Past & Recent BG Experiences

[SEI BG Member Find all posts View Profile Close SEI BG]

My husband and I bought our first 8,000 point BG package four years ago at Falls Village in Branson. With those points, saved or current, we have traveled to FV repeatedly, Christmas Mountain Village in Wisconsin, Mountain Laurel in Pigeon Forge (may have the name wrong) and Resort 66 in Florida. We're satisfied with BG as a condo rental program and feel it's worked well for us since we're able to stay in better accommodations than we would otherwise. We've also done a couple RCI exchanges that our son has used in trips to Phoenix. A year ago we bought a resale of 8,000 EOY points from EBAY and this summer we purchased a second EOY 8,000 point one on EBAY. The first one went through rather quickly with little or no concern. This second one is taking way too long, but the gal I talk with seems to be on top of things and simply says BG is the reason for the delay. I actually suspect that BG did drag this out so some of the points that were still in the account were lost, though that's purely speculation on my part. At this point I'm willing to wait a little since the purchase price was so much less than I'd buy from BG. Anyway, we just returned from another week at FV and while there went for an owner update thinking we'd learn about new resort plans and get to ask about the recent rumors of the hostile takeover. Unfortunately that didn't happen. The sales rep we talked to was less an effective, but he noticed that we had two packages, with different anniversary dates in addition to one being a yearly and the other an EOY. He brought one of the big guns over then and they gave us this song and dance about how a situation like that was so hard to manage so we needed to have everything in one package, but in order for them to bring it all under one umbrella, so to speak, we would have to purchase 4,000 addiitonal points for "today's great price of $1.50" (give or take). The big gun tried to say that EOY packages weren't designed to continue forever, but rather to get someone into the group without requiring a huge investment. He also said since we could only use 4,000 per year of the package it wasn't really that valuable. We know for a fact that's not true with the first resale we bought because 8,000 points were deposited in our account on October 1st. We told them we absolutely weren't purchasing any additional points and the big gun tried to make us feel bad by saying he'd started some paperwork with corporate thinking we wanted to do that and now he couldn't stop it. Needless to say what could have been a positive experience turned out to be an exhausting one for us. We never even mentioned the recent purchase we'd made but hadn't closed on for fear that would cause even more problems. We do not believe a great deal of what we were told that day, and it's unfortunate, because as I said earlier we are satisfied with BG as it stands now. My purpose in posting is partially to vent and also to see if anyone has any advice for us on our pending resale or this owner update experience/information. I'm thrilled I found this web site. It was mentioned to me by the gal at the company that's handling our resale.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

You will be okay

Thanks for posting your experiences with Bluegreen. I agree that Bluegreen is a fantastic points system. It appears that you had an aggressive sales team meet you at your owner update. The first thing you need to do is relax and forget about what they told you. Come here for the reality of what happens in the Club. You will get better information.

First things first. There was a hostile takeover looming over the summer from the head of Westgate Resorts. Fortunately, the management team of Bluegreen took swift action, swallowed a poison pill and won the law suit upholding it. Therefore, David Siegel agreed to divest his shares over a 2 year period. So, Bluegreen will continue under the rather benign policies of the current Bluegreen Management Team.

Second, your resale purchase will be fine. If there was a delay in closing, that's because Resort Title had a change in personnel over the summer at the same time that closing volume was at its yearly peak. As a result, resale closings have taken about 50% longer than normal. There is NOT a conspiracy going on by Bluegreen to stiffle the resale market. Au contraire, Bluegreen actively ensures that the resale market can clear. There is a very active resale market for Bluegreen points and for the most part, they transfer about the same as any other resort group.

Third, there are some truths and myths about the differences between resale and developer bought inventory. It is TRUE that Bluegreen's policy is that VIP benefits and bonus time do NOT transfer upon a resale purchase that isn't bought from Bluegreen or a Bluegreen authorized reseller. However, Bluegreen has NOT enforced this policy. Therefore, everyone who has purchased resale packages from any source have been granted VIP benefits.

In addition, preferred member benefits such as Silver and Gold preferred ALSO have been transferring on resale purchases. The only thing that doesn't transfer is Traveller's Plus. Not many people use it anyway, so that isn't much of a loss.

That said, since it IS a policy that these benefits do not transfer upon resale, the sales team actively promotes it in owner updates. And, it is possible that they can take away those benefits sometime in the future.

Lastly, what the sales team offered you in known as an Owner Upgrade. An upgrade is converting all of your current deeds into "new program" points which often times reduces your maintenance fees significantly. And, it includes giving all of your points a common anniversary date. There is a far easier way to do this than purchasing 3000 or 4000 points directly from Bluegreen. If you are interested in that option, send me a PM and I'll help you out.

So, you will be fine with your resale purchase. If you have any additional questions, post them here.

[VVTrader Member Find all posts View Profile Close VVTrader]

3rd complaint

I lodged a complaint about Bluegreen on this forum recently. I know another member did as well. Yours would be the third in recent memory.

I hope these are just three isolated incidents because many of the previous posts about Bluegreen are very positive.

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

I don't have advice but

haven't we all had a few instances with Bluegreen that were less than the best? SEI, the worst owner update we ever sat thru was at Falls Village. The sales rep was rude and we still until this day laugh about some of the things she said to us. But, the good part is........we got out of there in a hurry with great tickets to see Yakov Smirnoff!

We recently did an update at Mountain Run at Boyne, and it was a good update with a great rep who realized at the very beginning that we weren't going to make any additional purchase. From the questions I asked at the start, he was aware that I keep up to date thru timeshareforums and the yahoo Bluegreen group.

I will definitely go thru Boca if we choose to do anything else.

[SEI BG Member Find all posts View Profile Close SEI BG]

Thanks to all the responders. To Boca Bum - when our final resale is completed, we'll be contacting you about how to get all three of our anniversary dates the same. That would be much easier to keep track of. We figure it will be easier to do this all at once rather than once now and again later when we've completed the final purchase, which is at Big Cedar. We jumped at the chance to purchase there because we'd been told it was difficult if not impossible to get in there without owning there. We also prefer keeping all our deeds in Branson since it's our pick of BG drive destinations.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Thanks to all the responders. To Boca Bum - when our final resale is completed, we'll be contacting you about how to get all three of our anniversary dates the same. That would be much easier to keep track of. We figure it will be easier to do this all at once rather than once now and again later when we've completed the final purchase, which is at Big Cedar. We jumped at the chance to purchase there because we'd been told it was difficult if not impossible to get in there without owning there. We also prefer keeping all our deeds in Branson since it's our pick of BG drive destinations.

Sure, let me know and I'll help you out whenever you want.

Just to clarify something, it is NOT true that it is difficult to get into Big Cedar if you don't own there. In fact, what is true is that the ONLY benefit you get from buying at a specific resort is that you get priority access to your specific deeded week and unit number from 12-11 months in advance of check in. For instance, if you own week 5, unit 2354 at Big Cedar, you get preferential access to that week 5 and only for that unit. If you wanted a summer week or a different type of unit, then you have to wait until the 11 month mark and everyone has equal access at that time on a first come, first served basis.

It is more important to get to Silver or Gold preferred than owning at a specific resort.

There are only a few resorts where priority week matters. Shorecrest I and Pono Kai are two of them. That's because those weeks started as fixed / flex /floating weeks and owners there converted those weeks to Bluegreen points knowing that they get priority access to their week and they exercise that right.

Otherwise, almost nobody knows they have priority access to their deeded week and unit number. Bluegreen sales do NOT let everyone know because then they can deed you at The Fountains when your presentation is at Falls Village. They can offer you inventory from any location. If everyone knew of this benefit of priority week, then everyone would seek to get a prime week deeded like week 27 in a 2 bedroom cabin at Big Cedar.

[SEI BG Member Find all posts View Profile Close SEI BG]

Again, thanks for more clarification. I think I sort of thought the deeded week you purchased gave you some sort of benefit over others, but I've never tried to exercise it. Probably couldn't even tell you what weeks we have on our deeds. Does that mean we have preference to that unit on that week as far in advance as we want?

[Robo Member Find all posts View Profile Close Robo]

Points Expiring

If you are worried about the points on the account expiring, ask if the current owners will make a reservation for you with them. We did that and it worked out very well, but I suppose it depends on the seller.

[Tom52 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom52]

"He brought one of the big guns over.... "

I think of the BG closer not as a big gun....more as an arrogant gas passer.

I am really amazed that people have bad experiences at an owner's update as it is usually much more low key than the full court press on the unsuspecting fresh meat that walks through the door.

I don't know squat compared to some of the BG experts that hang out here, but I can usually dazzle the sales team including the "big gun..gas passer" with knowledge of how the system works. I can debunk the high praises of RCI, and dropping a few names like TUG, yahoo Groups Bluegreen, and TS4MS makes them a little cautious knowing their name and tactics might be dragged through cyber space if you walk out the door as an unhappy camper.

If they call it an owner's upate and you want updated about the goings on at Bluegreen, go prepared with a list of questions. If they want to change it to a sales presentation, redirect them right back to your agenda. Owner's updates are actually a lot of fun when you know the truth of the system. Once they know you know they will become very docile, answer your questions, and then hurry you out the door with your gifts in hand.

Someone ought to write a book, How to Survive A timeshare Presentation 101

Tom

[SEI BG Member Find all posts View Profile Close SEI BG]

I agree with all you say Tom. We haven't been to that many owner updates so I guess we weren't prepared for the strong arm tactics. Before the whole thing was over so many topics had been opened for discussion, with little definitive information coming from out, that both my husband and I were exhausted. I'll be prepared next time. Again, I say thank you to all who have replied to my inquiry, especially Boca Bum, who has been more than gracious in offering help. For now, I guess we'll just sit back and let our current resale process come to an end before we make any other decisions.

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

Tom, you are so right about the "name" dropping! At our last update I told the rep we were going to Hawaii. When he asked if we had done an exchange thru RCI, I told him no, that I had done it thru HTSE. He was...."oh, so you know how the system works"!! We were talking about rentals and I asked if he did rentals...and he said he did....so I was like well, do you list thru Redweek or tug or who....again, he couldn't get to the sales pitch for educating me!!!!

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

Does that mean we have preference to that unit on that week as far in advance as we want?

NO, there is a limited window in which you are guaranteed your week, and that's 11 - 12 mos in advance. Once that window passes, so does your guarantee.