Yes, we did the timeshare resort tour @ MountainLoft in Gatlinburg... And were "convinced" this was the deal for us. After all, a family of four needs all the discounted attraction tickets it can get. After touring the gorgeous model units and being pressured (an understatement) with the sales pitch (which went WAY over the 90-120 minutes we were told it would last), we signed a contract. After hearing the "warm and friendly" chatter (shmoozing) about all of the "benefits" of this and that... Yada, yada, yada - we heard "This deal is ONLY good for today. Sign today and we'll give you 30 days same as cash - you can arrange your own financing! Blah, blah, blah. Why do you need to go home and think about it? It's a win-win situation... With a family of four, you can't afford to pass this up. This will be something that you can pass along to your children"... And on and on and on. As part of the deal, a 10% down payment was required - which amounted to right at $1700. We then told them that after vacationing for a week with a 15yr old and a 7yr old, we didn't have that kind of cash... That if we did, we wouldn't be sitting through their presentation just to get "free" attraction tickets! A sales manager by the name of Marcia then agreed that if we would sign the deal that day, we could put down an initial down pymt of $300 and then post date a check for July 27th for the rest. It just so happened that my husband had just recently worked quite a few overtime hours - which he would be paid for on July 26th. From all appearances, it was meant to be. Reluctantly, we gave them two checks - the $300 to be deposited immediately, and the remainder of the down pymt, $1400 date July 27. We received our attraction tickets, owner's bag with manual, copies of our contract and were sent on our way.
The first thing I did upon arriving home two days later (on a Saturday), was to get online and research Bluegreen Vacations on usacomplaints.com. Sunday morning couldn't have gotten here fast enough. We were waiting at FedEx-Kinkos when they opened - with our letter of CANCELLATION! Because it was Sunday, our letter wouldn't get to corporate headquarters until Tuesday - which was well within the 10 day timeshare cancellation period in Tennessee. I would also contact our credit union about issuing a stop payment on the two checks left @ MountainLoft for the 10% down payment.
After being on vacation for a week, I had to be at work on time (8:00am) Monday morning - which also happened to be the same time our credit union opened. Discovering that you have to go into the branch to place a stop payment on a check, and I knew that there was no way I could get there until later into Monday morning, I transferred just enough $ out of our main checking account into a secondary account so the $300 check wouldn't clear. Imagine my surprise after arriving at the credit union at around 9:30am to discover that not only had the $300 check tried to clear, but also the $1400 check! I then fould out from the teller @ the credit union that they do not allow stop payments to be issued on checks already presented for payment and returned due to insufficient funds-even though both checks would likely be presented a second time for payment. I then asked the head teller how could Bluegreen present a post dated check for payment five days before the date on the check. She then told me that it didn't matter what date was on the check - that they (Bluegreen) could present it whenever they wanted. The credit union would only question a date that was more than 180 days in the past!
Come this Thursday (7/26)- husband's payday, I'll have to get online and transfer his direct deposit paycheck from our regular account to the secondary account to keep those checks from clearing - since I can't stop payment on them!!! And I'll be darned if I'm going to let those checks clear - I would never get my money back!
So now I sit and wait to see what happens - and accumulate returned check charges.
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