Too Good to be True (Subtitle: Not a time-share)
The day before we left Bangkok, we decided to go to the Bangkok World Trade Centre - a large mall not far from our hotel - just to see what stores were there. As we approached the main entrance, we were approached by a young Thai woman who asked us to complete a survey. We agreed. We were relaxed and have lots of time. When we completed the survey, she gave us a scratch and win ticket as our reward for completing the survey. We scratched. We both won! And rather than just a token gift, we had won a medium-sized carry on suitcase with wheels and collapsible handle AND a one week free stay at a resort hotel. Now on normal days, we are not this lucky. We became suspicious. After all, if something is too good to be true - it usually is. To collect our prize, we had to go to a store in the mall with her. We became more suspicious and I think I smelt a “time-share pitch.” No, no, she assured us.
Once inside the store/office, we filled out a form before we received our gifts. And the form included the statement, “We agree to attend a presentation for a maximum of 60 minutes.” The smell of a “time-share pitch” is getting stronger. No, no the presenter (salesman) from Toronto assures us. We are not selling time-shares. Instead, he is selling a fixed pricing strategy for hotel accommodation at any one of the resort (RCI) properties. You pay only $10,000US for a lifetime guaranteed one-week pricing rate of 350US to 450US depending on the size of the unit (number of beds) in the high season. You can use this one-week pricing guarantee for as many weeks a year that you want - 52 if you like. You can transfer (of offer) this price to others for a fee of $148US per booking. “Is the weekly rate guaranteed over time?” I ask. “Well it might go up 2%, but not much,” he assures us. I am reminded of the old salesman joke. Q: How do you know when a salesman is lying? A: When his lips are moving. Or the other favourite saying: never let the facts interfere with the story. Given the Asian collapse in 97 and the inflation that followed, I find it hard to accept that any of us can predict how the economy of any country will perform in the future, or what future prices will be.
But our salesman persists. We fit the profile and he assures us that many others like us have purchased and are more than happy with the result. But somehow we manage to resist and remain disinterested. We endure the hour presentation, pick up our suitcase, complete an exit questionnaire and buy nothing. We escape. Oh, and about the one week free accommodation - there were so many strings, date restrictions and such as to make it unusable.