Florida-based timeshare company, BlueGreen Corporation recently reached a settlement agreement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. The agreement resolves a consumer protection lawsuit filed back in October 2008 against BlueGreen Corporation, BlueGreen Resorts, BlueGreen Vacations Unlimited, Inc. and Great Vacation Destinations, Inc. all of Boca Raton, Florida.
There had been enough complaints from buyers of BlueGreen timeshares of alleged misleading sales practices, telemarketing sales calls that violated the State’s “Do Not Call” law, and the use of improper contracts in the sales and marketing of the timeshares in Pennsylvania.
“As a major part of this settlement, BlueGreen has agreed to cancel contracts and pay refunds to consumers who have filed valid complaints about their timeshare purchases,” Corbett said. “Those complaints include consumers who were unable to use their timeshare, false promises about when or where consumers could travel and situations where timeshare purchasers did not receive extra services or discounts that were promised during the sales presentation.”
The agreement covers timeshare buyers from Pennsylvania that previously filed complaints and for new complaints filed in the next 30 days. BlueGreen will be required to refund money for the timeshare and vacation packages.
In addition, BlueGreen will pay for “free gift” or “valuable prize” offers that required additional purchases or were limited due to restrictions and overly burdensome requirements.
Lastly, BlueGreen will pay fines to those on Pennsylvania’s “Do Not Call” List that they contacted on sales calls. Pennsylvania law states that each person who is on the List and files a complaint receives $100.
For more information, click here to go the consumeraffairs.com article by James Limbach.
