BlueGreen Vacations Timeshare Scam Warning!!!

This place is a total scam. They use other hotels to book your stays and give you a presentation. They had no one available onsite to help us check in and deal with a couple of issues and their main customer service was not available for 4 days at all at any number listed. When they were finally available to talk to it was to late and they refused to admit any fault in the issue. Would not refund my money after telling them I did not feel right staying somewhere that I was lied to about. I go to New Orleans no less than once a year and I will not stay at anything they have going and will not use the Cambria for any of my stays. Their customer service was not any good either.

Responding to reply made about it being capitalism. That is a much better thing (capitalism) than the alternatives. Make it a great deal by being active in research & vigilant in making choices; lack of these make scams work. Truly seems to be a scam on some levels, especially extras. I know what I'm talking about because I went against my CPA's advice & bought into it by first purchasing a Sampler package then 2 more presentations & we were caught into upgrading to owner then next a more points purchase. We then borrowed from bank to consolidate both with low rate to pay off but still find it difficult to use often enough to balance benefit vs costs; primarily needing to make reservations too far out to get what we may want, restrictions on many places for length of stay, & not enough choices in all areas feasible for us to drive. The resorts are lovely & accommodating overall but not all are at equal standards. STILL waiting on airline certificate from purchase on 5/24/18.

dees130 wrote:

I am currently battling Bluegreen after spending nearly $18,000 on something I cannot use because I cannot book where or when I need to. We were told lies and given false information about the entire membership. I have yet to use my points. The only thing they told me was to buy more points because premier would give me advantages over 80% of the other members. This is a scam and you will be paying a high interest rate mortgage for non-real property. Do not believe them when they say you can refinance it. You can't!!!! They refused to help me and ignored my calls and emails. I had to get an attorney. Then they said they could not help me since I have legal representation and to have the attorney contact them.

Bluegreen has yet to return the attorney's calls and demand letters. I have PAGES and PAGES worth of complaints regarding the lies they told me. Due to the pending legal action, I will not go into further details, but do stand you ground with them regarding your complaint! Please, if you have issues with Bluegreen, contact the BBB in Florida where Bluegreen is based. Also, contact the consumer protection division at the Attorney General's Office in your state and/or the state where you purchased your package. Bass Pro sued Bluegreen and broke their partnership due to Bluegreen sales tactics and breach of contract until a high dollar deal was agreed to. Bluegreen stocks have fallen considerably since I signed up in July 2018. At that time, the stock was 25.25; however, today the stock 11.22 with a low of 7.79 on July 7th.

I filed a complaint with the BBB; however, since Bluegreen answered me, they closed my compliant. Also, since I filed a complaint, I can not leave a review. The BBB will decide if they will post my complaint or not. I can not fathom how a business with nearly 900 complaints (over 300 the past year) can still maintain an A+ rating because they answered the complaints. Be vigilant in your complaints. Although the person who is hired to answer the complaints has no idea what was said, they will try and deny there was any wrong doing. Bluegreen needs to be held accountable.

You must be a rep. All the folks defending BG, are affiliated. I know a rep named Andres Baluski from Shorecrest Resort and he told me every level is a scam to get money. Even from the existing "owners".

Like many, I bought from Bass Pro shops a package. I made it clear I was a single father with a 2 year old who would have to attend, and they said, no problem.

Everything went as promised until the presentation. Turns out it was an hour of a salesman trying to soften up the audience for the later hard sell. We were in a room of 25 people or so. Of course, my 2 year old was not going to set there for an hour without making noise. After 30 minutes, he started to disrupt the presentation. Rather than ruin it for everyone, I took him out. Not a soul around to talk to, so we left. They had given us a $50 gift card and a cruise certificate with lots of fine print on it. By the time I got home, they had cancelled the gift card and charged my card $115 because I left early. No where does it say you have to stay through the whole thing. After several calls, they refunded the $115 but not the gift card I was promised. All timeshares are scams, they only want you to sign up so they can bill you annual fees. Stay away from Bluegreen and all others

We purchased in June 2018 then upgraded in February 2019. This gave us 2 monthly payments. We went for a vacation in New Orleans in September this year and was told by the sales representative that if we upgrade again we can "consolidate" and have 1 monthly payment. After asking for numbers and was pleased we went ahead and agreed. Needless to say we now have 3 monthly payments. I've been in contact with the original people 1 time. They haven't called me back since. I finally reached someone in Customer Service today and filed a formal complaint. The original people will see me again in 3 weeks and you better believe I'm paying them a visit.

My wife and I are owners. At first it seemed like a scam . Yes they are trying to sell you a product a mortgage. We started as as cautious. So far in almost 4 years been to Florida ( we did have to pay for air fare) Myrtle Beach , Tennessee 2 times and west Virginia. We bought it a sample owner at a lower rate . then eventually bought a larger point package. We and our kiddos love it. they have a wide range of places to stay . potential of reduced cost cruises and chance of out of country travel and are starting to work with Disney. There customer service is awesome Yes maintenance fees Stink. But overall fantastic experience. I work 40 plus in a parts plant I am not a representative of the company. Plus for rv driver's they have many areas to hook up to as well . cost well it is a mortgage . But if you want a great experience with a company that allows more movement than in the past go with blue green. Today 2-13-2020

BlueGreen most certainly is NOT in any way a "scam"; that assertion is just plain silly. That said, BlueGreen sales weasel practices (...like other developers) are often overly aggressive and even downright deceitful. That aside, BG is just not a great timeshare "chain" (in my personal opinion). BlueGreen is no "fly by night" operation; it is a long established, deep pockets corporation which also manages some timeshares properties. Face it --- sales weasels are indeed just weasels, regardless of the developer or "chain" with which they are associated, whether it's Wyndham, Westgate, BlueGreen or any other corporate "chain" entity; you cannot reasonably assess the overall merit or value of any timeshare product based solely upon the behavior of some of its' aggressive and hungry sales weasels.

That being said, BlueGreen is a "mid-tier" operation and its' "inventory" seems to mostly be only mediocre in quality (in my personal opinion, anyhow). Some people apparently get lucky with BlueGreen reservations and report being quite happy and very satisfied with their BG involvement. To each their own, I guess...

I am not impressed by anything about BlueGreen, but to call BG a "scam" is frankly just absurd and lacking in any factual basis. Their sales tactics in providing "bait and switch" (but still FREE) lodging for potential buyers is despicable, but that practice doesn't make their timeshare product (or the company itself) a "scam". That's just nonsense.

Yes it's a scam because we got a nice hotel, confirmed and got email and all of the sudden they said we will be in another hotel (grand Plaza) 30+ minutes where you wanted to be. They canceled your "reservation" 15 days before. Will never do business with this company and I won't appreciate Choice hotels for transferring me to Bluegreen Vacations

For the cruise was it for everything paid for drinks entertainment and all..??

The poster above has asked about cruise benefits that he'll never see. Such "cruise certificates" are sometimes used as "bait" to lure in "the fish" and the "certificates" always come with a whole laundry list of reservation and use restrictions and deadlines (and extra fees), making them either financially impractical or logistically impossible to use and therefore nearly worthless.

In any case, in these COVID-19 days, do you truly want to get on any cruise ship anywhere, even if you could, regardless of any prospect of "free drinks and entertainment"? Seriously???

It is totally a scam. I bought the actual time share. WORST Decision of my life. I have a starwood timeshare that I love. Starwood has Great places, great choices, easy booking, getting better every year, minimal annual fee increases. Blue Green is getting worse, terrible selection, the places they do have to travel to are dumps, its impossible to book, and they have have almost doubled annual fees in the first few years of membership. I have owned for almost 5 years and never used it. RUN RUN RUN from this complete S&!# show.

has there been any news from bluegreen about THE MANHATTAN CLUB (TMC), 200 w 56 st, nyc? if so, my brethren timeshare owners, STAY AWAY. IT'S BEYOND AN ALBATROSS. bluegreen is supposed to have taken over TMC. not sure if that happened. googled it but to no avail. perhaps others will have more luck. again, STAY AWAY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM FROM ANY CONNECTION WITH TMC. IT IS AND HAS BEEN A FRAUDULENT DISASTER FOR ALL OWNERS, E.G., EVEN WITH COVID-19, they won't offer extension of reservation time....get covid-19 and possibly die. aside, reservation time is at such a premium, that many owners have given up and are willing to rid themselves of TMC for $100 (read THE MANHATTAN CLUB LAWSUIT on redweek.com). the maintenance fees are barely affordable (up about 500% since purchase.) some accommodations are still decent if you (maybe) get the right suites or studios. otherwise clean but shabby and in dire need of upgrading. the management board of directors is usually inhumane: note above comment about an extension of reservation time due to covid-19 pandemic. THE MANHATTAN CLUB IS AN OVERALL DISGRACE, and we have some owner-members (3 of them) on the board.

if desired, contact TMC owners at redweek.com within the thread/forum of THE MANHATTAN CLUB LAWSUIT.

Omg they just called me asked me for my one time payment of 289.00 and I won 2 trips!!! Thank you for posting this!!!!

Yes this is a complete scam today they got us promised a stay in there lodge 2 nights 3 days for a presentation but instead tried to put us in a junk hotel when we called we had to pay 95 to stay in the lodge then said all of sudden after they charge us they say we dont qualify so then now gotta wait for our money to be returned so tomorrow I will be making a complaint with the bbb and also the Florida's attorney generals office and if more people didn't just cut there lost and pursued to stop this more folks will become victims to this disgusting and money hungry monster that has no issue with hidden fees and and taking from us that work for the money they seem have no problem working at taking from us

I think your sentence finished when I ran out of breath.

Bluegreen resorts is not a scam and in fact, its the best resorts ever. I have gone there multipule times with my family and they have so many activities its awesome. if you dont get a lodge in time or rent one from somebody, you will not be able to stay at the resort yet probably will be granted permission to enter. Sorry that experience happened to you but if you were to prepare in time and get a lodge, you wouldnt have this problem. it isnt a scam in fact i love the place. yes there are fees, its apart of life, and if you looked into it and actually PREPARED for your stay you wouldnt have this problem.

I agree with the above post that BlueGreen is not a "scam". It is not. BlueGreen has been around and successful for a very long time. However, like many other "chains"(Westgate, Wyndham, etc.) BlueGreen has some hungry and deceitful sales weasels who will say virtually anything to make a sale (at grossly inflated prices). People who fall for those sales pitches, grossly overpay and discover only later that they have been lied to, invariably cry "scam". When they find out that the "product" they purchased has little or no value in the resale market, their anger understandably increases. However, voluntarily choosing to make a bad purchase decision but then regretting it later does not make that unwise personal decision a "scam" by the seller.

In my personal experience and opinion, the primary shortcoming with BlueGreen (aside from having little or no resale market value) is that many BlueGreen-affiliated properties (and there are lots of them) are quite mediocre. The above assertion that BG has "the best resorts ever" is just plain silly. I've stayed at around 10 BlueGreen properties over the years; all have been satisfactory but certainly none were anywhere close to being "the best resorts ever". Maybe that "best resorts ever" description was just offered as a tongue-in-cheek joke?

I own fixed weeks at a resort which also has a number of BlueGreen members. Great location, mediocre resort. A family member owns several fixed weeks at a different resort (in Florida) which has a number of BG members. Again --- great location, but mediocre resort. I have (6 to 8 times over the past 25+ years) "exchanged" into different BlueGreen-affiliated timeshare properties. All have been entirely satisfactory, but none have been anything more than that (which is fine with us --- we prefer good location over facility opulence). There is certainly a multitude of timeshares at which BlueGreen members can make reservations (if space is available, of course), but the quantity of options does not translate into quality of product.

To each their own --- but BlueGreen itself is most certainly NOT a scam, despite some of their questionable sales practices. It seems to me that many compaints here are about the location of the FREE lodging provided to people who have knowingly and willfully decided to attend a BlueGreen sales presentation.

Blue green is not a scam. We have been members for 6 years and vacation about 4 weeks a year and have been to 20 different locations. Out of 20 I was disappointed 1 time and that was 4 years ago and that resort was totally upgraded last year. To say they are mediocre is ridiculous. Go through a RCI book and see what they all offer, they are dated resorts from 20 years ago except BLUEGREEN. Go on line and check out, Big Cedar, Paradise Point in Branson MO. Check out any of there 6 resorts in Myrtle Beach, been to all of them they are awesome. Look at the Marquee in New Orleans, check out the Fountains in Orlando 10 minutes from Disney World, by the way there are 15 beautiful resorts in Florida been to 6 of them, soon to be 7. Taking a trip in April to New Orleans, then Marathon beach in the keys, then St. Augustine and Gatlinburg on the way home and I had no trouble booking and working out 4 resorts on 1 trip. Johnny Morris is a new partner in Bluegreen, owner of Bass Pro Shops, Cabellas and TOP OF THE ROCK in Ridgedale MO, a place I call the 8th wonder of the world. Was at TOP OF THE ROCK last year and We met another couple and sat and had dinner with them. They live in Springfield Mo and visit several times a year. They said they met Johnny Morris last time they were here, the server heard that and said Johnny is over there. The other couple asked the server to ask Johnny to come over and see them and they would buy him his favorite drink. 20 minutes later he came over and stayed and talked and took pictures with us. After he left and we were done the server brought over our check, I opened it and it said THANK YOU FOR THE DRINK AND YOUR DINNER IS ON ME. It was over $300.00 and he also tipped the server $100.00. He is the only Billionaire I have ever met, but I am sure he is one of the nicest and most down to earth billionaire's you will ever meet. Every employee at TOP OF THE ROCK I met said he is one of the nicest and most generous people they have ever met.

My wife and I had an experience similar to may others but with a completely different results. We were promised a free 3 night stay at a resort, instead we were booked into a Comfort in (not a nice one). However, before we let them begin their sales presentation, I let them know how disappointed I was that we were not given what I had been promised. The sales staff politely explained that the telemarketers who contacted us should never of said we would stay at a resort or that it would be free and perhaps I misunderstood. I calmly explained that IF I was told I would be staying in a regular hotel 45 minutes from the beach and that I would have to pay a dime I would never of agreed to come. They tried to assure me that I couldn't of possible been told I would stay at a resort or that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I assured them that was exactly what I was promised. They told me that all the calls are recorded and they'd be happy to listen to my call to see if they could figure out where I misunderstood the deal. I told them "great". The saleswoman and her manager went into an office for about 10 minutes, come out and told me it would be a few more minutes and pulled another "suit" into the office with them. They came out and the "suit" apologized, returned the money I payed at the hotel, booked us a stay at a resort for the next month (wasn't a bluegreen resort as they were completely booked but the resort turned out to be right next door, very nice and we had unlimited access to the Bluegreen amenities), and gave us a visa gift card for $100 on top of the $150 card we had already been promised. The thing to remember is that the telemarketers, Bass Pro Shop marketing people, etc. are not bluegreen employees and sometimes push the truth significantly in order to get you booked. If you confront Bluegreen with the situation they will make it right. We ended up paying cash to become Bronze level owner to try it out and we have been very pleased. We get the resorts we want on the dates we want and the service has always been great. We stayed at a newly purchased property in NC and the floor hadn't been vacuumed well and there was lipstick on a glass. It wasn't a big deal but I went to the office to ask for a vacuum. I was told all the vacuums were with the cleaning staff but they would send someone to re-vacuum as soon as possible. I told them to just call me and I would get the vacuum and sweep the floor myself. I received a call from the resort manager about half an hour later. I went to the office to get the vacuum and the manager explained that Bluegreen just recently purchased the property and they were still working through staffing issues. The manager asked again if she could send someone to clean the room properly. I politely declined and explained that we had already unpacked and I would prefer to take care of it myself. The manager told me she would get me some sort of compensation for the situation. Two days later, while we were still enjoying are stay at the resort, our account was credited all the points we had used for our stay. Is Bluegreen perfect, no. Is it a scam, definitely not however we were told our Bronze level would give us a 12 month booking window but it doesn't really. Our bronze level ownership gets us 3-4 weeks of vacation stays a year with just an $1100 yearly maintenance fee. 3 to 4 weeks of vacation for $1100 is not a bad deal. Our original purchase price made the first year expensive but if I spread the purchase price over 10 years in my head it works out to $3900/year (I just randomly picked 10 years, I could of used 15 or 20 years to lower the yearly cost even more). Even if we only book 3 weeks a year, although we usually book 4 weeks a year, it works out to $1300/week to stay in resorts... that's a pretty good deal and, even then, after 10 years it becomes lass than $400 per week. I would caution people about getting a loan through Bluegreen, 16% interest is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age. Either pay cash, get your own loan or consider a home equity or 401k loan...do not pay 16%!!!

I have been an owner with Bluegreen for over 20 years. If you want to REALLY know the truth about Bluegreen, ASK ME!!! Get the facts from an Owner instead of people who are not BUTTHURT because they failed to read all the fine print on a "reduced price vacation."