So it went something like this: First we met in a big group and got a quick introduction from a guy who really thought he was funny. And who was really impressed that I travel so much (p.s. I don't travel THAT much). He kept saying "everyone except her..." and pointing to me, because I was already a traveler. Good start.
Then we went back to sit and talk with a salesman one-on-one. This is where the fun really started. Things were going okay (I am being very generous here), until he started laughing at me. He kept asking how much I pay for hotels. I kept saying that I never stay in hotels. This was unheard of to him, how could I travel so much and not stay in hotels? Apparently it was not acceptable to him that I stay with friends and family. And weird to him that I have friends and family in so many places. Here is part of our conversation:
Him: "You are going into debt for your hotels"
Me: "I don't stay in hotels"
Him: "But paying for hotels that you do not own is like going into debt"
Me: "I don't think you understand the concept of 'debt'"
Him: "Yes I do, you are paying money for something you do not own"
Me: "No, debt is when you spend more than you earn. It is a very simple concept. I do not spend more than I earn, therefore I am not in debt (except for my condo, but that is a different category)"
Him: "...."
As we went on I just got more sassy and more fired up. Eventually he said "Now, you are a smart girl, so..." at which point I cut him off and responded "Yes, I am." He wasn't expecting that.
Next we had a great conversation where he insisted that since I often do not pay for hotels in the places I go, then I must not be traveling where I want to go, only where I can go. We argued this topic for several minutes. Apparently smart travelers are not part of their time-share. And I am not allowed to enjoy vacations that are inexpensive or in which I visit friends/family.
So then his sales-person friend came over and tried to give me pricing. He made a big mistake by starting with "can you afford $10 a month?" I said "yes, I can afford $10 a month, but the real question is whether I want to pay you $10 a month." He just got up and left the table. But since he had not quite had enough, he came back and asked again if I could afford $10/month. I said, "that sounds great and all, but I really hate paying interest. It makes me mad. And if I pay you $10/month for the next...forever... then I am paying an awful lot of interest to your company, and that seems like a bad idea to me." His amazing response "But it is only $10 per month, even if all you pay is interest it is really inexpensive." Seriously. Do I really want to just pay interest and never actually pay down the cost of the time-share. And, to top it off, the actual price was much higher than $10/month.
Is anyone surprised that I did not take the bait? Is anyone surprised that when the 4rd guy sat down to talk to me about my overall experience that day I told him it was a 6 (scale of 1-10), and that I was being very generous in rating the experience a 6?
At least I got a lot of laughs out of it. And $40 in Home Depot gift cards. And a 4 day, 3 night stay in my choice of Las Vegas, Orlando, Reno, Kona (Hawaii) or Los Cabos (Mexico). Where should I go?
2 comments:
Ugh. I hate salespeople. I don't know if I could have survived that. I don't think I'm smart enough. Blech.
I say you go to Hawaii!
This post was a long time ago (okay, like a month and a half, but I'm playing catch up), but I say you go to Hawaii. Las Vegas is close enough you can go there almost any weekend, and who wants to spend three nights in Las Vegas (I mean, which good standing LDS person wants to)? Yeah, Hawaii gets my vote.
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