beware of timeshare hawks!
There are few things that can taint your Puerto Vallarta vacation more than not being prepared for the onslaught of timeshare hawkers. They are completely unavoidable, from your few first steps into the airport, your restaurant dinner and all the way to to your hotel’s lobby, they are there.
When dealing with them, the best thing to do is ignore them or politely say that you’re not interested with a polite “no gracias”. Should they persist then being firm with them is perfectly in order, as some can be quite persistent.
You should be aware that just about any stranger that starts up a conversation with you is or maybe softening you up for a Time Share pitch.
We were there in October at Brazil (Argentinean Steak House) and while we were in mid meal, what we thought was an employee struck up a very long conversation with us, only to have it end with a sales pitch.
That said, there are a few of tell tale signs that your new Mexican “friend” is actually a hawker. The biggest tell is when a stranger asks you, if you and your partner are married. Another tell is if they inquiry about how much you make or how old you are. The larger Time Share business’ have some potential customer requirements, which are usually as usually follows:
1) Potential suckers are married
2) Potential suckers household has an income of 40K or above
3) Potential suckers must be, at the very least 21 years old (most are older than that).
So if worse comes to worst you can just tell them you are broke, 16 years old and gay. That outta’ do it. At any rate … aside from the nats (aka Time Share hawks) Puerto Vallarta is still a wonderful city with a very small town feel.
A quick word about timeshares themselves. Granted not all timeshares are a bad investment, but just think about how much money these companies are put into recruiting you. That cost is passed along to you the customer. I equate it to those extravagant Las Vegas casinos, those casinos are built on gamblers losses, so don’t kid yourself, the odds are not in your favor. The same goes to those overzealous timeshare hawks, the likelihood of you finding a good investment from these timeshare hawks is next to nil. Don’t get me wrong, I play Blackjack in Las Vegas at least twice a year (but I go into it with the expectation that I will some money) , so do what you’d like, just understand what you are up against.
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