The person I originally sat down with was an older gentleman. The manager who took over for him was a tall man, maybe in his mid-to-late thirties. I wish I would've written their names down, but I was too shaken at the time.
Basically, I was being accused of "taking advantage of the system." I was on VACATION. Why would I waste my vacation time with my family to try & take advantage of the system, whatever that means? We were signed up to go on the tour by a man named Jimmy who was in an Activities booth on Ali'i Drive. He asked the father of my children if we were planning on doing a lot of activities with the kids. Of course, he answered yes. So he said he would sign me up to go on a tour of your timeshare, and he signed Joe (the father of my kids) up as a guest. He said I had no obligation to buy anything... All I had to do was go through a 90-minute presentation. I told him I didn't think it was a good idea because I already own a timeshare & plus I had 3 kids & would have to take them with me. He said that would be no problem, so I agreed to go the next day.
The next morning, my son went to work out with his dad & I took my two daughters with me to go on the tour. The gentleman I sat down with looked bothered that I had my kids with me. I explained to him that I had advised Jimmy that I would need to bring my kids & that he said it would be OK. The gentleman kept asking me who is Joe? I advised that Joe is the father of my kids, and we are vacationing together (as we always do), but he does not live with me and we do not share finances & he would have no say in whether or not I decided to purchase. He looked at me like I was crazy.
He then began to ask me questions and every time I answered him, he laughed and treated me as though I was lying. For example, he asked if I own a home or rent. I advised that I own a home, and he laughed. Then he asked my annual income. When I told him my income, he laughed again. Then he asked if I was familiar with these presentations, and had I been on many in the past. I told him only once before with Fairfield, & I purchased with them. I told him that my timeshare with Fairfield was paid in full, and he laughed again. Then he told me he didn't know how he could help me. At this point I was getting upset because I was wasting my vacation time with my family to sit in on this presentation that I really didn't want to go on, only to be humiliated & discriminated against.
The gentleman called over another man to assist. I told the other man the situation and that I just wanted to get the tour over with so I could go back to vacationing with my family. He told me to hold on & he would take over. He then asks me, "Who is Joe?" So again I explain that he is the father of my kids and that we are vacationing together, but he does not live with me & would have no say in whether or not I decided to purchase. This guy then tells me that Joe has to be with me or else I cannot tour. I explained to him that I meet all the qualifications so why are they refusing to show me the presentation? He advised that he has to protect against people who are trying to "take advantage of the system."
By now I had lost all ability to be polite. This man (and the other gentleman) took one look at me... I am young, I have 3 kids, I'm a single mom... And decided that I must be lying to them & trying to swindle them. I told him that he was wasting my time & to give me my damn $20 back.
When I left the office, I was so upset I was shaking. I had never been treated so terribly before. I seriously contemplated filing a lawsuit for harrassment/discrimination. Well, here's the bad news for their company...
I am not a liar or a swindler.
I do make the amount of money I indicated per year.
I do own my own home.
I do own a timeshare through Fairfield that is paid in full.
I do all of this myself.
I do know when I'm being mistreated.
And I do have every intention of letting everyone who will listen know about my rotten experience with this company.
After my family & I visited with some family on the Hilo side, we returned to the Kona side and decided to spoil ourselves with a couple nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Our first evening there we were invited to learn about their timeshare opportunity right there in Waikoloa. I thought to myself, "Not again!" But to my surprise, it was an awesome experience. The representative was friendly & bent over backwards to make sure my children & I were comfortable. When I answered their questions, they didn't laugh. They treated me like a human being. And do you know what I did? I BOUGHT THEIR TIMESHARE. I didn't need "Joe" with me to buy it, as Shell Vacations insisted. Everything I told the staff at Shell Vacations was true. They could've verified it if they wanted, but instead they chose to make me feel low & discriminate against me.
DO NOT buy into their timeshare! The nerve of them to accuse ME of scamming them. If that's not the pot calling the kettle black...
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