Obnoxious DVC Employees

[emcclay]

My best friend and I were contemplating doing the tour just for the free FP's. When my friend asked the representative for an information pamphlet that he could hand-off to his parents, he informed us that they do not have any. When we seemed apprehensive about signing up, the representative told us not to worry about the cost because many people who are 18 and 19 buy in. Cool.

 

[Marco226]

I remember when I got trapped by a DVC CM at EPCOT (I refuse to spell it Epcot) at the kiosk between Future World and World Showcase. My friend and I were just looking at the book that they had on display. I didn't get 1 page in when two of them came up to us and started giving us their spiel. Being the polite people that we are, we listened and smiled and heard what they had to offer.

I politely said something like, "Oh! Well that's cool. Thank you for the information, but we have to go now to a dinner reservation." We had plans to eat at Teppan Edu. That's when they wouldn't let us go. I was thinking like, "Oh noooo.. we should have never come here." I kept giving the signal that we were going to be late for our dinner, but they kept pulling us back. At one point, they even blocked our path. I just took my friend's arm and we ran away. Seriously, we ran away. I hate being rude to salespeople, but I learned the hard way that day that that's what you have to do to get away from them.

 

[captainkidd]

And if the company started to incentivise you to sell product ABC by offering a spiff for that... you'll introduce it more, etc.. even if it means selling less of XYZ, etc. Money is ultimately the greatest tool to influence what sales push. You can train, train, train... but when left to their own, a sales person is looking out for their future. Be it which accounts they chase, which products they lead with, etc, its about what will help them the most. Money is the pushrod all product and management use to influence behaviors.

I don't know. I guess I'm different. Of course, the most important thing is money, but there's a feeling I get when I do a good job and the company is better off for it that makes me feel good. If I was making a crapload of money but the company was suffering, I'd be disappointed.

 

[GoofGoof]

I have never been bothered by a pushy DVC salesperson, but that would annoy me. It is probably all based on individual salesman's style. Some probably get sales that way I guess. I would definitely say something to the manager or at check in if it made you uncomfortable. Most Disney cast members will go out of their way to help in any way in my experience. An easy way to avoid being harassed is to buy into DVC. Then when they approach you just whip out your member card and walk past. I did say easy, not cheap.

 

[Disneyboy17]

When my wife and I visited in May we stayed at POP Century and really the only annoyance we had was when we first arrived. We had just walked in to start the check in process when we were approached by an older cm. He wasn't standing by a DVC kiosk and I just thought he was welcoming us to the resort. He started making small talk which eventually led to him asking us if we were interested in joining the DVC. I politely declined and explained that we were planning on visiting WDW again every couple of years but right now we simply don't have the 10,000-15,000 that most memberships cost to join. We then walked off towards the check in counter and on the way we stopped to look at some of the display cases they have in the lobby of POP. Suddenly out of nowhere the same DVC employee appeared behind me..." They sure have a lot of neat things in there don't they"...I couldn't believe he had followed me after I had politely declined....so after another 5 minutes of his spiel we started to walk off and he followed us into the check out line and said " well since we're in line waiting I can just get a little information from you". That's when I was pretty firm with him and said in a slightly annoyed tone that we simply weren't interested and that we just wanted to enjoy our arrival at WDW....I found the entire experience to be annoying and frankly it reminded me of the Universal Studios survey people who bombard you when entering their parks. If someone is interested in joining the DVC they will simply go online and get information on their own, there is no need to place a DVC employee at the entrance of a resort and stalk people until they give out their information....

Did you make a complaint that's completely unnaceptable!

 

[C.FERNIE]

we are dvc members and when we got it we approached them but i have seen several people been pushed around by them but this always made me think... i thought by law they were not allowed to be pushy????

 

[Todd L]

We had a simular experience at DTD. My In-laws were with us and the salesman approached and talked them into going over to SSR to see the rooms. We declined and they must have told us about a $50 gift card at leat 5 times...we still declined.

They were supposed to be less than an Hour but I think It was almost 3 hours before we saw them again.

Very pushy and when it became obvious that they werent going to buy the got a little short and nasty about it.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I don't know. I guess I'm different. Of course, the most important thing is money, but there's a feeling I get when I do a good job and the company is better off for it that makes me feel good. If I was making a crapload of money but the company was suffering, I'd be disappointed.

Glad to see someone else who thinks like this. While I'm not in sales, I've never been motivated by money. Throw raises at me all you want, I won't turn them down, but recognition and promotion I am much more interested in. Seems to me Disney could change how they motivate their DVC sales folks if they really wanted to but I'd bet that the "pushy" sales person is really a preference for them. If you aren't actively trying to sell the "product" then who is?

 

[flynnibus]

Glad to see someone else who thinks like this. While I'm not in sales, I've never been motivated by money. Throw raises at me all you want, I won't turn them down, but recognition and promotion I am much more interested in

You have ideals - and then you have reality when you apply trends over a large body of people.

Professional sales people can sell anything. A vending route, a $100 widget, a $5000 software program, or a $300,000 piece of equipment. Their traits and abilities that make them excel are not tied to what they sell. They don't want promotions. Why? Promotions means you manage instead of actually selling. Sales don't get raises - they get better comp plans or more territory/product to farm.

Want to ensure you hit that stretch goal? Put accelerators into the comp plan. Want to help get a new product in the mindshare of sales? Add a spiff to it. It works and is why people use tools like these. Does it make them souless? No - most good sales people know it's solid customers that will keep them in business. But even still, they are driven by money in many ways. Are they going to work 2 months on an account that isn't going to pay them, or pay them next to nothing.. or are they going to work an account that for the same investment will pay them well? We all are charitable from time to time - but you don't make a profession out of it.

Pure sales skills are actually pretty independent of the product being sold. It's why sales people are so mobile between products and industries. A good sales person will excel even with an inferior product compared to other people selling the same thing... and can even often convert a customer that they used to sell a 'better' competing product to after they switched companies.

That's pure sales. Now many environments try to minimize that by changing how they comp sales people. Say, flat rate or per unit instead of per revenue, or on repeat sales, etc. Why? Because you flatten out the money impact on a per transaction basis. Make it so long term success is where the money is, not per transaction.

DVC reps are generally seen as not pressure sales at all - persistant.. sure. But Disney takes great steps to avoid the boiler room or trap techniques so many other timeshare companies are notorious for.

I'm sure there are a few bad apples out there, or someone a bit more desperate than normal - but overall I think the trend is fine and Disney is well above most.

 

[jlevis]

We are owners of 2 weeks and points at Marriott. We love it. Our weeks float and our 2 BR weeks lock-off giving us a month of usage. Using them last year we had two weeks at Disney and a week at Branson. This year we're doing two weeks at Disney and we had a week at Hilton Head. Timeshare is not for everyone and there is a learning curve on how to get the most out of your ownership. Keys for use are the floating week and the large number of Marriott timeshares we can trade into with no or very low cost. Even trading into Interval International is very low cost. No, I don't get a fee for my endoresment.

 

[JWG]

Timeshare sales are pushy - that's what they do. Disney has moved to hiring more "experienced" timeshare people over the past few years and they bring their tactics with them. We've not experienced this and have never been approached by a DVC cast member unless we navigated too close to the kiosk (i.e. stopped and looked at the book). We are members, so, we have been approached when checking in to a DVC resort - but never with a sales pitch - always a hello and button for our daughter. Heck, our guide doesn't even calls us and leave a message when we arrive like most guides do.

 

[SMRT-1]

i thought they were supposed to lay off? an approach them approach..guess this has changed.

 

[slappy magoo]

If this is all true, then it's a shame. One of the things that made the DVC purchase so easy was how easygoing our rep actually was. Of course, the fact that we were eager and curious probably made it that much easier for her But she performed her job in a way that was not cocky, just confident - it was 2005, economy had not yet hit the pooper, she was aware that it was a hot commodity so there were always more potential sales.

I wonder if they're getting pushy because the market is slowing down, or if they're hiring more "experienced" timeshare salesfolk? Both? Maybe they're pushier during certain times of the month when they haven't hit quota.

I will say this, while nobody on this forum owes anyone an explanation about anything, least of all DVC sales reps, one easy way to get the sales reps off your back is a simple and elegant little white lie: "we're already members. At Saratoga. Been there since 2006. Love it. Loooooove it." If this is happening at a non-DVC resort, so the rep wonders why you're not at Saratoga now: "Already used our points for this year AND next year, but you know, we just can't stay away. Wished I had known we were coming back so soon, we would've bought annual passes!" When they ask why you don't add-on more points? "We only pay cash for our points. We will never - EVER - finance. We're saving up, we're figuring in about 2 years..." and at that point the DVC sales reps will realize they're preaching to the choir and the choir already gave to the collection plate, and they'll move on.

 

[disneyrcks]

OP- What a crappy experience! We are DVC and when I was interested I approached many kiosks just to look at the book. The representatives were never pushy. When I finally decided to seriously look at it, I approached a girl at the kiosk next to America in WS. She was great! Not pushy, let me do the asking, told me about her experiences with her parents owning DVC. I asked her how I could find out more info and only then did she bring up the tour. We scheduled a time and a van picked us up at Coronado the next day. Our DVC guy, Darren (who was awesome!) did not push us one bit. He did his spiel, was very nice to us when we said we wanted to go home to think about it. We wanted to consider it once we were back at home, without the magic, to make a decision. He was great and encouraged us to do so. The only thing we question now is the fact that we finance. We wanted to take advantage of the 1,000.00 gift card they were offering so we asked if we financed temporarily could we pay off with no issue later. He told us yes, but our statement says different. This is a bridge we will cross soon, so we will see how it goes. To sum up, I really hope they are not encouraging people to sell like this and maybe this was the act of some overselous, former sales people.

 

[disneyrcks]

My best friend and I were contemplating doing the tour just for the free FP's. When my friend asked the representative for an information pamphlet that he could hand-off to his parents, he informed us that they do not have any. When we seemed apprehensive about signing up, the representative told us not to worry about the cost because many people who are 18 and 19 buy in. Cool.

Yikes! That is terrible. Telling someone that young people buy in and that is a good reason is ridiculous.

We didn't know about the fastpasses but it was certainly a great bonus. Our guy gave us a lot of info to take home and review. He was also a DVC member who explained to us his whole buying experience, etc. He also had no problem with us saying we wanted to go home and think it over. Which I think is what we really appreciated. The only regret I have is wishing we could have bought in with all cash. We did put a great amount down and also used our 1,000 gift card towards our down payment. But monthly payments on anything just stink!

 

[englanddg]

I could think of so many ways Disney could use this Labor Dollar spend to improve park experience.

I haven't been harassed by one (but they do always have that car salesman appearance)...and, for me, it really cheapens the experience of Disney.

How about the DVC be about getting to know me, my tastes, and helping me plan my vacation for next year through Disney (which is part of it, yes, I know), rather then a hokey Time Share spiel?

I could make a whole list, and those who are DVC and see value in it, good for you. But to me, it just reeks of cheap bully marketing tactics and a wasted investment.

 

[rufio]

My saleslady was Miriam. She was actually quite pushy. She told us if we didn't make a decision that her deal wouldn't stand once we left. I had to call my fiance (who wasn't even in Florida with me) and talk to him about it and get him to make a decision (which he did, pretty quickly) while she was in the next room. We then did a conference call to sign the contract. If I hadn't REALLY wanted to buy in it would have really ed me off.

Also, during the tour, she kept pointing out hidden mickeys in the model rooms but calling them "hitten mickeys." Maybe it's a northern thing? But I felt that the FP, ice cream, and gift cards somewhat made up for it.