Vancouver on a Dime

Last week, we recieved a phone call for "Colin or Nancy". I always give these to Colin, because I know they're trying to sell me something. This particular company got our phone number from a draw Colin entered to win a Hummer, we think at the PNE.

Usually Colin has hung up by about 30 seconds, so I was a bit skeptical when he was still talking to the guy after 15 minutes. When he'd hung up, he said to me, "We're going to have an adventure on Saturday".

WE? Oh great. What did he sign me up for?

We had to go to a meeting with a salesperson from "Point to Point Destinations", a timeshare company. For listening to their 90 minute presentation, we were promised some great free gifts: 2 Canucks tickets, a $25 gift certificate to Milestones, and a voucher for a 2 for 1 cruise with Carnival Cruises. I thought, "yeah right". But it will be an adventure, so we might as well go for it.

Saturday morning came and we headed downtown for 10am. We sit down with the salesperson in a room full of tables of others doing the same thing. As soon as we sat down, she said, "Do you know why you are here today?".

Colin is bluntly honest. He said, "Yes. If we listen to your 90 minute presentation on timeshares, you're going to give us Canucks tickets".

Judging from her reaction, this is the first time she's heard someone that honest.

We were asked to try and forget about the tickets, and keep an open heart and mind, to which we agreed.

The presentation was fun, as she had us talking about our past vacations, and what we liked about them. We even got to go across the street and tour one of their suites on the 15th floor in the Rosedale Hotel! It was beautiful, and the view was outstanding, with floor to ceiling windows in the bedroom!

I was taking notes of how to be a good salesperson, because she certainly was! She would take my jacket and hang it up when we left the office, address us often by our first names, and try to put herself into our shoes by asking us well thought out questions.

I offered the fact that we were expecting our first child because I thought it would make it clear that we don't have the kind of money for this kind of thing, but she turned it around and used it to her advantage. "Your kids will want to go to Disneyland when they hear their friends are going, and if you have the timeshare points, you can go for free! How else will you be able to afford to take them?".

The system did sound good, and we might have even said yes if our kids were at the age of being able to enjoy a vacation (and if we had the money). At the end of the 90 minutes we had the "number talk", which they convieniently leave until the very last.

While we were talking numbers, I was noticing the other groups in the room which were wrapping things up. When one couple left, the salesperson did a "shooing" motion behind her clients back!! I couldn't believe it! Another escorted his clients out the door and then the two were discussing their "sales" skills and what they could have done better to lure a sale.

Real professional, people! Save it for the lunch room!!

Back to our table: the moment of truth. Are we going to do it?

Colin, being his honest self, said that he will not be pressured into spending a chunk of money without a few days to think about it. Of course she declined this and her attitude turned from pleasant to rude. I didn't really care, because we were upfront and honest from the beginning. But when she said we are throwing away our kid's chances of having great holidays I got upset and was ready to leave. Who gives her the right to judge my parenting skills? I think I am being a better parent by declining this money trap!

She gave us all the free gifts we were promised and then sent us on our way. Colin forced a handshake, or else there would have been none. And I had to find where the coats were, and search through them to find mine. All of a sudden she did not feel inclined to help a pregnant woman with her coat anymore!

Once we were out, we looked at the stuff she gave us, and to my surprise, everything was there! The only difference was that the restaurant gift certificate wasn't for Milestones. It was for the Macaroni Grill, which is one of my favourite restaurants! The tickets weren't in there, but there was a voucher for 2 tickets any game within a 2 week time span.

After a quick 2 for 1 lunch at Subway, we walked to BC Place stadium, where the Boat Show was. Before the whole "timeshare" thing happened, we were already planning on coming down for the show. Just as it was our turn to go up the the counter to pay for our tickets, the couple in front of us said to each other, "We could give this to someone", then thrust something in our hand. It was a 2 for 1 coupon to get in to the Boat Show! We didn't even have time to realize what it was before they hurried away, so I hope they heard the "thank you" I yelled after them. It really was our lucky day!

The boat show isn't the most exciting show for me. Instead of the garden tools, landscape displays and interior design booths that are part of the Home Show, there were the displays of fishing rods, down-riggers and yacht toilets. I do like looking at the boats though, and dream of which one we'll own someday after someone else has owned it for 20 years.

Maybe we'll take it to our timeshare.

Once we got into the stadium area, it was no surprise to see which section was the section that blew off a month ago. Looks a bit cleaner than the rest of the roof, eh?







We walked around for a few hours and got so exhausted that we had to start heading home (My current level of energy is nowhere near where it used to be). On the walk back to our car (which was in a cheap lot a few kilometres away), we stopped at GM Place and picked up our Canucks tickets. The voucher worked!





So on March 4, we'll be going on a romantic date to the Macaroni Grill, followed by a Canucks vs Wild game at GM Place!

And the cruise? Well, maybe we'll use it and maybe we won't. It may be hard to fit it in before the baby's born. But I'd do this all over again for the free date night!

Who says Vancouver's an expensive place?