Hilton Grand Vacations Reviews

The financial burden began with the annual HOA fees, which were not mentioned during the initial sales pitch. As a one-income military family, these fees have become a significant drain on our budget. The dream of a lifelong investment for our children turned into a nightmare when we realized that they would inherit a financial trap instead. We were left in the dark about the increasing fees, painting a misleading picture of a "gift".

Deployment and travel restrictions during COVID-19 made it impossible for us to use the timeshare, while non-owners enjoyed the properties without any financial obligations. In the ten years of owning the timeshare, we only managed to use it twice, paying over $5000 in maintenance fees alone. The point system became confusing, and our hard-earned dollars became practically worthless as our points expired, leaving us with no vacations and a sense of betrayal. As a realtor with a decade of experience, I can attest that timeshares do not appreciate in value and are practically worthless. My lack of familiarity with timeshares was a costly mistake, and I urge anyone considering a timeshare to think twice!

When I tried to get out of the timeshare, I was told resale was the only option. This would have left me with 70% of my “investment” in the hole. How can a $30,000 timeshare only sell for a maximum of $7,000? Then I had to pay an additional 25% as commission! It is a painful lesson learned, one that I regret. I wish HGV would consider the impact of these sales tactics on the trust and satisfaction of a customer. Timeshare ownership should be a joyful and fulfilling experience, not one filled with regret and financial burden.

Unfortunately, what we didn’t know is the number of points they sold us was insufficient to book more than a couple nights during the week -- if we were lucky! We have spent hours upon hours searching their booking platform and have come up empty every time; leaving us paying bills with no vacations to show for it. Speaking of bills, the salespeople told us the maintenance fees would end once we paid off the loan. However, we discovered there is a perpetuity clause buried in the contract in the fine print. To make matters worse, these fees are not a fixed amount! Instead, they have increased every year since we purchased!!

We have paid $7500 and have not been able to take a single vacation. Unfortunately, I was recently diagnosed with Lupus, so now I have astronomical medical bills that take priority of this timeshare. It has created a difficult time in our lives, and we are now facing financial difficulties. Had their staff been honest with us from the beginning, we would not be in this situation. Be very careful! If you do business with Hilton, your life will never be the same and I don’t mean in a good way. We believed that the Hilton name could be trusted and we could not have been more wrong!

1. It didn’t let me book online.

2. When I called the customer service to book the stays, the agent, who’s a young girl named Anna, told me I have to pay additionally (which is way more than the package price) since it’s holiday season. Her attitude was so bad and didn’t let me speak. I said it’s different from the sales told me. She said since they are two different departments, the sales don’t know this info. And the package is non-refundable and emphasize the extra charge cannot be waived. It sounds like it’s my fault since my goal is waiving the extra cost only!? Sorry I just don’t want this package anymore as I don’t wanna be fooled!!!!

When I told her I would like to talk to the supervisor to talk about how to figure this out, she told me she can cancel this package. Excuse me? So did you bullied me a couple minutes ago???? When I asked her if I will receive a cancellation email, she said “No! No email” with her arrogant and rude tone. Very rude “customer service” and dishonest sales! I feel my trust and dignity were insulted!

After making multiple calls to Hilton I got through to someone that I thought was going to help us get a replacement voucher. In the end the CSR told me that their marketing department did like to re-issue vouchers like this. She then offered us 15,000 Hilton reward points instead, telling me that this represented a night's stay. Fact is, it might represent less than 1/2 the points needed for a night's stay based on most of the locations that I reviewed. I emailed this CSR about this months ago but they have been unresponsive. It is unfortunate that we were treated in such a disrespectful manner from all involved. We generally like Hilton properties but will have to reconsider our position. We certainly would not trust HGV as they did not prove themselves to be honest or trustworthy.

I was told that my points, times, and dates would not be an issue and it was. The maintenance fees alone are astonishing at $1200 yearly, and I can use that money alone to book an AirBnB and not be saddled with a mortgage debt. I attempted to rescind this contract almost immediately and did not even ask for a refund once I was able to return to the Northeast and rest (concussion).

I was told it was now outside of the rescission period, which was not disclosed to me, and the contract is an overwhelming 83 pages long that their staff deliberately rushed through with me and seemed annoyed with the questions I was asking. I would just like to be released from this contract and move on with my life.

A third rep came and loitered us into their package trial without any penalty and we can get a refund for our deposit back and we can cancel at time without any penalty since will not not be owners yet until we pay in full. We asked him twice and he verbally confirmed it twice. So I sign the contract. Stupid me forgot to read what I signed. All he said was sign here and there and initial here. Nothing mentioned about the 10days deadline for cancellation.

Long story short, they have the worst customer service and representatives. It took more than 30 days to finally have someone to email me back to tell me they can't refund my deposit based on the contract and it is in writing. This company is very unprofessional and reeducation of the employees is needed to prevent this from happening again. I guess I'm not the only victim. I should have read the reviews first before signing anything with them and should have recorded the conversation with the sales rep. Lesson learn!

We were told in the group that this was NOT a timeshare, that this program was better because only points were used. So I told myself okay let’s give them a chance and see what they have to offer… that’s where I went wrong. They mushed us up and what they had to offer was very appealing. I asked a lot of questions and you could see that I was annoying the sales rep. He kept giggling after every question I asked. We were only supposed to be there for 2 hours. We were there from the start at 2:15 pm and didn’t leave until 7 p.m.

These guys were good, I have attended 2 of these prior and I stood my ground, this time got me because I truly believed it was a different program and not a timeshare like they said they weren’t. Long story short, we signed, took the Amex financing credit card. I felt good after our meeting and had hopes that we did the right thing. The next day I had the buyer's guilt, I asked myself if I did the right thing or not. It wasn’t until 2 days later when we got home is when I took the time to read the contract… which BY THE WAY. They don’t let you read it to its entirety. They only go by small sections and straight to the signatures.

There were many things in that contract I did not like. I decided to look them up and find reviews which is when I came across this website. Your experiences saved my husband and I what seemed to be a lot of headaches and much more debt. On day 3 and 4 I sent them the rescission notification. One signed by the both of us and a third one notarized as someone has recommended. I also emailed a copy of it to the client services manager so I could have a paper trail on top of the certified mail with tracking.

I received a confirmation email and that it will be canceled, NJ state gives 7 days after completion of contract. I cannot be more thankful for finding this website and read every single one of these comments. I am appalled that these people can get away with this. I hope you all continue to fight and persevere until you are out.

I received a phone call from a Hilton representative offering me a 3-night stay at the Parc Soleil for $199, with a mandatory sales presentation. I didn't realize that I was being misled until I attended the presentation. My personal salesman, Alex Taylor, used manipulative tactics to convince me to invest in a timeshare. He didn't disclose information about Florida's 10-day cancellation law and rushed me through the process, leaving me unaware of the terms of my loan and the high interest rates. Using my timeshare has been difficult due to limited availability and unfulfilled promises.

I was never told about the astronomical maintenance fees during the sales pitch. I am disappointed with HGV's unethical tactics and have informed Hilton about it. When I did, they responded by saying that there was no wrongdoing on their part and that they are refusing to cancel my contract. Don't fall prey to their schemes and only invest in honest ventures.

Saturday about 3pm my son noticed bites on his arms. We checked the sleep sofa where he slept and you guessed it BEDBUGS! We immediately started packing and went to the front desk to tell them. They changed our room - originally 1403 to 503. They gave us the key to the new room and we went to inspect it. It needed to be cleaned so we asked if housekeeping could prep it for us. Front desk said it would take about 40 minutes and I would be texted when the room was ready. 4 HOURS LATER and (again) no text message we were able to go into the new room.

We were actually hopeful that our experience would improve but the final straw was Tuesday when I asked if housekeeping could change the linen and wipe down our room. Apparently, this service would cost me $69. It was at that moment we decided to cut the stay short and on Wednesday we checked out and drove the 4 hours back home. There is a certain expectation any guest would have when staying at a property, especially a property bearing the name Hilton. To say there was extreme disappointment in the customer service received regarding the issues my son and I encountered is an understatement.

Never receiving the promised text message, okay fine – bad but not horrible. Not once being contacted by a manager or supervisor regarding the bedbug and room change situation even after completing and submitting an incident report – is an unacceptable way to assure and ensure guests are heard and concerns are appropriately resolved. We checked out Wednesday and it wasn’t until Thursday night I received a text from a manager only after I mentioned writing a review. We heard a lot of “I’m sorry” from the front desk staff and I don’t doubt their sincerity. However, what we needed was more “I’m sorry” actions extending beyond words – proactive communication from managers, timely responses in getting things done, complimentary services/meals, etc.

Thankfully it was only one night that my son was on the sleep sofa because 5 days later his arms are still bothering him from the bites. More nights in 1403 and we probably would have had to go to urgent care. It is my hope that in the future managers remember their industry is one of hospitality, which means time should always be taken to address the concerns of guests and then to do everything within their capacity to help make things right.

This brief informative seminar was QUICKLY turned into a 10-hour, high pressure ploy to sell me a timeshare. Yes, you read that right, 10 HOURS…we declined their offers so MANY times we lost count. The only way to get out of this place was to sign. When they were going over the signing, it seemed like we got something pretty decent. What we did not know was that they lied about EVERY aspect of the contract, including the price we would be paying. This sounds illegal to me. Now looking back, the “free 3-night stay” was certainly not worth it. We felt horrible and used after that day, considering they had us sign for something completely different from what was pitched to us. This is a warning for everyone, BEWARE OF HILTON GRAND VACATIONS!

I had to make a selection, so I picked Hilton Hotels. The chances of me actually using this certificate are slim and I'm sure that was the plan, otherwise they would have allowed me the choice of ANY Hilton property to use this certificate. It makes me think that IF I had purchased, I would probably find out there were other things that weren't true.

Separate incident. 2. The different locations and departments do not talk to each other or work together, every time I needed customer service the sales agent could not help, wait 72 hours for a manager, request assistance, they can't help, escalate it, call you back with an update, each department blamed the other department, I was even at a location in person, manager gave me a resolution and by the time I left found out the other departments would not honor the information and refused to connect with the on-site manager that was trying to help. Consistently pointing the finger at other locations of why they can't help or stating other departments gave me wrong information.

Finally I asked for a Refund, I travel 60-90 days out of the year, I stay at Hiltons often, Hilton Grand Vacations is NOT part of Hilton according to their customer service reps, they do not care about the customer experience. They just want to sell their product and turn you over to someone else. Do not expect a Hilton experience from HGV. I also want to point out that I did not seek them out. They called and called and called. They stopped us multiple times while staying at a Hilton location, trying to sell their promotions, we finally agreed to hear them out just to have them give misinformation. Once off vacation we were given the runaround. Thank goodness we did not BUY into the program, I could not imagine how they would have handled a booking issue after they had their money and commissions, I don't want to deal with that headache every time I want to go on vacation.

We were still excited about the prospect of vacationing in London and Hawaii, so we accepted the offer. One of the selling points of the offer was the ability to lease out our points for rental income, but we have been unable to do so despite months of trying. When it was time to review our contract, we were rushed and were not given enough time to ask all our questions. We were not informed about the annual maintenance fees that would increase each year, and we were not given a public offering statement. The number $10,000 was mentioned frequently, leading us to believe that it was the only amount we needed to pay since there was no talk of interest or fees.

This is how Hilton Grand Vacations treats its paying members! You lure them into a “no obligation purchase” make them buy anyways, and then completely ignore them? This is beyond us, we want written communications from your establishment, on how this matter will be resolved. If there’s again no response from you, we will file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission as well and escalate our concern to the Attorney General of California, who is well known for being a consumer advocate. We will expose your fraudulent acts of manipulation one way or another.

They said unused points would roll over, “no problem” but after signing, it was revealed a charge of $109 for unused points. We were then told how to game the system by booking, then Canceling within the 60 day window to preserve points. We signed a lot of paperwork, received our copy, went to the cruise desk, only to be told the certificate would be mailed to us!

After reading the poor reviews. Once we got home home we decided to rescind the contract. Despite signing a page of two of recission rules, our copy of the contract had small paragraph denoting 10 day window by Florida law and where to send. We immediately typed out a letter, got it notarized and mailed it. The post office did not deliver overnight but 9 days later. While this was outside the window, the notarized letter confirmed we signed this within three days and Hilton accepted it and we got our refund. As for cruise certificate, it never arrived. Called reps twice and both times was told the supervisor or manager will get back to us! Am still waiting. This was our main incentive for trying this resort out and dealing with timeshare. Never trust this company, do not fall for any of their deceptive marketing tactics. They use bait-and-switch techniques and outright lies. If you purchase, check recession rules, send notarized letter within timeframe.

The bad:

1) I was sold a cheap vacation after signing up for a Hilton Honors account. The initial deal sounded good, however, as described below, I didn't get an accurate picture of what to expect.

2) I've made over 10 calls with Hilton trying to book a hotel. My goal was to book any hotel in Hawaii (except Honolulu). I made these calls in September of 2022 trying to book *any* HGV hotel in January, February or March of 2023, however there was NO availability. I also said I would pay for an upgrade (to a suite) if I get the location and dates I preferred, however again, NO availability.

2) I ended up booking a hotel in Honolulu, however Hilton couldn't even tell me what Hotel I would be staying in. This really sucks as I only like 2 out of their 8 options in Honolulu.

3) I learned on the call after I made my final payment that I would have to sit through one of those dreadful presentations to buy a timeshare, this was not communicated to me during the sales process.

4) I have not received a single email from Hilton confirming that I have paid for, or booked the vacation; I did receive multiple emails reminding me to book my vacation, and submit my final payment. I find it odd to not receive any sort of confirmation after I have paid for a vacation product.

5) The HGV website is extremely slow. Minor issue relative to the above points, but every time I used it, I would click a link and have to wait 20-30 seconds for pages to load, despite being on a very fast internet connection.

The semi-positive:

1) Having called Hilton many times now, I will say that I talked to a couple very nice and helpful representatives. I also talked to a few that were not helpful, so I'm neutral on their phone service, at best. It lacked consistency, but I would recommend hanging up and calling back in if you get someone who is rude or not helpful.

Hilton also LIED about the unlimited availability this purchase would offer us, but every time we go to book a reservation, there is nothing available. We told the salespeople we like to travel spur of the moment and we were assured that wouldn’t be a problem, in fact, they said most people do that. Turns out, if you want to book a reservation, you must do it AT LEAST a year in advance. We’ve never booked a vacation a year in advance, and likely never will. This timeshare is completely useless to us.

He tried to sell us a Hilton Amex at 0%for 12 months for the down payment. He left so we could discuss. I expressed concern price and even when the 23k is paid in 10 years we still have the annual fees. Then when you do the math this costs us 1,136 per month. If we break the 5k down to pay off before Interest accrues I said we simply cannot add that to our budget at this time. He showed us three more less expensive plans but these won't get us enough points to do at least two vacations per year so that is not going to be of any benefit to us.

I also explained I switched jobs and am still not sure how my bonus will work yet and that is how we typically budget for our vacation each year. When we finally gave him the hard no Noah became enraged and verbally attacked my husband. He said, "You are holding her back. She wants to go and do this. You don't care about her making memories. She travels without you. That is a red flag to your marriage. You only wanted our free trip. Nothing I could do would have sold you this. You are holding her back and don't care."

He also slammed our folder down on the table. This was after numerous times saying there would be no hard feelings if we walked away today. They pressure you, do not give you a chance to leave and talk about it. He said these deals are only good for today. This was the worst sales experience ever. You don't always buy a car from the salesman but you don't expect to be verbally attacked when you do not. I have called to speak to their sales manager Dom and sent two emails. No response as of now. I doubt I will get one after reading many reviews.

and we have a great time. And my husband is confident In our marriage and never holds me back from this. Please do not buy these expensive useless timeshares. You will regret this.