Comments on: Telemarketer Fun

By: Trackback - Free Internation Call >> How to make free international call

Trackback - Free Internation Call >> How to make free international call — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:02:17 +0000

,..] mikesblog.americasdebate.com is another must read source of tips on this issue,..]

By: AAS

AAS — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:02:04 +0000

Got a call from Christine (Awards Claim Center) claiming I won a ford explorer or 25,000.

By: CB

CB — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:15:43 +0000

I have been getting continous calls from one telemarketer… I called back very angry, in fact I called a few times. Now I am getting calls, with a voice calling my mother a wife a whore…

How do I find tis guy?

By: Trish Merker

Trish Merker — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:16:38 +0000

I was hoping that ShawnaG (#388)would update us to see whether she got her airline tickets? I’ve been to these presentations before and actually got a short vacation out of it. Had a great time and bought nothing. I’d love the airline tickets and I’m willing to sit through the presentation. Anyone actually gotten the tickets? Thanks

By: john johnson

john johnson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:16:16 +0000

Just a thought. You say that he used “hard sell tactics” on you. Does that mean he actually asked you to buy? And you only “feigned” interest. I wonder who was scamming who?

By: Annoyed

Annoyed — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:11:11 +0000

If it is in fact such an honorable business practice, one has to wonder why they don’t just say “Come down and listen to our timeshare presentation and we’ll give you a gift in exchange for your time. Then state the possible “gifts” and chance of receiving each possible gift.

The best thing I can say about timeshare marketing is that I once took the time to play the game with a guy who kept upping the offer. When he hit $100 cash, I decided it was worth 90 minutes of my time to earn $100, experience a timeshare presentation first hand.

The salesman assigned to me first asked what the chance of me buying a timeshare was. I told him that there was absolutely zero chance and that I was there to fulfill my promise to show up and listen for $100. Even knowing that, he started the hard sell tactics on me. So, I went along, took the optional tour of the facility and feigned interest. When he brought out the paperwork to sign me up, I said I wasn’t interested. He was offended and upset with me for wasting his time. I told him that he should have listened to me in the first place instead of playing the high pressure game with me.

That was the only timeshare presentation I will ever attend unless I initiate the contact.

I got my call from 1-866-999-3703 sometime in the past few days while I was on vacation.

By: john johnson

john johnson — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:04:48 +0000

I confess that I am a part of the travel industry and was just checking out complainta to see whae was the big whoop. After reading the comments it is easy to see why the public is so paranoid when we call them. This string is about what is known in the industry as off-site vacation stores. Some sell travel club member ships , and some ore sales offices for timeshare resorts that have sales offices away from the reosrts in a larger city where the people are rather than at the resort community. No one is going to take time out of their day or evening to attend a sales presentation for a couple of hours just for the fun of it. The clubs and timeshare companies know this so they feel they must compensate their prospective customers in some manner for their time. They cannot sell to empty seats so an industry has arisen combining three separate types of companies that do business with each other I will explain so noone need to speculate on “scams” Only two or three people of the close to 400 actually showed for their presentation and most said the the offer was legitimate. The scam ideas seems to come from distrust of telephone calls, not the actual presentation. You can’t find out how much money you can save IF YOU DON”T GO!! here are the four industries and how the intertwine.
1. The Resort: In order to be able to market all year long and not just in the season, These companies have sales offices that don’t depend on seasonal visitors, who take up valuable resort rooms, to take the tours. These companies sell timeshare interests in their own resort. Vacation clubs sell memberships in clubs that contract with condos, hotels, and cruise lines at discounted prices that their members can take advantage of. Some vacation clubs have better deals than others, and sell for different prices , but that is for the consumer to decide after listening to the presentation. You will either buy or you won’t and they know that. Vacation resorts do not have the interal ability to provide themselves with guest so they pay a very high price to marketing companies for each qualified guest that attends. the current price range is between $300 and $400 per couple. That means that if there are fifty couples at the presentation then the vacation resort has paid someone between $15,000 and $20,000 just to talk to people. As you can see this is a very expensive “scam” but from my point of view the people getting “scammed” are the resort companies who are paying for a room full of people who are there just to get “something for nothing” but that is just me.
2. Marketing Companies, These are people who have expensive electronic dialing machines called predictive dialers. and banks of high school and college students, elderly seniors,and diabled people manning the phones. They mostly read a prepared script of a computer screen. They are low wage employees who are just trying to make a living. Does you grandmother who can’t get by on social security deserve to be made fun of just because she has a job inviting people to a presentation? Some of you think this torture ( and it is torture) is funny. The resorts hire the independent telemarketing companies to call people and get them to come to a presentation. The telemarketer company get paid only if you actually show up. The invitation alone is not enough to encourage people so the marketing companies offer some for of gift or prize if you go over to pick it up.
3.Fulfillment companies . these companies create incentives which they sell to resorts and their marketers to give away to guest. There are all kinds of incentives from gas coupons, to cruises, to airfare, to accomodations, or to sweepstakes. These incentives are expensive and the incentive company is responsible for fullfilling the terms of the certificate or awarding the prize in a sweepstakes. In the case of the sweepstakes type of inventives the names of the entrants are also who the telemarkerter calls. finaly
4. List brokers. Everyone in America is on a multitude of list , from your bank, your credit report, your doctor, places you do business with like dry cleaners, and finaly,the telephone book. These lists are all managed by list brokers who sell everything from just you name and address, to what kind of car your drive. Brokers have to by law wash all lists for telephone solicitation throug bout the federal and the local DNC lists before they can sell them to a telemarketer If the list is not going to be called but perhaps a post card mailed it does not have to be washed as the idea is to get you to call in rather than them calling you.

the last three industriesw exist because the first one need to advertise and sell their vacation products to the public. While there are abuses in every industry this one does not aske you for UP FRONT MONEY. zYou are out nothing but a little gas if you atten and do not buy your host is out four hundred dollars. Quit speculating. NOBODY has asked anybody in this blog for money. How can you have a scam, if no money changes hands????? Got to the presentation, If it is not what you want don’t buy and take the gift home and either use it or don’t. They guy in the post above shays that you will go to some high pressure vacation deal. He clearly did not go. Salespeople that are successful know one thing people do not respond to high pressure unless they are morons. Peple but from people they like and if the product is presented in an informal and informative way. Whie I do not have anything to do with Westgate I do know that it is the largest vacation campany in the world that is woned by a single person, with thousands of owners world wild. It dod not get that way by mistreating their coustomers. Mike probably would be happier in a pop-up tent on the side of the road rather that a skyscraper on the strip in Vegas. By the way I went on one of these tours, bought and joined the industry because I was tired of the pop-up. Hope this ray of light helps. PS if you don’t want to be called get on the do not call list it is free. You will then only get true “scam calls” as all the legit people will honor your request and you will never agin win anything.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:38:53 +0000

Got a call today from Tony of Awards and Claims (telephone number 773-955-7208) telling me I have won one of four big prizes including a Cadillac. I was told to come into a South Beach area Westgate hotel to receive my prize. I knew this was a hoax. I would like to know were I can report these guys even though they are technically working within the limits of just legal. However, the hoax is that when you go to receive your prize they they a high pressure presentation about some vacation deal.

I am so sick of people trying to trick the consumer.

By: LQQKNaO

LQQKNaO — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:38:15 +0000

Just leaving a post to let you know I have not talked to a telemarketer in 5 years. I am an engineer that has come up with something and I am debating whether or not to give away or sell my little toy. I know it works, and might I add if they call once, they never call back…

I will be checking back to see what you think…

p.s. It works on fax machine too…

By: Jennie

Jennie — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:14:12 +0000

Guys–

I just got the call too from the 866-845-8587 number. Navigator, 100K, 20K, 500K, or vacations. Spoke with “Mike” at extension 106.

Alan’s post was helpful–thinking about going–maybe I can win the $$. I’m really good (100K-worth, that is) at saying no. Anyone else been to one and won the money? Alan mentioned that he thinks the vaycays are the only prizes.