RIPPED OFF BY HGVC? HELP!

[PGRIF]

In October of 2022 we signed for a HGVC in Las Vegas for Elara. The total cost was about $15,000 and we get 2560 points a year. Everything sounded good until we logged in and realized that 2560 points doesn't get you much of anything! Definitely not the "about 10 days" we were sold. Do I not know how to use the website or did we get completely ripped off? Either way we tried to get out of it and no one will return my phone call. The one woman I spoke to only tried to sell me more points. We need to get out of this! PLEASE HELP US!

 

[HuskerATL]

Unfortunately, you are past the time frame to rescind and you are correct, 2,560 points won't get you much. There is a points guide on the HGV site to see how you can use them. I suspect studios during gold season or a few days during the week. Weekends and platinum season use more points. What type of unit is your deed for? I assume a studio in gold season. If that is the case, then you can get a week in it. You are guaranteed that.

 

[chapjim]

In October of 2022 we signed for a HGVC in Las Vegas for Elara. The total cost was about $15,000 and we get 2560 points a year. Everything sounded good until we logged in and realized that 2560 points doesn't get you much of anything! Definitely not the "about 10 days" we were sold. Do I not know how to use the website or did we get completely ripped off? Either way we tried to get out of it and no one will return my phone call. The one woman I spoke to only tried to sell me more points. We need to get out of this! PLEASE HELP US!

Hate to say it but your best shot is to double down, but not by buying from Hilton. Check eBay for HGVC listings -- there are usually quite a few. Then, read the listings carefully, compare maintenance fees ($/1,000 points), etc. For a fraction of what you paid, you should be able to get a multiple of what you have.

Make sure you're looking at HGVC and not [resort name] by Hilton. The latter would be a re-branded Diamond resort, not a bad resort but a different system.

 

[PGRIF]

Unfortunately, you are past the time frame to rescind and you are correct, 2,560 points won't get you much. There is a points guide on the HGV site to see how you can use them. I suspect studios during gold season or a few days during the week. Weekends and platinum season use more points. What type of unit is your deed for? I assume a studio in gold season. If that is the case, then you can get a week in it. You are guaranteed that.

All I know that it is at elara. How can I get rid of this?

 

[bnoble]

How can I get rid of this?

There are two answers to this.

One: If you still have a loan on the timeshare, you can't get rid of it until the loan is paid. You signed a legally binding contract, and the period during which you could have cancelled it has passed.

Two: If the purchase price of the timeshare is fully paid off, you can sell it. However, you will not get anything near what you paid for it.

That's why @chapjim gave you the advice he gave you: your best bet is to acquire more (resale!) points, so that you can use them for vacations. The value in timeshares is in their use. Don't feel too bad about this: Many of us were in a similar situation, and discovered that despite paying a little more than we could have, we really enjoy owning timeshares.

 

[PGRIF]

Hate to say it but your best shot is to double down, but not by buying from Hilton. Check eBay for HGVC listings -- there are usually quite a few. Then, read the listings carefully, compare maintenance fees ($/1,000 points), etc. For a fraction of what you paid, you should be able to get a multiple of what you have.

Make sure you're looking at HGVC and not [resort name] by Hilton. The latter would be a re-branded Diamond resort, not a bad resort but a different system.

I don’t know what you mean by double down? Buy more? Absolutely not. I’m just trying to get out of it. How do you get ahold of the resale department?

 

[PGRIF]

There are two answers to this.

One: If you still have a loan on the timeshare, you can't get rid of it until the loan is paid. You signed a legally binding contract, and the period during which you could have cancelled it has passed.

Two: If the purchase price of the timeshare is fully paid off, you can sell it. However, you will not get anything near what you paid for it.

That's why @chapjim gave you the advice he gave you: your best bet is to acquire more (resale!) points, so that you can use them for vacations. The value in timeshares is in their use. Don't feel too bad about this: Many of us were in a similar situation, and discovered that despite paying a little more than we could have, we really enjoy owning timeshares.

How much do you think during the buy back they would give me for it? At this point im so upset we might just take the loss and have learned our lesson.

 

[yodaDaenerys]

All I know that it is at elara. How can I get rid of this?

You can try to sell on eBay, but if you check there you will see it won't be worth much. If you want to take advantage of HGVC, maybe buy something additional on eBay as suggested already. You should find listings for much less than you paid, sadly. I'm also just finding out about TUG - wish I had known before I upgraded directly with HGVC earlier this year.

 

[HuskerATL]

All I know that it is at elara. How can I get rid of this?

You don't have a lot of options to get rid of it. You could try calling HGV but they probably won't do much, there are companies that may help you but most of them seem like scams, sell it but it has to be paid off and you won't get much for it and, more than likely, nobody will want it since the points are low, just stop paying for it, if you took out a loan but you may get a credit hit, or just make the best of it and use it.

 

[alwysonvac]

Sorry you didn’t find us earlier.

You can book 10 weekdays in a studio during Gold Season if that’s what the sales person was trying to spin.
Weekends (Fri, Sat and Sun) cost twice as many points as Weekdays (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs).
Gold Season is week numbers 1-6, 23-34 and 46-50.

 

[PGRIF]

You don't have a lot of options to get rid of it. You could try calling HGV but they probably won't do much, there are companies that may help you but most of them seem like scams, sell it but it has to be paid off and you won't get much for it and, more than likely, nobody will want it since the points are low, just stop paying for it, if you took out a loan but you may get a credit hit, or just make the best of it and use it.

Even after it’s paid off it’s about 1000 a year so it’s really not worth it!

 

[zentraveler]

I don’t know what you mean by double down? Buy more? Absolutely not. I’m just trying to get out of it. How do you get ahold of the resale department?

If I can make a suggestion PGRIF, you are past your rescind period so you do have some time to think about this. Take a deep breath or several hundred, read through the suggestions again, and spend some time on TUG. You have time to get educated about your options. I know this feels awful, but don't make it worse by being in too much of a hurry. You may find something that can work for you if you slow down and try to get out of panic mode. We all get it; it feels terrible and you want it to go away.

 

[PGRIF]

If I can make a suggestion PGRIF, you are past your rescind period so you do have some time to think about this. Take a deep breath or several hundred, read through the suggestions again, and spend some time on TUG. You have time to get educated about your options. I know this feels awful, but don't make it worse by being in too much of a hurry. You may find something that can work for you if you slow down and try to get out of panic mode. We all get it; it feels terrible and you want it to go away.

exactly. It’s too much stress definitely with all the holidays and realizing how screwed and foolish you are! I know that the best bet would be to try to pay it off asap because of interest. That’s as far as I’ve gotten thus far.

 

[PGRIF]

If I can make a suggestion PGRIF, you are past your rescind period so you do have some time to think about this. Take a deep breath or several hundred, read through the suggestions again, and spend some time on TUG. You have time to get educated about your options. I know this feels awful, but don't make it worse by being in too much of a hurry. You may find something that can work for you if you slow down and try to get out of panic mode. We all get it; it feels terrible and you want it to go away.

Thank you!

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

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As you are quickly finding out, most timeshares are worth little or nothing and can be purchased on the resale market for a fraction of the cost of a retail purchase.

That said, you are an owner now and the best thing to do is to make the best with what you have. One option may be to consider reserving "juicy dates" and renting those out to offset your expenses.

As long as you have a loan outstanding then you are stuck with it. Unless you plan to walk away then your best bet is to get the loan paid off so you can then unload your points.

Best of luck!




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[yodaDaenerys]

How much do you think during the buy back they would give me for it? At this point im so upset we might just take the loss and have learned our lesson.

When you say 'they', if you mean HGVC, I don't think they are in the business of buying back, unless you want to upgrade with them. It may also be difficult to just walk away - you are obligated to pay the annual maintenance fees.

With those points you could get a studio for a week in Myrtle beach during late March. I don't see you getting 2 weeks anywhere, sadly. Mon-Thur nights are less points. Hopefully they gave you a bunch of bonus points too.

 

[PGRIF]

You can try to sell on eBay, but if you check there you will see it won't be worth much. If you want to take advantage of HGVC, maybe buy something additional on eBay as suggested already. You should find listings for much less than you paid, sadly. I'm also just finding out about TUG - wish I had known before I upgraded directly with HGVC earlier this year.

How much do points typically go for on eBay?

 

[PGRIF]

When you say 'they', if you mean HGVC, I don't think they are in the business of buying back, unless you want to upgrade with them. It may also be difficult to just walk away - you are obligated to pay the annual maintenance fees.

Yes I mean hgvc. I think they have a resale option. I’m not sure though that’s why I’m here!

 

[TUGBrian]

resale points sell for pennies on the dollar....so considering "selling them back" is still going to result in a staggering loss to you...and thats even if HGVC offered you a dime (which i doubt they would given the small number of points you bought). an option with an equally limited chance of success would be to explore rescinding even though you are out of your legal period. squeaky wheel gets the grease and it costs you nothing to try!

However basically at this point you have a nice timeshare (albeit a limited one, given you bought a tiny number of points)...that you paid far too much for.

you can either look to the resale market to INCREASE the number of points you have (note, buying resale is far cheaper than what you paid already) and likely accomplish your goal of actually owning a usable HGVC points package.

or you can default on the loan and the fees and suffer the consequences.

folks here are trying to help you, and despite it sounding all negative...the truth often hurts. Id also bet you wish youd have gotten some of this hard hitting advice before you bought in October!

 

[dayooper]

Even after it’s paid off it’s about 1000 a year so it’s really not worth it!

Unfortunately, you will not be able to sell it (it will be very hard to get any money). You can try to give it away, but that small amount points associated with that deed will be pretty difficult. You don't have a bunch of options here. If you paid cash (or are able to pay off the load), you can not pay the MF's and let the HOA take back the deed. This way, there's a decent chance (not guaranteed) that they won't report this on your credit. If you just default on the loan, you probably will take a hit in your credit and any other consequences that may arise.

Yes I mean hgvc. I think they have a resale option. I’m not sure though that’s why I’m here!

Their resale option is an outside broker and they take a good chunk of the proceeds. If they like the deed, they may take it back. That being said, they also have a Right of First Refusal option (HGVC can buy a deed at the price an owner is selling the deed to another person for). Except for the South Carolina properties, they have bought back very little in the past 3 years. This includes very good prices on great deeds.

 

[PGRIF]

Sorry you didn’t find us earlier.

You can book 10 weekdays in a studio during Gold Season if that’s what the sales person was trying to spin.
Weekends (Fri, Sat and Sun) cost twice as many points as Weekdays (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs).
Gold Season is week numbers 1-6, 23-34 and 46-50.


View attachment 70471That’s exactly it…

 

[PGRIF]

resale points sell for pennies on the dollar....so considering "selling them back" is still going to result in a staggering loss to you...and thats even if HGVC offered you a dime (which i doubt they would given the small number of points you bought). an option with an equally limited chance of success would be to explore rescinding even though you are out of your legal period. squeaky wheel gets the grease and it costs you nothing to try!

However basically at this point you have a nice timeshare (albeit a limited one, given you bought a tiny number of points)...that you paid far too much for.

you can either look to the resale market to INCREASE the number of points you have (note, buying resale is far cheaper than what you paid already) and likely accomplish your goal of actually owning a usable HGVC points package.

or you can default on the loan and the fees and suffer the consequences.

folks here are trying to help you, and despite it sounding all negative...the truth often hurts. Id also bet you wish youd have gotten some of this hard hitting advice before you bought in Octob

At this point I’ll take the loss to not hit our credit score because we are hoping to buy a house. Is there any kind of attorney we can contact?

 

[alwysonvac]

Here’s a strategy a TUG member used to make 2560 work for his Hawaii trips using HGVC.

From https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/longtime-reader-new-member.344045/

Hello Fellow HGVC Tuggers!

My name is Rich, and I've been following this forum for a long time. Given I've owned in the Hilton system for 10 years now and just completed my first successful resale purchase, I figured it was time to join the conversation.

My brief timeshare history is back in 2012 while I was living in DC, I went down to Myrtle Beach on a vacation package from Hilton and purchased a gold studio annual week at Anderson Ocean Club (1600 / 2560). Yes, that was a full retail purchase of ~$10K, but I saw it as a relatively low cost entry point into the system (and made sense based on the limited information I had in the sales presentation)……



….You might wonder how I was able to do annual Hawaii trips with just 1600 annual points. Using a lot of the tips and tricks in this forum, I would stay at the ground floor phase 2 standard 2 bedroom units at Kings Land on gold season weekdays only. This was just 2000 points in the old valuation, and by borrowing future year points I could do this 4 years in a row before running out of points. I would sometimes pair this with open season stays for the weekends before or after. And after using my initial bonus points, I've always used open season to stay in Vegas.

My HGVC ownership has allowed me to go on over 20 "grand" vacations over the last 10 years. I've been able to stay at Kings Land (love ground floor units), Kohala Suites, Bay Club (love the villas), Grand Waikikian, Lagoon Tower, Hokulani, Elara, Boulevard, Flamingo, Trump, Anderson, McAlpin, and Palm Desert (when it was club intrawest, very excited to potentially have access to this property within HGVC again).

….Anyway I thought I'd introduce myself and say thank you. I'm looking forward to learning and sharing a lot more!

 

[PGRIF]

Unfortunately, you will not be able to sell it (it will be very hard to get any money). You can try to give it away, but that small amount points associated with that deed will be pretty difficult. You don't have a bunch of options here. If you paid cash (or are able to pay off the load), you can not pay the MF's and let the HOA take back the deed. This way, there's a decent chance (not guaranteed) that they won't report this on your credit. If you just default on the loan, you probably will take a hit in your credit and any other consequences that may arise.

Their resale option is an outside broker and they take a good chunk of the proceeds. If they like the deed, they may take it back. That being said, they also have a Right of First Refusal option (HGVC can buy a deed at the price an owner is selling the deed to another person for). Except for the South Carolina properties, they have bought back very little in the past 3 years. This includes very good prices on great deeds.

I wish I could understand this better! I contacted them about a resale and they got back to me within 12 hrs but unfortunately they called my husband who never picks up at work. So I’m waiting for their call back again. From what I’m hearing… pay it off and if they offer to buy it back no matter what the offer is… do it to get out of the obligation and credit hit. It will just be a 15k loss… :,(

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

You'll likely be wasting your hard earned money with an Attorney so do explore any other option. You'll only be spending more money in trying to break an iron clad contract that you willingly agreed to.

HGVC has been around a long time and they have firm footing in their documentation so you won't be able to break that no matter how much you spend to try to do so.




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