Luckily Chad is very good at helping distinguish between many of the bad, mediocre, and good deals and together we have been pretty successful so far. However, a few days ago I was surprised when he was all for the deal we were presented with in downtown Charleston. Of course, I was excited about it too.
We were walking down the street with Ben and Teresa when we stopped at a booth to inquire about the price of a ghost tour (advertised on the table). The Waterway guide said it offered a good dose of history and fun in Charleston.
Booth marketer: “Well I don’t know the price off hand, but hey how old are guys? There’s this great deal I can offer you guys if anyone is a woman over thirty or if either couple is married.”
Teresa: “Is this like a party or mixer for people who are new to Charleston?”
Booth marketer: “Sort of. You’ll get your choice of any of these free tours (ghost tour was on the list), a free 25 dollar gift card, and free prizes in goody bags.”
Me: “So if one person in our group is over 30 we can all go to the event and it’s free, and we all get the free stuff?”
Marketer: “Yes. I mean it’s more of a presentation but it will be fun and it’s a great deal.”
At this point we all figured that it wasn’t a party or mixer and that we would probably be stuck watching some movie on a time share in an exotic place that none of us could afford. But we had the free time and wanted a free tour and gift card for lunch the next day so we agreed. Unfortunately, when we arrived the next morning, there was no movie or large group of people we were clumped with to hide behind- only a tiny table with 5 chairs and leather bound book.
For the next 2.5 hours a very eager salesman asked us about our hopes and dreams, and explained how nicely a $30,000 timeshare in Tennessee would fit into all of it. Actually, there were 27 resorts in all- some in Texas and South Carolina and even two boats in the Caribbean (ironic?)- but nothing in the package seemed to warrant the exorbitant price tag.
In the end, we all admitted that we couldn’t afford pre-purchasing our vacations for the next 10 years being that we were unemployed (except for Ben) and that we had approached the booth marketer for a ghost tour, not a timeshare. He said this happens all the time. “I’m surprised you even knew it was a time share. Most people think they are meeting me for the free ghost tour.” Oops! Someone might want to inquire about getting better marketers for this timeshare gig.
Unfortunately poor Chad and I would have to resign ourselves to living out our hopes and dreams on our sailboat in the Caribbean- for free. :-) In the end, was it a good deal? We got the free tours, a large pizza, and a lesson in how timeshares work but no goody bags. The jury is still out.
Charleston from our "Free" carriage tour:
Here's a few other deals we've gotten since our trip began.
GOOD DEAL:
- Baltimore, MD:
~ Getting a free ride to hardware store from a kind Frenchman.
~ Getting almost 30 blocks of free ice at Tidewater Marina because the season was ending.
-Norfolk, VA: FRED, the solar powered golf cart/ car, picks you up at your marina (or anywhere else in downtown Norfolk) and gives you a free ride to and from the grocery store. And they don’t accept tips- so it really was a free ride!
-Elizabeth City, NC and Southport, NC: Free docks! In Elizabeth City we even got to top off our water tanks and attend a rose party with free wine, beer, and cheese.
- Belhaven, NC: Even better free ride because it we had tons of groceries and the walk would have been in the rain and 2 miles long. Don’t worry mom, we don’t accept free rides from just anyone. But nice people living south of Charleston- if you see us walking down the street- we are always looking for this kind of good deal.
-Wrightsville Beach, NC: Getting a free shower at a marina- unfortunately we were so excited we forgot to bring soap and a change of clothes and didn’t realize until we were already in the showers.
NO DEAL:
-Charleston, SC: The dress I bought in Urban Outfitters a few days ago. Yes it was on the clearance rack, discounted from 98 to 29 dollars, but did I really need it? It was my first clothing purchase since the trip began and normally I used to shop biweekly... but I also used to have a job.
- Elizabeth City: I went to LaBlanc for a haircut. It was only 28 bucks plus the 30 percent tip I left because she didn’t have change. Normally I pay almost 100 bucks at Arrojo. This could have been a great deal if I liked the haircut. At the time I was excited to chop off all my hair and Ashley did a very good job. But now I miss ponytails and the occasional braided look.
Skeptical about the deal:
- North Carolina Welcome Center: We got to raft up on the docks to other boats waiting for the morning locks. Great to be tied to a dock for free but not so great to be woken up at 5:30 am by a boat we were blocking in.
~Nicole
2 comments:
Nice to see a post from you, Nicole. There are a bunch of us who are checking for new posts everyday. Keep track of the bargains for us so we know when we make the same trek.
Thanks! My last post was about boat mold so thought I would make this one more informative about the places we are going. When are you making the trip?
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