Hilton Grand Vacations Reviews

He showed me a loan amount for $1,132.07 and I said absolutely not. I cannot afford that and to please bring me back my ID which they were holding hostage. He said, "No ignore that. Your payments will be back around the same amount you are paying now as promised (Lie)." This is what Hilton offers everyone with this high interest rate. "I'm going to schedule a meeting with you to refinance your loan with a lower interest rate for May 3rd." I was coerced into agreeing to this loan with the promise of a refinance that he would provide (Lie). He purposely made a "follow up meeting" after the 5 day contract period knowing that I will be stuck in the contract (Trap).

When I spoke to Grayson on May 3rd 2023 he basically asked me to use LightStream or contact my credit unions and get a personal loan for consolidation. I told Grayson no company has offered a personal loan for consolidation with a term length past 5 years. He said these companies would do this, and this is what he has all his clients do all the time and it's been successful. With my credit score I won't have any problems (Lie). I asked him can we reverse my contact because what you promised me was a lie and like I told you before I absolutely cannot pay $1,132.07 a month. I need to stay under $500 a month. He stated: "I'm not super familiar with that process and what it would look like but why don't you see what you can get from your lending and we can go from there." I just told him none offer a term for 10 years for a loan amount of $58,659.60.

When I tried to reach out for his assistance again regarding reversing this because of the false misrepresentation he stated I had something come up so I won't be in the office tomorrow. Which is further adding days and delaying this process even further.

I asked that they Please have someone call me immediately regarding this situation and remove my contract from Escrow as I cannot afford a loan for $1,132.07 as stated to Grayson many times. You will get stuck in a contract with the only form of communication is thru email, in hopes you get a response. I warn you be aware.

We felt violated by their manipulative tactics and the fact that they took advantage of our lack of knowledge about the timeshare industry. We have since discovered that almost everything was a lie, a clever scheme to entrap us into debt. The yearly maintenance fees are very high and it’s not worth what you get. They didn’t disclose to us that the points would expire if we didn’t use them. Availability is a nightmare, good luck ever staying in your timeshare. Don’t believe them when they say you can make a profit from renting out your unit and that it would cover the maintenance fees! This company is nothing more than a scam and it’s disgusting that they continue to get away with it. It is imperative that the public be aware of these violations and avoid doing business with Hilton Grand Vacations.

The worst part is that we were misled about the due dates of our maintenance payments and ended up being hit with late fees and finance charges. We were also told that we could roll over points, but when we tried to do so, we were unable to, and no one seemed to be able to help us. We were simply passed around from department to department and hung up on. This company is predatory and commits fraud endlessly. It preys on unsuspecting customers, luring them in with false promises and then trapping them in a never-ending cycle of fees and dues.

They compliment you (he commented on my appearance as an attractive smart woman to try to boost my self-esteem) and want to know you personally. Then we sat in on a presentation, which shows fantastic places you can visit and had an emotional aspect of not waiting to travel because tomorrow is never guaranteed. Then we returned to the sales counselor's cubicle, and he was trying to convince us to buy a timeshare since I mentioned wanting to travel everywhere. I am not comfortable buying something when it's my first day hearing about this opportunity, and without doing my own research first. There was the overwhelming notion that this deal will cost more if I wait, so I should buy now. I hate feeling pressured, even though the counselor said a few times that he'd respect if I walked away without buying. He showed us a tour of the resort too, which included a walkthrough of a nice suite and the pool and other spaces & amenities.

As the conversation went on though, he seemed more irritated and less friendly with us. His smiles at the beginning of our interaction faded to frowns and disappointed headshakes. He began to get snarky and stormed off a few times, to get his manager to try to discuss how good this program was. We told the manager we didn't feel like taking part in the program at this time. He seemed understanding and didn't push us too much. Then the third representative/person sat down; he was from marketing and wanted to get our feedback and the top 3 reasons why we didn't buy at this time. The manager and marketing guy both asked us if we would consider the program in the future. I honestly highly doubt it considering my extremely unpleasant experience.

When we went on the owner updates, they purposefully misrepresented the compounding costs associated with upgrading. These hidden costs have added up exponentially over the years. Between maintenance, closing, exchange, booking, and processing fees, Hilton Grand Vacations is making what is obviously a lot of money by double and triple-dipping on these contracts. We paid more than $10,000 in just maintenance fees alone. The amount of interest Hilton Grand Vacations is collecting is staggering, especially considering they present the product as a real estate investment and are charging credit card interest rates. This product cannot be refinanced by a bank or credit union, because this is not real estate. They simply glaze over the financial portion by focusing on the monthly payments associated with the mortgage loan. The “price” in the end will represent about 30-40% of your costs. We have lost all faith in them at this point.

The lady then gave me a ** response as to why they didn't recognize my number. It was a completely wrong number. She was at a loss of words after that. I don't normally leave reviews. However this company sucks. You are smart to read these reviews, I sure if you are reading these reviews, you have already made your purchase. Lol. It may take you some time, but get your money back asap. If they giving people a hard time with this, just imagine how bad it'll be at the vacation resort.

I emailed and then called the number that connected me to a representative previously. They insisted that the Escalations Team did not have a phone number, from whom I was apparently to hear within 10-15 business days. I even asked how they at HGV would reach out to the Escalations Team if they did not have a phone number. They were adamant that the Escalations Team would reach out to me. I requested this in writing via email. They stated they would reach out to me within 24 hours. They did not call.

I called American Express, and they were patient and understanding and opened a dispute. I shared all associated documentation (signed contract, emails, mailed letter, tracking information confirming receipt). The $1695 was credited to my account as the team investigated. (It is worth nothing that, when we initially decided to cancel, I reached out to American Express to dispute this charge. However, I was initially unable to do this because the charge showed up on my account as a hotel stay, with a check in and check out date (both the date of signing). This prevented me from disputing the charge online, as the date of cancellation is shown as after the date of this hotel stay.)

A few business days later, presumably after American Express reached out to HGV VIP, a person from HGV called stating that they would cancel our enrollment in the program. They also stated that the refund would be processed within 90 days. I asked for this in writing via email as well. Interestingly, her email signature did include a phone number. She consistently called me by the wrong name, which was just another point against this hospitality company. Given this experience, I assume I would have had to follow up yet again with HGV after the 90 days to ensure I received my refund. Luckily, I have already received the credit to my American Express. This experience makes me very unlikely to want to interact with Hilton in any capacity, and I will be working hard to avoid them in the future.

They had deposited 50k in my account but then took out 25k. Very frustrating, would not recommend this to anyone. When I called HGV they informed me that the package deal I went on was for 25k only and it was a mistake on their part telling me I would get 50k points. They did help me get to the document that showed the points offer was for 25k points, I was thinking it was 50k but my memory could have been wrong as well. I would not recommend this experience to anyone. Initial cost to buy into the timeshare is high and monthly fees are high, even with me being a Hilton Diamond member.

After we gave in and purchased, we could not help but realize how this has made our lives so much more difficult and our timeshare bills that much higher. They had lied to us about every little detail and kept things from us that we should have been informed of. Hilton Grand Vacations has ruined traveling for us, we can’t even look at travel websites without getting sick to our stomach about how we were tricked out of our hard earned money.

We have paid maintenance fees of $944 twice now, and yet we are paying to support properties we cannot even use. Our children would be forced to inherit the upkeep, maintenance, and taxes on Hilton properties without their consent. We were told we’d be receiving bonus points that we could use in tandem with our owner points. We have learned that we can use one or the other when using points for travel. We have paid over $8000 for nothing in return. Hilton, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Our experience with Hilton has been frustrating and disappointing, to say the least!!! Even after being manipulated into “upgrading”, our experience became worse, if you can believe that.  We were misled during the sales presentations, and it’s only been a huge burden on us. Consider this a warning, take heed and steer clear of Hilton. Their salesmen are sharks, don’t let them fool you.  Look and see what others are saying, clearly Hilton Grand Vacations is acting predatory and senior citizens are especially at risk. They look for vulnerable people, lie and pressure them into a lifetime of debt. It’s a shame we ever came across Hilton Grand Vacations. This is a far cry from the “investment” they described. The whole thing is a joke. Don’t give Hilton a single minute of your time!!!

1. These timeshare are a liability not an asset. If you think otherwise, ask anyone who has actually owned a points based timeshare whether they consider it a true "investment" that carries any market value. In other words, you are signing a contract that says you owe money yearly in perpetuity even after you pay off the principal cost.

2. Regardless of promises of world travel, you are buying into a base property in the state you elect to buy property in. This means if you ever have issues, you will most likely need adjudicate those issues in that state. For example, if you buy in Florida but live in Illinois, you will need to go through the process of getting Florida licensed lawyers to help you.

3. You really need to walk into the sales presentation knowing how to quickly in your head or using your smartphone figure out what it will truly cost you (online amortization calculator can be used) over the years. Most likely, it will not make financial sense to buy into, especially at under $100k/yr income levels.

4. Remember when factoring in vacation costs, they are focused on lodging alone. Often equivalent or just slightly more expensive lodging can be obtained with proper planning on the open market, without having to deal with the notably unavailable customer service of HGV. They are great when (read if) you can get them on the phone to discuss something, even while on their properties

4. Know your budget and realistic life goals. Are you really going to use this? Could you go on vacation that is acceptable to you for the same cost as just the room for the years you are paying it off? At BARE minimum you are looking at around $3k a year if you finance the purchase plus HOA fees that start around $1k a year.

Okay, now on to why it is a clown show. Here's what we experienced: I made a reservation for a work trip and got transferred to HGV in exchange for points. I listened to the phone pitch and was headed to Orlando for that work trip anyway, so why not tack on a few extra days for $179 and see what this HGV stuff is all about? Hilton is a solid brand (though HGV is whittling away at that brand image).

We stayed at Tuscany Village. It was comparable to most suites in hotels, but had the added bonus of a a full kitchen, fridge, and laundry. It was also finished in a somewhat classic way, not too sterile like some modern hotels can be. The sales pitch was on the second day. Here's where it first got annoying. The pitch ran over the allotted 90 minutes, wasting our time. The entire thing could have been done in 60 minutes, we were there 3 HOURS. That said, it was a lot of info, we didn't want to make the decision there and walked out with a solid offer for purchase (5700 points every other year at $15,900) and a 6 night stay in a two bedroom suite for $1695. The $1695 could be used towards the purchase if we decided to buy.

We booked Waikoloa Village 6 months out to ensure we could get a date we wanted and have just returned from that trip. Everything up until that sales pitch seemed to go as expected. The customer service was great (if you could get ahold of them). Facilities were adequate and again had the full dining areas, kitchen and laundry. Good so far...

Then we went to the sales presentation. This time, it was downright insulting. We explained we are people of means are not impressed with the "luxury" and "you wouldn't normally book a suite except for our offer would you?" We have booked penthouse suites without ever needing a timeshare before... Then, we were fed the self contradictory pitch of how valuable family time is, but that we'd be wasting our money on vacations if we didn't spend it through HGV. He literally said to us "You are the perfect demographic for this." Uhh, what??

We explained we have many options to travel including access to several family properties, but would be interested in the one bedroom suite level package. They offered us a package that was not only MORE expensive than our offer in Orlando (which was supposed to be matched or better), but it also included less points that would only cover 3-4 nights off season in a suite. We asked how many points would it take to stay in various places around the world (actual objective facts to help make a decision), and were quickly ushered away from that part of their media presentation into more playing on emotions gobblety gook.

So, we basically were put off at that point and said it sounds like this really isn't for us. Then after some more back and forth the guy literally takes out a PILE OF FAKE CASH saying we were throwing that money away by not signing. At that point my wife and I both looked at each other conveying several swear words by eye contact, gave him the death stare and said "we are done." The final dealing with HGV was that the salesperson said he would validate our parking (as promised in the email) on the way out, instead of us having to go to the receptionist. He stamped the back to make it looked validated, but actually did not validate it, so we had to pay $24 to get out of the parking lot. A final middle finger and disrespect from HGV.

So would I recommend HGV? No. It is a business that makes the most money of its existing clients by charging them endless fees and upgrades to get vacations they could have gone through a travel agent or booked themselves for the the same price (or slightly less or more). The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is it may work for people who buy it as an LLC at one of the higher tiers, AND who want to vacation mainly at a resort during their vacations where services are a la cart and prepackaged for you (i.e. not renting a car and going exploring off the beaten path places using their own itinerary like we enjoy doing). The rooms are adequate for that, and some at the higher end may actually be luxurious. If you do decide to go on one of these trips, don't give into something that doesn't feel right. Good luck!

We spent just shy of $2K for a week’s trip to what was touted as one of the premier properties available with this program, the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Maui Bay Villas. We even had to go to the front of the resort to retrieve our own toilet paper because even though we kept calling for these items… No one would bring them. The lobby is where you can find plenty of employees luring guests into timeshare presentations, which is all they seem to care about. This is where the Maui Sales Team told us we needed more points to achieve the dreams that they sold us in the prior presentation. We have upgraded twice solely based on promises of open availability and other benefits associated with the HGV Max program.

Now we have another 50K mortgage at 9.99%. What a money pit! Nothing has changed at all. If they are willing to treat a lifetime a Hilton Diamond Member like this, it speaks volumes to the regular guest with no status. I will advocate throughout my travel agency to stop recommending any Hilton to any of our clients moving forward. My husband is transitioning over to Marriott properties as a result of this shotty service and property quality.

We never thought that we’d be getting scammed by a company we’ve been so loyal to. They don’t cut the seasoned owners any slack, if they can make a buck, they’ll do it! They constantly try and get you to go to the presentations and over the years not only does it seem mandatory but they basically force you to. Of course, their whole thing is to get you buy-buy-buy upgrade-upgrade-upgrade! We’ve tried multiple times to get our issues squared away with management and even contact their corporate headquarters, but just like the value in their timeshare, we received nothing in return. We received a snarky response to one of our letters, they wiped their hands clean of any wrongdoing. Disgusting. We want nothing to do with these timeshares!!! Let this be a warning to anyone thinking about a Hilton timeshare, it’s not worth it. Hilton is not what it used to be and what they do now is cruel and shameful.

How many VIP points would we need to stay in Oslo, Norway in June for one week? Although we didn't get a complete answer, the package they were planning to sell us for over $29,000 before taxes and admin fees wouldn't cover the week. In fact we would have had to use a partner chain because Oslo had no HGV property there. Besides the $30,000 upfront which you can finance at a % point that over 20 years you would actually pay $100,000 interest, there is also a monthly "maintenance" fee ... Which is neither fixed not linked to inflation. It can be increased at anytime. Before we left we were asked "ordered" to take a survey. It consisted of one question how interested were you in the product. We were polite. They knew by now we travel A LOT.

We told the gentleman with the one question survey that we were late for an appointment, he was very aggressive and told us we had to wait 10 minutes. During which time he invited us to stay one week at one of their HGV properties and although we were told by Lucimara and her we had to make a decision there and then, the survey guy assured us he would hold the offer for 18 months if we took a one week vacation package for 4 people in a 2 bedroom suite. My husband and I were planning a week in Hawaii so we paid the $1695 for 11,520 VIP points.

In theory we could stay at a HGV Grand Waikikian but our points would only cover 1 bedroom. We would need an additional 9,360 points AND attend another sales pitch session in Hawaii, this time 90 minutes or pay a $500 cancellation. So we went online and booked an entire apartment in a boutique hotel in Waikiki for $129/night. Please tell your friends, they can have a no strings attached vacation for the same price or less. I'll be applying for my refund in the morning.

Once I finally agreed to purchase so I would be able to leave, they rushed me through the signing process. I was only given brief summaries of the paperwork, but those summaries were lies. I also was not able to leave with my contract that day. They sent it to me in the mail, conveniently after the rescission period in Nevada had passed. In the year since my purchase, I have tried at least three times, in three different seasons, to book a stay in their resorts. There was never availability where and when I wanted to stay, despite being assured I could travel whenever and to wherever I wanted. Do not waste your time with Hilton, they will just scam you.

We have invested nearly $10,000 in mortgage payments and maintenance/ownership fees; we still hold a balance on one Hilton AMEX credit card and have a loan balance outstanding with a unreasonably high interest rate.  For what we have spent thus far and are forecasted to spend, we probably could have taken that dream vacation that HGVC prides itself on every year WITHOUT ownership. This was definitely not the investment in vacation dreams of a lifetime it was promised and sold to be. Hilton Grand Vacations is not concerned about you as an Owner, or as a person, unless you are sitting across a sales table from one of their employees. That is the only time you will be treated with any semblance of respect.

We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on mortgage payments, maintenance fees and FINANCE CHARGES. We have been lied to repeatedly by Diamond employees over the years; Hilton must make it right or relieve us of the burden. It isn’t like they are just figuring this out, we found articles going back to 2020, if Hilton Grand Vacations did not do the proper due diligence prior, that is on them. It is 2023, we take care of our business, they need to step up and take care of their mismanagement of properties, personnel, and costs. Leadership needs to understand, they need to get rid of their lying staff or own the fact that they too are lacking integrity. We have not asked for a refund of any of our payments…just to have this contract terminated as we cannot afford it at this rate, and we will not tolerate being lied to in such an egregious manner.

Getting out of Hilton Grand Vacations requires a substantial financial loss. In addition, most timeshares require the owner to pass ownership on their death to a relative or friend. And why commit to a vacation in the same place, in the same property in perpetuity? I owned an interest in DVC for a short 2 years. Decided to sell so that I could finance our dream home. I'm not sure if this is true today, but I made a nice profit on the sale and have never regretted getting out of DVC. We love Disney, but not every year, at the same time of the year, and in the same property. Explore the world with the money spent on annual maintenance fees, or invest in life.

Dave

However, in November 22, they said they sent my Statement out for 2023, which I didn't not receive. Charged my account $2632 for my maintenance fees. I've been paying $132/mo for my Diamond Resorts maintenance fees since 2016. I've never missed a payment and they adjusted my payment for inflation, cost of increases. I never had a problem. HGV Max took my maintenance fees of $132 on December 2022, but in January they did NOT. I was on vacation with my elderly parents that I care for and when I noticed that the fees didn't come out I started inquiring as to why.

I couldn't get into my account to review any financial statements (said there were none), tried to contact via "Contact Us" through my account in which an error occurred and still does and then I started calling on 1/17/23. It's an automated phone system, after pressing the appropriate prompts I was put on hold for greater than 15 minutes every day until 1/19/23. Still no maintenance fees came out of my account and no statements on my account. On 1/22/23, after being so concerned, I logged into my account and lo and behold there's a statement for November 2022, I'm past due $1,038 due immediately. I thought what this has to be a mistake. So I start calling and chatting to no avail.

I had a friend staying at one of their properties on the oceanfront so I texted the front desk and asked for the number HGV Max so that I could talk to someone immediately and they gave me the financial services number for club owners. I called and was on hold for 45 minutes all while chatting with someone who informed me that I didn't pay enough maintenance fees for 2023. I said absolutely not and he gave me the same Number. I said I was on hold with them and now it's 55 minutes. Someone picked up and they said they were transferring me to a financial counselor. Put on hold for another 25 minutes. I'm done.

First thing this morning I called down to the HGV max building where they conduct the sales presentations and left a message that I needed a call back immediately before I contacted my lawyer. Someone called me back and told me to call the financial services number which I did and sat on hold for 20 minutes. I've tried to contact them, send emails and nothing. Finally someone called me tonight to tell me after I explained all of this to her, she informs me "It's all in the contract you signed ". I said it says my maintenance fees will increase to $2433.20 for 2023. She said yes. I said, "It says no such thing." What it says is "Initial Use Year's Association standard Assessments (estimated), you will be billed $998". That's a big difference from $2632 that I was billed on 11/10/22. I had no statement, no notice, and now I'm expected to pay $1294 by 1/1/23.

My timeshare is useless because I specifically told the salesperson and the financial person that I could afford the $283/mo loan payment for the points but I couldn't afford anymore for my maintenance fees as I only make $2000/mo and I already have other bills... they could've said that the statement meant maintenance fees on that document but it did not and I'm not a lawyer to understand what that meant. So now my contract will go into default because I don't have enough money to make both payments every month. I screamed at the top of my lungs, put the $1038.18 payment on my Discover card which out that at the limit and I'll not be paying for this timeshare and filing bankruptcy.

- HGV stopped taking payments out of my account and I noticed it and called. First person was rude and dismissive. 2 payments were missed. I asked to pay extra to catch up and it was refused. I asked about payment arrangements and HGV doesn't do that.

- There are no statements provided to manage accordingly and ensure that payments have been completed and updated balance. You have to keep checking your statements and that doesn't work.

- Payments resumed, but I will have to call in order to pay the remaining balance. Since I purchased in Feb 2022, I would have to pay the remaining 2 balances in full by March 1st. I explained me trying to get this resolved and was met with negative results. This led me to cancel my reservation for April 1st because the contract expires in August and I am still trying to catch up with my bills.

- The reservation itself was inadequate. Instead of having a 2 bedroom for myself and my kids, the only spots available at Myrtle Beach Locations were a one bedroom which is not what I wanted or expected which means that my parents were correct. HGV doesn't guarantee at the time you want to travel that you are getting the rooms you want and pay for. I would be paying the same price for a 1 bedroom than 2 or 3 and planning 6 months in advance is not enough time-frame to get what I want which means this will be a continual problem that I don't want to go through.

- If space is not available since I got to plan further out (no payment arrangements to catch up), I will lose out on almost $1800.00

- Even though the last person that I spoke to waived all of the late fees they have continued to charge me for them not taking my payments out of my account, I have been charged every month. My last payment besides the missed payments will be completed next month, I have to call each time to take time to pay the missing two payments or incur late fee charges again.

- People have been through the wringer on a lot given how the economy is and it seems like HGV doesn't want to work with you to keep your business.

- I have to attend another timeshare presentation just for using this package to see if this is for me and my answer will be an absolute NO. If this is this difficult and deceptive for a VIP package, then I can see how much of a nightmare this would be for ownership.

- They want couples, which is not fair. As single parents like myself can handle payments on my own, the good ol boy tactics when I brought my then boyfriend along was literally insulting, especially since the main income came from me.

- Like I said, I simply love Hilton and will continue to be a Diamond member. I have felt comfortable in just about every hotel that I have stayed in, especially since I have to travel for medical appointments. I am a disabled veteran with multiple conditions and specialists are just not in my state. So I appreciate the hospitality. I thought HGV would be an extension, but the cost of my piece of mind since getting this package has been extremely stressful. So I won't be opting for ownership after this.

They will say out of all the owners 10k bad reviews isn’t that bad. Well where are the good reviews? Haven’t seen one and now I know why!! Really not sure how this is legal or how Hilton would associate its name with HGV. It really ruined my life and that’s not an exaggeration, I didn’t have much money before but this has wiped out all my savings and 2 years of my time…. And I’m still not out :(

- We were told that availability is not an issue at all (which was a primary concern). When I just got access to the portal it is clear you have to book out many months in advance because there is extremely limited availability.

They use high pressure sales tactics that put you in a room for 3+ hours and make you feel like a hostage wearing you down until you consent. It's a total scam and now I have to pay $7,000 to hire a firm specializing in timeshare exits and it will take 1-2 years to get out of the contract. These are highly trained scam artists. If this post helps anyone avoid falling for this, I will consider it a win.

I told the salesman over numerous times, no. I did not want the timeshare. I was being constantly pressed, and pressured and pressured. Even the managers will pressure you. They show you all these resorts, and RCI deals that seem so easy at your fingertips. It's a scam. They show you numbers for prices you think you will pay in the long run, it's a scam. It should be illegal. I can't believe timeshares are legal to sell in the United States. They make you think you're getting a good deal on these trips by paying with their point systems but you're not. 99% of the resorts I was showed don't exist, they want thousands of points for 1 trip. You're honestly better off saving the money from all the fees and using that to go on trips. IF SOMETHING SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT IS!!!! I was gullible and manipulated. I'm currently trying to find out how to get out of my timeshare and lawyers. Don't know how those people sleep at night lying for money.

After explaining that almost everything about Hilton is a lie and showing me that I can get everything I was promised without even being an owner, they were able to help me completely cancel my contract, and I was even able to get a $30,000 refund!! I couldn't believe it when they called me with the news, and I will always be so grateful. If you still pay for it every month and hate it too, call 843-929-1349. They cover all of their bases, they made sure that my credit would not be affected, they showed me how I could take inexpensive wonderful vacations, and they told me everything I needed to know before I even had to agree to be taken on as a client. Seriously, if you need help call them. It will be the best decision you will ever make!!

We have reached out to members of the Executive Team; however, we have received no response. We are not willing to talk to anyone locally (Myrtle Beach, SC) ever again! We are only looking for action at this point, It truly feels like if your checkbook isn't falling out of your pocket, they do not care. We feel used, abused, and ignored. We've paid thousands of dollars into a product we do not want, we don't expect anything back, but we will not spend any more money with them. Maintenance fees should not be imposed on those who are not even able to utilize the product because the cost makes travel prohibitive, followed by Hilton Grand Vacations openly double dipping but making the same product available to the public online for less.

Our kids, want nothing to do with this and their inheritance should not be diminished further because we were duped by greedy salespeople who omit the very information you need to make a reasonable decision. They take "always be selling" to a whole new generational level. They are evidence of American society and ethics going backwards.

She stated that she was offering a package that was “perfect” for us because it would allow us access to Disney World, and the points would be enough to take cruises to hundreds of beach resorts around the world. One hour later, we requested to leave as nothing had been presented that we were interested in, regardless of her using our words against us in her “pitch”. The response, basically, I’m not done yet. Then, she called in two more salespeople to put on the pressure. Regardless of who you are or how you finance this worthless product, it remains VERY expensive for what is open to the public on Hilton Worldwide’s website, Expedia, etc. Ultimately, they blatantly lied to us multiple times about multiple things and 5 years later, we want NOTHING to do with them. Their answer to every complaint is “You just need more”…of a bad thing? NO THANKS!

HGV also lets you book friends and family, even though you are not there. Most timeshares do not allow this, and I feel that’s a waste if you can’t use all the points you have. Another great feature is that you can convert all your points to Hilton Honors, leaving you able to use ANY HILTON sister company hotel. Big plus when there is no Grand Vacations near your vacay spot. You just need a good sales person you always work with to walk you through the best way to utilise your membership.

On a down note, (I am a clean freak and work in the QC/inspection business per say for buildings), and I am quick to notice/call out what is not to par and what could have been done to make the condo or hotel a little nicer or cleaner. BUT WHEN brought up to management, they have been more than helpful in either fixing the issue or getting us to another room (however it should not happen on a regular basis at different sites).

Overall we LOVE the brand HGV and Hilton. Only thing I wish is to be their Regional QC Housekeeping/Maintenance General Manager. I know how it feels to pay TOP DOLLAR for ownership, and when you arrive, things are not up to par . You pay a mortgage, you should receive what you expect as if owning a personal home. Side note: Many other benefits available, but too many to list in this review. Maybe I will write another, on the cool benefits you get aside from Hotels or condos.

To date, we have had a 68% increase in these fees, and it never ends! We cannot rent it out as promised, it has no value, and the availability and booking process is so complicated that we cannot even use it. Do not get me started on their terrible customer service! I wish that we had never heard of these people. Stay as far away as you can!

When we purchased - you could convert your current year points and saved year points to Hilton Honor Points at the time ~ 120k points which was worth about 5 nights at a low end Hampton INN. Not a good value for something you are paying about $900 for but better than nothing. The very first time we used points we got an email stating that, "You would no longer be able to convert saved points to Hilton Honors points." I was pissed hearing this. We have not been able to use our 2022 points - I got online and was interested in converting them to hotel points. NOPE. Can no longer do that - except for future years (i.e. you can convert 2024 points in 2023). And now our points convert to 99,000 hotel points - worth perhaps 3 nights at a LOW END Hampton Inn.

Due to limited availability to book when we could travel we've had to save points forward. This year to fee to save points was $189. This is on top of the $1040 maintenance fee we paid at the start of 2022. We also just paid the off year maintenance fee of $199 for 2023. So IF we are able to book a vacation in 2023 it will have cost $1,428 for 1 week in a 1 bedroom - on top of the up front cost of over $18,000! That's good for Myrtle Beach. It won't get you a studio in NYC, ski areas during high season or anything else desirable. All I can recommend is take the 3 day vacation - listen to the sales pitch for the required time and say NO NO NO to buying anything. Beat these scam artists at their own game.

In 5 years we used reservations once because of the lack of availability. What a scam. We could have set up the same stay ourselves by booking online. Tens of thousands of dollars might as well have been thrown in the garbage. You are better off renting lodging or set up your own hotel. It will be just as or more cost effective. Every year members have to pay HOA, taxes and reservation fees. Then when making a reservation additional fees are required. A 40 thousand dollar property was offered $1200 by HGV to buy back. What a joke. BIG SCAM! Learn from me. Don’t do it! If there was an option for less than one star I would have selected that.

After doing some research, I realized that I have blown $20k on NOTHING. There is no value at all when people are selling timeshares for as little as a buck online! The rest of the details about the timeshare were minimal at best and we were not allowed to go through the contract while signing it. Immediately, I felt something was off and wanted to cancel. I would have done so if anyone told us that we had a legal right to cancel in a certain number of days. Gee, I wonder why they didn’t give us that piece of crucial information…

As a military family (Zachary is retired Navy) we expected to be treated with respect and honesty, instead we were subject to BLATANT LIES told by Diamond Resorts Sales Team. This has resulted in our family being left with HEAVY EMOTIONAL STRESS in addition to the financial challenges it presents. Some kind of vacation...NOT NEVER! We suspect that Diamond will bring Hilton's name down to their level.

The problem is there is hardly any availability and when there is, it’s not somewhere you would want to go. Scottsdale, AZ in July anyone? We attempted to confront the main salesperson that “pitched” us, on multiple occasions to address all the fallacies he pitched us on. He ducked our calls and went out of his way to avoid contact. This is not the behavior of an honest salesman, or someone who has conducted business in an ethical, legal manner.

It may have been a blessing in disguise, as I finally fled the room to get away from the music, and we said no to the pitch. Reading the reviews has reinforced our relief at saying no, but it took quite a while to recover from the assault on our senses. We don't know the benefit of such loud music. So, if you attend a sales meeting at the HGV at the Doubletree in Chicago, be sure to take your earplugs!

Yes, they offer HHonors points and a free night as a part of the package. However, you can get the same rate if you book the vacation for an off-peak season yourself without the obligation to attend the sales presentation. The agent told me that if I wanted to book during my period of choice, I would have to pay an additional $199. Rooms were not available for other periods that I was interested in. Second, it turned out my husband would not be able to attend. I would be disqualified if I showed up without him. I would have to pay the "currently published nightly rate" plus costs and taxes. I tried to find out how much that would be and nobody would give me an answer. For comparison, similar timeshare programs (Wyndham) publish the penalty fees on their official website.

From other customer reviews I learned that HGV might charge me $1200 in addition to what I have already paid! Third, all four agents I have spoken to so far gave me conflicting information about the reservation. One told me that I had to book within 45 days from purchase to be able to receive the HHonors points, another one said if the trip did not occur within 45 days, I would lose the points. From the reviews I read, I found out that I might be even charged a $100 fee if I do not make a reservation within 45 days! None of this was communicated to me at the time of the purchase. I did not receive an email listing the detailed conditions of the purchase, so they could change everything they told me as they want.

I am extremely unhappy as I did not expect such disturbing sales practices from Hilton. I already requested a refund, and if I do not receive it, I will dispute the charge with my credit card company. I am also submitting a report to BBB. For the record, BBB have received over 2000 complaints about HGV in the last three years. I will also make sure to not use Hilton either for work or leisure related trips ever again.

Here is the longer version: To start off with, they never told me that I'd have to pay extra beyond their quoted price. There are hundreds of dollars in port fees they never told me about. But right after I got the package, COVID hit. They told me I could extend it, which I did, but when it got around the time I had rescheduled, Covid was still severe and the CDC warned people not to travel on cruise ships. I called and asked to cancel my cruise, as I wasn't sure when I'd be able to travel and even if I'd be able to find anyone else willing to get on the ship with me.

The salesperson (I don't call it customer service, because they are always trying to sell you something) told me that I could extend the cruise all the way out to December if I called Royal Caribbean. I reluctantly agreed to that, but immediately asked: what is the latest I can cancel the certificate if I'm not able to travel. The agent specifically told me I could call until November 16 and cancel for a full refund.

Fast forward to November 16. I found out a few days before that that the one I was schedule to travel with couldn't make it. So given what the agent had told me earlier in the year, I looked around for a replacement, but called on November 16 because I couldn't find anyone. When I called, I was treated more rudely than anyone in customer service has ever treated me. They refused to cancel the certificate despite what they had told me, and even though they could see the prior agent's note verifying what I told them! They refused me the option to speak to a supervisor, and they have to date refused to keep their word.

That is FRAUD, plain and simple. And I will spread the word far and near that Hilton is not a trustworthy brand. This episode has ruined their brand as far as I'm concerned. They instead tried to offer me 50,000 Hilton reward points. NO. They agreed to fully refund me if I called by November 16, and all of their agents verified that this was in the notes but still refused to issue the refund.

I called corporate both to complain about the incredibly rude treatment and the lies told about the refund, and they wouldn't even talk to me. They shuffled me back down to customer service, which told me I needed to talk to corporate. DUH. I called back and this time they transferred me to the concierge department! Concierge just verifies reservations. They have nothing to do with my issue. So not only has Hilton committed FRAUD, but they are intent on keeping me on the phone for hours as they transfer me back and forth to people who can't and won't help. Well I'll make sure the world knows about it. Whatever you do, do not ever ever ever deal with Hilton Grand Vacations. Don't buy their scammy time shares, and don't even listen to their time share presentations, because even what they offer you in exchange is fraud.

In ten years, we have tried numerous times to book a reservation and have only been successful twice. If this, the rising maintenance fees, the inability to give the property back or the unbelievable cost of this ownership had been properly disclosed to us at the start, it is unlikely we would have purchased this time share. Instead, their staff took advantage of 2 seniors, one of whom is a 100% disabled veteran. Truly shameful! We believed that with a name like Hilton they could be trusted and instead we are stuck with this terrible nightmare which appears to have no end.

They ran 3 different salespeople at us, each applying different high pressure sales tactics. We even had one tell us we were “bad parents” if we did not buy the points they were pushing on us! They were a bunch of con men! They opened a credit card in our name but assured us the high interest rate would come down, it did not. Now we learn that everything you do within HGV requires the payment of fees. They charge you to make reservations, transfer points, every action has a fee! Avoid these scammers, they will defraud you and ruin your credit in the process. We reached out to them to be released from this fraudulent contract, but they have ignored our requests.

To make a long story short, I have made, to this date 11 phone contacts to HGV in an attempt to book my tour which is scheduled for next month. One reason after another is given as to why it cannot be done. Each time I am promised that someone will contact me within 5 days with the booking information. NOT ONCE has anyone contacted me either by telephone or email. I still do not have a confirmed reservation and I leave in two weeks.

During one call, I was told that my reservation had been cancelled. When I asked why, they said that I had cancelled it (which was not at all the case). When I asked for proof, they could not provide it, so they told me that they were forced to reinstate my reservation (still blaming me for having cancelled it). Most people will not have read this far, so I won't continue with the multiple lies and examples of awful service I have endured to this point. My best advice is not to even try to book a sales pitch with this company. Just read the results of all the miserable experiences of others should you get as far as actually buying into their scam.

We believe that HGV misrepresented their product by high pressure sales, untruths about booking information and never discussed the fact that our children would be stuck with this burden of increasing Vacation Owners Association fees long after both of us were dead and gone. Both of us are in our 60s, we cannot waste any more time on the very evident false dreams HGV. All these lies and broken promises from HGV and its employees are not good for either of us; this level of deception is nothing short of taking advantage the public simply for pure profit.

They also withheld loan details as well as the total cost of the membership which turned out to be significantly more than what they told us it would be. Since this purchase my wife has suffered a stroke and has leukemia which means we can no longer travel. We are being financially destroyed! We reached out to Hilton leadership, but they have ignored our attempts to resolve this situation. Do not trust Hilton!

In 2019, 2 years into a previous contract, I was convinced to “upgrade” by a seemingly kindhearted sales rep. He persuaded me to increase the ownership so that I could travel more and get more benefits with more points. He stressed that it was a good real estate investment and reassured me that Hilton has a "buyback program" where they buy timeshares off owners who don't want them anymore, like a car dealership and then resell them again. The manager even said that since this was a "deeded property”, that I could potentially even sell it for more money than I initially bought it for.

Eventually both the rep and his manager became very pushy and wouldn't take no for an answer. Once I had agreed to a contract, we moved to the closing stage. This was with a third Hilton employee, and she was there to help me navigate the closing and explain the loan to me. Before doing this, though, the two sales employees, suggested to me that I lie about my income so that I qualify for the loan. I really didn't want to do this and refused, but I later noticed on the contract that they did end up lying about my income to qualify me for the loan.

Then the race was on. The “navigation employee” really rushed me along through this and didn't really let me have time to look over what it was I was signing. I don't recall going over the Public Offering Statement with her, but everything was so rushed maybe they mentioned it, if so, it was very brief. Like they were eager to just have me leave. NOW, I’m looking for the “buyback program” but would be happy with a “takeback program”. No one is helping me, while they continue to take money for something I can’t use, afford, or want!

Being this is Hilton we gave credibility since it is a bigger name company and we didn't worry about whether we were being scammed. I even double and triple checked that we could pay this off over 10 years interest free, and that we wouldn't be billed any additional Maintenance fees these next 10 years, and he assured us that our understanding was correct. And on top of that for the same $31,687, we could also get an additional 7000 points for it. And we believed it (being naive and too trusting because of the Hilton name), that for the maintenance fees we'd pay anyways, we would get another 7000 points. We agreed (regrettably in hindsight). He then took us to another computer, helped us apply and got approved for the $31k+ AMEX loan. Later we learned that we would have to reapply for the 0% rate yearly. This wasn't ideal, but ok.

A month later we get our first AMEX bill and the monthly payment was higher than expected. The monthly payment was 2% ($633/month) of the total balance but the HGV representative Giovanni pitched to us that it would be 1% ($316/month). We contacted him about it and talked on a Saturday and he said he'd contact his supervisor and get back to us the following Monday. We felt good at first knowing that we weren't abandoned and that he was taking steps to help resolve this. But Monday came and he made no contact. We reached out by email, text, and phone, but 2 weeks now, he's made absolutely no contact to us.

We contacted AMEX to see if this can be resolved on their end, if the minimum fee of 2% ($633/month) was a mistake, but AMEX said the 2% is the policy and that we were misinformed by the HGV representative. We filed a complaint within AMEX and we are awaiting to see what resolution can come of it, if any. We then mentioned to AMEX that the HGV representative also explained to us that we'd have to reapply yearly for the 0% rate and we find out that even this isn't a true statement, AMEX does not have a program where you can reapply yearly for the 0% rate on the same balance.

Now we question whether any of the things that Giovanni pitched to us is in fact true? He mislead us to think we'd pay $316/month, he seemingly lied to us about the 0% yearly interest rate based on AMEX's response, maybe he lied to us about not being charged yearly maintenance fees, he is not responding back to us, now we feel like we were scammed by Hilton Grand Vacations.

This can't happen, what he pitched to us aren't even half-truths but so far have been lies. We are waiting to see what AMEX can do to help, but hopefully this complaint will get to HGV so we can get a response back and hopefully help in getting this resolved, and prevent Giovanni from doing this to someone else. This has left us very stressed, emotionally and financially, finding any way to get this resolved.

10 days later we get an email to set up our account. Upon setting up the account I then researched various all inclusives in Punta Cana. Imagine my shock to find out that the "minimal" all inclusive fee is actually hundreds of dollars more than the total package if I go to the resort site direct. That's right - $16,000 to end up paying more for the vacation than booking it direct and not using. Great deal - right!!!

I then called to cancel and they said I only had 5 days to do so and they had passed. Keep in mind I didn't get the email to create account so I could review until 10 days had past. All this to tell everybody to stay away and don't get trapped like we did. I use to really respect Hilton but for them to do this to people is a real breach of that faith. Bye Bye Hilton and hopefully whoever is reading this will stay away as well.

They lie. No. This is not your unique opportunity to own real estate in a city you could never afford on your own. Save your money and vacation in that city for a fraction of the price. You won nothing, but you have to pay much more in maintenance fees than you could ever dream of paying for a hotel stay. No. They will not buy back your timeshare and no, they do not value your opinion. They care about money. Not you. I can't blame the salespeople entirely. It is a trickle down from management (who likely sip Dom Perignon on their yachts and giggle and justify their Machiavellian ways). But still, the salespeople are to blame for perpetuating the lies and stealing your hard earned money. Shame on you. Yes, you can be successful, but wouldn't you rather earn your income from a means that helps the world?

They are evil. Not only is your money gone, but they will sue you if you don't continue to pay. They want your hard earned money, forever! Evil. And we wonder why the world isn't better off. Evil companies such as these are a part of the problem. Our venerable elected officials, please do away with fraudulent companies such as these. Please. Please, do yourself and your family a favor. Avoid Hilton Grand Vacations. Forever. The world needs to boycott them. There will still be much to be done, but it is a good start to making our world a better place. Evil. Evil. Evil. Did I mention evil? Run away!!!!

5. Your friends, family and in our case, employees can have easy access to your “investment” as you determine.  

BE AWARE! Intentionally or not, deflection of purposeful omission is illegal.

4. Failure to disclose the state rescission period (We found out later we had 5 days to cancel).

This is all in addition to the “show unit” is not what you are buying, lack of upkeep, out of control fees that were never mentioned, the list of issues goes on and on. Now we are dealing with their blatant disregard of our issues and demands for release of being associated with the company in any capacity. The employees in Las Vegas clearly engage in deceptive sales tactics, the pressure, and the LIES have shown us how truly evil and greedy this company is. Everything the staff claimed was total fiction and unfortunately, we highly doubt that this is limited to the Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Elara Hilton operations.

Since the television was inop, we decided to take a swim. Well, the pool closed early that evening, even after we verified the hours with the front desk. And on top of everything else, the hot tub was broken so we couldn't use that either. Read these reviews carefully and think twice before buying a timeshare from them. It looks like it's the old bait and switch game. They let you tour a fabulous, top of the line resort and then when it comes time to stay at a resort, you get a dump! Management will not return calls so it becomes very clear they are only after your $$. I would highly suggest you look everywhere else besides Hilton.

It was all too much so THANKFULLY I ended up calling it off and walking out. I did however sign up your a Hilton Honors credit card. I see the same day I applied, they added a $49 marketing fee. This is not the annual fee. It’s a fee I didn’t authorize. So just more of my time disputing a charge from yet another secret fee. Be aware and run from these vipers!

Want to know how many vacations I’ve booked after spending all the money - NONE because there are no openings anywhere this year or anywhere I need to go next year despite “the large amount of wonderful properties”. I looked at a vacation for next summer and 5 days will use all of my points…cool. I’m getting one vacation for 20,000 dollars. Biggest waste of money.

I was told that a manager would call me within 72 business hours. They never called. On October 22, I called again. This time, the agent said the same thing regarding tour inventory, but added that I couldn't book within 30 days of accepting the offer. Again, first time I had been told this. The agent said the best they could do was refund, but that does nothing for my four plane tickets I already paid for. I asked for a manager, and was connected with Jasmine. Jasmine said she would see what they could do, and that she would call me back by 5:30. She never called back.

Now, on October 31, I have called again and I just spoke with Bob. He said Jasmine noted that there is no inventory and that a refund is all they could offer. I said "she said she'd call and didn't", to which Bob shortly responded "well she made a note". Terrible customer service. I said the only way this was going to end is with my booking to be fulfilled or us filing litigation. Bob said "you can do whatever you want but it will go nowhere". I asked for a manager. After 10+ minutes of holding, Bob said that his supervisor, Jessica, would call me back. I said "I have a hard time believing I will get a call back based on my experience to this point". Bob said "Jessica is one of the few supervisors I trust. She will call you".

So, I was sold a package by an agent who withheld the limitations. To put it mildly, I was misled. To put it accurately, I was deliberately deceived by Hilton. And when I tried to contact them, I received horrendous customer service. I am a business owner. If I make a promise and don't keep it, I am going to do everything in my power to make up for it. How hard is it to do the right thing here? You either make someone give a tour on our dates, or you honor the package rate and let us stay without going on the tour. Refunding does nothing to help with our flights and plans that were already made. Hilton simply refuses to take responsibility for their actions and do the right thing. They will lose a customer for life if they don't make this right.

We were told the property was exclusive to owners, which is not true. It was supposed to be easy to sell…Not true. We were told points never expire, yet there is a fee to save the points from expiration…which was never disclosed to us. We were in our late 60s at the time, now well into our 70s and want to be relieved of the financial burden. After some research on U.S. laws and sales practices we learned that deceptive sales techniques and predatory lending to people over the age of 60 is ELDER ABUSE!

I received my booking emails not long after and saw the dates were scheduled incorrectly. I called their customer service line to correct the mistake. The customer service team told me the dates had not been "released" into their inventory and that these dates were unavailable. They told me I could try and call back within 30 days to see if these days would become available. I asked her if I was not able to make these dates work, would they be able to offer as refund as this was the ONLY reason I had agreed to purchase the package. The agent said that they would not be willing to make a refund just because the dates I wanted were not available. She said the salesman had made a "MISTAKE" booking my dates and assured me I would be able to make my reservation for those dates.

I asked to speak with a manager. Customer service instead she sent a "chat". After a 30 minute argument, I finally received confirmation from the manager that my package could be cancelled., But only because I had called within 24 hours of my booking. The agent said if I had called later, they wouldn't have. They will not refund if the sales representatives lie to you on a sales call. I will not do business with this company.

They claimed that there would be a resale market for the timeshare at any time we decided to leave; this was untrue as we have received notification from HGVC recently that our package is worth less than $3,000. Apparently large commissions are part of the “value” you pay for “investing”. Do not buy into this program once, never mind twice. Their special math is deceiving, inflated and the experience is demoralizing. In hindsight this is a familiar pattern in Florida, South Carolina and Utah.

I was also promised a stay at Disney World, only to find out that Hilton does not have any property on site at Disney. Then there was the pressure of sitting there having information thrown at me for 4 hours straight yet being told I need to decide right then and there, or the deal being offered would expire. During another presentation, I explained that I was upset about the reservation process and was told the only way to fix the problem was to spend more money on an upgrade. What a scam!

The points are another twist. Four tiers, not exactly sure how it applied. We bought 6000 points every even year, they threw in an additional 8000 bonus points (used w/in 2 years). Total cost 20k.. down from an the initial offering of 49,900 for 11k points.. Ugh! Are you confused yet? We sure as heck were. Presentation 9/15/22 for a 3day stay @ $179. Good deal right. I’m not sure if this is Hilton or not, but if Hilton wants to align themselves with the likes of RCI and Diamond Resorts (notorious for never stays) for this I’m miffed! Canceled 9/19/22.. Well within their 30-45 day rescission period. Never have I ever experienced a range in rescission. But ok.. Another thing, I’m a mortgage underwriter, they’re now using mortgage terms to buy air- closing cost, HOA fees. Code for you’ll pay forever. If you’ve ever wondered how these luxe high rise hotel chains support themselves? Let this be your answer.. HOA- insurance and maintenance fees are endless. KEEP YOUR MONEY, Better off saving for a luxury trip!

Diamond and Hilton are one in the same and it is obvious it is a vicious racket! We have made our grievances clear to the leadership at Hilton Grand Vacations and they have shown time and time again that they don’t care! They are willing to hurt senior citizens for profit. We look forward to the day that the authorities shut them down and give everyone their stolen money back!!

Why did I pay so much more but got less points a year early. Is this how you gouge people for money for a deed not worth the paper it was written on. I checked and my 53k investment is barely worth $3,000.00. HGVC is reallynot a good value and this needs to be shared to the public, we are unhappy with hgvc and want a refund on comp package we purchased for orlando as we cannot find any dates available and frankly many of the properties are in areas full of crime or just unsafe areas. I do plan on sharing all of this information on social media and other platforms.

We did look at a room which was much nicer than where we all stayed for our “3 hour tour” That room had issues. The door lock had to be replaced so we had to stay at the room until that was taken care of. Anyway, I did use the night stay for a family event. This was a good experience at the Hampton in Newport, RI. Now I am going thru the rebate process. So I mailed off the form with receipt from hotel stay. I did receive an email that it was received and being processed. I received a Visa card for $200. But have yet to be able able to activate or speak with a live person. Phone number provided and website provided will not accept the tracking number or card number.

I finally found a number from the original sales number and spoke with a person who advised I needed to call the rebate center ( like I should know this) or have been given this number. When I asked when or how I was to have this number she had no answer. So I specifically asked if I would be able to speak with someone and confirm they were working on the weekends. She said, "Oh yes." So of course the office is closed and that is all it says and hangs up on you. No way to confirm it’s the right number.

So I call the sales office back and a guy answers and I explain my issue again and how I asked if someone was working at this number. So he puts me on hold for quite awhile while he tries to find out if / when the rebate office is open. He comes back and just says, "Well, they are not open on the weekends. Only open Monday to Friday." So then when I ask the hours. He does not know but says I “think” it’s 8 to 10 pm. Needless to say very frustrating. I let both of the people know how poor this customer service is to not provide phone numbers or options for live assistance and hours of operation on any of this paperwork or emails. I am so glad we did not purchase the timeshare or even opt for the “rental” vacation. Truly think HGV is an all around a big sham.

We were trapped in this bogus sales meeting for several hours. We were tired and confused about everything they tried to push on us. We were ready to leave, and they just kept adding gifts and incentives to the package. They offered us a free android tablet and $100 gift card if we just stayed longer. Unfortunately, we decided to try the 7500-point cash option package out only because they assured us, we could cancel later if we decided. The cancel period expired before we ever had a chance to review the paperwork. When we returned home it took several months to receive our member login & password. Once we were able to access the login portal, we soon learned that none of the “cash option” offers were available for all the travel dates we entered. Finally, when Diamond merged with Hilton, we learned our points were basically worthless and, of course, we need to upgrade with Hilton. This was a total SHAM!

Thank God in Heaven (truly) that we had until the next day following Labor day to cancel. I typed my cancelation letter on labor day, my husband and I signed it and I mailed it via certified on September 6 which is the date of this report. DO NOT BE DUPED BY THESE PEOPLE! Every bad thing you hear about is absolutely correct and then some. They are characters acting out roles uniquely designed to scam you. They use nuanced words instead of straight up facts...like you will leave here with a deed... which would make the average person think they are buying real estate. It should be absolutely ILLEGAL for them to operate in this manner.

Another slimy note. One salesperson even used her mother's dementia (if it was even true) to make her timeshare presentation. "Value the time right now," she said..."because you don't know if you'll have it later." They want you to buy immediately so you don't have time to think about it. I'll end this by saying that we dodged a bullet. Not only did I send cancel letter in 5 days but I sent a copy of the letter and certified envelope to the salesperson and their so called financial office as well as to the HGV hotel manager as proof that I have sent a timely request to cancel. This report on the 5th day (with holiday as a additional day) is also part of my record. HGV is about greed! They couldn't care less about our vacations. Pure and simple.

My experience with her was enlightenment of the program will ensure that I purchase in the future. Unfortunately my experience with her manager was not the same. When he found out that I was not going to purchase on that day he became angry and he showed it disrespectful and he did not know how to handle a no. As a salesperson for over 25 years I know that the No may eventually lead to a close and that even if a customer says no today if I give them a great experience they will always remember where to come back when they are ready to purchase. It is only because I have always had great experiences with Hilton that I know he is not with the company represents. And because I am an ** woman I could even say that with his comment about the “one percent”, was speaking out of line and against the beliefs of your company. He left me with a bad taste in my mouth for Hilton grand vacations.

Thank goodness my experience prior to meeting with him was with Her who actually saved the day. When he said to me “I already know that you won’t be back so I’m gonna have Anna walk you to the door so you can get what you came for.” I knew that he was not a season salesman and did not have a skill to be in his position. Prior to that I told him that because of the type of buyer that I am I would need to take all of the information back, sit down, look at it and make a decision about whether or not this is something that would fit for my family and I called myself financially savvy and his response was “well you couldn’t be financially savvy if you spending money on these hotels instead of buying this today“. How rude and out of line.

Earlier in this writing I expressed that I am an ** woman and I said that because I did not hear Him speaking to any other person in that room in this manner besides me. He has an inflated ego and was unkind and disrespectful. And I hope to never do business with him or anyone with this personality because I do not feel that he represents the face of Hilton. I will also send this letter to Hilton corporation in hopes that The manager will receive the training necessary for this to never happen again to another person and especially to an ** woman.

Now they’re telling me that its value is only $11,000 and that they would not purchase it back from us. Not even after they entered us into an agreement under the wrong property to start with, then made all these empty promises and made this out to be an investment and something of value when it’s clearly not. All I’ve asked is that they take it back and I don’t want anything in return. Let the next sucker fall for their scam and resale it. I’m curious to know if anyone else has had these scam calls where they’ve had personal information leaked? If so, I think there should be a class action lawsuit against them. They not only did not inform the public but also have denied it and those calls are recorded, or so they say.

4. We were buying property, and we could sell this once its value appreciated.

We refused multiple times before giving in and purchasing because of the amount of pressure. It was after we had signed the contract and the non-disclosed cancellation period had expired that we realized, all the reasons we justified the purchase turned out to be lies.

I was even promised I could stay in exotic places and Disney properties, neither of which are true. Another flat-out lie was being told I was purchasing real estate. I don’t own any property, only points to use at properties. That is NOT the investment the salespeople said it would be. I have a feeling these details are why I was rushed through the contract. They didn’t want me to catch the lies before I was on the hook for the contract!

The first sales person was nice and explained the point system. As soon as we were shown the price and gave her a big NO that starts the wheels in motion. That's when the next level sales person comes in and starts scribbling all these numbers and arrows and boxes on a sheet of paper trying to show how great it is. Then offered a bi annual unit at a lesser price of 15K. The person even went as far as telling me "I don't know economics". Her name was Natasha. That was the last straw with me. I gave her a bigger NO. They go from smiles to just an angry face. Shame on you Hilton for bullying your customers, especially after being a loyal HH member for over 20 years. We stayed at the Hilton Sea World which was a very nice property with friendly staff and nicely updated grounds. We had a pleasant stay there, just had to forget about the ugly presentation and enjoy our time off.

They boasted that with a timeshare with them, we could take “dream vacations” but this was also a lie. They constantly hounded us to buy more points. Maintenance fees are over a thousand dollars a year and keep increasing! We were absolutely taken advantage of and purposely tricked into debt. Dream vacations??? With roaches and dead lizards in their units! It’s all nonsense! Holiday Inn timeshare are the embodiment of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” Book a stay online and don’t buy a timeshare, you’ll enjoy your trip and not be hassled to go to another owner's update.

I said, "So wait, you are telling me that if I don't go to a meeting on my VACATION I will no longer be able to use any of the benefits that I paid a ton of money for?" She said, "Yes you will no longer be able to use them at any properties that convert to HGV (which is ultimately going to be every property and has already happened at many diamond properties including the one I am currently at).."

3. Why are such aggressive tactics a constant problem and how has this gone on for so long?

What's even better is after I let the employee know I was not happy about this and said I would contact the corporate office she still had the nerve to write down the times "just in case I changed my mind". It's sad that I invested so much money in this shady company and have no options other than losing everything I have invested.

How if they give us the gifts for going to this little thing will show up on our credit and arguing with me about that it's not even possible since they don't have our SSN. I've never been treated so rude. DO NOT FALL FOR THE FREE TRIP AND GIFT CARE THEY OFFER YOU! HILTON GRAND VACATIONS Is a 3 party they are not really part of Hilton Mystic Dunes hotel. I wish I could give this place a better rating. Want to add that Erin ** was a complete sweetheart!

The loud woman then created a time pressure incentive by saying the first two couples or individuals to sign up get a free trip to a fancy destination, the sales people still staring at us. We’re reluctantly ushered back into the loud bullpen of salespeople surrounded by bright destination photos and loud music. I asked for a quick bathroom break and did the math to point ratio for one of their trips. We’re sat down and asked to fill out an “assessment form”, not so discretely gathering our financial and credit information. We’re done with the dog and pony show at this point and just ask to see the offer. Before we could see the offer, we’re required to walk across the street and see one of their HGV demos. We obliged to be kind to our salesperson. It. Was. Awkward.

The home stay hotel was sad at best. We went back to the bullpen and finally got our offer. I quickly realize the point to cash, with and only with hero discount, works out to be about the same amount as booking the trip individually. Maybe the point to cash ratio doesn’t change with inflation, but clearly HGV makes money off the yearly annual maintenance fee. I’m now visibly frustrated with the process and say we’re not interested. Our sweet salesperson does her best to get the pit boss’s attention to sign her book in order for us to leave. He does the, this offer is trash, “crumple the paper deals up and throw them across the room” tactic. I could not roll my eyes harder. He came out with his last offer. Again, we said no.

He was visibly annoyed done spending time on us. We’re sent to a, “last resort” room *pun intended* with another salesperson who tried to convince us of another package. This package may have been okay, but I didn’t even listen to the pitch because I was looking out the window watching the beautiful weather on our last and biggest day of vacation change from a gorgeous sunny day to a rainy downpour. 90 minutes turned into 3 or more hours of interrogation. The whole experience was extremely aggressive, hostile and predatory.

I am diamond Hilton and have like Hilton in the past. Make no mistake Hilton Grand Vacations is not Hilton. When Marriott purchased Sheraton they rolled those properties in and made available to all. Disappointing to see a good company so poorly represented by one division. It destroys their brand and has changed my hotel brand loyalty.

We were told our daughter would be able to receive the TS if we pass away. What they really mean is she will be responsible for taking over our financial burden. They insisted we convert our Hilton Grand Vacation points to the Hilton Honors Points. They never explained that you need an absurdly large number of Honor Points to stay at any Hilton properties. In some cases, the points that you need to stay were more expensive than paying out of pocket. Hilton’s salespeople never divulged any of the true costs with our TS, including the increasing yearly maintenance fees. We learned the hard way this was a money pit and a racket. Stay away from Hilton Grand Vacation properties.

Another thing the Portfolio Services Department stated was, “At no point do we pressure or force prospective purchasers to stay at the sales presentation as they are free to leave the presentation at any point.” Trying to contradict our experiences with their salespeople is beyond unprofessional and unethical. Hilton is knowingly scamming people, including us!

On top of that, if we pass, this membership does not disappear. They will come after our children to pick up the bill. We were never told that. If you put what is said in the presentation side by side to the contract, they have everyone sign, it would be THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE. We have brought our grievances to their attention, and they denied any wrongdoing and simply pointed to the contract, saying you signed it, too bad!

She stated this was unexceptionable and that she would report it but this evening I went back downstairs for a soda and Patrick (server) was on that same mess. He asked card or room? I said card. And he just put the receipt on the counter and walked off. I even heard him speaking to another customer tonight in a rude manner. The guy was asking about a burger and he stated "Sir you have to eat it". Definitely won't be spending and more money down there. These individuals obviously don’t care about customer courtesy. Hilton staff was good but these individuals being rude takes away from the entire vacation/package.

I told them travel isn't easy for us as I have a child with special needs along with 3 other kids and my boyfriend had two kids. Money was tight and my boyfriend was going through work comp as he had been injured and was on limited pay during that process. Also told them that we couldn't travel much due to my special needs child. They said that this is very inexpensive and we'd only have to pay a fee every other year. I had turned them down and so did my boyfriend. That's when things got worse!

They separated us and forced us into the contract. I had 2 or 3 men hanging over me. I actually felt scared!! I felt like I didn't have a choice. Unknowingly, they also added my boyfriend on it as well. We weren't even serious at that time. They had me quickly sign the contract. NEVER showed me the fees and never showed me the APR rate that was outrageous!! I keep thinking back to that page and they must have had it covered up when they forced me to sign because after seeing that rate months later, I screamed!! They also blatantly lied about all the fees that are associated with this.

They 100% took advantage of a single mom with 4 kids. What makes me so angry is I am a smart and intelligent woman; I work full time, raising my 4 kids, and help manage two non-profit organizations and... I was pressured into something like this. I can't believe that was they did is actually legal!!! I can't even begin to image what others go through. Truly a trauma event!

When signing the contract, they told us to call the resort and ask questions after the fact. They claimed they were going to send us the contract but to this day, WE HAVE YET TO RECEIVE MY CONTRACT. We have sent them a letter asking to be released from my contract and they never responded. This company is unprofessional and irresponsible. They need to take some responsibility for their actions and the actions of their staff. Taking advantage of clients and customers is not acceptable and needs to be stopped.

We never intended to purchase anything, but they just aggressively kept pushing us into signing. The few times we stayed at the resort, the rooms were old and dingy; nothing like the beautiful rooms they showed us on the tour. We haven’t saved money at all, in fact, we have been wasting money making payments and the maintenance fees every year just keep increasing! Nearly every time we try to use this nothing is available, so we are just constantly throwing money away. KEEP AWAY from Hilton Grand Vacations.

The Visit. My wife and I contemplated not going and just eating the $279.00. We had already been on one of these Time Share ordeals. We bit the bullet and reluctantly went and stayed (we only stayed 2 days by the way instead of the 3 they offered). Before we went I was able to do some research on this place. Fortunately I found this website. We had already purposed in our minds that we were going to give them an “absolute” NO; based on the experience we had in the past, what we knew from friends and family and the posts on the site.

The Presentation. The representative (a woman, Maggie, not surprised if it wasn’t her real name) was very friendly at first. They try and gather as much information about your travel habits as they can so they use that information against you in the sales pitch. A typical used car salesman approach. Without going into a lot of detail, my wife and I didn’t want to turn it into a debate so we remained polite and listened. It was not a good experience. Just like others posters have mentioned, she called her manager. We gave him a resounding “NO”. Then there was one last effort by a third guy to sell us another trip with another tour and presentation. We gave him a resounding “NO”.

Not One more Dime. Thanks to some of you we got out of there without giving them a dime extra. We were given that crappy $200 voucher that I threw away and 5000 bonus points that I won’t use. I am done with Hilton. I will never deal with this company again. I did my own math based on what I heard here. One lady paid $326.00/MO and $1495/YR for maintenance fees. That’s $5407.00. Do you know where I can stay for that amount of money? Just do basic math. The better deal comes from you not them.

One More Note. Hilton Grand Vacations is a public company (HGV). Do you know what that means? Their shareholders are more important than their employees and YES, their guests. It would have probably been better to buy their stock 2 years ago. I would buy it now. It has been consistently dropping the last month probably due to their investors reading this site.

The presentation was nothing but false promises and lies. We were trying to rush thru the sales pitch, but it dragged on forever and we were running out of time. We had zero time to discuss the timeshare. They rushed me thru all the information, and I signed. It was so confusing, and I felt manipulated. In 2021 my wife and I decided to divorce, and I called to remove her from contract. They told me the only way was to upgrade. More lies! I later learned I did not need to upgrade my contract to have my wife’s name removed. I sent letters to Hilton requesting the termination of my timeshare and they told me I could not be released from contract. DO NOT ATTEND any timeshare presentations for Hilton Grand Vacation Club. This has caused me terrible financial stress and jinxed my marriage. What a horrible company!

The real facts regarding Hilton timeshares were NEVER verbally disclosed to us, but are buried in a 200+ page Public Offering Statement, a 72 page Disclosure Statement, a 210-page Owner Document packet, and a 32 page summarized Public Offering Statement. No one explained to us that when we pass, all the fees would be passed along to our children and other family members. If we had known this, we would have canceled our contract IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT fall for their lies and let them manipulate you.

Our sales rep was the main culprit in this scheme, beware of Mr. Scott ** at Pare Soleil in Orlando. He’s the one who got us trapped in this nightmare. His predatory behavior, lack of professionalism and shameful gimmicks have cost us greatly and unfortunately, Hilton Grand Vacation refuses to get us out of this mess. We were lied to about exclusivity, inventory, and scheduling of vacations. Essentially everything told to us at the initial sales was exaggerated or completely not true. Making what we had purchased useless.

Hilton Grand Vacations makes it a priority to constantly harass those of us who have already bought into their timeshare and try and get us to “upgrade”. Anytime you engage with the reps it’s a high-pressure sales pitch where all they want to discuss upgrading. When going over the financial details, the principal and interest over time were never broken down to us. Maintenance fees rising annually were also never disclosed to us. This is not a sloppy mistake on behalf of Hilton Grand Vacations but in fact it’s a well-orchestrated scheme to squeeze as much money out of people with lies and deception. These awful timeshares stay with you for life and the financial burden gets passed down to your kids. Hilton Grand Vacations is a disgraceful company, their timeshares are a sham. Shame on Hilton Grand Vacations.

At this meeting full of false promises, the sale agent continually hinted at upgrading our timeshare with Elara and that Elara was a “members only.” resort. This was false. He stated how much “equity” we had at the convention center property vs how much more we would have if we purchased at the Elara. The statement about “equity” is completely false, we have learned timeshare “equity” has no cash value, only equity to be used in upgrading. They lied stating that if we passed away, our heirs would NOT assume any of the debt or financial responsibility with Hilton Grand Vacations. He tried to reassure us at the time stating, Hilton would “buy back” the property for resale at fair market value. Again, this is all false. They never stated anything about the maintenance fees. Do not fall for their lies. They will keep pushing until they get you sucked into a never-ending contract full of debt.

One of the things I was most excited about was being able to stay at Disney Resorts in either Orlando or Anaheim only to find out HIVC has NO affiliation with Disney! Not only that, but I can’t stay at any HIVC property either. There is never anything available. The one time I was able to use my timeshare, it was a partnered hotel, and it was an average experience at best. Do yourself a favor and just book your vacations through hotels.com. HIVC is NOT worth it!

Makes it hard to use with a 7 night stay, but you can't use the certificates together anyway. I had to fight to get our 3rd certificate for the 3rd option we were promised. They whined and said that marketing wasn't supposed to offer that. But that just gives me more reason to never purchase a timeshare. Marketing will lie to get you to listen to the sales presentation. Sales will lie to get you to buy. Don't take the bait!

As for the $200 “Spend the night on us” certificate. The fine print says that to actually get the “up to $200” I would have to go stay at A Hampton Inn within 6 months - then pay for it and then send the original invoice and the certificate back to HGV in El Paso and then they would issue a gift card to me with a 8 to 10 week wait. The Visa card finally shows up 11 weeks later and the card was for $143.00 (short of the $200). More fine print they says that the card excludes any taxes or room charges. I was only reimbursed the room rate that I paid to another Hampton Inn in Illinois.

To add further insult- the card says it must Be activated by calling the phone number or going online. Here comes more brain damage - at first I called the phone number and the whole process is set up to essentially to trick you into never actually getting the funds applied to the card and properly activated. I went online and after 20 minutes it finally went thru. In the meantime the police were going to go find these people at the HGV property and arrest this creep for illegally charging $3500. Supposedly that will happen after Labor Day. I will update here as things progress. And the police officer said we were waiting on a really good case to take because they had over 750 complaints from these burglars. Stay tuned..

Original Review: We came to Las Vegas because we purchased a $199 stay at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Elara. We had agreed to do the 90 minute presentation. We arrived the night before our presentation at Elara and we were pleasantly surprised by how nice the place actually was. We met a guy sitting alone in the lobby next to where we sat down.

He was a young fella probably about 30 years old. We asked him how his package was and we got kind of nosy. He then proceeded to tell us that 15 years ago his parents bought a Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare and that his parents both perished in an airplane accident 10 years ago and he was now under the full continuing obligation to pay his parents' yearly fees which had since gone up about eight times in price so his yearly so-called HOA fees that it started out for his parents at $471 a year were over $2000 every year and he never in all this time (10 years) was able to ever able to book anything and he strongly warned us off from going forward with a getting conned by these snakes.

We asked him why he was here and he said he had to go to an owner's meeting on the third floor of the Elara to talk to anybody because he could never get anyone on the phone. He told us of a dream he had five years ago where his parents came to him from the dead and were telling him that even though they were deceased they were still being hounded by Hilton Grand Vacations for payment every year and that they had yet to have obtained peace in death. This fella definitely looked quite pained and a total wreck. We thought he might go postal on these people. The next morning we kept our heads on a swivel and we fulfilled our obligation and went for our presentation. We just politely listened to many lies and deceptive phrasing and simply said, "No thank you."

Of course these people did not take kindly to our quick rejection and then they kept sending people over to our desk from every direction (4 in all) to try to get us to change our minds. The last sales person told us in a last ditch effort to suck us in that he had the authority to add 15,000 points to our Hilton Honors account today if we bought a $1700 7 night package immediately. For the fourth time we said, "No thank you" and then he said he also had the power to close our Hilton Honors account and that we would lose our 447,000 accumulated points. With that threat we got up and checked out - got a $200 voucher for an Embassy Suites anywhere and the promise of $199 refunded to our credit card (which I doubt will actually happen). We were so happy that weren’t victims of these scammers. We took a Lyft ride back to the Elara and went straight to the pool to chill out. We toasted ourselves that we weren’t taken in by this fraud.

Antoinette said she saw the messages but can't do anything and that they don't really refund after I demanded a refund if they cannot accommodate my previous guaranteed booking. Although it was noted I would need specific accommodations citing "special occasion and circumstance" on the reservation, HGV clearly did not honor their guarantee. No one at Hilton Grand Vacations could provide an adequate answer for the screw up.

HGV basically gave me a run around and a bunch of excuses without acknowledging their mistake- in fact, making it seem like I was at fault!- and after threatening to inform American Express and Hilton of what occurred, HGV said they will eventually refund my money within 3-5 business days. I asked that they refund it the soonest possible. Given how close we are to said vacation date, it is difficult and expensive to book a new trip somewhere else. This is a very clear example of a bait and switch on the part of Hilton Grand Vacation. I would like a refund.

Hilton Grand Vacations are NOT an “investment” but just an outdated bait and switch where they sucker you into a lifetime of debt. You must pay for the upkeep of the property for life and those cost go up! Even when you don’t use it. The availability for owners is garbage but others can easily book online and not have this awful contractual obligation looming over them. It’s baffling that they are getting away with this SCAM. Look at what other people are saying. So many fees and gimmicks! Do your loved ones a favor and STAY AWAY form Hilton Grand Vacations! Hilton used to seem like a great company but they’re purposely scamming innocent people. They truly deserve ZERO STARS!

I e-mailed him all the Uber receipts for reimbursement on March 25th and we exchanged text messages over the subsequent weeks, but the reimbursements never came. Neither did the tablet. On April 25th, I text him yet again asking for updates on both. He responded the next day telling me he'd look into it and follow up with me. That was the last time I ever heard from him.

About a week later, I get a phone call from a woman named Kim with Hilton telling me that I need to book my orientation trip or we'd lose it. I was confused because I hadn't heard anything about an orientation trip, but I scheduled one anyways because I was told I could reschedule if necessary at no additional cost. This cost me $150 to book. A couple days later, Kim calls back telling me that I need to authorize her to allow for phone calls, otherwise she can't talk to me over the phone and probably shouldn't have called the other day. I tell her that authorization is fine. It's at this time that I start getting really uncomfortable with the company. We decide we don't want to be part of a company that is so mismanaged and unable to live up to even the simplest promises made at the very beginning of our agreement.

On May 9th I tried calling Diamond Resorts to cancel our membership. The phone number that is listed on the Diamond Resorts congratulations letter sent me to a call center for Hilton, who said they cannot help me since I'm actually a member of Diamond Resorts. They gave me a phone number for Diamond and transferred me. I waited on hold for 15 minutes before finally reaching a representative at Diamond Resorts that told me that she couldn't help me and needed to transfer me to the Transitions team. Again, I was given a phone number and waited on hold for probably another 15 minutes before I had to hang up and take care of other business.

I found a page on the Diamond Resorts website that allowed me to submit information directly to the Transitions team with my concerns. I submitted my information and requested a full refund since we were brand new and hadn't received any benefits or taken any trips. I was surprised that no e-mail was automatically generated stating that the information was received or that someone would be following up with me.

On May 12th, after hearing nothing back from the Transitions team or our Sales Rep, I called the Transitions Team again. At 11:18 am EST on a Thursday, there's an automatic message stating that it's outside of business hours and to leave a message and a representative would call me back within a day or two. However, this didn't allow me to leave a voicemail and instead redirected me back to Hilton. Here we go again. Hilton can't help, so they transfer me.

The person they transfer me to can't help, so they have me hold the line until noon, when someone would finally pick up the phone. Eventually, I spoke with Tara ** at the Transitions team. She tells me that this is the wrong team because this is for people who have had their contracts for at least 6 months. She doesn't even see that the message I sent from their website was ever received, so she crafts an e-mail and sends it to the Assistance team. I'm told to await their response, which may take a week to 10 days.

On Friday, May 13th, I'm contacted by Samantha ** from the Assistance team. I go over everything with her and tell her I can forward all the text messages between Rob ** and myself. The following Monday, she responds via e-mail to tell me the Sales site declined the request due to being past the 5-day rescission period. I respond to Samantha stating that this is not acceptable to us. It took longer than 5 days to realize how incapable this company is at living up to their statements. I want to cancel our membership due to the overwhelmingly awful experience we've had. And going through all this is just making it worse. I then find a 'Consumer Advocacy channel through the company that states if our expectations haven't been met since Day 1, to send an e-mail to their group. But those e-mails come back as 'Undeliverable'!

They also sold INTRAWEST which had nice properties in Canada that we stayed at. Pay more and more and more and get less and less and less. Also, the last time we were at one of their premiere properties, it was filthy and run down with furnishings falling apart. We have been lied to so many times I can't count them all. Usually everything is always fully booked as soon as you are allowed to book so you only can stay at your home property. And RCI is a joke... dated and run-down properties that are almost impossible to get into.

Not only do they make you feel guilty, but they hold you hostage!!! Not literally but they refuse to give back your personal documents such as photo ID and credit card! While I attended their presentation, I informed the sales representative I was with that I had to go because I had a previous engagement, and he refused to give me my credit card and ID back! Overall, just stay away from Diamond Resorts, just steer clear and trust me when I tell you to ignore those sales representatives.

Original Review: April 30, 2022

I was excited to hear about the changes to Diamond Resorts, which we have owned since before it was even Sunterra. I signed up to hear about the updates now the Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) purchased it, and found that in order to become an HGV member, you need to 'buy into' the timeshare, for us it would have been over $20,000!!! Since we did not 'sign' that means that after all the money we spent updating our timeshare to points, then adding more to become silver members, we will NOT have any benefits from the HGV purchase! Not only that, we will actually LOSE benefits, as we will only be permitted to use points for the Diamond properties, which will start to migrate to HGV, and no longer be available to us!! However, I was then told that the maintenance fees are about 28% less!! I guess that is so that we can pay over $20,000!!!

For the first time, I am considering dropping my timeshare!! And we have actually loved it for over 30 years! How sad that HGV would require more money from members that have already paid so much already! What a scam! We are really unhappy with being told that in order to have Hilton Grand Vacation benefits that use points (yes, we can pay cash for HGV locations), we have to purchase more points. When I asked, "What if I don't want to get more points," they said it was the ONLY way to get the benefits, and that 6,000 points was the minimum. And, of course, if we did not purchase the points THAT DAY, then the cost would go up if we wanted to purchase points at a later date. My brother owns timeshare that has been purchased by a larger timeshare, and he had has maintenance costs reduced without any requirements to purchase anything!! I am surprised at Hilton!

All those pesky salespeople down at Hilton are the same, they will lie, lie, lie, and say all these marvelous things and draw up a fake dream. They make it all sound so genuine and real, but little do you know they are just going to stab you in the back! Don’t even get me started on the scams they are pulling, 4 days after signing the contract with them they denied my request to cancel my contract, especially when Nevada law allows 5 days to cancel a contract! Tell me that doesn’t sound fishy? My entire experience with this company has been stressful, it’s all been so overwhelming and just darn right traumatic.

They also touted their relationship with DISNEY and that we would have special access, but that was just another lie. We wanted to be able to take our daughter to Disney whenever we wanted. In fact, had we known the mortgage was DOUBLE what we agreed to pay, we would have walked away! We might have known if they gave us a copy of our contract, which to this day we have never received.

August of 2021. Denise and I go to South Lake Tahoe for we thought was a orientation. It was not. The rep tells us “oh no you are in a horrible plan and your maintenance fees are going to skyrocket”! I was shocked to hear that. I proceed to tell him (please look at file to pull his name) that is not what my wife and I was told. The rep and his supervisor told us the maintenance will go be doubling every year and we would be paying 5k a month in Maintenance fees within 3 years and up to 7k in 5 years. I was extremely upset when I was told this information. “How can I be lied to so blatantly”? Now the rep said he “could lock the maintenance fees and double the points to 7500.00 a year if we write another check for $6,500.00”. Denise and I feel that we no option but to write the check. And we do so.

On the way home my wife breaks down into tears, “how can they lied to us like that”? And, “how do we know if the rep from Tahoe is lying to us too”? Someone from Diamond is lying. See the pattern of lying that the wife and I have experienced. More deceitful business practices. December of 2021 we go to Kona Hawaii for 2nd honeymoon. We meet a rep from Diamond. I explained to him about the misinformation, lying that we have received and how disgruntle we are. Totally regret ever signing up in Sedona. We are now told, “OH no you are not in the Hawaii package and you will never be able to use your “ US Continental points” in Hawaii. I was shocked for this was the first time I was told this. The rep now wanted tens of thousands of more dollars to move to the Hawaii collection.

At this point I am beyond being mad, words cannot come close to describing my rage and anger. Deceived, lied to, manipulated, and truly the worst business practices that I have experienced in my 30 year financial career. If the first two reps lied, one of them did or and both did, how do we know this guy is not lying to us too? We stop the bleeding and so no. We are done giving money to Diamond resort. Wife breaks down crying again, “they told we can go to Hawaii with our points”. Seeing my wife crying truly hurts. Denise mental anguish is directly caused by the deceitful business practice of Diamond resort. Now if you can believe it gets even worse!

March 16th. Las Vegas. Polo Towers. We meet with Patrick ** (**). I proceed to tell him how upset we are, how we been repeatedly lied to, we have no idea is telling us the truth. He then tells my wife and I, “I am in compliance, I am not a sales rep, I am here to fix your problems”. I then ask a 2nd and a 3rd time. You are in compliance Patrick? Patrick says, “yes I am that is why I have a laptop, and the other reps don’t”. He proceeds to tell us that our maintenance fees will double every year, to 10k a year within 5 years. He then brings out 3 contracts or offers. One wanted 50k, 2nd for 33k and 3rd for 22k. I am extremely upset again. “This is 4th time that I am given different information.” I am pacing the room because I can’t believe that is happening for 4th time.

This is where it gets criminal. Patrick tells my wife and I, “if you upgrade to the 33k package I will double your points and you can cash in the other 7500.00 points for $15,000.00 a year for next 8 years”. He takes out his calculator and show us how we would get our 33k back in 2.3 years. And he said “I can’t put that in writing and you can’t tell anyone that your upgrading is for an investment, pay $33,000.00 to get $120,000.00 back over the next 8 years”. At this time I became to realize that cannot be true. Why would Diamond resort pay me $120,000.00 for a $33,000.00 investment? Remember I was a licensed Stock Broker, Financial Advisor registered with SEC. I deal with fraud every other day. We said no, “no more money”.

He then says we can use our “Equity” to lock in the maintenance fees of $2,900.00 a month. We agree. However he does not put that it writing and someone else comes out trying to get us to give $3900.00 to lock the offer for the 3 so called upgrades. We said no. When the last rep left he gave us a piece paper to bring to the front desk for your free gift. But with the paper there was something else! It is Polo Team Sales Commission schedule, rep Patrick name on it!! See attachment. When I showed my wife the Polo commission schedule, she completely breaks down crying, “how can they (Diamond) keep doing this to us?”

I ask another one of your sales rep if this your Commission schedule? She looks at and tries to take it from. Not going to happen. Patrick is the worst of the worst. After telling him my experience of lies and my lack of trust Patrick lied to my face over and over. It took all of my self-control not to go Postal. When you make my wife cry with the all of the lying it is now getting personal.

You’ll have to book a minimum of 6 months prior. A number of fees were also left out. I had no idea that ON TOP of the mortgage and maintenances fees, I’d have to pay for reservations, to roll over points, etc. There’s always some fee with Hilton, I’m surprised they don’t charge for the air (hope that doesn’t give them any ideas)! I pray anyone reading this stays away from them. Trust me, you don’t want to be in my position.

Luckily for us we followed our intuition. After being coerced into a purchase we couldn’t afford, we did our research early enough to cancel without any penalties (you have 7 days). But I should mention canceling and finding a person to speak to took a while. Make sure to email a cancelation letter and get a response before day 7.

Trying to book a stay is nearly impossible. I’ve had to settle for paying “discounted member rates”! Getting a Hilton timeshare was big mistake. Unless you’re looking to throw your money away, I suggest avoiding Hilton. The Hilton brand has been tarnished by their timeshare sales team. I have paid off my loan and yet I still get bills! Very disappointed with HGV. Their entire operation is focused less on quality vacations and more on squeezing money out of you with lies and bogus promises. Buy a timeshare somewhere else… actually never mind, don’t ever buy a timeshare!

He said however, I would have to purchase the promotional package for the the 4 days, 3 nights for the $149. ($167 with tax) and then after I picked the resort to call the concierge to complete the transaction, thereby locking in my dates and hotel accommodations. I then reiterated that if I could not get the specific dates and the 2 bedroom that I would not purchase the package. He again assured me that there would be no problems. So like a sucker, I bought the package and then called the concierge about 3 days later to confirm everything. The concierge then tells me the 2 bedroom only sleeps 6, not 8!!! and that I would have to purchase a 3 bedroom to accommodate 8 people!!!

Then guess what?! Yep you guessed it, NO 3 BEDROOMS AVAILABLE at any of the promotional package resorts!! And even if there was a 3 bedroom available, that would cost an additional $500 for the upgrade plus more money for the additional night!! At that point I asked for a refund, and was not happy about being lied to by the sales rep. So if you are going to Orlando and buying this package as advertised with no changes, you may be ok. But if you have any changes to the package, don’t fall for the okie-doke because they may tell you anything to sell the package and you won’t find out the truth until you call the concierge AFTER you’ve purchased the package. Buyer Beware!!

They don’t disclose that maintenance fees continue to increase. Don’t believe them when they say their timeshares are a “real estate investment”. If you ever even use your timeshare, they strong-arm you into attending an “owner’s meeting”. Don’t go, it’s another sales pitch/scam. They’re disgusting. DON’T BUY THEIR TIMESHARES! You’ll end up with THOUSANDS of dollars in debt. Hilton Grand Vacations are THE WORST!

Stay clear of Hilton Grand Vacation Clubs. They promise you everything but once they have your money they are not bothered. Plus it doesn't matter what resort you go to. They always try and get you to sign up for more timeshare during your stay. When you go on the 45 minute sales pitch do what we do and demand to leave after the 45 mins. They hate it and 3 or 4 special people who can offer you something special try their best to sign you up. Take the reward you were offered for the 45 min presentation and get out while you still have your **. Don't touch HGVC!!!!

Have tried for WEEKS to talk to a human at RCI/ HGV. I called Hilton Honors, since the timeshare is a Hilton product, and they couldn't help. As I write this, I have been on hold with them for 2+ hours with terrible elevator music playing in my speaker phone and the phone just inexplicably hung up on me. We are shocked that this is a Hilton product. We feel like we were robbed, and continue to get robbed. I wish there was a class action lawsuit, because we would join it. We will actively seek out others who are looking at a class action lawsuit. There seems to be little options for getting out of this timeshare. You're in it for life.

They conned us into buying the timeshare in the first place and left out important information that negatively impacted our decision to purchase. If either of us had known how much debt we were getting into, we would never have chosen this! I also discovered that my heirs will be responsible for this when I pass. If I cannot handle the timeshare after my husband’s passing, how could I do that to someone I love? Does Hilton care? NOT A BIT!

Every time we are able to book a vacation, we get lured into another presentation with incentives like discounted theme park tickets, gift cards, and free meals. Every time, salespeople talk up the reservation system and how easy it is to use. That has not been my experience. I have figured out that I need to make reservations a minimum of seven months in advance. Being that we have a severely autistic child, that does not always work out. On top of the $30,000 we have already paid into the timeshare (with five years left to pay), there are fees for everything. Every reservation comes with $100 fee, and it increases every year. Over six years, my maintenance fees have increased by $400. If you are looking for easy and relaxing vacations, go elsewhere because the Hilton brand is no longer reputable!

I am amazed that for a customer service supervisor in a company that is trying to sell vacation packages, that he would think it was ok to treat a customer this way! For context of what was being offered, I booked a 4-day 3-night vacation package. I was offered a free night if I booked during a certain time frame, so I did. Then was told the free night was no longer available. I was asking if they could comp us points for the night they could no longer give us. They agreed. However, to book 1 night there with points is 75,000 and they offered us 5K.

After I requested it to be escalated, they said they could do an additional 10K. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for any amount of points, but thought it would only be fair to receive the amount of points we would have used staying one night there. If the answer was no, that's ok! He could have explained that to me calmly and respectfully but instead was rude and condescending. He told me that if I wanted the free night that bad I should change my dates. I'm sure we will not see any of the extra points and now we still have to sit through 2 hours of their sales pitch. If this is what HGV is offering, I don't want any part of it!

* You only have 6 months post the package completion to use the $200 voucher. In the time of covid that is insane.

We are now out a few hundred bucks.

We have been disappointed from the start. We’ve even tried to sell the timeshare a few years ago but had no luck since there is no monetary value. The locations of the HGV properties are not in places we want to go. To even have a chance of using the points, they force us to pay to convert them or roll them over. To make matters worst, on top of all the fees you have to pay they charge to to make reservations and the maintenance fees can go up at any moment. This timeshare is the worst "investment" we have made in our life. It’s unfortunate that we have to deal with this burden all because HGV’s salespeople are dishonest.

Our sales lady said we could shift our vacation hotel dollars that we were already spending into a "club" to get better vacations, where we'd have "ownership of property". There is no property. We own nothing tangible! They also leave things out like how much you are REALLY spending by the time the loan is paid off, or the fact that if you die your children will be stuck with this huge financial burden. In our experience, if you ask for a day to think about this, we were told no - that the offer was only good right now. The sales people create deals that will no longer be good if you don't accept them RIGHT THEN. We were given promises of easy reservations to wonderful destinations, but the reality is that no hotels were available to us in the highly popular United States destination that we chose.

When we got to the contract, we were taken to another room where we were hovered over by reps who discouraged us to ask any questions. Instead of providing time to look over what we were signing, we were told that we could read that later, that we were being provided copies of everything, but we had to keep moving as other were waiting for their contracts. How ridiculous!!

Ann M.

When we arrived, we met with a salesperson who explained that the ownership was an extension of the Hilton Hotel Reward program we already had, it sounded great because I was happy with Hilton Rewards. He offered us deals that were supposedly only good while we were there forcing us to decide that day, without any time to really discuss our options. After our ownership started, I constantly fought this company over fees they charge because they never mentioned them during the presentation.

The problem with Hilton is the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing! After many calls, emails, and texts, I received a call to attend a presentation to teach us about our ownership. This was purely to get us to upgrade. This happened twice. During each meeting, the salespeople were relentless. I told them I was just diagnosed with Parkinson’s and was experiencing cognitive decline, so they used that to their advantage to trick us into upgrading. They are truly soulless money hungry leeches.

Do not be fooled into attending their presentation let alone signing up with Hilton! All they care about is taking your money. Since signing up with them I have noticed my maintenance fees skyrocket. You will be stuck with a timeshare they sell as a vacation package with no use of the properties due to a chronic lack of availability. You will be pitched on an investment but be forewarned, this is no investment. An investment will give something back to you. All this has done for me has been to take my time and money and I know they will do the same to you!

Another selling point was they said that if anything changed in our lives like financial hardship or declining health reasons, they would take the property back. Well, my health has declined, and I can’t travel. I am tired of throwing money away since HGVC will not take the property back and cancel my account. THEY ARE LIARS! Stay away from them at all costs! It’s not worth the headache or the insurmountable debt!

I kept getting a weird headache and nausea but ONLY when I was in the room. I took a photo of the air vents and they were filthy and covered in a thick layer of? Dust? Mold? I don't know I have the photo available. OR maybe it was the ice from the ice machine that we used daily and actually melted in order to have drinking water because the refill station was so far away AND when I went to refill our hotel given water bottle it barely cleared the space, do you know how many people who are not careful about germs or COVID-19 probably touched the same water refill spout with their dirty water bottle opening. Disgusting. We used that exactly ONCE. By the way, there was no inspection sticker on the ice machine on our floor, (which did not even work the first two days).

On the first day I asked for a late checkout at 6:00 PM. The day before we checked out I called to the front desk to verify our late checkout (because when I was in Waikiki I had requested a late check out and was kicked out without notice, I had one hour to pack and leave. NO late check out). The phone call to verify this took over an hour total as I had to call TWICE because the first person never called me back, I waited in the room for over an hour for her to call. I was on hold both times, the second time was 28 minutes. (Wasted vacation time and added frustration.) Finally I was assured we would have late check out, and I arranged to have it until 9 PM but I had to go to the front desk and have all my room keys "re-keyed" so they would work until 9PM. Gratefully my husband kept his original key because none of them worked.

Then when we went to exit the parking lot we were assured the key would work but IT DID NOT, so we ended up using a credit card. *Also when I purchased this package I was not told about the $39.00 a day parking fee. I was not aware of this fee until one of my confirmation calls. We had stayed in this hotel back in 2014 and parking was free. Then on another RECORDED confirmation call I was told we had to provide our own transportation to the HGV presentation...which I was not told when purchasing this package that it would be at a different location and we had to provide our own transportation, so, we had to rent a car because I was told that if I did not attend the presentation with my own transportation and my husband in tow (sexist, like I can't make a decision as a woman on my own...) that I would have to pay the full rate of $800.00 a night! While we are talking about fees, lets talk about the Holiday fees that are added on if you want to purchase an extra night.

The pool in front of our room that I was promised and was glamorized as conveniently located in front of our tower was under construction. We listened to construction every morning all day (minus Thanksgiving). I requested this room to listen to the Ocean Waves, NOT construction. The hot tub was also shut down. (Again, I have photos of the dumpsters/construction we had to look at). The closest pool was a .5 mile walk or tram ride away, unless you wanted the adult only pool which was freezing cold because of lack of sun by early afternoon. The bar by the adult pool was shut down so you could not even have a snack or beverage by that pool. We went there once, I want to be warm in Hawaii.

All of the staff I dealt with in person were very nice, minus one who could not understand why my husband could not fit into the white incredibly uncomfortable plastic wrist bands we had to wear. (His wrist was too big for the last hole). And, minus the "checkout" lady at the end of our tour who definitely PRESSURED us as to why we were not buying a timeshare property. I told her I wanted to go home and think about the numbers, but that pricing was only good for that day! (Are we in Mexico???) She then offered us another discounted HGV package which we declined. No thank you.

In addition to the dirty air conditioning vents, the corners of the room were dusty, as well as the area around the bed head rests. There is clearly only surface cleaning being done here. The one day I forgot to leave the privacy sign up was our third day of the stay so the maid "cleaned the room," but really nothing was moved and cleaned, toiletries were added and she made our bed with the same sheets! Why bother to make the bed? The windows beside us were broken (I have photos of this as well).

The resort boats for transportation as advertised (a relaxation luxury) were not running. In fact multiple items that were advertised and sold to me were either not running or were disappointing. These rooms were hyped up to be the best in the resort and our hotel had broken windows, one tiny water refill station, construction, non running transportation, no hot tub. This whole vacation was filled with frustration not relaxation. The food was mediocre at best and definitely over priced, in fact we chose to eat elsewhere after our first experience. The two initial HGV surveys I tried to fill out only allowed 300 characters about our experience. I asked for a phone call instead and never received one. Being locked in the parking lot on the way to our airport was the last straw and my husband declared "never again." We are never staying here again.

One of the biggest lies was the ease of the reservation system. It has been nearly impossible for us to make reservations between the website and lack of reservations available. We were told that with an upgrade, we would no longer have these issues, but it has been EXACTLY the same as before. Just save your money and take a nice vacation. You’ll never get anywhere by joining one of these scams.

Now that HGV got my money, the organization is MOVING THE GOAL POST. HGV says that they can not make arrangements for a presentation, they are supposed to make in early February and so, they can not honor the promise they made. They are dictating an alternate schedule to suit their own administrative problems. Since my flights and rental cars are booked after I received their earlier confirmation, I requested the HGV to refund my money since any change is flights and prepaid rental cars is costing me hundreds of dollars more. They refused to honor their promise and refused to refund my money.