And now....for the rest of the story!

I am going to try and wrap this up in what I will refer to as "The Final Chapter" of the Las Vegas Liar and My Encounter in Sin City.
Now that I had escaped the clutches of Westgate Resorts , my son and I decide to relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast and try to put all this behind us. We ate at a lovely place called Lombardis Romagna Mia where the service and the food were impeccable. That calmed me down a bit to once again be treated like a human being.
While waiting for my parents to complete their "3 Hour Tour", we decided to try and come up with something fun to do later when we were all reunited. We decided the Comedy Magic Show that my parents would have tickets to after the tour would be fun. I would just buy our tickets so we could all still go together, even though I was being punished. The show times were 1pm and 3pm so we planned on the latter. It was now only "noonish" (that is a technical airline term I have been informed by one of my readers).
One of the "perks" of staying at Planet Hollywood is it's convenient location to shopping.  Miracle Mile Shops is basically attached to Planet Hollywood. It is what used to be the really cool outside-like shopping experience at the Aladdin. The ceiling is painted to feel like the open sky above, and the floor is tiled like an old cobblestone walk. But don't worry, they are changing all those quaint little features into more glitz, glitter and excitement for your future pleasure. Anyway.....we window shopped while we waited for my parents. We waited........and waited.....and waited. By 2:30pm I was very worried and figured my father had picked up where I left off and possibly they too had been impounded for their behavior. Finally, nearing 3pm, I heard from them. It had been a horrible experience and had we not already paid for a second night at the hotel, we would be leaving immediately, I was informed.
This had been much worse than your typical timeshare routine. They had been given a tour alright! They showed them the model suite of the "yet to be built" Planet Hollywood Towers, the building site, and the lovely shopping mall. Then they dragged them into a room with what looked like a bunch of telemarketers (land salesmen) feeding everyone Kool-Aid and discussing their future on "vacation ownership". My parents have always been very "savvy" with their investments and were anxious to read the fine print and fully understand what the offer entailed. They wanted to read the paperwork, discuss their options and also talk to a lawyer. Can you imagine someone wanting to do all those things before buying real estate? They must be crazy!! Westgate was having absolutely no part of that. They either bought right now, on the spot, or the price goes up $3,000. If they walk out of that room to discuss anything with anybody (namely me), the deal was off the table. At this point, several options had been tossed at them, and all the facts and figures were very fuzzy. They asked if they could take some paperwork with them to look over for awhile. The answer was "NO". They needed to buy right away, before this opportunity to vacation next door to George Clooney passes them over. What? I am going to have to call George and see if he knows they are throwing his name around to sucker people into buying here. Believe me when I say "buying" is loosely interpreted. For your purchase, you get the chance (Las Vegas lingo) to possibly vacation at Planet Hollywood, if it is available, or possibly "somewhere else" just like every other timeshare offers. You also get the privilege of paying real estate taxes on the 1/12th of the ownership, but you do not get any income from the rental profit. Sound familiar?
After my parents repeatedly declined the offer(s), the original salesman just up and left the table. In walks "a higher up" to give them one last chance. He is the only one that has this ability, yeah right!! Do you feel like you are buying a car yet? Anyway, after once again declining the offer, yet another guy came in to "escort" them out. There was no thank you, nice to meet you, we appreciate your time, nothing!!! Just get the hell out!
Hey .....what about breakfast? Oh....you can grab a sandwich out of the cold box on your way out. OMG!! Can you believe the lack of professionalism here? I figured if the "product" was worth anything, it could easily sell itself. Real Estate usually does. Instead, these people try to shove it down your throat and then threaten you and withhold nourishment. So, if they had actually bought anything, would they get the "breakfast" carrot that had been dangled in front of them? Well, guess what? Not only have they not eaten anything all day, we have managed to miss the only 2 show times that were available for the Comedy Magic Show. There's some worthless gifts. As for the "rest of the gifts", we took advantage of the 2 buffet tickets to the Sahara and we managed to win $137.50 at the black jack table with the $100 worth of "non-negotiable" chips.
The next morning we got the hell out of there so fast it would make your head spin. Who wants to vacation in something that looks like the ass end of an old Cadillac anyway?

Being in college (and always thinking), my son decided I needed a "nice" business card, like the one I gave to Westgate, and a "not so nice" business card for times such as these. He said he didn't think they felt very threatened by my cutesy little pink and white card. So, a new business card is on the drawing board for "Annie Ego", the much feared travel critic. Any suggestions from my readers would be welcomed.

Comments

[jenny-up the hill]

We were in the clutches of Westgate just last week! We agreed to the tour so we could get tickets to Ripley's Aquariam...and we were also promised a buffet lunch. This wasn't our first timeshare experience so we were prepared. The buffet turned out to be a hot dog! lol!! Gee thanks...
Fortunately for us, our sales team was nice and the last guy we saw was cordial enough...we did get shot through a door quickly though...kinda like the trap door in the floor thing! lol!! Over all they were nice and we got what we came for...the free tickets! We went to the Aquariam the next day and had a great time. We spent 2 hours with Westgate and fed our three children lots of hotdogs...so I guess overall we did well this time! lol!! Don't even ask me about the timeshare experience before this one...I cried for two hours and swore I would do everything within my ability to ruin the business! lol!!

I need to go back and read your previous posts in this series...this is just the first one I saw and had to comment on the Westgate thing...bleh!

[jenny-up the hill]

We were in the clutches of Westgate just last week! We agreed to the tour so we could get tickets to Ripley's Aquariam...and we were also promised a buffet lunch. This wasn't our first timeshare experience so we were prepared. The buffet turned out to be a hot dog! lol!! Gee thanks...
Fortunately for us, our sales team was nice and the last guy we saw was cordial enough...we did get shot through a door quickly though...kinda like the trap door in the floor thing! lol!! Over all they were nice and we got what we came for...the free tickets! We went to the Aquariam the next day and had a great time. We spent 2 hours with Westgate and fed our three children lots of hotdogs...so I guess overall we did well this time! lol!! Don't even ask me about the timeshare experience before this one...I cried for two hours and swore I would do everything within my ability to ruin the business! lol!!

I need to go back and read your previous posts in this series...this is just the first one I saw and had to comment on the Westgate thing...bleh!

[Annie]

Jenny, Thanks for stopping by! It seems we have all been through the "timeshare" experience at one point. I've done it several times too just for the free gifts. The only one I actually purchased was with Disney Vacation Club. They have a kiosk set up all over the parks and Downtown Disney and you can just go up and ask about it. They don't shove it down your throat or promise anything except a great product. After I saw what they had to offer, I was hooked and begging them to let me in!!!!

[castocreations]

Wow. I really enjoyed reading about your experience. I'll tell my mom to never stay there - though she never has had any desire to do one of those "tours". Hubby and I did one in Maui for a free Luau and it was okay. I almost wanted to buy in! And the Luau was amazing. :)

I love your blog (all of them actually). =D

[Annie]

Castocreations - Thanks for stopping by and reading my story. I felt better once I shared it with the world, but I think I might have to go a step further and pursue them not following up. I'll keep everyone updated.

[Debby Banning]

I loved your series of posts about the Westgate. I especially love your sons idea of getting an alternative business card to hand out in those circumstances.

It has to say something about a travel critic on there! HA HA

~Debby