I finally got a response from Odenza regarding the "Free" Vegas Trip. This is letter from them:
Thank you for your registering your Fly & Play Promotional certificate. You and a companion are now eligible to round trip airfare from one of the : Vancouver, BC; Calgary AB; Edmonton AB; Toronto, ON; Montreal QC; Ottawa, ON; Minneapolis, MN; Detroit, MI; Buffalo, NY or Boston, MA to Las Vegas, Nevada and 2 nights of accommodations in one room based on double occupancy.
To continue with the booking process, please write in the preferred departure city in the space below. This preferred departure city must be one of the cities listed above.
Preferred Departure City: ___________________________
Please fill in three preferred months of travel in the space below. Please allow at least one-month gap between each request.
Month:_________ Month:_________ Month:___________
Please mail this request to the address below along with a cashiers check, bank draft or money order in the amount of $328.70 USD ($164.35 per person for flight and hotel taxes and travel agent booking fee) made payable to Odenza Marketing Group. Upon receipt of your request and proper funds our promotions department will source a promotion travel date. We will be unable to process any request that has not been completed properly and/or does not include the proper funds.
Odenza Marketing Group
Suite 600 4370 Dominion Street
Burnaby, BC V5G 4L7
Sincerely,
Travel Department
Odenza Marketing Group
So what does this mean? It probably means that we won't be using our free trip. First you have to nominate the months you want to travel. After Odenza receives your money, they will then source a travel date - what happens if you can't travel on that date? Do you forfeit the funds that you send in? Seems ridiculous to me!
My recommendation is pick the Canuck tickets - anyone out there take the Canuck tickets as an option? I would love to hear how that went!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Tips to leaving the seminar quick!
So you are only interested in the free trip or free gift?
Here are some tips on what to do:
Here are some tips on what to do:
- be boring
- don't show any interest - the sales people will not to waste any time or effort if he/she knows that person is not interested in buying
- keep looking at the clock (time)
- answer questions with one word answers or short answers
- be bold and say no, and be strong with your answers
- tell them you never go on vacations
- tell them that you just bought a new home, and don't have any disposable income
- at the 60 minute mark, ask them if the seminar will finish within 30 minutes. You had promised to attend the 90 minute presentation.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Seminar
We were expecting to be sitting in a big room where there would be university lecture style. It wasn't! It was in a small dingy room with small round tables.
There was a certain buzz in the room where 'consultants' or sales people are explaining why they would benefit from their timeshare plan. At some points during appointment, I found it hard to hear!
The consultant sat us down, and began with the spiel:
How many Vacations do you go to a year?
Where do you go on Vacations?
How much do you spend on accommodations?
How many more years would you expect to travel for?
Then they walk over to a computer, plug in the data, out spits a number of how much you will spend on vacations for the remainder of your life. They claim that they are using conservative numbers (ie, the lower of the inflation rate range for hotels, etc.).
We were supposed to be wow'ed by the numbers!
Then they start to explain the timeshare cost. You get to choose how many points that you buy. You pay the fee outright, and you will receive the points every year towards a vacation. Their special was that if we bought that night, we could pay less money for more points. The deal was only if we had bought that night.
Then they work out a calculation to finance the fee over a 10 year period. They compare with our original number on how much we spend on accommodations over the 10 year period on vacations, and try to justify that within about six years, of the timeshare program, it would be paid off!
I guess there are opportunities to sell your timeshare as well if you don't want it anymore. PTP said that they would be able to help you sell. (I'm sure there's a fine print to selling or getting out of your timeshare).
Point to Point Destinations is a Group RCI Affiliate, therefore they have access to resorts and hotels around the world. The points that receive annual can be used towards any Group RCI Affiliate. I think if you book at least six months in advance, you use your full points. If you book within a shorter period, there's up to about 50% off the points. As with all hotels/resorts, seasonal points applies, where you need to use more points for using the resort in the high season (ie, Christmas holidays, summer holidays), but it depends on resort.
In addition to the one time fee there are annual fees as well (part of maintenance fees for the condo's and hotels). The kicker was fee for a catalog that they mail to you annually. Its a thick book that you need to search through to find your perfect vacation (spot).
Oh, there's more - every time you book, there's a booking fee. If you book for a week, then the week booking free applies. If less than a week, there's a lesser booking fee.
At this point, the consultant explains that if we buy today, and refer people to our seminar, we receive a referral fee that would cover part of the annual expenses. We asked if the 'friend' had to become a customer in order for us to receive the referral fee, and our consulting said that it was simply for referring a friend to the seminar - later on we found that that was not true, as your referral must sign up to become a PTP member for the referral fee.
We take a walk across the street to the Rosedale on Robson Hotel where PTP has one or two suites. Its an ok suite, on one of the higher floors. It had a great view of other Vancouver buildings. The view was probably the best part of the room!
We asked if the consultant was a member? He answered no, but he was going to be a member.
We go back to the PTP building and watch the RCI video. It shows their great vacation resorts along the beaches, golf, skiing, etc... Wow it is great to go on a vacation! My wife said to me, "ok, lets plan our next vacation!"
After realizing that about 120 minutes have past and that when we came they said it would be a 90 minute session, it was about time to wrap it up. They gave us some time to think about it.
I guess our general impressions:
Realizing that she wasting her time on us, she leaves the room. Another 'cool' relaxed guy comes in the room. He's the one with the parting gift. He asks us to sign a form to say that by leaving today's presentation, we will not be allowed to be receive another deal or discount for becoming a PTP member again for life!
The parting gift (two gifts actually): The gifts are from a company named Odenza.
We'll keep posted of the registration procedure for the free gifts!
In the meantime, we got what we wanted - to learn about timeshare programs & our free trip to Vegas! ;)
There was a certain buzz in the room where 'consultants' or sales people are explaining why they would benefit from their timeshare plan. At some points during appointment, I found it hard to hear!
The consultant sat us down, and began with the spiel:
How many Vacations do you go to a year?
Where do you go on Vacations?
How much do you spend on accommodations?
How many more years would you expect to travel for?
Then they walk over to a computer, plug in the data, out spits a number of how much you will spend on vacations for the remainder of your life. They claim that they are using conservative numbers (ie, the lower of the inflation rate range for hotels, etc.).
We were supposed to be wow'ed by the numbers!
Then they start to explain the timeshare cost. You get to choose how many points that you buy. You pay the fee outright, and you will receive the points every year towards a vacation. Their special was that if we bought that night, we could pay less money for more points. The deal was only if we had bought that night.
Then they work out a calculation to finance the fee over a 10 year period. They compare with our original number on how much we spend on accommodations over the 10 year period on vacations, and try to justify that within about six years, of the timeshare program, it would be paid off!
I guess there are opportunities to sell your timeshare as well if you don't want it anymore. PTP said that they would be able to help you sell. (I'm sure there's a fine print to selling or getting out of your timeshare).
Point to Point Destinations is a Group RCI Affiliate, therefore they have access to resorts and hotels around the world. The points that receive annual can be used towards any Group RCI Affiliate. I think if you book at least six months in advance, you use your full points. If you book within a shorter period, there's up to about 50% off the points. As with all hotels/resorts, seasonal points applies, where you need to use more points for using the resort in the high season (ie, Christmas holidays, summer holidays), but it depends on resort.
In addition to the one time fee there are annual fees as well (part of maintenance fees for the condo's and hotels). The kicker was fee for a catalog that they mail to you annually. Its a thick book that you need to search through to find your perfect vacation (spot).
Oh, there's more - every time you book, there's a booking fee. If you book for a week, then the week booking free applies. If less than a week, there's a lesser booking fee.
At this point, the consultant explains that if we buy today, and refer people to our seminar, we receive a referral fee that would cover part of the annual expenses. We asked if the 'friend' had to become a customer in order for us to receive the referral fee, and our consulting said that it was simply for referring a friend to the seminar - later on we found that that was not true, as your referral must sign up to become a PTP member for the referral fee.
We take a walk across the street to the Rosedale on Robson Hotel where PTP has one or two suites. Its an ok suite, on one of the higher floors. It had a great view of other Vancouver buildings. The view was probably the best part of the room!
We asked if the consultant was a member? He answered no, but he was going to be a member.
We go back to the PTP building and watch the RCI video. It shows their great vacation resorts along the beaches, golf, skiing, etc... Wow it is great to go on a vacation! My wife said to me, "ok, lets plan our next vacation!"
After realizing that about 120 minutes have past and that when we came they said it would be a 90 minute session, it was about time to wrap it up. They gave us some time to think about it.
I guess our general impressions:
- need to investigate further and think about it before dive into it. I don't believe that a 2 hour talk would convince me to write a check for about $15,000 and commit to annual fees for the rest of my life.
- I guess if wanted to buy a timeshare, it would be advisable to buy early in your life, so that you can enjoy and try the different resorts every year for the rest of your life
- I wanted to check out other timeshare programs such as Intrawest or others and find out what their deal was.
- I wasn't impressed with the room presentation - if they are selling high quality 4-5 star resorts, they can probably find a better room for a presentation.
- We thought the consultant was quite nice fellow and explained things ok.
Realizing that she wasting her time on us, she leaves the room. Another 'cool' relaxed guy comes in the room. He's the one with the parting gift. He asks us to sign a form to say that by leaving today's presentation, we will not be allowed to be receive another deal or discount for becoming a PTP member again for life!
The parting gift (two gifts actually): The gifts are from a company named Odenza.
- You and one companion are entitled to round trip airfare from a select major Canadian international airport to Las Vegas, Nevada plus 2 nights of accommodations.
- Terms and Conditions:
- Check in is on a Monday or Tuesday. Travel is not permitted for 7 days before, after, on any State, Provincial or Federal Holiday.
- The recipient is responsible to pay for all expenses including, but not limited to: transfers, food, gratuities, all pertinent fees and taxes (airport, airline, hotel and processing) and miscellaneous expenses, where applicable. Once reservations are confirmed, a $50.00 Odenza service fee will be levied for all changes, cancellations or no shows, in addition to charges levied by the hotel, airline or travel service provider, if applicable.
We'll keep posted of the registration procedure for the free gifts!
In the meantime, we got what we wanted - to learn about timeshare programs & our free trip to Vegas! ;)
Thursday, September 4, 2008
SIGN IT!
Here we are, going downtown Vancouver for a meeting at the timeshare. I wasn't really expecting to buy piece of the timeshare. Like the agent said on the phone: if you aren't interested in buying, it would still be a good learning process regarding the Point to Point Destinations timeshare, and that if I (myself) weren't interested in the timeshare, that I may know of someone else that may be interested, therefore I would give them PTP's name.
We kept our mind open to learn all about the Timeshare
The office is located in an second floor of an old probably 1970's building. As we entered the building, we saw six couples who were sitting in the reception, completing a form.
One older couple who has obviously been to many other timeshare seminars told us to be careful about signing anything. They were obviously only there for the free trip
to Vegas! However the PTP rep told them that if they didn't sign, they would not be eligble to go on the free trip! Regretfully, the professional timeshare attendees signed the form for their chance to go on the trip. I guess they now had to listen to the 90 minute presentation.
VEGAS.... HERE THEY (WE) COME!
FYI, they did not ask for passport or drivers license to confirm who we were.
http://www.natvd.com
We kept our mind open to learn all about the Timeshare
The office is located in an second floor of an old probably 1970's building. As we entered the building, we saw six couples who were sitting in the reception, completing a form.
One older couple who has obviously been to many other timeshare seminars told us to be careful about signing anything. They were obviously only there for the free trip
to Vegas! However the PTP rep told them that if they didn't sign, they would not be eligble to go on the free trip! Regretfully, the professional timeshare attendees signed the form for their chance to go on the trip. I guess they now had to listen to the 90 minute presentation.VEGAS.... HERE THEY (WE) COME!
FYI, they did not ask for passport or drivers license to confirm who we were.
http://www.natvd.com
How many times will they confirm?
I had scheduled our appointment a couple weeks in advance as that was the only time that I could attend the information session. Even though I had scheduled the date, I still got a couple phone calls from the agent trying to book me into a meeting.
I had to explain to them a couple times that I had was already scheduled for a meeting. I guess the left hand doesn't talk to the right hand! You would expect that from a large company, not for a small company!!!
I had to explain to them a couple times that I had was already scheduled for a meeting. I guess the left hand doesn't talk to the right hand! You would expect that from a large company, not for a small company!!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Email Confirmation
Confirmation #: ######
We are pleased to confirm your personal tour of Point to Point Destinations.
Our
Your confirmed tour date is:
XXXXXXXXXXXX
* After your tour you will receive the following gift as a token of our appreciation for your time!
Las Vegas Getaway for 2 - Air & Hotel, plus a 2 for 1 Carnival Cruise Certificate (taxes, port charges & booking fee not included).
Please present this confirmation letter for identification upon arrival at the Presentation Centre. We also suggest that you plan to arrive 10 minutes early for registration. It is anticipated that the tour will last approximately 90 minutes. Directions as well as parking information are provided below. For your convenience we do have unsupervised children's facilities at our
If for any reason you are unable to attend your scheduled tour, we ask that you notify our Reservation Office at your earliest convenience. This invitation is non-transferable. Any further questions may be directed to our reservation office:
Monday to Friday: 1:00 pm - 9:00 pm
All other times:
For identification purposes, please be reminded to bring two pieces of identification with you i.e. major credit card and valid driver's license.
* Eligibility Requirements: Everyone is invited to attend our popular tour to learn about the benefits of vacation ownership with Point to Point Destinations, however, to receive the above gift you must meet the following eligibility requirements.
To be eligible to receive your gift you must be married or in a common law relationship (of a minimum of 3 years), and both spouses must be between the ages of 28 and 69 years. You must have a minimum combined household income of $60,000 CAN, be gainfully employed at the time of the tour, or retired with a consistent source of income. Both spouses must speak and understand English. Multiple families, friends, couples, and/or business colleagues are not eligible to attend a tour on the same day. Failure to meet eligibility requirements may result in forfeiture of the gift. No purchase is required but both spouses must be present and complete the entire tour. Point to Point Destinations Members, award recipients, current or former employees and those who have previously toured with us are ineligible. Our sponsor's complete terms and conditions for their gift are available at the time you attend your tour.
The "Call"
The first 'Call' came about 5:30 pm.
It was from Point to Point Destinations offering a 90 minute presentation about PTP Destinations timeshare program. In return for my 90 minutes of time, I would receive a 'free' gift. He mentioned that the free gift includes a free trip to Las Vegas (airfare and two nights accommodation). In addition there was a two for one coupon for a cruise. There was also an option to get Vancouver Canucks tickets instead of the Vegas trip.
Some verification questions:
After listening the agent for a while, he escalated my call to his manager to verify my details. Unfortunately, my wife was out of town, therefore would not be able to make the seminar time.
A week later, PTP followed up with me to schedule another appointment. After listening to his spiel again, once again I was passed on to his manager to verify my details.
The manager said that its more of an informational session without the high pressure sales and that it was a way for PTP to spread the word about their timeshare program.
Free trip to Vegas? Learn about timesharing? Sure why not give it a go - keep an open mind!
It was from Point to Point Destinations offering a 90 minute presentation about PTP Destinations timeshare program. In return for my 90 minutes of time, I would receive a 'free' gift. He mentioned that the free gift includes a free trip to Las Vegas (airfare and two nights accommodation). In addition there was a two for one coupon for a cruise. There was also an option to get Vancouver Canucks tickets instead of the Vegas trip.
Some verification questions:
- Married or common law
- Combined income of over $60,000 per year
- Available to come in for the seminar with spouse.
After listening the agent for a while, he escalated my call to his manager to verify my details. Unfortunately, my wife was out of town, therefore would not be able to make the seminar time.
A week later, PTP followed up with me to schedule another appointment. After listening to his spiel again, once again I was passed on to his manager to verify my details.
The manager said that its more of an informational session without the high pressure sales and that it was a way for PTP to spread the word about their timeshare program.
Free trip to Vegas? Learn about timesharing? Sure why not give it a go - keep an open mind!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
