I am a former TIMESHARE EMPLOYEE IN MEXICO

We would need more info, but the consensus is to never buy from a developer or from a travel club as you can buy the same product for pennies on the dollar resale.

mauriciog9 wrote:

I was wondering if anyone could advise me if this is a good deal or not...

The fact that you are even wondering shows that you are not really ready for this and that you should rescind.

Why pay $7200 for something you're not sure about. If, after you've rescinded, you decide later that it is something you want, then buy it. The deal will still be there.

Make sure you follow your rescission instructions very carefully including the method to send it (e.g. certified mail, FedEx, etc.).

It's the date stamped on the rescission envelope that counts .... not when they receive it .... send it USPS (United States Postal Service) certified mail with receipt.

Hey I am looking to work for Vida Vacations and I was wondering what was your average pay per check? Also, did you enjoy the experience? Also, would you recommend me going or just not even trying?

I'm looking into working for Vida Vacations. Can anyone tell me about being an employee for them? More then the sales stuff, I want to know about where you are living, the meals and are the hours fair, do people get along? All that stuff. Thanks

I have just started my first business - money is tight as you can imagine. Additionally my wife just lost our first child. We don't have any money at the moment so my father in law kindly gave us the use of his time share and we chose to go to Mexico.

After a 12 hour flight from the UK including delays we reached the Gran Mayan.

We were then roped in to sales pitch for the next day. It should have clicked when we had to give a deposit of 10 USD on the promise of a free breakfast , 1000 pesos room credit and a free tour to the ruins in Tullum but we were just too tired.

The pitch was to last no more than 1 hour but in total we started at 9.30 and finished at 12.30

4 sales people later and we finally got out. Having worked for legitimate business all my life it saddens me that people like this tarnish business for others.

They tried to use everything they could, diagrams, coloured drawings, brochures,confusing arithmetic, to confuse and dilute the true essence of what it is there were selling.

the initial price was $68,000 but they didn't want that today they wanted 35% deposit an they could finance the rest.- just close to $21,000 they wanted today!!

our explanation of our situation only triggered the sales person to call the next guy over and for him to lower the price.

When that had no effect they call another lady over and she dropped the price to $10,000 dollars

When we she got no result and my wife had to tell her why we were here we were ushered under the pretence that we could leave, we went through to another room where the final guy 1)- said he was friends with the owner 2)-conducted a fake survey of our experience 3)-tried to sell us again this time for a reduced rate and a 2 year tie in

It took me to tell him I not only wanted to leave but to go back home to the UK for him to let us go.

On the exit we even had to endure sarcastic remarks from the sales lady who offered us the sale for $10,000

When we went to book our free trip to Tullum we discovered it was a 5 hour trip but only 1.5hours was at the ruins. 1.5hours is spent at a jewellery factory which we were not told about.

the guy at the desk said " thats why it is free sir"- fair enough but that was nt made clear.

All in all its just a big scam from start to finish

Before you put pen to paper i would urge you to stronlgy think of these before hand:-

Would you buy a house or car without knowing all there is to know about it first? service history past owners,surveys etc.

Would you buy something without looking at the prices of others before making a decision?

Why would you trust someone you have just met with such large sums of money?

Thanks

A

HELLO.. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE ON TIMESHARE OWNERSHIP. I OWN A TIME SHARE SINCE 1989, DUE TO A DIVORCE AND LACK OF INCOME I AM NOT ABLE TO PAY FOR THE MAINTANANCE AND COLLECTION FEES OF (TWO YEARS) I ASKED PARK REGENCY TO ACCEPT A DEED BACK IN LIU OF THE COLLECTION FEES, AND THEY REFUSED. THEIR ANSWER WAS "GET YOUR COLLECTION FEES CURRENT" AND WE WILL ACCEPT DEED BACK SITUATION. I AM NOT ABLE TO PAY THE COLLECTION AGENCY. AND NOT ABLE TO FIND A JOB DUE TO AGE FACTOR. I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE AT THIS TIME. CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY ADVICE? DU

almao2 wrote:

I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE AT THIS TIME. CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY ADVICE?

My first piece of advice would be to not pay any company or firm a large, upfront fee to sell or get you out of your timeshare. Many of these pop up taking advantage of people like you.

I would contact the resort again and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that you can not afford to pay those back dues and, for every year that they refuse to take the deed back, it's going to cost them that much in lost maintenance fees. Explain your financial situation very clearly and let them know it would be in their best interests to take it back ASAP.

andyb138 wrote:

Before you put pen to paper i would urge you to stronlgy think of these before hand:-

Would you buy a house or car without knowing all there is to know about it first? service history past owners,surveys etc.

Would you buy something without looking at the prices of others before making a decision?

Why would you trust someone you have just met with such large sums of money?

This is something that posters on these boards such as RedWeek, TS4MS, and Timeshare Users Group (TUG) have been emphasizing for years.

It just seems like these sales crews know how to hit the right buttons to make people plop down tens of thousands of dollars for something that is worth about $1. Your experience clearly explains how they do this.

Hello timeshares4 and members,

I stayed at Villa Del Arco recently and not sure what I was thinking but purchased a timeshare from their sales presentation. Here's what was presented to me similar to what you stated timshares4 and need advise from all.

1. The Villa group uses a point system for their timeshare. For a two bedroom suite, it's 2400 points. The sales pitch started high at $27k or so to purchase the points. Towards the end and his bottle line sales pitch that was only good "for that day", the price went down to $13k for 1200 points, however they are throwing in an additional 1200 points that can be used for a two bedroom suite. So his sales pitch, we're giving you a two bedroom suite for half the cost. However, when it was time to signing the contract, the contract stated that I was purchasing a studio suite which equates to the 1200 points. So my question, if I'm trading this through II am I going to have a 2 bedroom trade with my 2400 points or just a studio suite? I asked the salesman this, and his answer was "see what the 1200 points give you and if needed use the additional 1200 points, but since Villa del Arco is sought after the 1200 points trade in for a two bedroom and the free 1200 points can be rented out." Any truth to all of this?

2. I asked him about resales and ebay and it looks like they were prepared to counter those questions. When pulling up the contract, it mentions that the Villa group has exclusive rights for resale and any rentals would need to be approved by them. So his bottom line was only Villa group can resale?

3. It states I have 5 business days to rescind the contract. However, in the contract, there's a clause that states all of the down payment will not be refunded. The down payment I provided was a substantial amount. Do I still have any recourse to get this back or is it basically take the loss and rescind? How do I go about rescinding?

Thanks for any advise.

If you put the deposit on your credit card you can dispute the charge with your credit card company and there is a good chance you will win since you got nothing for your money. If you decide to cancel make sure you cross your " t " s and dot your " I ' s. Send the cancellation receipt return and make sure it is post marked prior to the end of the recission period.

Even if you lose your down payment you may find that you got out cheap. Read some of the other stories of people who didn't recind in time. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

conradc7 wrote:

3. It states I have 5 business days to rescind the contract. However, in the contract, there's a clause that states all of the down payment will not be refunded. The down payment I provided was a substantial amount. Do I still have any recourse to get this back or is it basically take the loss and rescind? How do I go about rescinding?

Thanks for any advise.

If you rescinded within the five business days and followed the rescission instructions properly, then they are legally required to refund all down payments! They might ask for money for any binder they might have given you ($50 about) but that is nothing compared to the financial nightmares you will have by not rescinding.

You have 5 days to rescind. Do this in writing. Also, I would suggest that you go to TUG and find the Mexico discussion forum and ask for help. There are a lot of sharp people there who helped me get out of a contract in which there was fraud.

I was past my 5 day rescission period.

Here is the website: http://www.tug2.net/

You need to register and it is free to use the forum. You need to pay to sell something. Do it now. You wont' be sorry!

conradc7 wrote:

Hello timeshares4 and members,

I stayed at Villa Del Arco recently and not sure what I was thinking but purchased a timeshare from their sales presentation. Here's what was presented to me similar to what you stated timshares4 and need advise from all.

1. The Villa group uses a point system for their timeshare. For a two bedroom suite, it's 2400 points. The sales pitch started high at $27k or so to purchase the points. Towards the end and his bottle line sales pitch that was only good "for that day", the price went down to $13k for 1200 points, however they are throwing in an additional 1200 points that can be used for a two bedroom suite. So his sales pitch, we're giving you a two bedroom suite for half the cost. However, when it was time to signing the contract, the contract stated that I was purchasing a studio suite which equates to the 1200 points. So my question, if I'm trading this through II am I going to have a 2 bedroom trade with my 2400 points or just a studio suite? I asked the salesman this, and his answer was "see what the 1200 points give you and if needed use the additional 1200 points, but since Villa del Arco is sought after the 1200 points trade in for a two bedroom and the free 1200 points can be rented out." Any truth to all of this?

2. I asked him about resales and ebay and it looks like they were prepared to counter those questions. When pulling up the contract, it mentions that the Villa group has exclusive rights for resale and any rentals would need to be approved by them. So his bottom line was only Villa group can resale?

3. It states I have 5 business days to rescind the contract. However, in the contract, there's a clause that states all of the down payment will not be refunded. The down payment I provided was a substantial amount. Do I still have any recourse to get this back or is it basically take the loss and rescind? How do I go about rescinding?

Thanks for any advise.

Im looking into buying at royal playa del carmen from a secondary dealer. The add says 80 annual floating red season weeks to be used within RTU till 2057. It also says maintenance fees of $299 are due only when used. If I buy Can I use and give away weeks so they can be used in the same calendar week to vacation with friends? Can I really use the weeks when and the way I want? Can weeks be used to purchase an upgraded room? If so do I pay the maintenance fee one time for the upgraded room for the week or do I pay for each week I used for the upgrade? What about fees outside of maintenance fees? How much is the mandatory all inclusive plan? When it says subject to availability does that mean everyone else booking who isnt a member gets first dibs? Are you put on a back burner because as an owner you already payed so they arent getting anythin additional out of you? HELP!!!

timeshares4 wrote:

Greetings to you all,

I am a former employee of a large timeshare company in Mexico. I know all the lies, misrepresentation and deceitful sales pitch they use to scam people who purchase in good faith.

Let me explain you how it works.

The presentation would start by telling the clients that they need to give us a decision at the end. Then, we would have breakfast and ask questions as far as their traveling needs.

In the sales pitch, we were encouraged to offer a rental program (we had a training to learn how it works) where the new owner had the option to rent the weeks they would not use and use the rental money to pay for the timeshare. Also, if the client had a previous timeshare, a broker (Great Sales and Rentals*) would buy it from them so they would not accumulate timeshares. This was a big part of the sales presentation and many of my costumers were excited about these options.

I found latter these two options which made the clients very interested in becoming part of this timeshare, were blatant lies and a fraudulent sales pitch to get people to buy. Then, I started hearing rumors of colleagues making fun of costumers, jokes like "yeah! Like it is going to be rented", "suckers! They bought everything I pitch them!", or the manager stating in one of the meetings: "Sell however you can, we´ll fix it later (It made sense to me later)".

I asked around and confronted my colleagues just to find out that most people in the sales room were part of these scams. I confronted my sales manager asking him to stop this ordeal and as you might expect, he fired me.

I own a timeshare and have had great memories with my family. Even though the concept of Timeshare is good by itself, some unethical salespeople feel the need to create false expectations, exercising deceitful sales practices just to create an easy buck.

I open this forum and complaint so if you have any questions I can answer please write it down at the bottom and I will answer it with honesty and try to be of help.

*The name of the Rental Company has been change to avoid a potential law suit.

Timeshare salesman in Mexico.

We bought at the Villa de Arco and have used it twice. We found the best thing is to check in on Monday and out on Saturday, you can then get a one bedroom suite for your yearly points. We actually love the place and look forward to visiting Loreto next year.

Not sure about the "out" clause or rental clause, but we intend to use this place yearly as we live in Chicago and look forward to getting out of here once per year. With Southwest now servicing Mexico, it's even better. However, when we asked about the "gifting" the week to our kids, they said no problem. We also intend on doing that from time to time.

A friend of mine went to Cabo on vacation. While there she went to a timeshare presentation and sadly paid $12k, for she doesn't even know what. She thinks it was just points, not like the fix week she owns in Aruba. While there she is on FB bragging how they offered her a job selling timeshares. As soon as the right of recision lapsed they took the job off the table. Luckily she only got stung for $2k.

Another guy I met in Aruba owned a penthouse in one of the Marriotts in Aruba. When he was negotiating the sale he overheard a man talking with Brittany Spears Manager, who said she only needed 3 penthouses, not four. So her agent offered this guy the unit.

It never ceases to amaze me the ploys they use to get someone to buy!

Can you tell me the names of some of the timeshare companies in mexico? Is trendwest one of them? I have tried to look online and all I see is companies that sell used memberships. I don't want to fall victim to some of the "you won a free trip" marketing scams. So I'm trying to find out what companies do sell new memberships in mexico.

pamc318 wrote:

Can you tell me the names of some of the timeshare companies in mexico? Is trendwest one of them? I have tried to look online and all I see is companies that sell used memberships. I don't want to fall victim to some of the "you won a free trip" marketing scams. So I'm trying to find out what companies do sell new memberships in mexico.

If by "new membership" you actually mean pursuing a developer-direct purchase, that would be a supremely terrible financial mistake, so the names of the individual thieving parasite companies are irrelevant. You would pay much more to a developer than you would pay in any "resale" purchase from a current contract holder. "Used" means absolutely nothing when it comes to timeshares --- ALL are "used" when it comes right down to it. .

More important however, why on earth would you want to pay for ANY Mexican RTU (right to use) long term contract anyhow, whether it's from someone else looking to bail out, or directly from a thieving developer? You can always rent in Mexico relatively easily, without the long term financial burden and long term legal obligation of being tied to a RTU contract. Save your money. If you pursue a RTU contract, you will surely regret it later (and probably won't even be able to get rid of it later either). Do yourself a huge favor --- just rent instead if / when you want to go to Mexico.

I'm wondering if you've heard from Livingston Property Services in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and if they are legit?

My parents I believe are misled' and trying to help them before they send anymore money.

This is time sensitive, if you could reply right away please.

Thx Cindy

NEVER pay anyone money upfront that claims they can get you out of your contract !!!