Recently my wife and I went to Lake Tahoe to get away, deal with my stress and relax. Over the years, South Lake Tahoe, near Stateline has morphed into a timeshare and resort mecca with Marriott buying many acres on one side of the street and a company called Zalanta buying the other. Since there is no gambling allowed in California, yet, restaurants, resorts and movie theaters keep families entertained on the California side, just a couple blocks from Nevada.
When we come up to Tahoe, we usually stop at a local grocery store and get provisions and ammenitites. Today, we were walked by a man in the grocery store selling vacation ownership, or timeshares. He offered us $150 at a local ChartHouse resterount and a 2 day, 3 night stay at his resort. All of this for a 90 minute presentation. Many people I know and know of would jump at the chance of a $150 steak and lobster dinner and a free stay at a luxery hotel. As we walked around the grocery store, I thought about what I would do. Under no circumstances would I buy a timeshare or own a vacation. The way we vacation, and the places we go, and the cost of the service, we would not get our money out of it. I call a timeshare a service, because people do not buy anything physical, they buy time and usage.
Anyway, the conclusion that I came to was this: If I know that I am going to sit in a sales presentation for 90 minutes and just say no, no, no, no and no, then why would I go? I would go to get the free steak and lobster dinner and the free stay at a resort. The question that came to me was wether it was ethical or not to go to a sales presentation, knowing I would not buy, just to get a free thing.
In my mind, I was thinking that my payment for the dinner was a 90 minute sales presnetion. The man trying to sign us up for this presentation, was thinking that the sales person would most likely win. They play the percentages. The profit from one sale pays for a certain number of dinners.
But I was seeing this as an ethical choice, because I would not buy one under any circumstances. We don’t need one and our finances cannot afford another monthly payment. Therefore, I told the man that we would not take his offer. I believe I made the moral choice. Some might say I made the stupid choice because of the prizes. Yet, I stand by calling it an ethical choice of not taking something for nothing and not putting myself in the position of making an irrational financial decision.
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