• Welcome to the FREE TUGBBS forums! The absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 32 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 32 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 32nd anniversary: Happy 32nd Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    All subscribers auto-entered to win all free TUG membership giveaways!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Wish you could meet up with other TUG members? Well look no further as this annual event has been going on for years in Orlando! How to Attend the TUG January Get-Together!
  • Now through the end of the year you can join or renew your TUG membership at the lowest price ever offered! Learn More!
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Hilton "upgrade" pitch

[QUOTE="Arusso, post: 2852134, member: 91863"
...only three of the former DRI resorts in VA (from before the Hilton acquisition) namely, Powhatan, Greensprings and Oceanaire have been rebranded to HVC.

...Neither Greensprings nor the other VA Beach properties have yet to be rebranded.[/QUOTE]

Something amiss?

The Sales Center for both Powatan and Greensprings is one and the same, and always has been. From what were told only two weeks ago, there were many people in sales who were terminated. With the acquisition, DRI no longer exists; eventually everything Diamond owned will become Hilton of some sort or another. "Affiliates" may be a different story.
 
singlemalt_18 said:
[QUOTE="Arusso, post: 2852134, member: 91863"
...only three of the former DRI resorts in VA (from before the Hilton acquisition) namely, Powhatan, Greensprings and Oceanaire have been rebranded to HVC.

...Neither Greensprings nor the other VA Beach properties have yet to be rebranded.
Click to expand...



Not sure all will become HVC. There are some that will be in limbo. They could stay DRI or they can be sold off. Some of the Orlando properties might have that fate.

Affiliates will not be available to HGV Max members, or that’s what has been said.
 
Passed on the "Owners update" at our "VIP" check in at the Sedona Ridge Resort.
My wife stayed in the car because she hates TS presentations. I told the guy that if he wanted to pitch me, it would only be me at the presentation. They balked at that.
We are weeks owners at this resort & use it exclusively for 1 week/year. Bought it resale & never joined DRI points system.
As we were haggling over whether or not they would be agreeable to only pitching me at a presentation, I heard a car alarm horn go off.
After a few long seconds of hearing this alarm, I went outside & sure enough, my wife had accidentally set it off by exiting our locked Jeep.
I figured out how to press the "Panic" button on the Jeep key in my pocket to turn the alarm off. Then I went back into the "VIP" office, grabbed my room keys & "concierge" stuff, muttered: "Gotta go", & got out of there. Later, my wife & I had a good laugh about it. From scanning the posts here, it doesn't look like I missed anything. BTW, the guy who hustled me into the "VIP" check in room said he was a Hilton employee, not DRI, & assured me that I would only be subject to a low key, one hour presentation.
 
tjnevers said:
Passed on the "Owners update" at our "VIP" check in at the Sedona Ridge Resort.
My wife stayed in the car because she hates TS presentations. I told the guy that if he wanted to pitch me, it would only be me at the presentation. They balked at that.
We are weeks owners at this resort & use it exclusively for 1 week/year. Bought it resale & never joined DRI points system.
As we were haggling over whether or not they would be agreeable to only pitching me at a presentation, I heard a car alarm horn go off.
After a few long seconds of hearing this alarm, I went outside & sure enough, my wife had accidentally set it off by exiting our locked Jeep.
I figured out how to press the "Panic" button on the Jeep key in my pocket to turn the alarm off. Then I went back into the "VIP" office, grabbed my room keys & "concierge" stuff, muttered: "Gotta go", & got out of there. Later, my wife & I had a good laugh about it. From scanning the posts here, it doesn't look like I missed anything. BTW, the guy who hustled me into the "VIP" check in room said he was a Hilton employee, not DRI, & assured me that I would only be subject to a low key, one hour presentation.
Click to expand...
My wife always stays in the car too. I've gone by myself to presentations several times. You never get a perk for attending, and the rep never gets credit for giving a presentation. They usually send you to the new guy so he can practice. I stopped going because I never got any useful info from it.

Don't they always say that things have changed and the presentation will be low key? :LOL:
 
tjnevers said:
Passed on the "Owners update" at our "VIP" check in at the Sedona Ridge Resort.
My wife stayed in the car because she hates TS presentations. I told the guy that if he wanted to pitch me, it would only be me at the presentation. They balked at that.
We are weeks owners at this resort & use it exclusively for 1 week/year. Bought it resale & never joined DRI points system.
As we were haggling over whether or not they would be agreeable to only pitching me at a presentation, I heard a car alarm horn go off.
After a few long seconds of hearing this alarm, I went outside & sure enough, my wife had accidentally set it off by exiting our locked Jeep.
I figured out how to press the "Panic" button on the Jeep key in my pocket to turn the alarm off. Then I went back into the "VIP" office, grabbed my room keys & "concierge" stuff, muttered: "Gotta go", & got out of there. Later, my wife & I had a good laugh about it. From scanning the posts here, it doesn't look like I missed anything. BTW, the guy who hustled me into the "VIP" check in room said he was a Hilton employee, not DRI, & assured me that I would only be subject to a low key, one hour presentation.
Click to expand...

You and the wife did the right thing, and are savvy not to have fallen victim to the sales staff at Ridge.

I have stayed there several times, really like the resort and area. I’ve always managed to get cheap stays through Interval. I’ve had many hot tub chats with owners about how agressive the sales staff are there, and at Summit. Just because they now work for HGV does not mean their tactics have changed.

Keeping to deeded ownership is the smart move, you avoided paying to “upgrade” to DRI points, and now the same with DRI Max, well done.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Went to a presentation at Tuscany Village this noon. We are Diamond owners and are staying at Grande Villas. The first thing the sales person said was that we shouldn't be there, that Hilton didn't want to talk to Diamond owners yet, not until after January. (News to us -- we've been to two Hilton presentations since mid-summer.)

This salesman was the most arrogant, obnoxious person we've seen in ages in any setting. The pitch was familiar -- Diamond owners either had to upgrade or lose out to decreasing availability as Diamond convertees to Hilton would be able to book Diamond resorts but Diamond owners wou;dn't be able to book Hilton resorts. Also, maintenance fees would be going sky high. I told him I had heard that before but doubted it would be a big problem.

We told him we had stayed at Grand Beach and liked it. He stuck up his nose and sneered, "That's Diamond."

He had a slide on a monitor with three columns -- Hilton, HGVMax, and Diamond, left to right, that purported to show the migration to HGV Max. I told him I had some familiarity with HGVMax and didn't see anything that was worth the money. He reared up and said, "I haven't offered you HGVMax!"

I pulled out some sheets I had printed before we left home that showed sales listings at HGVC SeaWorld (5.800 points for $500; 8,000 points for $1,000) and Tuscany Village (9,280 points for $1,000; 8,000 points for $950). He sniffed and said, "Those are rentals.") I tried to explain these were reputable internet sales people and that rental listings don't have anything about annual, biennial-even, etc.) He got up and walked out saying. "I'm not going to sit here and argue with you." I told him to stick it.

We were then sent to meet with someone to do a "survey." We've been through this before and in no sense was it a survey. It was an attempt to sell us an introductory package -- 11,520 points for some amount of money. I told the lady that it sounded like the same thing we had actually purchased at a preview center in Virginia Beach a couple of months ago but we had rescinded immediately upon reading the contract. The salesman there flat out lied to us.

The lady said we were not eligible to purchase the introductory package because we had already bought once and took us to gifting. Worst presentation ever.
 
Last edited:
chapjim said:
Went to a presentation at Tuscany Village this noon. We are Diamond owners and are staying at Grande Villas. The first thing the sales person said was that we shouldn't be there, that Hilton didn't want to talk to Diamond owners yet, not until after January. (News to us -- we've been to two Hilton presentations since mid-summer.)

This salesman was the most arrogant, obnoxious person we've seen in ages in any setting. The pitch was familiar -- Diamond owners either had to upgrade or lose out to decreasing availability as Diamond convertees to Hilton would be able to book Diamond resorts but Diamond owners wou;dn't be able to book Hilton resorts. Also, maintenance fees would be going sky high. I told him I had heard that before but doubted it would be a big problem.

We told him we had stayed at Grand Beach and liked it. He stuck up his nose and sneered, "That's Diamond."

He had a slide on a monitor with three columns -- Hilton, HGVMax, and Diamond, left to right, that purported to show the migration to HGV Max. I told him I had some familiarity with HGVMax and didn't see anything that was worth the money. He reared up and said, "I haven't offered you HGVMax!"

I pulled out some sheets I had printed before we left home that showed sales listings at HGVC SeaWorld (5.800 points for $500; 8,000 points for $1,000) and Tuscany Village (9,280 points for $1,000; 8,000 points for $950). He sniffed and said, "Those are rentals.") I tried to explain these were reputable internet sales people and that rental listings don't have anything about annual, biennial-even, etc.) He got up and walked out saying. "I'm not going to sit here and argue with you." I told him to stick it.

We were then sent to meet with someone to do a survey. We've been through this before and in no sense was it a survey. It was an atempt to sell us an introductory package -- 11,520 points for some amount of money. I told the lady that it sounded like the same thing we had actually purchased at a preview center in Virginia Beach a couple of months ago but we had rescinded immediately upon reading the contract. The salesman ther flat out lied to us.

The lady said we were not eligible to purchase the introductory package because we had already bought once and took us to gifting. Worst presentation ever.
Click to expand...
Wow! That salesperson needs to be reported to someone in Hilton Corporate office.
 
T_R_Oglodyte said:
If other TS companies are able to turn the dial on their increases to 10, HGVC will be able to go all the way to 11, to get that extra bit they need to go over the top.
Click to expand...
We were in the process of purchasing a 2 bedroom Oceanfront unit at P@P and were told Maintenance fees would be around $2000 then received the escrow papers last week to sign that states the maintenance fees are estimated to be $2700 in 2024. Has anyone else been told this?
 
dashndream said:
We were in the process of purchasing a 2 bedroom Oceanfront unit at P@P and were told Maintenance fees would be around $2000 then received the escrow papers last week to sign that states the maintenance fees are estimated to be $2700 in 2024. Has anyone else been told this?
Click to expand...
Hard to believe, but anything is possible. Here's what they said in the letter sent with the 2023 billing.

Dear Poipu Point Resort Owners,
Greetings from the board of directors, our management company, and the Team Members at your home away from home in beautiful Hawaii. When Diamond
Resorts was acquired by Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV), we promised to keep you informed about efforts to integrate the two companies. Part of this effort
includes providing transparent communications with you about your annual billing statement.
This year, the hospitality industry has been especially impacted by labor shortages and continued pressure to increase wages to attract qualified workers and
retain essential talent. Above-average inflation has resulted in greater expenses for essential products, supplies and services, while higher fuel costs have affected
shipping and deliveries. With all those challenges, Hilton Grand Vacation management has supported the team, allowing them to focus on resort operations and
the guests.
In 2022, the board settled a construction defect lawsuit with the contractor that completed work on exterior property repairs. As a result, the board has been
able to proceed with determining scope for making those external repairs to the windows, soffits and fascias. Like the original project, this project will be multiphased.
At the same time the exterior repairs are completed, the interior of the suites will be renovated. This includes renovations in all kitchens and bathrooms,
and includes both flooring and furnishings. These projects will be funded primarily by the association. However, as part of Hilton Grand Vacations’
commitment to the Poipu resort and the property’s Owners, HGV has agreed to contribute $5 million to the association to assist with these project costs. The
contribution will be paid over a period of five years.
For 2023, your board has approved a maintenance fee increase of approximately $110-$327, depending on ownership type. The majority of the units are twobedroom,
so that assessment will be $2,068.80, an increase of $216.88 or 11.7%. Approximately half of the increase is due to an increase in the Reserves
assessment. During the last nine years, the Reserve assessment increase has been nominal – far below CPI. As we proceed with the exterior and interior
projects, you may have higher than average increases related to the funding required for the projects. Your association’s board and resort management team
remain committed to keeping costs as low as possible, without compromising our service or the property’s upkeep.
 
Thank you for posting that. This was the information provided from the escrow company.


1688562844045.png
 
We were told by the agent that he reached out to Diamond and that is they figure he was given.
 
dashndream said:
We were told by the agent that he reached out to Diamond and that is they figure he was given.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the MF you'd pay if you had enough points in the Hawaii Collection to book 2 bed OF for a week.
 
"as Diamond owners migrate to Hilton there will be few and fewer diamond owners to share the maintenance costs"
I'm no expert. Maybe there is something obvious there. It sounds like a fallacy that ignores "Conservation of Owners". What does "migrate" mean? Won't SOMEBODY own the deed? Won't that somebody be on the hook for MFs?
Are they forecasting mass foreclosures? And how would that be in their projections, since they now own / manage the property?
I don't get it. Anybody understand the exact mechanism they are proposing?
 
Thank you for the spreadsheet. Interesting.
 
WaikikiFirst said:
"as Diamond owners migrate to Hilton there will be few and fewer diamond owners to share the maintenance costs"
I'm no expert. Maybe there is something obvious there. It sounds like a fallacy that ignores "Conservation of Owners". What does "migrate" mean? Won't SOMEBODY own the deed? Won't that somebody be on the hook for MFs?
Are they forecasting mass foreclosures? And how would that be in their projections, since they now own / manage the property?
I don't get it. Anybody understand the exact mechanism they are proposing?
Click to expand...

The salesman's lips were moving = a big fat lie.
 
The "pitch" will always be that you need to buy more.
 
GT75 said:
The "pitch" will always be that you need to buy more.
Click to expand...
Recently attended an update. Even when primary rep determined we do not need anymore points, his manager comes up with a minimum purchase of points to move us to HG-Max
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top