Shell Vacation Club And Holiday Travel Of America I also recieved a Hawaii Certificate from Shell Vacations Club that Holiday Travel of America did give me Carlsbad California

My wife and I have been owners of SVC for a few years now and are quite happy with ALL the options available to us for points use (AMEX cards, hotel stays, lift tickets, airfare, etc...) (see their website for more details).

This program IS not cheap up front. This program is not for people who can't afford to vacation every year or two, but it is for people who can and want to invest in the long term. Assuming SVC never goes under (and there are absolutely no signs it ever will because of the way it's structured legally), you are buying into a trust (I believe that's the proper term) that gives you legal ownership of one of the home properties/resorts, but as an owner, that entitles you to so many "Points" per year that can be used in a number of ways, much like cash. This is where SVC deviates from your typical time-share model (like RCI), and why we were willing to buy into this program.

The big picture you should see before buying is this: Say you finance your points over 20 years (it is a 2nd mortgage and if you only own one home, the interest IS tax-deductable so 20 years isn't uncommon), then you're going to pay a bit more each year toward SVC that you will for what you're getting out of it. After the 20 years is passed though, you're only going to pay your maintenance fee (remember, you bought a property and it costs money to maintain it, the furniture, etc..), but you will continue to get your points for the rest of your life.

I bought in young so this means that before I'm 50 I'll have my share paid off and I like to think I'll have another 20-50 years to use the points. That sounds like a pretty decent investment to me.

No, the points don't convert well for airfare and the likes because that takes cash from SVC and you didn't hand them money to hold onto so you could buy plane tickets. You bought a property (like a time-share), and the flexibility to use the points you got to stay at other properties (better than a traditional time-share), and you still can convert those points into cash saving tools (nothing like, but far better than a time-share). When you only vacation every 2-3 years as is the case with my wife and I, and "bank" the points, then you end up with more like 21,000 points to spend on a vacation instead of 7,000.

Before I end this rebuttal, here's the two most significant ways we've used our points:

We had quite a bit of family come into town for our wedding (I purchased the points before hand) and they needed accommodations. We were able to put up a few family members at our local resort, for a few nights each, and spent less than 1/2 years points.

Recently, we took a 4 day vacation in Vegas. We used points to stay at the Desert Rose Resort (very nice little place, across the street from the Luxor and MGM). We used points for AMEX food cards that kept us fed the entire time, and we used points for an AMEX movie card that got us into a couple shows.

So please, do your homework before you spend $30,000 and take what this person says in context (that of someone who foolishly spent a LOT of money without getting promises on paper).

To the original plantiff; word of advise. Sales people are there to SELL. They are generally not well educated on a product or service beyond that which should make it easier to sell.

Okay, so the second complain appears to be a case of mis-information during the sales processes (either intentional or unintentional). If you look at the charts they provide during the sales presentation and do the math yourself, you'll see how you can use your points. There is NO WAY 7000 points could purchase 4 weeks, plus travel. At least not for two or more people.

Regarding the 7 points = $1, that doesn't sound quite right since you can rent points for $0.25 per point, or 4 points = $1. Sooo, I'm not sure where 7 comes into play.

But before you spend tens of thousands of dollars, make sure you have something in writing explaining your benefits, not just "your understanding" of what the sales person said. When we purchased in 6 years ago, we made sure we took with us a complete written description of our benefits.

So, buyer beware when spending thousands of dollars based purely off the verbal description of the sales person (from any company) - take everything in pre-printed writing.

***I am not a Shell Vacations Club employee, I am an employee of a marketing firm that represents Shell Vacations Club.***

First of all, your "rip-off report" states that Shell Vacations was in the "scam" and that I could go to one of the video links to see this for myself. However, that is not true. PLEASE go watch to video, and you will see for yourself. SVC is not on there! Shell Vacations Club is not the company in the newscasts that were released recently(back at the end of April, beginning of May. Holiday Travel of America (HTOA) is the company that people are saying is a scam. But this company gives away thousands of vacations every year - and by the way, they are NEVER FREE, you always have to pay the taxes on a gift - and thousands of people are happy and satisfied with their vacations. I mean, here is a qoute from one of your sources...

http://www.thetimeshareauthority.com/2008/05/09/timeshare-scam-or-just-poor-business-practices/

"It seems that the company offers two round-trip coach air tickets and two nights in economy accommodations in Hawaii, if you sit through their timeshare sales presentation. Representatives of the news station tried it, and did in fact receive their certificate good for their airfares and hotel stay."

So how is it a scam just because some people can't read directions?

Understood, sometimes there are dificulties, but with Shell Vacations Club, every one of the vacations they give out are guaranteed - something that no other company working with HTOA can say! HTOA offer business a "package deal" for their vacation giveaways. At the bottom level you have the standard service, in which, say, %30 of people can use their gift. Then you have the Gold level,in which %50 of people can use it. Well, Shell Vacations Club has the highest package available, and their gifts are GAURANTEED to be able to be used. Any questions?

Hi everybody,

Please share with us all of your problems regarding SHELL VACATIONS CLUB TIMESHARE! LET THE WORLD KNOW OF THEIR SCAM AND RIP OFF!

I bought shell vacations club membership on 09-03-2007. But it is complete swindle. The total price for the membership is $30239.00 and $1150.10 annual maintenance fee (they call it assessment). What I got is 7000 points/year which equal 4 weeks vacation time including everything (airfare, food, car rental) that's the sales person told me.

I tried to book my first vacation on 09/15/2007. Their customer service told me the points can be only used for club properties, but it can be converted to purchase airfare something and the 7 points equal 1 dollar. That totally different than the sales representative told me. It's a absolutely a trick. I pay $30239.00 plus $1015.10 every year and then I got $1000(7000points) back per year. What a freaking scam!! I mean they are basically charging me $700 per night on a room that cost $150 if i go through the Hotel directly. Please do not buy from Shell Vacations Club if you are a owner Do not Buy more points, you will spend less money if you Just WALK IN into the Hotel and pay for your Vacations using your credit cards or cash money.
After figure out the whole store, I contacted shell vacation club to cancel this purchase at the same day (09/15/2007). But they don't allow me to cancel it.

please share with us all your problems about Shell Vacations Club!

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