We attended a Golf Expo this year and my spouse filled out cards at vacation booths. He got the call that he had "won" 4 free airline tickets and that he would receive those tickets after we sat through the presentation.
I absolutely detest these scams, but went with him to squelch him if he was actually tempted to make any mistakes.
I am appalled that this "company" is allowed to get away with what they do. The poor unsuspecting consumers out there are being taken!
I am a CPA, so I let them go through their spin and waited patiently. We were there for almost FOUR hours! I enjoyed the reaction as I asked three pertinent questions - 1. What is the relationship between the "trust" and the publicly held company? 2. What would happen if the company went bankrupt or the stock became worthless? And 3. Is my "share" insured?
It took 4 sales reps before they finally brought in the Director to try to answer my questions. He was very nervous when I started flipping through the contracts at the back of the prospectus that he brought with him to show that they were on the "up and up." He never successfully answered any of my questions. One of the reps actually tried to tell me that there was nothing to worry about - that the "deeds" were insured through title insurance. Gee - title insurance will help a lot with "time share!"
While I know that my hair is blonde, I didn't appreciate being treated like one. One of the reps was very insulting, saying that he couldn't understand why we wouldn't want to buy this and that maybe I just had a bad "shopping day" prior to this.
The initial rep was a nice kid. He said he spent 4 years in the Navy. It's sad that he had to mention this and tie our armed services to such a disreputable scam.
The most amazing part of all of this - they only spoke to my spouse through most of it. They asked him what he does, where he works, etc. It was only AFTER I asked my questions that they asked what I do for a living. And then we were shuttled quickly out of there after refusing the $895 sampler.
What I wonder is whether anyone has LOUDLY asked these questions on their sales floor??
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