Complaint Review: Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited - Boca Raton Florida

First of all, I would like to thank all the persons who were kind enough to share their misfortunes with this company in order to help and educate other potential victims. Those who were lucky enough to cancel on time (just as I was), I am happy for you. Those who were less fortunate, I am deeply sorry and thank you for not being selfish and letting the truth be heard.

I will begin by saying that I was a Police Officer for 27 years and have seen a lot of persons get arrested for crimes such as theft and robbery. Well, the way that companies such as Bluegreen do business I consider it to be "Legalized Theft". No, it is not against the law what they are doing, but nonetheless by selling under the pretenses and ommissions that they do could be deemed as theft.

My nightmare began while vacationing in Pigeon Forge, Tn. As my wife and I were leaving a Buffett Restaurant we were approached by a a lady. She engaged in a conversation with us and asked questions such as: how long were we staying and what places we had visited or wanted to visit while in the area. We mentioned that we were going to try to visit The Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg,Tn. She then offered us free tickets to the Aquarium in exchange for attending a presentation which it would last about 90 minutes and she also requested $ 20 which would be returned upon completion of the presentation. Since I have attended those kind of presentations before and have always managed to survive, I accepted.

Well, we went to this nice fancy place and and we filled in papers for registration, showed valid I.D.'s and were told to sit down and help ourselves to refreshment. Shortly after, a lady by the name of Sharon greeted us. She seemed to be a friendly gal. I asked her if this properties were "Timeshares" She said "Well, sort of". I think that the answer was not a conclusive one. At this point I should have walked away. I told Sharon that we had a friend who went thru hell because of a timeshare property. Sharon said that not all timeshares are the same. We decided to stay (big mistake) and she took us to the presentation room.

The presentation was given by a man who I.D. himself as either Bill or Steve ( I can't really remember which one of the two). The presenter was a likable person and he said that his presentation would only last 41 minutes and 37 seconds. He began by asking all of us present where we were from. The presenter talked about him being a single parent with three daughters and all the great vacations that he and his daughters have had. To make the story short, he described Bluegreen Vacations as the best thing since peanut butter and jelly.

Well, unless my watch was not running right, the presentation lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes. After the presentation was over Sharon came back and escorted us to this immense room where all the "prospected buyers" and Sales Reps. were sitting in different tables.

Sharon asked us how we liked and things of that sort. I told her that it sounded good, but I really did not think this was for us. At this time she explained to us that unfortunately she needed to complete the whole tour and then have someone sign us out so we could get our tickets.

I should have said " Forget the tickets" and walked out, but the next thing I knew was that here I was touring this wonderful looking condominium.

Once we got back inside, about 4 hours had passed. Sharon seemed to be fairly new so, she would call a person by the name of "Tim" every time that she could not answer questions. Tim seemed to be more proficient at selling than Sharon. It is amazing all the nice stories they tell you about "Bonus Nights",Cheaper Airline fares than Priceline, boat cruises, Yatch cruises in other words, they promise you the world. Anyways, I really did not wanted to jump into anything unless I was more informed and more research was done by me. I asked for a couple of days to do research and think it over. I was told that Tennessee laws do not let them do it on the grounds of "Discrimination". I was politely said "If you don't take it now, it will not be here after you leave. (How is that for pressure?)

After doing some "half a*s" thinking (and 5 1/2 hours later) I decided to sign the agreement.

After accepting, you could see how happy their faces got( I'm sure they were saying "we got another sucker"). They made the sale announcement and all the sales reps began to cheer and congratulate us.

I finally left the place, I received the promised tickets plus a check for my $ 20. I was given a bag full of documents, Vacation sites books, membership regulations etc,etc. I really did not wanted to carry that heavy bag in the plane on my way back home, but I figured I better keep it until I do whatever I'm going to do.

When I got back home I wanted to do some research about Bluegreen. I logged into "Ripoff" and I read all the horror stories posted by victims and people who almost became victims. Needless to say I sent a letter via Express Mail the next day notifying them of our cancellation.

I can't honestly say that the sales people were rude to us, of course, the reason why I never saw rudeness was because I fell into the trap. I do will say that they are deceitful and they excert pressure upon the clients.

This was basically my experience with this company.

Before concluding, I would like to send a message to the two former employees (Misty and Mike) from the Bluegreen office in Sevierville, Tn. I was reading your complaints regarding Bluegreen. I do feel very bad for both of you. However, bear in mind that the way you felt is the same way that a lot of those victimized people felt when they were sold Timeshares (maybe even by one of you). It is no secret that if you used to work for that company you should have known how they operate and what their level of ethics and compassion are. It is like the old saying " You live by the sword, You'll die by the sword"

Luis

west covina, California

U.S.A.