This will be fun!
My wife and I went to this presentation for one reason onlythe free cruise, airfare and so on. You'll be seated with about 10 other couples and asked to sit through an interactive presentation; PowerPoint presentation and a speaker. I'll give it to the speaker; he is very good and unassuming.
You must be aware that you will be thrown all kinds of prices for trips, cruises, airfare and hotels. If any of you use the internet, or other means of purchasing except retail, bring some current prices of trips you want to go on with you. During this presentation you may be overwhelmed with low prices, but again, be aware of what they are speaking of. It is not current pricing and the accommodations are NOT in hotels with daily maid service and room service.
Now by the end of the presentation they will have you rather optimistic about the prices. Mind you that a Lifetime membership is better for those that are in their twenty's rather than 60's (not trying to offend anyone-sorry if I did). However, with this said; most all were in their late 50's but one couple. Ok, read one.
At the end of the presentation you will become aware of three programs: Platinum ($8,900, Gold $7,900 and silver $5,900) I think these were the prices, but I may be off a little. But the platinum is $8,900. At the end they offered the following to the first person to buy the Platinum:
5 day stay in Hawaii
$1,000 Credit towards airfare
Toshiba Laptop
OK, we jumped in for the ride and took the first platinum package. They made a big statement in the conference room and whisked us off to another office with a one way window which looks into the room you just left. Almost like an interrogation room set-up.
Once in the room we specifically told the salesperson that this has to be on the credit they offered and in my name. This is where the fun began LOL! Our salesperson assigned to us was unavailable, so a used car salesperson said that he is the Regional Director and that he will take care of us. He took our credit app and added the following to the Platinum VIP package: waived the $495 registration fee, waived the first year annual usage fee of $199, deduct the $1000 airfare credit off the package (he said the club can get you to Hawaii for about $350 each) and added 2 more people who may use our membership to make it a total of 8. Are you getting this? There are so many ancillary services they will try to sell as an included feature to the package.
I must tell you that this whole time my wife and I had no intention to buy and we knew that our credit app would be declined. OK, onward.
Now it was about 5:30 when we did the credit app and they said it would take about 15 minutes. This is important because later you will hear the first BS remark. The I.D. used had a different address then our current address, we have moved recently, so the credit app had the correct, but the I.D had another. This caused the Credit Manager to come in and clarify which is correct. It was cleared up to use the one on the credit app and off he went to approve us. OK, for the next 30 minutes the Regional Director-Pete kept coming in to tell us, Just another 15 minutes. All along we know that the app was not going to be approved.
At about 6:00 Pete came in and told us that the Credit Company is now closed and that we cannot use the approval from earlier. See, B of A is who they use and this Reg Dir.Pete was digging such a big hole that he actually looked and sounded worse than a Used Car Salesman. He said that the first app was approved with the wrong address so they pulled the approval and resubmitted with the right address. OMG, this was hilarious. These types of operations don't give a darn where the money comes from, correct or incorrect. In any case, this is when they finally saw the Suckers (me) starting to perhaps not be such a law-down. This Pete guy said that they will pick up the finance charges if we put it on one of our existing lines of credit. Yeah, right! We said no. Then he said how about they finance half and we pay the other half now. Again, I don't think so. Then he went into the whole BS about, If you don't buy today the price will be more than $10,000 and no free computer, no trip to Hawaii, no $1,000 free airfare and so no. Again, BS! By this time we said that we just wanted to get our free gift and leave. It gets better.
Now the Credit Manager, and his wife, close the office door were in to speak Honestly and frankly. This gets fun. This Credit Manager starts off by saying that he, Runs this operation and is the only person here not on a commission. He also starts in on how this Pete character is no one of authority. If any of you have seen Boiler Room, its just like the part when the broker tells the trainee that, You can be whomever you wan tot be on the phone. The president of the company, the owner, the owners son whatever. It was all BS. Here is the information for any of you who may want to buy this.
At this time we told them that there are way too many Red Flags and that their easy sale just became skeptical. Immediately they lowered the price for everything to $3,500. All was still there. The Laptop, the Hawaii trip including the $1,000 credit, the additional users on my VIP account, the waiver of the $495 registration fee and the waiver of the first years usage fee of $199. We asked for some Real-Time quotes on prices. We asked fort the price to Thailand (round trip from Palm Beach) and for the cost of the Marriott in Bangkok. Guess what, it was past 6 and there fulfillment center is closed. That's right, Closed at 6pm EST. Now you'll hear all about their 5 Star customer service, so ask them this: What are the hours of your 5 Star service? Everyone, it closes at 6 or they simply did not want to give us a Real Time proposal. Now at this time were still with the Credit Manager/Operations Manager and his wife behind closed doors. Well the manager called from his cell phone and played us the greeting which said the offices are closed. So he went out of the office and said he would use the online system and be right back. Question, if you're a good salesperson with a good product, why would you not use the computer right there in front of the clients and show them how easy the website is and let it sell itself? Perhaps because it is nothing more than as shell of a site which is hard to navigate and basically runs off other, free, websites. When he came back he quoted the airfare @ $1,7XX and the hotel @ $149 for a single. I went right on my cell phone and say the exact same prices on Orbitz. And fort the hotel, I have a deluxe room with balcony for less then what he came back with. By now we all know that were not buying so we left. On the way out this Manager Guy remarks, Why the hell did I just waste all this time with you. He didn't think we heard, but we did. And the answer is because we just kept you away from uninformed people who may not be aware of your BS for more than an hour and because we just BS'd the BS'er.
At the end of the day with the entire BS removed and the drapes opened, the product being sold is no more than an opportunity to vacation in a Seaside Villa. You'll pick up on this if you're looking for it. One thing I did not ask is this: Who owns these Seaside Villas?
I hope this was enjoyable and helpful. Oh, BTW, the free vacations all have processing fees. The free cruise is $199 processing fee in addition to al the port taxes and surcharges. There is nothing for free but the entertainment value of this entire process. COME PREPARED! You would not buy a diamond ring without ever seeing it, unless its GIA certified. And this is more expensive. They do state a 3 day cancellation policy. Ask to see it and you'll actually start laughing because it is on an informal piece of paper about the size of the fine print.
Ask for proof right now, show examples of your service and read all the other complaints on this company. Have fun.
Arnold
West Palm Beach, Florida
U.S.A.