do not buy a timeshare from Bluegreen
Complaint
Ben Travis
Country: United States
Do not...I repeat...do NOT buy a Bluegreen timeshare under any conditions. No matter how sweet it may sound, it is a rip-off. My wife and I bought one, and we are in a continual state of regret about it. It is virtually impossible to sell (the same amount of points we bought for $10,000 are selling for about $3,000 online), plus we have yearly fees of about $700 that must be paid for us to even be able to keep using it.
Here are some of the things you may not hear while you're in a Bluegreen presentation... we didn't:
-each year you will have to pay both "maintenance fees" and "club dues," which for us amount to over $700. If you don't pay, you can't use any of your points at all until you do pay.
-many of the resorts they tell you about can only be booked in 7-day increments, which means you'll take that trip and no others for two years because you'll use up all your points on that single trip.
-we just found this one out... if you don't have the points, you can't book a trip... for example, we get 12,000 new points in July, so I called to book something in August. Well, I can't do that until I "have the points." Of course, by the time the points actually show up, all the places will be booked for the summer. We're all paid up on maintenance fees and club dues, so we will definitely get the points, but too bad... we have to wait. The person on the phone even sympathized with me and said he understood what I was saying, but too bad.
-they say they will help you rent your timeshare, but this is a joke. Your timeshare will never rent for anything near what you need to maintain the fees on it, much less pay it off.
-take a look at this web site to see what points are actually worth if you buy them on eBay: http://popular.ebay.com/ns/Real-Estate/Bluegreen.html If you really desperately want Bluegreen points, don't buy them from Bluegreen.
-they tell you that you can book things just a day or two in advance, but this is almost never possible in real life. Things are booked up months in advance.
Owning a Bluegreen timeshare is like a weight that you have to drag around with you for the rest of your life. There are many places that will rent timeshares if you like that kind of thing, and you can usually get them fairly cheap and without any obligation for the future. When I imagine paying $700 a year for the rest of my life, it feels amazingly scary. Don't do it. You're locking yourself into something that will never end when there is absolutely no need to do so.
They give you the free trip, then take advantage of how little you've researched timeshares when you're in the presentation. They tell you this price can only be offered this one time, and that you can't take another trip. It's all cheap sales techniques, and they wouldn't be necessary if it were something people really benefited from.
We even looked on the internet during our sales presentation... if only I had come across a letter like this, we probably wouldn't have bought, and we'd be much better off. At least take a few days to think about it. If they can't give you that long to think, they're tricking you anyway.
Buying a Bluegreen timeshare is a terrible decision. They, like many salespeople, will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to buy, knowing that they will not personally be accountable for any misrepresentations of the truth later on.
One thing they promised us is that we could rent our timeshare. Now they've done away with that aspect as well, so you either use it, keep paying about $700 in fees each year along with whatever you paid originally, or you just lose the points. Every letter we receive is something else they're taking away from us.
The most recent thing that happened was that we had tried to rent ours out for 10,000 points (most of our points) before they decided to stop letting people do that. So I called today, 10 days in advance, to check and make sure it was rented, since this is the cut-off for when I can cancel without losing points. So the guy on the phone told me that yes, it is rented. And I asked, "Well, what happens if the people cancel sometime in the next 10 days?" He said, "We don't have any control over that, sir." And I said, "I understand that, but I don't either. So what happens to my points if they cancel?" And he said, "Well, you lose those points."
So some renter I don't even know can decide to back out at the last minute, and I lose 10,000 points and don't get to travel or make any money from my timeshare for 2 years! That seems fair...
Everything Bluegreen does seems to be a way to get themselves more money and screw over their "valued customers."
And Bluegreen, if you're reading this, don't bother calling me trying to get me to revoke the complaint... we're trying to sell our timeshare as quickly as we can and hopefully never have any interaction with you for as long as we live.
Here are some of the things you may not hear while you're in a Bluegreen presentation... we didn't:
-each year you will have to pay both "maintenance fees" and "club dues," which for us amount to over $700. If you don't pay, you can't use any of your points at all until you do pay.
-many of the resorts they tell you about can only be booked in 7-day increments, which means you'll take that trip and no others for two years because you'll use up all your points on that single trip.
-we just found this one out... if you don't have the points, you can't book a trip... for example, we get 12,000 new points in July, so I called to book something in August. Well, I can't do that until I "have the points." Of course, by the time the points actually show up, all the places will be booked for the summer. We're all paid up on maintenance fees and club dues, so we will definitely get the points, but too bad... we have to wait. The person on the phone even sympathized with me and said he understood what I was saying, but too bad.
-they say they will help you rent your timeshare, but this is a joke. Your timeshare will never rent for anything near what you need to maintain the fees on it, much less pay it off.
-take a look at this web site to see what points are actually worth if you buy them on eBay: http://popular.ebay.com/ns/Real-Estate/Bluegreen.html If you really desperately want Bluegreen points, don't buy them from Bluegreen.
-they tell you that you can book things just a day or two in advance, but this is almost never possible in real life. Things are booked up months in advance.
Owning a Bluegreen timeshare is like a weight that you have to drag around with you for the rest of your life. There are many places that will rent timeshares if you like that kind of thing, and you can usually get them fairly cheap and without any obligation for the future. When I imagine paying $700 a year for the rest of my life, it feels amazingly scary. Don't do it. You're locking yourself into something that will never end when there is absolutely no need to do so.
They give you the free trip, then take advantage of how little you've researched timeshares when you're in the presentation. They tell you this price can only be offered this one time, and that you can't take another trip. It's all cheap sales techniques, and they wouldn't be necessary if it were something people really benefited from.
We even looked on the internet during our sales presentation... if only I had come across a letter like this, we probably wouldn't have bought, and we'd be much better off. At least take a few days to think about it. If they can't give you that long to think, they're tricking you anyway.
Buying a Bluegreen timeshare is a terrible decision. They, like many salespeople, will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to buy, knowing that they will not personally be accountable for any misrepresentations of the truth later on.
One thing they promised us is that we could rent our timeshare. Now they've done away with that aspect as well, so you either use it, keep paying about $700 in fees each year along with whatever you paid originally, or you just lose the points. Every letter we receive is something else they're taking away from us.
The most recent thing that happened was that we had tried to rent ours out for 10,000 points (most of our points) before they decided to stop letting people do that. So I called today, 10 days in advance, to check and make sure it was rented, since this is the cut-off for when I can cancel without losing points. So the guy on the phone told me that yes, it is rented. And I asked, "Well, what happens if the people cancel sometime in the next 10 days?" He said, "We don't have any control over that, sir." And I said, "I understand that, but I don't either. So what happens to my points if they cancel?" And he said, "Well, you lose those points."
So some renter I don't even know can decide to back out at the last minute, and I lose 10,000 points and don't get to travel or make any money from my timeshare for 2 years! That seems fair...
Everything Bluegreen does seems to be a way to get themselves more money and screw over their "valued customers."
And Bluegreen, if you're reading this, don't bother calling me trying to get me to revoke the complaint... we're trying to sell our timeshare as quickly as we can and hopefully never have any interaction with you for as long as we live.
Comments
(Four Steps to be FREE of Bluegreen)
So many hundreds of people have commented on this blog that they wish to get out and quit Bluegreen. They also have commented that they are angry that they got scammed and wish that everyone complaining about Bluegreen can combine forces TOGETHER to quit Bluegreen and get out. Here is the way to STICK-IT to Corrupt Bluegreen and bankrupt them in FOUR STEPS!
1) Find at least 30 PEOPLE who feel the same disgust for “Bluegreen” as you do and who wants OUT! This should not be that difficult. Just look at this website (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/bluegreen.html) and also Google other websites to find them. Then post your email and contact information on this and other blogs. Just cut and paste all of this instruction into your post. Post these steps EVERYWHERE on the Internet (freeing people from the pain of Bluegreen).
2) Find ONE person who has “BAD CREDIT” anyway. Make sure you tell them the TRUTH on how “Bluegreen” Scam you and others (tell that person everything). Make sure that person has nothing to lose (as a home or car or property). Make sure he would not mind legally declaring bankrupt to legally FREE all his financial debt. In exchange he would MAKE $30,000 free money for doing nothing. This person can be YOUR NEPHEW or NIECE or NEIGHBOR or YOUNGER BROTHER or COUSIN or some RELATIVE or even a COWORKER or a FRIEND or a HOMELESS GUY who has a valid SSN. As long as the person is legally 21 years old or over and don’t mind declaring bankrupt.
3) The 30 PEOPLE you found who feels the same disgust for “Bluegreen” as you do will ALL sell their “Bluegreen Contract” over to this ONE SAME PERSON in #2 above. Sell it to him for “One Cent”. That means that the “One Same Person” in #2 above will spend a total of “Thirty Cents” to legally buy 30 PEOPLE “Bluegreen Contracts”, thus LEGALLY FREEING ALL 30 PEOPLE from the financial burden of “Bluegreen”. You are now LEGALLY totally FREE and OUT of “Bluegreen”. There are currently a number of people already selling “Bluegreen Contracts” on ebay.com (check and see). However, nobody is buying them because there is no incentive to buy the junk contracts!
4) Your question now is why on earth would the “One Person” in #2 above (perhaps a nephew) buy a worthless “Bluegreen Contract” and take on the financial BURDEN of 30 STRANGERS? The answer is for two reasons:
Reason 1: He will never pay “Bluegreen” a dime but will legally declare bankrupt anyway which will legally release all the financial burden from him and back to “Bluegreen”.
Reason 2: Each of the “30 People” above will have to pay this “One Person” some kind of incentive for RESCUING and FREEING them out of “Bluegreen”. I say each of the 30 Strangers should pay him $1,000 each (the price of Bluegreen’s yearly maintenance fee). That adds up to $30,000 free cash for this “One Person” who has bad credit anyway.
The Result – A Win-Win-Win Situation:
A) You are now FREE of “Bluegreen”
B) The person who freed you is $30,000 richer ($1,000 from each of the 30 Strangers)
C) After that “One Person” declares bankrupt, all the Bluegreen Contracts and properties will legally go back to Bluegreen. If 30 different strangers keeps on repeating this same cycle over-and-over again many times, hundreds of properties will be returned to Bluegreen after bankrupt. Bluegreen will have to pay for the property taxes (maintenance fee) on ALL those properties by themselves, thus sooner or later bankrupting Bluegreen (a corrupt company gone).
Notes:
A) Make sure when this “One Person” (perhaps a Nephew that’s 21 years old or older) declares bankrupt, make sure that the $30,000 is not in his name. Make sure he puts it in Mommy & Daddy’s name or anyone else so that the government won’t take it away in the bankruptcy procedures.
B) If the “30 Strangers” legally sell their property to this “One Person” using ebay.com or some other way, make sure you don’t get SCAM again and that “One Person” don’t take off with your $1,000 without signing the contract and buying your “Bluegreen Contract”. Look at ebay.com and make sure your contract states that this “One Person” is buying your “Bluegreen Contract Time Share” for “One Cent” (don’t get rip off). Make sure this “One Person” pays you the “One Cent” to make the contract binding legally. Feel free to improve, revise or work out any bugs in this system.
Have fun STICKING IT TO BLUEGREEN (a corrupt company)! – Sincerely SRDEDC