Shell Vacations Club Shell discriminates against young mothers! Kailua-Kona Hawaii
The person I originally sat down with was an older gentleman. The manager who took over for him was a tall man, maybe in his mid-to-late thirties. I wish I would've written their names down, but I was too shaken at the time.
Basically, I was being accused of "taking advantage of the system." I was on VACATION. Why would I waste my vacation time with my family to try & take advantage of the system, whatever that means? We were signed up to go on the tour by a man named Jimmy who was in an Activities booth on Ali'i Drive. He asked the father of my children if we were planning on doing a lot of activities with the kids. Of course, he answered yes. So he said he would sign me up to go on a tour of your timeshare, and he signed Joe (the father of my kids) up as a guest. He said I had no obligation to buy anything...all I had to do was go through a 90-minute presentation. I told him I didn't think it was a good idea because I already own a timeshare & plus I had 3 kids & would have to take them with me. He said that would be no problem, so I agreed to go the next day.
The next morning, my son went to work out with his dad & I took my two daughters with me to go on the tour. The gentleman I sat down with looked bothered that I had my kids with me. I explained to him that I had advised Jimmy that I would need to bring my kids & that he said it would be OK. The gentleman kept asking me who is Joe? I advised that Joe is the father of my kids, and we are vacationing together (as we always do), but he does not live with me and we do not share finances & he would have no say in whether or not I decided to purchase. He looked at me like I was crazy.
He then began to ask me questions and every time I answered him, he laughed and treated me as though I was lying. For example, he asked if I own a home or rent. I advised that I own a home, and he laughed. Then he asked my annual income. When I told him my income, he laughed again. Then he asked if I was familiar with these presentations, and had I been on many in the past. I told him only once before with Fairfield, & I purchased with them. I told him that my timeshare with Fairfield was paid in full, and he laughed again. Then he told me he didn't know how he could help me. At this point I was getting upset because I was wasting my vacation time with my family to sit in on this presentation that I really didn't want to go on, only to be humiliated & discriminated against.
The gentleman called over another man to assist. I told the other man the situation and that I just wanted to get the tour over with so I could go back to vacationing with my family. He told me to hold on & he would take over. He then asks me, "Who is Joe?" So again I explain that he is the father of my kids and that we are vacationing together, but he does not live with me & would have no say in whether or not I decided to purchase. This guy then tells me that Joe has to be with me or else I cannot tour. I explained to him that I meet all the qualifications so why are they refusing to show me the presentation? He advised that he has to protect against people who are trying to "take advantage of the system."
By now I had lost all ability to be polite. This man (and the other gentleman) took one look at me...I am young, I have 3 kids, I'm a single mom...and decided that I must be lying to them & trying to swindle them. I told him that he was wasting my time & to give me my d**n $20 back.
When I left the office, I was so upset I was shaking. I had never been treated so terribly before. I seriously contemplated filing a lawsuit for harrassment/discrimination. Well, here's the bad news for their company...
I am not a liar or a swindler.
I do make the amount of money I indicated per year.
I do own my own home.
I do own a timeshare through Fairfield that is paid in full.
I do all of this myself.
I do know when I'm being mistreated.
And I do have every intention of letting everyone who will listen know about my rotten experience with this company.
After my family & I visited with some family on the Hilo side, we returned to the Kona side and decided to spoil ourselves with a couple nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Our first evening there we were invited to learn about their timeshare opportunity right there in Waikoloa. I thought to myself, "Not again!" But to my surprise, it was an awesome experience. The representative was friendly & bent over backwards to make sure my children & I were comfortable. When I answered their questions, they didn't laugh. They treated me like a human being. And do you know what I did? I BOUGHT THEIR TIMESHARE. I didn't need "Joe" with me to buy it, as Shell Vacations insisted. Everything I told the staff at Shell Vacations was true. They could've verified it if they wanted, but instead they chose to make me feel low & discriminate against me.
DO NOT buy into their timeshare!! The nerve of them to accuse ME of scamming them. If that's not the pot calling the kettle black...
Kyla
Dublin, California
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Journey
San Francisco,California,
USA
Yep, you're right
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, October 15, 2009
I worked for Shell Vacations at the Donatello Hotel in San Francisco very briefly several years ago, and I can verify that what you are claiming is basically company policy.
Shell Vacations does not want to deal with young women, they do not want to deal with a bunch of little kids, they do not want to deal with an unmarried woman in the kind of relationship that your inthey would think it unstable or something.
I was hired to sell those awful vacation ownership units to married couples, which of course excludes gay couples (numerous in San Francisco), single people, basically any person not in a church sanctified union regardless of how much money they have. Needless to say I quit.
Still, the guy you talked to should have been able to disqualify you for whatever reason without offending you. Probably an idiot.
Jolson
Redding,California,
U.S.A.
Sounds like a bad day
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, May 06, 2009
First, I'm very sorry to hear about your situation. I have been with Shell since before I was married. They've been incredible to work with. It has definitely been worth our investment. It is a value time-share from my perspective, you have some nice properties and it is definitely an upgrade from your traditional hotel, but the quality is just a notch above a good hotel. A "resort" is typically a bit of a stretch.
But back to your experience with the sales team....
First, it sounds like half of the problem was the confusion caused because "Joe" signed you up, which he probably shouldn't have. Had you signed up, you could have said "Mark" the guy at the concierge table said I could bring my kids. Which could have saved yourself from an awkward situation.
Second, the guy at concierge was possibly wrong, depending on how old your kids are. As I recall they don't want you to bring kids under a certain age to the presentations. At some sales office they have facilities to watch you kids, but not at most locations.
Third, it sounds like the sales guy you spoke to was either new, ignorant or just plain bad. I have gone into these presentations and simply say, "I'm here for the free gift, I'm not buying today". About half the time they totally respect it, other times they still try to "work the numbers". But in all cases, it's been handled professionally. They always are told to have their manager sit down, regardless if your buying or not. It's the same that you see at most car sales lots.
It sounds like the biggest problem with the second person was due to the confusion over "Joe". But the fraud they are trying to protect against, would be for both of you to attempt to go to a presentation separately and receive two gifts.
Unfortunately at least half of the problem relates to your specific family dynamic and how you kind of slipped through the cracks of understanding. If "Joe" had no place in the decision process, what place did he have in signing you up for it. Could they have been more understanding, probably.