Free vacations

[renferme]

Got a card in the mail today telling me that for a mere $59, I can visit a post-55 community in Texas (Dallas area I'm guessing), spend 3 nights in a model home,
tour the community, golf for free - just have to spend about 1.5 to 2 hours listening to the sales pitch. I'd love to do it, but would feel guity when I turn them down,,, and then they might get nasty with us. Anyone try this type of deal and how did it turn out ?

[polloloco]

Yes, a looong time ago. Still get the offers every once in a while.
Not worth the effort to me.

[AltaRed]

Unless you have a very thick skin and can deflect the barrage off a teflon coated suit, it is not worth the anguish. The full court press of high pressure sales tactics has been practiced and fine tuned to perfection over the years.

[ash]

My wife and I once attended a $99 Vegas trip that included $40 in chips, two nights, and a free meal...and of course a "1 hour" sales pitch on some sort of timeshare.

I did my best to tell everyone I spoke to that there was no way I would be buying and I was only there for the cheap trip. Of course, they were still rude when the time came to say "goodbye" at the end of the sales pitch.

All in all, it was worth it to me (barely), but my wife was pretty uncomfortable with it and kept kicking me and telling me to not be rude...of course I was just being honest. Would only recommend it if both you and your significant other are thick-skinned.

[youbet]

"Vacation" and "mandatory, high pressure sales pitch" make an oxymoron. Time is precious. Why not spend yours enjoying yourself?

[Dawg52]

I have a couple of friends that did it and they came away ok with the experience. I'm sure places like the one you described know that most come for the free vacation. They are banking on a few to enjoy their stay enough to become serious with what they are selling. I wouldn't feel guilty about going.

[MasterBlaster]

There is NO free lunch. Just remember that.

Having said that just tell em' that you may consider their offer but are considering other communities first. Tell em' to put in writing their offer and send it in the mail.

No other explanation is needed.

[kcowan]

Yes and when they say that the offer will expire and is today only, just tell them that you never react to such offers and consider such tactics to be unethical.

If you want to have some fun, play black hat/white hat with you being keen and your wife being adamant. You will get better offers that way. And it helps to pass the time (been to a Fla swamp land and also a timeshare pitch, exactly the same tactics).

[youbet]

Gosh, clearly there are ways to avoid being victimized by the sales pitch, but do you really want to pay $$$ to go and defend yourself from the attack?* Take DW someplace you'll enjoy.* life only goes around once........

[WRBT]

Dispersed camping in the beautiful public forestland of Arizona is our free vacation. Small initial investment about ten years ago for equipment and now it's just the gas/beer/food/firewood to take with us.

[LakeRat]

I think I know the place you are talking about. It is close to Denton,TX. That's a little north of Dallas. My husband and I took them up on their offer (we lived just a little south of Dallas at the time). We thought it was to good to pass up for a cheap trip.

The property is beautiful. We had a wonderful time. They put us up in a three bedroom/two bath house. We had a wonderful dinner with drinks on them. We enjoyed the amenities of the property for three days. There was no high pressure at all. When we left, they said thanks for coming and let us know if you have questions.

The only problem with our little cheap trip was that my husband decided that we would love that lifestyle and was ready to move! We had never even discussed actually selling our place on a lake and moving to an over 55 community prior to this.

Being the little LBYM wife, I held him off for awhile, and then suggested we investigate other communities such as this one. We found one we loved, better location for us, price was right, and I am proud to say we moved into our new house in March of this year. Our (cheap) trip was in August of last year.

The cheap trip was a great experience, no high pressure, but it sure shook up our lives. We couldn't be happier about our new lives.

In short, I say "Go for it".

[Gail]

We've done a couple of these and have another scheduled for October. We have gotten great deals on several rounds of golf and the accomodations are always nice.

The sales people are prepared for you to show little interest, so don't worry about it. The only time we got the high pressure pitch was when we had already told our salesman that we were not interested in buying anything at the current time, and while he was filling out his rejection worksheet, he casually asked my hubby what line of work he was in. I was thinking to myself "lie", and sure enough, as soon as the words "I'm a lawyer"came out of my hubby's mouth, I knew it was all over. Within one minute, we had the head salesman at our table, offering lower and lower prices on various properties while we insisted that we were not interested.

[sgeeeee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WRBT Dispersed camping in the beautiful public forestland of Arizona is our free vacation. Small initial investment about ten years ago for equipment and now it's just the gas/beer/food/firewood to take with us.

Another poster who thinks like me . . . DW and I spend about 15 to 18 weeks a year camping in beautiful places. I will admit that we spend about $300 to $500 a year on new gear or gear maintenance. That's still pretty cheap for what we get. And Arizona has the best State Anthem of any state.

Arizona
Rex Allan, Jr.

I love you Arizona;
Mountains, deserts and streams;
The rise of Dos Cabezas
And the outlaws I see in my dreams;

I love you Arizona;
Superstitions and all;
The warmth you give at sunrise;
Your sunsets put music in us all.

Oo, Arizona;
You're the magic in me;
Oo, Arizona,
You're th life-blood of me.

I love you Arizona;
Desert dust on the wind;
The sage and cactus are blooming,
And the small of the rain on you skin.

Oo, Arizona;
You're the magic in me;
Oo, Arizona,
You're th life-blood of me.

[Mwsinron]

I get tempted all the time by that guy from CHIPS. Keeps pushing that prime Arkansas reality. Him and that Chuck Wolery guy.

[NYC Guy]

Just say that you love the property but you are unemployed and so can't purchase. Make yourself appear unqualified to purchase. The don't care about interest, but ability to write a check that won't bounce.