Column about accepting gifts for taking a timeshare tour!

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Time-share sales pitch worth free gift | Columnists | Comment | London Free Press

This question has been talked about many times, but I've never seen it addressed in an advice column before!

Should an individual feel guilty about attending a timeshare presentation with no intention of buying simply to get the free gift?

NOT AT ALL!

Simply by attending, the consumer placed themselves in the cross-hairs of one of the most successful sales platforms ever designed.. You should consider the promised gift to simply be compensation for your time and attention!

IMHO, if you feel even the slightest twinge of guilt before going, you might want to think twice! It's simply another bullet that a good salesperson can use to convince you that you need to purchase...

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

No, I don't think one should feel guilty. I bet that a large percentage of their sales are to people that had no intention of buying.

We never attend any sales presentations because there is no gift(s) worth wasting our time, peace, and tranquility.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

They did not work with someone who wants perfection, or who like to misuse their power before. If so, they will realize that since the contract is to get gift for their time. There is nothing says "intention to buy". As long as their intention is to sit there listen to the sale pitch based on the time, that will be it.

Just go to some computer store, watch some person ask a few questions on the lastest technology, than still can not determine if or what they should buy than left. Not sure why someone should feel guilty.

Jya-Ning

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

I don't feel guilty taking the gifts - even if I have no intention of adding to what I now own. The sales reps are taking MY vacation time. So it's only fair for me to be compensated.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Not sure why someone should feel guilty.

I think people feel guilty because they were taught at home that their time was not important. People whose parents made it clear that their job was to please others and that their time was best spent doing just that are easy to manipulate in a gift-for-sales-spiel kind of situation. Their heart is telling them the gift is too much payment for their time, so the salesperson has a lot to work with.

I'm with JWC - I don't think anyone should feel guilty about it, but OTOH I don't go because it's such a hassle. Besides, there's always way more to do on a vacation than we have time for, and they're rarely offering free tickets to anything we particularly want to do. The one time we did go, we were staying in a Bluegreen resort through an RCI trade someone had given us, and they offered tickets for something we weren't interested in. Hubby asked about tickets to something we wanted; turns out they could get them, and hubby couldn't pass up the deal. Not sure what would happen if they ever offered him anything else he really wanted, but so far they haven't.

We had no intention of buying and didn't get a Bluegreen ownership, but we did end up getting a Sampler because it was a small enough commitment that it didn't matter much if it didn't work out (it's a year's worth of points, then you're done). What I don't get about the people who buy out of guilt sometimes is that I would have felt far more guilty making a large commitment like that without doing my homework, because I'd feel I'd failed my family (who will share in the consequences), than I ever would about offending some stranger.