I used to love to go to those “free” vacations for time shares. The shlub in the salesroom would always tell you about the timeshare swap programs, where you can swap your Myrtle Beach week for a week anywhere in the world.
Then they would try a Sales Close: “Is there anywhere you would like to vacation?”
I would enthusiastically reply, “Absolutely. One of my life goals is to vacation in the Galapagos Islands.”
“Would you buy our time share if we can show you that in our book of timeshare swaps?”
“Oh yeah. I’d go to Galapagos every year”, I’d reply.
Then the shlub began thumbing through his book, confident he will find somebody with a timeshare in Galapagos to swap. Eventually he would ask, “Where are these islands?”
I would describe the documentaries of the marine iguanas, etc. That would sometimes ring a bell with the shlub, and he’d start thumbing through his book again.
Eventually, he would get the other shlubs, and the manager shlub looking for Galapagos. I would sit there politely smiling. There are no buildings in Galapagos. The Chilean government and the UN monitor all visitors to Galapagos closeley. Nothing that will disturb the fauna is tolerated.
I would eventually leave, “disappointed” they couldn’t match me up with a timeshare in Galapagos. I’d tell them to call me if one ever showed up.
Very funny. :-)
When I get telemarketing calls at dinner time and they ask for me I tell them “hold on” and then hand the phone to my toddler. He seems to enjoy talking with them more than me.
I love your post gitmo.
Cincinatus and I TOLD the agent (in the boiler room, where they take all your personal info, I suspect now to know if you have enough money for them to take..and you have to have both partners, just like Direct Buy) that we had NO intention of buying anything, that we only wanted tickets. After that invasion, a guy came by to be our “best friend” and tell us how he was raising his son because he had married such a rotten woman. After that weird encounter, the sales gal drove us around to look at properties and gave us the full pitch, when we got back we saw the big book of vacations (you deserve vacations). When we had the “gall” to declined their stupid pitch, the guy with the “rotten wife” was called back into the boiler room to implyng (in outrage) she hadn’t done her job because she didn’t close the sale, making us feel she was in trouble and said we were stupid to to pass on this and after we even passed on his “today for you offer” he stood up and walked away (I’m squeezing a VERY LONG day into a short period because this is as much making me angry and laughing in memory). THEN another guy guided us out to get our show tickets and sat us down and said he had NOTHING to do with these people but that HE had a better offer......unbelievable, laughable, another word????. we finally got the tickets and knew all about time shares and scams.
Coyote, do you think the anecdote about the Galapagos Islands would be good for a chuckle on TOS?
Cheers!
That is funny...I had a buddy who sold time shares...social buddies with him & his wife. He finally talked me into doing it - me & a girl friend did a long week-end in Cancun or Mazatlan...some place in Mesco (this was in the early ‘80’s). The sales dude tried the exact pitch on us. We were ready. We chose...Easter Island. He fumbled about and went through several listing books and couldn’t come close to finding anything. We just told him that was the deal-breaker...Sorry!
Of course we didn’t tell him that there are no accommodation’s on Easter Island and its about a 45 minute flight from the mainland to get there. We had been there the previous year...heh heh heh.