Sometimes a thing that sounds that good isn’t always that good of a thing. I say this because I’ve had the tendency in life to pursue something that totally seems like a good thing, only to find out in the long run it wasn’t. And one of those just so happened to take place during the first few days of my vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
It started actually in our first evening at the Gran Porto Real Resort, when my partner and I approached a service desk to make some reservations for the next couple of night’s dinners. After making them, the gentleman there, who for the purposes of anonymity will be named “E”, asked us if we’d be interested in getting a free massage from the resort’s spa area given it was our first stay on the property. Oblivious to the pitch E was beginning to spin, I took the bait and said “Absolutely!” thinking it was just another perk of being a brand new guest there. He then gave us a nice beach bag saying it was complimentary and asked us to come back later when we had a little more time to talk, which is exactly what my partner and I did later that evening.
A few hours passed and sure enough we returned to E’s desk and said we’d be interested in getting that free massage, especially if it would be for two people and not just one. Heck, who wouldn’t turn down a free massage right? E proceeded to say he should be able to get us two free massages and then immediately changed the subject asking us how we booked the vacation and how much we paid for it as well. I told him it was through AAA and gave him the hefty price tag, which he responded with a very positive exclamation that we could have saved a bunch more money by booking directly with the hotel. He then asked if we were interested in something like that for next year’s trip, at which point I looked over at my partner and agreed with him that we’d like that very much so. E said if we could just set aside 90 minutes to take a tour of the property tomorrow morning and have breakfast with him, we could get those free massages. Immediately a light bulb came on and I said, “Is this a timeshare thing? I’m not interested in a timeshare, so I just want to make sure this isn’t that.” His response was quite clear when he said, “No, no, no, this isn’t a time share at all.” And then he reminded us he would do his best to get us those two free massages.
When the next morning came, I was struggling with those acceptance issues I wrote about in yesterday’s entry, so I wasn’t in the very best of mood. As I waited impatiently in the lobby where E asked us to be at 10:00am, the clock ticked and ticked until he showed up almost 30 minutes late telling us it was due to traffic. Little did we know it wasn’t due to traffic at all, it was due to another “tour” he had been giving.
Our “tour” began across the street at The Royal shortly thereafter, which is Gran Porto’s sister property, but much more upscale. Our first stop was to a desk where we sat down and met some guy wearing what I would refer to as a ship’s captain’s clothing. He greeted us warmly with a huge smile and E promptly told him we weren’t interested in a timeshare, but wanted to save money on our vacation next year. The “captain” then said he believed we would be very happy with what they could do for us and said to enjoy the rest of the tour.
Our “tour” proceeded from there to breakfast where E asked us about our vacation plans and where we like to travel and such. At this point, I think I was still completely oblivious to what was actually happening, to the pitch he was forming, and to what was about to come. I think my partner on the other hand was catching on much faster.
After our breakfast ended, which actually was pretty good for a buffet, he showed us the grounds of the Royal for a minute or two, pointed out the Spa area as we passed by it, and led us in front of a television to watch a quick presentation on screen about Real Resorts. It was then, when my partner conveniently went to a bathroom nearby, that I began to feel like we were being bamboozled.
When the video ended and my partner re-emerged, E then led us through a very large smoked-out glass door nearby. Upon it opening, we entered a very large and noisy room with a bunch of desks and massive numbers of couples sitting at them talking to various persons. For as many times as I’ve done timeshare presentations in the past and as many times as I’ve said I’d never do them again, this one definitely hoodwinked me.
For the next two hours, we sat at a desk talking to one person after another where each tried to whittle us down with one deal after another, each looking more and more enticing. I wanted to kick myself for believing E’s words when he said it wasn’t a timeshare as pieces of paper flew in front of me and numbers were crunched on a calculator showing us just how great it would be to invest in Real Resorts.
If you can picture for a moment this image that’s still stuck in my brain, it’s of the agent I saw in the desk beyond the one I was at. He wore a slick Italian suit, his eyes constantly shifted left and right, he was drinking one of those large energy drinks and kept fast-talking people over the phone the entire time I was there. This was pretty much what my partner and I were dealing with in front of us as well. When all was said and done, a total of five agents had been willing to supposedly offer us several weeks of free vacation for the next few years, an almost total refund of this year’s trip, and a few other benefits as well, all for a price that went as low as $172/month for the next seven years of my life.
You can all be assured that in the end, my partner and I didn’t take any of their options. We did however receive 1000 pesos in certificates as a thank you for taking their “tour” and were told they could be used anywhere on the property. But ironically, the 1000 pesos couldn’t even get us a single full Spa treatment and I ended up having to pay about $20 more to have one done.
So in the end, while we did get a beach bag, a nice breakfast, and 1000 free pesos, the two and a half hours we spent on “The Tour” was far from worth it. I’m thankful we didn’t buckle and come home with a new mortgage payment of sorts, but I’m even more grateful that I was retaught a very valuable spiritual lesson in life that sometimes a thing that sounds really good isn’t always that good of a thing…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
