Original Message:
Re: BlueGreen Vacations Timeshare Scam Warning!!! (by Phil A.):
My wife and I had an experience similar to may others but with a completely different results. We were promised a free 3 night stay at a resort, instead we were booked into a Comfort in (not a nice one). However, before we let them begin their sales presentation, I let them know how disappointed I was that we were not given what I had been promised. The sales staff politely explained that the telemarketers who contacted us should never of said we would stay at a resort or that it would be free and perhaps I misunderstood. I calmly explained that IF I was told I would be staying in a regular hotel 45 minutes from the beach and that I would have to pay a dime I would never of agreed to come. They tried to assure me that I couldn't of possible been told I would stay at a resort or that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I assured them that was exactly what I was promised. They told me that all the calls are recorded and they'd be happy to listen to my call to see if they could figure out where I misunderstood the deal. I told them "great". The saleswoman and her manager went into an office for about 10 minutes, come out and told me it would be a few more minutes and pulled another "suit" into the office with them. They came out and the "suit" apologized, returned the money I payed at the hotel, booked us a stay at a resort for the next month (wasn't a bluegreen resort as they were completely booked but the resort turned out to be right next door, very nice and we had unlimited access to the Bluegreen amenities), and gave us a visa gift card for $100 on top of the $150 card we had already been promised. The thing to remember is that the telemarketers, Bass Pro Shop marketing people, etc. are not bluegreen employees and sometimes push the truth significantly in order to get you booked. If you confront Bluegreen with the situation they will make it right. We ended up paying cash to become Bronze level owner to try it out and we have been very pleased. We get the resorts we want on the dates we want and the service has always been great. We stayed at a newly purchased property in NC and the floor hadn't been vacuumed well and there was lipstick on a glass. It wasn't a big deal but I went to the office to ask for a vacuum. I was told all the vacuums were with the cleaning staff but they would send someone to re-vacuum as soon as possible. I told them to just call me and I would get the vacuum and sweep the floor myself. I received a call from the resort manager about half an hour later. I went to the office to get the vacuum and the manager explained that Bluegreen just recently purchased the property and they were still working through staffing issues. The manager asked again if she could send someone to clean the room properly. I politely declined and explained that we had already unpacked and I would prefer to take care of it myself. The manager told me she would get me some sort of compensation for the situation. Two days later, while we were still enjoying are stay at the resort, our account was credited all the points we had used for our stay. Is Bluegreen perfect, no. Is it a scam, definitely not however we were told our Bronze level would give us a 12 month booking window but it doesn't really. Our bronze level ownership gets us 3-4 weeks of vacation stays a year with just an $1100 yearly maintenance fee. 3 to 4 weeks of vacation for $1100 is not a bad deal. Our original purchase price made the first year expensive but if I spread the purchase price over 10 years in my head it works out to $3900/year (I just randomly picked 10 years, I could of used 15 or 20 years to lower the yearly cost even more). Even if we only book 3 weeks a year, although we usually book 4 weeks a year, it works out to $1300/week to stay in resorts... that's a pretty good deal and, even then, after 10 years it becomes lass than $400 per week. I would caution people about getting a loan through Bluegreen, 16% interest is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age. Either pay cash, get your own loan or consider a home equity or 401k loan...do not pay 16%!!!