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Advice needed on HGVC purchase

cjccmc

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Hi All,

We attended a presentation 2 days ago and ended up buying a very small package: 2200 pts EoY at Elara (Las Vegas) for $11,500 and got 5000 bonus pts with that. MF are $824 EoY.

Our primary reason for buying was to get the ability to stay at Hilton Hotels for less than half the prices we would pay as non members. Based on what the salesperson told us, no matter how small the points we purchased, the best part of HGVC membership (for my family) is the low room rates available at numerous hotels.

Now I'm wondering if I would have been better off buying a resale membership. What I don't know is what privileges and abilities I would NOT have if I buy resale vs. my current direct purchase plan. Would we still be able to get the same reduced rates on Hilton hotel rooms?

I have 2 more days to decide if I should cancel this purchase and would greatly appreciate advice from experienced members.
 

Mosescan

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The only difference between direct and resale is that resale points can not be used towards elite status.

Owning an HGVC timeshare does not get you any reduced rates at Hilton hotels. What is gets you is Hilton Honours silver status. That's it. With that comes a few perks like a few extra HH points when you stay there but you certainly don't get cheaper rooms at Hilton hotels. You can use "open season" at HGVC properties which is where you book within 30 days of staying and can pay cash instead of use points. This used to be a pretty decent perk but in the last few years they have raised the open season rates so it's not really even that cheap any more.

Your unit in resale would likely go for around $1 if you could even find someone willing to buy it. You would likely have to pay closing costs and next years maintenance fees to get someone to take it. For $11500 you could buy a 9600 point annual contract with slightly higher maintenance fees. The only contracts resale people are interested in buying are platinum contracts with good maintenance fees. The maintenance fees are based on unit size, not season. A 2BR gold 5000 point unit has the same maintenance fees as a 2BR platinum 7000 point unit at the same resort.

To repeat myself for emphasis. You do not get reduced rates on Hilton Hotels by owning a HGVC Timeshare new or used!

Rescind now! Follow the instructions in your packet, it will be there somewhere. Mail a letter signed by all who signed the original contract and send it NOW. Make sure it is mailed certified mail and signed for. I'm sure others will chime in on the correct terms for that in the US.

There are instructions here on the board. In Nevada you only have 5 calendar days to rescind.
 

TUGBrian

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congrats on finding us in time, you can buy that same number of points for FAR less....or buy FAR more points for the 11.5k spent...either way you just saved yourself a great deal of money!
 

Cyberc

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As already stated you should rescind asap, you can get a much better deal resale. The package you own now will be almost impossible to sell later on.

Also the only “discount” you will get is the open season rates which is available at most resort 30 days out. The rate however has over the years been devalued and imho you can get the same rate booking at Hilton.com.
 

GT75

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+1 the advise already given. I will emphasize that the purchase which they sold you is almost worthless and useless. You don't have enough points to really make any useful vacation out of it. In addition, you will be paying very high MF @ $0.375/point. (I recommend less than $0.15/point). As @Cyberc has already pointed out, this purchase will almost be impossible to unload later.

Based on what the salesperson told us
As already pointed out, you don't get any reduced rates at Hilton hotels because of this purchase (neither direct nor resale). So, if this was the main reason which you purchased, you have come to the right place to get the facts. Your best option is to rescind now. You should have instructions in your sales packet concerning rescinding. Follow it exactly as written. Ensure that you get all parties which sighed the original contract to sign the rescind letter. Send the letter by USPS certified mail to the address given. DO NOT CALL nor talk with salesman.
 

Arimaas

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Just to echo what everyone else is saying with a real world example - I purchased a HGVC on the Blvd gold 2br unit which comes with 5000 annual points on the resale market for $2500 plus costs. My annual fees (including club dues which I believe you have to pay even as an EOY owner) are about $950-$1000, not much more than yours (except yours is EOY and mine is annual, but I get my points annually). Basically, moral of the story, rescind and buy on the resale market if you want. And I get zero discounts at Hilton hotels because of my HGVC ownership. Like everyone else says, just some free WiFi, two bottles of water and some extra useless HHonors points for my automatic silver status (which is what all HGVC members get - even resale owners like me).

And if and when I’m ready to get rid of my unit, I’ll end up giving it away for closing costs here on TUG and either HGVC will scoop it up with ROFR or someone will get a decent free unit and all I’m out is the $3800 I spent on the initial purchase (which I’ll easily recoup in the years of usage). Although most here don’t like looking at the initial cost benefit - but rather a sunk cost.
 

alwysonvac

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SOLD (DVC, FSRC)
Our primary reason for buying was to get the ability to stay at Hilton Hotels for less than half the prices we would pay as non members. Based on what the salesperson told us, no matter how small the points we purchased, the best part of HGVC membership (for my family) is the low room rates available at numerous hotels.

THEY LIED !!
Rescind immediately. Learn the facts first then decide if HGVC is right for you.
You'll only have one chance to rescind. And you'll have lots of opportunities if you decide later to purchase directly from HGVC
 

Talent312

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RESCIND now. Follow the instructions in the contract to the letter.

The saying is: "How do you know a TS salesman is lying?... His lips are moving."
As others said: The only cash discounts are for booking HGVC L/T 30 days out.
... But not even those are much of a discount anymore.

You can book hotels using points (they convert to HHonors), but...
It's a poor conversion: You get fewer nights, and you have very few points.
2200 points would get you maybe 2N in a Hampton Inn.

HGVC is a good system. Very flexible. But it's best use is for booking HGVC.

.
 
Last edited:

presley

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Our primary reason for buying was to get the ability to stay at Hilton Hotels for less than half the prices we would pay as non members. Based on what the salesperson told us, no matter how small the points we purchased, the best part of HGVC membership (for my family) is the low room rates available at numerous hotels.
This is not a thing,
As a HGVC owner, I get reduced room rates at the timeshares if I book less than 30 days out and those reservations require a 2 night minimum. Resale owners get the exact same thing.

When I want to book hotels, I book through the Hhonors website to get the lowest rates. My HGVC ownership doesn't change the price at all. If you want to stay at Hilton Hotels, don't own a timeshare. You just need to be a Hhonors member. You can buy Diamond level membership by getting the newest American Express Hilton credit card.

If you want to stay in timeshares, owning a timeshare is a good choice. If you only want the discounted last minute timeshare rooms, it's not worth buying because there isn't much available and the discounts aren't worth it. They raise the prices whenever they want to.
 

cjccmc

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Thank you all very very much! It's nice to have the confidence of so many experienced users agreeing on a single clear choice. I will be sending my cancellation notice today.
 

taterhed

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HGVC is a great company and a great timeshare....take your time to get input AFTER rescinding and see what's right for you!

Join TUG while you're at it: best $15 you'll ever spend.

Welcome and Congrats! (BTW, we rescinded HGVC as well!)
 

GTLINZ

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I agree with everyone - RESCIND NOW and FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION TO THE LETTER!

The reason what they sold you is worth very little on the resale market in that it is a low number of points and that maint fee is very high when looked at per point. That is why most resales for low seasons (gold and silver) sell for very little on the resale market. And you don't want something that will be hard to get rid of later.

We did a presentation years ago and wanted to purchase HGVC but that was way too much money. I came home, found TUG, did research and bought resale. It is a really good and flexible system but you do not want to pay more that it is worth.
 

mtm65

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+1 to Taterhed's comment. HGVC is a good system for us. Take your time and study HGVC to be sure it is the right fit for you.

And be sure to join TUG. This is a great group of people that have helped me save a pile of money and get the most from our HGVC resale :)
 

cjccmc

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"..be sure to join TUG" I joined yesterday, and can also truly say: "This is a great group of people that have helped me save a pile of money..."

Years ago I remember seeing a financial analysis of a typical Timeshare project. Half the total costs were spent on selling and marketing, so only half of your initial money had any solid value (land and buildings) behind it. That pretty much convinced me that T/S were never for me. Except that this time the "deeply discounted hotel rooms" provided a new incentive. I'm very thankful that you guys were able to debunk that empty sales pitch in time for me to get out. During the presentation when I was on the fence about deciding to buy, I asked if I could have a day to check things out. I got the fishy sounding "No, this offer is for now only, it wouldn't be fair to the others to let you have that". And they never said a word about having 5 days to rescind.
 

GTLINZ

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Thank you all very very much! It's nice to have the confidence of so many experienced users agreeing on a single clear choice. I will be sending my cancellation notice today.

Glad to hear! Once you get your confirmation that you are out, and if you are still interested in HGVC, you have plenty of research to do on buying resale.

Suggested topics:
- MF per point (again, go with Platinum if possible)
- HGVC built vs HGVC managed (affiliates) locations
- ROFR which is Hilton's right to buy any resale unit that you might try to purchase. They use it less than you think - which leads into ...
- good resellers (Seth Nock and Judy K come to mind). Hilton does have approved resellers that will know what ROFR is running for by location and unit size. You can take your chances on Ebay and may get a better price, but there are a lot of scams out there and we bought this way.

Good hunting !
 
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