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Offensive HGVC Sales Pitch

puppymommo

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I recently joined Hilton Honors, and when I signed up I was offered bonus points for listening to a phone pitch about a preview vacation. The preview vacation offer actually sounded pretty good but I told the guy I probably didn't qualify because I am separated from my husband. He then asked if the divorce would be finalized within the next 6 months. I told him probably not. He said that if I'm legally married my spouse has to attend. Fair enough, so I passed. A few weeks later I got a phone call with the same offer. I told the guy the same thing, that I am separated but the divorce isn't final. Here's the offensive part: he actually asked me why we were getting divorced! I told him I wouldn't discuss such personal information. He then gave me a phone number and said if we ended up reconciling I could call to set up a preview vacation! I have encountered many rude (and even lying) timeshare sales persons over the years, but this takes the cake! The nerve! I am tempted to cancel my Hilton Honors account, but he was from the timeshare sales side, not the hotel rewards side. I wish I knew who to call to complain.
 

1Kflyerguy

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That seems out of line to me. I doubt any of that was part of official script..

Personally i would not do business with that individual, but probably would not hold it against a large corporation.
 

Tamaradarann

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I recently joined Hilton Honors, and when I signed up I was offered bonus points for listening to a phone pitch about a preview vacation. The preview vacation offer actually sounded pretty good but I told the guy I probably didn't qualify because I am separated from my husband. He then asked if the divorce would be finalized within the next 6 months. I told him probably not. He said that if I'm legally married my spouse has to attend. Fair enough, so I passed. A few weeks later I got a phone call with the same offer. I told the guy the same thing, that I am separated but the divorce isn't final. Here's the offensive part: he actually asked me why we were getting divorced! I told him I wouldn't discuss such personal information. He then gave me a phone number and said if we ended up reconciling I could call to set up a preview vacation! I have encountered many rude (and even lying) timeshare sales persons over the years, but this takes the cake! The nerve! I am tempted to cancel my Hilton Honors account, but he was from the timeshare sales side, not the hotel rewards side. I wish I knew who to call to complain.

I wouldn't have been upset about the part about if you reconcile give me a call to set up a preview vacation. However, asking WHY YOU WERE GETTING DIVORCED, was totally out of line and irrelevant! If he thought that the reasons was a good reason he would set you up for the preview?
 

silentg

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Rude, rude, rude. I would have been offended by the whole conversation. Does he need to sell a timeshare that badly? I’m sorry you had to listen to him. Best of luck in the future.
Silentg
 

brp

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Rude, rude, rude. I would have been offended by the whole conversation. Does he need to sell a timeshare that badly? I’m sorry you had to listen to him. Best of luck in the future.
Silentg

And does he not realize that, if he does need to sell it so badly, that being rude is just not the way to do it?

My brother and sister-in-law went to a presentation while staying with us in Orlando on our points. In fact, we invite them (and our niece) to use both our HGVC and DCV points frequently. The salesweasel asked him if it was embarrassing to routinely sponge off of our points rather than having their own. Yeah, that didn't work either :)

Cheers.
 

silentg

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Wonder if it’s the same guy?
 

DaveNV

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My brother and sister-in-law went to a presentation while staying with us in Orlando on our points. In fact, we invite them (and our niece) to use both our HGVC and DCV points frequently. The salesweasel asked him if it was embarrassing to routinely sponge off of our points rather than having their own. Yeah, that didn't work either :)

A hardcore salesweasel in Mexico tried that same tactic on me. We were staying with my brother and his wife in their owned sleeps-four timeshare. We went to the Owner's Update, where this jerk tried to guilt me into buying. He kept dropping not-so-subtle hints about what a cheapskate I was, to not own my own timeshare. Finally I'd had enough and I said, "Listen, a$$hole, why should I pay you for something my brother gives me for free? Now stop with the harassment, or I'll report you to your manager." He was a tad surprised, because I think he thought I was a pushover. Surprise - I'm not. And he did stop with his attitude. (Sidebar: I bought my own timeshare a year later, resale, not because I was a cheapskate, but because my brother didn't want to go where I wanted to go. Now he travels with ME. ;) )

Dave
 

Tamaradarann

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A hardcore salesweasel in Mexico tried that same tactic on me. We were staying with my brother and his wife in their owned sleeps-four timeshare. We went to the Owner's Update, where this jerk tried to guilt me into buying. He kept dropping not-so-subtle hints about what a cheapskate I was, to not own my own timeshare. Finally I'd had enough and I said, "Listen, a$$hole, why should I pay you for something my brother gives me for free? Now stop with the harassment, or I'll report you to your manager." He was a tad surprised, because I think he thought I was a pushover. Surprise - I'm not. And he did stop with his attitude. (Sidebar: I bought my own timeshare a year later, resale, not because I was a cheapskate, but because my brother didn't want to go where I wanted to go. Now he travels with ME. ;) )

Dave

We have gone on a number of timeshare presentations and while some have been pleasant these are some that stand out in a less than professional way.

1. We went to an owners update where the salesman greeted us and brought us to his office. He never sat down but said he knew we were resale owners and wouldn't buy. He gave us our gift and said he was going golfing.

2. A salesman showed us pictures of his 3 kids and that if he didn't make this sale he wasn't going to be able to feed them.

3. During the 2008 Recession I told a saleswoman that we bought resale and that the prices of real estate in Vegas and Florida was 1/2 what it was a year ago and they were raising the prices of timeshares. The saleswomen tried to tell me how the timeshares she was selling were being bought by doctors and lawyers.
 

CalGalTraveler

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LOL #2 has happened to us on several occasions. Doesn't work. We simply respond that we've also got kids eating ramen noodles trying to get through college!

What gets me are the newbies who over-rely on a scripted pitch of "How much do you vacation every year" and "How much will this add up to over 20 years?" Then they get stuck in the middle of the pitch and forget what's next so fumble around to look at their script. The best reps improvise and listen and know that wasting our time by making us sit there longer or badgering us is not going to convince us to buy.
 
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Arimaas

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I had a manager at the tour in Orlando question my manhood because I told him I don’t make decisions to spend tens of thousands of dollars in a two hour sales meeting.
 

fernow

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And yet, they keep selling.

Which, as I repeatedly say, is a very good thing. No resort if they don't sell. No resale if no retail.

You may not like them (and many deserve not to be liked) but you don't want them to go away.

Bit of a Catch-22.
 

brp

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And yet, they keep selling.

Which, as I repeatedly say, is a very good thing. No resort if they don't sell. No resale if no retail.

You may not like them (and many deserve not to be liked) but you don't want them to go away.

Bit of a Catch-22.

I want the "other guy" (meaning the person who has not found TUG in time) to buy retail. :)

Cheers,
 

CalGalTraveler

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Well...many of us (me included) were "That other guy" on our first purchase so perhaps I am atoning for this by being extra careful to research our resales. But yes you are correct. We need "that other guy" or they will seek other revenue sources.
 

Talent312

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Maybe the guy was worried about the state of his own marriage. Anyway...
I wouldn't hold anything a HGVC sale-weasel said against Hilton Honors.

They may have a contractual link, but HGVC is a separate corporation.
Pass or by-pass the HGVC sales division, and you'll find a flexible, almost consumer-friendly system.

.
 

mj2vacation

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I had an acquaintance who got to tour the HGV headquarter buildings. He said the people that they hired to sell the preview packages were a very interesting bunch.
 

Talent312

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I had an acquaintance who got to tour the HGV headquarter buildings. He said the people that they hired to sell the preview packages were a very interesting bunch.

"Interesting" is a curious description.
The expression, "May your life be interesting," is said to be an old Chinese curse.

.
 

brp

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"Interesting" is a curious description.
The expression, "May your life be interesting," is said to be an old Chinese curse.

.

I've heard it as "May you live in interesting times," but the essence is the same.

I use it with people on my team periodically, as our current project is certainly "interesting." :D

Cheers.
 

jehb2

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Yes. Bad and offensive.

My sister attended a presentation with my husband and me. She told the saleslady she didn't need to buy a timeshare because she vacations with us for free. The saleslady told her in a really nasty tone "nothing in life is free." It was a bizarre moment but afterward the presentation we couldn't stop laughing about it. That was about 15 years ago. To this day we randomly say "Hey, nothing in life is free" when we give each other small gifts.
 

Hsahota1

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I usually turn it around and ask - would you buy a new car knowing you are goinging to lose 30-40% of its value the second you drive it off the lot or would you buy used and save a lot of $$$?

They usually mumble about hiltons rofr but quickly bring in their top guy who tries to sell me the VIP package lol
 

CalGalTraveler

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I usually turn it around and ask - would you buy a new car knowing you are goinging to lose 30-40% of its value the second you drive it off the lot or would you buy used and save a lot of $$$?

They usually mumble about hiltons rofr but quickly bring in their top guy who tries to sell me the VIP package lol

Great response. However a 70%+ loss, difficult to resell, and constantly devalued e.g. Open Season devaluation would be more accurate. But it sounds like they get your point at 30-40%.
 

brp

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I usually turn it around and ask - would you buy a new car knowing you are goinging to lose 30-40% of its value the second you drive it off the lot or would you buy used and save a lot of $$$?

They usually mumble about hiltons rofr but quickly bring in their top guy who tries to sell me the VIP package lol

I'm not sure I completely agree with the analogy. Many people buy new cars for various features, or that they want something specific. A new and used car are truly different beasts, with different tradeoffs. Any timeshare unit is "used" whether bought direct or resale. So (except in cases where benefits vary between the two), there is no difference at all.

I still like it as a technique for putting them off guard, though :)

Cheers.
 
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