Juxtapose
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- Joined
- Jun 9, 2016
- Messages
- 24
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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
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