Friday, January 07, 2005

How seriously do you take your vacationing?

I was always under the impression that vacations were supposed to be relaxing not serious, but apparently when timeshare salesmen talk, it's serious.

The fetching Mrs. Wookie and I attended a sales presentation las night for a nouveau timeshare concept. In the past few years there have been some amazing advances in the area; they don't actually sell property anymore, it's all about the credits. Yes for just a few hundred a month for the rest of your life you get credits to spend at your discretion on any of the company's timeshares worldwide or you can trade them with other timeshare companies for access to their properties. Just like baseball cards.

But if you like salesmen, sales pitches, and hard selling, this is for you. Our salesman, John Kerry (names have been changed to protect the innocent) must have absolutely hated the fetching Mrs. Wookie and myself. I paid my dues for a year or so doing sales, and found it as less than optimal for myself, but the fetching Mrs. Wookie took to sales like a democrat to tax hikes. We know the tricks of the trade in sales as well as different styles salesmen use, and we did everything we could to come across as less than optimal targets.

John Salesman Kerry's first question: "How important are vacations to you? Do you take vacationing seriously?"

Wookie: "No."

John Salesman Kerry: "Uuhhh, OK... What do you do with your time off?"

Wookie: "Visit with friends and family."

John Salesman Kerry: "When was the last vacation you took?"

Wookie: "6 months ago."

John Salesman Kerry: "Good. How long was that? A week or more?"

Wookie: "4 days."

John Salesman Kerry: "Oh. Well, is vacationing a priority for you?"

Wookie: "No."

John Salesman Kerry: "This program probably isn't for you."

Wookie: "Can we get our free stuff now?"

After watching their 20 mintue movie, John Salesman Kerry gave us his last ditch effort, threw up the white flag like a good French wuss, we got our free 3 days in Vegas, and we took off. That was really the only reason we went in the first place unless they were going to be giving these credit/token thingy's away for next to nothing. The fetching Mrs. Wookie works full time and trains as a triathlete and I work and go to school. We don't have time for more than a day here and a day there, and it' always last minute.

Hopefully the poor salesman doesn't hate us, but hey they offered the 3 day Vegas trip with no strings attached. It's their own damn fault.