think of him when we're there.

Lynn

4 hour timeshare presentation!

We exchanged into Las Palmas By the Sea and upon checkin was offered 40% off the all inclusive fee plus a daytrip snorkeling off a boat that had breakfast, lunch, entertainment and a visit into the village. We figured with gifts like that we can certainly deal with what ever they have up their sleeves. So a taxi picked us up for our presentation to start promptly at 9am. at a resort 20 minutes away. Breakfast was amazing in the resort and this very friendly, down to earth man was our attendant at the time. He asked us frankly why we chose to attend and we were honest and said it was because of the gifts. We began our viewing of the resort after breakfast and it was the most amazing beautiful place I could ever dream of! (to the tune of 30k.. of course they were amazing). Each unit even had it's own pool and boat slip! To make a very long story short, every time we said no to someone, they sent us off to another area to "collect our gift vouchers". The areas and the rooms they sent us to were getting smaller and smaller and the reps were getting crankier and crankier with all kind of offers. It was a constant feeling of them taking us to the guillotines each time they lead us to a new room! The final room was a tiny area with my husband and I on one side of a tiny table and 2 reps on the other...As the rep was talking, I happened to look down at my husbands watch and it was 1:00! (4 hours later) I looked at the rep and suddenly my blood began to boil, my ears couldn't take anymore! I stood up, slammed my hand on the table and said, "You need to stop talking right now because I am not listening anymore. Our day is practically ruined, you've taken too much of our time and if you don't let us go right now, I will start to scream!" Holy crow, the guy stood up and said, "oh, we don't want that...here just go over there and the lady will give you the vouchers". My husband whispered why I didn't do that a long time ago. We were out the back way in 5 minutes only to realize we didn't have a way to get back! So we had to go back inside, with our heads hanging and trying to dodge everyone, to ask about getting a taxi back and of course we had to pay the taxi for on the way back. We have gone on several exchange vacations since then but we have never done another presentation nor ever will again. If we feel pressure to book one, we just never show up or answer our door or the room phone.

worst presentation

DeniseM said:

Oh good - a thread to park those posts in.

I bet you a "cerveza" that we will get a post about a Mexican presentation within one week!

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It was not a timeshare presentation, but a presentation where you are asked to buy a "block" of weeks at participating resorts. Anyway, the presenter had told us that "they" owned my home resort. I told him that "they" did not own my home resort, as the owners, with Broward County deeds for their unit/week , own it. It was an outright lie, but the $100 paid for my gas on the drive to Florida. Later that day I told the young lady who asked us to attend of this huge folly, and that she may want to educate him before he makes a complete fool of himself again.