An interrogation mindset

Another comment from a reader, in response to "At last, some benefit!":

That's exactly my experience, thought I didn't get an old lady. I got a slick black guy manager on the second stage who accused me of pushing him into something illegal when I told him "Oh come on, there's no way you ain't gonna take my money if I offer it to you some other day instead of today".

It was nuts. The hardsellers were gruesome, and it felt like being in a nazi interrogation room, I felt like I was being worked over. The experience was so vile I threw away my free 'vacation' - I just don't want anything to do with these people ever again, and I figured the vacation would be a 'fast one' of lots of hidden costs. No thanks. These guys are masters of putting you on their 'never do business with them as long as you live' type of mindset.

Tags: trendwest worldmark

Two stories of revenge

So often I hear from people who regretted their dealings, it was great to read these comments left by two readers:

My wife and I had a similar experience. We were interested in the premium membership, but concerned with the now or never part. After claifying the cooling off period, we purchased. I went home and researched. I found you could buy a membership through a resale broker for 1/2 the amount they charged. I took my "I changed my mind letter" in the next day. I contacted a broker and had a 6000 credit membership for less than 1/2 the price. They weren't very happy. That made it even more pleasurable. We enjoyed a great week in Branson, MO last summer. We look forward to more in the future.

And one story of somebody who didn't even go that far:

My friend just got into Trendwest and he was trying to get me and my fiancé to join. He took me to a free dinner that they paid for and setup a time to do a meeting with one of their sellers/owners. It was set for tomorrow and she called me twice while I was at work on my cell phone and the second time left a message to call her. I called her to tell her to cancel the meeting because I have been reading to many complaints from people that got with their service and are regretting it very much. And about the different law suits that are going on. I am very thankful that I looked into the company before I went to the meeting. I was still going to say no to them but now I don’t even want their "free" gift that they said they had just for coming to their meeting. I don’t want something from a company that is like this, even if it is "free".

I am glad that I found these blogs and reports about this company to know how much they suck before I got into it. It sounds nice but thats how they get you.

Mmm, indeed!

-- Fabbo
Tags: trendwest worldmark

At last, some benefit!

Too often I hear from people who discovered this information too late.

Well, it's nice to hear from this reader who seems to have done their research in advance:

Hi, I'm not sure if this is of any interest to you, as I did not sign anything or purchase anything, but I thought you might find this amusing.

It started with the call telling me I won a prize. So I knew I didn't win anything, and it turned out to be a bribe to come to a time-share sales pitch. I wanted the $50 gift card so I decided to go, with full intent of course that I was not buying anything. The caller told me the company was TrendWest so I googled it and found your blog, and some other information about complaints, lawsuits, etc.

You all know the basics, I'm sure - but I found it so amusing the way they did it. They assigned me a "customer service rep" who chatted me up and asked me lots of questions about my ideal vacations, writing down my answers as if they mattered. She warned me that once I go in to the group presentation, I can't be considered a first-timer ever again, and if I didn't buy today, I'd lose all sorts of first-time incentive perks, so I better be serious.

After the group presentation, the pressure began. I'd already come up with a whole alter-ego and a back story to give them, complete with an imaginary boyfriend who really would rather spend our money on cruises, an inheritance coming in a few months, etc. It was great fun to BS the BS'ers.

When I started to say my firm no, here's what happened, in order:

"If you weren't going to buy today, you shouldn't have gone in to the presentation. I warned you! You told me you were serious about buying today!"

"Let me talk to my manager and see if he can help."

"We're going to do something very unusual, and offer you a free week if you buy today (then two weeks, then three weeks)."

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if you donate a week, you can write the whole thing off your taxes. I donate a week of mine to the church." (That was my all-time favorite line of the day.)

"You could also give the trip to your parents for their anniversary!" I mention that my parents are dead...two minutes later, a 70-ish kindly woman comes up and starts speaking to me very sweetly about her daughter.

Once the no-nonsense manager figured out I was a no, they all turned into mean little trolls, with my customer service rep sarcastically saying with a bite in her voice, "Enjoy your trip!" The manager told her, "Forget it. She's a nobody." Then "Mom" walked away sadly, saying she wished she could have had a chance to get to know me better.

If you want more details, feel free to write back. Thanks for the great blog - you're helping a lot of people avoid victimhood.

-Karen, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Glad to be of service!

-- Fabbo
Tags: trendwest worldmark