Timeshare sellers' pecking order: Tourists are easy prey
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/06/...
Jeanne Cooper
February 6, 2005
The first hawk we spotted in Mexico was circling near the Los Cabos runway as we waited to deplane. The second hawk spotted us just a few minutes
later, as we cleared customs. Unfortunately, we didn't recognize the voracious raptor until it was too late to escape its talons.
"Which shuttle?" a friendly man in uniform-like attire questioned as we pulled our roll-aboards into the airport lobby.
Hearing our reply of "Aventuras Sol," he steered us to a nearby desk, where another genial fellow said he would direct us to the shuttle after giving
us a map to the area. As he marked various attractions and chatted with us about our plans, I suddenly noticed that the map's logo said Playa Grande -
- not Aventuras Sol. "If you want to do a dinner cruise or go snorkeling," the man almost simultaneously began to explain, "you can simply visit the
beautiful new vacation villas of Playa Grande, and then you'll get a big discount on all your activities ..."
Five minutes into Cabo, and we'd already been caught by a timeshare hawk. I blamed myself for not having read our airport-transfer vouchers closely:
The instructions said in italics to "exit the airport completely" to find the shuttle.
But I shouldn't have felt so bad. This particular species of hawk has been hunting in Cabo -- and other popular resort areas around the globe -- for
years. And as birds of prey go, the timeshare variety is right up there with eagles and falcons in its impressive ability to pursue quarry with
blazing speed and fierce single-mindedness. You'd better have your mental leather glove on before one comes to roost on you.
In Cabo, the timeshare hawks' natural habitat extends far beyond the airport and the busy marina, where a steady flow of tourists provides prime
pickings.
Our third hawk turned out to be the gracious man who met us as we got off our shuttle at the five-star Westin Regina resort. He said he would take us
to the concierge, but first he'd like to invite us to attend a party with fireworks and food the next evening at the neighboring Grand Regina vacation
villas, under construction. (Those, we later learned, are the new kind of pricier timeshare development known as "fractional ownership" -- you get a
deed for your two weeks or more of usage per year, and a much heftier mortgage payment.)
Hawk No. 3 then led us to Hawk No. 4 -- the first female of the timeshare species we'd encountered on this trip. She invited us to take a breakfast
tour of the Club Regina vacation villas on the other side of the property -- for which we'd receive a $100 dining credit on our Westin bill, plus free
shuttles into Cabo San Lucas or San Jose Del Cabo the rest of our rapidly-shrinking stay, and a discount on any activities. (I hadn't really planned
on taking any sunset cruises or snorkeling trips on our three-night trip, but they were starting to appeal as a possible escape from the hawks.)
Having a good idea what prices at Westin restaurants run, we took her bait and signed up for next morning's tour of the timeshare villas -- actually
part of a 41-year "vacation club," not a deeded ownership system. Truth be told, we enjoyed peeking into the brightly appointed villas with bathtubs
and living rooms overlooking the Sea of Cort?s and found our Canadian snowbird sales agents affably ambitious. The popping of corks on bottles of
Mexican sparkling wine in the sales lobby provided a counterpoint to their cheery spiel.
But if we thought succumbing to the clutches of one Cabo timeshare hawk would somehow throw the scent off for the rest, we would learn soon enough how
tenuous our grasp of ornithology was.
Over dinner at an elegant courtyard restaurant in San Jos? del Cabo the next night, we were lingering over our courses of salad, seafood and flan,
enjoying the cordial service as much as the warmth of the chimenea flames and the twinkle of the stars overhead. Over coffee we had spread out a few
of the free publications found throughout the tourist zones, including real estate guides and luxury villa rental listings.
"Ah, you are thinking of living in Cabo?" asked our waiter, pouring another cup of coffee.
We confessed that would be fine with us, but not with our bosses or, perhaps more important, our budget even if we no longer had bosses.
"What about a timeshare?" he asked, thoughtfully.
But before we could explain we'd already gone down that road, he interrupted, "You see, I know a man, just around the corner, who can give you a tour
of the newest villas in Cabo, and you can get a discount on all activities then while you're here...."
Hawk No. 5 had found us, but by this time, we had realized it doesn't ruffle a timeshare hawk's feathers if you turn down their invitation for a tour.
As with telemarketers in the United States, hash dealers in Amsterdam or carpet sellers in Istanbul, the worst thing you can do is to take up a lot of
their time when you really have no intention of buying.
With that in mind, we left the restaurant, ready with a straightforward "No, gracias" for our next hawk, in whichever plumage it might appear.
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