The very first time I rented from Redweek, it was for the Fountains resort. I rented directly from an owner and the timeshare presentation was not required. HOWEVER, on our 2nd day I was in the lobby looking for pamphlets and discount brochures for the Florida Mall. It was raining and we decided to go to the American Girl doll store for my daughter to buy a souvenir and accessories for her doll since we weren't going to the park. Anyway, I heard them offering guests a $150 Visa gift card for going to a presentation. I went over to the desk and asked if it were too late to sign up. Of course it wasn't. I figured why not go and use the $150 gift card at American Girl doll store. They looked up my info and said that since I was a 'guest of an owner', if I attended the presentation, I would get the $150 gift card and they would give the owner a $50 gift card as a referral gift. I agreed. My husband was NOT happy but he went along with it. The timeshare presentation started at 10am. They had a place for the kids to go for entertainment. We were finished and on our way to the mall around noon. So yes, it was a little over 90 minutes. At 11, my husband went over to the kids club and picked up my daughter and brought her to the rest of the presentation. He made sure to take his time coming back and leaving me alone with the salesman. He came back and told me not to forget we have to get over to the mall to meet his brother and sister in law for lunch. Our salesman had his manager come over for one last TRY. We declined the offer to buy, they gave us a signed voucher and we picked up our gift card on the way out. I activated it in the car, and we went to the Florida mall as planned.
Before we left Orlando, I made sure to send the owner a postcard to thank him for renting to us. A few days after we returned from vacation, the owner sent me an email thanking me for the postcard asking about the $50 gift card. He thought it was a gift from us. I told him it was a gift from the resort because I listed him as the referral. He told me I wasn't expected to go to a presentation. I told him I volunteered because I got rained out one day and it was no big deal. To my surprise, about a week or so later, he sent me the $50 gift card with a note. He didn't say why he gave it to us instead of keeping it for himself. All he said was if we were ever interested in going back to the Fountains to give him a call and we didn't need to go to any sales meetings.