My OperaMy Royal Club International time share experiance
Monday, November 7, 2005 5:37:37 PM
Milena went to the Calgary women's show a few weeks back. As per our usual practice she applied for almost everything that involved a free gift of some sort. Well, it turns out that she entered a Royal Club International (RCI) contest for a free weekend away. So, we were both excited when she received a telephone call claiming she had won the trip and a digital camera. The only requirement was she attend a ninety minute presentation. Of course we were reluctant but, not having any idea that it was time shares - why would we, we had no experience with time shares therefore nothing to suspect - we decided to go. After all, free stuff!
On the day of the presentation we get a phone call at 7:25am(ish) from RCI. Holly crap! If that is not a big strike to not going then I don't know what is. To be honest it's not 7:25am that bothers me it is the call came 5 minutes before my alarm went off. For those of you who like their sleep like I do feel my pain.
So, it was now 8pm that night, we started getting doubts but decided to go. We were greeted by a receptionist who took our names and asked us to sit. Tacky 80's posters and all, the place could best be described as run of the mill small industrial park office. We were greeted by an 18 year old boy who asked us to follow him to the back. To paint a picture imagine a power blue, denim-esque, not ironed, button up shirt, longish hair like a high school hockey player that still had the hat head ring and the watery look of a desperate attempt to make it presentable before work. How cute is he... a poor pup among wolves? He led us to a table after offering water and cookies. I can honestly say I had a fleeting thought - don't drink the water, it has something in it. He asked us about dream vacations, how much we made, how long we go for, where we typically go, etc. The whole pitch was like watching a kid from grade 10 English present a bad book report to the class. You the kind, the one everyone knows was written hours earlier and is agonizing to watch. In short, he was not a good salesman at all. But wait, then the presentation came. We were lead into a room that had the big screen and white board. Once everyone was seated - oh yes, we were not the only people there - a woman came in and introduced herself. I can’t remember her name. The entire experience was crazy, the presenter made bad hooker jokes and poked fun at audience members. She had missing teeth, ripped nylons and hair that looked like it hadn't seen soap in three weeks. She went through the room and asked us questions about dream vacations. Honestly, I felt a little discriminated against. She stayed away from Milena and I like we were begging for money. The audience was surreal. They laughed loud and quickly answered questions. They even participated eagerly by raising hands and the such. I couldn't help but think they were placed. It was awesome and freaky.
After the presentation we sat with our sales rep and went through the process of trying to pick a points package. I don’t know how the time share process works. But after all this I assume you buy points package which are then used to buy time at a resort. We humored him as long as we could but the time came, we had to be honest.
Chris/Milena: "Listen, we have to stop you here because it is getting late. We should be honest with you, there is now way we are going to by time shares."
Sales guy: "Why not?"
C/M: "Well, honestly we do not have the money for this."
SG: "I think you will find we can offer a very affordable package. What would be the least amount you could pay monthly?"
C/M: "well, I think, it would not be unreasonable to say not more than $20."
SG: "Oh, well, no, we don't have packages that low."
C/M: “Get out… “ (thinking to myself - no shit)
I bit of a pause….
C/M: "Well then, thanks for this. It was fun. What do we need to do to get our free gift?"
That’s cutting to the chase hey?
SG: "I'll call over my manager and she will sign off on this."
C/M: "OK"
The manager is busy, of course, so we site there and talk about what he is doing in school, hockey, if he likes selling time shares (which he didn't), and what it is like living in Calgary. Anyway, after everything was signed off. We received our gifts; one free stay at a resort in Banff and a digital camera. The digital camera was a small mini toy camera. It is about 3 inches by 1.5 inches. It has 16megs of memory and takes pictures about the size of a business card. It sucks but I love it. It can also be used as a web came. WOO HOO. The stay at a resort in Banff requires us to attend another 90 minute presentation. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Oh well, live and learn, live and learn.
I told this to my parents and they told me that it was not my first time share experience. The first time was in my early teens. We had gone to Orlando Florida to Disney World. A time share was offering tickets to Water World. I guess they went and that’s who I got to see Water World. So the moral of this story is - unless you want time shares - go with the intention of sacrificing you time. Have fun and laugh about the experience. Oh, and always, always look for the one that has good prizes to give a way.
On the day of the presentation we get a phone call at 7:25am(ish) from RCI. Holly crap! If that is not a big strike to not going then I don't know what is. To be honest it's not 7:25am that bothers me it is the call came 5 minutes before my alarm went off. For those of you who like their sleep like I do feel my pain.
So, it was now 8pm that night, we started getting doubts but decided to go. We were greeted by a receptionist who took our names and asked us to sit. Tacky 80's posters and all, the place could best be described as run of the mill small industrial park office. We were greeted by an 18 year old boy who asked us to follow him to the back. To paint a picture imagine a power blue, denim-esque, not ironed, button up shirt, longish hair like a high school hockey player that still had the hat head ring and the watery look of a desperate attempt to make it presentable before work. How cute is he... a poor pup among wolves? He led us to a table after offering water and cookies. I can honestly say I had a fleeting thought - don't drink the water, it has something in it. He asked us about dream vacations, how much we made, how long we go for, where we typically go, etc. The whole pitch was like watching a kid from grade 10 English present a bad book report to the class. You the kind, the one everyone knows was written hours earlier and is agonizing to watch. In short, he was not a good salesman at all. But wait, then the presentation came. We were lead into a room that had the big screen and white board. Once everyone was seated - oh yes, we were not the only people there - a woman came in and introduced herself. I can’t remember her name. The entire experience was crazy, the presenter made bad hooker jokes and poked fun at audience members. She had missing teeth, ripped nylons and hair that looked like it hadn't seen soap in three weeks. She went through the room and asked us questions about dream vacations. Honestly, I felt a little discriminated against. She stayed away from Milena and I like we were begging for money. The audience was surreal. They laughed loud and quickly answered questions. They even participated eagerly by raising hands and the such. I couldn't help but think they were placed. It was awesome and freaky.
After the presentation we sat with our sales rep and went through the process of trying to pick a points package. I don’t know how the time share process works. But after all this I assume you buy points package which are then used to buy time at a resort. We humored him as long as we could but the time came, we had to be honest.
Chris/Milena: "Listen, we have to stop you here because it is getting late. We should be honest with you, there is now way we are going to by time shares."
Sales guy: "Why not?"
C/M: "Well, honestly we do not have the money for this."
SG: "I think you will find we can offer a very affordable package. What would be the least amount you could pay monthly?"
C/M: "well, I think, it would not be unreasonable to say not more than $20."
SG: "Oh, well, no, we don't have packages that low."
C/M: “Get out… “ (thinking to myself - no shit)
I bit of a pause….
C/M: "Well then, thanks for this. It was fun. What do we need to do to get our free gift?"
That’s cutting to the chase hey?
SG: "I'll call over my manager and she will sign off on this."
C/M: "OK"
The manager is busy, of course, so we site there and talk about what he is doing in school, hockey, if he likes selling time shares (which he didn't), and what it is like living in Calgary. Anyway, after everything was signed off. We received our gifts; one free stay at a resort in Banff and a digital camera. The digital camera was a small mini toy camera. It is about 3 inches by 1.5 inches. It has 16megs of memory and takes pictures about the size of a business card. It sucks but I love it. It can also be used as a web came. WOO HOO. The stay at a resort in Banff requires us to attend another 90 minute presentation. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Oh well, live and learn, live and learn.
I told this to my parents and they told me that it was not my first time share experience. The first time was in my early teens. We had gone to Orlando Florida to Disney World. A time share was offering tickets to Water World. I guess they went and that’s who I got to see Water World. So the moral of this story is - unless you want time shares - go with the intention of sacrificing you time. Have fun and laugh about the experience. Oh, and always, always look for the one that has good prizes to give a way.
