Community Forums

Ramblin · 06-14-2012, 09:48 AM

[QUOTE=Jack1234;1210884]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickBrennan

Turn about is fair play.

We live in Playa del Carmen, Mexico during the winter. There are many chances to view and learn about vacation ownership. Quite a few of us locals do it on cloudy days. The going rate is: admission to the resort for three buffet meals, $200, two bottles of booze, two tee shirts, two blankets and a taxi home. Ask for that, stick to your guns and they will deliver.

Help me out here......they offer you three buffet meals, $200, two bottles of booze, two tee shirts & a taxi if you will attend their "sales"presentation. They have not misrepresented anything ......they are offering you "stuff" to attend a sales presentation....and they deliver on their promise(s). They are in fact attempting to sell you a legitimate product......"shared time in a resort".... You can see & touch the Resort before you purchase it & you are aware that timeshare, as a product is legitimately enjoyed by millions of people worldwide....in addition you are aware that reputable US Companies such as Hilton, Marriott, Westin, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Disney, etc all use this same sales presentation approach.....

.In other words, you weren't born yesterday.....you knew full well what you were doing and you set out to defraud a legitimate business that made you a legitimate monetary offer in exchange for your time. Looks to me like you took several hundred(s) of their dollars under false pretense? You knew full well that your residence status disqualified you from the presentation?

Tell me....who's the scam artist? How is this fair play? How have you been scammed? How does your messing with the local Resorts help the thousands of local people who work at these Resorts, the people who supply these Resorts with goods & services...are you going to pay higher property taxes to the town if these Resorts fail?

Sorry....I don't get the joke.

A little harsh, methinks. Here's the flipside: They asked him to attend a presentation in exchange for a pile of goodies. He told them he lived there, in advance, and that they would not be buyers. They asked him to attend anyway. He did, got his goodies, and was on his way. No scams involved, just stupidity on the part of the salesman.

Reality is, the sales guy probably got paid for the number of attendees he signed, then a bonus for any attendees that converted to buyers.

07PSDCREW · 06-14-2012, 10:48 AM

A very same similar thing happened to my wife and I. While camped on the Kancamangus hiway at Jigger Johnson in Conway Nh we headed out for the day to enjoy some fun at Attitash mountain resort in North Conway. While heading to the parking lot to park we saw a sign offering 150$ to sit through a time share presentation. We didn't intend to go as we wanted to have some fun and thats what we came for. While walking in to the entrance, an astute young lady approached us and offered the pitch. My wife asked how long, and she said 30-40 min. Long story short it was almost 3 hrs long and we didn't get to enjoy the facility as we left after the presenter finally finished. We did get our 150$ too. It was a nice place but we weren't really interested in ownership to begin with. They DID TRY REAL HARD to get us to sign and make a deposit though.
We kinda felt guilty afterwards but the money helped our trip some.

Jack1234 · 06-14-2012, 11:36 AM

Hey Mike & Ramblin....,

Probably a little harsh.... Sorry......Not looking to offend you or anyone who decides to take a timeshare tour. However, I do think it is a bit harsh to include timeshare marketing in a thread discussing "scams".

I also understand that taking a couple of timeshare tours are pretty innocent.... Hey the free stuff is pretty seductive..... But when you live in a tourist town which depends on the Resort Industry for it's economic life.... Dressing-up to specifically attract an invitation & doing it for "sport"......you've done this several times in the past..... You know you don't qualify..... & then justifying it as "fair game" ....

Sorry.... why do you want to take advantage of the local businesses in this fashion?

MickBrennan · 06-15-2012, 04:27 AM

We in no way misrepresented ourselves. The receptionist who checks us in, the salesman and the barker on the street are always told at least three times, "We aren't buying." One hustler told us to stop saying that. Even when we say we were there yesterday they just send you to a different resort.

As for supporting the local economy, the big, corporate owned AI's receive the majority of their goods from a supply company. Most materials arrive palletized from a central location. Many time share hotels discourage guests from leaving the property. Some resorts even instruct employees to lie to guests, saying our town is not safe.

Also, we have been "oversold" in the past. It is easy to see how, at first glance, you would get the wrong impression, but a little revenge feels good once in a while. It is similar to mailing back an empty postage paid envelope or leaving the phone off the hook and burning the telemarketers time.

TdogKing · 06-15-2012, 11:40 AM

'If it sounds too good to be true it mostly likely is'

TheArnolds · 06-15-2012, 06:26 PM

They only need to be successful a couplemofmtimes that is why these email never die...there are a lot of suckers out there!!!!

Dr4Film · 06-15-2012, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickBrennan

It is similar to mailing back an empty postage paid envelope or leaving the phone off the hook and burning the telemarketers time.

Those empty postage paid envelopes ALWAYS get sent back full of useless USPS spam mail. Usually after they have received a bunch of those from me, the mailings appear to stop. Well just for a while.

I will jam as much as I can inside each time until they get the message.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

fredaevans · 06-16-2012, 03:10 AM

Have to hand it to Google's 'G-mail,' they're damned good at pulling this stuff out (actually it never gets there) 'in-box.' Question I've always had is how the hell did they get my e-mail address to begin with?

Dunner · 06-16-2012, 04:28 AM

I keep a data base of products I register. I change my middle initial and keep track of who I sent that initial to. Whenever I get junk mail or email from some place I never heard of with the wrong middle initial, I know who sold my mail or email address. I send them a hate email, quoting their privacy policy, and thank them for selling my information.

You can report solicitors for calling you when you are on the Do Not Call list and they can be fined up to $10,000. Problem is, the Do Not Call people never let you know that outcome of the report.

TheArnolds · 06-16-2012, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunner

I keep a data base of products I register. I change my middle initial and keep track of who I sent that initial to. Whenever I get junk mail or email from some place I never heard of with the wrong middle initial, I know who sold my mail or email address. I send them a hate email, quoting their privacy policy, and thank them for selling my information.

You can report solicitors for calling you when you are on the Do Not Call list and they can be fined up to $10,000. Problem is, the Do Not Call people never let you know that outcome of the report.

Do not call list...what a joke! Spammers do not give a hoot about do not call lists! Many caller ID's read " CAM UNKNOWN"?

Dunner · 06-16-2012, 07:46 AM

They get the fax tone, but I have to be careful. I sometimes get wake up calls from doctors I have appointments with.

LadyFitz... · 06-16-2012, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheArnolds

Do not call list...what a joke! Spammers do not give a hoot about do not call lists! Many caller ID's read " CAM UNKNOWN"?

You've got that right! The really aggravating thing is the worst offenders (politicians) are exempt.

Dunner · 06-16-2012, 08:24 AM

I used to get calls from the same air conditioning company with a different name. You read it right. I recognize the number, but they changed their name every month.

Craig_R · 06-16-2012, 09:02 AM

The caveat with the Do Not Call List is that once you have done business with one of these companies, they have the right to call you for (I think) up to one year after the completion of your business transaction. For some reason there is a loophole in the law that allows not only the company you did business with to call you, but all of their sister companies to call you too.