I and my fiancée “spun the wheel” and “won” a variety of free vacation options for sitting through a 2-hour Wyndham timeshare presentation. We were given the following list of options:
5 day 4 night stay at one of the following:
- St Maarten
- Cabo San Lucas
- St Thomas
- Grand Cayman
- Bahamas
- Orlando
- Puerto Vallarta
- Cancun
3, 4, or 5 night cruise (multiple ports, none listed)
3 day 2 nights in one of the 15 cities including:
Las Vegas
San Diego
Lake Tahoe
Sedona
Cocoa Beach
San Carlos
Palm Springs
Or,
A 3 day 2 night mid-week stay at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with $100 Visa gift card.
I know it’s a hard-sell timeshare presentation. I know the two hours we sit through to get it will be just miserable. But is there anyone who has done this and actually gotten a good deal? And is there an obviously better deal that would be an enjoyable vacation? Thank you!
Edit for clarification: This presentation isn’t during a vacation. It’s one we will attend in a couple of weeks and then get the vacation for attending.
Edit for restating: I appreciate the advice, but I’m just asking which of the above trip options will likely be the nicest vacation given that there’s got to be some sort of catch… I’m leaning towards the continental US ones since they don’t require flights out of the country, and it’s easier to verify that they’re a decent location (Google Maps, reviews, etc.) than say, Caymans or St Maarten or something.
Former timeshare salesperson here. They will try to drag it out far past 2 hours - so hold them to a hard deadline. Your best bet is to cry poverty, though they will shame you for this. Doubtful they will ever give you a ‘great deal’. They’re used to a revolving door of marks before they hit a big one. Godspeed to you.
@jub
My sister-in-law did this and it worked. She had a timer going and as soon as it went off, she stood up and said, ‘Time’s up. We’re leaving.’ They cried about not being close to done yet but she was adamant that she and my brother had fulfilled their obligation and left. Worked perfectly.
@Rey
Yeah I’ve been thinking about taking advantage of this because any time I have to call a hotel I stayed at for work to get an invoice emailed to me, they always offer them. My idea was to tell them at the jump that I’ve got something scheduled that can’t be moved (picking someone up from the airport, tickets to a show, a work call, etc.) so I have to leave at exactly the time they falsely promise to be done. That way they can’t act incredulous when I say I’m leaving.
@Hale
Don’t be surprised if they don’t continue/begin the presentation. We attended one a few days ago and one of the criteria was no appointments/commitments on the calendar for the day.
@jub
I’ve never been to a timeshare presentation, but I’ve said that if I had to sit through one, at the end I would just tell them that I was terminally ill, I didn’t have much time left, and that I was just trying to have one final trip with my family. How do you think the salesperson would react in that kind of situation? Yeah, it might be in poor taste, but then again, it’s timeshare people, so I wouldn’t feel particularly bad about it.
@jub
Thank you! I was planning to have a timer and leave when it goes off. I have zero problems saying no, and I say no even harder when someone pushes me.
Wil said:
A friend of mine does this all the time. She and her husband stage an awkward ‘fight’ during the presentation, so presenters ask them to leave lol.
Wil said:
A friend of mine does this all the time. She and her husband stage an awkward ‘fight’ during the presentation, so presenters ask them to leave lol.
We just did our 2nd one in under 45 minutes- Hawaii and Cancun. My wife says, ‘stop, I’m sold. I don’t need any more information (pulls out checkbook literally). I’m in banking and this return on investment is amazing. Nope nope no more selling. I’m ready to sign this right now. And as part of my diligence on this investment, I just want to see 5 examples from this year where the buyers sold their share for more than they bought it. Just any 5 sales and when they bought it and how much they paid. Simple as that. That’s curious no one has asked before. Well pull them up for me. Oh you don’t have them right now? Well we will be at the main pool for the next hour and a half. Bring them to us out there. Thanks! And excellent presentation!’
Wil said:
A friend of mine does this all the time. She and her husband stage an awkward ‘fight’ during the presentation, so presenters ask them to leave lol.
No, do not get those travel certificates as they are hard to book. Get yourself an AMEX, Visa or Mastercard gift card instead. Since you and your fiancée are attending, the minimum that you’ll have to ask is $200 gift card each for a total of $400. Or get something that you can readily use at the location you are having the presentation. Think about how it works, you are on vacation and they are wasting your time. Let them pay you double time and a half based on your salary.
My advice to you is to skip it altogether. Please do not give Wyndham one moment of your time. They are the absolute worst company to deal with ever. Complete scammers. My mom had a Wyndham timeshare. It was nearly impossible to ever get into it and twice as hard to trade to a different place. Plus, when my mom ended up with Alzheimer’s and could not travel, Wyndham wouldn’t even work with us on giving them back the timeshare. You know why? Because they sell that timeshare to four times as many people as can actually use it. They are a bunch of crooks and thieves. Timeshares should be illegal. If you’re going to the presentation, you’re still supporting the industry. Skip it.
@Bao
lol it’s the opposite of supporting them if you go, don’t buy anything, waste payroll, and get a free vacation that is another cost for them. Fuck em.
So many people just flat-out ignoring your question to talk about their own timeshare pet peeves, lol. If you have to attend the presentation to get a voucher for one of these benefits that you redeem later, don’t do it. Once you have done the presentation, they have no incentive to help you and your voucher will have blackout dates and restrictions that make it difficult to use.
Definitely do not do the cruise, they will offer terrible itineraries, charge you a bunch of taxes, and you’ll get stuck in a terrible room. Cruises are something you should book with a great travel agent, not a scammy timeshare company, ever.
Instead, go on the Club Wyndham site and look at the offers, then call them up and see if you can get anything better. You can also sign up for Wyndham, Hilton, and Marriott loyalty programs and they’ll start spamming you with timeshare offers. You can usually call and negotiate for additional benefits like attraction tickets, hotel loyalty points, larger gift card, etc.
With these offers, you’re going for the stay and the sales pitch happens during that stay. Just pick whichever location would be the best vacation for you. Then read up on the scammy sales tactics and strategies for getting out of there easily. I’ve done a bunch of these; the sales pitch part sucks but then it’s over with and you can go back to your vacation.
Do not buy. I can get into the details of why timeshares suck, but it’s been covered to death all over the internet.
@Phoenix
Agree on the cruise. Do you think the ‘beach vacation’ at the Caymans and similar locations would also be pretty sketchy? Definitely would prefer something of slightly better quality over quantity. So if it’s going to be a better experience to do Vegas or something similar, I’ll take that over a crappy 5 day vacay on an island.
@Dara
You want to make sure that they’re putting you up at the actual timeshare property. Some of these will put you at a hotel nearby which is going to be of worse quality and a pain to get to the timeshare for the presentation. I learned that lesson the hard way, lol.
Ask about blackout dates, restrictions, etc. Get everything in writing if you can and if things don’t match what they promise at any step, push back. They are usually sticklers for the terms and conditions, which is for their benefit but can work in your favor as well if they don’t deliver as promised.
Generally, the major hotel companies like Wyndham are reputable and deliver what they promise, and will fix any issues, but don’t expect anything more than exactly what was agreed.
Other than that, I’ve had great experiences in Orlando, Las Vegas, Gatlinburg, and Cancun. No reason any of the options won’t be awesome. Also, read reviews of the property online to help you make your choice.
I’m also going to add that if you don’t stay for every moment of the presentation, even past the 2 hours, they will not give you the things they promised. They have a million loopholes and they make you jump through a thousand hoops just to get what they promised you for showing up.
.