Complaint Review: BlueGreen Resorts - Schaumburg Illinois

A friend of mine got a call yesterday saying that she won the free two day vacation that she put in for at a wedding fair. However, she was under 25, so they said she could have someone else (me) call to claim her prize. She asked up front if there were any obligations to claiming the prize and the telemarketer said, "No". So I call to claim the prize and they say my "consultant" is on anther call and she will have to call me back...pretending that "TaShonda" actually works at the actual facility. Well now I realize that is not the case, and that she is actually just a telemarketer calling from who knows where. So, she calls me back and asks for my address to send the prize to. Then she tells me I will have to come in and take a tour of a replica of their Orlando suite in order to claim my prize. So, I say yes that is fine since I am doing this for my friend who is getting married. Then I am asked my income because there is an income minimum. I tell her my income and she says it is just under the minimum and they want to know what my fiance makes. So I tell them what he makes and then I am told that I will have to bring him with and everything will be in his name since he is the one who meets the income requirement. And I'm like, wait...what is going to be in "his name"? Then she says oh well just the prize, you know. At this point I couldn't hardly get a word in because she would not stop talking about us needing to bring ID's and credit cards. I know this is nothing my guy is going to be willing to do. So she says they will call the next day to make sure he can attend with me that weekend, and I say ok and hang up. Then two seconds later, someone from Bluegreen (this time a real BG employee I am assuming) calls to "complete my application". What application?! Now keep in mind the telemarketer NEVER told me that they wanted to sell me anything. The word timeshare was never mentioned. I was only told that they wanted me to tour their replica of an Orlando suite (ie a HOTEL ROOM at their resort - or at least that is what I thought). I figured this was just to promote their resorts that they owned in Florida hoping to make me a repeat customer using their resorts. I did not return the call of this person wanting to complete my application because I knew at this point something was not right. I had a feeling they wanted me to buy more than a couple night stay at a resort. They called me 4 more time that day, while I was at work and then even into the night as late as 9pm!! I am a part time evening student and was in a nursing class at the time, so I could not answer the calls. The next day I checked online to find out what they were really up to. Now I wouldn't call it a scam...because I found out today that a different friend of mine actually went through with this and did get her free two day trip, without purchasing the time share package. So it's not really a scam but the telemarketers are not exactly up front and honest with people. They should tell you from the get go that there is are obligations in order to claim your prize, and that you have to attend a sales pitch meeting, and that what they are selling is time shares. Instead the telemarketers lie, withhold information, and do whatever they can just to get you to agree to come to a meeting. I do not want or need a timeshare. I have better things to spend my money on. I do not want to waste my time or the time of the sales people when I have no intention of buying a timeshare. So it would have been nice to be informed right away so I could say that and end the call.

Just like to point out that I am an Owner and it is true that we have broke even. You say that people selling Bluegreen would never waste their cash, but that goes for every thing anyone of us buys. I work in the Textile industry and when I see the price that some companies charge for their products I make the same comment I have known people on the west coast of the USA pay well over $500 yd for cloth that I can buy for a mere $6 a yard just because it says William Morris on the selvedge so who is ripping who off. If someone is happy with what they buy then who are we to say otherwise. I would love to see your mates faces if they only knew what the clothes on their backs were really worth it would soon wipe the smiles of their faces once they know how much they have been ripped off by.

Smithiekid1623 from the way your post reads it sounds like an Blue Green employee rather than an owner.

I live in the Myrtle Beach area and have several friends that sell for Blue Green. Alot of times after work sitting at a bar they laugh and joke at how they just busted some family out of 20k for their "points". None of them and I repeat NONE of these guys would even think of spending their money of "this junk" as they put it.

To the "owners" that feel that we "took" the perks and freebies, no worries. We have no intentions on using any of it and it has long since been recycled. And by the way, the "free" airline tickets were only "free" when combined with a lengthy stay at a specific hotel. As we all agree nothing in life is free, is it? Since there are TWO valid complaints (not just mine), there seems to be an issue here. This will be my last response, since I certainly have better use of my time. Sad that someone always results to personal attacks versus sticking to facts. Had you bothered to read my original post, you will note that I certainly realize that nothing is "free" and that it was not my idea to go in the first place. Would an employee of BlueGreen (I'm sure there are a few of you out there posting) please like to explain how you can properly insure and deed "time" and exactly what happens if the holding company goes under? What happens if natural disaster strikes and the building is knocked down? How is your "time" insured?? That was the question I posed when I was there, for which I never received an answer other than the bound contract, which nobody there understood.

What I cant get my head around is why you went in the first place. It seems that you had made up your mind before you even set foot in the place, maybe us Bluegreen owners should charge you a fee for timewasting your freebies have to be paid for by the shareholders and the owners. Why keep the salesperson their for 4 hours if you had no intention of becoming an owner (and by the way it is not a scam we will have broken even after 7 yrs - next year and our holidays will now be flights and the cost of MF. This years savings on accom will be approx $4000 so after next year. the savings will be a lot larger. To spend 4 hours with no intention of buying into the club can only mean that you most have been bored and had nothing better to do or you just lead a very sad life if that is the way you get your kicks. Get a life and leave the holidays to the people who really enjoy them and dont waste peoples time just to try and belittle them or trip them up would you enjoy being treated like that at your place of work. And just remember that nothing in life is free YOU WENT THERE TO TRY AND GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING SO WHY ARE YOU SUPRISED AND SHOUT " SCAM SCAM" WHEN THEY WANT SOMETHING IN RETURN !!

Since you are a CPA, I'm hoping you can answer this. Why doesn't title insurance mean anything for a 'time share'? Many timeshares are recognized as real estate, do have title insurance and the deeds are recorded in county records as real estate deeds. Also, in some of the timeshares, since you purchase the unit as well as your share of the land it sits on, does it really matter if the parent company who sells them goes under? That would be like owning a home in a new home sales development and the builder going under before they complete the development. You don't lose your home, do you?

Not one of you, including the "Director/Manager" or whatever he was calling himself could answer my questions. I guess I should have spent even longer than the HOURS that we were there reading the 2 inch thick contract out between the trust company and the time share company since NOBODY understood it. Perhaps then, maybe some of the employees would be a little more careful where they are putting their own money as well. That is if they truly are "owners." Why would you expect someone to hand over $20k plus when you do NOT even understand how many of you (who as we were told, were owners too) are being RIPPED off? Too sad. Unfortunately many are not astute enough to understand scams when they see them.

You can't complain that you were there for 4 hours. We do not tie you down to the chair and make you stay. I am one of the sales reps you speak of and I remember you. You asked a thousand questions, which is fine if you want to know the answers, but then do not have the nerve to complain how long you were there for. And as far as them being rude and pushing you out the door, you are told a 90 minute presentation on the phone. Because of YOUR questions, you kept yourself and the other employees there very very late. If you werent interested in what we were offering you, you could have easily told us no at the end of the 90 minutes. And just because some of our sales reps can't answer some of your questions, doesn't mean you were "taken". A little over dramatic.

I just returned from a sales presentation. The promised 4 airline tickets to any where in the US plus a coupon book, plus a $50 Visa card. We were 15 minutes late and had taken a snack with us because we missed dinner. WE listened for 90 minutes a tried to keep an open mind but it seemed like every 20 minutes or so they can up with some new fee. To start with they said 15000 points per year would cost 20k. Then they showed us some chart that said we spend 38,000 based upon a 7% annual rise in prices in the next 15 years on hotels rooms alone. Doing a rough calculation I came up the 20k would be worth 50k in 15 years base on a 7% return. They did not stop. When we asked about foreign travel we were told that all we had to due was pay a tax of $199 and we could use them at them same rate as here. It did not sound right that I could stay in Paris for a week for 7,000 points. Then a little later they came up with $685 annual maintenance. Then a little while later they said it would cost $200 more for something I never understood. Then they price it. The cost was $25000 minus some gifts. or $22000 net. WE STILL HAD TO PAY $25000 but some how the gifts were valuable. The only one I can remember was enrollment in Hertz Gold. WOW I need that. Then came Jack the closer. I told him I wasn't interested. He said because you can't afford it right? I told him he did not need to insult me that working with their own numbers it did not make sense and I wasn't interested. My wife commented that every few minutes they trough a new fee in and the price went up. He got snarlly and we said just give us our stuff and left. His last comment was the next time someone comes eating a peanut butter sandwich don't let him in. That was my snack.

FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO LET EVERYONE KNOW WE ARE ONE OF THE OLDEST COMPANIES OUT THERE OFFERING THE POINTS SYSTEM AND TIMESHARE OPPORTUNITY. WE TRY TO BE VERY HONEST AND NOT MISLEADING BECAUSE WE WANT PEOPLE TO USE OUR VACATION DESTINATIONS AND TELL SEVERAL PEOPLE HOW GREAT THEY ARE TO ENJOY A VACATION. WE LIKE TO THINK WE ARE THE BEST OFFERING MORE PLACES TO STAY THAT ARE NICER AND USUALLY LESS THAN OUR COMPETITION. WE ARE AT VARIOUS EVENTS AROUND CHICAGOLAND GETTING PEOPLE INTERESTED IN TRAVELING W/ US, AND WE HAVE A CALL CENTER THAT INVITES PEOPLE TO PREVIEW OUR COMPANY. WE NEVER TELL PEOPLE THEY WON ANYTHING. WE SAY THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO RECEIVE A VACATION PACKAGE BECAUSE WE DREW THEIR NAME FROM AN ENTRY FORM THEY COMLETED AT AN EVENT. IN RETURN FOR US OFFERING THE TRIPS , THE COUPLE TOURS OUR PREVIEW CENTER AND IS TOLD ABOUT OUR COMPANY. WE SHOW WHAT WE CAN OFFER THEM TO VACATION FOR LESS EVERY YEAR WITH US INSTEAD OF USING A STANDARD HOTEL. WE OFFER RESORTS W/ HUGE CONDO'S FOR LESS MONEY. AS FOR THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION, THERE ARE SOME SALES REPS THAT MIGHT NOT BE AS KNOWLEDGEABLE ON CONTRACT AS OTHERS , SO IT DOES NOT HURT TO TALK TO MANAGER. THEY DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM W/ YOU HAVING A CHANCE TO READ OVER PAPERWORK AND HAVE OTHER ADVISORS VIEW IT EITHER. THERE IS A TIME TO TRY IT OUT. THE BEST HTING TO DO IS CHOOSE WHERE YOU LIKE TO VACATION MOST AND GO THERE ALWAYS.---IT IS DIFFICULT SOMETIMES TO GET WEEKS YOU NEED THROUGH THE EXCHANGE BECAUSE IT IS BASED ON AVAILABILITY.