Hilton Grand Vacations Reviews

If one understands basic rules of thumb regarding travel, you will find airfare deals and hotel deals that will cost you FAR less over time than this thing does. Plus you are tied into Hilton properties for your hotel stays; that may be good or bad depending upon what you want to do. Do your homework, and do not fall for the "this deal is only good today" garbage. No one on the face of the planet should be pressured into making what is essentially about a $50,000 decision right then and there. Later I was riding the elevator with a couple and another sales person up to my same floor there, and she said to the male half of the couple - "nice watch, I'll bet that was expensive." Unbelievably rude. If you hate going to buy a car, you'll hate this even worse.

Fortunately I'm very good at shutting these kinds of things down - after 30 minutes he could see I wasn't interested. Do the same - don't show any interest, emotion, or ask questions. You'll be out of there pretty quickly. Oh, and they show you a film of how this will change your life for the better, and it takes about 9 minutes. Interesting - no one else is in this big film room watching this with you. Seems rather inefficient, right. Well, during the film I was checking my phone, looking at email, Facebook, etc. - paying not the least bit of attention. When I exited, this guy had absolutely no interest in me anymore. Do you suppose he was back at his computer watching me in the film room to gauge my interest? Cannot prove it, but the fact that I was alone in there, and he didn't watch it with me gives rise to my suspicion. Hilton has such a proud history in the hospitality industry. What a shameful embarrassment this enterprise is to that name.

We were given a one room suite that was awesome. Bed was comfy and room was clean. All their service staff were polite and friendly. Pool area is lovely. This place is very family-friendly and a little ways from the main strip area, lots of families with kiddos. We went to our scheduled two-hour tour and the guy was nice but super odd. He would seem to make statements that were actually questions and then stare at us... Very confusing to talk to. Throughout our tour we remained uninterested but he was very polite. In the end we have very small kiddos (not with us) and this kind of travel doesn't fit our lifestyle/goals.

We don't stay in hotels. We stay with family/friends. To which he told us our family would get sick of us/we could bring them with as payback, etc. We didn't ask about anything he presented. Nothing! We smiled and responded to his questions nicely and honestly. It was a fine experience but this particular person was easy not to connect to as he was odd and had multiple weird hand gestures which was very distracting. He had us pretend if we could do anything where would we go and we answered but again were not invested or excited. It was supposed to last two hours. We got out in 90 minutes as he could see we weren't interested. He asked about our hotel stays to which we have none really except for work related travel.

In the end he told us to enjoy our vacation. We got our vouchers. He told us he couldn't make us excited about something but he hopes he planted a seed of desire to travel. We thanked him for his time. We then loved the rest of our stay and would definitely stay at a Hilton again as it was a great experience. However for us that isn't likely to be soon as we just don't stay in hotels often. Ps. Only negative was wifi. Is included but super slow!

We told her specifically we were interested in the Waikoloa and Oahu sites. She said that we could get into those without difficulty. She also told us that when going to the Waikoloa site we'd be able to use the facilities, including the pool, at the Hilton Hotel across the way. What actually turned out to be the case was that we couldn't get into Waikoloa for four years! When we got there, the hotel said that we couldn't use any of its facilities. HGVC is willing to lie -- and did so with us -- to get a sale. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM THIS COMPLETELY FRAUDULENT OPERATION!

BUT there are really good things too. One if you want HGVC property - look to resell. Much cheaper (I got Orlando at Sea World -7200 points for $1500.00) and the points are still the same. (They just do not count towards Elite status). Also, I never hold any club points from year to year. I convert the ones I will not be using to Hilton HHonors which never expire. I travel almost monthly for pleasure and work. I can count on one hand how many times I have had to pay for a hotel room in the last 8 years. I just my points, I stretch my points, I buy things with my points. I only pay reservation fees when I book reservations with club points - not when booking through Hilton Hotels. Because of all my club point conversation I am a Diamond Hilton HHonors member. It really is a great life if you learn to use the system. The only thing I really am not happy with right now is the new HGVC website. I think it sucks.

The problem for us has come after I get a phone call from HGV EVERY month, wanting to get me to purchase a vacation. Despite being told for over TWO YEARS that I'm not interested, they persisted in calling. Eight months ago I started asking to have my name removed from their calling list, as I was NOT interested and would NOT be using them for my vacations, period. I am polite, but to the point. I am continually told they will remove my name and number.

Today, yet another call. After the HGV rep identified herself and asked how I was, I told her "Well I'm fine; however, I have asked to be removed from your call list numerous times..." and, click. Hung up on me. I have sent in a complaint to Hilton and am phoning HGV at their Orlando headquarters tomorrow. They obviously ignore the Do Not Call registry, as well as direct requests to not be contacted... to the extent they have been sued by the New York State, and settled for $250,000, over unsolicited sales calls. Save yourself the hassle of the calls, save yourself the rather belligerent sales meeting you are forced to sit through, and SKIP ANYTHING to do with Hilton Grand Vacations.

You lose the flexibility to book at any given time no matter how early or late you may be doing so. The inventory available via HGV is worthless. Most times, the inventory available will be depleted extremely quickly and by the time you check you have to keep looking further into the future. If you are like me, with preset vacation dates and special occasions when you go on vacations (anniversaries, birthdays, other celebrations), the dates are quite set. You LOSE your points. They don't automatically rolled over, if you don't take your vacation on the given year. You may buy/recover them by paying a fee, before the year expires. But isn't that there already very stupid? You already paid to use this and you cannot use it when you wish?

Honestly, I am a world traveler, and I always end up finding much better deals everywhere else and today's resources are plenty. The HGV program really is a scam that benefits the pockets of the Hilton chain only. DON'T FALL FOR IT! Oh, and if you try to sell it back or to someone else, you can't. Why? Because it's worthless (it loses value faster than a cheap car).

If you want: Flexibility, the best deal for your money, the opportunity to select from a huge inventory, a way to enjoy vacations anywhere in the world while the flexibility of choosing location and time is up to you and not up to what you are offered... Then, STAY OFF HGV because you will only be disappointed, extremely disappointed. And like some others have suggested, I can't give this a negative star because we don't have them here, but certainly the program is worthless.

Then the manager comes in and slams down a contract in front of us, with heretofore unmentioned closing costs, property taxes, a 17.9% interest rate, HOA fees, "other" fees -- it was ludicrous. At the end of these "no pressure" sales pitches, someone in the sales office is always mad, which is not coercive or controlling at all, right? Then we were escorted to the back door and outside into the humidity, where we were asked how our experience was, argued with about our response to this inquiry, and handed a "gift" (whatever it was).

This was as bad as the pitch we got in another country at a shady foreign-owned resort. The tactics were no different. But the gift in the foreign country was an actual gift that we could use immediately. Additionally, the initial vacation package included a "free" rental car, which cost $25 a day to park at the hotel. What a racket. I will never set foot in another Hilton property as long as I live. Also, the seats on the Hawaiian Airlines flight were broken, and the flight was also a long sales pitch.

WORD TO THE WISE, DON'T GET SUCKED IN!! Every step of this process has been one hiccup after another with true apology from HGV, not for the racist remark from the sales person I brought to their attention, not for the mishap when checking out, not for the delay in receiving the points we paid for and they charged our card for THAT DAY...not one apology. Totally unacceptable.

Yes there is RCI and this kind of makes the deal worthwhile but the resorts are very hard to book. So you are basically stuck with the HGVC collection and they are nice resorts but you can only visit Florida (Sanibel) and Vegas so many times before wanting a change. There is nothing in Northern California and US Pacific Northwest for example. The other issue is the maintenance fees on the property. Think about this as for you can get 2 weeks a year at AIRBNB places around the world for the fees that I pay for maybe 3 weeks access.

Fast forward to July 2013 at the property on the north end of the Strip in Vegas - a well-appointed property, furnishings were excellent, though the pool was much smaller than one would think for a 20-something story tower. We did have a spectacular view of 5-7 Vegas July 4 fireworks shows from the top of the parking garage. BYOB! But NO traffic getting out of the show. We sat through the 'owners meeting', aka sales pitch #2. This is the first instance why poor rating is given. This gentleman put the squeeze through our expressed desire to visit NYC (admitting this was our mistake!)...and voila! "Here is a program just for you...only $1,800 guarantees you time at the W. 57th Street Club."

Well, in a moment of weakness (and fondness for the Big Apple), we agreed to it and plunked down the $$, got the 'instructions' to secure our time at the W. 57th location. Whatever the new name of this 'try us out' program, do not be fooled into going there - you can never get into the W. 57th location, ever. I tried on several occasions (10-12) over a 3-month span with no success. We have stayed at the Marbrisa resort, next to Legoland, and were pleased with it. Fairly close to the beach, the pools were unheated, the construction was far away from us though I know many reviewers have expressed displeasure at the apparent never-ending construction. While there is no on-property restaurant, the Sheraton next door - and within easy walking distance - has several restaurants.

When we stayed at the Orlando property, I was able to parlay the 'try us out' $1,800 into a decent deal when we had another 'owners meeting'. First, the 90-minutes turned into 3 hours! Hilton sales reps do not care about your time as long as they think they have a shot of selling or upgrading. When I complained about the lack of respect for our time, he got really belligerent and nasty..."I'm doing everything I can for you and this is the thanks I get!", etc. We scooted our chairs back to leave when a manager came in (like the good cop!) and apologized profusely, etc. This individual seemed to want to help with this situation... He gave us $3,600 credit (double the 'try us out' gimmick from Vegas) toward an upgrade, which we wanted to do. Yes, it was classic 'good cop/bad cop', but if you know it, you can maintain your control.

In summation, we have loved each property. They have been sparkling clean at check-in, no issues with the room, etc. WiFi has been reasonably fast - no movie streaming, but can quickly do e-mails, etc. The locations are awesome. It's just the sales reps - they are lower and less ethical than politicians. We have had two bad ones out of three. So...exceptional properties, but you have to go through some real muck to get there.

It went like this: "Have you been to Paris?" Yes. "Where did you stay?" With my relatives. "Well HGV has the best hotels in France. Have you been to Spain?" Yes. "Where did you stay?" I lived in a University as a student. "Have you been to the Maldives?" No, I have no idea where it is. "Well HGV has the best hotel there and obviously you haven't been all around the world since you don't know where the Maldives are. Have you been to San Juan?" Yes. "Where did you stay?" On a cruise ship. "Well HGV can put you on any cruise ship in the world." Yes, but Disney OWNS their own cruise ships. "Well why are you here, why aren't you in Disney since you love it so much?" Because I got a 3 night vacation for $100 with a $200 future stay and I have plenty of airline points.

Now he said, "I am now going to show you the 3 bedroom grand suite. There are 2 pools." I said, "Oh, that one is the size of my pool back home" (25,000 gallons). "Really? I highly doubt it. How many gallons in your pool, huh? How many gallons because I know it's not 25,000 gallons. My father builds pools for a living and all pools in Orlando are 10,000 gallons and that is the size of my pool so you" (and the insinuation was probably: poor loser single middle-age woman that you are) "could not possibly own a hotel size pool." I said, "Well I do." As this conversation was taking place other tours were wandering in and out and jaws were dropping and salesmen were rushing their groups off the balcony. My face was burning in rage and humiliation and I said in front of a group, "Are you saying that I am not telling the truth?"

I starting shaking, tears were welling up, my blood pressure was rising and I felt like vomiting (which I did later in the privacy of my room where I had a migraine from the encounter. Well that day was ruined). We went back to the table. I knew that if I left prior to the end of the presentation my American Express would be charged about $800 for the "luxury vacation" because I did not listen to the entire presentation. I said, "I am very upset, how can you talk to a potential customer this way?" He replied, "if I thought you were a potential customer I would not have said that but obviously you are not." He left the table, the manager came out, asked me what happened and told me to "forget the whole thing". I was crying as I left. The next person to arrive saw me crying and asked the staff, "What happened to that poor woman?" She was told, "Oh she got a call that her mother just got Alzheimer's".

The funny thing is, my mother has been dead for a while. Maybe HGV is like the Great and Powerful Oz and can resurrect the dead. She saw me the next day and asked me how my mom was doing and found out my Mom was already dead and what really happened. She told me that when she did not buy, they did not give her the promised $200 future use certificate. The good thing, we exchanged numbers and now I have a new friend.

I am more enraged at the fact that this was not properly disclosed at the time of purchase, especially when I have specifically asked the Customer Service Rep. if there was more to this deal. Furthermore, the practices adopted by Hilton Grand Vacations are fraudulent due to the fact that they do not disclose pertinent information regarding their policies, especially if someone is paying over the phone. This experience has left me a very disgruntled and not wanting to stay at any Hilton Hotels for their practices have been very deceptive.

A few months pass and it's time to confirm all the vacation details, only to find out we can no longer stay at the Hilton Orlando (because they weren't sure they were going to be participating in the program in 2016). HGV staff discussed some other hotels and finally they put us in Embassy Suites because they believed that would be better for a family of four. This was about the third time they had changed our hotel, and little did I know, this was considered an upgrade. This was not mentioned by HGV and I did not ask for an upgrade.

Fast forward to Spring Break - we stay at Embassy Suites and we attend our timeshare presentation. Mark was a very nice man and he was a good salesman - not too high pressured but convincing. I believe he was truthful with us, but he had only been working for HGV for 3 weeks, so I'm not sure he even knows how dishonest Hilton can be.

Anyway, we ended up buying a timeshare in Las Vegas for a little more than $20,000.00 and this bought us 5000 points every other year. But because we purchased that day (is there any other choice), we received an extra 5000 points and because we put the down payment on our credit card that day, we received another 5000 points. So this all sounded pretty good to us, and the people were all nice, friendly, and helpful. We thought Hilton was a reputable company, and it was safe to purchase. By the way, this took six hours of our vacation. Ugh!

Our first clue that something was amiss, was when the concierge did not know anything about the $299.00 refund. But I thought, no problem, I have an email that I can show them that outlines those details. So a week later, I finally get a chance to pull up that email and to my surprise and chagrin, I can't find it. I finally locate it in my junk mail, and I couldn't access it from there because my email provider has since changed their service and the previous service could not access it because they had deleted all those files after the change. I emailed the people who sent me this confirmation email, asking them to resend it, but I doubt I ever hear from them. Thus, I have no written confirmation of the original promise. But I'm still thinking Hilton is reputable, and they'll honor their promises, even verbal promises. I could not have been more wrong.

I told quality assurance about the promise and the fact I wasn't being refunded, and all they could say is that they didn't have it in writing. They kept asking me why I hadn't confirmed this refund with the concierges. How was I to know I even needed to do this? They were just setting up the hotels and the dates, not the incentives.

QA sounded a little more convinced I was telling the truth when I explained I was only supposed to get the $299.00 refunded, not the tax, and how would I even know to only ask about the $299.00 if someone hadn't told me that. But they insisted they needed it in writing. However, what they did locate was the original phone call, so I was relieved because I knew this would prove what I was telling them. I warned her it was a long call - about an hour, but she said she would listen to it.

About 10 - 15 minutes later, she calls back and says there was no mention of a $299.00 refund or any cash refund at all. She told a bold-faced lie! She went on to explain there was no cash refund because this was an "upgraded package" to the Embassy Suites. I told her they told me that was where we were staying, and I did not ask for an upgrade or the Embassy Suites. None of this mattered to QA.

Well while I was on hold with HGV staff, I had a chance to do some research on the web, and that is when I ran across this website. I began reading all these accounts of similar experiences, and came to realize, I was in good company and we had all done business with a bad company. I told the QA lady that we were going to cancel our contract (thank God it's still within the 10 days to cancel), and I was going to report them to the BBB and Consumer Affairs, and she said, "do whatever you want to do."

Additionally, we did end up staying at the Hilton Orlando on our last night in FL, and this was a nice hotel. But they had all kinds of hidden fees - a resort fee of $22.00, a destination marketing fee of $2.00, a service charge for food and drinks ordered at the bar (we did not have a waiter), a direct billing fee of $10.00, and taxes out the wazoo. Really? As you can tell, we are very disappointed with Hilton. I have written our timeshare cancellation letter and will be sending it tomorrow. If there is a class action suit, we're in. Please contact us.

To make sure we were released at the promised time, I had my sister phone me very briefly at half an hour before the presentation was to end. All this really ticked off the sales representative. He called us "rude" and "despicable people" and stormed out of the room. I expected some theatrics, but not like this. I don't have the stomach for this kind of emotional manipulation. Two managers then came in and apologized profusely, immediately gave us the promised $200 rebate coupon toward a restricted future stay in a Hilton. The value of the discounted stay does not compensate for the ugliness of the blood sport sales experience.

I stay at Hilton properties exclusively, and own properties with RCI so have my own expectations for the place they put us up in. They had us stay at HGV Sea world, and put us up in what they call a studio. It's smaller than a regular hotel room. It's worth the massively discounted price, but would not be even second choice to pay full price for.

I went to the presentation on time, and was told by them that my boyfriend had to be there in order for me to get the perks. I told them we do not share any property together and I meet more than their minimum requirements. They were very nice about it, and gave me a tour because I can book through RCI. They said I was not the only person that had been told they didn't have to come with their boyfriend/girlfriend, but I had to call another number. I called that this morning and after being placed on hold for 10 min which I assumed was the rep listening to the recorded call, was told someone else would call me to discuss. I wanted to put the warning out and will update with the end result.

We decided at that point, we didn't want to do business with HGV and asked for our money back and were told it was non-refundable! In addition, another $50. charge appeared on our credit card because we hadn't booked within 45 days. We turned to CapitalOne and opened a dispute. Apparently, we didn't have enough clout to get our money back but CapitalOne's dispute department did. I will never do business with HGV again and shame on Hilton for endorsing these questionable business practices.

It takes several years to "make it worth it" but we have used HGVC 5 times in the past 2 years and all our accommodations have been top notch. Once you figure out the rules and book right when you are able you can pretty much get the room at the location you want. I've booked all online and in fact I call sometimes and ask questions and then hang up and book it online myself (to save on the booking fee). HGVC makes you take vacations, cost money every year, but I think well worth it once it is paid off. You don't have to attend any more "property reviews" although they do offer local discounts if you do. We haven't been to a presentation since we initially bought. Once we retire this will be split among the children. I look forward to 1 or 2 vacations every year!

Does that even make sense? I am still as much a valid customer as anyone else. Nevertheless, I was told that my request would not be honored and my $1380 would not be refunded. They were very cold and callous regarding the entire conversation. Never even asking a single question. These agents represent the worst in sales and are without a shred of dignity. I have written less than 3 negative comments in my entire 50 years of living, but dealing with this organization has been a horrible experience and I highly recommend staying away from this racket.

Between my purchase and the $50 charge my wife was diagnosed with cancer so this was not a top priority. I was getting calls all the time to set up a meeting at one of the timeshare locations. We have no interest in buying a timeshare so I called in to cancel. They now are charging me an additional 19.95 to cancel my appt. At every step they have charged me for every little thing. I am very unhappy with the fact that they can keep my money and provide nothing in return. That is a poor business practice and I will definitely try to spread the word to stay clear of Hilton Grand Vacations. I would love to include the order number but I was never sent any information about my purchase. All I have is the credit card transactions.

We did further research and found we could buy the same timeshare for half the price through a timeshare outlet. They advertise that they will buy it back anytime but what they don't tell you is they will only give you about 5% of the purchase cost. There were also 400 complaints with the Better Business Bureau. After worrying and not sleeping all night the next day we read through everything and learned we have a 10-ten day right of rescission which of course they said nothing about. We immediately did as instructed and sent them a letter exercising our right of rescission. We also contacted our credit card company where we put the deposit and they started an investigation as well.

In the letter we gave several reasons. We felt pressured without having time to adequately research timeshares. Didn't really understand timeshares, and how they work. There were 400 complaints with BBB. It was a bigger financial commitment than we were comfortable with. It was only worth a fraction of the sale price. Timeshares on the resale market are 50-90% cheaper and that we had a bad case of buyer's remorse. The only reason I gave two stars is because the room that we were given for the 3 nights was beautiful and the staff was very nice. We hope this helps other buyers who have time to get out or are thinking about buying. Bottom line, always do your homework first before making an investment like this. Within 10 days we got a full refund.

To further add to this rip off and deception, I contracted their Hilton Resale department for 25% commission on this crap they sold me and they take 21 days to respond to email questions! I have myself found an interested buyer and cannot close the sale because these incompetents need 21 days to respond to emails. Stay away from Hilton Grand Vacations! With all my business travel I always now avoid Hilton Hotel and tell the same to my colleagues at work.

The next day, after I talked with my husband, he didn't want the package and I still hadn't received anything in my email EXCEPT the charge to my card. When I called in to cancel and ask for a refund, some guy answered the phone with "hello". I asked if it was Hilton Vacations and he said "yes, what do you need". I explained what I was calling about only to receive a sarcastic "well did they tell you that there were no refunds?" I told him no and I wanted to talk with someone about it. He put me on hold, then came back and told me that he was transferring me...

When the next person came on, I explained my issue. They said that the "no refund policy is in the paperwork that was sent..." I told him THERE WAS NO PAPERWORK SENT, so he said they were transferring me to Quality Assurance. When the next person came on (this was the 3rd person), I explained, once again, my dilemma. She said she had to review the notes, came back to tell me that I was informed that there were no refunds and "I'm sure he [my husband] will love the vacation, just give him some time...he has until 2017 to decide..." Very patronizing and that was was NOT what I was calling about - I wanted a refund because he did not want to be part of the Hilton Vacations - so TIME was not the issue... I also told her that I thought there was a 48-72 hour window on any contract, to cancel. She said that was only in Utah (that was a new one on me).

No matter what I said, she refused to give me a refund which is the only thing I wanted. I reiterated that I did NOT received ANYTHING in my inbox like I was told I would... she just told me she would send it from her own email. I SO wish I would have read these reviews before I agreed to anything. I used to like the Hilton but I don't think I will ever trust Hilton again. This is just a scam as far as I'm concerned and I HATE that I got sucked in with no recourse (based on the reviews I see, it appears it's difficult to even get in the resorts and they are little more than hotel rooms and not very good quality ones either) and I REALLY wish I could get my money back. Would love to talk with someone who has had any success getting their money back!!

I spoke to a very polite -- but persistent, I will admit -- young man for a VERY long time. He finally "sold" me on a "vacation" to the Hilton Waikoloa resort in Hawaii where I knew I would have to view a 2 hour presentation in order to receive the promotional value of the trip. He first offered the trip for $899, then made it sweeter at $699. We started talking about rental cars and he said he could add a rental car to the package for $90. I really did not think this was odd, because I have gotten AWESOME car rental deals through Hilton HHonors previously.

I asked questions and wrote our conversation down -- especially pricing. My final TOTAL was $789 and I was to put down a deposit of $299. This was the total and included the rental car. I was responsible for airfare or any upgrades if I wanted them. I could book my trip any time during the next 12 months. I really was kind of excited. A 2 hour presentation didn't seem like a big deal (I've been through these before) and I had asked a lot of questions. Further, my aunt and uncle owned timeshares (different company) and traveled all over the place. Like I said, I was curious. In any event, I digress.

I received my confirmation e-mail. It confirmed my $299 deposit, that I would be staying at a "Hilton property" somewhere on the Big Island (not definitely the place I was promised), that a rental car was ALWAYS INCLUDED IN THEIR PACKAGES, and that I owed about $200 more than I should. I called. I was told that the price I was given was not the price of the package. The PRICE was actually $901 (and change). There was tax of course.

I was livid. I ended up calling back and talking to another person who told me the same thing, and I responded that not only did I want to cancel, but that I wrote all of this down during my conversation with the salesperson. I told her that the total I received is not the total I was given, and I should have been given a TOTAL amount, including taxes and any fees. This woman actually responded, "Ma'am, you are an attorney. You should KNOW you have to pay tax on things." I then about lost my marbles and asked for the legal department only to be told that they "didn't have one." Well. We will see about that.

I canceled my reservation at the Double Tree in Orange and will stay at a hotel not affiliated with a Hilton. (I do apologize to the poor girl that received my cancelation call. I was LIVID when I called and told her to let management know that they should stop referring people to HGV.) And for those interested in Class Action? I'm looking into it. Stay tuned. This woman is not happy.

I think some people buy and just either don't vacation or wait too late to book. With all that said HGVC is not cheap and a premium timeshare product. You do and will pay more than other timeshares but you get more as well. We have purchased twice over 10 years and look forward to our HGVC vacations. If you have a family and like to take 1-2 vacations a year this is a good product to consider.

I spoke very nicely with a supervisor voicing my frustrations and she cut me off and practically hung up on me. I have been an Elite HGVC owner for 15 years and there was nothing they would bend on. I was told, "you signed the contract" with all of the fine print. It would make much more sense to pay for your own vacations - annual maintenance fees, initial cost of timeshare, annual cost of points, Plus paying hundreds of $$ in fees to use the thing makes zero sense. 1 night at a Hilton hotel costs $79 to use points you have to pay for!!! That is practically the cost of the hotel! Of course on the website it says nothing about this - as a HGVC member click here to use your points to reserve accommodations at any of our 4200 Hilton hotels! What a joke.

As a side note, I am the primary wage earner in the family AND the one who makes our vacation arrangements. It has been ten years since we bought this membership and we have never been able to use it. Instead of the points never going away, as promised, we have to pay to roll them forward. Every time I try to call to book or ask any questions, they refuse to speak to me because I am not on the account. In order to get my name on the account, we have to repurchase at great expense to us. My husband has now finally booked a resort for next week, and today I was calling the resort to confirm our reservation -- as I always do. They wouldn't even confirm the arrival even though when I called and gave my last name, they said "For Chris and Paula?"

They can see my name on the reservation but will not talk to me. This is ridiculous. They should be able to check their records to see that I sat through that entire meeting (as it was their requirement) and then correct their records. We have attempted to do this over many years, but they refuse. I am now going to need to hire an attorney to handle this whole situation. It is very difficult to use these points and it is expensive to roll them forward. This entire timeshare must be one of the worst ones out there. If you can get a room reserved, I think the properties are quite nice.

I then got a call on my cell on December 3rd asking about reserving a date in July 2016, which I told them would definitely not work and therefore require us to cancel. She then found a couple of dates in February 2016. The amount of money she quoted me did not match what my husband had told me, but she insisted that it was as presented to him. I think somewhere about here I must have "approved" the second charge for her to be able to hold the dates while we were talking.

Upon further questions about the accommodations, she confirmed that it was a single hotel room, not the resort room that my husband was led to believe we would be housed in. I repeated that this would not work for us and therefore we needed to cancel. She spoke with her supervisor and then told me that for another $157 we could have the resort room. At this point my husband arrived home and we again told them that we were not interested and to cancel our package. She told us fine.

We did not see the refund come through so my husband kept calling them. They kept telling him that the refund was being processed. On December 11th I disputed both charges with Capital One. We have a "temporary" reversal of the charges pending the merchant processing a final refund, which as of today, the 15th, still hasn't appeared.

On the 12th we received a letter dated the 7th with confirmation of our supposed reservation that has in the fine print on the back of the letter a sentence claiming non-refundable, non-transferable conditions! I DON'T THINK SO! We will follow up with this until we get our money back, but this definitely will be discussed with our entire family, all of our friends and anyone else who will listen. Upon seeing all of the complaints on this website, I truly believe that this company should be investigated for fraud.

Like most of the reviews I've read... the only time I hear from them is when they are trying to rip-off more money. I too have not been able to find time to get away and when told I could rescue points (more$) I replied they didn't need to be rescued... They were safe and sound in the hands of Hilton... Boy have I had an education on how to be a scam artist victim. I think my only option is to stand in the lobby with a Tee shirt advertising, my timeshare for sale at 50%. What the sales presenters will do, or at very least it feels like it should be a moral obligation to inform other potential victims... at least until that class action suit gets started. Sign me up for that.

I was informed via e-mail: Thank you for contacting the resale department of Hilton Grand Vacations. In an effort to expedite the response to you, we have reviewed your account and found that at this time the resale of your unit would not be in your best interest. The balance on your account of $29,780.26 exceeds the current resale market value of your timeshare interval. Based on market analysis we believe your timeshare will resell for approximately $8,000.00 to $9,000.00. Our commission rate is 25% of the sales price or a minimum of $500 to sell the timeshare. At this time our recommendation is to keep your timeshare if possible. However, if you would still like to pursue the resale of your timeshare and you are willing to pay the difference out of pocket, please respond to this e-mail and we will contact you with more information as soon as possible.

There was more to the e-mail, discouraging me from going to a Time-Share Reseller. When the sales people convinced my wife and I that it was a valuable asset. Worth $50,000 and if we didn't like it, we could always call and they would be happy to resell the Time-Share. We owe almost $30K and HGVC says its value is <$10K. So, we've lost $40K and are still paying for it. We signed the papers about 3 years ago and we have never been able to use the Time-Share. Every time we've tried to use our week at the Alara, Las Vegas, NV there are no rooms available. We have only used some of the Hilton Honors Points towards paying for a Las Vegas, NV motel room at a different hotel. If this was a home loan, there would be relief from the HARP program. If it was a car there is the Lemon Law. How can we get relief from our monthly payments and just take the losses that we've sustained, so far?

I don't recommend you purchase if you don't plan to use it but it is a way to make sure that you take a vacation with your family in a facility that has children's clubs in many activities in or near lots of entertainment and attractions. We are very happy we made this purchase and when you're done paying it off later on, he moves onto our children and they can enjoy it as well

This whole experience was a waste of time and money and I will never stay with Hilton again. I would NOT recommend HGV. They do not communicate with customers at all. To speak with a representative you have to call and wait on hold for over 10 minutes. The emails and information they give is extremely vague and NOTHING is as good as they make it seem. The VIP tickets to a show they offered us only work for reject shows no one cares about (on http://www.davidsaxe.com/ - which wasn't provided to us until after we booked the dates, even though they make it seem like you can see Cirque du Soleil with them (if you look at their website). We never got to go on our HGV because of lack of communication on their part. I am extremely disappointed and pissed off at the time and money that has been wasted. Please, no matter how good the deal seems to be, DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM HGV.

Original Review: Nov. 18, 2015

They called me to make a reservation in Orlando to hear a timeshare presentation. I notified them more than a month out that I could not make the trip from Atlanta to Orlando for the presentation and they would not refund my Reservation amount of $167.63. So I paid over $167.63 for a chance to buy a presentation. They would not even offer a refund with a cancellation penalty. I will be writing a letter to Hilton CEO to let them know how this is destroying their brand name.

I too had the calls like others wanting me to buy more weeks and sink me in for more debt. A call for a Class Action Suit if far overdue and I would jump on in a minute!!! The customer service is just terrible when you call in as well. Even after I paid off my loan, they still debited my checking for $275.15 and today, 43 days later, I still cannot get my money back. If I waited 43 days to pay my room charges at any Hilton Resort, I would have my credit in ruins and be in jail for sure... but... not them.

Rosen Reports on the today show or some other Consumer sleuth needs to go after this scam... Wish Mike Wallace from 60 minutes was still around... would love to see their faces when he knocked on the door. I think I will write 60 MINUTES AND SEE what happens as to interest in pursuing this approach. Beware people!!!

I informed the original agent that my three children and wife would be coming with me, and she said we could all attend the 2 hour pitch, but never mentioned my trip would actually cost $650 with 5 vacationers. After 5 phone calls and lots of rude representatives I am being issued a refund for the $235 payment I made by a quality assurance manager. We will see if it actually goes back on my card. I can only imagine how wonderful the vacation, sales pitch session, and actual ownership of anything HGV would be...it is sad that they are associated with Hilton. I have stayed 34 nights at Hilton properties this year and probably won't be making it a 35th, now or ever.

The reason I purchased the deal was so it could be a birthday present for my boyfriend. But the first Thursday check in we could get would actually be my birthday, so that defeated the purpose. What's the point of having three properties if only one will be available for every date you want? (Side note, those two hotels ARE available for the dates I want, but they aren't available through this program). Very frustrated so far. I'm thinking about walking away and losing all the money they already charged me for the room. Such a waste of money, and not accommodating.

1. The Room: The showers had hot water coming according to its mood when it felt like it. The TV had the worst reception. NO HD in today's world, seriously! The kitchen smelt like someone had cooked plastic in it a few minutes back! In the dodgy presentation, we were shown the rooms we got conned into in this same very hotel! The room we were given was NOTHING compared to what was shown which leads me to believe this Hilton timeshare is a complete SHAM!

2. On the day of the check-out (10/25/15), I called at 10:30 am as I completely overlooked that check-out time is 10 am and was rudely told to exit the hotel immediately on the phone by the receptionist! My brother has been in the hotel industry for 17 years and has never heard of a check-out time this early nor a staff member asking you to 'exit the hotel immediately' and I had only called to request an extension for an hour as my uncle needed to get ready and we woke up late! I was shocked! I then went downstairs in my pajamas and I had my 70 year old visiting uncle with me and I have never ever encountered such RUDE staff in a hotel! Another guest standing RIGHT NEXT TO ME was told, "sure you can check out any time you like." It honestly lead me to believe that the hotel staff was simply being racist towards my color or I do not know what they had against us!

3. I went to the place where we had taken our presentation a few years back as it was the same hotel and asked (in fact, I literally begged) to help me get off this sham of a timeshare I was conned into getting since it had given me nothing but headaches, only to be told that sorry 'we do not deal with anything here and call the corporate office' which of course no one responds to as I have been trying for a year, this email is another one in the long trail; but the sweet saleslady making a fool out of some old folks there had the audacity to offer me to BUY MORE POINTS!!!

4. For the last 4-5 years, every time we want to book a vacation using our points, we NEVER EVER find any availability (even 5-6 months in advance) for whenever WE want to go! It always seems that our vacation is decided on Hilton's discretion! In the last 3-4 years, we have basically paid $150/month plus $1000 every year in 'maintenance' fee and have stayed 4 days in Las Vegas, NV in a one bedroom junior suite. It DOES NOT ADD UP!!! I can stay at the Bellagio or Wynn in Las Vegas, NV for much cheaper and for much longer plus be respected and not get disrespected and disgraced and made to feel so low!! It is utterly shameful, disgusting and demeaning!!

Is there no way to get out of this??? I would honestly advise anyone to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay away from this scam! I honestly regret the day I signed up for this crap! And if I pay cash, do I not receive any points??? I had specifically given my Hilton honors numbers and was told I will get points, nothing there. I checked online on my account!!! You guys serious need to get your act together. All my correspondence with you since day one I have a record of. Every complaint, every ignored email.

I sincerely hope you are also keeping a record of this as I will make sure that once I provide all of these as evidence to my lawyer he can make an honest case against you all since (as usual) I am not expecting any replies or acknowledgements from you. Plus, I will make sure I post this on any blog, website or social media I will be coming across to expose the real truth behind the HGVC and Hilton timeshares and help people to stay away from this SHAM!

So So SAD!!! YOU ARE WELCOME TO CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE TO DISCUSS IN PERSON: ** FOR RECORD! UPDATE: Dominic (GM) from the hotel called me and listened to my complaints. He said he would get back to 'corporate' and it has been a week and no one has bothered to get back to me from there. Lori (Orlando HGVC) called and advised that this is a binding contract when I begged her to please help me get out of this and she said she will get someone from 'sales' to call me and see what they can do. Honestly, the level of unprofessionalism towards customers from Hilton has left a really sour taste in my mouth! I will never ever recommend any of my friends, peers or even enemies to stay in this dodgy establishment! I wonder when they will be accounted for!!!

The price points were way out of our league. Had we known their qualifications upfront and made clear we would not have put our self through the embarrassment as being low class due to bad credit mistakes. We have good jobs and make over 100k just bad past. Hilton will NOT get our business. Buyer beware of get you there without knowledge upfront of qualifications.

I would recommend only purchasing if you vacation consistently because otherwise you may see it as expensive. For us, it has paid for itself twice over and we are getting ready to upgrade and purchase more this year or next. Couldn't be happier and the kids love picking out their next vacation. We wanted to give our kids some awesome memories before they go off to college and so far we have accomplished this. We have already booked our next vacation to Myrtle Beach at their new resort. HGVC isn't like other timeshares that we have seen in the past. It's flexible and we still keep in touch with our salesperson. I feel like Hilton is family to us and would recommend ownership to anyone. You can also pass it down to your kids and grandkids which was another selling point for us. Both my Husband and I are Hilton honor diamond members.

As part of my confirmation, I received an email statement from the person below, advising me I could feel free to telephone or reply to the email. "Please feel free to telephone me or reply to this e-mail with any questions or changes that you might need to make prior to your arrival. A representative is available Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST. Closed Sundays."

I sent email to the Julien person and the concierge to inquire about which hotel I was booked into, the floor that I was given, whether I had Hilton HHonors Executive Privilege, if I had an ocean front room. I received the answer below which contains lies. First, the Julien person did offer me an ocean front room for the week on our call. When I asked to change the week he said the ocean front room was not available at that time, so I did not change the week. That was very specific and it clued me into the dishonesty of the call and discussion with Julien. I received the email response below. What Julien did not tell me or send me information about is that fact that the towers in the advertising pictures are not the actual towers where I have a reservation. This is the false advertising part.

Why lure me in with pictures of a hotel that I will not be booked into? Why not show me outright the pictures of the hotels that I would be booked into. I consider this dishonest and bait and switch advertising. If Julien did tell me those things, he did not provide the actual pictures from the Internet - instead the Hilton Grand Vacations team ONLY sends pictures of the Rainbow Tower and the Ali'i Tower. They will NOT SEND pictures of the OTHER TOWERS. Why? Because they are old, rundown properties, they are worse than an old un-updated Hampton Inn with furniture from the 50's.

When I asked if my Hilton HHonors number was booked with my reservation ensuring that I would be provided with free Internet access, and Hilton HHonors privileges, I did not receive confirmation that this was so. I am extremely disappointed that the brand name of Hilton is so tarnished by the Hilton Grand Vacation organization. I'm not going to Hawaii to stay in the dumpy hotels NOT SHOWN to me by Hilton Grand Vacations. I'm not going because I do not believe this is the type of Hilton vacation that I would expect from ANY Hilton Hotel. Very disappointed this is a Hilton Organization.

Now, this year I've been out of work on permanent disability as well as spent some time in the hospital and numerous visits to specialists and therapists. No way I can travel this year or next. Being on limited income I cannot afford to keep the timeshare. I was under the presumption that HGVC would buy back my unit/points. I've just heard back from them. They go thru a third party broker and pay a $500 fee. Worse yet, they estimate that my $16,000 unit has a value of $1,000. I guess that "they have me by short hairs!" So much for investing in a solid organization like Hilton.

We got into Myrtle Beach Hilton Resort and guess what - NO kitchenette!! Just Very small fridge - that was it!!! Could see out thru the edges of the door. Just a lousy place to stay. We had family staying nearby and they saw how awful our room was and had us stay with them. So we paid for a room we never stayed in then had to drive 25 min to presentation and took 3 bldgs. before even finding where to go. RUDE, RUDE, RUDE is how we were treated! Once they found out we owned Sheratons all they did was bad mouth them. We were belittled, shamed, and then left without even showing us how to get out. Luckily a receptionist took pity on us and showed us where our car might be!! We will NEVER be back!! Sheratons and Marriotts have our loyalty now more than ever!!!

To date, the credit has NOT been processed. We were quite shocked and disappointed at the accommodations that they stuck us at: The room was a glorified hotel room in very bad repair: Shower doors were falling down, mold in the bathroom, telephone did not work. The shower door and mold were corrected on the same day. The telephone took two days to be replaced. Had to use our cell phone to call the hotel to follow up on the repair. I have called 3 times checking on the status of our credit, only to be told they had a glitch in the system. I've always been hesitant when telemarketers call and offer these free days at a resort. What a laugh!! Resort? No. Free.... not yet. If this is how we would have been treated for our ownership, all I can say is "no thank you".

I ask where the ladies room was and she took me, followed me in the restroom and bashed my husband on how rude and unworkable he was. Who does that? For over two hours this went on, we tried to leave but was difficult. If this is how to sell your timeshares IT'S NOT WORKING. Abrasive, hardcore sales pitch, diving into personal life questions to 'customize' your one bedroom, two bedroom, etc. is the wrong way to show off what you're selling. We left with an awful experience and will never be back.

We were promised several rewards for attending the presentation, including a $200 "Spend a night on us" Gift Certificate to be applied to a night at a Hilton's affiliate location. After the event, we were told we would receive it in the mail. We never did, so I called in, and they told me I should have been given it immediately after the event. It has been nine months and after numerous phone calls we still have not received the promised gift. The rudeness of the Hilton representative and their failure to follow through on their promises has inspired me to share my experience with others. I would strongly discourage others from attending one of their presentations.

Once we attempted to make reservations, I was told we could not get a suite at the hotel we selected but only a guest room and would need to select another hotel. I had verified with the hotel before I attempted my reservation that the suite we wanted was available so this was definitely a bait and switch. Cramming 4 people into a small room and then having to sit through a presentation is not my idea of a vacation. Hilton has lost my trust and my business. Buyer Beware!

More frustrating than that is the even greater number of lies that were used to get us to sign up. It has ruined the Hilton name with me forever. We were told that Parc Soleil, where we signed up, was building a water park. Our salesperson had us look at the construction out of the window and told us that the next time we go the kids will have a water park... they will love it! In calling to see about using our vacation points, I'm told that there is absolutely no water park there and no plans for one. We were also told that they were building an HGVC in Boston, which excited us as that is one of our favorite cities. Now, after calling to see about that vacation, we were told there is no Boston resort being built, there never was a Boston resort being built and there are no plans whatsoever for a Boston resort.

There is a real reason that HGVC is rated one-and-a-half stars on consumeraffairs.com and it is because of scams and lies. They only want your money. There is little to no concern for you as a vacationer. Also, it turns out that our middle of the road package of 5000 annual points does not cover a full week of vacation a year! As is common with HGVC, we are VERY unhappy customers.

I got the package at Waikoloa Village: Included $200 cert for a specific brand of hotel chosen at the time I accept the cert. No airfare (I had tons of miles to fly first class to Hawaii so I wouldn't want a coach package anyway). Car for a full week. Got seven days for about $800. Parking $25/day. Internet $9.95/night unless you're an hhonors member (I'm a diamond so I get it free). Other hhonors benefits not honored (like upgrades/breakfast/etc.). No resort fee.

Yes I'm expecting super pushy sales people but as usual I just tell them upfront I'm just there for the promotion and have no interest in it. I have them show me around and stuff anyway. They try their best to sell me 'something' but I just say no and eventually amicably end the conversation with them. My only regret was that I didn't push to get a package at the Kings Land property (without the upgrade fee). I heard it's nicer than Waikoloa Village.

To date, we never received the credit back on my credit card. I had to request action from my credit card. Don't believe what this people tell you in an attempt to participate in this scam. I was a Hilton Honors card holder, I will never stay at any of their hotels. I will use the Marriott Hotels from now on.

We signed on for 4700 points every other year, which would cover a one bedroom anywhere for one week. They also gave us 9000 bonus points. The deed we bought was in Florida, he said it was the cheapest HOA fees he had. This cost a little over $17K. The HOA fees were around $600/yr. (The points cost the same if we bought a deed for Hawaii, but the dues/HOA fees were more like $800/yr.) There was more incentive money to bring down the cost of the Hawaii points, but we opted for the lower annual cost.

3) As a last resort before you let your points expire if you hadn't used them to stay somewhere, you could move them forward to next year, convert them to RCI points, or convert them 1:25 into HHonors points (that could produce a lot of HHonors points). Any of these options cost money, but they are available.

So when we took some real time to review the package it is REALLY EXPENSIVE for us. We love sites like AirBNB and VRBO, and we rent from them extensively. This gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of when and where we are able to stay. It is also really affordable. We also frequently travel with family and are able to book large houses for everyone to stay together. This would not work with HGVC. There are some people for whom this may work though. I think you would need to fit two main criteria. One, you need to be able to afford to purchase, now or in the future, a total of more than 10K points to use every year. Also, you would need to be the type of person who would work the system to your fullest advantage. This would take time and effort, but can clearly be done.

If you fit these two criteria then you would be able to do a few things. First of all, you would be able to purchase in a location that has a very desirable one to two week window during which you know you could rent a property for a lot of money using a site like VRBO (they only charge $300/yr for their service). The example I would use is that if you own in Hawaii, and you know the dates of the IronMan Triathlon, then you will be one of the first people to be able to book your apartment, and you will be able to rent it for a healthy amount of money, every year. Remember, in order to book in that precious 12 - 9 month window, it needs to be at the property you own. Within 9 months of your stay, you can use your points anywhere. This would ideally cover your HOA and other fees.

Now that you are recouping at least your annual dues, you need to maximize your remaining points each year and travel well. You need to book properties in their off seasons (I think that they are Silver, and Bronze, but I am not sure) since your points go farther then. Also, look into using RCI so that you can stretch your points even farther.

Our experience with the guys in Hawaii was very positive. They were nice people who I believe can sleep well at night. They were upfront about all of the costs (basically anytime you do anything with your points to move them around it costs money). They rolled all of the annual fees into one average number (it varied because we bought points on even years). There were no secrets like some others on this site have said that they ran into. My wife and I asked for time (several times) to speak with each other, and search the internet. Ultimately we found that this won't work for us, and we had no trouble cancelling. There is one form at the back of all the paperwork, on that form I found an email address. I had the money back on my credit card before we got home.

If you want to buy in anyway, one other option would be to buy the points in the secondary market. Realize that every time you do this though that you will also get a new maintenance/annual fee. These fees can't be combined. If you buy points from Hilton, and then add to those points, they will roll the points into one deed and save you on those annual fees. The salesmen we spoke with said that Hilton, which has right of first refusal on all deeds, will usually buy the really cheap deeds from the brokers/online. This will leave deeds that are not being sold for pennies on the dollar. It just makes sense for Hilton to buy those, and then sell them again at full price. That's my $0.02 for what it's actually worth. Happy vacationing.

If any of the owners are interested in a class action lawsuit count me in! I want out!!! They recently invited me back to upsell me. I told them NO I have no interested in purchasing more. I told them I am planning a trip to Jamaica and cannot use my vacation plan because they don't have a property and RCI is toooo expensive. It's cheaper for me to pay 3600 for two people to stay at a 5 star.

I actually had this email in front of me and I spent about 10 minutes reading out to her everything that was on it. I even said that I could forward it to her so she could see what I was looking at but she kept arguing that it was there and it was sent to me. It turns out that detail was in the very fine print at the bottom of the email. My mistake for not reading the fine print, but then I told her that someone should have informed me of the exact location of the presentation. Her response was that I could have asked the front desk.

The hotel I was staying at, the Carolinian Beach Resort did not have any HGVC branding and there were no signs about the presentation. I didn't think the front desk would have known where the tour was so I didn't ask. Her response was "It's common sense to ask. If you didn't know where the presentation was or if you didn't know you'd be charged for missing it then it's your responsibility to ask." No customer service agent should ever suggest to me that I lack the common sense to ask a question.

When the conversation dragged along long enough she finally said "I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I'm going to end the call here and escalate it." So I asked her what that meant for me and whether I needed to speak to someone else. To this she said sarcastically "Oh so now you're asking questions?" I travel for a living and spend more nights at a hotel than my home. I am Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, American Airlines Executive Platinum... I've spent a good portion of my life dealing with customer service agents but never in my life have I dealt with someone with the audacity to tell me that I did not have 'common sense'.

I then read the horrible reviews on this site and called my credit card company and stopped the payment. Knowing that we had a few days to cancel the contract I found the page that stated we had 5 days to cancel in writing. My letter was sent as per the directions, certified. I also added overnight and return receipt. That cost $22.73, but not 16K. Thanks for this website and everyone who wrote reviews about the Hilton Grand Vacations Club. My husband and I will continue to travel as we have to our desired location and when we choose to do so without playing the 9-month out game. I hope this helps others.

He was walking me to the elevator and my wife had already gone to the car and he was STILL selling me. We made a pit stop at a desk on the way out. After a couple of more hard closes, he finally escorted me to the elevator. I shook his hand and he said "you people are TERRIBLE." as he turned and walked away (loud enough for me to hear it). I thought about addressing him right there and it would have been in front of 6-8 new families that had just got off the elevators, however, I decided it wasn't worth my time. My wife and I recently bought a car. Usually THAT is the hard, pushy close. The experience we had at Hilton Grand Vacations made the car buying experience look like Disney World on steroids. I'm in sales and I get told "no" all the time. It comes with the territory of the profession I chose.

They acted like they have never heard "no" before and/or are so pushy. They don't care about the customer at all, just the numbers and commissions. The ironic thing is that my wife and I actually liked what HGV offers and would take advantage of it. We would have most likely signed up at some point in the future, however, we will find another company after our experience. Lastly, we ran into a couple at checkout that had checked in at the same time we did. We overheard their conversation about how blown away they were about the rudeness and pushiness of their salesperson. This is a 1-on-1 presentation so they had someone completely different than us, but had the same experience. The scary part is we attended mid-month. I would hate to see how they act at the end of the month when they are trying to get their numbers.

Here is the big kicker, we found a four day weekend the kids would have off from school not during holiday time that we could book, and then the customer service agent tells me that with a family of 5 we'd have to pay $50 a night to upgrade. So, why wasn't that mentioned in the sales call, versus being told this package was "perfect" for us? I also checked the email confirmation - this is stated nowhere in the email. So, I basically decided it was shame on me, money wasted based on principle.

Fast forward to present day and I receive a call from a rep named Marshall, stating he sees our time elapsed and doesn't want us to lose our money. I tell him my issues previously - I am told that this information is disclaimed in the call (it wasn't) and in the email - half of it was. I asked him then why would I have purchased the original one if I was aware of those additional fees? He then states he is sorry for the "miscommunication" and can extend our time for an additional $50 for the next 3 months or $99 for 6 months. I told him that there was no way I am giving them more money.

He begins to tell me all of the savings I would have even with the additional fees - and I tell him no, I am tired of having additional fees after being lied to initially. I asked for a review, he says he'll review the initial call and I can send a review on their website. We'll see if I ever hear from them again. I was originally upset, however I chose to let it go, but the audacity to ask for more money was too much. Now they can read my reviews everywhere. I have a voice.

We were even concerned about a refi we were doing on our house and if this purchase would impact that process. For every one of our questions the sales people came back with the answer they knew they needed to say to move us forward and for them to get a sale. It all started to unravel a couple weeks later when we almost lost our refi on our house. At every turn we learned that we were not told truthful answers to our questions. The yearly fees that we were never told about, even though we asked about any additional costs, amount to hundreds of dollars that will likely be close to a thousand in a couple years as the fees go up.

When we finally tried to book a stay in Hawaii we were distraught to see how little availability there was and how few days our points amounted to. Even using the "easy" website was a nightmare. RCI is a joke and nothing what they described. In short they'll tell you anything to get a sale including straight up lying when asked direct questions knowing you will not read the fine print that amounts to a hundred page document full of legal speak. To add insult to injury we finally just traveled using our points in Hawaii. (We were able to get 3... That's 3 nights for spending $10,000 to become members) checked into the Kalia Tower to find a toilet full of urine with urine on the toilet itself. So much for top of the line accommodations and customer care.

Every year the association fee is increasing. After borrowing 2 years worth of points to go to Kings Land in Kona Hawaii, it was a disappointing resort; the unwelcoming assistant manager mentioned given amount of points you have is why you are in the smaller suites.... It's just crazy, the place is filled with people who are renting or on special deals to get the place sold. Twice we have been to Kona (Bay Club and Kings Land)... terrible service, suites aren't cleaned well on arrival, not what you expect from Hilton. You can do RCI exchange for some nice resorts, but you have to reserve this well ahead of time. Wish I knew 7 years ago that you can buy a resale on the web for fraction of the cost. Stay away from this timeshare.

We had a wonderful time. The resort was gorgeous and the condo we were in was simply spectacular. I could live like this! I got sucked into the sales drain one more time, and I bought the program. Once home, I reviewed the paperwork and decided to cancel my contract, which I did without any problem. I'm glad I canceled, but would reconsider getting a timeshare if I had more time and cash. In the meantime, I just sit back and think about what a beautiful place the big island is.

Our 2 hour "Tour" was scheduled for 1:30pm on our 2nd day and that totally sucked. They kept us until 6:00 PM - that's right 4 1/2 hours. Even though I insisted there was no way I was going to make a purchase decision that day they wouldn't let up with the high pressure sales tactics. They kept implying that if I didn't buy in I didn't care about my family. Complete **. This experience erased all of the positive points I listed above. Most of all I just felt bad for those that ultimately caved in to their horrible, unethical, high pressure sales tactics.

I did end up agreeing to purchase a one time 7000 point VIP package for 1695. The rep told me I would have to "say hello" to the marketing staff during that trip. He said if I had not decided to purchase at that point the meeting would be 15 minutes max. The contract required me to agree to a 90 minute presentation during my stay. I repeated my concern and he repeated his 15 minute max promise. I made sure I wrote down his name. At this point I regret agreeing to this purchase but we shall see. I plan on setting a timer on my phone at the beginning of the meeting and sticking to the promise. We'll see how that goes over.

Six months later, Hilton recommended me not to sell if I have to pay upfront fees because the resale companies will provide me with an unrealistic view of the market. Based solely upon the facts, Hilton's e-mail painted a bleak picture of me making a very bad financial decision when I chose Hilton Grand Vacations. Now, I guess I am stuck, or take a huge loss because there is very little value in my purchase. Even if most of the cost was in travel points that could have been returned. After what has happened, my only hope is that I can share my mistake with as many people as possible. Based upon the facts, I am surprised some young aggressive lawyer hasn't filed a class action lawsuit against Hilton.

Several months later I received a call telling me of the terrific deal I could get if I bought more points. I told the person who called about my experience and mentioned since I now live on the west coast Hawaii would have been better. He offered to trade my Orlando property plus cash for a timeshare in Hawaii. A few months later he called and said I could buy another unit and rent out the points each year and by doing that I would have enough space for the expanding family. I first said no but he kept calling me and suggested I look at it since it was such a good deal. I could always change my mind after signing.

Like a fool I signed and then informed him it was more than I could afford and was cancelling it. He kept telling me to wait since he was working on renting my points. Of course the time to cancel passed and I am stuck with the timeshare. When we go to Hawaii we are told how much it has appreciated but when I contacted Hilton about selling one timeshare I was offered less than 50% plus a 25% commission. And Hilton has the nerve to warn people not to buy and/or sell through outside companies. Hilton is the biggest scammer of all the companies. I did buy a Disney timeshare and I am very happy with it.

I also noticed that there were RCI timeshares available in my vacation destination, but only for paying customers, and not any available for Hilton Timeshare owners. If I could not find a place to stay I had to pay additional money just to bank my points. I believe this was the worst financial decision I have ever made, but again I was very misled on the program. It upsets me that I pay $5100/year in timeshare/maintenance payments, and additional money because there are no timeshares available to stay!!!

While she was presenting, she continuously made handwritten notes in this little Hilton Grand Vacations booklet. When she was done, I said I would be glad to take the information, study it, have my attorney check it out, and then make an informed decision. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED. You must decide right then. You cannot take the little handwritten booklet with you, and they will not send any information home with you. (There was never any official papers or information provided.) I asked several times. I indicated that I was very interested, but that I would never make a financial decision of this type on-the-spot without first reviewing the official terms myself and with my lawyer. No go. Their last ditch effort was a guy who said I could have a risk-free tryout time. It still included legally buying the timeshare, and putting money down right then, so I declined.

Also, you get a $200 mail-in voucher for a free night's hotel stay. I stayed at the Embassy Suites on March 21 and as of May 27, I still do not have the rebate. I just called about it. Hilton received the rebate on March 26, approved it on April 16, and I will get the rebate 6-8 weeks after it was approved. The rebate form states that I should "...allow 6-8 weeks for rebate to be issued." It doesn't say that Hilton gets an extra four weeks to approve it before the 6-8 weeks begin. I'm willing to bet that if I didn't pay a bill to them for 90 days, they would turn it over to collections. The bottom line is, if the company cannot tolerate a close inspection of the terms, then something is wrong.

They wait longer than 45 days so they can, you guessed it! charge you another 50.00! This is all before I even try to book. What infuriates me even more is that I asked for the call to be reviewed because they record all calls and guess what? No return in phone call. Another phone call later and still no return. My advice... stay away. I'm out over 400.00 and promise that there is no way that they will ever get me to buy into any more of their lies or, in HGV language, "misunderstandings".

Truth: Parc Soleil has no three bedroom units, and their 2 bedroom units only accommodate 6 people maximum. (2) I specifically told them that I could only stay during the last week of May 2016 and that I needed that room to be available. The agent said there were blocks of rooms set aside for this promotion and I wouldn't have a problem booking when needed. Truth: There's no guarantee of availability because you're subject to the same market demands as all other Hilton Grand Vacation purchasers. If Hilton Grand Vacations lies about answers to specific point-blank questions like I had, they cannot be trust with the fine print, and that is where you can really lose a lot of money.

We finally had enough of our timeshare property and what we had to deal with every time we managed to book a stay. So I called HGVC and asked about any fees and commissions that we might have to consider, if we decided on selling our timeshare, but I didn't get any answers! I had to leave my name, phone, and member number and was told to wait to be called back. I also emailed HGVC resale dept. but only got an email back stating that it was their goal to get back to me within 5 business days.

After 5 days I got an email offer suggesting to listing the property for not even a fourth of what we had paid for it (their market value), charging a 25% commission and any fees that might come up! What a low re-sale market value, incredible! The most incredible is though, that I still don't know if they charge transfer fees or commissions if we want to sell it elsewhere, I can't call anybody directly and the email response will take another 5 business days! So buyers and sellers out there, beware!

The sales model for selling their product is much like you would expect in a used car lot or a Turkish bazaar buying a rug. It's aimed at the unsophisticated and impulse buyer or buyers who have (hopefully) done their homework prior to attending the session and knew that they wanted to purchase before going. Any sales pitch that encourages you to sign up for a very long time, spend thousands of dollars (and that is only the beginning), and does not allow you any "thinking it over time" should be met with much skepticism.

I called and finally spoke to a supervisor who verified that the hotel I stayed at was in fact a Hilton, listed on the Hilton website, and he was submitting for reconsideration. Three days later, I got a call telling me “the claim is still denied”. Although, they verified I met all the requirements of the rebate and would have no way of knowing the one Hilton Hotel in the whole world I chose to stay at didn't qualify, they refused to honor my rebate.

I could not speak to anyone above the supervisor I spoke to. He refused to allow me to talk to his boss or appeal to anyone else. Best part? I can't stay at another Hilton and submit because it must be the original certificate, no copies, and they won't return my original certificate or reissue another certificate. Absolutely the worse customer service I can remember receiving... from any industry. I will NEVER recommend a Hilton Vacation to anyone and wouldn't trust them with my business.

That is when the problems arose, specifically: 1. Neither one of the Hilton Club Hotels were available for the dates I just confirmed minutes ago with the original sales person (they tried to say "Oh, inventory change all the time"). Also they were surprised the original sales person did not book it for me (which she said she could not). 2. No rooms with two beds were available under this "package" (I specifically asked the original sales lady about a room with two beds and the lady said to just talk to the reservationist). 3. Only hotel available was not a "Hilton Club" but a lower priced related hotel miles away. Also the "Two Hour" required tour was miles away at the "Hilton Club" hotels which the original sales lady said was available to me

The reservation agent was not able to help so I escalated to the supervisor who said he will try to see if he could get a room at the Hilton Club. Two weeks and 10 phone calls later (which most of which I had to follow-up/chase) nothing has been resolved and I finally gave up after reading some of the horror stories below. I am now crossing my fingers and waiting for my refund which they promised within 7-10 days (why is it instantaneous when they charge your card but 7 to 10 days when they have to refund?). Their business practice seems extremely inefficient and certainly misleading (isn't bait and switch illegal?). I am surprised that Hilton Corporate is not concerned about the detriment to their Brand. I will think twice before I stay at a Hilton or Hilton related hotels again. Lesson learned - read Consumer Affairs or Yelp review about a company/product before doing business with them.

Hilton corporate owns this but apparently the Hilton promise: "If it's not right we will make it right or your night's on us" does not apply to this property. Save your points or your money and Stay somewhere else. As a member of over 15 years of the Hilton loyalty program I can assure you I will be reviewing other hotels for the 200 plus nights a year I spend on the road. This property is run down and poorly managed apart from the guest relations manager. Definitely an F in my book.

RCI is also a joke, a mere selling tactic. In most cases, you will not be able to convert your points to another property. If life happens and you are unable to use your points for that particular year, you will not be able to convert to the next year UNLESS you are willing to pay yet another fee. HGVC makes the bulk of their $$ by in house financing. IN HOUSE FINANCING? Hilton Worldwide owns these properties outright. You do the math on that one. HGVC will threaten foreclosure if you are late on your mortgage payments. However, if you have "financed," they will never foreclose. They will however continue to bill you for maintenance fees.

If you are late on either, you will then be directed to GVS, GRAND VACATION SERVICES...HGVC very own in-house collections. Be advised GVS and the "Homeowners Association" is one and the same. They are not 2 separate entities as HGVC would lead you to believe. Be smart people. Don't be mesmerized into giving up your hard-earned money on the premise of vacation ownership. You are better off purchasing actual property in your destination choice vs purchasing points to have access for a week.

Once we told the salesperson NO for the 6th time, he became condescending and rude! I get it, he makes a commission, but good grief. My last comment was "Sir, I am at the point where I will just write you a check to shut up." They got the point that we were not interested! The fact that Hilton allows and possibly encourages this type of sales tactic, we will NEVER do business with The Hilton franchise again.

When I was a flight attendant and married, Hilton timeshare was a great compliment to my situation; however, things have changed to the point of begging family members to please pay my annual dues. Dues are due January 1st each year, and 2014, I was three months late paying the dues and was charged over $100 per month in late fees. They will ruin my credit and seize my timeshare if I default on my dues after so long. How can they be so ruthless to be concerned that I might make a dime renting my timeshare so I can keep up with my annual dues? I can no longer afford to travel and have no use for this timeshare. They have no clue that it has actually cost me to rent this timeshare with the surprise of the second booking fees and PayPal putting holds my money for 30 days and charges their own fees of 2.9% of the rental money.

Is there anything we can do about the new guest booking fee? I have to pay $52 to reserve in my name and then when I rent the unit, I have to pay another $52 to put in a guest name. Not to mention that when their owners cannot rent the rooms, they charge another fee to save your points for next year. They are now putting a 9-month reservation window on making reservations when it used to be 12 months. I cannot make a Christmas reservation at any Hilton Grand Vacation Club and we all know if you want to travel at Christmas, you need to make a reservation 12 months out for some locations. They keep putting so many restrictions on the use of this timeshare that I paid $25,000 for in 2005. They even have their own website now ** and renting rooms in Orlando for $105 per night and selling rooms through other cheap websites. DO NOT EVER PURCHASE A HILTON TIMESHARE.

When we were discussing financing, I asked what the interest rate would be. He said "you won't like it." At least he was honest about that, but I wonder how many people think to ask before it's too late. He also said several times that this was an investment, when it's clear from other research I've done that it is anything but.

As for the "Spend a Night on Us" rebate, I noticed the comments about getting a certificate that applied only to Hilton Hotel and not other Hilton properties. I checked my original offer and it said that I would be able to "choose the specific brand at the gifting desk after Personal Preview." But I was just handed a certificate, not asked which property I preferred. Sure enough, I checked and it's valid only for Hilton Hotel. Why pull such a petty stunt?

We did enjoy the free dinner and show and our room was quite nice. But I can't help wondering why Hilton doesn't forego all of the expensive high-pressure marketing tactics and just sell the Grand Vacations package on its merits. The sales people I spoke to touted the "Hilton" brand as one of integrity, but I came away seriously doubting that.

I spent countless hours on hold or being transferred to voice message machines with very few calls back. Finally I received paperwork that I could sign the property back to HGVC, but they required my ex wife to sign as well for she was on the original deed. In our divorce decree, the HGVC was signed over to me only, approved by the local court. Well, this was not good enough for HGVC, so they simply foreclosed on the property. What a terrible experience with corporate rules not helping the unemployed consumer.

They once completely refused to give me free show tickets they promised because "I didn't qualify" whatever that means. The next time they gave me such crap show tickets I can get the tickets for the in vegas for Free on the strip. I'm always pro business and anti-government but in this case, some badass government regulator should really look into what they do to people, especially elderly, young adults, and those with english as a 2nd language.

The customer service agent quickly explained that the hotel was not necessarily my choice and was highly dependent on availability. Additionally, the sales person just flat out lied about the $50 upgrade. I'm supposed to attend some sort of Timeshare presentation while I'm there. Oh, I'll attend, but I'm walking out as soon as I fulfill my 2-hour commitment. There's not a chance in hell I'm doing business with these liars. How stupid could they possibly be in their sales tactics? I hope this review helps no one else fall for this kind of crap in the future.

I will never book with a Hilton again and am going to cancel my other booking in Florida with one of their hotels. This company has left a bad taste in my mouth. YUCK.

At the conclusion, we agreed to purchase a VIP voucher not a timeshare. They also gave us our Hilton Honors points and a certificate for a free hotel night. We did use the certificate and were sent a check for 200.00. We decided to use our VIP voucher for a stay in Hawaii. We had no problem booking the resort we wanted in Oahu. We did book nine months in advance as they suggested.

So far our experience has been good. We are not going to purchase a time share, but may purchase another VIP voucher as the value is excellent. We paid 1,700.00 for our voucher. A two bedroom unit in the Oahu resort would be around $450.00 a night. We got seven nights at 242.86. I figured it saved us about half.

Then on with a presentation that included all of the sales pitch in the glorious splendor that Hilton provides. The two-hour presentation passed the three-hour mark quickly. When we said we were not in the financial position to sign up for this $14,000+ commitment, the sales rep turned into a totally different person! He was the ugly thug that had just wasted his time on us without gaining the payday he was looking for. He just got up with the most disgusted look on his face and walked away. We were left sitting there wondering what to do next. The rep comes back with a financial rep to talk with us..."We can break this down into smaller payments for you so that all you would need to pay us today is $1400," he stated. We again said, "No thank you!" Now they both turned into monsters, sighing, and mumbling to each other in disgust while giving us looks that made us feel like we just physically injured two little boys.

This was a HORRIBLE experience that I would have never expected from a huge corporation like Hilton. I now have a whole new image of Hilton Hotels and will go out of my way to NEVER stay in one again!

As new owners we were excited to begin planning our spring break and summer, fall and winter vacations only to find out that we have to settle for mediocrity. The hotels RCI use up all the points, may not have availability or have very modest accommodations; nothing luxurious about that. I usually book our vacations six months to a year in advance. So far, I have not been able to book any vacations using HGV. I called and emailed Travis and all he told me was that I needed to try 6-9 months ahead. I did with no luck. Like every one who has responsibilities, I should not have to chase after these people. My time is just as valuable as theirs. Every time I have tried, I get told the same thing, “Try calling in a couple of days." There are not enough resorts for the demand. Do not believe anything this guy tell you. He even had his manager approve 30,000 points to get us to sign up. Then he said he would call me to help me out with the process and never did. Instead he send me an email that was variously to cover his butt.

If you are attempting to travel based on a child's school schedule or in conjunction with federal holidays, you will not likely be able to schedule a room even at the property that you own. So if you are able to take annual vacations and aren't bound to a school schedule and really want a timeshare then the only way to buy and actually get your value out of hilton is to watch and wait for the best price point ($1 per point) on the hilton grand vacation resale site and do your research to get into a hilton property with the lowest annual maintenance/club fees. (I believe the example that he showed me was an old property in Las Vegas, which is one of the lowest if not the lowest in the nation). As long as you’re flexible on your vacation dates, then it doesn't matter where in the nation you buy your timeshare because "a point, is a point, is a point" meaning that it doesn't matter if you bought your point for $1 in Las Vegas or $50 at the new property in Hawaii.

Point values are the same when you go to book your room for vacation as long as you’re flexible on your dates. The burning question is "why would a guy want to buy into a high end brand new property at a significant emotional initial buy in with high annual fees that must be paid for the life of property ownership, when another guy that paid a fraction of the price per point with low annual fees can vacation at the very same property, very same room, during off peak times?" The answer is that the gifted sales rep has convinced the high price buyer at the brand new property that he will get first dibs on "his" property whenever he chooses. That is not true because there are too many "owners" trying to book into the same properties and not enough properties available to satisfy the demand.

So the last important lesson of my guy that I'll mention is getting around annual fees. He's gamed the system to where he doesn't pay out of pocket each year for any of his properties but it takes some active management and pre-planning. He's purchased property on the hilton grand vacation resale site with the intent of selling points each year at a discounted rate to cover the cost of his annual fees for his properties and also makes a little additional money to cover spending money for his own vacation so his vacations each year are really paid for by other people. He books his vacations on January 1st of each year and also calculates his combined annual fees and figures out how many of his points he needs to sell and at what price point to cover his annual costs.

There's no point in going to a sales presentation or talking to a sales rep on the phone, if you do then you're about to make a large mistake that you'll be paying for many years. Also not worth the drama and head games... hilton won't make any money off of you and neither will the salesman so it's not in their interests to talk about buying re-sale. If you buy a new timeshare regardless of deal they make you believe, then you'll be in debt at the wrong end of the pyramid scheme. Be smart if you really want a hilton grand vacation timeshare and start with buying 1500 points for $1500 and not much more on the resale site at a location with low annual costs to make it easier to recoup your costs each year. I'm assuming this post will be removed quickly by hilton so I hope this helps someone today...good luck.

This company is loaded with employees at the time of the presentation, but very short on personnel to assist with issues and believe me I have had many. I'm stuck with a timeshare that is extremely hard to use and no way to get out of it unless I am willing to lose 90% of the purchase price plus all the other fees I've paid over the last few years. PLEASE learn from MY mistake. STAY AWAY.

I see a lot of similar situations on this forum. Why is no one filing lawsuits against them? We would like to know before we get in too deep with this. We have already reported the monthly payments charged to our credit card as fraud. And explained the situation to the credit card company. We are under the impression that lying in a situation like this is illegal and punishable by law. We will be searching for an attorney. We hate to do a lawsuit, but this is outrageous what they are doing. Not only did they lie to us about the option to sell it back to them, most of the presentation was a misrepresentation of the entire timeshare and its benefits etc. That's another story. The main reason we are in this predicament is because of the lie the rep told us. We would appreciate any feedback on this. Feel free to email me at **. Join me in the lawsuit. I'm sure it will be a journey.

We have really loved it, because we know when we stay, we are going to have luxury accommodations. The service is always been wonderful for us. The one suggestion I could make for those who are just getting started using their timeshare is to invest plenty of time to plan out your trips and get the most for your time and money. We just recently stayed at the Elara in Las Vegas, and when I sent back a picture of our 1 bdrm. suite to our son, his comment was, "WOW The presidential suite?" We are SO happy we purchased with Hilton.

Anyone given the opportunity for this timeshare vacation needs to stay away. It is a rip off, promise you anything and give you something else. I was promised 20,000 points and the voucher was for 10,000 but still not awarded. The hotel voucher was to be for 3 nights and instead it was for 200.00 and only for one night at a Hilton. I have to pay for the room and then turn in the receipt for reimbursement. I doubt I will ever be reimbursed the way the rest of this came out. STAY AWAY, HANG UP THE PHONE.

DEC. 24, 2014 UPDATE: I got off the phone a few hours ago with a Hilton Grand Vacations Dispute Resolution representative. She was trying to "make nice" by offering to nail down my reservation for 9 months from now. I was told my reservation depends 100% on someone else cancelling bec all spaces are already reserved for 9 months from now. She said there are 250,000 Grand Vacation members, which means that if you want a reservation for a hot date (for example, most holidays, summer vacation months...maybe more) you MUST reserve way, way in advance. 250,000 members for 2,000 spaces in many places. Maybe smaller number of available spaces sometimes. THE BOTTOM LINE for me is that priceline.com will get luxury rooms in hotels (sometimes even Hiltons) for bargain prices close to the date of my trip. I do not know legal definitions, but it seems to me HGVC is a bait and switch operation. Who needs it?

What is the timeshare worth? I bought this right before my honeymoon and had planned to use the timeshare to cover the lion share of my accommodations. In fact, it only gave me a $200 credit towards my stay...just my stay, not my wife's. SO, I had to borrow points from my upcoming year just to get her a $200 credit. Then, I still had to pay over $500 a piece to cover the balance. I won't get into what I pay every month to own this, not including the astronomical yearly dues I pay for "upkeep" on a property I will never stay in. But, I can tell you, what I pay every month is MUCH more (per month) than a FULL YEAR'S worth of points.

Here's the big question everyone should ask when "investing" in property. I use the word "investing" because that's a huge part of their sales pitch. When buying a property, you should expect that there is some rate of APPRECIATION, right? As soon as I tried to use my points on my honeymoon, I realized how big of a mistake I had made. I called in to see how much my timeshare was worth if they bought it back from me...this is less than 2 mos later. They told me they would buy it back at 1/15 the price I paid for it! THAT’S WORSE THAN A CAR! How can you, in good conscious, sell something to someone for that price knowing is worth next to NOTHING less than 2 mos later?

Oh, and I am a Diamond member with Hilton who once also carried their credit card too. They tell you when you go to buy: "you can feel secure because we could never abuse our best clientele at out that at risk." Well, I am now a Marriott guy! Hilton is so short sighted because they lost ALL my business! For their instant gain in timeshare, they lost 200+ nights of my travel business (and my wife's) and over 75k in credit card purchases (work/personal). All in all at an avg nightly stay of let's say $150, they lost $30k in direct revenue. Add that to the $75k in CC expenditures, that's an annual total of $105,000! THAT’S JUST ONE YEAR! I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Do yourself a favor and just take their free swag, and TELL THEM TO GET LOST... like I should have.

I purchased it, a gold membership, (one week a year in Kona), thinking this would be my vacation every year. For two or three months I was at ease, thinking I would not have to make extensive arrangements for my yearly trip anymore, until I was trying to book it with HGV. I was either too late to book, or too early and had to wait to book it. Needless to say, I still have not been able to book a trip to this timeshare in 6 years! When I explained to their customer service representative that I had not been able to use it at all, and inquired about my points if perhaps I could use it towards another vacation, they told me I had lost them all. Every time they suggest other properties in different locations that I had no interest of going. This company does not care about the customer service. All they care is about their own profit. They sell every week to God knows how many people, but it does not stop them from charging me every year almost $1,400 for HOA.

To make the story short, that was my last trip to Hawaii - 6 years ago. Had I not bought into it, I would have kept on going to Hawaii and making my own arrangements without spending hours and hours trying to book a trip through the Hilton Grand Vacation which supposedly "it is my own home away from home". I would not be able to give them even 1/2 of a star.

My complaint is more with Hilton-- don't transfer just anyone making a reservation to these hard line phone sales people. Train your call staff better than that. It leaves a real bad taste in my mouth and I will probably look for other hotel chains to use in the future or will at the least book online where I can't be shuffled to the vultures! Seems very shady and shifty to me.

What are the options in regard to selling? Also, any suggestions how/who best to contact to discuss this with the company? There is no email address provided, and time difference make it difficult to call the generic number provided. Any advice appreciated.

We had no choice and agreed to Kings Land since we wanted to visit Hawaii again but had to sit in a "90" mins presentation that lasted for about 2 1/2 hours. The tag-team was obviously pissed when we did not purchased and I am so very happy we did not purchased. We arrived on 5 Sept very late in the night. Condo was nasty and service was less to be desired. Once it was known that you did not purchase---- well, you can figure the rest out.

I went ahead and booked the second weekend of August. When we found out in the middle of June that that weekend wasn't going to work, I called right away. Well, they charged us a change fee, and told us that they didn't have a weekend available for the rest of August or September. We were able to book the second weekend in October. Now, my husband has a work-related conflict that weekend, and they are unwilling to extend our deadline any further. They said they were going to refund us the $59 weekend fee, but we were going to forfeit the $279 "vacation" fee we had already paid because we couldn't stay on a date and time of their choosing. DON'T BUY THIS!! THIS IS A HUGE RIPOFF!!

He also neglected to tell me that if you do not meet the qualifications of this promotion or attend presentation during your vacation, the difference between the special package price and the current published nightly rate for the applicable resort at that time would be charged to my credit card. If I was told this information on the phone by the rep I would have never accepted this deal. I did call back immediately, spoke to a manager and stated by problem and got nowhere. I called their headquarters, left two voicemails and got no response. I have not booked this vacation and won't after reading all of the complaints. I wonder how many people have lost $197 dollars of their money to this company.

I talked to her about my husband's work schedule and decided I would find a Fri-Mon airline ticket. About three days later I found tickets for November. I booked a week prior to the holiday and coming in on a Friday and leaving Monday. I then called the company back to give them the dates I wanted to stay. All sounds pretty simple right? Well, my first contact told me that they didn't have any rooms available except a one room. Ok fine there is only two adults but she said it was a special room and would cost additional $25 a night. I said no way, the last person who took my credit card and charged it said that I had no black out dates and this wasn't a holiday so I was not going to pay extra.

They went away for a bit and came back and said they are going to waive that charge as a courtesy BUT are charging me a $49 night fee for a weekend stay. I said how could that be, the last rep said I just can't check out on a weekend, stay over Sunday and that solves the weekend problem. She told me I had to check in on a Thursday, but I said how could that be if it was a 3 night stay? I would have to leave on Sunday which the last rep, and the conversation was recorded according to the first person I talked to, so that information was a lie. The bottom line is it's all lies from the get go. I thought I was prepared. I already purchased my $700 two airline tickets. So I called my credit card company to reverse the $222 charge. I then looked at tons of reviews and realized I got taken for a ride. I booked at another hotel for our stay and used points I had on an American Express, and got the room for free for three nights, so now I can use my airline tickets without guilt.

I also looked on the website of the Hilton Grand Vacations Vegas hotel and you can get a room for $116 the same nights I was requesting, so at a rate of $222 for 3 nights and $25 they wanted to upcharge me and then add another $49 on top of that, I would have paid more for this hotel than I could get online and have to listen to a timeshare salesperson. It's not a good deal by any means. Save yourself the lies and stay at another hotel. I have been a Hilton honors member and American Express Hilton points member for many years. I feel like cancelling anything to do with Hilton from now on, all because of $222. I can't believe they would want to lose a great Hilton Customer over this whole ordeal. It is all very disappointing.

So when I came to check in, I was surprised to hear that we are actually staying at a 3-minute drive away hotel called Hilton Palisades. I though 'Ok, it can't be too bad.' I was wrong. The room was small for our family of four with young children, and the bathroom was very outdated, remind me of Motel 6 in the college days. The lady also said even though we won't be able to see the ocean but we will have our own little cove by the swimming pool. The truth is, our room is next to a parking lot. In the morning, the trash truck come over and was very loud! Talk about been lie to, since we will be at Legoland all day and I don't want to use any time wasted on room than my son's birthday celebration, I let it go.

Needless to say, from that point, there is No Way I am going to buy a timeshare from Hilton. If you are going to sell people something, the least you should do is let the costumer experience the product. Test drive, right? Not shove them into some small room next to a parking lot with view of bushes and cars. But since I already sign on the presentation, my husband and I showed up the next day to listen to the whole sales pitch. After 3 hours of talking, I said No, and sooooo glad I did. I don't want to spend that kind of money until I understand everything how it works.

To be pressured that you buy right there just not working for us, also every time you call in for reservation, they charge you $59, and they also charge you when you cancel, and nobody can guarantee you that you get the two bedroom suites you bought everywhere you go. Also the HOA is $2500 a year and keep going up. I think I can use that money and the initial $78,000.00 dollars in much better ways than this. Timeshare is not for us, but what gets me is how they lie to get you in, and all sorts of ways to make you purchase things that doesn't make any sense and when you tell them about it, no one is listening!

Anyway, I hope this helps people out there who are still thinking about the timeshare adventure. To me, it's a lot of trouble and headache, so Please be careful what you are getting into.

After his getting to know our travel needs, we went upstairs to view one of the units. It was nice enough but honestly, nothing special. We then ended up back at George's desk where we were introduced to David who gave us the numbers. Since I am retired military, they the best deal at of 3400 points (every other year) for just $13,900 and $1900 down (give or take a few bucks). I would give the exact amounts but they won't let you take any written offers with you. Oh and they threw in another 3400 points the first year to sweeten the pot.

Since the offer was for a unit in the Elara, I asked to see the actual unit. They brought a limo over and we took the long ride down the strip. This didn't seem like the norm for them to do but I think they thought I was hooked on buying and wanted the sell. The Elara units were much better and the location of the hotel is ideal if you like the downtown Vegas life.

As we toured the Elara hotel, I started searching the internet for reviews and complaints about Hilton timeshares. Before that point, I had not done my homework but now my wife was interested in that idea and I had to get some facts before we got roped into something. They made it sound like such good deal and you are getting a deed that is yours, an investment. Well, the search returns were many and most of them not favorable. I knew better than to sign up for anything without doing additional research. I shared these results with George and his attitude changed a bit. He offered a few more points but he could see I was not going to change my mind. He worked on the wife a bit but that didn't work either.

The next fella that came in was the Quality assurance guy who wanted to know how we were treated and how the stay was. He then tried to sell us a one-week stay for $1795 at one of 7 or 8 resorts. We didn't fall for the trick and were given our tickets for dinner and a show (which were good) and a $200 voucher to a future stay at a Hilton hotel. I haven't tried to use it yet but from what I'm reading on here, it may be hard to use.

I crunched the numbers and just couldn't get the numbers to equate to any savings over a 10-year period. If I bought the $14,000 deed and pay the $500 a year maintenance fee that equates to $19,000, plus $52 each booked stay. Let's make things easy and say it's an even $20K. So I stay at a hotel one week a year over 10 years that equates to me paying $285 a night. If I really stay frugal with my points (3400 every other year) and say I can stay a few more trips, I still don't get much better. Bottom line: The math just doesn't work for me. I can't see how it works for anyone but I leave it to you to do your own math. If you are young and have a lot of years to travel and routinely take vacations, then maybe it will work for you.

All in all I had fun in Vegas and would take the trip again if the time was right. At the beginning of the seminar, George said there would be NO high pressure sales. I guess they have a different perspective of what is high pressure sales. I can see how some can make an emotional buy thinking they are getting a great deal. Be aware and beware! Before going on any timeshare sales pitch, understand what you will be faced with. They will wow you with free food, drinks, perks and all sorts of great sounding deals. I suggest you talk with your spouse about it before even showing up and make sure you both know what to expect. A cheap stay at Vegas might be worth setting through a couple hour presentation but don't fall for the sales pitch.

Bottom line, this is a bad idea, the whole situation was a mess and didn't really get the stay we were told we would. We stayed in an alternative room. Old and not all items worked. Avoid the scam and stay at a Marriott. I know I will from now on. Hilton was dishonest in their advertisement and response times as promised.

We scheduled our trip for July, got a call from the representative a few weeks before, and they seemed glad we had really made our arrangements. We made it to the hotel, got a fairly nice room, friendly staff, clean area, no issues. Enjoyed our time, scheduled our sales pitch time, got our game faces on, and made our plan to not buy. Sat down with a nice young man named Matt and got the intro, saw a movie, and to the computer we went. It was the usual questions: how much do we vacation, how much do we pay, blah blah, the usual stuff. We do these enough to know the pitch, and armed with information from the Consumer affairs site, the BBB site, and just regular comments, we had the knowledge available to us to know that this is not something we would be interested in. I let the salesman know upfront about my gathered information, and he accepted it fairly well. There was no hi-pressure, there was no feeling of guilt or obligation, there was just a couple staying at their facility at a really good rate.

Look, the bottom line is this: If you want a timeshare, find one you like. But if you buy one you're not happy with, STOP WHINING! It's not the sales staff's fault that you're stupid. Take responsibility for your own actions. I know it's the American way to want to blame everyone but yourself for all of your ills, but it's not the sales person job to protect you. It's your job to protect you! And if you fail with that, suck it up, move on, and try to never screw yourself again in the future! Me, as a self aware American, take responsibility for my own actions, and yes I've made mistakes before, but unless it's real criminal activity that I had no control over, I blame myself, not someone else (especially a salesman) for my own stupidity. If it's real criminal activity that caused you to suffer your loss, get them, ruin them, take litigation on them, or whatever it takes to get retribution. But none of the complaints I've heard so far don't even come close to that, so it's on you.

We had a great time, did well at the tables, and got an excellent deal in exchange for 2 1/2 hours of time. It was worth it, and I'm all over the next sales call for that next special deal!

Well, it turns out both those statements were complete lies. We have not received any documentation and, according to the sales staff, we have a mortgage payment to make this month. It has been well over 2 months. I've made a dozen phone calls to the numbers provided, left many messages and not a single response. I now face the possibility of perfect credit ruined by a late mortgage payment because of these people. I would not recommend dealing with Hilton Grand Vacations if you value your credit or money. My wife and I are both going to unload something that we were actually wanting to do because of this experience. If you can't keep a customer that wants your product happy just 2 months after a sale, how do you think you will be treated years into it? No matter what they tell you, the sale seems to be all they care about. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Hilton Time Shares.

My sister-in-law's husband looked through the RCI book and mentioned how the places in the towns he normally stays at were blocks away from where he normally stays & Hud got angry & said, "You're going to argue over a few blocks?" Yes, location does matter when you are used to certain conveniences that you already paid for. While listening to the pitch, I was in my phone Googling prices to certain places listed on their lists & found I could get them cheaper on my own.

In both instances, a 2nd guy came out trying to intimidate us into buying... at 17.5% interest! When we both refused, we were both hit up by a 3rd guy who was so nasty & told us how ridiculous it was that we wanted to talk about this outside of the room... It was make the decision now or kiss the offer goodbye (Who in their right mind would buy into this?). Several hours later we met a couple in Downtown Disney who were in line for dinner behind us. We came to find out that they bought into HGV last year and still couldn't use it and they tried selling and were offered 1/3 of the price they paid last year. The husband said he has been through the wringer with the people from HGV & has gotten nowhere.

We are thanking our lucky stars we saw through their gimmick & my sister-in-law said thanks to HUD, he just proved how much better the DVC really is! None of us will ever stay at a Hilton again. Oh, as far as the horrible hotel they put us in, they laughed about it. These sales guys are the pond scum of our society. Stay away - all lies - they just take your money & laugh all the way to the bank. Talk to an investment adviser - you can invest very little money & earn more for many years of vacations to come!

HGVC would only put us in the Hilton Grand, which is 2 miles north of all the prime Las Vegas hotels, restaurants and entertainment. Their Customer Care department is very cold as the people are trained to dump you into the less desirable properties. We are simply caught with a non-refundable voucher that offers none of the flexibility implied at the time of sale. I guess we will take our 20-30 room nights per year to another brand with a conscience. We are extremely surprised that Hilton would tarnish their lodging reputation by operating this timeshare hoax. However, we're the lucky ones since we were never subjected to the actual TimeShare sales tactics.

We had to sit through a presentation and I knew that it wasn't for us. The video they show is typical highlighting their best properties. No impressed!!! I see myself as a luxury bargain shopper and especially in Las Vegas I can get the best for close to nothing by just shopping online and/or being a member of a hotels players club. Donna the sales representative did her best to make us believe that it was a "no brainer" to spend 20,000.00 on a timeshare having ownership rather than just take vacations and "get nothing". I'd rather sink that money into my home and get something real. However, Donna tried to sell us on the importance of being fully committed annual travelers. Let’s face it, there are some places where being out and about is more important than being in your room.

They calculate the cost of a two week vacation and multiply that by x amount of years. I think that's where they get a lot of people. If you don't catch what they're doing you'll be suckered in. They leave out all the different fees, like the maintenance fees, booking fees, cancellation fees, and no real assurance you'll get the booking at the property of your choice. The purchasing of a timeshare may have worked years ago when there was less access to information. With a competitive hospitality industry, and numerous comparative travel sites, I could not possibly consider having the huge debt of a timeshare weighing me down. Take my advice, don't make any spur of the moment decisions. If you really want a timeshare, do your research. You'll save yourself a lot of grief.

Needless to say... we ended up booking our vacation with our current timeshare. I thought I would give this to my oldest daughter to use...Of course not. You can't get a refund nor give it to someone else. Just recently we decided we would take another vacation in October... so, I thought I would give it another try. Well, this time they say that we only have a studio room for 2 and would have to upgrade to a one bedroom at an additional $75 a night!! AND once again... they said that it would NOT be at the Anderson Ocean Club... it would be at a regular hotel! However, we would have our 3-hour presentation at the Anderson!

Really??? And you honestly think I would even consider purchasing anything when they can't even accommodate your initial reservations!!!!??? I asked to speak with a manager...which she was even more frustrating... This whole process was a waste of money... and even more... a waste of time compared to my hourly rate!!!!!!!!! Although I really do like the Hilton Hotels... I would NEVER recommend anyone having anything to do with their timeshares. I will be telling EVERYONE I know... luckily I know people from all over the world ;-).... about this ordeal and help save them from such a horrible experience!!!

Also, I was told that I would still get the Hilton points (money towards a nights stay) if I could't go but when I cancelled the trip I was told that I would not get them.

One day, we forgot to pull it tight and the door was ajar the whole day while we were out. Hilton has a major ownership in the Trump and wants to manage it. Well good for them. Because we were only staying 3 nights, we were told at check-in that there would be no maid service. Okay, no big deal. Had a lovely time in Vegas. Saw the Hoover Dam. Went to the 2-hour presentation. Sat with Michael ** (won't give his whole name). Very fast talker. His first question was what I thought timeshares were all about. I explained and they said that was the "old" time share concept, but Hilton has a "new" concept. It's all about options. He asked how I vacationed. I explained that I take 1 cruise per year and take 1 tour of a country per year. I do not stay in 1 hotel for more that 2 nights. I like to travel around and see the country, NOT stay in one place and do days trips around the area.

Well, I could purchase a 1-bedroom at Elara for $20k and would have all the perks of a condo/resort plus I would earn points and with these points I could get lots of discounts for cruises, airfare and hotels. He said the traditional timeshare would not benefit me. Neither would using the condo/resorts, unless I decided to stay an extra night or two before or after my trip. He suggested that I use my points to better take advantage of the Hilton Options and get deeply discounted airfares and cruises. He wasn't all that familiar with that end, so he brought over Mona to help out, because she was into that end of things.

Mona was a cruiser herself and we chatted a little. I explained that I didn't see how Hilton was going to benefit me, but I was open to suggestions and explanations. Mona asked what was my next cruise. I gave her the info and while she looked it up on the computer she asked how much the cruise was costing me. Well I only put down a down payment and didn't have the specific numbers with me, so I gave her a number that I had in my head. Unfortunately, the number in my head was for the total trip: the airfare, the hotel for the night before (I like to arrive a day early when travelling outside the US, just in case, I do not want to miss the boat!), the taxes, gratuities and the cruise. She showed me where it would cost me 2500 points and $2300.00 per person for the deeply discounted cruise using my points.

Well, 2 times $2300 is $4600 and that's a lot less than I'd be paying on my own. I had various other questions, which were all answered. Then we went to the closing. Signed my life away and am now an "owner". All in all, I was there for just over 4 hours. I'm detailed and I like to ask questions. Leave Vegas and fly back home and decide to look at my cruise info. The price I'm paying is $2300 per person. How is this benefiting me?? Let me call and ask. In all the 5 reams of paperwork that I have, I do not have a business card from Michael, nor Mona nor any contact numbers for customer service. How odd. But miraculously I did have a phone call from Roma, who did the closing, on my answering machine asking me to sign and return a form that she emailed me, because she neglected to have me sign it at the closing.

Well I went crazy with Roma's number and talked to several people, including Human Resources, leaving various messages. No one ever got back to me, but I'm persistent. I kept calling and hitting "0" for immediate assistance, driving a good portion of the HGVClub phone center crazy. I finally was transferred to Michael's voice mail and left a message for him. Haven't heard back from him yet, but he may be off. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt. I finally did get a hold of Roma, poor thing, and asked about cancelling. Since I'm within my 5-day Right to Rescind period, she helped me find the form, complete it and gave me the necessary instructions.

I overnighted it this morning and am now a happy former owner. No one got back to me - and I did NOT leave any angry messages - they were very pleasant and calm messages. No reason to "lose" them. I'm sure this a great way to vacation for some people. I just didn't get how this would benefit me. I did get the feeling that Michael was not pushy and would have been okay with me no matter what I decided. Mona basically lied to me for the sake of a sale. If she was really a cruiser, then she knew that it was not deeply discounted. I should have known better, but with all this information and numbers coming at me, I failed myself. I do think that they use all the information to overwhelm people. I can't imagine that after spending a large chunk of money that they "forgot" to include business cards. What were they thinking? That I might have a question and call them up? Duh. Isn't that customer service? Buyer beware. If it sounds too good to be true, guess what? If you have to sign today and today only, guess what? I really was open to suggestions and was willing to see how a timeshare at Hilton could benefit me. Maybe that is my problem - I wanted it to work. Lesson learned.

Almost 6 months to close? C'mon... my house took less than a month, and my cars took 1 day. They've already taken $3,000 from us too. Oh and that $200 voucher? I actually figured out how to use it... the HILTON in Atlanta was SO BAD that the manager sent me a free 2 nights stay (for real this time) all inclusive for meals, etc. Now that was great and all, but do they really think I would ever set foot back into their hotel? Uhh, no. I still have yet to receive my refund that's "still processing." All in all, I'm retaining an attorney, and I will take HGVC to court. Will it cost more? Likely so.

However, it is the PRINCIPLE of this whole thing that pisses me off to no end. FYI, if you want to sue and can't afford an attorney, go to your state//local courthouse website(s). There you can find free Q&A, seminars, classes and even pro-bono attorneys (assuming your in the awesome government bracket). I hope everyone reads this before being taken by HGVC!!!

Now that I have this huge financial burden, my actual experience has been that my points allowance will only provide a 2-bedroom unit in the Silver Season, which is considered the off-season for all resorts. However, I pay the full maintenance fees on a 3-bedroom unit since this is what I was sold. That maintenance fee is $300 more per year than what I was quoted - including the years I do not receive any points. I cannot even use the package for a Hilton Grand Vacation property as I had planned. This year, I used the RCI Timeshare site to get a 2- bedroom unit during busy season but had to pay additional fees outside of the normal fees. I could have received the same package on Expedia for much less.

Also during the sales presentation, I inquired about selling the property back if it didn't work for me. I was told that the properties at Myrtle Beach were in high demand and Hilton would purchase the property back if I no longer wanted it. I have had the package for less than one year and just inquired about selling it back. I was told that the value of the property is less than half of what I owe for it. Hilton would charge me a 25% fee to purchase it back in addition to me paying up front the difference of what I owed and the estimated sales price. This amount would be worth 5 years' of vacations booked directly through a travel agent.

It doesn't stop there... I visited the Las Vegas property earlier this year and attended another sales presentation where the salesperson emphasized what a poor deal I had been sold and confirmed that what I was told was not true. Also, he verified that the points I received were not enough to actually utilize the program. He advised me to convert all Hilton Grand Vacation points to Hilton Honors points and utilize the hotel reservation site instead. What??

I received a follow-up call from a Corporate salesperson the other day asking me to purchase the points for the odd years I hadn't purchased originally. When I expressed my frustration with the entire package, he reviewed the information and agreed that the package I was sold was not what I had expected, and he would never have sold me a 3-bedroom unit with the highest maintenance fees. I could convert the deed to a 1-bedroom unit for the same amount of points EVERY YEAR and the maintenance fees would equate to what I was paying now every other year. However, in order to do this, it would cost me another huge amount of money. I am stuck with this decision, but I am hoping to dissuade anyone out there from making the same mistake. These salespeople will lie and use extremely manipulative sales tactics to get you to sign up for their program. Please do not fall for their scam.

In other words, oral representation means nothing, and it's all based on thoroughly understanding their website (which you won't have access to until about 30 days) which is way past the point you can void the contract. They will tell you things in the presentation that sound very nice, and if you question anything, they will tell you what you want to hear (again, knowing that oral representation means nothing). FOLKS... Trust me and all the other people who have made complaints about HGVC... This is a scam. Yes, the properties are nice, but you can stay at them without being a club member for not much less.

Are there charges for making each reservation and higher charges to change or cancel a date? (We were not told that.) Are the reservations hard to make? We plan on staying in NYC sometimes, but like the idea of staying lots of different places, US and abroad. And we would probably stay at regular hotels, not the Clubs, b/c we just want a room, and the points go much further ... right? Their numbers look like you get 50 times more points by giving up breakfast, happy hour, fitness club and business center at a Club. Why would people do that?

Our price was $58900 for 5250 club points or $11.24 per point. Other offers on here work out closer to $6.50 a point -- what's up with that? (In NY, we were told all members pay same price.) Will you share YOUR $ per point price? I also have figured out that you probably pay room tax for your stay, which at our hotel, through Expedia, would have been $53.35 a night. I can take that, BUT it really changes the calculation of out-of-pocket costs for vacation vs. Club investment.

I, like others, thank you for the info and would love to get reactions to my questions from current members using the Club program.