BlueGreen Vacations Timeshare Scam Warning!!!

I do understand the "timeshare" scam warning IF you are actually scammed, which I know happens more often then not and usually with other companies (which we made the mistake once to go to another company presentation, never again, not that we were scammed, we go our incentive but hubby had to use the ol' "bad back/can't sit anymore" ploy while true at times was not then). Our Bluegreen Experience was NOT a scam. 1. We were approached at a Bass Pro Shop in OKC, "vacation package" was listed as $99, we walked by. But a bit later we were in the same Bass Pro Shop and the package was now $50, we stopped and booked. We were told we would be staying in a 3 star hotel, had to go to a presentation, and I believe it was for 3 nights. This was back in 2007 in February. (we had never had a vacation before, our son was already in double digit age, 3 nights in Branson, MO for only $50! win win for us!!) 2. I don't remember what hotel we stayed at in Branson, MO but it was a nice 3 star hotel. We did the presentation, which started with a video. (pre-story: I distinctly remember telling my husband we are doing this for the trip, as we've never been able to afford a "vacation", but we are NOT BUYING A TIMESHARE due to the horror stories I had heard.) But after the video explaining that the timeshare is not 1 week in the same spot year after year but points that you can spend in several different places, it wasn't were we going to buy it was HOW? 3. Our sales person was a decent older guy, and was not the "pushy" type. He and his manager worked with getting us into a timeshare points package that we could afford as we were already decided after just watching the video, so no pushy sales pitch was needed. I don't even remember what we walked out of there with as an incentive, I think it was a voucher for one of the shows or dinner theaters. 4. AND THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Our sales guy gave us the BEST ADVICE EVER, he told us "do not expect to get what you want when you want, be flexible". This worked well for us as I was a stay-at-home and we homeschooled so we were able to take many vacations during the off season. 5. We have been Bluegreen owners for 15 years, we have upgraded twice and are now Premier owners but not top tier. Our timeshare is paid for and we only pay the maintenance yearly. We purchase our second timeshare with another company in 2015, Disney Vacation Club but we get more usage out of our Bluegreen points. DVC is nice but the exchange is a bit of a nightmare so if you only stay in DVC properties it's great so it is very limited in my book. But as we like DVC properties it isn't much of an issue for us, just not a user friendly as Bluegreen. 6. During our second upgrade, we did it at a Florida property in Miami and THAT was a nightmare, so I really do think it is fairer to say, that some "sales people" are the scam NOT Bluegreen. They are pushed to do certain quotas and their upper management in their particular office are probably pushier than others, but as a whole it is NOT Bluegreen. I have never felt "scammed" in our 15 years with them other than certain times we were told by a SALES PERSON, something that turned out to be not the correct information, so THAT sales person to make THEIR quota. 7. Now we just tell them no on owner updates. We are happy and don't need anymore points at this time. They can be slightly "encouraging" for us to do an update, and are thoroughly confused how we can turn down a $100 gift card, but it is our vacation and we want to enjoy all of it. They do not continue to bother us once we tell them no after the first call to our condo or at check in. We have stayed at many Bluegreen properties and this has been the case at all of them. 8. Last thing, if it were not for our Bluegreen timeshare ownership we would not have been able to take the plethora of vacations we have over the years. We've been to Florida multiple times, as well as Missouri (recently we were able to book 3 condos for a Christmas with family who all live in different states), and Wisconsin, Arizona, Utah, Texas, South Carolina, Montana, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada. We've also used our points for hotel stays at different times. Our Anniversary trips are more of "where is available" rather than this is what we are doing", to us this is fun and challenging to see where we end up. And yeah, it is not always where we would like to go, but then there is the next year....we were married in the Spring so unfortunately a lot of "desirable" places are full. It makes me sad when I hear of someone having a bad experience with Bluegreen since it has been such a wonderful part of our traveling life. I just hope I can let people know that these moments are an exception rather than the rule.

See my post above here. Our sales guy told us upfront to be flexible and don't expect to get what you want but to be open to what is available, we've used his advice for 15 years. The sales person is the one who "lied" not Bluegreen. And we keep checking back!! We were pleasantly surprised this past Thanksgiving, since more owners are in Bluegreen it has been harder for us to find open places, (but Bluegreen keeps adding properties so we just wait) and Big Sky Mt is one that we haven't gotten into for quite awhile, but one evening I just "checked again" and sure enough the week of Thanksgiving was available. We booked it so fast, and had a wonderful week on the mountain for Thanksgiving. Doesn't happen all the time but this time was a nice surprise and the best!!

julietteh9 wrote:

Can we sue blue-green? I bought a package as well and can NEVER use anything because everything is booked or whatever.....are we stuck with the payments and dues?

It may not be a "scam" but the question remains, what is your time worth? These types of places make you spend your time for a presentation (for some that could be worth it, for others it is not). To book, you need to be patient and use your time to be able to book where you want, when you want. Again, that takes time. For me, it is simple, my time is much more valuable than dealing with all of the hassles associated with this group. Also, I read several stories of folks happy or unhappy that bought into plans they said they had no intention of buying. You could look at that two ways, one you were "sold" on it being a great offer and two that you were swindled into buying something you didn't intend on buying in the first place. I'd say both could be true and you could be happy or unhappy with either situation. The one commonality is that you were looking to get a cheap stay and were convinced to spend more. That is sales and it require what some would consider to be pushy sales tactics. I have zero intention of giving this company any money because I value my time too highly to give them any of my time to be able to jump through all the hoops they require of me to make any of this work.

Yikes. Thank you for these messages, extremely informative. At least I know what I have to do to minimize the gouge.

Don’t do it! We have spent the last 2 years trying to get out of it (not to mention a butt load of money ) and we’re still fighting! Like a lot of these stories, we were lied to (yes, lied to. Not misinformed or misinterpreted, LIED TO!) and sat for nearly 3 hours and sent to a hotel many miles from Big Cedar where they said we would be. This was in November of 2005. Since then the rental of points was impossible to arrange, getting a place and date we needed was also not possible and we’re being charged for fees that are exorbitant for something we can’t use! Now we find out that people who just want to rent them (not members!) are getting preferential treatment! After all, they already have our money and now they can have everyone else’s too! We were high pressured, lied to and exhausted and unfortunately didn’t have the sense to realize that if it really was that good, they wouldn’t have to do business that way! I continue to fight to get out of this. Buyer beware!

Unfortunately, the sales weasels of some developers (Westgate being the worst, with Wyndham in second place, in my personal opinion), know full well that they can say virtually anything (whether true or not) because, in the final analysis, ONLY the written content of the contract matters. Everything else is just completely meaningless noise briefly floating around in the air within the sales room. BlueGreen is certainly no different in this regard.

This is precisely why "We were lied to" seldom (never?) succeeds in escaping a contract. In fact, many contracts even openly state in writing that any verbal statements or claims made are not binding and that ONLY the written content of the contract matters. In other words, anything that is not overtly and clearly stated in writing within the four corners of the contract document simply does not exist. That may be surprising and disappointing, but it is nonetheless 100% true and accurate.

The total cost of the stay only comes into effect if you don’t attend the timeshare presentation. They disclose to you that the promotion is void if you don’t attend and that you’d have to pay to current market rate for the hotel. How they operate with the promotions is they give you gifts that are contingent upon you doing something later on. For example, they gave one bass pro shop gift card when I signed up and initially paid them the $175 and then they gave me 3 more $50 gift cards when I showed up to the presentation. I’m on the 3rd day of my vacation through them here in Saint Pete. I went to their sales presentation yesterday. The only “scam” is that they do what every other sales and marketing firm does: blow smoke up your ass but leave out the details for you to read later. They are clear about certain things but then convolute other things. I did my research after booking this trip and asked a lot of questions when I sat down with the realtor who gave me the tour and all that. Bluegreens is not a scam or a scheme but there are many hidden costs and problems that they don’t tell you about however it’s all spelled out in the ownership paperwork they give you IF you buy their product and become a deeded owner. And they give you 30 days from the day you become an owner to back out and receive a refund.

lifeofd wrote:

…And they give you 30 days from the day you become an owner to back out and receive a refund.

Rescission (cancellation) periods are determined by the laws of individual states. In the U.S., that time period is as few as 3 days in several states, 5-7 days in most states, 10 days in Florida and Tennessee. No state law provides a longer rescission period than the 10 days provided by Florida and Tennessee.

Is the “30 days” cancellation period to which you make reference expressed in writing within the contract, or are you just repeating a verbal statement made by a hungry sales weasel? I ask because in my many years of experience with timeshares, I have NEVER heard of a “30 day rescission period” ANYWHERE --- I doubt that any such thing exists at all. I find it very hard to believe that any developer would ever willingly provide a cancellation period which is three to ten times longer than the longest rescission period provided by any state law in existence anywhere in the U.S.

In short, color me VERY dubious about the accuracy of your stated claim that "they give you 30 days to back out".

We are new owners. Bought the cheapest every other year program. The perk that got ys to pull the trigger was bonus time which we have used 10 days in the first 6 months. I love it. And I have a resort in the mountains an hour from my home. I wouldn't mind getting more points so I am wondering if buying on the resale market at a price that wont trigger a ROFR would be worth it.

I worked hard I retired and dream that Bluegreen is perfect for me and dragged along my sister . She’s also retired. We bought a 10k points in July it’s now Oct 2022. We still have to book a vacation, we are given a run around between RCI and Bluegreen. We upgraded as advised now we have two mortgages with Bluegreen. I’m still hoping this is not a scam but I’m losing hope .

Were you able to successfully rescind your contract? I’m on the same boat here.

Hello, were you able to rescind your contract successfully? I’m in the same boat here. I sent the rescind letter with everything else during the 10 day time frame.

Hello, just a quick question I recently sent my letter with the intention to rescind my contract within the 10 day window (signed in FL). I sent it in first class priority mail with a return receipt but the address given in the contract to directions on where to mail the letter is just a mail warehouse so no one was able to sign for the package. It was returned to the nearest post office and is ready for pick up according to my tracking update. I called the representative to see if they had someone who picks up packages at the post office and they said no. But then I called again and a different representative said that they do have someone who picks up packages once a week. She wasn’t sure why I was misinformed. In any case, she gave me a case number. I hope all goes well. I’m really worried no one will go pick it up but I’ll have to call them regularly until someone signs for it.

The biggest complaint about BlueGreen (as a system) is the difficulty of getting into the resort you want on the dates you want. The BG system has about 220,000 owners who all want to use their points, usually about the same time, so expect competition. That's both the advantage and disadvantage of the points-based system.

I give an example: BG has an Associate resort in Hawaii that is relatively inexpensive. Almost always is fully booked. Been there twice in 8 years. First time I had to splice together 4 reservations to get a week which worked (also meant we had to change rooms a couple times). We had a great time there anyway. Second time: I just accidentally found a full week in 1 unit available, so I booked it - a full 11 months in advance. It was the only availability they had for the entire year's calendar, and I found it. Sometimes the blind pig finds the acorn, I guess.

They have many VERY popular resorts which are almost always 100% booked a year in advance. That's a good question to ask for potential buyers into any timeshare system - how many of your resorts are 100% booked for the year?

They also have some resort locations which usually have availability (if you are looking far enough in advance).

Yes, the salespeople are financially incentivized to make a sale to you. Go into your meeting with that in mind.

The points system of timeshare usage advertises "flexibility" as an advantage. That very "flexibility" sometimes works against owners who have time or travel constraints.

In general, even with the frustrations, we have been satisfied with our BG ownership for the last 8 years. The BG reservation system does take some getting used to, and they do have work-arounds for tough reservations (wait lists, etc)

They do use high pressure sales tactics. But I do not consider them a scam.

They are also a publicly traded company (symbol BVH on NYSE) and you can view their legally mandated public filings on the corporate website (BVHcorp.com) which is different than the customer-facing website (BlueGreenVacations.com or BlueGreenOwner.com)

Your mileage (or happiness) may vary...

Did u buy into timeshare and if not how was experience for you after they saw you didn't buy anything

It’s a scam.

alberts118 wrote:

Is a scam

Thanks for information

lifeofd wrote:

<snip> And they give you 30 days from the day you become an owner to back out and receive a refund.

I am unaware of any timeshare developer anywhere in the USA that offers (or that has ever offered) a "30 days" rescission period. Rescission (cancellation) periods are determined by individual state laws within the U.S. and those time frames range from as few as 3 days in a few states to as many as 10 days in Florida and Tennessee (in most states, it's 5-7 days). Whoever mentioned to you a "30 days rescission period" was "blowing that smoke" to which you made reference above. It just quite simply is not true.

Ha ha ... I read this and was like "YEAH OK" .. then I realized it was me who wrote it in 2019. We're in this thing $30K, with yearly fees of $1400. F%&$%!

Ha ha ... I read this and was like "YEAH OK" .. then I realized it was me who wrote it in 2019. We're in this thing $30K, with yearly fees of $1400. F%&$%!

stefaniea17 wrote:

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Lincoln, NH. This company was wonderful. We definitely didn't stay in a Comfort Inn! We paid $199.00 at Bass Pro Shop, received a $100 g/c immediately. Spent 3 nights, and 4 days at Riverwalk Resort in Lincoln, NH. We paid $37.00 in tax. Went to a 1 hour presentation, and after the presentation, we received another $125.00 in g/c to Bass Pro. It was worth it for us because my husband spends money at Bass Pro all the time. Bluegreen Vacations employees were great! Of course that's expected, they're trying to sell. We had zero problems. Now as far as the actually timeshare is concerned, I do not have any experience with that, yet!