Has anyone purchased from Vallart Gardens?

I am in Mexico now and am appalled that VG is still in the business of stealing people's money. No sign of construction of the mysterious Sky Towers. Don't stop fighting to get your money back!

Hi there! So you are there now? I bought a couple years ago and got scammed, I bought a 2 bedroom in the new Coral site, is that there? I understand that people have been able to go to their credit card company and get their money back if what they were told would be available by like you said 2014 was not then they did not deliver on their contract. Thanks for your time, sorry you got scammed too! Take photo's send them to ReMax and maybe finally REMAX will sue them and they will be out of business. By the way, any Yacht harbor or restaurant at the end of the Jetty? :/

No yacht club and no restaurant on the jetty.

Coral site is new to me. Our product was called ocean garden. It sounds like they just keep making up new stuff to sell.

We were alerted by many of the posts on this Forum (and others), and I am hopeful that it helped us 'see the light' just in time. On 3/17/15, we purchased a 2BR 1 week with an option for an additional 3 weeks in perpetuity for around $51,000. As what was later termed a 'side agreement' with another company, Berkshire Financial Group of Oklahoma City, OK was to liquidate our two existing timeshares for a total of $57,000. Upon reviewing the terms and conditions, my wife and I became concerned about the agreement to liquidate our existing timeshares, since those were to happen within 180 days, while our $51,000 was due within 60 days. It was helpful to learn here (and on other forums) that many people had the re-sale fall through, at which point they are stuck holding more property than they wished - and I mentioned that to the VG sales people as a major concern.

I had also researched Berkshire and could find little about them - they are not registered as a corporation with the Oklahoma Secretary of State, the address they use on their website (with an obious misspelling of the word their on one of their front pages) shows up in Google maps as a vacant lot, their CEO doesn't show up in a Google search, etc.

We returned today (3/20/15) and expressed our concerns and suggested rescinding the contract (as provided within 5 days in clause 11 of the contract). At that point, the original salesman 'Jeff' (and his brother 'Chris') started getting very 'assertive' that we could exercise our right but would be on the hook for 'liquidated damages.' I pointed out that clause 11 allows us to cancel with no penalty. Then the tune changed to 'the liquidator has already disposed of the property and there are damages there.' I pointed out that they couldn't dispose of the property as we still held title to it, but if they wanted to liquidate at the agreed upon price, it was fine with us. Then the tune switched to the fact that we had signed an agreement waiving our 5 day right to rescind - but when we pushed them to show us where, that claim went away.

Around and around and around we went. They finally agreed (probably because we were disrupting other possible sales) to cancel the contract in return for 'reasonable damages' on their part. They brought in their 'legal representative' who told us she would settle for 6 percent of the downpayment - $900 (an absurd amount for a couple of sales pitches, some excursion tickets and two breakfasts). I said 'put it in front of me to consider.' It arrived with a confidentiality clause, at which point I told her we would exercise the right to cancel by noticing them there and sending a certified letter with a return receipt.

At that point, they signed an acknowledgement of our exercising our first requirement to cancel the requirement, security escorted us to the door of the property, and we took (and paid for) a cab back to PV.

We then went directly to the Prefeco office in Puerto Vallarta and met with a very helpful woman. She pointed out some very useful points for those who may find themselves in our situation:

1. It is not possible to waive the right to contract recission within five days - it is also notable that it is five business days.

2. There is not a right to withhold a portion of the downpayment on a rescinded contract for 'damages.' If they have your money and you undertake a valid rescission, they have 15 days to return the funds to you.

The discussion also made clear some other false claims by 'Jeff' and 'Chris.' We indicated that our current timeshares were a purchase of property (and have title/deed to it). We asked if that was the case, and they said it was; however, it appears that under Mexican law, the contract is only for a right to use the property, which provides far less recourse should things fall apart. They also claimed that there was an active secondary market for resale, but they failed to mention that resale would require a title transfer fee of 5 times the annual maintenance fee (nearly $5,000). And on and on.

The good news is the Prefeco representative walked us through the remaining steps to cancel the contract and also provided us contact information to follow up should there be any additional 'issues.' Needless to say, we have alerted our bank and our credit card company to the fact that we have done a valid recission of this contract and that we do not authorize any payments to Vallarta Gardens. I am hopeful this will be the end of it - but I'm maybe only 80 percent confident of that.

I am so glad that the posts here helped save you from being ripped off by these crooks. It's shameful that they are still in business - they are the worst liars I have ever come across. They will probably still harass you, so be prepared for that, but as long as you did everything on your credit card, you should be ok. I am one of the lucky ones that got my money back because I charged the whole transaction. But they didn't give up easy - took me two years and a lot of anguish. Best of luck to you!

Thank you to everyone who has posted about their experiences. It has provided assistance and encouragement to those taken advantage of by these con artists. I am glad that people are now getting out unscathed.

What I don't understand is why Profeco doesn't shut these people down. Everyone knows about them except the tourists that go down there and get swept away with emotion in paradise. There should be a sign posted at the gate warning people of these con artists. Sorry but I don't have the letter that I got from Re Max saying that they were in no way connected to Vallarta Gardens. I will keep looking though. Good luck to all. I got my money back also because we charged the whole thing on our credit card.

Wish I had found this sooner. Were your credit card charges within 30 days, or were some later than that? Did you receive the Re/Max letter recently, in the past 3 months? Definitely no connection? I think I saw a reference to a 1 bedroom being available...could someone please confirm for me. Thanks for all this input....more to come from me no doubt.

janetc188 wrote:

What I don't understand is why Profeco doesn't shut these people down. Everyone knows about them except the tourists that go down there and get swept away with emotion in paradise. There should be a sign posted at the gate warning people of these con artists. Sorry but I don't have the letter that I got from Re Max saying that they were in no way connected to Vallarta Gardens. I will keep looking though. Good luck to all. I got my money back also because we charged the whole thing on our credit card.

You are all so right, I had many issues too, but I was constantly complaining directly with them, the person who made the presentation to us, didn´t lie that much, we just didn´t have the the oceanview they promised, so we kept complaining for an entire week. Finally after a lot of annoyances and insistence, we had what they originally promised, I still regret it a little, because the costs are somewhat higher than we originally were told.

We did buy , about a few months ago, despite we agree on what you say about the price everything else was so nice we don’t mind it that much. Everything looked nice. I hope it will look as nice next year, when we will visit Vallarta Gardens again.

Your experience was exactly what we experienced at Puerto Bahia (just up the road from Vallarta Gardens). I am curious about the person you refer as Jeff. Our Salesman was Todd Dehn, but after we tried to cancel and went through all aggrevation they sent us to a person referred to as Jeff. I suspect that Jeff just moved up the road. I know that Todd Dehn and George Triggs are now in Costa Rica pulling the same scams......google their names and you'll see.

We were not able to cancel the transaction at Puerto Bahia but my Credit Card did refund some of the charges.

We were also told that they would take our 3 other timeshares in trade through a company called Mercury Property Management. However, when I googled MPM it was a vacant parking lot and they were not registered with the BBB. I called MPM as asked why their letterhead address was a vacant lot. They told me that the printer had made a mistake and they had not had it changed. I asked why they were not registered with the BBB and I was told that they didn't want to pay the fees. We also had a 180 day time frame for them to sell the other properties. After the 180 days was up I called MPM only to be told that the person I had been working with was no longer worked there and my contract had been pulled. They could give me no reason why they didn't have the contract or all the paperwork that I had sent them and informed me that I had reached a call center.

After shutting off my credit card they finally did send me an email. I told them the problem and informed them that they would get no more money. I imformed them that I had sent by registered mail my complaints and they had 10 days to cure.

They didn't cure in 10 days but did offer a larger house and fewer weeks and I had to pay no more money.

However, we had such a bad experience with this entire group who said they were ReMax (but were not) that we can't even think about going to PV.

Deborah, are you at liberty to disclose which c/c company you used? I am discussing some of my issues with my c/c company and they are asking for verification from an attorney that fraud has been committed. Quite obvious that has been the case; curious about experiences with various credit card companies. Thank you to all who are contributing to the conversation.

Joan, the problem with this VG is that they lie about everything, but it's hard to prove legally. I was denied by my cc company on my first appeal since the resort is open and available for booking. The only reason I got my money back is that I had a contract for a studio unit that was supposed to be available by August of 2014. Once that date came and went, the unit had never even been built, and I could prove that I could not trade with other companies like RCI, etc - as there was nothing to trade - did my cc company finally give me the refund. I would prefer not to mention my cc company, but I can tell you to get as much information, pictures, etc that you can to submit to them. And good luck!

Hi Glendam, I'm doing some further research about this... would you send me a message at micki_32@hotmail.com and we can arrange to discuss by phone? I'd really appreciate your input.

I did not receive any calls, but they did threaten me via email. Wish you best of luck - these people are the worst thieves I have ever come across!

We are also disputing charges with credit card company, anyway you could email me that letter? Is there anyway to prove the studio units are not built yet? My email is blohmmb@aol.com any help would be appreciated. Thanks

The way this company got us to sign was they offered us a marketing contract with a company they called Berkshire Financial Group. The sales manager said he would guarantee we would get 2400 yearly to help us offset our costs. The problem is BFG doesn't exist and never did. A google search of both company and CEO came up empty. The address given to us is non existent (confirmed by the tax assessors office in Oklahoma City). The Secretary of State in Oklahoma also has no record of this company being incorporated there. We had a consumer attorney do a search on BFGs website and though company claimed to be in business since 2001 that website was set up on Jan. 27, 2015 which was about the time the sales manager said they had begun using them. We signed on a March 26, 2015 and by the middle of May the website had been shutdown and numbers disconnected. It would appear Vallarta Gardens started this company themselves with the sole purpose of fraudulently inducing people to sign their contract. We have done searches on previous "companies" they have used and have found they do not exist either. They have a track record of this type of deception. Mercury management co., Berkshire Financial Group, Omnicorp, VP Services are just a few. If anybody has that Remax letter they could email me or any information on whether they still do not have studio units completed I would appreciate it. If I am able to help any of you in any way you can email me at blohmmb@aol.com. We are going to make this company our own little "project" until they are shutdown.

I will contact you off line

Hi JanetC188, Will you be able to send me a copy of the email you got from Re/Max stating that Vallarta Gardens is a scam? Even though they are not using Re/Max anymore, from what I gather, rather a different marketing company called VP Services out of Brownsville, TX, I believe that it will greatly help me win my credit card dispute with my credit card company. If I can show them something from a reputable company like Re/Max, whose name was used to scam Vallarta Gardens customers, this could possibly be the one piece of "proof" that could make all the difference in winning my dispute.

I too was taken in by these people just last month, and like so many others, only learned of their scam and deceitful practices when I returned home and found all the posts on the internet. I will post my experience on this Forum at a later date after I get everything in order. Disgraceful, immoral people.

I'm new to this site, but I do see that there is a way to private message each other....if you are willing to send me a copy of your letter, I will SO greatly appreciate!! I hope to hear from you in my message box. THANK YOU!!!