Complaint Review: Bluegreen Vacation Club

It is our goal at Bluegreen Corporation to provide all of our valued owners and guests with professional service and quality resort accommodations and amenities.

Unfortunately, we were not able to personally contact Clay or Deborah due to their contact information being withheld on this web site. However, we are eager to assist Clay and Deborah with enjoying their Bluegreen vacation ownership the way it was intended and encourage them to contact Bluegreen Owner Relations at 800.456.2582 so that we may further address any outstanding issues.

We would like to take this opportunity to address the issues mentioned in the posting by Clay and rebuttal by Deborah and sincerely hope that by doing so we are able to provide clarity to others who may visit this web site.

At the time of purchase, all new owners receive contractual documentation, which clearly explains the terms of the purchase. For example, new owners receive an Owner Confirmation Interview, which includes a detailed description of many relevant aspects of the Bluegreen Vacation Club. Each item included within the Owner Confirmation Interview is explained in detail to all new owners so that they clearly understand the terms of their purchase. The Interviews are recorded with the customer's consent and our mutual protection.

In addition, new owners are presented with a comprehensive three-ring binder that outlines the Bluegreen Vacation Club and our resorts. They also receive a Multi-site Public Offering Statement for the Bluegreen Vacation Club, which is a public disclosure document that contains explanations regarding how our reservation system operates. All new owners are also informed of our Owner Relations and Reservations toll free number, which is listed in the three-ring binder and other ownership materials.

In the posting by Clay and the rebuttal by Deborah, the issue of Bluegreen's Saved Vacation Points Policy is mentioned. To clarify, Points are carried over (i.e. saved) automatically for one additional year on the anniversary of the date in which they were issued. Upon review of our reservation system, it was recognized that the increasing use of Saved Points was decreasing the availability for high season accommodations on a current year basis. This is one reason why a number of vacation ownership clubs do not allow members to carry over unused time. Therefore, changes were made in order to ensure that Bluegreen Vacation Club would have ample inventory to accommodate the vacation needs and plans of more owners throughout the year, and for us to be able to continue offering Saved Points.

The new rule regarding Saved Points will continue to allow members to save their unused Points for one year, as it has in the past. In addition, usage of Saved Points is available at all Bluegreen resort locations in White, Blue and normal Red seasons.

We sincerely hope Clay, Deborah, and other Bluegreen owners understand that the modification to the Saved Points rule was necessary to preserve the vitality of the Vacation Club for the benefit of all Club members as a whole.

In her rebuttal, Deborah explains a similar situation when using Saved Points with her biennial (every-other-year) ownership. For additional clarification, a biennial owner(s) currently has the option to use all Points in the first year in any season, or up to 50% of his/her Points in any season during the second year. In essence, owners who receive biennial Points are provided the same use rights as those who earn Points on an annual basis.

Another option that Clay may consider, as mentioned by Deborah, is to borrow Points from the following year. Borrowed Vacation Points can be used in all seasons. By prepaying their annual maintenance fee, Bluegreen owners can use the coming year's Points early in order to book their reservation. Thereafter, Bluegreen owners will be one year ahead in their fees and only have to pay the difference, if there is one, in the maintenance fees the following year.

In his posting, Clay also discusses difficulty using bonus time in high demand seasons. While there may be limited availability for some resorts during peak vacation times, there are still many resorts and destinations with availability at most times of the year. Due to the fact that reservations are based upon space availability, we encourage owners to be flexible with their destination and travel dates to increase the likelihood of obtaining their desired dates and destination.

In addition, we would like to remind Clay that he may now make bonus time reservations online by logging in to our web site at: www.bluegreenonline.com.

As of December 2006, Bluegreen Corporation has nearly 170,000 satisfied vacation owners in the United States and abroad. We take very seriously our responsibility to our owners, including our strong commitment to customer service and satisfaction, and we invite our owners to contact us for assistance with reservations and other aspects of ownership. We have a professional and knowledgeable staff in place for the purpose of assisting our owners with any issues or concerns related to their ownerships.

It is our hope that Clay and Deborah will continue to use and enjoy their ownerships for many years to come, knowing that Bluegreen is committed to their satisfaction.

This is a true report because it has happened to me too. But my situation is even worse because when we upgraded to silver membership they changed our deed to even years. The salesman said we could use our points any year any season which was true at the time but shortly after they changed the rules. Now they will only allow half of our points to roll over in the second year. We can not use them in high red. We only vacation in high red season-- there is not much to offer below high red at all. After the second year, none of our points roll over.

We have contacted Bluegreen with our complaints but we only get these generic answers from sales representatives. very disappointing. We have love Bluegreen until this happened to us.

There is one option you have, you can borrow points from your next year. They can be used during any season. You just have to pay the maintenance fee in advance. This may work for us because we own 42,000 points bi-annually. Perhaps it can work for you. It's not a perfect solution but for right now it beats the red tape.