Bluegreen Vacations Reviews
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About Bluegreen Vacations
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Bluegreen Vacations has developed and managed vacation ownership properties since 1966. The company offers timeshares and resort stays across various locations in the United States and the Caribbean.
Visit www.bluegreenvacations.com- Affordable vacation packages
- Positive customer service experiences
- High-pressure sales tactics
- Limited availability for bookings
Bluegreen Vacations Reviews
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Reviewed Dec. 2, 2013
I always pay my dues even though I don't use my points because they always have their own reason to charge me more and give me the worst date possible. I hope these people pay their hospital bills with my money. This company is **ed up.
Reviewed Nov. 18, 2013
I signed up as a member and have never been able to use it. I want to sell it but BlueGreen is no help there. They refer you to Pinnacle who doesn't contact you or answer their phone... It is a voice mail that gives you a number for debt consolidation and hangs up. BlueGreen is in with Pinnacle I'm sure because they continue to push them when you want to sell. I'm stuck paying for something I cannot use or get rid of...even if I paid it off in full. I would still have to pay the hefty annual maintenance fee for life. If there is a class action, I too would be interested.
Reviewed Nov. 17, 2013
My husband was talked into this from a Bluegreen rep at Bass Pro. We started getting a little concerned when they called us prior to leaving 10-15 times. We never answered or returned their calls. We stayed at the Radisson Hotel during our stay. The hotel was not as nice as our likings but check in was no problem. The next morning, we went on our "no pressure" 90-minute tour that turned into over 4 hours. This was my first and last timeshare experience. We first all met in one room and then was escorted to a classroom setting by our sales rep. We listened to the sales pitch for over an hour and a 1/2. Our sales lady then took us on the tour of the property.
An hour later, we went into another room to complete the sale. We were first asked to put $6000.00 down, finance the rest at 16.99%, $400.00 monthly for a total sale of 30,000.00 plus maintenance fees. I was then asked about my credit. I told her NO! I refuse to borrow money and pay interest on future vacations. This conversation turned into an argument very quickly. The sales rep then went and asked another sales lady to come in with a better deal. Again, we told them both "it's not happening!" After a good hour of them trying to talk us into making this purchase, the sales lady got very irritated and threw our paper in the trash and told me how much she was hurt that we wouldn't buy. She got very loud and very upset with us.
I made it clear that if I can't sleep on it and research it, I will not make a spontaneous purchase. I was so mad that I walked out and got in the car while my husband got his "not so free gift cards" from Bass Pro. I waited another 30 minutes for him in the car. They made him wait even longer to get those. This is such a scam and it is so unfair to the people that can't say no. You really do get to the point to where you want to sign to get the heck out of there. No way they were going to sucker me into a lifetime of vacation payments. Please beware!!!
Reviewed Oct. 21, 2013
My parents purchased a trip to Savannah, GA for me through Bass Pro Shops. She was totally misled from the beginning. We arrived, couldn't get an early check-in at our hotel and had other related issues. The "preview" was scheduled for Sunday morning at 9am - no exceptions. We were pretty much held hostage for 3.5 hours. I repeatedly told them I wasn't interested, wasn't going to buy, etc. They kept on and on. I had to threaten them to be able to get my gift cards and leave (my Mom paid for $50 extra in addition to the "free" $25 card from Bass Pro). The preview was a nightmare... A complete scam. They're trying to sell you a $600/mo for 10 years at 17% interest package... that's price is "$32,000" (I'm not sure where they learned to add).
Reviewed Oct. 16, 2013
In 2009, I was on vacation with my family. We were approached and lured in to watching a presentation using a gift card for gas. We thought we would go and watch for 90 mins and then leave. I was so wrong about that. I had three small kids at the time, keep in mind. They wanted the kids put into their childcare room which I was not happy about but was assured I could check on them at any time. I figured for 90 mins it would be okay. This "short" presentation turned into a 5-hour hostage situation. I wasn't allowed to check on my kids, or even use the restroom. I was told we couldn't leave until we signed the papers to purchase. I kept telling them we didn't have the money but they didn't care. The salesman and his "boss" told so many lies.
It was supposed to be easy to book a vacation, that our package was plenty of points, that we could refinance easily once we got home, that the maintenance fees were low and would never go up. That's just a few of the problems from the beginning we had. We were never told we had a rescission period (time you can cancel without penalty). They told us we had 30 days to use it and if we didn't use it, we would lose our down payment. We were only told this as we were leaving. The contracts were shuffled and covered up in front of us when we signed. I tried to grab them and read them and they kept taking them from me. Their "contract" even managed to cover for all their lies they told me. Seems like Bluegreen trains their employees to lie and cheat people.
I contacted customer services and they were completely rude. I have been yelled at, cussed out, laughed at, and had the phone slammed down in my ear. I have since then attempted to get them to cancel my contract for numerous reasons and they only want to give me additional points for my trouble. Can't use them, if you can't schedule a vacation because there is no availability. Keep in mind, I have NEVER used this nightmare. I attempted to keep up with maintenance fees for fear that my credit would suffer. I have since given up that task. I was contacted by Pinnacle Recovery and they were just as bad as Bluegreen. I was called names, yelled at, cussed out, threatened and harassed. I filed a complaint with the BBB and they are no longer allowed to contact me. I was contacted by Pinnacle Vacations to sell it but they are scammers too. I believe that Bluegreen owns those companies.
Dealing with Bluegreen has been a nightmare. I have filed complaints with the Attorney Generals in 5 states, the BBB, the FTC, and made complaints on numerous complaint sites. I have written letters to both their corporate offices and the ARDA. I contacted their lawyers and they never returned my calls. I am sick of this. It's getting to the point that I cannot maintain the mortgage. I have talked to many in my situation. Most quit paying the mortgage and suffer the consequences on their credit. I considered refinancing my home and adding that to it and then giving it away but I can't stand the thought of adding that to my mortgage. I was advised by my mortgage person that this would be my best option but the truth is it's not. I just want out of this nightmare. I am sure everyone in my situation would just walk away if they could and let what they have in it go. I would love to do this. I would advise that NO ONE buy into this. Walk away while you can...
Reviewed Sept. 6, 2013
Hubby and I were wandering around a Bass Pro Shop in Pearland, Texas, when we were approached by a personable young man. We did not even know this was a Blue Green kiosk selling timeshares. Hubby has never done the timeshare sales promotion, but I have. I told the salesman we were not interested, but he assured us it was very different from the way things were done back in the day, when I experienced a few of these promotions. He gave us a $25 Bass Pro gift card, and told us the sales pitch we would have to go to was only 2 hours and we would not be pressured.
We purchased 3 days/2 nights for $149.00 at the kiosk. Within a few weeks I received phone calls reminding me to book our trip, and if we did it within 30 days we would get an additional $150.00 in Bass Pro Shop gift cards if we booked soon. The Labor Day weekend was coming up soon so we booked the trip to Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO. I have always wanted to see the area and it seemed a great opportunity to visit Branson.
We took a few days on the way up, since it is a 10 hour drive from Houston. It was made very clear to us that we would be staying at the Radisson in Branson, which was great with us. A few days before the trip we received a phone call offering us an upgrade to stay at the Lodge, but we turned it down. The check-in at the Radisson was quick and easy, and it is a very nice hotel.
We enjoyed our Saturday and Sunday in Branson, then drove to the Sales Pitch Center at 8:00 Monday morning. We had to be back home asap because we both had work the next day. And, it was that 10 hour drive. The man who was assigned to us took us to a round table, and asked us questions about our life, and if we traveled and took vacations. We do, and nothing about the Blue Green package interested us. He began to tell us we were really sad inside because we didn't take fabulous vacations on a regular basis, and we were really suffering and unhappy because of this. Also, we were not kind enough to ourselves because we really needed to get into this "program" in order to be happy and complete. Not in those exact words, but very close. It was like a counseling session.
We transitioned from the round table to a tour of the grounds, back to a round table in a different little room. The entire time we were saying we did not want to buy into this program. He then began to show us enormous figures of $28K, with about $6100 down and payments of only $400/month, to buy into a timeshare. We very nicely said for about the 10th time we were not going to buy anything. He then asked us our credit score. Oh my, red alarms went off then!
Then he got his supervisor to come offer us a slightly better deal. We told the second salesman no. He left. The first salesman asked us to sign this one simple piece of paper saying we had turned down the program. My alarms were still flashing, and I said, "No, we are not signing anything." He stared at me in shock. He said, "Why not?" I said, "Because we are not signing anything." He said let's walk to the checkout center to get our "benefits". We said "it's okay", "we are done" and sorry we took his time, and we did not need the "benefits".
We walked up to a counter with a nice lady, and he said very loudly, "These people want to leave without signing this paper. AND, they do not want their 'benefits'! What do we do?" The nice lady said, "I don't know, I just work here. You have to call someone higher for that." The salesman then said, "Well, you came all the way up here so at least you can have your 'benefits' [which were the $150 in Bass Pro Gift cards]." The lady gave us the gift cards and put another form on the counter for us to sign, a statement that we had received the Gift cards. Hubby signed it. We were ushered out the back door, and that was it.
Then all the way home we worried that hubby's signature they got at the last minute was going to be used to rook us into a contract with these people!
Never again, never, never, never. The trip was nice, but for only $50 more we could have had two nights at the Radisson with no pressure. We still have the gift cards stuck away in an envelope, irrationally imagining that using them will trigger a secret code that will enroll us in a $28,000.00 Blue Green timeshare membership!
Don't do it, it's not worth it. I have 2 family members that bought into timeshares years ago, and they regretted it.
Reviewed July 19, 2013
On May 14, 2013, my wife and I were at Myrtle Beach for our fixed week for the timeshare that we purchased in May 1998. It took us seven (7) long years to pay for this timeshare for which we had the deed. We only used our timeshare during the odd numbered years, but we still had to pay maintenance fees each year. Each year that we went Myrtle Beach to use our timeshare, there was a meeting that we had to attend for an upgrade for which we always declined, because we were told that we would have to give up the fixed week that we had.
Well, this year they got slick with their antics. They reminded us that we were part of the 1% that was still using a fixed week, for which I explained to them the reason why we were still part of the 1%. My wife and I told the sales representative that we didn't want to lose our deeded property. The sales representative said, "Oh no, we no longer require you to do that." They asked if we pay maintenance fees for the even numbered year that we didn't use our timeshare for which I replied, "Yes, we do pay maintenance fees". The representative replied, "Oh I wouldn't want to pay fees for the year that I wasn't using". She then told us that we could upgrade and still have our fixed week. I ask her again if she was sure that we would not lose our fixed week and again she replied, "No, you would not lose you fixed week".
Several times my wife and I ask the representative if she was telling us the truth, and again she replied, "No, you will not lose your fixed week property". So we purchase the upgrade in order to have vacation points for the even number years also. At least that's what we thought that we had purchased. For one month, our property still showed up on the Bluegreen Website as having our deeded property along with the purchased points vacation time. When it was time for our first payment to come out of my checking account on 6/13/2013, the pay was not taken out.
I called the Bluegreen Mortgage and I was told that the payment would take another five days or so, and that they were not finished updating our information. When the payment was taken out of my checking account and our information upgraded, I then realized that we had lost our fixed week for which we paid our hard-earned money for over a seven (7) year period. I called the sales representative and asked her what happened to our fixed week. She pretended to act as if she didn't know and was as surprised as we were about it. She said that she was going to check and that she would call me back. We haven't received that call yet.
I wrote the sales representative a letter on July 9, 2013 and told her exactly what my wife and I thought of her tactics and lies. I also reminded her of everything that she told us to our face, yet they were all lies. It's a shame that they can get away with this sort of business, but it happens and now we are stuck with something with maintenance fees that have doubled from $300 a year to $897.70 per year.
Reviewed July 15, 2013
It seems that whenever I try to book a date, OH MY they don't have or "Sorry we changed our policy and you CAN'T use those points." Their website tells me "Sorry you're not. You are not permitted to use this site. Please contact your Bluegreen representative." This was copied and pasted directly from their sign in. I urge anyone to tell everyone not to buy into this scam. Because that's all that it is, is a scam.
Reviewed June 25, 2013
My husband and I were at Pro Bass in late October 2011 when we were approached by a sales rep. for Bluegreen giving us a four-day stay at their Shenandoah Crossing facilities. The only obligation was to sit through a 90-minute presentation. We thought we would give it a go since we were supposed to not be under any obligation other than the presentation. We called and made arrangements for November 4th and went to Shenandoah Crossing. As we were told, we were scheduled for this presentation the following day. After we sat through the presentation, we were then escorted, by a sales rep, to drive through the park and take a tour.
After tour was over, we were taken to a large room with many cubicles with more sales people. We sat through the whole pitch and said, "No, we really can't afford this at this time." Then the sales person went and got someone else to start pressuring us more with how great an opportunity this was and how we just shouldn't pass up this deal & that it was only being offered that day only. We were told if we didn't want it later, we could it back with no problems. After realizing the only way we were going to get out of this room & the constant sales pressure was to sign, we figured we would cancel it right away and be done with it. WRONG !
After trying to cancel this purchase, we were told it was too late and that we would have to sell it ourselves. Oh but wait, they have a company that, for a fee, would sell it for us. We contacted Pinnacle Vacations to have them sell this for us after paying a fee to them. I sent them a check, which they promptly cashed and we waited & waited & waited. To this day, we have not heard anything from these people or has the timeshare been sold. We have never used anything nor do we intend to since we really can't afford this junk. They continue to take payments out of our checking account monthly, and now we are being harassed several times a day from Pinnacle Agency for maintenance fees, fees that we were not made clear of at time of sales pitch.
My husband was diagnosed with cancer last year and with mounting hospital bills, not to mention he was injured at work in January and has been out of work since. We cannot afford this timeshare. I was called again last week by Pinnacle and after trying to explain to this woman that we just don't have the money, she started threatening me with lawsuits. She was very rude and hateful, so after trying several times to explain our situation, I hung up on her. Bluegreen should be ashamed by their way of pressuring people into buying into something that they know full well the customer cannot afford, not to mention they don't understand most of what they are agreeing to. These people are Fast Talking and know that most of us don't understand what the ** they're getting themselves into. As of right now, we are trying to find someone that can help us out of this mess.
Reviewed June 7, 2013
I had a problem with Bluegreen; I was told that Daniel ** from Club 36 Las Vegas would call the Tuesday after returning from Las Vegas to finalize the payment process. When this didn't happen, I tried to call Henry, our sales rep, who promised we could call at any time and he would "take care of us". He didn't return my calls. So I figured they were busy and couldn't get around to it but eventually would follow through. About 3 weeks later, I got a super nasty letter from Bluegreen stating how I failed to send in a voided check and I needed to be a better customer. That's right, I was the problem.
Another interesting fact that I found out at about the same time is that they had failed to follow through with our cc application that would help us reduce our maintenance fees. At this point, I decided I wanted nothing to do with Bluegreen as they absolutely are a company that lacks any integrity. I have served my country 3 times and have a 0 tolerance for people who say one thing and do the opposite. I decided that our account was buffooned enough that I would take it up the ladder and see if they would do the right thing.
So I started with Sales. Sales told me that I had to deal with owner services, owner services told me I needed to deal with sales and round and round I have gone. Along the way, I have found out that their "Customer Relations" people can't receive e-mails, that certain people don't have bosses that can be talked to. I was promised phone calls from Pablo within a few days, and was promised follow up by Autumn "as soon as she got a response from sales" and then nothing for a month. When Pablo did finally call me, he had the nerve to tell me that he hadn't gotten a hold of me because there wasn't anything he could do for me so why bother (ugh). So it was back to Autumn ** who assured me I would get a phone call from Troy (the regional sales manager within a day or two) and it took 10 days.
Apparently, the Corporate executives don't have phones or computers so if they aren't in (like Troy supposedly wasn't even though Autumn says he was), they can't address customers' concerns in any kind of timely manner. In the meantime, Autumn kept promising me to put a hold on my account until this got resolved so that I wouldn't be taken to Collections. She said she put a note in the computer system for the mortgage department to see. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the Mortgage department can't see anything that the Owner Services writes in their system as "they are different".
So I was dealing with Andrew from the mortgage department and he said the mortgage department absolutely cannot put a hold on my account ever, and I would end up in collections in 2 days if I didn't give this guy the information he needed (mind you, this is the information that Daniel ** was supposed to call and get); he insisted he was trying to help. I made the payment because my credit is very important to me. Not 10 minutes later, I get a call from Autumn ** saying she talked to Andrew's boss and a hold (that's right that thing that the mortgage department "absolutely cannot do") was put on my account. And the worst person of all within Bluegreen is a super tie between Wanda, Pablo, and Troy. I didn't mention Wanda in here because she was absolutely ridiculous to deal with. She was the one who lied and said she did not have a boss. UGH. I hate Bluegreen. There isn't a single honest person in the entire company that I found.
Reviewed June 6, 2013
My wife and I are newly married and went to Bass Pro shops, and were suckered into the free trip, where Bluegreen started to ruin our lives. Many things that we asked direct questions about were blatant lies. We have tried to follow up with them, and no one will help. We decided to sell, and were informed we had to do it on our own, although we were told that Bluegreen would assist with this. Finally, we had to let it go. Now, we have been harassed by Pinnacle Recovery, have a foreclosure on our credit, and lost money. If anyone is starting a class action lawsuit against these thieves, let me know.
Reviewed May 15, 2013
On March 15, 2013, my husband and I came into a Bass Pro store to shop and were approached by Bluegreen Travel to purchase a vacation package and we did so. We subscribed to a service called LifeLock which protects your credit and monitors your activity to prevent fraud. We received an alert from them telling us someone got a hold of my husband’s personal credit information and was trying to open up a fraudulent credit card account and make purchases. They stated it was in the Carolinas and had accessed my husband’s info through Bluegreen Travel. From there we had to watch our credit closely, had to access new cards, etc. We cancelled our membership and were given a refund. We went back to the store and spoke to the Bluegreen Manager and told her what happened. She said she had never heard of LifeLock and did not seem too concerned about the incident and went about her day. Be aware! Thanks!
Reviewed May 10, 2013
I bought a Bluegreen Points Timeshare several years ago and paid in full ($12,000) at time of purchase. I bought this for my wife as she was trying to recover from multiple myeloma cancer and I thought this might help. We used the timeshare a few times and discovered that booking where we wanted to go was difficult with hardly anything in the western states. I kept my maintenance fees up to date until this year when my wife and I both suffered medical problems that hindered our travel. I tried to sell the timeshare and got scammed. Bluegreen suggested Pinnacle and they let me down. I never heard from them again after I paid them to sell. I wrote a letter to Bluegreen stating our health problems and asking to be released from my contract. I received a letter from them stating they were sorry for our illness.
Next thing I know, I received another letter threatening action if I didn't pay the fees. I wrote back and advised that I could not pay and wanted to cancel my membership. Within a few weeks, Pinnacle Collections called and wanted to collect. I think it's important to note that my Bluegreen purchase was for points only and not for a physical unit. It's not a sure thing that you will be able to book where you want to go, just a chance. Bluegreen made many promises during the sales pitch that they since have retracted or never provided.
I hired Pinnacle early on, paying them a fee, to sell my timeshare. I never heard from them again after that. It's interesting that the same company offers to sell your timeshare, with big promises, and then turns around and is a collection agent for Bluegreen. Bluegreen had suggested Pinnacle as the only legit entity to deal with for selling. On one of our trips, we had to go to a sales program. The Bluegreen sales rep made my wife cry when we didn't want to buy extra points and suggested we were poor financial planners. The high pressure and arrogant attitude when we didn't buy ruined the timeshare for us and made my wife physically ill.
There is much more to say but I'll leave it at this: unless you're rich and money is flowing in your life, you better leave timeshares alone. If you buy a Bluegreen timeshare, they consider you hooked for life on the maintenance fees no matter what. If you can't pay your maintenance fees, you can't get out of the contract as far as they are concerned. They begin harassing phone calls and threats of ruining your credit rating with no regard to personal problems. Pinnacle Collections is calling me daily trying to collect for Bluegreen. If you don't pay, you're locked out of using the facilities but still expected to pay the fees. They also added several hundred dollars to my $700 plus maintenance fees as a punishment for not paying. There are hundreds if not thousands of Bluegreen timeshares on eBay, etc that the owners are unable to sell. I was scammed twice trying to sell mine. If you buy a Bluegreen, understand that they will hound you to buy extra points and they will never let you cancel. I've had to hire a legal team to help me even though I can't afford it. Beware. There are better ways to vacation. It looks good at first but no mercy.
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2013
We had bought a sampler pack of 9000 points in June of 2012. At the time of purchase, we were told we had two years to use. That was the first lie they told. You only have 12 months. Next, we went to use them in Jan. 2013 at the Glass Towers in MB. We booked two rooms and set the date to go. The day we went to leave for the beach, it snowed and my work would not allow me to be out due to inclement weather and being a nurse, I could not call out. My husband and kids and his nephew and wife called to check and see if they could still check in the rooms being I was not going and they confirmed they could, so they went. As they were checking in, no one ever asked for photo ID, and my husband was told that he had to do a one-hour update on the sampler package we bought. He told them I was unable to make it and did not think I would come down because it was only a 2-day stay. They told him, "No problem. You can do it yourself." So this is Friday night about 8pm and the guy set the update appointment for 11am Saturday morning. That was the second big screw up for this place.
They want to set the times on your only full day there to convenience themselves. So my husband told him there is no way he is going to use the one full day he has there with the kids to do an update that we did not need to do in the first place as this was the first time we had even used it. So they set it up for Sunday morning at 9:30am. Now, think about this 9:30am, 2 kids, check out time is at 10am. You have to be there 20 to 30 minutes before the time. How do you get out loaded up to leave and do an update? Once again, Bluegreen doesn't think of the customers, just themselves. Check out time is at 10am. I showed up Sunday at 10:40am to surprise my kids because I did not get to spend the weekend with them only to find out that my mother had come down to help my husband, so he could do the update on the timeshare and the kids would not have to be there.
She only lives 45 minutes away. So I went in, asked what room he is in and went up only to receive a call note that they did allow my mom to stay in the room with the kids until 11am until he could get back, pack up and leave. So at this point, my husband has been in the update for 40 minutes or more and the resort called up the road to tell them I just walked in. They stopped the update and made me go up the road to the update and I never spent the night on site. I have no idea how they liked anything. So a 1-hour update turned in to almost 3 hours total. Then the amount of disrespect and all we got because my husband threw a fit, first, because he did not know I was coming; two, I did not stay there, 10 minutes total walk in up to the room and then they called that I had to do the update or pay full price for the weekend.
If you are looking to buy a timeshare, never consider Bluegreen. They are very dishonest people. Cheap rooms, broken appliances, not enough water to take a Jacuzzi bath, loud elevators and of course, they don't care about you, just your money. I will buy off of eBay and get the same thing for pennies on the dollar and yeah, I do own a Wyndham Property. I never had a problem there. I bout it off of eBay and I love it. And that is right, I did not stay there. I'm just going on what my husband and his nephew and wife told me. The whole presentation turned out to be one sugar coated lie after another just to get people to sign up. I am disgusted with them and all the other scam artists out there preying after hard working people. I am even more disgusted with myself for letting myself be conned. I thought I was more aware than that but I guess I am not. Needless to say, I will use the remainder of my points because I paid for them but when done, screw Bluegreen. I will post on every blog I can find to help everyone out. Please stay away from the BS place.
Reviewed Jan. 9, 2013
Do not sign up with this company. They promise vacations and don't deliver. We paid for 4 years and were able to take one vacation. They told us we would need more points to do another. Maintenance fees went up and up. When we told them we wanted to cancel and sell it back to them, they said no and put a foreclosure on my perfect credit!
Reviewed Nov. 16, 2012
I signed up to get information while at the DC Cooking Show. The young guy who called went into great detail about all the wonderful things I had won, and all the great places I would be traveling to because of this win. All they needed was my credit card information ... right! My mom works for the Better Business Bureau, and I could just picture my nice, sweet 4'11" mother kicking my ** for handing over my credit card information to someone I did not even know. When I got that picture out of my head, I told the young man that he could mail me the information and I would do some research on the company and their offer. He repeated several times that this was the official offer.
When I would not budge, he transferred me to his manager. "I understand you have questions", was his first statement. I responded that, "No, I don't have any questions. I just stated that I am going to do some background information on your company with the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce at the state level, and Consumer Affair.'' His response was that I had signed up at the Cooking Show. That was supposed to make them legitimate. I responded that the Cooking Show is not responsible for verifying the business conduct of every participant, and it was up to us as individuals to protect our own finances.
The bottom line was that I was not going to give over any information to a company I was not familiar with before doing my research. The manager hung up on me at that point. People, never give any financial or personal information to anyone. Legitimate companies will never ask you for this. Always do your homework before a scam artist like this company asks you for money. If they are persistent, let them know it is not going to work for you. After reading all these negative reviews, I am glad I listened to the horror stories my mom sees at work everyday! Bottom line is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Reviewed Nov. 6, 2012
In September 2012, I purchased a 2-night 3-day package in Colonial Williamsburg for $150 from a salesman at Bass Pro Shops. After arriving to this destination, they rerouted me to a hotel 15 minutes outside of the BlueGreen "resort" to a Days Inn that was very old and run-down. I did not attend the 2-hour seminar due to mismanagement of time. After arriving back home from this trip, BlueGreen charged me another $99 for missing the seminar. After calling BlueGreen's customer service, they notified me that when I signed for the payment, I was signing for acknowledgement of penalty fees for not attending the seminar.
I informed Blue Green Customer Service that the salesman never notified me that there would be a penalty. I did not receive a copy of my signature or the disclosure agreement. I only received a copy of the receipt. BlueGreen then said that during my booking confirmation phone call, I was notified of the possibility of penalty. One of their sales associates told me that this phone call did not in fact notify me of this penalty. I ended up paying $150 for the hotel, $100 penalty, and lost $100 in gift cards, totaling $350 for a 2-night stay in a run-down hotel.
I am trying to block this charge through my bank account for fraud. I recommend staying away from not only the timeshare portion of BlueGreen, but also the weekend get-away promotions that BlueGreen is offering. My complaint is only one of thousands regarding BlueGreen. I wish I would have had prior knowledge of this company and their shady sales and business practices, because I would never had talked to them.
Reviewed Aug. 29, 2012
Tour gifts - The Tour Harbor Lights Myrtle Beach, SC gifts given were cruise, in which I signed up months ago. Then they gave us a date to pick from, in which we're not available and we were cancelled. It was a waste of time. I feel like I did not purchase.
Reviewed Aug. 22, 2012
In 2006, I went to a sales meeting for a timeshare (popular at that time). Everything sounded reasonable. I asked all the pertinent questions and was given all the right answers. I bought a timeshare. Little did I know at the time, the sales pitch was a liar’s game. I was told that I would never have a problem with selling my points back to the company if ever I wanted out and I could use my points to pay my maintenance fees if I so choose to do that. I used my points all of maybe 5 times since my inception to Bluegreen and each time was set up with another sales meeting and pressured each time to buy even more. The last time was 2011 and I told the sales person I had lost my job, my income was iffy but that did not matter to her. After more pressure and several hours, I gave in to get out of there and was hooked into one more point buy. The tactic is to wear you down till you do buy. You can't get out of their clutches (this is no joke).
I was laid off from my job 9/2010 and am on social security which barely covers my normal monthly bills. I emailed Bluegreen and asked about their buyback program and I was told my problems are my problems and they do not buy back. I would just have to suck it up. I have had to stop paying my bill because I cannot pay it. I am being driven crazy by Bluegreen’s collection company (Pinnacle) and I know that my credit is going to be ruined. I do not see any way out. Beware!
Reviewed Aug. 18, 2012
Yes, they act like they are your best friend and this is such a great deal. I was told when I signed up for the Bluegreen Mastercard that it was interest free for one year. No one said if you used it for anything else but Bluegreen, you would be paying 24.99% interest. I got my statement only to be very angry. If they lied about this, I am sure the timeshare is a lie also. Why in the world are companies like this allowed to get away with all their lies? I'm very disappointed and will not give them any good reviews. That is another thing, the people that talk to you are so nice and, "make sure you call me with any questions." We have not heard one word from this nice person. I really hope they can look themselves in the mirror and not be ashamed of themselves. Hope they are able to sleep.
Reviewed Aug. 15, 2012
We inherited this timeshare two years ago. Whenever we inquired to ask who we can physically meet with to try and understand the program, we're told no one. Yet, the bills keep coming. We recently spoke to someone who said to send the death certificates and other documents, which we did. We are still getting late notices even though the owners are dead. We are assured everything is being taken care of. Today, we got a new "owner info" with the name of the deceased and the funeral home's address. This is like "real estate", yet not one person in two years knows anything about anything, except to threaten us with late payments and foreclosures! This company is a total scam. No one knows anything except to threaten you with non-payment and foreclosure. I say we all get together to activate a major class action lawsuit! I can't believe they are even still in business! If you are as crazy as we are and would like to pool together for a class action lawsuit, send your info to **.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2012
We were lied to by ** and his manager at Harbour Lights in Myrtle Beach during our sales pitch to upgrade our points. These people are so good. He even played off the fact that my husband is a preacher, telling us about the church he is involved in. We were fed a lie that gave us false comfort in our decision. He passed us a piece of paper, one of a few signed in his office. "Signing this paper,” he said, "states that you will give Bluegreen first rights to buy your points back if you ever decide to sell. We don't want these vacation points sold for less than what they are worth."
I should have told him to give me a copyright then and there! I called the company to tell them that we would like to sell our points to them. We were told that they do not buy points back. Our contract states that if it is not in writing in the contract, it is not legal and binding; it also states that nothing your salesperson tells you is legal and binding either if it is not in the contract. I looked through all my papers and I was not given a copy of anything he had us sign in his office, only what we signed with the underwriter (what she is called). These salespeople are taught to make you feel comfortable about taking on this financial burden! We were told other lies as well, but that one really shocked us.
Reviewed March 13, 2012
Bluegreen as of June 2011 changed their policy on saved points. You now have to pay a fee of $35 online or $50 if you call to save your points for an additional 12 months. I lost 10000 points so far. In my frustration, I called the corporate headquarters at 561-912-8000 and discovered that if you press the asterisk key, it will let you into their voicemail and give you the option of a dial-by-name directory. I found the CEO John M. Maloney Jr's extension is **. My suggestion is that as many people as possible, call and complain before they change this. Maybe with enough complaints, something will change. Also, don't forget that if your state attorney general gets enough complaints, they will act on them.
Reviewed March 6, 2012
Bluegreen contacted us on Jan 2010, with a promise of a 3-day resort package. As I take pain pills, I referred the young lady calling to my wife on the way home from driving a school bus. My wife told the lady calling that she may be interested, but would need to talk to her further. The young lady replied that I had approved the sale (which I in fact had not) and that all she needed was the credit card number. My wife told her that in fact, we do not use credit cards, but that she did business with a debit card (which the young lady calling accepted with no question). The vacation was to be for 3 days, two $50.00 gift cards to Bass Pro and an additional mini vacation in the form of a cruise, all for $369. Things continued all this last year with Bluegreen calling from time to time to get us to book a time and location. The location choice had dropped from several down to a choice of 5 locations. We could not book right away due to mother dying, father in the hospital, me in the hospital, etc. It seemed like it was from one problem to another.
Finally, we booked for Orlando in March of this year. First, they called to tell us that the resort which we were promised was overbooked and that the only way we would be able to stay at the resort was if we agree to spending an additional $75.00 per night to stay there in addition to what we have already paid. When we rejected the extra payment, we were told that we would be staying in one of their "offsite" hotels. With our plans to leave Friday of this week, we came in to see voicemail on the phone with an urgent message to call. Before we had a chance to call, Nathan (night manager) called us back again. It seems that they wanted our credit card number. We once again told them we do not use credit cards and offered up our debit card, to which we were told would not work. This Nathan also told us that if we didn't have a credit card, he was going to have to cancel our booking and not refund our money.
I told Nathan that I had told the first lady that I didn't have a credit card, only a debit card and that we had been contacted numerous times and that no one else had asked for a credit card, why did it matter? He began to get smart and insinuated that my wife and I were lying. I told Nathan that I was going to post this and use his name so all could see what a sorry ** he really was.
Reviewed Jan. 18, 2012
We were given what was supposed to be a 90 min. presentation at the Harbor Lights Resort in Myrtle Beach , SC and turned out to be almost 5 hrs. The accommodations we were given were at a Sheraton Hotel when we believed that we were going to be staying at the Harbor Lights .
The sales presentation was done in a closed room and was followed by a tour with an overworked, tired and apparently indifferent salesman who didn't have authority to do much of anything. No explanations were offered at any time, and then we were led back to the sales closing area. A fellow named Ivan gave us a high pressure pitch with several pages of handwritten figures, most of which we couldn't decipher and we were told that this "offer" was available only today.
Yes, we could have left at any time but my wife and I, after traveling the previous 3 days were tired & overwhelmed and when we were told that this vacation offer was affordable at only $43.00 a month, we thought it was too good to pass up. We learned after arriving home that we had signed up for a Barclays credit card that had already been spent to the tune of $10,000 dollars. At the closing, we signed so many papers and had so little time to sit, read and comprehend what was being passed to us to sign. We honestly didn't realize what was truly happening.
Now we're being inundated with telephone calls from Barclay Bank for maintenance fees of over $390 and I'm not working as frequently as I had hoped due to the economy and being medically retired after a transplant and a heart attack. My medical costs are soaring and I'm on so many medications and have been recently hospitalized. We're swamped and don't know where to go for help, if any help exists. We're both 62 and have never been in any financial trouble until now. I'm learning that we were scammed by Blue Green/Barclay Bank.
Reviewed Nov. 25, 2011
Problem with product/service, unable to book reservations most of the time because of non availability. We upgraded to Silver because we were told that we could pay our maintenance fees with points and we would be able to transfer the timeshare to Bluegreen Land, instead of trying to resale the timeshare. We were also told that Bluegreen would rent our points for us, but was not able to do so. We believe they are using the Timeshare to rent to non owners. Why do us owners pay the maintenance fees and mortgages?
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2011
In June 2009 I was in a Bass Pro Shops in Westminster Colorado and found the sales agents selling a $99 weekend vacation in Vegas and other locations. July 26, 2009 was our tour date and we were to spend 1.5 hours at the tour; however, this lasted for 5 hours! In the end, we decided to purchase a Bluegreen ownership because we have been planning on traveling to Italy, Greece, Spain, and all around the world for the rest of our lives. They said we could go to all these places for $169 per week after the purchase of our lifetime one-time membership of $26.000. They said we would spend at least $7,000 on each vacation. We talked about without a Bluegreen membership; so owning a Bluegreen membership would purportedly save us a lot of money.
During the presentation, we fell victim to a variety of material misrepresentations, which we only later found to be false. We were told that we would receive 20,000 points a year that could be used at RCI as well and that our timeshare was a real estate investment, which would appreciate in value over time. We were also told that new nearby developments would drive up the price of our timeshare in the near future, and that we could easily sell (or rent) our timeshare for a profit. We were also told that we would be able to exchange our property location and go anywhere without paying any fees other than the $169 booking fee. The sales representatives told us that Bluegreen representatives would act as our travel agents, and that they had monitors which displayed specific client travel times and potential airline accommodations as well as car rentals. We were told that Bluegreen agents would also have all of our offers loaded into a database profile, which would allow them to choose the best offer for us to use for a specific trip.
We were also told that we would be able to refinance our timeshare at a local bank, but we later discovered that banks don’t refinance timeshare loans. We were also told that we would be able to write off timeshare interest or the timeshare itself on our taxes, but we later discovered that this is an exception only made for vacation homes and that timeshares don’t belong to this classification. We were told that our 20,000 point plan would grant us far more amenities than it actually did. The sales representatives claimed that resorts were available al the time, and that we didn’t need to plan our vacations more than two-three months in advance for any resort. The representatives also claimed that we would be granted three extra two-week vacations for free, one of which was a yacht vacation. These vacations never materialized.
We told the representatives that we wanted to take a group with us in 2010 to Mexico or Hawaii for Scott’s 40th birthday. They assured us this was definitely going to happen; that we would have no waiting period and the timeframe was long enough. So I called after I got my ID number to book this trip and the representatives I talked to at Bluegreen laughed when I repeated what I was told would happen at the presentation—that they had my profile and could tell me what was the best to use and that there were big screens in the office showing all of the various flights and vacation areas available to me. There was no availability at any Hawaii resort for 1.5 years and if I booked it, I had to use it or lose the points. This was in stark contrast to the specific promise made by the sales representatives at the time of sale. We were told that Bluegreen representatives would aid us in booking a vacation that was guaranteed to be available, yet there was no availability and we were laughed at by representatives over the phone.
I decided to transfer 8,000 points to RCI so we could go to Mexico with our friends as planned. When I tried to book this trip, I was told that the all inclusive resort would cost $1500-$3500 per person per week! The cost to book the trip was $169. After three days, if we decided that we couldn’t go, we would lose the $169! None of the resorts that were affordable were even available for a year. We had been told at the presentation that the only cost for a week at any resort would be the $169 booking fee. We had been told that there would be no other fees. We would never have purchased this timeshare if we had known that we would not be able to book reservations at any time we wanted, and that we would be subject to fees far beyond what we were told we would be responsible for paying per vacation.
I’ve contacted all Attorney General’s Office associated with this company and contract, only to have all of them point the finger in all other directions. I want to be part of a class action law suit! My credit has been hit with a foreclosure!
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2011
They misrepresented themselves with verbal lies/mistruths and promises. They did not keep their promise to me when they set the meeting up. It was only a meeting for an update of where the company stands and what they had added to/for their company and its members. They used high-pressure sales. I was in Las Vegas partying the night before. They made promises that were nothing but lies because they have not followed through with any of them. They knew how to butter you up for the kill.
They almost caused a split-up between me and my companion/spouse. They have caused me countless nights of sleep. They have rising non-disclosed fees/costs.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2011
We had a Bronze membership with Bluegreen and it was paid in full other than the annual maintenance fees which we kept current. In July 2008, right after having major back surgery and being deemed disabled, we went through an owner update at Bluegreen Sales Pavillion in Pigeon Forge,Tn. We were shown how to upgrade to Silver and by doing so we could pay our maintenance fees with our points. We were promised that we would never have to pay out-of-pocket ever again. We were then told in the Closing Office not to rely on promises made out on the sales floor. I told the closing agent that we would rely solely upon what was promised to us at our closing and nothing else.
I made it very clear, upfront and on numerous occasions, that we could afford either the monthly payments to upgrade or the annual maintenance fees but not both. They promised that by upgrading to Silver, we would never have to worry about coming up with cash to pay our maintenance fees. We could pay them with our points. It took, at the time of our closing, 18,000 points to pay $1200.00 in maintenance fees. I stopped our closing three times and asked both Melissa and Ian, the closing agents, if in fact we could pay our fees with our points and never have to pay out-of-pocket ever again and each time I was promised that was in fact the truth. So, we signed the agreement. After we got back home, I went to rescind the agreement. I didn't trust them.
We had no rescission letter in our packet so I went online only to find out that we were locked out of Bluegreen while they were doing title work, etc. So I began calling. We have three business days to cancel our agreement with them. I could never talk with a person and each time, I was placed on hold until I would get frustrated and just hang up. This is exactly what they want. They don't want you to rescind the agreement. They need your cash and all that they can squeeze out of you. I was unable to rescind it, so game on.
In October, we got our bill for the maintenance fees. It was slightly over 1200.00. So I went online to pay with my points; it would take 18,000. We had just purchased 22,000 annual points but it wouldn't let me pay the fees. It kept telling me that I didn't have enough points to pay the bill but I sure did. I had 22,000 and it only took 18,000. I should have had plenty enough points to pay it. I finally got through via telephone to a Bluegreen ownership representative and I was told that I didn't have enough points and to check out the new rate schedule. I did just that. It had changed and it now took 80,000 points to pay the same $1200.00 that it only took 18,000 points two months prior. I still maintain that this was a case of fraud. Those people had to know at the time of our upgrade and closing that these changes were going to soon take effect yet they claimed that they didn't know.
These people will lie to you and they will use any and all sales tactics to sell you a useless time share. This is why they should be called crimeshares, not timeshares. And the maintenance that you pay for is virtually non-existent.
I am a disabled former residential contractor and I can tell what has been maintained and what has not. I have pictures taken on every trip and to different properties. Our maintenance fees have since risen to $1310.00 annually and it is taking food off of my table, medications from me that I need daily.
Bluegreen doesn't care. All they want to know is when and how you're going to pay the fees; nothing else matters. We have paid thousands of dollars to re-sale companies to try to rid ourselves of this cancer. There are over 6,000 timeshare resellers in Florida alone. Never pay an upfront fee people. I still don't understand why there hasn't been a class action lawsuit brought against this leech of a company and put them out of business.
Stop the bleeding of the consumers who were lied to. If they lie to you it's called business but if you lie to them, it's called fraud.
Reviewed Dec. 10, 2010
My wife and I purchased a studio unit at LaCabana Beach Resort in Aruba through the Bluegreen Resort for $7000 in March of 2004. A year later we were talked into switching to the point system and trading in our unit plus upgrading to a silver status that would give us 20,000 points per annum and we could use them anywhere. As we were planning a trip to Korea, we thought that we could use them for that and were insured that was possible. Oh, well—sorry, that didn't happen.
In any event we felt that it would still be a good investment for our vacationing future. The following year (2005) my wife was diagnosed with stage three throat cancer, so our vacation time was a bit limited. Knowing this, we tried to alter our commitment to Bluegreen. Even after explaining the situation to them, they only wanted one thing, the money! Now here it is 2010 and we have reached the end of our rope with this commitment. Even though my wife has been cancer-free for the last five years, the downturn in the economy and the loss of our business have left us unable to continue making the required payments for this vacation that we don't use.
So, we decided to ask Bluegreeen to release us from the obligation and simply keep the money that we had already spent and let us go on our merry way. Their response was, as before, no way. Show us the money or we will foreclose. Now it seems to us that if someone were to give us $23,000 and not expect anything in return that we would be foolish to turn them away, especially when we would incur no further expense by doing so. Not Bluegreen. No sir. They are going to hire some fancy lawyer and foreclose on our vacation points just because they can. They don't have any regard for what that will do to our credit rating (which we have worked very hard to maintain).
They simply don't care. They suggest that we sell, rent, or give the points to someone but they control all the companies that you need to utilize to do that and no one wants them. So in closing, I must say to anyone reading this: Beware of Bluegreen. Don't believe for one second that they are in this to do anything but line their pockets. Once they have you signed you might as well forget any deviations from what they want. Not only have we spent $23,000 on vacations that we will never have, but this Bluegreen Corp. intends to ruin our credit with a foreclosure on points that have no value at this point in time.
Reviewed Dec. 4, 2010
I bought into timeshare on December 15, 2007 at big cedar wilderness club ridge dale; mo. paid $8,566.45 with maintenance fees of $513.10 the year of 2008. Upgraded June 20, 2008 for $7,303.89 with maintenance fee of $ 129 for remainder of year, then $537.60 fees for 2009. then had 6,000 points to use every year, which if carefully used might get a week stay at off season places you don't really want to go. August 27, 2009 we purchased 10,000 more points for $15761.57 with the concept of two agents Ed ** and Darin ** to rent these points out making us a profit plus paying off the mortgage of $15,761.57. Maintenance fees jumped in a year's time for 2010 $1097. We contacted these two men many numerous times throughout the year to rent out all of our points as we wanted to be debt free. We didn't even own a computer at that time. Darin set me up an e-mail account with a password so he could access it, thus renting out our points. Never happened!
Ed ** recommended I pay a fee of $913 to have this company rent us out. Resort equity marketing ripped us off, never renting one week. They are now defunct, won't return calls. As of December 3, 2010 we received a certified letter to both my husband and another to myself letting us know we can no longer book reservations and all future reservations will be cancelled until we pay full payment of $17,057.09 representing principal, interest, and late fees within 30 days or they will terminate our membership and retain "all" fees that we have paid thus far to purchase and maintain our membership. Our story has all the headaches and disappointments of every testimony you have read thus far. We are average people with hopes and dreams of a nice retirement. We have drained our assets and now have bad credit because of this fraud which needs to be stopped. We live from my part time paychecks and my husband's social security to get by. Who will stand for us against a big organization taking advantage of people, painting a picture of nice resorts and happy retirements?
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2010
In November 2005, we were asked to attend a visit to this resort where we were kept for several hours and shown several rooms traveling by minibus. We were told that the company would buy the timeshare back of us and that all resorts were of this high standard. We have traveled a couple of times and have been very disappointed with the standard of accommodation.
We started to use our points to pay the maintenance as we were no longer using them, however, Bluegreen reduced the amount of money that they were worth and they no longer pay for the maintenance. They also increased the maintenance every year way beyond what is acceptable. We have been in touch with them on several occasions regarding this with no acceptable outcome.
We are in a situation where we can no longer afford to pay for this. We paid $46,000 dollars for the timeshare as well as the ever increasing maintenance fees. It is now three years since we last used the timeshare. We have contacted them on several occasions regarding our financial situation with no outcome.
Reviewed Nov. 17, 2010
This company needs to be stopped. We have been owners of their product for several years now and we have had nothing but problems, one right after another. One, we upgraded to silver and somehow turned into Bi-Annual owners after that sale and nobody could tell us how that happened without our saying so. Ah yes, the fine print, we signed something in the fine print. And now we actually have three accounts after our upgrade. Yes, we still haven't got a proper answer as to how this happened either, ah, yes back to that fine print thing. Two, watch out for the maintenance fees, they are sure to kick your butt. They have gone up quite a bit every year since we have been owners and they call them assessments of fees. All I know is our maintenance fees have almost doubled since the beginning. Three, our points are received on a Bi-Annual plan every October. We have 42,000 - silver for 2010.
We had trouble with the maintenance fee and Bluegreen says until we’re squared with the maintenance fee, we can't use the club. Well, in the process of making our mortgage payment, it got behind because it was being sent to the collection agency for the maintenance fee. The company is called Pinnacle which is not affiliated to Bluegreen, so I was told. Now, this went back and forth for a few months. Pinnacle is saying they couldn't take our payments to the mortgage because they weren't affiliated with Bluegreen but in the end, that's exactly what was going on. To me, it seemed as though they were trying to get us late on our mortgage payment on purpose.
Well, after fines and penalties of over $500.00, our 2010 maintenance fee got squared up. Now for 2011, I have set up a payment plan for the maintenance fee and guess what? We can’t use any points at all until all 2011 maintenance fees are paid. After we paid over $500.00 extra and a total of $1,795.00 for 2010, to get our 2010 points cleared, now they are frozen until we pay the 2011 maintenance fee. We have over 16,000 points from 2010 and we can't use these until our maintenance fee for 2011 is paid in full. How the **** does this work? Please explain this to me, something bought and paid for but you can't use it. Ah yes, here we go again, the **** fine print got you again.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2010
In 2006, I listened to a sales presentation that sounded like a first class timeshare that catered to their client. Bluegreen turned out to be a waste of $10000 cash as I can never get a room when I need it. They raise their fees every year and cut services to the point of being criminal.
Reviewed Oct. 5, 2010
Bluegreen used extensive high pressure sales tactics, false promises of ease of use, transference and even sales of points, etc., in getting us to purchase a vacation membership. In fact, we have had trouble even scheduling vacations and renting or selling points. We were given misleading "fast-talk" sales approaches and were whisked into a room and asked to sign numerous small print documents. When I called to cancel, I was told I was too late; so we tried to use the company but was frustrated from the start. We are claiming that as "non-lawyers" we should not be held liable for the small-print "legalese" in the contracts, but that they should be held liable for their false promises and misleading, high-pressure sales tactics.
Reviewed July 17, 2010
My husband and I were paying on a timeshare. The money was taken directly out of our bank account. We moved from one part of the state to another, therefore having to close our bank account. Three months before the move, I began trying to contact Bluegreen. Four different numbers were tried.
When I finally did get to speak with someone, I was directed to call another number, a mortgage company, I was unable to speak with anyone so I left a detailed message. Several days passed and I still had not received a call back. I tried again, again, and again for 6 months. Finally I gave up. Bluegreen never contacted us and I just recently found out they have ruined our credit, by listing this as foreclosure.
My husband and I have worked for 20+ years to develop a credit history to the scores of 700 - 800. Now Bluegreen has ruined us. We can not get a loan for anything! I want this business to be held accountable for ruining our credit and I want them to restore this by removing foreclosure from our report. The government should shut this company down and pay restitution to all the people they have done this to. The consequences is that it has ruined our credit that we have taken 20+ years to develop. We can not refinance our home, get a loan for a car, buy a new home, etc.
Reviewed June 23, 2010
We have been members since 2003. We originally joined with an every other year contract. We were told if we returned 1 year later and upgraded to every year, they would keep our point price. But now, they wouldn't honor it because we were 2 days past the year. When we finally upgraded to every year, they didn't join our accounts but have us at 2.
In 2009, we decided to upgrade to "Bronze" - after bribes and pressure. We got 2 certificates to be used within 1 year for a 7 night stay "anywhere." However, when you look at the back, it is only good for some resorts and certain times--far from what Gabe promised. We were also given 4,000 bonus points which we were unable to use and they will not roll over for us. I also feel it is wrong for them to remove unused points if they are not used within 2 years. You pay for them; they should be good for something.
On June 22, 2010, we had our "update meeting." I wanted answers to my issues--2 accounts and expiring points. I was told that the 2 accounts was no big deal as everything was charged as one. Charlie kept trying to get us to upgrade to gold in order to get all these extra benefits. We kept telling him that due to past experiences, we would never buy another blue green point or recommend them. He kept trying to entice us by mentioning various benefits and how would we like them. I said they are fine but I need to upgrade to receive them and I told him I would not buy anything else. We were "held hostage" as we were unable to leave until he was done.
When I had talked to Patty back in April/May, she said that we have 2 accounts because I demanded Gabe to set us up with a deeded property in Myrtle Beach. I said it would be nice but I do not recall demanding any such thing. I did question as to why they kept moving the deed whenever we did do any upgrading. She said she went to a corporate manager and he said nothing could be done without us buying more points!
They do promise you great meal deal coupons when you go through these meetings but all it is are buy one get one free to expensive restaurants that you can get out of the local books. Nothing special!
Reviewed June 5, 2010
We actually were behind in our monthly payments of $232 a month. 6-5-09 I paid $400...then 6-15-09 paid $400, and then 07-01-09 paid $232 which should have caught us up on our payments. I was informed via e-mail by Mr. Jamie that I our loan had been terminated for non-payment. I e-mailed them my information about payments and he wrote a one line note. "It will remain on your credit for 7 years.” After some investigation I found they had been applying our payments to the maintenance fee of $900!
When we bought the time share 3 years ago the yearly maintenance fee was around $300. It's soared to $900/year. I tried to get this off of our credit and was still getting one line replies. "Thank you for contacting BlueGreen Corporation. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you as your ownership has been terminated due to non-payment of your loan. “I told this Jamie S. that I was trying to take care of this matter because we didn't need this on our credit. He was anything but helpful. I'm sure they sold the air we bought to someone else. I told him if I had known they were going to cancel our membership we would not have sent them $1032! We could have used that money to put on other bills.
In three years we used their services one time and we had always paid as per required by our loan. I told Jamie we pay $365 a year home owners fees and we live here! We didn't even use their facilities and were required to pay $900 a year and it was increased at their discretion. I kept all of our correspondence with Mr. Jamie for the record. I even challenged it on our credit report to no avail. They just didn't want to talk about any kind of a settlement. Just that we had no further financial obligation to them, and that it would be on our credit for 7 years. I checked our credit and it is showing up as a foreclosure. So if we wanted to refinance our home it will be 5 years before it is removed according to our bank. Our credit has been compromised for 5-7 years. 7 years per BlueGreen 5 years per our bank or FannieMae. Not sure what would happen if we wanted to buy a car. I'm sure the interest rate would be excessive.
Reviewed May 12, 2010
Misrepresented sales tactics. I’m unable to sell property. There were many conflicting stories. Unable to use and unable to sell. Do not trust any statements made.
Reviewed March 9, 2010
We called Bluegreen for a week in the keys (that is where we signed up). Nothing was available in Florida, but she set us up for a week in Georgia and three days in Tennessee. I picked up our new Can-am Spyder RTS motorcycle (two wheels in front and one in the back) in Denver on February 27, rode to our winter home in Arkansas, picked up my wife and headed to Georgia.
Petit Crest is in a gated community known as Big Canoe. When we bought it, we were told that all the locations had similar layouts, the only thing is that the topic of motorcycle exclusions never came up. Arriving at the main gate, we were informed that we were not allowed to enter Big Canoe. After waiting 1/2 hour for a guy to answer our call, I really found out the value of Bluegreen support.
I cannot remember how many different ways I explained that Big Canoe would not let us into the resort; the phone rep had only one response, "Did the resort give you after hours check-in instructions?" After 45 minutes of hearing the same thing (which now made it after hours), I thanked him for his ability to understand our situation and he responded with an amazing, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" I chose to just hang up.
Then, an amazing thing happened. The security guard had called the owners of Petit Crest. They opened up a spot in the storage area at the gate and Charlie, the security officer, took us to the resort. The next day, Chris shuttled us to and from the gate so we could get groceries. On Sunday, Charlie picked us up early, as we had tickets to the NASCAR race in Atlanta, but we did not get back until 10:30 pm. Chris came in from 25 miles away to get us back to the cabin. I can't say enough about the resorts and especially the folks at Petit Crest, but the folks at Bluegreen have a deaf ear when it comes to situations that arise.
I have not had problems getting reservations (not always where I want to go) and have only lost over 4,000 points due to unavailability within their time use (yes, you lose the points, even if they can't place you in a resort). If the maintenance fees are not paid in time, it is painful, and they have no tolerance. Since we do not have access to transportation, we do not have the ability to enjoy the countryside. Since I have no feeling in my legs due to diabetes, walking the trails near the cabin in my boots has had its effect. We are at the mercy of Bluegreen since all is paid off and no way to get out of the yearly payments.
Reviewed Feb. 17, 2010
My wife and I were contacted by Vacation Tour and Travel to book a vacation package for Bluegreen Resorts. I spent quite a long time going over every detail of the offer to "make sure" I was not getting scammed for an offer that was too good to be true. My wife and I were told that we would be able to take our 4 children on this vacation with us and just pay an extra $25 per night for the extra child because the package just allowed for 3 children. We agreed and the package was purchased. We received a booklet in the mail telling us about the great cruise destinations that were available after we toured their condo complex in Orlando, FL.. We looked at the cruise brochure and put it away for the time being.
Five months after purchasing this package, we tried to schedule our vacation for Orlando and were told that we could only have 2 children and that there was nothing that they could do for us. I was told to contact Bluegreen Resorts, which I did, and they wanted an extra $50 per night for the vacation. For this price, we could have stayed on a Disney Property and got all of us into a room. I couldn't believe that they had lied to us just to get $249 out of an unsuspecting family. Due to the recent economic recession, our family is a one income household now and we have a tight budget. I don't know how we will tell our children that we cannot take the vacation now because we have lost our $249, because Vacation Tour and Travel refused to refund the money, and will not allow all the children to come with us. This is not right and companies like this should not be allowed to get away with lying to consumers.
Reviewed Dec. 20, 2009
In May of 2007, we signed up for "weekend" points with Welton ** (sales rep) and William ** (finance rep). We told both very clearly and specifically that we only needed "weekend" points to use within Chicago's north suburbs for a quick getaway. They assured us that would not be a problem. When we tried to use our points this year, we learned Bluegreen only has the same resorts as Silverleaf, which are not convenient to us and which we know (from experience with Silverleaf) are not at all easy to book, even during one's own use week.
On December 17 or 18, 2009, we received a bill for higher than normal maintenance fees, real estate tax, and finance charges and late fees based not only on the first two items, but on a "voluntary" ARDA, which we told them to remove the last time it appeared on our bill. They did so the first time, but the charge appears again this time. Since our bill is normally due in May, this entire bill is fraudulent, especially since nobody notified us of a change in due date.
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2009
Reviewed Oct. 12, 2009
Reviewed Oct. 6, 2009
Reviewed July 16, 2009
The company offered cruise through Carnival at $250.00 per person. I bought 2 tickets. Believe me, I asked every question in the book about the offer. I have tried to book the cruise in Dec 2008, March 2009 and July 2009. There is nothing available from Galveston, TX unless we pay an enormous upgrade of $1,450.00. They are deceiving and fraudulent to what they are selling. I called Carnival Cruise Lines today and they are not sold out of the economy rooms. As a matter of fact, there are many available. When I bought tickets, they assured me I would be able to leave from Galveston. I told the rep this today and she said no, they didn't tell you any such thing. They certainly did and they are being fraudulent as to what is offered.
Reviewed June 15, 2009
In September 2008, my boyfriend (62 and disabled) received a phone call from Vacation Tour & Travel. They talked him into paying a deposit of $249.00 with his credit card. We received confirmation of the deposit. This was on the letterhead of Vacation Tour & Travel Agency, Carnival. At the bottom of the letter it states: "Your Bonus Resort Getaway is being mailed separately from Bluegreen Vacations. You will receive a confirmation within 7-10 business days.”
9 months later, we have still not received this information. I called Vacation Tour and Travel on 6/12/09 to try to get a refund of the $249.00 due to their "mistake" and not following through with what they promised. I was told that I only had 30 days from the date of purchase to get a refund. She said that the information was mailed out in September 2008. It was never received by my boyfriend. The person that I spoke with there said they would re-mail the information. To date, I have received nothing. Do you have any other complaints for these companies for a similar incident?
Reviewed May 24, 2009
My husband and I purchased the sampler plan for $1000 and they explained the whole point system. My parents are given so many points each year to use from their company owner and we have vacationed with them several times at the Shore Crest Myrtle Beach property. The property is nice but in order to use the points, you basically would need to use them off-season and forget weekends. This is not because the points are so expensive but because they are booked. My parents and the sales people are repeatedly told they can't book more than 6 months in advance, and when they did, they were all booked anyway.
I did book my vacations and didn't have any problems. The woman on the phone was very pleasant and helpful. I was told that we could not book beach front at the Shore Crest resort because we had purchased the sampler package. We were told this prior to purchasing. But because we were not beach front on that vacation, on our second vacation we wanted to be beach front anywhere in the southeast areas from North Carolina as far down as Daytona and on into the Pan Handle for any week in May. Now in my mind, that left it very easy for her to book us somewhere beach front. When she booked us Beach Front she said that it was at the Seaglass Towers and went on to tell me how nice it was. I asked her again, “Is it beach front,” and she said yes. I told her to book it. She sent me a confirmation. It didn't say where it was. But I was very clear I wanted beach front.
Well when we got there, we were not beach front. We were not even beach view. We were city view! I complained the moment I walked in. I called down to the front desk and the rude woman told me there was nothing she could do and I needed to call this 800 number. When I did, they went on to explain to me that some resorts you have to pay extra points in order to guarantee beach front and other resorts are automatic beach front. I had points left over. We went during non-peak season. So when I booked, she could have told me that. Not only were we dissatisfied, but the resort was crappy too. The rooms were too small, there were no activities for the kids (like other resorts), there was no outdoor pool, we had to park across 2 streets and walk our kids (2 and 7 mo.) across 2 busy streets. You have 15 minutes to unload or they will tow your car. And trust me they will. There were only 2 elevators for 20 floors! You could spend 10 minutes waiting on an elevator. When I finished unloading, it was 25 minutes later (and I was going as fast as I could). I came down and they had put a warning on my car and were on the phone calling a tow truck.
I was mad already when I saw my room. When I checked out, I was asked to fill out a comment card, and I gladly obliged. While I was filling it out, the same rude fat ** lady sitting at the desk was being rude to someone else. There was an owner sitting who was wanted to book an additional night. She promptly told her that they had to call the 800 number. She didn't even look to see if they had availability but she told him they didn't. When she hung up with him, she told another guy they had availability but it was for walk-ins only. I was like, what the? Apparently they are only interested in potential new suckers (I mean owners). That is how they do business. If you want to purchase something, I suggest you save your money and purchase a physical piece of property like a condo where you can rent it out yourself and you can go whenever you want to. Then if you want to go somewhere else, look at swapping time with another property owner. That is what we plan on doing. Save your money and don't invest in this rip off scheme.
Reviewed May 16, 2009
Reviewed April 15, 2009
We bought into Bluegreen’s program so they would physically let us out of the building in Tennessee. We were lied to about availability, how easy it would be to book last minute vacations, that we would be staying in 5-star resorts; all were lies. I have tried to book vacations several times and there was never availability that matched my points level and the dates I needed. We were not told that over half of our points could only be used at certain times, which just happen to be so off-season that no one in their right mind would consider these as vacations. Gulf Shores AL in February is not a vacation. I have tried to talk to these people and they blamed me for not understanding exactly how the different color points work, but we specifically asked our sales people and were assured that we had plenty of points and could always get the short notice trips that we need.
They've basically sold 500 shiny toys to 50,000 people so that means 49,500 people will be tough out of luck when they try to collect their shiny purchase. Of course this is figuratively speaking but you get my point - they are rude, pushy, condescending and high pressure beyond belief. We need help to get away from them. We are paying about $200 a month for something that we can rarely ever use. And the few times we have used it , it was not where we originally wanted to go. So now we have to spend our money to go on vacations and pay for hotels in addition to the wasted money that we are paying Bluegreen each month. I feel so violated and used and want to warn others so they don't get ripped off too.
Reviewed April 10, 2009
In July 2008 we took a vacation to Myrtle Beach. We stopped at a rest stop to get directions and we were offered discounted tickets to several facilities in the area. The only thing we had to do is sit through a 90-minute program on timeshares. We agreed. The salesman was one of the managers, Fred **. After a couple hours of listening to a sales pitch, we kept saying no. Finally, Fred came back and said he got this really good deal for us. After a couple more hours of talking over and more and more discounts, we agreed to the timeshare. We were told if we ever wanted to sell this back to the company, they would buy it back because things happen, and so on.
Well, I lost my job, making above-minimum wage. I tried to contact Bluegreen and was told that I had to contact Pinnacle vacations and sell this through them, which I did, and has been for sale for some time now. I keep trying to contact someone at Bluegreen but never get a return call.
I have tried to make reservations with Bluegreen (since I'm paying for this, I should be able to use this). I was told they are booked and that I needed to be more flexible on when and where I can go. We also told the salesman that my husband gets one week off a year and we planned on taking vacation the same time every year. Sure, no problem, is what Fred ** told us, but our reservations have been moved from one hotel on the beach to a hotel in the middle of town. I cancelled. I have tried to email Bluegreen several times but get no reply from them.
Nothing said to us during this presentations were true. It was all a lie to get their sales numbers up and get their bonus.
Reviewed April 6, 2009
My husband and I purchased property from Bluegreen in July of '08. We were promised the moon but it was all lies. We were told that we had thirty days to cancel if we changed our minds about buying because we weren't sure. We paid a deposit which was on the 6th of July. They said they would hold the check which they didn't. I called the following business day because we decided not to buy but to our surprise, they cashed the check. Then to top it off, we got a bill for maintenance fees (we were told we would not have to pay any fees until October of '09) but they were double what they told us. They told us they had a buyback program if we ever wanted to sell, but they don't. I could go on about this but I will stop. The fact is this company needs to be stopped somehow. If anybody has a solution, please let me know because everything the salesman told me and my husband was nothing but lies to make a sale.
Reviewed April 5, 2009
In 2005, we went on vacation to Myrtle Beach. On the street, we were stopped and offered to go listen to 90 minutes presentation about timeshare for $100. The 100 dollars check for more fun, sounded good and we agreed. Presentation was not even close to 90 minutes, try more like 5-6 hours. After we were told about the whole point system, we can go anywhere we want, of course within hotels they own, even Europe - sales price was over $20,000. It was way out of our price range, plus it was nothing we were interested in. We didn't want to get stuck with long term contract.
We refused, salesperson got the manager, William, who made it sound like he was making us a very good deal - sales price about $16,000, of course for less points, and they will buy it back when we don't want it anymore. The salesperson (do not remember gentleman's name) was telling us about the resort in Key West, where he was taking his mom and dad in a couple of weeks, that he was very happy with his points (apparently he can buy them for the discount as an employee). We told them we were not interested, it was still out of our price range, we were interfered in investments. The last thing we had to do to get that $100 check was to take a tour to check the hotel out. We were brought to one of the rooms, which was nice. We told to salesperson and sales manager that we were not interested in taking our vacation that way.
Once again, Sales Manager William ** (we still have his card) came to us and was telling what a great investment it was, that they would actually rent our points. He said that lots of people buy it as an investment, that he would rent our points during important events and then resell the hotel rooms and he would collect 30% as a commission. We got interested, investment, making money - renting our points, money would cover maintenance fees (they forgot to mention that they reserve the right to increase every year) and monthly loan payments, and within couple of years we would be able to make some profit. But it was way too expensive. They reduced the price a couple more times till we got offered 8,000 points every other year for 9,350 dollars, but we had to give them, I believe it was an $800 check the same day.
Unfortunately, it was affordable and we gave in, when instead, we should have run away. We gave them $800 check. The closing process took about 10 minutes. We were rushed through everything. The lady asked us and gave something to sign, that buying it doesn't put financial burden on us. At the time, it didn't. Anyway, we were told they will buy it back, when we don't want it anymore. We signed for automatic monthly payment debit because sending payment by mail would cost us more. They never told us that we have 5 days to look it over and void the whole thing. We left happy. We made a good investment in our future and that $100 check. Later that year, I found out we were expecting so we needed the money. We decided to sell our time share. I emailed them asking them what we have to do to sell our time share.
The response was that they don't offer resale program and we should contact Pinnacle Vacation; they would sell it for us. We did contact Pinnacle Vacation and we have our timeshare for sale almost 2 years. Besides, Pinnacle Vacation is the only company that Bluegreen authorized to sell through, are able to transfer certain benefits, are personal to each owner, namely membership in the Bluegreen VIP Program, including Basic membership (Bonus Time and Day Use at Club Component Sites). I paid over six hundred dollars to a company called Resale by Owner.com to sell our timeshare while we were arguing with Bluegreen. They don't even call us back. They took our money but we got nothing in return. I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau, but due to the contract where the promise of buying back our time share obviously was not included, they refuse to do anything for us. I started doing some research. There are lots of complaints in ** about the way Bluegreen Corporation's sales people trick unknowing customers into buying their time shares.
I read numerous complaints online about Bluegreen. It turns out lots of people are going. One gentleman mentioned that disappointed customers should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I called them and reported the unfair sales tactics and lies they say to customers. FTC told me I should file a complaint with Consumer Protection Agency, so that's what I'm doing. I don't care if we have signed the contract, but we signed it under duress. What we were told we were buying and what we got is not the same thing. We bought because salespeople told us Bluegreen will buy it back. They used unfair tactics and misled us. I'm not sure I found the resolution but as more people complain to authorities, the better investigation will be done. Salesperson promised to buy it back and now they're blowing us off, because it doesn't say in the contract.
This makes me so mad, I'm kicking myself in the ** for believing. You need to file a report with Better Business Bureau. Then you should call Fair Trade Commission and tell them about your problem. Call them at 22216606, or go online. This is one important government agency. The more people complain, the faster investigation will be done. Then I did file a complaint with the Attorney General of Florida as well as online. And the last company you should file a complaint with is Consumer Protection Agency in Florida. Please do. I'm incredibly aggravated with these big companies taking advantage of simple consumers.
Reviewed April 4, 2009
I gave them a $10,000 deposit on a land purchase which was 10% of the purchase price. They assured me financing was not a problem, as they had their own in-house financing. The agent that was working with us quit and it was a nightmare since. They directed me to several lenders which lead to nothing. Then they insisted I give them an additional 20% ($20,000.00) for the in-house financing. I never received a closing date nor did I ever see my $10,000. They are crooks, plain and simple.
Reviewed March 28, 2009
Reviewed March 27, 2009
Reviewed March 7, 2009
Reviewed Feb. 7, 2009
My husband and I went to Gatlinburg, TN for our 2nd wedding on 2/4/2005 anniversary. While there we attended a Bluegreen Presentation. It sounded great so we bought into the program and I requested that the 2000.00 check I gave them not be deposited until Friday so I could transfer the money into the account when we got home. We had already paid 1000.00 dollars for our initial sign up. The rep. gave us a written statement saying that they would not deposit the check until Friday of that week. Wrong... Lie. We left and by the time we got to the restaurant where we wanted to eat they had deposited both checks and overdrafted my account. The reason I found out so quickly is my bank called to confirm what was going on.
I stopped payment on both checks and turned around and went back to Bluegreen. I asked to speak to the rep, the finance manager and the site director. In the meeting I told them they could have their property and vacation program and I would like my checks back. They denied me. So upon going home I went mailed Bluegreen in Boca Raton, Florida and cancelled everything. To this day I still have not received my 3000.00 dollars back. I have told all my friends and family about Bluegreen and continue to spread the word about their business practices.
Reviewed Jan. 29, 2009
We purchased a timeshare from Bluegreen and was fine. Then we went to one of their update meetings. We were told, "You are so close to Silver. If you buy Silver points you will never have to pay for maintenance fees again nor will your children." Then she calls a man over and he says, "You are foolish not to purchase the extra points because right now you pay $857 a year for fees and just think the extra points will pay for your fees." They just kept pushing the you won't have to pay fees over and over again. We gave in. I called to pay the maintenance fees with our extra points and was told in Nov. there was a change and that for 20000 points all it would take off is $200. I said we were misled and she said, "Well, things change." I told her that was our only purpose for buying the points and she said, "Well, things happen." I told her we didn't want the timeshare and she said, "You can sell it to Pinnacle or if you don't pay we will take legal action." Talk about a rotten company. I would warn everyone about their tactics.
Reviewed Jan. 19, 2009
I have an undivided interest in a resort called Shenandoah Crossing. Ever since Bluegreen took over, they have tried to pressure us into trading up to a Bluegreen points membership. We have not been interested. As a result, we have seen our membership dues escalate and have had difficulty trying to book reservations. In spite of that, and the fact that we have hardly used the property, we have paid these fees every year.
Last year we received a bill with no due date on it so I called in late January to find out how long I had before a late fee was imposed. I was prepared to give a credit card number if it was due right away. The Bluegreen representative told me not to worry, I had at least another couple of weeks and that mailing my payment would be fine. A few weeks later, I was sent a bill for a late fee so I called and explained the situation. That person told me not to worry, it would be removed. I heard nothing else and thought all was fine until this year when I received my invoice for the new maintenance fees. There was a late fee with interest added.
I called and was transferred to another department but got a message saying that all representatives were in a meeting. So I sent an e-mail. That was a week ago. Still no response. Calling again has resulted in being put on hold so long that I have had to hang up. I have mailed payment for my 2009 dues but did not pay this late fee as I feel I do not owe it. According to their rules, I cannot make a reservation and use my timeshare unless my account is up to date yet efforts to get this resolved go unanswered. I obviously need outside help but do not know where to turn. Consequence: Not able to use a timeshare for which I have been paying for many years (a member since 1989).
Reviewed Jan. 16, 2009
We have been Bluegreen owners for two years and started out with 10,000 points per year. Recently, we upgraded to 20,000 points per year as points could be used to pay the maintenance fee, or a part of the fee. We were given a schedule of points and the corresponding dollar allowance on the annual fee. A month later, the points value were decreased by about half when I paid the yearly maintenance fee. Was not happy but the schedule was marked "subject to change".
Now for the good news, I am a very happy Bluegreen owner. In December, I scheduled 5 vacation trips for this year using roll over points. Currently, we have points to travel for several more weeks. Two things you must understand to use the system are very important. Plan trips 12-13 months in advance - 99% of the time you will get your request. Short term, look at the HOT WEEKS. This feature is for open time 2 to 10 days in the future for RCI and cost only 3,000 points. Short notice, but if you can use it, the world is yours!! Really hope these folks do not go bankrupt...
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2009
We were already owners of 20,000 points of Bluegreen but decided to up the points to 24,000. We rescinded within 5 days (documented). They continue to bill us for the 24,000 points even though the 20,000 points cost were taken directly out of our account. I was treated rudely by staff saying I had talked to too many people when trying to resolve this. I have spent hours of my time on this. When trying to book vacations we have always been told there is nothing available.
We just received a letter today saying that we have been foreclosed and that it has gone on our credit rating. We have always had perfect credit and have the money to pay it but refused to pay on something we canceled and they couldn't get straightened out. HELP! I keep meeting dead ends. Twice now since Dec. 23 I was told to call where we bought the points and get it straightened out. That would be ok if they were still open!!!
I tried calling Joe ** who worked there and had given us his personal cell # but he said the site was closed, resorts were closing and he was pounding the pavement 2 days before Christmas to find a job since they were ALL let go from the Bloomington, MN site. A very Merry Christmas from Bluegreen to all of them and now me. I have a call saved on my answering machine with Joe ** stating he was getting it taken care of and he had talked to corporate and it was being resolved.
I have spent no less than 10 hours on the phone to people trying to get this matter resolved. The letter I received on Dec. 23 said it was going to go on our record on Dec. 25! I have PTSD from a car/semi accident and am on disability and can't handle the stress caused. Phone calls are not returned and staff have been rude. My husband buy and sell properties and with this on our credit record will translate into a lot of extra dollars in interest or even getting turned down for a loan because of a foreclosure.
Reviewed Dec. 23, 2008
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2008
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2008
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2008
Reviewed Oct. 16, 2008
I was convinced to convert my 2 fixed weeks at Harbour Lights, SC to the point system several years ago. The main reason that I converted was that as a silver member I could use my points to pay my annual maintenance fee. I have 15250 points left this year (2008). Prior to this year, this would have converted to $700 against my $1200+ maintenance fee (which by the way, went up this year). To my surprise and disappointment, I was told today when I called to pay my maintenance fee that there was a change in the conversion rate this year that my 15250 points only pays $300 toward my $1200+ maintenance fee. I intentionally preserve my points with the express intent of using them to offset my maintenance fees. Had I had knowledge of this in advance, I would never have traded 15250 points which would have gotten me at least a 2-week stay at most if not all of the Blue Green resorts for a mere $300 toward my maintenance fee.
Reviewed July 9, 2008
We bought the sampler package from Bluegreen everyone was great. AND THE IT HAPPENED< you never can schedule a vacation, 50% of thepeople you talk to are rude. They set you up for Bank Drafts and they never draft your account. You call to get them to fix the problem, they tell you they will but yet they fail to do so. I would not recommend anyone to go to there meetings, or to buy there product. its your typical time share, with more head ache.
Reviewed Feb. 15, 2008
Purchased time share and was led to believe that if not satisfied, which I have not been, Bluegreen would buy back the property. Today, I was told that Bluegreen only had an option to repurchase, and at this time, it was in an expansion mode and not wanting to repurchase, so it gave me the name of a resale company instead. As a time share owner, I have found Bluegreen's system unusually complicated to use. As well, the salespeople are patently rude and unhelpful. I feel as if I was duped in buying into a vacation club that would be easy to use (in the way of making reservations, etc.), and instead it has been an absolute nightmare. This company was not good about disclosing cancellation fees and other consequences, such as losing thousands of points upon cancellation, etc. Properties have generally been unavailable when I wanted to use them. The one property I did stay in at Boyne Mtn. was substandard.
Economic damage; general emotional frustration.
Reviewed Nov. 26, 2007
We bought into Bluegreen Corp. and had great credit for being 21 and 25 years old. Every time we tried to go somewhere they offered, there wasn't anything available. We were pressured into buying the Bluegreen agreement. I called and talked to a lady in Branson, told her my situation, and she said she would try to get me out of the agreement. I received the best phone call in my life a few weeks later stating that we would be able to get out of our agreement, with no refund (which we never asked for) and that it wouldn't affect our credit.
We tried to get a home loan to get a house and were told that our credit score was too low. I talked to a guy named Jamie at Bluegreen's corporate office. Told him we just wanted out of the contract and explained what went on. He said they never make deals like the woman made (who has since retired) and that I had been lied to. We continually tried to get out of the contract since we have paid thousands and never went on a vacation. He said if we paid up to date they would fix our credit but that we couldn't get out the contract. I paid them a $1000, and they started taking money out monthly. They stopped taking the money out in May; I haven't seen any withdrawals, and our credit was never fixed. Our credit scores of above 700 are now 560. We were aware of the Bluegreen maintenance fees but weren't aware of the yearly fee. Our credit is so destroyed!
Reviewed Aug. 23, 2007
I went to a free Bluegreen Timeshare presentation in Schaumburg, Il. about a year ago. I was offered a free vacation trip for going. The salesperson made joining the Bluegreen Timeshare program sound great. I could go anywhere,anytime I wanted using only the points I would receive through their program. I am not sure how long he said the contract was for but at the end of it, I would own a deeded property in Orlando, Fl. and Bluegreen would take care of all the maintenance and upkeep of the property. He said I would have first choice of anywhere I wanted to go because I was purchasing a Red Week which would take precedence over anyone else wanting to travel to the same place at the same time.
I did not read all of the contract, there were so many pages and it was getting very late. The saleman promised me that he was telling me everything that was in the contract and all I had to do was sign, give him a deposit and read the contract when I got home as I had three days to cancel if I did not like anything about the contract. I did as he suggested and became very alarmed at what i read. Much of what he was was a lie or was not mentioned to me at all.
I called the Schaumburg office on the Business Card he gave me and got only voice mail. I called the second day as well. Both times I left a message telling him to cancel my contract. I finally got him on the phone the 3rd day and told him that I did not want the timeshare that I could not afford this. He told me there was nothing he could do, that I had to send a written notice to Bluegreen Boca Raton, Fl to cancel and I had only three days to do that. He did not mention that at the presentation. I sent a written notice to cancel the very next day and sent it Federal Express.
I called Bluegreen aprox. 3 days later to make certain they received it and they informed me that I could not cancel the contract as the 3 day limit had expired. I told them my story above and told them that I had told their representative I was cancelling. I also sent the Federal Express notice as soon as possible after he told me this. ( The next day). They told me I could not cancel and that if I did not make the payments that I was bound by the contract and would turn it over to collections which would affect my credit, so I have been paying on this timeshare, I have paid three companies to try and sell it for me and I am at my wits end now because I have lost my savings by doing this along with the down payment and cannot afford to pay for this.
I am the only wage earner for a household of 4. It was 5 until 2 mos. ago. I have suffered a great deal of stress over this and can find no one to assist me in getting this company to cancel this contract. I am having difficulty feeding my family, I have to run up my charge cards for gas to get to work as I cannot afford to pay cash. The stress has affected my health to the point that I am seeing a Mental Health Doctor and am on anti-depressants.
Reviewed Sept. 12, 2006
In total I have lost approximatly $8400.00 and I am still in debt to the company for $11,310.00.
Reviewed June 19, 2003
We were charged, including finance charges, over $2,700 for a package that we would have definetly not bought if it had not been for the RCI unlimited Getaways that the salesman told us was included in the sampler program, which the company denies we were offered. The unlimited Getaways would have been a means of us being able to afford to vacation for the next three years.
Reviewed Sept. 4, 2002
My wife, Melanie, and I have been owners at the Shenandoah Crossing Resort & Club in Gordonsville, Virginia since 1991. Through the years we have enjoyed being a part of the club. Unfortunately, for us, we can no longer afford the yearly maintenance fees associated with the ownership, currently $865.00.
In 1991, maintenance fees were low, in the $200.00 dollar range. The escalating cost of the annual maintenance fees is probably the greatest contributing factor to the Resorts depreciating resale value. The second greatest contributing factor to it's depreciating resale value is the recent buy out of Shenandoah Crossing to Bluegreen Corporation.
Let me explain. In 1991, we bought an undivided one-six thousandth (1/6000) interest in Shenandoah Crossing Resort & Country Club. We are owners. We own a deeded property located in the resort section in the Green Springs Magisterial District in Louisa County of Shenandoah Crossing and recorded in Deed Book 407 , Page 229 , of the Clerk's Office of Louisa County, Virginia. The Undivided Interest conveyed is Unit No. 4649D. Several years ago, the Resort was bought by the Bluegreen Corporation located in Boca Raton, Florida. When this happened, the UDI (Undivided Interest) type of ownership, like the one we own, took a back seat, so to speak, to the Vacation Points system being introduced by the new owner, Bluegreen Corporation.
And so, here we are. stuck somewhere in the middle with a piece of property that has no resale value because the new owner of the resort no longer sells this type, the (UDI). Year after year, we will have to pay maintenance fees to Bluegreen, till the day we die. Is this really legal? We have tried in vain to sell our Undivided Interest , on our own, and have learned in our efforts that there just isn't anyone interested.
And so, we wrote a letter to the top CEO of Bluegreen Corporation, Mr. George Donavan, asking him if he could take back the property for free. He gave the letter to his owner services manager, Ms Lorie A. Trauscht. She wrote back to us saying that there was quote simply no way that Bluegreen could take back your ownership. She also reminded us that our agreement with Bluegreen remains active and that we are still financially responsible. We can't even give it away! We've also sought legal advice and haven't found an attorney who's interested in or even knows how, to resolve our dilemma.
We are currently members in good standing with Bluegreen Corporation, the parent company of Shenandoah Crossing Resort. Our property is paid in full and there are no outstanding maintenance fees due. Filing this complaint is in essence a last ditch effort on our part, to avoid future financial disparity and hopefully, find a solution to our plight.
Bluegreen Vacations Company Information
- Company Name:
- Bluegreen Vacations
- Year Founded:
- 1966
- Address:
- 4960 Conference Way North, Suite 100
- City:
- Boca Raton
- State/Province:
- FL
- Postal Code:
- 33431
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.bluegreenvacations.com
