Just purchased (newbie)...

[gcbailey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gcbailey]

My wife purchased the $90 "free" vacation from Bass Pro in Pigeon Forge in May of this year. We just had our vacation over the weekend. When did did the initial purchase the girl from Bass Pro told us if we couldn't get the date we wanted to call her personally. Well we couldn't get the date and we gave her a call back, and she came through. I was pleased. Anyway, we had our "sales pitch" yesterday and ended up going with a 7,000/year point with the "charter VIP" program and "Bluegreen Traveler Plus". We paid for the plan outright, no mortgage. We are in our late, very late 20's and have 2 sons, one 5 one 10 months.

I guess what had us drawn in was the availability to get the bonus nights or whatever at $59/$69/$79.... nightly without using the points.

Basically we are just looking for information to "educate" us to the real world of how this works, not the fantasy sales pitch. How does this stuff work, how does the RCI interaction work? How does the discounted prices ($59/$68...) with RCI work? Did we just totally mess up?

I've read some stuff, not a lot, on the web about some horror stories, but most of them are related to the "free" vacations. We honestly had a great experience with that and the sales pitch wasn't pushy either. We told the girl, who was very pleasant that we couldn't afford $600/month for 10 year not knowing the needs of 2 small children and with purchasing a new vehicle within a year or 2. The other guy "supervisor" wasn't pushy either he asked what was the least/most we could afford monthly without taking food off our tables and eventually we decided once they presented a price/points we thought were decent to just purchase it and be done. Not fooling with their 17% financing... whew.

Anyways, thanks for the rant!

Gary

[aliikai2 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close aliikai2]

Hi Gary

Please rescind your purchase today. You can save thousands, buying resale . For example today on Ebay
is a 7k package with a starting bid of $1

BLUEGREEN POINTS MOUNTAIN RUN BOYNE MICHIGAN TIMESHARE - eBay (item 270616667505 end time Aug-09-10 19:00:44 PDT)

Or a 16K package at $1.25, most of these sell for around a .01 per point plus closing and transfer fees,
16,000 Bluegreen Points Fountains Timeshare Florida - eBay (item 200503460351 end time Aug-05-10 12:32:59 PDT)




Cancel today and save yourself some serious money.

Greg

My wife purchased the $90 "free" vacation from Bass Pro in Pigeon Forge in May of this year. We just had our vacation over the weekend. When did did the initial purchase the girl from Bass Pro told us if we couldn't get the date we wanted to call her personally. Well we couldn't get the date and we gave her a call back, and she came through. I was pleased. Anyway, we had our "sales pitch" yesterday and ended up going with a 7,000/year point with the "charter VIP" program and "Bluegreen Traveler Plus". We paid for the plan outright, no mortgage. We are in our late, very late 20's and have 2 sons, one 5 one 10 months.

I guess what had us drawn in was the availability to get the bonus nights or whatever at $59/$69/$79.... nightly without using the points.

Basically we are just looking for information to "educate" us to the real world of how this works, not the fantasy sales pitch. How does this stuff work, how does the RCI interaction work? How does the discounted prices ($59/$68...) with RCI work? Did we just totally mess up?

I've read some stuff, not a lot, on the web about some horror stories, but most of them are related to the "free" vacations. We honestly had a great experience with that and the sales pitch wasn't pushy either. We told the girl, who was very pleasant that we couldn't afford $600/month for 10 year not knowing the needs of 2 small children and with purchasing a new vehicle within a year or 2. The other guy "supervisor" wasn't pushy either he asked what was the least/most we could afford monthly without taking food off our tables and eventually we decided once they presented a price/points we thought were decent to just purchase it and be done. Not fooling with their 17% financing... whew.

Anyways, thanks for the rant!

Gary

[sunseeker64 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunseeker64]

Hi Gary,

Congratulations and welcome.

As Greg mentioned, there are points out there for cheap on eBay but they won't give you the unlimited bonus time and Traveler's Plus that you wanted. You can always add those cheap points to what you already have at a later time now that you have the extras.

Many happy vacations and welcome to the group.

Karen

[gcbailey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gcbailey]

We got it under $10K.... if that means anything.

[amoljac Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close amoljac]

Welcome to Bluegreen!!!!! There is a learning curve to using your membership and getting the most benefits from your vacations. We have purchased a number of packages. Unfortunately, I did not learn about resale till a few purchases from Bluegreen.

We got it under $10K.... if that means anything.

If you were to buy the 7000 points with Boca Bum it would cost you $8750 plus closing costs for the same thing(QUALIFIED points). The going rate for qualified points like you purchased is $1.25/point. In addition, Boca is around to help with technical questions and perhaps some additional benefits(and the answers you get WILL be truthful and correct). Others are accurate when they suggest you can get a better rate buying elsewhere. For unqualified points(which do not count towards premier membership) you can purchase through ebay, friends, neighbors, Redweek, or neighbors dog. I have been watching Ebay and I have seen 15000-20000+ points going for less than $200. Some points packages are going for $1 plus closing costs but read posting closely as some are bi-annual point. Additional counsel is available at YAHOO Bluegreen group which you can sign up to get help.

We LOVE our Bluegreen membership. We have found it gives us economical vacations at a price that beats staying in motels for a week. Many of the resorts offer activities for kids and are very family friendly

I

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

So many people come to this forum and ask "how did I do?" They are advised to rescind immediately, while they still can, and they doubt the advice they get here. It's true that you don't know any of us but we don't have any reason to give you bad advice.

Rescind now and you'll have plenty of time to think it over and learn before you put your hard earned cash on the table again. There is always a deal out there so you won't lose.

Sue

[motomem Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close motomem]

We got it under $10K.... if that means anything.

If you are happy with your purchase DON'T LISTEN to anyone else. You actually did not do bad for 7K points with all the perks.

It's true you can buy BG points from ebay dirt cheap, but as said, they are not 'qualified' points - meaning they don't come with the extra perks like bonus nights or Travelers Plus. Also those points do not count towards the premier levels. You can buy resale points that ARE 'qualified' but they must be purchased from Pinnacle Vacations (the only authorized reseller of BG points) and you must pay at least $1.25 per point for them. Bocabum on here can assist you with buying points from Pinnacle if you ever want to add points. Contact him first if you ever want to add points that are qualified.

Your best first step in learning BG is to get registered on the BG website and start reading there. Most everything is there about using your points and the perks. So read and study.

Plus read thru this message board on past threads and look at the threads at the top of the list.

I have both BG points plus a BG floating week. So far I like the BG system. I just need more vacation time.....

One of the biggest things about booking your travel - book it as EARLY as possible. You can book 11 months out - and you should if you can manage it - especially for traveling during the peak travel times.

[gcbailey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gcbailey]

Our price was $9150+ closing. I'm sure down the road we will definitely want to add more points, but that will more than likely be down the road when our kids are a little older and they can have more memories too.

One reason I felt better afterwards is one couple staying at the same hotel bought a package, we noticed them after they rung the cowbell and the "saying no to motels and hotels....". We struck up a conversation later and they volunteered that they had purchased 15K points for $30K. I guess we approached it with the mindset that we had no intention of buying and up front we let the lady know that and that we were basically there for the $100 in bass pro gift cards. Once the supervisor (Matt) saw we were there from a Bass Pro referral he said that entitled us to better pricing. True or not, I don't know. I was actually surprised at how many couples did purchase that day. After quite a bit of casual talking after the deal we were one of the last to leave. I remember counting at least 12 couples out of I'd say 40ish. I would say that is probably a decent ratio on selling. I don't know if it was the host lecturers laid back "southern, ah shucks" approach or what.

Finding vacation time isn't too bad for us. I'm off 2 weeks quarterly and my wife can pretty much take time off whenever due to seniority.

We've definitely got a lot of reading to do..... I guess one major question which was somewhat answered, but how hard is it to get 4/5 nights at an overbuilt location such as Myrtle with around 2 months of headway? Myrtle Beach is about 5.5 hours away and probably the most frequently visited beach for us. Does the ability to get the affiliates from RCI help out a lot? This is past weekend was our 3 trip to the Smokeys this year and we are planning at least one more trip late Oct early Nov. So that is our other most frequently visited....

[crwisconsin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close crwisconsin]

Join the BG Yahoo Group

Basically we are just looking for information to "educate" us to the real world of how this works, not the fantasy sales pitch. How does this stuff work, how does the RCI interaction work? How does the discounted prices ($59/$68...) with RCI work? Did we just totally mess up? Gary

Another source for "education" (besides this group and TUG) is the Bluegreen Yahoo Group. I too bought from BG the first time and I do not regret it. If I had rescinded I probably never would have purchased resale. Then I would have missed all of those wonderful vacations and weekend stays. Once I got my feet on the ground and understood what I was doing, then I went after resales. I do have one regret: I wish I had found BG earlier in life when my children were younger.

Charles

[akparsa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close akparsa]

RE: your Myrtle Beach question

I just pulled up all the MB resorts for 2 months from today (early October) and there is a decent amount of availability. You aren't likely to get oceanfront at Shorecrest that late, but fall off season looks do-able.

Glad to hear the price you got! If they sold to more people in that range, the buyer's remorse and frustration would be so much less! You'll enjoy your points a lot.

Anita

[gcbailey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gcbailey]

Thanks for the wishes...

Charles - that's one reason why we did what we did is that our kids will have something. I remember growing up We went to Disney every summer for 14 years, stayed inside Disney, the works... My dad worked a lot extra to get those 9 days down there. A lot of extra time worked that I didn't get to spend with him. Looking back now he regrets it and I do too. Not to sound all mushy, but that's probably 80% of why we took this endeavor.


As far as bookings goes, do you have to go to each resort individually to check availability or how exactly does that work? I didn't know, didn't ask if you're calling about a particular resort if the agent has the ability to tell you what is out there or if it's a 1:1 basis...

[motomem Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close motomem]

On the website you can check availability one resort at a time, but you can also specify to include nearby resorts.

I think the call center can check all resorts for a date range.

[jonwayneking Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jonwayneking]

points

I purchased bg about 4 mths ago and have already used the point program. my question is if i purchase non charter points (unqualified points) from e-bay how far out can those points be used and can they be used for red season.

[roach Member Find all posts View Profile Close roach]

Duke,

Resale points work just like developer points when making reservations. You can use them for any season during the 12 months prior to or after issuance of your annual allotment. After 12 months have passed from your anniversary date, any remaining points become saved points. Saved points are valid for use in red, white, or blue season until they expire the following year on your anniversary date. Ebay points won't count toward premiere benefits. They may not fall on the same anniversary month, and they may not be in the same trust fund for maintenance fees. The good thing is that they are free or almost free. Just watch out for the above issues. Read some old posts to get a better education on buying resale so you can bid with confidence.

Mark