Here at TCA we hear of lots of stories about timeshare resorts, there have been tales of woe regarding unfinished resorts and rubbish rooms. Customers who feel they have been mis-sold and mislead by timeshare sales sharks. The following is a story of a great holiday that was soured by insistent, persistent behavior.
The family in question decided to take their well-earned holiday at Marival Resorts and Suites. The couple checked in with their three children and as soon as they got their wristbands and room key they were snared by a sales rep for timeshare. They were being plied with the promises of freebies if they attended the beachfront presentation the following morning. The sales rep was really forceful and didn’t want to let the family settle into their room and kept pushing the presentation. The couple had to be very firm with the rep to get their point across and get out the situation they found themselves in, and into their room to settle in. This, of course, meant a rocky start to their holiday with a slightly bitter taste in their mouths about the staff at the resort.
Luckily the rest of the holiday was peaceful and they had an amazing time. The resort is in Nuevo Vallarta and it has a beautiful beach. The family had been there before and their children had a really special time boogie boarding and eating and drinking lots of specially selected kids food. The adults also had a lovely time eating deliciously prepared food and drinking delightful cocktails. The restaurants and bar were great with the staff being very attentive and friendly which was a real pleasure. When in such wonderful surroundings it was great for the family that these guys were much more approachable than the sales rep they met when they checked in. The family had no complaints about the quality of the food and each one of them found something they liked to eat each night.
The sunsets are incredible here and the family had lots of options for different family activities like riding bicycles, playing shuffleboard, mini golf and the pool, all of which were real advantages and treats for a young family.
The couple has said that their experiences in the buffet area were not so good, which was a real shame and slightly overshadowed the great time they’d had in other aspects of their break. The waiting team in the buffet area were more concerned about the colour of the wristbands the customers were wearing and the level of service they delivered seemed to be dependent on this which meant that our couple found their experience sadly lacking. They were ignored and were only approached very near the end of their meal. The buffet area wasn’t even busy which made it all the more obvious that their wristbands weren’t the right colour!
The families’ holiday came to an end and unsurprisingly during their last day they were stopped again by a sales rep who was trying to entice them to the timeshare presentation on the beach. They were cajoled with the offer of free massages, bags of goodies and beach bags (on their last day!). Regrettably, on this occasion the rep was much more merciless in their pitch and would not quietly accept no for an answer, the couple felt very pressurised and pushed, this really left a nasty taste in their mouth at the end of their holiday. They wouldn’t go back there simply because of the sales rep’s behaviour, not quite what you expect from a sales representative and not the lasting impression you want to leave your customers.
The resort did respond and said that they would pass the feedback on and revise their sales approach based on the feedback.
First and last impressions are clearly very important, remember you can go away, enjoy your time and just say no.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk