giowop
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2019
- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 164
- Points
- 154
- Location
- Glen Carbon, IL
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC on the Boulevard
Or also known as, "Surprisingly Not Awful."
SHORT STORY: Wife and I had a sort-of presentation today, got $100 in Visa prepaid cards, was offered a buyback of our two resale deeds (declined) and were done in just over an hour!
LONG STORY: I was called before our arrival at Kings' Land last week by HGV to do a "Club Ownership Presentation." Incentives offered to attend were ONE of the following: $100 Visa Debit Card; 40k Hilton Honors points; or $250 applied to maintenance fees (we chose this).
Fast forward to our appointment today - wife and I met with Bryan Goldsmith and about 4 minutes into the schpiel, I ask to confirm about the incentive we were offered. He is puzzled and says there aren't incentives available because we are on a VIP (Vacation Introductory Program). We inform him we are NOT on a VIP trip, and that I had accepted this meeting under the premise of the $250 MF Incentive. He steps out apologetically to see his manager. To be honest, at this point I'm expecting the worst and am seeking all the possible exit routes like Jason Bourne.
Manager returns and apologizes, saying the marketing department messed up, resale owners aren't eligible for MF credit, but surprisingly offers the $100 Visa card to make up for our wasted time (which at this point was all of 20 minutes). We accept, manager leaves, and Bryan stays to talk a bit. He casually (giggle) mentions that we would be eligible for a "one-time only offer" (again, giggle) to buy back our resale deeds. I'm of course willing to listen because why not. Here were the specifics:
+ We currently own two 3400 Gold deeds at Boulevard; one is Annual, the other is EOY Even. MF's are $647 or about $0.19/point.
+ HGVC buys back both deeds and credit us for what the original owners of the deeds paid, a combined $28,890
+ We buy a 7000 pt platinum 2-bedroom with MF's of $1352 or $0.193/pt (similar ratio to what we have)
+ Final price after discounts would be $11,090 plus around $1200 closing fees. 5000 bonus points offered as well.
We of course declined. But the offer was certainly less OUTRAGEOUS than I have come to expect! Here are my thoughts/observations to which I welcome any reactions:
* Bryan was considerate and not pushy. The sales manager was apologetic, which we also did not expect. Perhaps that was all part of the "Goodwill Games" to get us to play ball. Joke's on them if that was the case!
* We did ask if the $11,090 had wiggle room and he said no.
* I asked Bryan about Maui status (no new info other than hopefully Q1 of 2022) and future expansion at Kings' Land - he was super vague but kept trumpeting the Diamond acquisition.
* While I was surprised that they offered to buy back our resales, I later realized it was a smart play on their part. They get a mildly inflated payment from me on this sale, only to have the other deeds available to GROSSLY inflate for the next victim/customer.
* Had the annual points been higher or the MF's lower, we might have been more tempted. But I'm sure the buy-in cost would have jumped quickly had that been the case.
* It was tempting for us to dump the 2 smaller deeds and get one big one with more points. Eventually we will. I know these 3400-pt things will be worth nothing when we try to ditch them. But we paid a TOTAL of $260 for both with free closing costs and free 2020 points for each of them. We've already gotten more than our use out of them.
Side note: in the pool later, I talked to a family that was on their first Kings' Land visit. Mom was having a really tough time enjoying the trip because she got snookered by the Bonus points, etc. They paid $20,000 for their 3400-pt annual deed. She found out about resale market after it was too late. So, I am prompted again to say THANK YOU TO TUG AND ITS MEMBERS for helping me save tens of thousands of dollars and hours of agony over a bad decision!
SHORT STORY: Wife and I had a sort-of presentation today, got $100 in Visa prepaid cards, was offered a buyback of our two resale deeds (declined) and were done in just over an hour!
LONG STORY: I was called before our arrival at Kings' Land last week by HGV to do a "Club Ownership Presentation." Incentives offered to attend were ONE of the following: $100 Visa Debit Card; 40k Hilton Honors points; or $250 applied to maintenance fees (we chose this).
Fast forward to our appointment today - wife and I met with Bryan Goldsmith and about 4 minutes into the schpiel, I ask to confirm about the incentive we were offered. He is puzzled and says there aren't incentives available because we are on a VIP (Vacation Introductory Program). We inform him we are NOT on a VIP trip, and that I had accepted this meeting under the premise of the $250 MF Incentive. He steps out apologetically to see his manager. To be honest, at this point I'm expecting the worst and am seeking all the possible exit routes like Jason Bourne.
Manager returns and apologizes, saying the marketing department messed up, resale owners aren't eligible for MF credit, but surprisingly offers the $100 Visa card to make up for our wasted time (which at this point was all of 20 minutes). We accept, manager leaves, and Bryan stays to talk a bit. He casually (giggle) mentions that we would be eligible for a "one-time only offer" (again, giggle) to buy back our resale deeds. I'm of course willing to listen because why not. Here were the specifics:
+ We currently own two 3400 Gold deeds at Boulevard; one is Annual, the other is EOY Even. MF's are $647 or about $0.19/point.
+ HGVC buys back both deeds and credit us for what the original owners of the deeds paid, a combined $28,890
+ We buy a 7000 pt platinum 2-bedroom with MF's of $1352 or $0.193/pt (similar ratio to what we have)
+ Final price after discounts would be $11,090 plus around $1200 closing fees. 5000 bonus points offered as well.
We of course declined. But the offer was certainly less OUTRAGEOUS than I have come to expect! Here are my thoughts/observations to which I welcome any reactions:
* Bryan was considerate and not pushy. The sales manager was apologetic, which we also did not expect. Perhaps that was all part of the "Goodwill Games" to get us to play ball. Joke's on them if that was the case!
* We did ask if the $11,090 had wiggle room and he said no.
* I asked Bryan about Maui status (no new info other than hopefully Q1 of 2022) and future expansion at Kings' Land - he was super vague but kept trumpeting the Diamond acquisition.
* While I was surprised that they offered to buy back our resales, I later realized it was a smart play on their part. They get a mildly inflated payment from me on this sale, only to have the other deeds available to GROSSLY inflate for the next victim/customer.
* Had the annual points been higher or the MF's lower, we might have been more tempted. But I'm sure the buy-in cost would have jumped quickly had that been the case.
* It was tempting for us to dump the 2 smaller deeds and get one big one with more points. Eventually we will. I know these 3400-pt things will be worth nothing when we try to ditch them. But we paid a TOTAL of $260 for both with free closing costs and free 2020 points for each of them. We've already gotten more than our use out of them.
Side note: in the pool later, I talked to a family that was on their first Kings' Land visit. Mom was having a really tough time enjoying the trip because she got snookered by the Bonus points, etc. They paid $20,000 for their 3400-pt annual deed. She found out about resale market after it was too late. So, I am prompted again to say THANK YOU TO TUG AND ITS MEMBERS for helping me save tens of thousands of dollars and hours of agony over a bad decision!