FW Salesman Boasts of Selling to Mentally Handicapped
Westgate Timeshare Resort Issues
Date of Incident: 2/26/2005
I just returned from a week stay at Westgate Towers in Orlando, where my brother- and sister-in-law own a timeshare. We arranged to rent a room on their week to take a family vacation together. Our room was outstanding and the price was very good ($525 for seven nights) but we had to take the tour or pay $700 more.
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From the moment I arrived I was impressed by the property and appalled by the customer service. Most revealing was the way they treated my in-laws. First they were told they had $400 to $1,000 coming because someone purchased a timeshare on their referal. A meeting was set up with "guest services" so they could get their cash.
When they arrived at the meeting, which was supposed to last 15 minutes, they learned there was no cash. Someone supposedly made a mistake. The guy from Westgate then tried to sell them a week every year instead of their current week every second year. This meeting lasted an hour, causing my brother-in-law to irritate me by missing our tee time for golf. As he explained it, Westgate made him a sales offer but said the offer was good for only four hours. Then they had another meeting with the same guy two days later when more offers were made. Then the same guy called at 7 a.m. the following morning with yet another offer.
Hearing accounts of all these meetings, it seemed to me Westgate loaded my in-laws up with conflicting and ridiculous claims. I told my brother-in-law I would not believe a word from those people. My impression was they were playing him for a chump because he bought from them once before. Regardless, they ate into his vacation time repeatedly.
Seeing how they treated an owner, Westgate lost all credibility with me. My wife and I showed up as promised for the tour ($700 for 90 minutes is a no-brainer). We agreed beforehand to listen politely, then leave when our time was up. It all began well enough, although Jeff from Westgate seemed to specialize in confusing and patronizing crap. At one point he told us timeshares are so simple he recently sold one to "a mentally handicapped person." This is an odd sales ploy, if you stop to analyze it.
When we didn't bite, he started lowering prices and showed us a copy of a Florida statute to reassure us, I guess, that Florida has real estate laws. Finally we told Jeff there was no way we would buy because we were not impressed by their customer service. When our 90 minutes was over, I told Jeff we were ready to leave. He spent 20 more minutes looking for someone to "stamp your paperwork." We were too polite or stupid to walk out. After finding a man named Juan to sign a piece of paper, Jeff asked, "What's the real reason? Is it the money?" My wife said, "This meeting is over Jeff. And frankly, I find it insulting ..." Having heard that tone myself, I retreated to the car and waited for her.
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