Bluegreen Resorts - Bluegreen Vacation Club ripoff, Dishonest, oversell their resorts, and a Scam Boca Raton Florida

It may be long but a very good read
Recently my husband and I visited a Blue Green Resort in Michigan. I signed us up for a presentation. I wanted to know what is was all about and the $100 in gifts helped. We were greeted by a young man who took us up to the 2nd floor. He tried making small talk with us at first. We then just asked about the "bottom line" about the program.

So we let him talk for about an hour about all the services he took us on a tour of one of the condo's. We went back and then began a talk about packages. They showed us various packages ( $9800=8,000 points bi annually, $24,800=16,000 anually points and $32,400=20,000 anually) this did not include $123 administrative fee and the maintances fee which ranged from $450-1500 yearly(they also reserve the right to raise the fees 2.5% yearly). If you finance thru Blue Green they charge 15.6 percent on to the over all cost for 8-10 years. They also offer a credit card from there company.

After speaking with a few sales reps. we stated we wanted to discuss the matter in private. We are very concerned with our credit standing. We are going to buy a new home and did not want to affect our credit. My husband's concern is there any difference on how everyone is treated (where people are on the food chain). Also I received no answer about what a gold/silver member was when I asked.

We told him our concerns his response was:
He said we can roll the cost into the new loan or hold the contract for 45 days so nothing would be posted. He also told us he did a "soft hit" on our credit (it must have been good for him he was very happy) that we where also approved for the credit card. No contract prices could be held for a year the prices increase on Jan. 1st. He said we can do a sampler package (which is a membership) for 1 year 9000 points for $995.00 and this could be financed at 15.6%. Cannot be used June, July, August and no holidays and limited resorts. He said "everyone was treated the same". After 3 hours of talking.
We understood the restrictions. We took the sampler further reveiwed the information in the contract and felt this might be a good test run. We went back to the room reviewed more of the information which was included in the book and felt based on the points we received we would not get a trip we are always accustomed to. We also found out there is a pyramid of who can book. Gold members on top can book 13 months in advance, next Silver and book 12 months in advance, and then everyone else can book 11 months in advance of a date. The SVC member I could not figure out(but the first floor have another sign-up area with more posh set-up). We received alot of help from your web-site and Forbes (which the quoted a positive rating but when you look at there stock values they are only $6.60 a share when we checked). We read the contract about cancellation and found out that we could not go back to where we signed the contract to cancel. We did return the book to the location where we signed. She was very pleasant and reveiwed the contract about the letter, but she did see we took care of that aspect. We wrote a letter sent it out certified mail to Boca Raton the main head quarters post marked before midnight within the 3 days which state law allows. I have to say we did have a pleasant stay at the resort (pool was small okay for kids) but we where hardly in the room but to sleep. But if you have a large family 8-10 (grandparents,grandkids, mom, dad,cousins and babies alike)you vacation with it is a deal. You can pile everyone into the room as our neighbors in the next condo did. When we travel we like to see various areas and move around. The package was not for us and thru the comments it helped us realize the overall cost(lost) and to take care of canceling quickly so we are not stuck. Thanks to all who posted their comments.

It may be long but a very good read
Recently my husband and I visited a Blue Green Resort in Michigan. I signed us up for a presentation. I wanted to know what is was all about and the $100 in gifts helped. We were greeted by a young man who took us up to the 2nd floor. He tried making small talk with us at first. We then just asked about the "bottom line" about the program.

So we let him talk for about an hour about all the services he took us on a tour of one of the condo's. We went back and then began a talk about packages. They showed us various packages ( $9800=8,000 points bi annually, $24,800=16,000 anually points and $32,400=20,000 anually) this did not include $123 administrative fee and the maintances fee which ranged from $450-1500 yearly(they also reserve the right to raise the fees 2.5% yearly). If you finance thru Blue Green they charge 15.6 percent on to the over all cost for 8-10 years. They also offer a credit card from there company.

After speaking with a few sales reps. we stated we wanted to discuss the matter in private. We are very concerned with our credit standing. We are going to buy a new home and did not want to affect our credit. My husband's concern is there any difference on how everyone is treated (where people are on the food chain). Also I received no answer about what a gold/silver member was when I asked.

We told him our concerns his response was:
He said we can roll the cost into the new loan or hold the contract for 45 days so nothing would be posted. He also told us he did a "soft hit" on our credit (it must have been good for him he was very happy) that we where also approved for the credit card. No contract prices could be held for a year the prices increase on Jan. 1st. He said we can do a sampler package (which is a membership) for 1 year 9000 points for $995.00 and this could be financed at 15.6%. Cannot be used June, July, August and no holidays and limited resorts. He said "everyone was treated the same". After 3 hours of talking.
We understood the restrictions. We took the sampler further reveiwed the information in the contract and felt this might be a good test run. We went back to the room reviewed more of the information which was included in the book and felt based on the points we received we would not get a trip we are always accustomed to. We also found out there is a pyramid of who can book. Gold members on top can book 13 months in advance, next Silver and book 12 months in advance, and then everyone else can book 11 months in advance of a date. The SVC member I could not figure out(but the first floor have another sign-up area with more posh set-up). We received alot of help from your web-site and Forbes (which the quoted a positive rating but when you look at there stock values they are only $6.60 a share when we checked). We read the contract about cancellation and found out that we could not go back to where we signed the contract to cancel. We did return the book to the location where we signed. She was very pleasant and reveiwed the contract about the letter, but she did see we took care of that aspect. We wrote a letter sent it out certified mail to Boca Raton the main head quarters post marked before midnight within the 3 days which state law allows. I have to say we did have a pleasant stay at the resort (pool was small okay for kids) but we where hardly in the room but to sleep. But if you have a large family 8-10 (grandparents,grandkids, mom, dad,cousins and babies alike)you vacation with it is a deal. You can pile everyone into the room as our neighbors in the next condo did. When we travel we like to see various areas and move around. The package was not for us and thru the comments it helped us realize the overall cost(lost) and to take care of canceling quickly so we are not stuck. Thanks to all who posted their comments.

It may be long but a very good read
Recently my husband and I visited a Blue Green Resort in Michigan. I signed us up for a presentation. I wanted to know what is was all about and the $100 in gifts helped. We were greeted by a young man who took us up to the 2nd floor. He tried making small talk with us at first. We then just asked about the "bottom line" about the program.

So we let him talk for about an hour about all the services he took us on a tour of one of the condo's. We went back and then began a talk about packages. They showed us various packages ( $9800=8,000 points bi annually, $24,800=16,000 anually points and $32,400=20,000 anually) this did not include $123 administrative fee and the maintances fee which ranged from $450-1500 yearly(they also reserve the right to raise the fees 2.5% yearly). If you finance thru Blue Green they charge 15.6 percent on to the over all cost for 8-10 years. They also offer a credit card from there company.

After speaking with a few sales reps. we stated we wanted to discuss the matter in private. We are very concerned with our credit standing. We are going to buy a new home and did not want to affect our credit. My husband's concern is there any difference on how everyone is treated (where people are on the food chain). Also I received no answer about what a gold/silver member was when I asked.

We told him our concerns his response was:
He said we can roll the cost into the new loan or hold the contract for 45 days so nothing would be posted. He also told us he did a "soft hit" on our credit (it must have been good for him he was very happy) that we where also approved for the credit card. No contract prices could be held for a year the prices increase on Jan. 1st. He said we can do a sampler package (which is a membership) for 1 year 9000 points for $995.00 and this could be financed at 15.6%. Cannot be used June, July, August and no holidays and limited resorts. He said "everyone was treated the same". After 3 hours of talking.
We understood the restrictions. We took the sampler further reveiwed the information in the contract and felt this might be a good test run. We went back to the room reviewed more of the information which was included in the book and felt based on the points we received we would not get a trip we are always accustomed to. We also found out there is a pyramid of who can book. Gold members on top can book 13 months in advance, next Silver and book 12 months in advance, and then everyone else can book 11 months in advance of a date. The SVC member I could not figure out(but the first floor have another sign-up area with more posh set-up). We received alot of help from your web-site and Forbes (which the quoted a positive rating but when you look at there stock values they are only $6.60 a share when we checked). We read the contract about cancellation and found out that we could not go back to where we signed the contract to cancel. We did return the book to the location where we signed. She was very pleasant and reveiwed the contract about the letter, but she did see we took care of that aspect. We wrote a letter sent it out certified mail to Boca Raton the main head quarters post marked before midnight within the 3 days which state law allows. I have to say we did have a pleasant stay at the resort (pool was small okay for kids) but we where hardly in the room but to sleep. But if you have a large family 8-10 (grandparents,grandkids, mom, dad,cousins and babies alike)you vacation with it is a deal. You can pile everyone into the room as our neighbors in the next condo did. When we travel we like to see various areas and move around. The package was not for us and thru the comments it helped us realize the overall cost(lost) and to take care of canceling quickly so we are not stuck. Thanks to all who posted their comments.

When discussing the package we were told that we would be receiving a certain number of points. I told the salesman that I had no vacation remaining and wouldn't have an opportunity to use them for at least a year. We would supposedly be getting a cruise as a part of the package so in the end wouldn't be able to use the package for two years. The salesman said that if that was the case our points could be sold - he said- "when you call to sell them you'll probably speak to me because I handle those types of transactions."

I did some quick calculations and found that if I sold my points at the rate he mentioned, it would cover my first years payments and fees with a bit left over. As he told it I would be selling point to other members and BG would take a percentage of the points.

We sign up. A few weeks later we contact the office to sell our points. The person on the phone said that we couldn't sell points - we had to book a week and then try and sell the week to someone.

I explained what the salesman said and she said that the salesman wasn't trained properly.

Training issue? I can see someone being mistaken about how something works. I can't see how he can say that he was the contact without it being a flat out lie.

There was nothing in the cotract about how points were "sold" so we were stuck.

We were eventually able to get out of our contract with getting our credit dinged but it was a fight.

Obi,
have you joined the Bluegreen group on Yahoo some members are pre BG (i think), but if not many will be able to give you the information you need without all the sales bullsh*t.
You will then have a better understand of where you stand.

I have been a member for over ten years. I bought when it was RDI (not the same as RCI). I've had a number of problems over the years, the most significant being that it's tough trying to get into anything that you want, which leaves me reserving low grade weeks, banking them with RCI and getting a week throught and RCI trade.

What bothers me is how Bluegreen has watered down my points since I purchased from RDI and Bluegreen bought them out. When I purchased, the salesman made a big deal about how these points were so valuable, that they were appreciating in value and that points bought in the past were going for much more today without any end in the increase in sight. They could be sold or inherited. It was pegged, at least in part as an investment. Now I am nobodies fool so I didn't expect it to be a bonanza, but I certainly didn't foresee my points being reduced to being nearly worthless as a result of Bluegreen actions.

I was given a lifetime membership in the RDI Gold Club, that is now defunct since Bluegreen. Supposedly points that were rolled over were colorblind when I purchased and were as good as any other points, but now rolled over points can't be used for the "ultra red" locations. This is just not keeping their promise.

Lately, I met with a salesman about the new plan Bluegreen is selling. If I turn in my old style points they will reissue (for a large amount of money) the new type points that are more versatile. What ever happened to having all the points being equal like when it was sold to me. Now I have some kind of second class points? The new salesman told me how valuable my points were, but when I offered to sell them back at 1/2 the price he was quoting me for points value, he said that my points, because the old style points weren't worth very much. When I suggested that I may just advertise to sell my points, he said that they'd be worth even less, because Bluegreen does not have to agree to the transfer or they could deny the usually amenities that go with the points to the new owners.

I understand that my timeshare was put in trust and I was issued points, and the terms of the trust could be changed, but how could owners voting at these meetings take actions that would be so detrimental to their own interest. I just wonder if their hasn't been a breach of their fiduciary duty to look out for my well being.

I have been a member for over ten years. I bought when it was RDI (not the same as RCI). I've had a number of problems over the years, the most significant being that it's tough trying to get into anything that you want, which leaves me reserving low grade weeks, banking them with RCI and getting a week throught and RCI trade.

What bothers me is how Bluegreen has watered down my points since I purchased from RDI and Bluegreen bought them out. When I purchased, the salesman made a big deal about how these points were so valuable, that they were appreciating in value and that points bought in the past were going for much more today without any end in the increase in sight. They could be sold or inherited. It was pegged, at least in part as an investment. Now I am nobodies fool so I didn't expect it to be a bonanza, but I certainly didn't foresee my points being reduced to being nearly worthless as a result of Bluegreen actions.

I was given a lifetime membership in the RDI Gold Club, that is now defunct since Bluegreen. Supposedly points that were rolled over were colorblind when I purchased and were as good as any other points, but now rolled over points can't be used for the "ultra red" locations. This is just not keeping their promise.

Lately, I met with a salesman about the new plan Bluegreen is selling. If I turn in my old style points they will reissue (for a large amount of money) the new type points that are more versatile. What ever happened to having all the points being equal like when it was sold to me. Now I have some kind of second class points? The new salesman told me how valuable my points were, but when I offered to sell them back at 1/2 the price he was quoting me for points value, he said that my points, because the old style points weren't worth very much. When I suggested that I may just advertise to sell my points, he said that they'd be worth even less, because Bluegreen does not have to agree to the transfer or they could deny the usually amenities that go with the points to the new owners.

I understand that my timeshare was put in trust and I was issued points, and the terms of the trust could be changed, but how could owners voting at these meetings take actions that would be so detrimental to their own interest. I just wonder if their hasn't been a breach of their fiduciary duty to look out for my well being.

I have been a member for over ten years. I bought when it was RDI (not the same as RCI). I've had a number of problems over the years, the most significant being that it's tough trying to get into anything that you want, which leaves me reserving low grade weeks, banking them with RCI and getting a week throught and RCI trade.

What bothers me is how Bluegreen has watered down my points since I purchased from RDI and Bluegreen bought them out. When I purchased, the salesman made a big deal about how these points were so valuable, that they were appreciating in value and that points bought in the past were going for much more today without any end in the increase in sight. They could be sold or inherited. It was pegged, at least in part as an investment. Now I am nobodies fool so I didn't expect it to be a bonanza, but I certainly didn't foresee my points being reduced to being nearly worthless as a result of Bluegreen actions.

I was given a lifetime membership in the RDI Gold Club, that is now defunct since Bluegreen. Supposedly points that were rolled over were colorblind when I purchased and were as good as any other points, but now rolled over points can't be used for the "ultra red" locations. This is just not keeping their promise.

Lately, I met with a salesman about the new plan Bluegreen is selling. If I turn in my old style points they will reissue (for a large amount of money) the new type points that are more versatile. What ever happened to having all the points being equal like when it was sold to me. Now I have some kind of second class points? The new salesman told me how valuable my points were, but when I offered to sell them back at 1/2 the price he was quoting me for points value, he said that my points, because the old style points weren't worth very much. When I suggested that I may just advertise to sell my points, he said that they'd be worth even less, because Bluegreen does not have to agree to the transfer or they could deny the usually amenities that go with the points to the new owners.

I understand that my timeshare was put in trust and I was issued points, and the terms of the trust could be changed, but how could owners voting at these meetings take actions that would be so detrimental to their own interest. I just wonder if their hasn't been a breach of their fiduciary duty to look out for my well being.

I have been a member for over ten years. I bought when it was RDI (not the same as RCI). I've had a number of problems over the years, the most significant being that it's tough trying to get into anything that you want, which leaves me reserving low grade weeks, banking them with RCI and getting a week throught and RCI trade.

What bothers me is how Bluegreen has watered down my points since I purchased from RDI and Bluegreen bought them out. When I purchased, the salesman made a big deal about how these points were so valuable, that they were appreciating in value and that points bought in the past were going for much more today without any end in the increase in sight. They could be sold or inherited. It was pegged, at least in part as an investment. Now I am nobodies fool so I didn't expect it to be a bonanza, but I certainly didn't foresee my points being reduced to being nearly worthless as a result of Bluegreen actions.

I was given a lifetime membership in the RDI Gold Club, that is now defunct since Bluegreen. Supposedly points that were rolled over were colorblind when I purchased and were as good as any other points, but now rolled over points can't be used for the "ultra red" locations. This is just not keeping their promise.

Lately, I met with a salesman about the new plan Bluegreen is selling. If I turn in my old style points they will reissue (for a large amount of money) the new type points that are more versatile. What ever happened to having all the points being equal like when it was sold to me. Now I have some kind of second class points? The new salesman told me how valuable my points were, but when I offered to sell them back at 1/2 the price he was quoting me for points value, he said that my points, because the old style points weren't worth very much. When I suggested that I may just advertise to sell my points, he said that they'd be worth even less, because Bluegreen does not have to agree to the transfer or they could deny the usually amenities that go with the points to the new owners.

I understand that my timeshare was put in trust and I was issued points, and the terms of the trust could be changed, but how could owners voting at these meetings take actions that would be so detrimental to their own interest. I just wonder if their hasn't been a breach of their fiduciary duty to look out for my well being.

Cedria
As a BG employee I'm disappointed that you're so unhappy with your purchase. I would like to address several of your issues.
It's my experience that most "unhappy" owners are unhappy simply because they have no idea what they purchased. It astounds me that people can spend that much money but won't read their contracts.

You mentioned purchasing high red weeks at Harbour Lights. You are a Vacation Club "Points" owner. You have purchased "points" only. You do not have any claim to Harbour Lights or any other resort. For inventory purposes you're deeded out of a specific resort, in your case it looks like Laurel Crest. It makes absolutely no difference to you.

You also had some concerns about "saving" your points. When you initially get your points they are good for a whole year in ANY season. When they roll over (automatically) for their 2nd year they are then restricted to red/white/blue seasons (many resorts don't even have HI RED seasons).

You also accused BG of over selling the property. Not true. That is why you are deeded a specific property, unit # and week #.

As far as your contract stating that BG can change the terms at any time. That is nothing new. ANY company has that in their contract. Many of the changes made are actually voted on by BG owners! And any changes made are done so to better the BG experience for the majority of owners.

In the end there's no way to please all of the people all of the time. BG works very hard to do so.

In all honesty, most of the complaints I've seen on here could have been avoided if the buyers had done some research, taken their time and READ THEIR CONTRACT!

My husband and I are Bluegreen Vacation Club owners and are very happy with our purchase. In the last year, we have used the facilities in Branson, MO, Ridgedale MO, New Bern NC, Gatlinburg TN and the Shenandoah Crossings. We have stayed at each place for as long as 7 nights or as little as 2 nights. In the next 2 months we will be staying in St. Augustine FL, Charleston SC and Myrtle Beach SC.

We have never had any difficulty vacationing where or when we wanted and we have used points as well as paid very low rates using bonus time. Each place we have stayed has had very nice accomodations and excellent service. We have attended previews and we have updated a couple of time and said "no" several times. We pay our maintenance fees as well as taxes (which are tax deductible for a second home) and have had several relatives and friends do a preview which last year gave us $200.00 off our maintence fees. Only one family became a member and they are happy also.

Therefore I find it difficult to understand the problems that others have had and wonder if they fully understand how the vacation club works. I am writing this to let possible buyers know that it is a good program, do your homework and enjoy your vacation . Shirley

My wife and I purchased our first BlueGreen Package almost seven years ago. We have since paid it off and subsequently purchased several more packages for many of our employees. We couldn't be happier with our BlueGreen experience. We vacation and travel about 4-5 weeks per year plus many short get-aways and one of our favorite activities is time spent planning vacations together.

You can actually use rollover points for Red, White & Blue weeks which is for all but but about 7-8 weeks yearly. And there are always ways around this - borrow points from the forthcoming year and you can use them whenever you want.

Since we bought our first package over 10 new resorts have been added so I don't see where anyone is purposely overselling sites. We've never had a problem that working with BlueGreen customer service we couldn't handle. Some vacations are just a "tough ticket" and that's why we love finding out of the way places and destinations. Lighten up, live a little!

I truely believe this report. I work for a hotel located near Blue Green. They book rooms here far in advance because they over sell their property. When the guest arrive they are very unhappy with us as if we had a hand in them being deceived. we have a beautiful property. It's much better than the Blue Green in our area. Our guest usually end up having a much better time anyway. I would suggest saving your money and staying away from timeshares. Nobody wins except the Timeshare organization. If you have the credit to get approved for this. You can easily be approved for condo rental property all year long.

I would love to sell my Bluegreen! We signed up in Branson a little over a year ago. We LOVED the point concept! TO be able to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Who would pass this up? The problem is that when we call to reserve 5 months out (because we can't reserve any further out since we don't have 20,000+ point) we have NEVER been able to get what we want. We JUST got off the phone trying to book a week in October, and out of 5 different resorts in Florida and Alabama, they were completely booked! Forget trying to book in red season. Between mortgage payment and maint fees, we are paying over $4000 per year. We could get an awsome annual vacation for that kind of money, and without the headaches!

Buyer beware!!

I just bought the EOY package in Branson this week. I surely hope I don't have the grief spoken of here. I quizzed them till way past closing. I wrote down questions and didn't leave until all were answered. I read the fine print before signing too. Geesh, I really hope this goes ok.

My wife and I recently bought into the Blugreen Vacation Club. While I can understand your concerns, I don't see this as a rip off for us because we like to travel in off-seaseons and we sat with our sales rep for 4 1/2 hours going over every document and paragraph so that there would be no surprises. Basically, the way my wife and I travel, this fits us like a glove... whereas it may not be a fit for others. Plus, it is sometimes easier to exchange through RCI and they have more selection. My mother has done this for the last ten years with her timeshare (which is the old style, not points). Good Luck.

This has happened to us too. We upgrade our vacation club to silver membership. Our mortgage was changed to even years but we were told that we could use our points any time and any season. Now we are forced to use our points only in the even years if we want to use high red. We have 42,000 points and there is not way we can use that many in one year. We were told we could use them both even and odd all seasons. Half of our points can roll over to the odd year but we cannot use them in high red. Our problem is that we only vacation during high red.

After the odd year, none of our points roll over.

They changed the rules after we purchased and we have expressed our disappointment. When we have voiced our complaint we just get a well rehearsed answer from a service representative.

There is one thing that you can do to get around their red tape. You can borrow points. I am told that borrowed points are good for all seasons. You just have to pay the maintenance fee for the year in advance. You might want to try this in the future. It's not a perfect solution but it should work for you.

I don't understand what you mean when you say that they switched you to TN. Are you saying they moved your reservation? I don't see that happening.
Bluegreen has dozens of resorts that you can use with your points. Weren't you offered any bonus nights? We have unlimited, which lets you pay $39-$59 (depending on your room size) per night instead of your points. So you can go to Hawaii, stay in one of their resorts WHENEVER you want, for as little as $273 for a one bedroom.
I would ask them to offer it to your or else threaten to sell.

Good Luck!