Questions about timeshare tours / etc

[cobbler]

My husband was going through his wallet and wanted to update our address on one of his reward places for being a frequent traveler. Well they got on this spiel about giving extra points and giving a free 2 night / 3 day stay at one of their resorts. Apparantly Wyndham bought Fairfield and they are trying to do some word of mouth advertising.

One of our choices is Bonnet Creek and hey, free stay after the Member cruise for a little food and wine festival would be great!! NOW, the only caveat is that we would have to pay a deposit but that would be 100% refundable when we take the tour and we have to take the tour which they say is no more than 2 hours.

We definatly don't plan on buying but I want to be armed with as much info as I can. Can someone tell me what to expect, how this system works, should I go ahead for the free stay or any other good information that might be beneficial?

I know Dean knows some info

Thanks

 

[Chuck S]

You may want to pose this question on a board that deals with almost all timeshares, those folks would likely have more experience with Fairfield/Bonnet Creek/Wyndam than the majority of DVCers.

Personally, and it is just a guess, I would expect the presentation to be more high pressure than DVC. Given the location, they are also probably going to be comparing themselves to DVC throughout the presentation. Deeded forever vs. Right to Use lease, etc.

In fact, you may want to pose this question on the Budget Board or the Orlando resorts board. There seems to be a number of folks there that do timeshare presentation somewhat often for the "freebies."

 

[spiceycat]

depends upon you. my only experience before this time with Fairfield (it was Fairfield then) was hard sell.

although several people on the Orlando board say that Fairfield is not generally hard sell.

 

[Mtnman44]

I've been through two different "tours", can't remember which companies but I would guess it will be a hard sell. I've also dealt with some scummy sales people at Westgate.

In my experience, they call these things "tours" but once you are there everyone acts like you have already committed to purchasing one and they just need to complete the paperwork! If I were you I'd get a big sign and hang it around my neck with the text: "I am here for a FREE TOUR which YOU was invited me to. I am NOT here to buy today or even this year. Please don't ask. Thank You."

 

[DisDaydreamer]

We did a Fairfield tour (now Wyndam) back in December. It was pretty hard sell, brought in the manager, etc. Finally, when we insisted we weren't going to buy they turned us over to some exit interviewer to make sure we were treated properly. The exit interviewer tried to sell us a 1 yr. trial. for $3k. If we didn't already own we probably would have done the 1 yr. thing. People were buying left and right (I mean scores of people). The tour was supposed to take 1 hour, but it took over 2 hours. We did get a $100 shopping voucher for Yankee Candle.