My Experience with Hilton Grand Vacation Resale Department

[Juxtapose]

Continuing from my thread last week I decided to make a new one chronicling my experience with HGV as I attempt to persuade them into buying back my timeshare for what they said they would buy it back for in my initial sale. We all know where this goes, but I'm curious to see how their departments, and teams handle things...

I own a 2200 point gold week studio at Elara, which I paid $14,900 for a year ago. My maintenance fees (including club dues and all that rest) are in the $875 range, and it came to my attention that I'm actually spending more in those fees than I'm getting out of my 2200 points. Not a surprise to anyone who's spent some time here on this site. Anyway, it was a surprise to me compared to what I was told I was buying. The part of the sales pitch that stood out to me most is that I directly asked "what if this isn't for me and I want to sell in a year?" and I got a bit of a round about answer saying this was an amazing property and it could only go up. So I asked again and he told me that Hilton would probably buy it back for more than what I paid, but I could at least get back what I'm paying. Right...

So in the last week I called every Hilton number I could. I spent a few hours on hold, spoke with about a half dozen people. I insisted on speaking to a supervisor but was only ever able to get one on the line (after three requests, where the customer service employee kept telling me what the supervisor was going to e-mail forward on my behalf) "no I'd like to speak with him directly, please." Finally I got Derek on the line. He informed me that resale was another department, and his team wasn't set-up to address my concerns. I asked for a direct contact to them. He said, the resale department cannot be reached by phone, only e-mail and that it takes three weeks to hear back from them. I asked if he had a supervisor he could send me to. He said he was top of the line where I was calling. I asked if Hilton Grand Vacations has an executive office that I could reach, and he informed me that there was a corporate relations office as well as an executive branch but that he's not authorized to put me in touch with them.

I explained to Derek my concerns about how Hilton Grand Vacation is conducting business, and gave a brief history of my experience. I told him, it's one thing to sell properties to people who don't do their homework, but to flat out lie about the numbers and promise you'll buy them back in order to make the sale seems unethical at a minimum and likely illegal. I told him my plans to create a website to inform the public of my experience and let him know about my history in programming and web development, and knowledge of google ranking systems. Derek seemed like a straight up guy, his voice indicated that he knows and even agreed with what I was saying, but Hilton is his employer, anyway he asked what my goal was in this. I told him that ultimately my goal is to get my $14,900 back... but that the longer and more difficult the process is to accomplish that, the more likely I am to go the vigilante justice route and spend great amounts of energy, time and money to see to it that the system is exposed through my experience. He told me he would send an urgent request to the resale department as well as corporate relations to reach out to me.

This morning I received the following e-mail:

======
Hello Mr. _______,


If you are interested in selling your timeshare interval we can list the timeshare for sale on the resale market. We work with a network of resale brokers that will advertise to find you a buyer. The suggested listing price range for your timeshare property is $3,000.00 to $4,000.00. This is only a suggestion based on current resale market analysis. You may list your property at any price you wish. The broker commission due on the sale of your Hilton interval will be 25% of the sales price or a minimum of $500. Please understand that listing your timeshare interval for sale does not relieve you of any financial responsibility for fees that may come due on your account during the selling process.


Would you like to receive a listing agreement to begin the selling process?


Best regards,

______________________________________________________

Martine Lambert

Resale Specialist
HILTON GRAND VACATIONS

T 407-613-3721 | F 407-613-3720

6355 Metrowest Boulevard, Suite 180, Orlando, FL 32835
======

So I tried calling the 407 number and it went straight to what sounded like a global mailbox for the resale department. No options, or people to talk to. Just an answering machine that says to please e-mail and that the response time is 21 days. I hit "0" and got a beep, so I left a message asking them to call me.

I then wrote the following e-mail to Martine:

Hi Martine,

Please give me a call at xxx.xxx.xxxx. I need to discuss options with you about purchasing my timeshare back at its full value. I was told during my purchase of this property that Hilton would buy it back for "at least what paid but probably more." I am confused about why a year later my timeshare is worth 20-25% what was paid for it despite the economy rising and commercial retail going up in value as well. My only conclusion is that Hilton knows that the equity paid for these properties is a sunken cost but does not disclose that information to potential buyers, and when asked directly about it, will lie and obscure the truth in order to pressure people into buying. I feel the public has a right to know this.

I will be using this email, as well as phone conversations will Hilton, in a published report. I will be submitting to news outlets and building a website (I design websites for a living) to notify others of my experience with Hilton. I want to make sure everyone knows what it is they are purchasing and also their rights to rescind soon after their purchase. I will not stop until my website is on the front page of a Google search for "Hilton Grand Vacations" (which shouldn't be difficult to accomplish). Time, energy and cost involved in this is of no concern to me, as it just seems like the right thing to do considering how convoluted this whole process is in getting a real person from Hilton to talk to me about selling my timeshare. I tried calling the phone number in your signature and it goes straight to an answering machine that says I might be reached back in 3 weeks.

Please forward this email to your manager, corporate relations and Hilton executive offices. Thank you.

Best,
signed

======

Now to think of website domains... open to suggestions. Some thoughts off the top of my head (haven't checked availability yet)
HGVWarning.com
HGVexperience.com
hgvhelp.com
justboughtahiltontimeshare.com
HGVinanutshell.com
myHGVexperience.com
myhgvownership.com
hgvvalue.com
whatismyHGVworth.com
howHGVworks.com

 

[presley]

Well, if you are posting the whole story and all the details, they won't want to give you your money back because then everyone who bought from them directly will expect the same. Only what is in the signed contract holds any water at any rate.

What is the reason for wanting to get rid of the contract? Is it because you figured out that your MFs are not worth the 2200 points? If so, you can trade in your contract for a better one at a higher buy in price, but maybe you'll be happier with the MF to annual point cost. Or, is it because you don't want a timeshare after all?

EDIT TO ADD: Just looked for your other thread and I think I have more of an idea of where you are coming from. You can trade in your current contract towards a purchase at one of the Orlando locations where the MFs are lower. They will give you 100% credit towards the new retail purchase. Yes, it will cost more money, but you'll have the one MF and you won't own at Elara where the MFs are so high.

The other options people posted in that thread are possibilities, too. Sell what you have, even if it only sells for $2K and then buy a 7,000 point annual from a resale agent for $10K or less. You have to do the math on how often you plan to use and how long you plan to own to figure out if it is worth you. You said you are analytical, so that will be easy for you. Your MFs will be around $1,000 all in for a 7,000 point week in Orlando.

 

[Sandy VDH]

If it is NOT explicitly written on the contract, then it is NOT part of the deal. It does not matter what the salesman said or promised. It needs to be written into the deal.

 

[Jason245]

It seems like a lot of wasted time and effort on your side. Treat this like 15k tuition on not doing research before your purchase and then either figure out how to get the most use out of it or dump it as a sunk cost.

Your contract with them governs all and you signed it.

To be honest, you would be lucky if you could give that unit away in bargain basement, so if the resale department can get it sold for 4k I would jump on the opportunity to only lose 12k on the unit.

Tug has been around for years trying to educate the Public. . Your money is better spent as a member or to sponsor advertising for this site..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Talent312]

You are wasting your breath trying to get HGVC make you whole... ain't gonna happen.
What you were told is "puffery" but because it's not in the contract, it don't matter.

Parol evidence (what you were told) cannot add provisions to a contract not there.
The judge will say, "Judgment for Defendant along with attorney's fees and court costs.
... Of course you might find a hungry lawyer wanting your $$, who'll say something else.

The reality is that this dog is yours and disposing of it is all on you.

.

 

[Nomad420]

I think I may have posted this before. I do feel sorry for you and the sales guys for the most part can be jerks. Although the guys I dealt with in NYC were pretty straight shooters. Look, I bought retail from Hilton Club in NYC and I am sure over paid. But my story, location, and travel patterns are probably different from yours. IF you think you are going to use it, like the location, use it for YEARS, AND enjoy it you could turn this lemon into lemon aid. Many posters on this board seem to have a long time of experience with HGVC and seem to be very able and capable to help you turn this mess around.
Good Luck

 

[Tamaradarann]

It seems like a lot of wasted time and effort on your side. Treat this like 15k tuition on not doing research before your purchase and then either figure out how to get the most use out of it or dump it as a sunk cost.

Your contract with them governs all and you signed it.

To be honest, you would be lucky if you could give that unit away in bargain basement, so if the resale department can get it sold for 4k I would jump on the opportunity to only lose 12k on the unit.

Tug has been around for years trying to educate the Public. . Your money is better spent as a member or to sponsor advertising for this site..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I agree that you should look at this as a $15K tuition on timeshare education and that you now know about TUG and buying resale. Like many people here we bought our first timeshare from the developer. We then bought 6 more timeshares resale for a total expenditure of about 80K. We use the developer purchase along with the resale purchases to give us about 120 nights of great vacations every year. In other words we have absorbed the initial developer purchase into our total portfolio of timeshares and use them all in our annual vacation plans. In closing I leave you with a positive thought. Even though you purchased a gold week, which is NOT prime season, it give you 2200 points you have enough points to give you one week in Honolulu in a Studio during prime Platinum Season. Honolulu Hotel rooms during prime time run at least $300/night. In view of that, perhaps $835 maintenance isn't so much.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Five or six years ago when we first bought into HGVC, the salesperson also mentioned that HGVC would buy the unit back. Later in the presentation when i was wavering on the purchase, i asked about the buy back program, as that seemed too good to be true. He expanded on the statement, that they will promise to the buy the unit back at full price if i buy another unit. Basically like trading in your old car when you buy a new one, but you get the original purchase price on your trade in.

I am not sure if the buy back as part of a trade-in is spelled out in the contract, but i know they will do that. Many people on TUG have traded their units back for full price, including myself. I think we got a decent deal when we traded up. But that is not always the case, and probably it's not the best route more often than it is


As for the website idea, I am not sure if that would work or not. Certainly some people have had success with similar success with companies in other industries. The "United Breaks Guitars" video on YouTube comes to mind, but with a Timeshare everything is in the contract, so its harder to re-negotiate.

 

[phil1ben]

Assuming everything the OP stated is true, I agree that unfortunately he has little recourse.

It continues to amaze me why so many people do research and due diligence after they have plunked down hard earned money. In any event, HGV stock is up about 15% since issuance little more than a week ago. The only downside in owning the stock is another recession (which is a downside to virtually all publicly traded stock) or increased regulation of the timeshare market......which does not appear on the horizon.

 

[Talent312]

Trading up with full-credit for the original price of the unit you're trading-in is a standard offer at "owner updates." The thing is, your're trading one bad-deal for an even bigger bad-deal. But if what you have is unusable, and the OP's nearly is, it may be not a totally outlandish idea.

.

 

[SmithOp]

As an example of what Talent posted: A year ago I ended up on a call with the resale dept. I wanted to trade my 2br gold plus EOY at Kingsland for a 1br platinum Premier annual. The best he could find was a 2br plus annual NYE fixed week and I had to kick in $27K. I told him I wasn't willing to pay a premium on a fixed event week, he said he could only do a deal with $25K of "new money".

I eventually found a better deal on the resale market and sold the eoy myself on eBay, total "new money" was $10K.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Remy]

There was a time a few years back when HGVC right of first refusal on a 7k 2br Las Vegas Strip was over $13,500. Now you can scrape by at $8k and there's one on eBay at $8,999. I didn't buy developer to start. Consider myself one of the lucky ones. But I've made plenty of investments that went south. Anyone buy Bank of America at $26? My response was to dollar cost average the heck out of it when it hit $7. That'd be my advice here. Buy something that works, enjoy it, and if that isn't your Elara 2200 on eBay, it should be soon.

 

[Juxtapose]

Yeah yeah, the legal stuff... I understand that. This is more a matter of principal (quite literally and figuratively hehe)... see I already assume the $14,900 is sunken, lost, gone... but that doesn't mean I can't poke and prod at Hilton to see what happens. It doesn't mean I can't go out of my way to make sure they lose ten or a hundred times that in other sales through my efforts to inform others. Money isn't the issue, and I have a lot of free time and energy to invest in things. I am looking to do my part to ensure that no one else falls into the same trap, and my communication with Hilton is a read of their processes. I'm interested in how things work... and I understand the contract is something that legally means they can ignore me for all they care. However, I'm interested in creating a scenario where they become aware (this is the hard part) that I'm going to invest a lot of time and more of my own money in order to sink as much of their ability to keep doing this as possible. I'm not after a net gain, but rather good karma. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure my ire for their processes will fade with time, but right now I'm happy to investigate this further and begin making an impact on their processes... even if it's just a drop in the bucket I have a goal in mind.

 

[Jason245]

Yeah yeah, the legal stuff... I understand that. This is more a matter of principal (quite literally and figuratively hehe)... see I already assume the $14,900 is sunken, lost, gone... but that doesn't mean I can't poke and prod at Hilton to see what happens. It doesn't mean I can't go out of my way to make sure they lose ten or a hundred times that in other sales through my efforts to inform others. Money isn't the issue, and I have a lot of free time and energy to invest in things. I am looking to do my part to ensure that no one else falls into the same trap, and my communication with Hilton is a read of their processes. I'm interested in how things work... and I understand the contract is something that legally means they can ignore me for all they care. However, I'm interested in creating a scenario where they become aware (this is the hard part) that I'm going to invest a lot of time and more of my own money in order to sink as much of their ability to keep doing this as possible. I'm not after a net gain, but rather good karma. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure my ire for their processes will fade with time, but right now I'm happy to investigate this further and begin making an impact on their processes... even if it's just a drop in the bucket I have a goal in mind.

Then pay for advertising for tug outside all of their resorts with sales offices. .

Pay to put tug ahead of them on Google searches of their name. Buy domain names and have them redirect people to tug.

This group and the main website has been instrumental in saving at least 560 people over 8 million dollars.

Assuming brian is game, I can not imagine him being against you engaging in advertising on behalf of tug on your dime.

Obviously I would check with him first. . But paying for a few billboards in Orlando is sure to cause pain to at least a few sales departments. .



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Tamaradarann]

Yeah yeah, the legal stuff... I understand that. This is more a matter of principal (quite literally and figuratively hehe)... see I already assume the $14,900 is sunken, lost, gone... but that doesn't mean I can't poke and prod at Hilton to see what happens. It doesn't mean I can't go out of my way to make sure they lose ten or a hundred times that in other sales through my efforts to inform others. Money isn't the issue, and I have a lot of free time and energy to invest in things. I am looking to do my part to ensure that no one else falls into the same trap, and my communication with Hilton is a read of their processes. I'm interested in how things work... and I understand the contract is something that legally means they can ignore me for all they care. However, I'm interested in creating a scenario where they become aware (this is the hard part) that I'm going to invest a lot of time and more of my own money in order to sink as much of their ability to keep doing this as possible. I'm not after a net gain, but rather good karma. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure my ire for their processes will fade with time, but right now I'm happy to investigate this further and begin making an impact on their processes... even if it's just a drop in the bucket I have a goal in mind.

I understand your frustration with buying something that you could have purchased for 1/4 of the cost. However, you must have purchased the timeshare with some nice vacations in mind. Since it was the Elara in Las Vegas perhaps the vacationing was in Las Vegas. Why did you buy this timeshare? Did HGVC sell you something that you can't do? I previously mentioned one of the nice flexibilities of the HGVC system was to go to Hawaii even though you didn't buy there. Another flexibility is you can save points and go for 2 weeks every other year. You also have the flexibility to go for two short vacations every year.

Why do you want to spend your time and energy on something that will not benefit you. TUG members constantly are educating people of the benefits of buying resale rather than from the developer. Join us in that effort. But ultimately enjoy what you bought for the reason you bought it or learn the system and find something even better than what you bought.

 

[Tamaradarann]

I understand your frustration with buying something that you could have purchased for 1/4 of the cost. However, you must have purchased the timeshare with some nice vacations in mind. Since it was the Elara in Las Vegas perhaps the vacationing was in Las Vegas. Why did you buy this timeshare? Did HGVC sell you something that you can't do? I previously mentioned one of the nice flexibilities of the HGVC system was to go to Hawaii even though you didn't buy there. Another flexibility is you can save points and go for 2 weeks every other year. You also have the flexibility to go for two short vacations every year.

Why do you want to spend your time and energy on something that will not benefit you. TUG members constantly are educating people of the benefits of buying resale rather than from the developer. Join us in that effort. But ultimately enjoy what you bought for the reason you bought it or learn the system and find something even better than what you bought.

Did HGVC sell you something that you can't do? Before you answer that they sold you on the statement that Hilton would probably buy it back for more than you paid for it. That was not in writing and was NOT a guarantee. When buying real estate or stock in companies the value is based on the market and the market for a 2200 point is about $3000.

 

[Ty1on]

Then pay for advertising for tug outside all of their resorts with sales offices. .

Pay to put tug ahead of them on Google searches of their name. Buy domain names and have them redirect people to tug.

This group and the main website has been instrumental in saving at least 560 people over 8 million dollars.

Assuming brian is game, I can not imagine him being against you engaging in advertising on behalf of tug on your dime.

Obviously I would check with him first. . But paying for a few billboards in Orlando is sure to cause pain to at least a few sales departments. .



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

TUG ads outside the resorts and sales offices is a great idea. As far as moving TUG up in SEO, however, the bare truth is that the industry depends on pulling clients in cold off the street (or out of the lobby as traditional renters) because they haven't foreseen going to a timeshare presentation and therefore have not endeavored to learn about it.

Billboards outside the resorts that say something like "JUST BOUGHT A TIMESHARE? YOU HAVE X DAYS TO CANCEL. www.tugbbs.com for the truth, no fees or charges. Hell I'll support a couple billboards after I win the lottery.

 

[rahulgopi]

What will happen to the resale market and timeshare industry if nobody buys developer / retail ?. Most of them will probably close and rest will be forced to sell the product at somewhere close to market value where buying timeshare makes economic sense. Fire most of the sales and marketing staff, reduce marketing cost and sell a quality product at a price point that makes sense. IF HGVC sells a 2Br Premium KL unit for around $25K, I would consider buying retail. HGVC sells it for around $60 /70K retail.

 

[Ty1on]

What will happen to the resale market and timeshare industry if nobody buys developer / retail ?. Most of them will probably close and rest will be forced to sell the product at somewhere close to market value where buying timeshare makes economic sense. Fire most of the sales and marketing staff, reduce marketing cost and sell a quality product at a price point that makes sense. IF HGVC sells a 2Br Premium KL unit for around $25K, I would consider buying retail. HGVC sells it for around $60 /70K retail.

The dilemma would remain that the general public doesn't understand timeshare, and wouldn't unilaterally seek out such a purchase. Today, like 40 years ago, timeshare is sold, not bought.

 

[sjuhawk_jd]

Yeah yeah, the legal stuff... I understand that. This is more a matter of principal (quite literally and figuratively hehe)... see I already assume the $14,900 is sunken, lost, gone... but that doesn't mean I can't poke and prod at Hilton to see what happens. It doesn't mean I can't go out of my way to make sure they lose ten or a hundred times that in other sales through my efforts to inform others. Money isn't the issue, and I have a lot of free time and energy to invest in things. I am looking to do my part to ensure that no one else falls into the same trap, and my communication with Hilton is a read of their processes. I'm interested in how things work... and I understand the contract is something that legally means they can ignore me for all they care. However, I'm interested in creating a scenario where they become aware (this is the hard part) that I'm going to invest a lot of time and more of my own money in order to sink as much of their ability to keep doing this as possible. I'm not after a net gain, but rather good karma. Just seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure my ire for their processes will fade with time, but right now I'm happy to investigate this further and begin making an impact on their processes... even if it's just a drop in the bucket I have a goal in mind.

I applaud your efforts and my guess is, you will get some desirable result in taking some sales away from hilton. To me, time is not "free", time is money. If you are as good on "internet technologies" as you say you are, than your time is worth lot of money. So, you are investing lot of "money" to inform others and highlight the problems in this industry. Bravo

I would personally invest that time in playing my favorite sport, going to Gym, watching TV etc. But that is me.

 

[EnjoyingHGV]

Agree.. TUG has educated me quote a bit after buying my Kingsland 2BR EOY (8400 pts) for ~23.5K... Did I learn a lot, yes! Will I buy resale next time -- definitely
I do agree their sales practices are misleading.. I don't think you are actually saving money, but instead, pre-paying for vacations until you eventually do break even.

See, the problem with me is that I have taken three trips to Kingsland (one as a VIP program, and two as a member). I go in May (by own choice--which is off season for Hawaii). I could book KL on hilton.com for for ~2.1K for a week. Well if I am paying almost 1500 in MF/membership etc, plus the interest on the initial HGVC loan, the break even point is way way down the road. Now when I used some points to stay in Las Vegas at Elara where the nighly rate for the 2BR suite was threw the roof, yes, I definitely saved some $$.

It is on you to get the "value" out of the purchase... after much research I know the value is there...

I've paid about 5K off of my loan so far, and plan on making extra payments as their APR blows. In all honesty, these timeshares are only worth it if you have the cash to buy (I told Hilton this at my last owners update...the sales rep couldnt find a good comment to fire back with, other than "ive done my homework"...ha)

 

[Queen Dee 0001]

Continuing from my thread last week I decided to make a new one chronicling my experience with HGV as I attempt to persuade them into buying back my timeshare for what they said they would buy it back for in my initial sale. We all know where this goes, but I'm curious to see how their departments, and teams handle things...

I own a 2200 point gold week studio at Elara, which I paid $14,900 for a year ago. My maintenance fees (including club dues and all that rest) are in the $875 range, and it came to my attention that I'm actually spending more in those fees than I'm getting out of my 2200 points. Not a surprise to anyone who's spent some time here on this site. Anyway, it was a surprise to me compared to what I was told I was buying. The part of the sales pitch that stood out to me most is that I directly asked "what if this isn't for me and I want to sell in a year?" and I got a bit of a round about answer saying this was an amazing property and it could only go up. So I asked again and he told me that Hilton would probably buy it back for more than what I paid, but I could at least get back what I'm paying. Right...

So in the last week I called every Hilton number I could. I spent a few hours on hold, spoke with about a half dozen people. I insisted on speaking to a supervisor but was only ever able to get one on the line (after three requests, where the customer service employee kept telling me what the supervisor was going to e-mail forward on my behalf) "no I'd like to speak with him directly, please." Finally I got Derek on the line. He informed me that resale was another department, and his team wasn't set-up to address my concerns. I asked for a direct contact to them. He said, the resale department cannot be reached by phone, only e-mail and that it takes three weeks to hear back from them. I asked if he had a supervisor he could send me to. He said he was top of the line where I was calling. I asked if Hilton Grand Vacations has an executive office that I could reach, and he informed me that there was a corporate relations office as well as an executive branch but that he's not authorized to put me in touch with them.

I explained to Derek my concerns about how Hilton Grand Vacation is conducting business, and gave a brief history of my experience. I told him, it's one thing to sell properties to people who don't do their homework, but to flat out lie about the numbers and promise you'll buy them back in order to make the sale seems unethical at a minimum and likely illegal. I told him my plans to create a website to inform the public of my experience and let him know about my history in programming and web development, and knowledge of google ranking systems. Derek seemed like a straight up guy, his voice indicated that he knows and even agreed with what I was saying, but Hilton is his employer, anyway he asked what my goal was in this. I told him that ultimately my goal is to get my $14,900 back... but that the longer and more difficult the process is to accomplish that, the more likely I am to go the vigilante justice route and spend great amounts of energy, time and money to see to it that the system is exposed through my experience. He told me he would send an urgent request to the resale department as well as corporate relations to reach out to me.

This morning I received the following e-mail:

======
Hello Mr. _______,


If you are interested in selling your timeshare interval we can list the timeshare for sale on the resale market. We work with a network of resale brokers that will advertise to find you a buyer. The suggested listing price range for your timeshare property is $3,000.00 to $4,000.00. This is only a suggestion based on current resale market analysis. You may list your property at any price you wish. The broker commission due on the sale of your Hilton interval will be 25% of the sales price or a minimum of $500. Please understand that listing your timeshare interval for sale does not relieve you of any financial responsibility for fees that may come due on your account during the selling process.


Would you like to receive a listing agreement to begin the selling process?


Best regards,

______________________________________________________

Martine Lambert

Resale Specialist
HILTON GRAND VACATIONS

T 407-613-3721 | F 407-613-3720

6355 Metrowest Boulevard, Suite 180, Orlando, FL 32835
======

So I tried calling the 407 number and it went straight to what sounded like a global mailbox for the resale department. No options, or people to talk to. Just an answering machine that says to please e-mail and that the response time is 21 days. I hit "0" and got a beep, so I left a message asking them to call me.

I then wrote the following e-mail to Martine:

Hi Martine,

Please give me a call at xxx.xxx.xxxx. I need to discuss options with you about purchasing my timeshare back at its full value. I was told during my purchase of this property that Hilton would buy it back for "at least what paid but probably more." I am confused about why a year later my timeshare is worth 20-25% what was paid for it despite the economy rising and commercial retail going up in value as well. My only conclusion is that Hilton knows that the equity paid for these properties is a sunken cost but does not disclose that information to potential buyers, and when asked directly about it, will lie and obscure the truth in order to pressure people into buying. I feel the public has a right to know this.

I will be using this email, as well as phone conversations will Hilton, in a published report. I will be submitting to news outlets and building a website (I design websites for a living) to notify others of my experience with Hilton. I want to make sure everyone knows what it is they are purchasing and also their rights to rescind soon after their purchase. I will not stop until my website is on the front page of a Google search for "Hilton Grand Vacations" (which shouldn't be difficult to accomplish). Time, energy and cost involved in this is of no concern to me, as it just seems like the right thing to do considering how convoluted this whole process is in getting a real person from Hilton to talk to me about selling my timeshare. I tried calling the phone number in your signature and it goes straight to an answering machine that says I might be reached back in 3 weeks.

Please forward this email to your manager, corporate relations and Hilton executive offices. Thank you.

Best,
signed

======

Now to think of website domains... open to suggestions. Some thoughts off the top of my head (haven't checked availability yet)
HGVWarning.com
HGVexperience.com
hgvhelp.com
justboughtahiltontimeshare.com
HGVinanutshell.com
myHGVexperience.com
myhgvownership.com
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I am in the same boat, and reading all the "you should have"'s from others does nothing to remedy the situation. Yes, I should have done more homework, but obviously not the right ones at the right time. Am trying to make lemonade out of this, and HGV sales persons continuing their calls to give me "free" stuff only adds fuel to my fire. I am sick of the whole thing. We don't vacation like we used to, and just spending annual fees for nothing.

 

[phil1ben]

Assuming everything the OP stated is true, I agree that unfortunately he has little recourse.

It continues to amaze me why so many people do research and due diligence after they have plunked down hard earned money. In any event, HGV stock is up about 15% since issuance little more than a week ago. The only downside in owning the stock is another recession (which is a downside to virtually all publicly traded stock) or increased regulation of the timeshare market......which does not appear on the horizon.

I posted this 1 year ago. The stock is now up 50%.

Nevertheless, I am as anti-regulation as one can be. However, after watching this scenario play out so many times since I have engaged in the resale market in 2011, I think that some regulation is needed. Fortunately I did my research before buying and enjoy my resale purchase. It appears to me that given the deceit that is rampant in this market it would not be hard to require that a video be made of each sales discussion from introduction to conclusion and then require that video be kept by an issuer for 3 years for all closed sales. Under penalty of voiding the sale, I would also require that no discussion concerning the sale occur outside of the video room. I realize how drastic a step this is, but given the lack of knowledge and experience of most first time time-share buyers I have come to the conclusion that this is necessary. Requiring all representations be in writing does not work because people do not read what is put in front of them.

 

[bogey21]

My how times have changed in the TS Industry. About 25 years ago I bought a Sabal Palms Week from Marriott pre-construction. The Salesman told me that Marriott would mantain the value of my Week and if I wanted to sell, would sell it for me at somewhere around what I paid for it. So a couple of years later I took them up on it. They put me in their queue to sell. Long story in short form is that it took 3 years but even with their 20% (now they get 40%) commission I came out about whole. While I was waiting to reach the top of the list to sell they rented my Week for me each year netting me a little more than my MFs. Now look at the industry today. The bean counters at Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham, etc. have prevailed at the expense of their customers.

George

 

[CalGalTraveler]

+1 I like the idea of videotaping but it won't happen without regulation.

IMHO...I am surprised HGVC doesn't have a coordinated program for renting out owner units and reselling on Hilton.com or other sites. Although owners will earn less than they would themselves on Redweek or Tug they would be getting an EASY rental program for coverage of maintenance fees (+ profit or near coverage depending on the unit) for years owners cannot travel. HGVC could earn incremental income of a percentage of the rental fee. This is what some condo fractionals do for their owners.

This would increase property values because owners would be less likely to sell if they had an easy way to cover the costs and knew they could sell when needed (via reduced resale supply). It would also boost the value proposition of buying developer since owners would not be taking a bath on reselling. HGVC HOAs would have fewer delinquencies and dissatisfied customers which would increase efforts toward more positive customer experiences.

Hyatt Kaanapali has some type of program that they discussed with us in a presentation but I don't know details. I also see that Wyndham/Worldmark have a few sites for renting out timeshares, however I do not know if this is excess inventory they own or whether this is a bonafide program to help owners rent their units/points.