In 2007 summer, we stayed in a hotel next to Blue green’s facility in Myrtle Beach, SC – to be exact the
A guy on the road approached us and offered us a $100.00 coupon for attending a presentation only for 60-90 minutes.
What followed?
A length sales pitch by a guy (whose name and contact information we still have but left the company since then) who provided a lot of empty promises and us deciding to get to the end of it by signing a contract (See the lies at the bottom.).
What then followed later?
The sales person called to check on us (I guess he waited until the prescribed cancellation date expired) which by the ways was not communicated to us).
We do not remember getting the deed and any other details on the contract we signed.
Finally, we decided to stop payment through ACH (automated debit).
Now they are threatening us in many ways including almost daily phone calls and a certified mail via USPS notifying us we can no longer use their property.
Up to now, we have paid about $ 6000.00 in interest only (about 15% APR) and about 3-4k on club dues and maintenance fees, and a down payment of $4, 500.00
Questions:
1. What are our options?
2. What else can blue green do other than hurting our credit history/reputation?
3. Can they not be sued for false advertising?
4. If we find a lawyer who is willing to take this case, can the sales person be called to witness under oath?
5. At least there is one class action law suit that is filed against Blue green in Pennsylvania. Does anyone know
6. Can we claim back our money that they took as maintenance fees and club dues? How about the so-called monthly mortgage payment (about 13 – 15k so far)?
7. Can the contract we signed by legal without having any witness, attorney similar to a closing on a home?
Any information/suggestion is welcome:
LIES BY THE SALES PERSON
8. The sales person lied to us in many aspects just to mention some of them:
a. We can sell it for you and you will get
b. No disclosure on costs other than the mortgage – the maintenance fees and club due were not discussed initially (but see next two as to how he played the materiality of the fees down).
c. Sales person “I do own a timeshare myself and I even make money out of it (by reserving during peak hours) and selling it online). This covers my annual fees”
d. You can easily cover membership fees by recommending friends/family members to attend vs ‘How would one be able to send family member to be slaughtered, and they may not be silly as well. In addition, financial obligation should not depend on ability to send people to attend ‘presentation’
e. You can easily reserve vacation time - no issues Vs very hard to reserve for one’s own use. They have color coded seasons with a lot of restrictions.
f. If you cannot use your points this year, you can use them in the following years vs points expiring
g. About High APR - you can refinance it through your local bank vs timeshare is not even considered a property/asset (the sales person lied to us knowingly given that he is also a licensed Realtor).
h. What Blue green sales is not a timeshare vs what else is it then?
i. If you have any questions and or want to sell it back, just call me on my cell phone vs when we called him he said ‘ I do no longer fork for them, please contact customer service
j. No disclosure on how monthly payment on the mortgage is applied vs looks like from our experience that almost all of it goes to interest and the principal doesn’t go down that much
k. "You can sale it If you do not like it and make profits out of it since it appreciates vs no value at all at the secondary market for timeshares (try to sell it and you will know what I’m saying here).
l. You can rent it and recover your monthly fees and make extra money out if it vs. it’s hard to reserve for one’s own use personal use (they have color coded seasons which covers the entire summer and good seasons for vacations where you can’t use your saved points from prior year and cannot get a free space (By the way, the company allegedly sales rents the rooms to the general public while they appear unavailable for online/phone booking at:
m. No mention of a very restrictive business rule/policy restricting customers in 2 ways regarding points
i. No use of points from prior year during points from prior years expiring right the following year
ii. One cannot use saved points during a good part of the year.
What we did not find out regarding they cannot lie to customers nor can they misrepresent their products.
1. Based on the Code of Conduct of the Company about Fair Dealings - Each director, officer and employee of the Company will at all times deal fairly with the Company’s customers, suppliers, competitors and employees. No employee, officer or director should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any other unfair dealing practices.
2. Another individual on ripoff.com posted a detailed article on what code of conduct of the resorts association Bluegreen violated.
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Final Note: BELOW ARE IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION AND BBB REPORT
If you want to send a personal email of complaint to the CEO – here is his email:
Mr. John M. Maloney, Jr. President and Chief Executive Officer of Bluegreen
[email protected]
***Email addresses of the company = First Name '.' Last Name@@bluegreencorp.com
Note: Middle Names (MI) are ignored (e.g. James Brown Smith = James.Smith@@bluegreencorp.com).
Collections Supervisor:
[email protected]
Pinnacle Agent (Pinnacle is Bluegreen subdivision/affiliate which promises to sell your timeshare just to let you keep paying your 'loan' and Fees (this adds an insult to the injury).
Name: Sam-anta (First Name)
1800-485-5632 (ext. 3)
FAx: 239.939.5418
[email protected]
Get A BBB report on the company and addional email addresses at:
http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/business-reviews/time-shares/bluegreen-corporation-in-boca-raton-fl-8195
If any quesitons or suggestions, please contact me.
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