[freedumb2003]

I am an old hand at getting free stuff at Timeshare presentations. I use a combination of techniques:

1) “I am just here for the free stuff. Thanks for your time — it has been 45 minutes and that fulfills my obligation.”

2) “I am a frequent traveler and have over a million Marriott Points — I haven’t paid for a vacation hotel room in 10 years.” (If I liked the presenter) BTW this is a true statement.

If you are good at saying “no” you can clean up. Make sure you get at least $400 of stuff (cash is best). If you let them drag you around you can waste a whole morning.

[Vigilanteman]

Excellent suggestions! Time whatever is promised, 45 minutes, one hour, whatever. When it it up, tell them so. Be polite, but firm. Insist that you did what was promised and gave them a fair hearing. They now need to deliver the incentives as they promised.

If the breakfast, lunch or whatever is better than average, I may give them an extra 10 minutes and ask them for their card. Funny how few of them actually have cards to give out.

If the deal actually sounds good, I tell them I like older properties, off seasons (when crowds are sparse), etc. If they haven't excused me by then, I tell them to put it in writing and I'll check in before I leave town. Once when I thought I had a good deal, I showed it to a timeshare reseller who had an office near the resort and he showed me a number of better/cheaper properties he had for sale.

Almost every major resort has reseller offices nearby to check it out!