I am a former Timeshare Resaler. Please listen.

[Former Timeshare Resaler Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Former Timeshare Resaler]

And also, someobody above mentioned that I could give some of the tactics used to get people.

I'd be DELIGHTED to share some of those tactics, which are very clever. I think I even have my "scipt" saved somewhere on my computer here, and I'll put that verbatim on the site.

I'm up against time right now, but will do so a little later on....and I DO INTEND to make it to 100 posts and beyond....please use my knowledge where you see fit to protect those that DON'T know about these scam companies.

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Welcome to our forums......

Please stay here and share any experience that can benefit us.

[Former Timeshare Resaler Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Former Timeshare Resaler]

Welcome to our forums......

Please stay here and share any experience that can benefit us.

Thank you.

As promised, here is my script that I used to use. I'm just going to copy and paste it here.

Hi, can I speak to _____? Hi, my name is ___________. I’m calling on behalf of the owner services of the _____________ resort, how are you today? (pause) That’s good. I'm calling because and a while ago you inquired about selling your property. (pause) Is this still something you are thinking about doing? (pause)

(if sincere and excited, move on)/////

(if not)
You don’t sound motivated to sell, is this something you are serious about doing or are you just thinking about it?

Back when you inquired, you were put on a waiting list of owners who want to resell and right now you are next in line. (pause)

The way our waiting list works is we sell one owner resale property at a time and we don’t move on to the next until that one is sold. Currently, you are next in line.

How we’re going to sell your property is we put it into a retail presentation format similar to how you purchased your property and offer it out as a discount option to families that either can’t afford or don’t want to pay retail prices. Do you understand how that works? (pause) (Read next paragraph no matter what they say here.)

Do you remember the presentation you sat through when you bought the resort? We offered you some sort of incentive to come to that presentation, usually it’s a cruise or Disney tickets or free dinner or something like that…Once we have at least 10-15 families in the presentation, sales reps will be selling _________ units at retail prices. Once they exhaust all options to sell those retail units, what will happen is the manager will step out and offer your unit as the owner resale for about a 20% discount off retail units.

We can start offering your property as early as this weekend at the Orange County Convention Center. The only cost to you is the cost of the first presentation which takes care of the incentives for the families to come view the presentation.

All in all, that cost is around $1600.

What I’ll go ahead and do for you is if you’re interested in moving forward, I will go ahead and run a market analysis for you to let you know what current retail is on your unit, and also what you can realistically expect for resale value.

You have a two bedroom two bath is that correct? Would you be happy with that for your property?

If everything looks good to you, here is how things are going to work out for you. I will get your mailing and billing information and then I will transfer you over to the verification dept. They will furnish you with your account number and they will prepare your confirmation package to be sent out to you. Mailing……card…….

Can you please grab a pen and paper and I will furnish you with my contact information. Also remember that you will receive the property release form in the confirmation package that customer service sends over, that needs to be signed and send back right away so we can pull all your documents and deliver you any offers that come in.

Ok, Mr./Mrs. _____I am going to transfer you over to the verification department in just a moment. This is a time sensitive recording so they can’t answer any questions. Do you have any other questions for me before I transfer you? Please hold.


We called this a "pitch" and it is what a lot of folks are using now. There is one that is even more clever (and highly illegal) that is called a "buyer's pitch". We weren't allowed to use it, but it's basically a pitch where a person calls you, the owner, and says that he has someone that is willing to buy your timeshare...all you need to do is give him $3000 for the transfer of title fees and all will be done. Of course, you pay the fees, and the mysterious buyer always seems to drop out, or disappear, or even worse, they need something ELSE for the sale to complete that requires even more money from you...but never does the property actually sell.

There is another pitch called the "convention pitch" which we used quite a bit, too. It's different than the pitch used above in that they always say "there is XYZ Event happening at the convention center (which is normally true) and that all these corporations want your timeshare instead of buying hotel rooms for said event. (which is NOT true)

Some tactics we used to use are basically based on objections.

For example:

"I've been told that you should never pay up front to sell a timeshare".

Our response, among others:

"You're exactly right. You SHOULDN'T pay a listing agency up front, but we are not a listing agency, (which we WERE) and if you want the same kind of salespeople that sold the resort to YOU now to sell it FOR you, you need to pay for that service."

That salesperson doesn't exist. I've seen it for myself.

Some of our salespeople would get aggressive and insulting in retort to that question. They'd say things like "well, it doesn't seem like you're very serious about selling your timeshare. You were on a waiting list, and I'll just go on to the next customer."

You'd be surprised at how much "taking it away from the customer" actually works.

I have more experiences here, and am willing to share them. I am hoping that what I've shown thus far shows my true intentions here.

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

This sounds pretty accurate to me. I have heard these lines verbatim a few times. In fact, I have someone calling me from Timeshare Cures that will be calling me back on Monday to "help" me sell my timshare. I don't even want to sell my timeshare, however, I want to hear what they are going to say in order to get my money.

You're right about one thing. They did warn me about not paying up front. I am just itching to hear them ask for some money on Monday.

Thank you for sharing with us.

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

I can completely understand anyone's skepticism here.

My answer to any of this is pretty simple. At first, even I completely believed what I was telling people. Someone kinda "joked" about it a few times when I brought it up, so it started to make me skeptical myself. I then decided to go to the convention center myself one day and discovered that we were indeed lying to people. I hung on for a few more weeks thinking I could do it (because the money is pretty good) but ultimately, once I discovered that it was a lie, I simply couldn't sell it anymore.

Funny, cause this happened to me when I first started in sales as well. I used to work for a big local franchise real estate company that taught us to sell a higher commission package that was supposed to be for more marketing but in the end was a lie. I didn't understand it til I had sold a few, but by then it was too late. I too ended up leaving that real estate company and going with a smaller more honest broker. Your scripts look very similar to what we were told to use but it was for house sales not timeshares.

Sorry I was seeing spots. Hope you stick around.

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

You'd be surprised at how much "taking it away from the customer" actually works.

Exactly.

For those who want more insight into how the sales end of the business works, it is worth reading the (now concluded) Morning Meeting essays on Inside the Gate.

MORNING MEETING | Timeshare News & Travel

These are generally not out-and-out lies, but many show various ways to "play" a sales prospect.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

And also, someobody above mentioned that I could give some of the tactics used to get people.

I'd be DELIGHTED to share some of those tactics, which are very clever. I think I even have my "scipt" saved somewhere on my computer here, and I'll put that verbatim on the site.

I'm up against time right now, but will do so a little later on....and I DO INTEND to make it to 100 posts and beyond....please use my knowledge where you see fit to protect those that DON'T know about these scam companies.

I still have nightmares, literally, about my direct sales day. They seem so real and like I am stuck in that job and life. I wake up in a sweat.

Assuming you mean script , yeah, I can still give my 45 minute spiel.

&, yes, fear of loss is stronger than desire for gain. If I had a dollar for every time I said, "Maybe this is not for you," and reached for the contract in their hand, I could probably have a place at the lake and a winter place in Florida.

I had the highest closing rate and the best quality business in the company.

I was not slated to go into direct sales, but was in graduate school and sorta found myself into it. It was the road taken, and DW & I sometimes speculate about the road not taken.

two roads diverged in the woods and I,
I took the one less traveled by

I was also in a multi-level marketing company for a few years. I dread thinking about what I did to be one of the Top Ten.

I have always been consumer-oriented, and what I sold benefitted the consumer.

I still try to protect the consumer as much as the consumer will allow. Well, inform, at least.

In any event, if are truly trying to expel your demons, I wish you luck. I also wish the powers-that-be, legally, would put someone undercover in one of the sleazier TS sales organizations. I'm sure one would come to mind.
- - - - -
just came back to add that if all the lying and sleaziness was eliminated, it would probably be the end of timeshares, because very few would buy if only the truth was presented. Like . . . Yes, our price is $20,000. Next week you won't be able to get a dollar for it. But, you will still own it, owe for it, and for the annual fee, special assessments, etc. How many weeks do you want?

[Former Timeshare Resaler Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Former Timeshare Resaler]

- - - - -
just came back to add that if all the lying and sleaziness was eliminated, it would probably be the end of timeshares, because very few would buy if only the truth was presented. Like . . . Yes, our price is $20,000. Next week you won't be able to get a dollar for it. But, you will still own it, owe for it, and for the annual fee, special assessments, etc. How many weeks do you want?

Right you are. The ENTIRE INDUSTRY is bad...not just the folks who are selling it as a resale.

I find myself constantly asking "Who is the bigger crook? The person that sold you the timeshare, or the person who says they can resell it?"

The only way I can say that you SHOULD buy a timeshare is if you know 100% up front that you're going to use the thing every year in some fashion or another (either by using the property, or exchanging the points) and you understand completely that maintenance fees are going to be a part of your life forever in most cases, and that those fees are going to rise as time passes.

Some places, like Disney, even offer some form of a buyback program on their timeshares. Not everyone likes "The Rat" as I call it, but if you do, that's not a terrible place to be a timeshare owner.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Some places, like Disney, even offer some form of a buyback program on their timeshares. Not everyone likes "The Rat" as I call it, but if you do, that's not a terrible place to be a timeshare owner.

Given your view of it, that of a timeshare salesperson, I would expect that.

What Orlando is is a timeshare prospect mill, something someone on the sales side would appreciate.

Some are getting off the plane as we speak.

[Former Timeshare Resaler Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Former Timeshare Resaler]

Given your view of it, that of a timeshare salesperson, I would expect that.

What Orlando is is a timeshare prospect mill, something someone on the sales side would appreciate.

Some are getting off the plane as we speak.

Well, I'm about as far away from Timeshare sales as I'll ever be. I don't even live in Florida, anymore. I'm partial to Disney because my wife and kids all enjoy the place, but yeah...Orlando in particular is probably the timeshare capital of the world, with Vegas being probably a very very close second.

Honestly, I think the entire Timeshare industry is pretty corrupt, but that's just my opinion. Having seen it from the "shark's point of view", I personally would never own one. But, I've gone through this site a little bit and I see that some people seem to genuinely love their timeshare, so I understand that my point of view isn't completely shared.

And, I want to make sure that it's understood that I wasn't ENDORSING Disney timeshares, because there were those here that thought that was my purpose. Just having been in the business, I do see that Disney is probably the lesser of several evils.

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

Honestly, I think the entire Timeshare industry is pretty corrupt, but that's just my opinion. Having seen it from the "shark's point of view", I personally would never own one. But, I've gone through this site a little bit and I see that some people seem to genuinely love their timeshare, so I understand that my point of view isn't completely shared.

And, I want to make sure that it's understood that I wasn't ENDORSING Disney timeshares, because there were those here that thought that was my purpose. Just having been in the business, I do see that Disney is probably the lesser of several evils.

Some of us like living on the edge in a nice safe cage swimming with the sharks. I know that most of the industry is corrupt but there is still great value to be gained by gaming the system. I happen to own 3 TS's in Orlando and I'd agree with you that Disney is one of the better ones to own. I will say that Hilton is definitely a close second to Disney. So far I've got no regrets about either one of these but then I think you gotta enjoy Orlando if you're gonna squeeze the value out of owning there.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

But, I've gone through this site a little bit and I see that some people seem to genuinely love their timeshare, so I understand that my point of view isn't completely shared.

I've been in timeshares for more than 20 years, and my point of view has never been completly shared either . . . both when I favored them and spent beaucoup hours a day helping people buy smartly, and now, when I spend a few minutes a day trying to get people to make sure they really, really, really understand the forever obligation and all the other downsides of them.

Either side of the coin, I have had my interenet adversaries. Of course, when I favored timeshares, I had to add to that all the general public who are opposed to them.

About the only place, or at least the most likely place, to find people who like timeshares is on a timeshare forum, and that is changing, as did I.

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

Shouldn't the username be "Former Timeshare Scammer" since there don't appear to be any resales which occurred.. If you really want to make amends, I'll be happy to connect you with an investigator in Florida who will be happy to take your statement. Perhaps your "testimony" can result in a few more jail terms..

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Shouldn't the username be "Former Timeshare Scammer" since there don't appear to be any resales which occurred.. If you really want to make amends, I'll be happy to connect you with an investigator in Florida who will be happy to take your statement. Perhaps your "testimony" can result in a few more jail terms..

I really don't think the powers-that-be wanna open that can of worms . . . the SOP in the industry one.

[bravesfan Member Find all posts View Profile Close bravesfan]

I went to a presentation in Mexico a few years ago. They advised me that my timeshares (which I had bought for about $500 combined) were worth nearly $30,000 Actual Cash Value which they immediately deducted off the sales price. It was very official looking and they even gave me an official statement advising me what trading power I had (even though I knew exactly how many TPU's I had recieved). It was pretty funny not sure how that system based on greed and lack of information can continue to work.