Post purchase regret?

[jxnatc]

Hi all. I know the tagline says that no question is stupid, but I reckon I'm going to challenge that.

My family and I went to Atlantis Bahamas and stayed at Harborside last month. I did the sales pitch 19 years ago and nearly pulled the trigger but ended up not going through with it. Well, this time we made the plunge. The sales pitch was strong and everything about ownership is rainbows and unicorns basically. We committed to a two-bedroom lockout, 15th week, platinum, phase 2. Free wi-fi, infrequent maintenance fee changes, etc. The maintenance fees are $4600+ annually but I wasn't too concerned about that. We are supposed to get 300,000 Bon Voy points when we close. Our purchase was for 148,100 Vistana points which I believe is 280,800 Bon Voy. We were told that we could travel anywhere in the world because Atlantis was desired largely due to the Aquaventure park so we'd have no problems with Greece, Costa Rica, etc.

However, I was recently speaking with a friend that has Bon Voy and was told that those points would not be enough to book for a week. We realized that we're likely in WAY over our heads with what we do not know. Just to test what our friend said, I used the Bon Voy app to look at booking a week in Sedona, Arizona next April and our points won't even cover a week at a Fairfield Inn in Arizona let alone Greece or Costa Rica. Am I missing something or are we better to pull out now since we don't officially close until sometime in July? We're past the rescind date but we have not closed. In addition, they sent us paperwork the other day because they missed my wife's initials so I'm sure we can argue that. Just looking for some guidance. Thank you.

 

[WorldT]

Hi,
Bad deal. How much did you pay?

1. You don't buy timeshares for the hotel points bonus. That is usually added sugar. You have already tested that out.
2. You didn't include how much you actually paid. Compare that to Westin Kierland which gives you the same StarOptions at a much lower cost.
3. Now that you are past the rescission, look at the closing clause in the contract. You may be able to find a way out. Even if you do, your downpayment is likely gone. You can also post a screenshot of the closing contract here if you want some suggestions.

 

[dioxide45]

Harborside might be a good resort to own to go back to Harborside every year. Maybe. There are better options. The problem is the maintenance fees are way too high. It is certainly not a good resort to own for conversion to Bonvoy points. In fact, the argument can be made that there is no good resort to own to convert to Bonvoy points. As you discovered, you don't get enough Bonvoy points to really use effectively for the amount of fees you pay. Paying cash would likely be cheaper.

If you have a way to get out and only lose your deposit, then that may be the best option. I am not sure anyone here can provide legal advice since your contract was signed in the Bahamas.

 

[emeryjre]

You might contact Timeshare King
He was a former salesman at Harborside
He sells Harborside ownership as an independent basis
He might be willing to give you some advice
He has always been a straight shooter whenever I have done business with him
He has a very good reputation

Russell Kanner - Harborside Resort at Atlantis - Buy, Sell, and Rent Harboside Atlantis

Whether you’re looking to Buy, Sell, Rent Your Timeshare or Rent A Timeshare we have all the services you are looking for. Looking to Sell your Timeshare? The Timeshare Resale Market helps move it quickly. Looking to Buy Timeshare? The Timeshare Resale Market offers great inventory at a huge...

thetimeshareking.com

 

[rickandcindy23]

The fees are high for Harborside. Buy at Westin Kierland, resale, there are listings on Redweek, but be sure to buy 2 bedroom platinum season, 148,100 SO's. Fees are much less for the same number of points. You can book Harborside at 8 months out. I never attempt to do it, but I think it's possible.

The hotel points are really such a bad selling point for Marriott to even use. The hotel product has been devalued (points vs. dollars) beyond anything I thought they would do.

I am so glad we didn't buy the hotel certificates during our last two sales' presentations. It would have been a waste of money.

 

[jxnatc]

Hi,
Bad deal. How much did you pay?

1. You don't buy timeshares for the hotel points bonus. That is usually added sugar. You have already tested that out.
2. You didn't include how much you actually paid. Compare that to Westin Kierland which gives you the same StarOptions at a much lower cost.
3. Now that you are past the rescission, look at the closing clause in the contract. You may be able to find a way out. Even if you do, your downpayment is likely gone. You can also post a screenshot of the closing contract here if you want some suggestions.

We haven't closed yet. We paid about a $1,400 as a down payment. We're prepared to eat that. The cost of the unit is $14,000...a little over $16,000 with added on administrative fees.

 

[jxnatc]

Harborside might be a good resort to own to go back to Harborside every year. Maybe. There are better options. The problem is the maintenance fees are way too high. It is certainly not a good resort to own for conversion to Bonvoy points. In fact, the argument can be made that there is no good resort to own to convert to Bonvoy points. As you discovered, you don't get enough Bonvoy points to really use effectively for the amount of fees you pay. Paying cash would likely be cheaper.

If you have a way to get out and only lose your deposit, then that may be the best option. I am not sure anyone here can provide legal advice since your contract was signed in the Bahamas.

I don't even mind the maintenance fees. I'm more salty about the deception regarding our points being a bonus if we want to go somewhere else. They also said wi-fi was free but from what I can see in the threads, that's a bunch of crap. I could see us going to Harborside every year if our kids were younger. They're 15 and 13. They only have a couple of more years of traveling with use. While I love the Bahamas, my wife and I are in our mid-50's....we won't need Aquaventure for ourselves. I think you're right. We could pay cash for our trips and it would be cheaper. I'm hoping the contract is null and void since they forgot to get my wife's initials on the documentation and they can't proceed without it.

 

[jxnatc]

The fees are high for Harborside. Buy at Westin Kierland, resale, there are listings on Redweek, but be sure to buy 2 bedroom platinum season, 148,100 SO's. Fees are much less for the same number of points. You can book Harborside at 8 months out. I never attempt to do it, but I think it's possible.

The hotel points are really such a bad selling point for Marriott to even use. The hotel product has been devalued (points vs. dollars) beyond anything I thought they would do.

I am so glad we didn't buy the hotel certificates during our last two sales' presentations. It would have been a waste of money.

I'm not sure that I want anything at this point, but I am truly ignorant of the whole thing. Westin Kierland appears to be a property in Arizona. I don't truly want to go to Arizona; I hate the heat. I was just using it as an example of how little my alleged Bon Voy points would get me. I truly just don't see the value in any of it at this point. I'd love to have something that would allow us to travel to resorts abroad but I think we could probably just pay cash and save ourselves the money.

 

[dioxide45]

The week you bought would be enrolled in Abound Club Points program and Abound is launching a program this summer to use Club Points to make direct reservations in any of the 9000 Marriott hotels. We don't have any details and it certainly isn't a reason to purchase direct from Marriott or Vistana.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I don't understand how a person goes to a timeshare presentation, buys something based on promises, doesn't rescind in time, and then says they see no value in what they bought. It's obvious the salesperson convinced you there is value in what you bought. Maybe you should keep it and make decisions later about adding onto what you already have through resale.

Kierland is a way to get Staroptions cheaply. I can see lots of inventory at the 8 month mark for almost every resort with Staroptions.

If you back out of this purchase and walk away, I don't know that Marriott really wants you to buy a resale. Rescinding is different. Backing out a contract after the rescission period is over because you didn't think about the expense and the miniscule value of what you bought, that is very different.

 

[jxnatc]

I don't understand how a person goes to a timeshare presentation, buys something based on promises, doesn't rescind in time, and then says they see no value in what they bought. It's obvious the salesperson convinced you there is value in what you bought. Maybe you should keep it and make decisions later about adding onto what you already have through resale.

Kierland is a way to get Staroptions cheaply. I can see lots of inventory at the 8 month mark for almost every resort with Staroptions.

If you back out of this purchase and walk away, I don't know that Marriott really wants you to buy a resale. Rescinding is different. Backing out a contract after the rescission period is over because you didn't think about the expense and the miniscule value of what you bought, that is very different.

We didn't rescind in time because we are both very busy. Also, we were planning on closing when they mailed us the incomplete contract. It wasn't until I was advised otherwise and started reading these threads that I saw we were mislead. I see no value because the value that the salesperson convinced me of was smoke and mirrors. I don't mind an aggressive sales pitch when it is built on fact. However, when I'm mislead, you've lost my trust. I am not backing out because of the expense as I said above. I don't consider the maintenance fees or the price of the property expensive for what we were promised. We were led to believe that we could go most anywhere in the world easily based on the desirability of our buy in. We were told that as Bon Voy members we would have all of these perks at Harborside. From what I can see in these threads, Bon Voy is not applicable at Harborside. If the above is the case, then there is no value to me, and I really don't care if Marriott wants me to buy a resale or not.

I do appreciate your input, but I still don't understand the value of this timeshare system. Nothing about Staroptions or Vistana was explained to us. It all was in regard to Bon Voy and Marriott. It's the Bon Voy points that I was looking at when I was trying to see how many points were necessary. Do I have 148,100 Staroptions AND 248,800 Bon Voy points when we close or do the Staroptions convert to 248,800 points? When I dug into the contract, I was able to find the Staroptions value. I was able to find an old Staroptions chart (2023-2024) online and saw several places that we could travel using that though some places were more than our 148,100 for our 15th week. I THINK I understand what you're saying about buying in Arizona for the lower maintenance fees...less than half of what Harborside is charging.

I told ya'll I was going to challenge the no stupid question statement.

 

[dioxide45]

Did you finance the purchase. Chances are at closing, the closing just happens and you start getting billed the monthly mortgage payment. You really need to read through the contract with great care.

 

[jxnatc]

Did you finance the purchase. Chances are at closing, the closing just happens and you start getting billed the monthly mortgage payment. You really need to read through the contract with great care.

We did the financing with the first 6 months interest free and intended to pay it off in the first or second month.

Yeah, that part did put our hairs up too at the time...it had to be done THAT day.

Side note, I saw your YouTube video about how to move around and your walk through the marina. I actually interviewed a yacht captain today that did a lot of Atlantis runs. He described docking there as pretty nerve wracking with some of the ships.