Saturday, January 21, 2006
USATODAY.com - Marriott timeshare unit says customer data is missing
It seems like the poor souls running the Marriott Timeshare Scam in Orlando have lost the personal data of 200,000 customers and employees. As covered in my January 7 entry, we just attended a Marriott Timeshare presentation in Orlando earlier this month.
Having studied marketing and sales in school, and having a father who has been teaching sales techniques his entire life, attending a timeshare presentation is like getting a crash course in sales.
The first step for a timeshare salesman is to establish trust. Our sales guy was an Indian immigrant, and he quickly showed us pictures of his children (one is a teacher, the other a doctor), and for some reason also a copy of his W-2 and pictures from his recent trips to Hawaii. Supposedly, we were supposed to be impressed by how much money he was making selling timeshares. In many countries, that would be interpreted as the salesman is ripping you off, but I guess the logic in the United States is that you can trust anyone who's making lots of money.
After presenting his credibility as a salesman, even mentioning that he was a born again Christian, he then informs us that Marriott has a very "special deal" as they need to meet their monthly target or whatever. You only get the actually price by the time the presentation is fully completed, and by then you have been told the same things over and over again.
The overriding rule is that you have to make the purchase on the spot, and our sales guy even argued that the offer we were getting could not be extended due to Florida law. After refusing twice, however, we were suddenly offered an extension, so I guess the Florida laws are not taken very seriously even if they apply.
My parents once attended a timeshare presentation on one of the Canary Islands. At this presentation, the sales people would ring a big bell each time a contract was signed, thus adding to the excitement. When it comes to the art of selling timeshare, if the contract is not made right on the spot, the salesman knows that there will not be a sale. Should the customer get a day or two to think about the transaction, he will realize what a scam it is. Anyone thinking about buying a timeshare should think about the resale value, which for Marriott can be quickly researched here:
Marriott Timeshare Resale
It seems like the poor souls running the Marriott Timeshare Scam in Orlando have lost the personal data of 200,000 customers and employees. As covered in my January 7 entry, we just attended a Marriott Timeshare presentation in Orlando earlier this month.
Having studied marketing and sales in school, and having a father who has been teaching sales techniques his entire life, attending a timeshare presentation is like getting a crash course in sales.
The first step for a timeshare salesman is to establish trust. Our sales guy was an Indian immigrant, and he quickly showed us pictures of his children (one is a teacher, the other a doctor), and for some reason also a copy of his W-2 and pictures from his recent trips to Hawaii. Supposedly, we were supposed to be impressed by how much money he was making selling timeshares. In many countries, that would be interpreted as the salesman is ripping you off, but I guess the logic in the United States is that you can trust anyone who's making lots of money.
After presenting his credibility as a salesman, even mentioning that he was a born again Christian, he then informs us that Marriott has a very "special deal" as they need to meet their monthly target or whatever. You only get the actually price by the time the presentation is fully completed, and by then you have been told the same things over and over again.
The overriding rule is that you have to make the purchase on the spot, and our sales guy even argued that the offer we were getting could not be extended due to Florida law. After refusing twice, however, we were suddenly offered an extension, so I guess the Florida laws are not taken very seriously even if they apply.
My parents once attended a timeshare presentation on one of the Canary Islands. At this presentation, the sales people would ring a big bell each time a contract was signed, thus adding to the excitement. When it comes to the art of selling timeshare, if the contract is not made right on the spot, the salesman knows that there will not be a sale. Should the customer get a day or two to think about the transaction, he will realize what a scam it is. Anyone thinking about buying a timeshare should think about the resale value, which for Marriott can be quickly researched here:
Marriott Timeshare Resale
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Philadelphia Inquirer 01/17/2006 Despite triple shooting, Penn students feel safe
Seems like my former host school, the University of Pennsylvania, is experencing some problems lately. To have two shootings on campus in less than a month makes the UPenn campus slightly less safe than certain parts of Baghdad, though fortunately the student campus has yet to experience any suicide bombers.
The reasons why the shootings do not surprise anyone is that the University of Pennsylvania is located next to what can best be described as a warzone. West Philadelphia has experienced all kinds of social problems over the last few decades, but the neighbourhood is slowly getting back on its feet. One way out of poverty is of course to rob rich and socially inept Penn kids, though shooting them in the legs probably can not be justified.
Seems like my former host school, the University of Pennsylvania, is experencing some problems lately. To have two shootings on campus in less than a month makes the UPenn campus slightly less safe than certain parts of Baghdad, though fortunately the student campus has yet to experience any suicide bombers.
The reasons why the shootings do not surprise anyone is that the University of Pennsylvania is located next to what can best be described as a warzone. West Philadelphia has experienced all kinds of social problems over the last few decades, but the neighbourhood is slowly getting back on its feet. One way out of poverty is of course to rob rich and socially inept Penn kids, though shooting them in the legs probably can not be justified.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
I received some angry emails from various inhabitants in Sor-Trondelag that are rather angry with with my January 13 entry. They claim that not everyone in Sor-Trondelag marry their cousins. In fact, they claim that many people in Sor-Trondelag recently have started marrying their siblings, and more progressive members of the population actually marry their second cousins. Both the options are considered rather normal, and the anti-semites in Sor-Trondelag are proud of their flexibility when it comes to marriage within the family.
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