Orlando Vacation: Day 2 Part #1 - Orange Lake Sales Pitch

Yesterday we got discounted amenity passes for agreeing to listen to the timeshare sales pitch. We opted for an early morning appointment rather than a mid-day to avoid as much disruption in our plans as possible. Being an existing timeshare owner they were keen to selling me on their resort and getting me to commit to another week at Orange Lake. 
When we arrived at the office we meet our sales representative Nicole. She was a very attractive well-dressed New Yorker who moved south to avoid the difficult winters and to raise her two young children. After boarding a golf cart we whizzed along the trails towards one of their newer units. The tour started out great and we seemed to really get along with her. She told us a little more about her background and why she chose to work at Orange Lake. 

Once we arrived at one the new mid-rise buildings she showed us an impressive 2 & 3 bedroom options. They were definitely impressive. It actually annoyed me at the caliber of unit they had put us in since as she told us the resort was only at 60% occupancy this week. When we headed back to the sales office I advised her that I was already a timeshare owner and wasn't necessarily looking to add to that portfolio. 

She understood but like every sales person she was still convinced she could show me why it would be worth my while to join the Orange Lake family. She explained that I had a weeks account and how that was old school and over time my options would become very limited. She explained that the more modern approach was points. I learned that if you converted the current weeks to points I would end up with over 400,000 points. According to both Nicole and the RCI representative it was a no brainer that I should pick up an additional unit for $41,999 and convert everything to points giving me a 496,000 point account. 

She went on and on about how I was in such an amazing position and how having that many points meant I would never pay for a vacation again. I reminded her that I was indeed pre paying every year since there are hefty maintenance fees associated with timeshares and that nothing in life is ever free.

She could clearly see I wasn't biting and the price dropped almost immediately to $16,999. That is a steep discount but I was still not overly ready or willing to commit to more expense. Realizing she wasn’t sealing the deal she brought in reinforcements in the form of the RCI rep. They both were very pushy and telling me this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I still declined and they both walked away from the table to chat. When she returned the price dropped again to $9,000 before the final question. "What would make you pull the trigger today, would $5,000 be a number that would work for you?" I was asked. When I declined a fourth time she handed me off to one final guy. This guy gave me what he called a last chance to decide. The way that worked was an offer for $1,400 for a weeks vacation at Orange Lake but that it would only cost me $69 to reserve it. Then when I returned and if I bought I wouldn’t have to pay the full 1,400. 

I was annoyed since what was promised to be only a 60 minute presentation turned into a two hour full on aggressive sales pitch with pushy sales representatives. They could all sense I was no longer amused and now annoyed that my repeated lack of interest was not respected. Finally I was handed a voucher to collect my discounted amenities passes.

Then when we left the building we discovered that we hadn’t returned to the building we started at but rather a different building and we had to wait for a shuttle to take us back to our cars. It took forever and we chatted up with several others who had come out after us. Everyone had the same reaction to feeling very pressured and then dismissed when we didn’t buy. It wasn’t a good experience and I knew right then and there I would never return to Orange Lake for another vacation.