HE was fresh out of school and his first job as a sales consultant paid him up to $10,000 a month.

This would sound like a dream for many. But James, an Indonesian who is a permanent resident here, decided to quit after just six months.

The reason: He was uncomfortable selling timeshare - not just to Singaporeans but to tourists as well.

This apparent switch in tactics to target tourists by some of these companies comes after years of bad press, which appear to have put off many Singaporeans.

As a result, some companies are approaching tourists instead.

Which is something James did well - he had no problem getting foreigners to sign up for holiday packages, which called for them to spend thousands of dollars.

TOP SALESMAN

James was so good he became the top salesman in the first three months of work. Yet he said he had to stop.

'I felt guilty,' said James, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.

He said that he had been told to sell to Indonesian tourists in particular.

'As I speak Bahasa Indonesia, it's easier for me to pitch my sales to fellow Indonesians. I also gained their trust easily as I'm Indonesian,' said James.

'But after one or two months into the job, I started receiving complaints from my customers,' he said.

These customers paid $30,000 to $50,000 for lifetime memberships to holiday resorts around the world.

The membership was supposed to allow them a week's stay in a resort of their choice for a adminstrative fee of slightly more than US$100 ($156).

Said James: 'But many of these customers failed to book their 'free' stay with the resorts. They were told that they have to book a year or two in advance.

'I felt guilty to have sold them something that they can't really use. People don't plan holidays one to two years in advance.'

That applies to both the Singaporeans and the tourists he's sold timeshare to, he said.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) is aware of timeshare companies targeting tourists, but Case executive director Seah Seng Choon has not received any complaints from tourists so far.

'Tourists don't usually contact us directly. They go to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB),' said Mr Seah.

Timeshare companies want to sell to Indonesian tourists because they travel to Singapore often, said James.

'Many are generally well-to-do, too. And when you speak their language, it's easy to convince them,' he said.

He noted that the sales consultants in his company were divided into three groups - English, Mandarin and Malay-speaking.

'We also want to attract Chinese and Bruneian tourists as they, too, come here often,' he said.

SHOPPING VOUCHERS

To entice tourists, a salesman will give them $40 to $50 worth of shopping vouchers in exchange for at least 75 minutes of their time, though most tourists spend two hours at a sales talk.

As James could hit his sales target daily, he got between $200 and $800 cash as a bonus the next working day. These were on top of his monthly salary of between $8,000 and $10,000.

Initially, he found the job challenging and satisfying. His boy-next-door good looks helped to boost his sales too.

'We meet people from all walks of life every day. Our marketing and persuasion skills improved with every contract signed,' he said.

But not every timeshare consultant behaves like him. Some resort to pressure tactics and are even rude to customers.

Two weeks ago, when Indonesian tourist Andy Hioe and his family were here on holiday, they were approached by someone from a timeshare company while they were at Ngee Ann City.

The first question asked by the salesman was: 'Are you a tourist?' recalled Mr Hioe, a bank manager.

'I said 'yes' and the man told me that I'd won a $50 cash voucher for a seafood restaurant here. I was told to follow him to his office to claim my prize.'

At the office, a saleswoman tried to persuade Mr Hioe him to pay $58,000 for a lifetime membership to 'some holiday resorts'.

'I found the price to be ridiculous and told her I wasn't interested.'

Despite this, the woman went on with her sales pitch for two hours.

Mr Hioe said: 'That was when I realised that I needed to rush to the airport to catch my flight home.'

When Mr Hioe insisted on leaving, the salesgirl became rude, he said, and made him wait half an hour for his voucher.

Miss Merlina Kanman, another frequent visitor from Indonesia, is not fazed when she is approached.

'These sales people often show me a few cards and ask me to scratch them to see what I've won. Then they clap their hands and say loudly: 'Oh, congratulations! You have just won for yourself a prize!' ' said the 26-year-old, who comes here to shop at least once every two months.

'When they tell me that the talks will take two to four hours, I tell them, 'forget it!' '

But not every visitor here will be as street-smart, said Mr Hioe's cousin.

Said Miss Atmaja, 26: 'The general feeling among Indonesians about Singapore is that it is a safe place to visit and we are not likely to be cheated.

'I've read many newspaper reports on timeshare companies because I live here. But tourists wouldn't know about their bad tactics and are easy prey.

'By targeting tourists, these companies are giving Singapore a bad name,' she said.

THE number of complaints Case gets on timeshare companies shows no sign of easing.

Last year, Case received 2,521 complaints against timeshare companies. From January to August this year, there were 1,213 complaints.

However, Case executive director Seah Seng Choon believes that the figures will drop more over time.

Last month, the association announced that it is cutting the grace period for companies to clean up their bad practices from three months to one.

Case has also taken a timeshare company's case to court after it failed to sign a voluntary compliance agreement (VCA), in which consumers can seek redress on the unfair practices of these firms.

Orion's Belt Network (OBN) was deemed to have breached the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. Under the Act, it is unfair to withhold information from consumers and mislead them.

The company, which was started in January last year, offers to help people get out of timeshare deals.

Case received the first complaint about OBN last July, when the company failed to help terminate a client's timeshare contract.

By March this year, Case had received 14 complaints about OBN.

A panel from the Ministry of Trade and Industry gave Case the go-ahead to proceed with an injunction, which was filed on 2 Oct. The case will be heard in court.