Travellers to Mexico will inevitably be asked if they want to attend a timeshare presentation. The offer is appealing: discounts, adventures and even cash of up to $500 just to hear about a timeshare. But before you say yes to timeshare presentations in Mexico, be prepared for a very hard sell and a ’90 minute’ presentation that could last up to 3 hours or longer.
The Bait
The moment you walk out of the airport, most travellers to Mexico are hit up by vendors trying to flog timeshares. They are everywhere, from the airport to your hotel to the car rental agency. The offer may seem appealing. For a couple, you can receive between $200 and $500 in cash, free items and discounts (plus a free breakfast or lunch), for just 90 minutes of your time. At first blush, who would not accept this offer?
Why do these companies offer such great perks just to attend a presentation? There’s big business in Mexican timeshares and presentations are the easiest way sell them. For example, say a resort has 300 units. Each unit has to be sold 52 times (1 for each week) so thats the equivalent of 15,000 sales they have to make to sell out the 300 unit resort. If a typical unit sells for $30,000 per week and they sell all 52 weeks, they’re earning $1.5M per unit. Giving tourists say $300 worth of whale watching tours (which costs them much less) is a small drop in the bucket.
The sole objective of the ‘bait’ is to get you to phase 2 of the sales process: have your undivided attention for at least 90 minutes (sometimes longer) so they can work you over and sell you hard, making you believe that $30,000 for the right to use a hotel room for 1 week each year is a good deal.
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How to Say ‘No’ and Keep the Presentation Brief
In exchange for perk you receiving (cash, free activities, etc), its your obligation to earnestly sit through, listen and engage in the timeshare presentation. This does not mean, however, that you are obligated to purchase a timeshare so never buy out of guilt or high pressure tactics. [Editor’s Note: This article assumes you do not want to buy a timeshare. The article makes no recommendation about whether you should purchase a timeshare or not.] In all likelihood, the presentation will go longer than the time promised. Personally, I think its okay to let the presentation go a little longer but dont’ let a 90 minute presentation turn into longer than 2 hours. Thirty minutes extra is quite generious. Here are some tips for saying no and exiting within a reasonable timeframe.
Foolproof Method to Keep The Timeshare Presentation Brief
- Bring an alarm (iPhone or watch) and set for 20 minutes longer than the promised duration of the timeshare presentation. Say the timeshare presentation duration is supposed to be 90 minutes and starts at 8:00 a.m., set the alarm for 9:50 a.m.
- At or near the beginning of the presentation, tell the presenter that you understand the timeshare presentation will only take 90 minutes. Confirming this puts him on notice that you’re not prepared to go much longer and that time is an issue. There’s no need to be rude about it, just firm and matter of fact, to the point.
- Then let him know you have a hard stop at 2 hours because of other obligations. Tell him that you’ve set your alarm to give you a 10 minute warning before your hard stop.
- Midpoint through the presentation, make a point of looking at your watch or alarm clock and be vocal about this. Say something like, “Excuse me, I just need to quickly check the time. Oh, we’re good. We still have 40 minutes left.”
- If you have not wrapped things up before your alarm rings, let the alarm go off. Make it rings long enough that the presenter hears the alarm, then stop the alarm. This is your opportunity to tell him we need to wrap things up before you have to leave. If they give you any slack, you can say in your defence that you have given them an extra 30 minutes and that you were complete upfront and honest about your hard stop at the beginning of the presentation.
Foolproof Method to Say No: At some point during most timeshare presentations in Mexico, attendees will be asked “why don’t you want to buy” or “is there anything from preventing you to buy now”. This is your opportunity to cite the reasons for not buying. Its best when couples come in with a plan and don’t waver. Here is a near fool proof method of saying no and providing a rationale that is honest and difficult for them to respond to:
- When asked if you want to purchase or “is there anything that would prevent you from buying a timeshare today”, state the following: “There are 2 types of decision makers: informed decision makers, and emotional decision makers. I’m not an emotional decision maker, and I am simply gathering information to help me make a later decision.”
- At that point you will probably be asked what additional information do you need. You can mention these points:
- You want to look into the resale value, by checking to see if there are others who are selling their timeshare on websites such as eBay.
- You want to compare prices here versus buying from owners who want to sell their units. Maybe its cheaper on eBay and sellmytimeshare.com.
- You want to find out how much you can rent your place for, by checking sites like AirBnB and VRBO.
- You need to speak to other timeshare owners about ownership, the good and the bad.
- They may try to talk you out of this. This is called ‘objection handling’. Call them on it. Tell that that you understand they are ‘objection handling’, but that you understand their goal is to sell, and so you really need to do your own research to gather information from a variety of sources and not just those whose goal it is to sell.
Not All Mexico Timeshare Presentations Are Bad
I attended a timeshare presentation at the Welk Resort Serina Del Mar on the Cabo San Lucas corridor. I received $250 worth of whale watching discounts plus free breakfast for a family of 5, so around $300 worth of perks. It was interesting to watch the sales process. They have a formula for putting you at ease by giving you breakfast in a fun and friendly atmosphere. The main presenter tries hard to become your best friend in a very short amount of time by asking your personal questions and showing pictures of his kids and family. We quickly built up trust with our presenter, Jorge, but at the same time, we were open and host with him about the amount of time we had and our reasons for not buying. We used the method described above.
I want to give my compliments to Jorge and the Welk Resort Cabo San Lucas timeshare staff. We agreed to 90 minutes and we were out of there in 85 minutes. They were very respectful and did not employ high pressure tactics. It was a relief from what we were expecting due to the stories we had heard about timeshare presentations in Mexico.
Alternative To Timeshares
Anyone who attends a timeshare presentation without the intention of purchasing a week is doing it for 1 reason: the perk they are offering for your time. If you are a budget conscious traveller, consider booking your hotel on Hotwire or Priceline instead. I received the Welk Resort in Cabo San Lucas for just $100 USD per night for a full 1 bedroom suite. Priceline and Hotwire are somewhat risky because you do not know what hotel you will get, but there are ways to reveal your Hotwire or Priceline hotel. The Hotwire and Priceline Travellers Forum maintains a list of known hotels in Mexico that are available on Hotwire and Priceline: