Buying, Renting, and Selling Timeshares

Vallarta Gardens Timeshare Scam

Apr 23, 2023

Was anyone told they could rent their through Arrow Marketing Group?


William S.
Apr 23, 2023

Has anyone been ripped off by Vallarta Gardens in Puerto Vallarta?


William S.
Apr 23, 2023

Using Arrow Marketing Group as a means of paying off your purchase price quickly


William S.
Apr 24, 2023

Were you told this by the salesperson at Vallarta Gardens who sold you this or by someone who phoned you unexpectedly saying he could rent out your unit?


Lance C.
May 12, 2023

what bank in the US does vallarta deal with, I am being scammed now. I need contacts and ammunition to battle this fraud


Jeffrey B.
Jul 28, 2023

My wife and I attended a Vallarta Gardens timeshare presentation on May 30, 2023 after being pitched inside a Walmart in Puerto Vallarta. Our 1.5 hour presentation lasted 5.5 hours during which time we said no several times. We were pitched to purchase 6 weeks of stay in the form of a vacation club membership, Concierge Club. We were told we could sell upto 5 weeks of stay through there marketing partner, innova marketing services for 2500.00 per week. Ultimately the price went down from 60,000 to 11,500 and at that point it seemed like a good "investment." I paid a 5900.00 deposit by credit card and signed a promissory note agreeing to pay another 5600.00 within 30 days to pay of the membership. After getting back to my hotel room a bad feeling overcame me as the deal I signed seemed to good to be true and I immediately began searching for reviews of Vallarta Gardens. I could not find one reviewer who had ever been paid for the weeks that were to be sold through there marketing program and lack of availability and not mentioned charges were a common theme. During my review I learned that even though I signed a form stating that I did not have a 5 day rescission period as I was buying a foreclosure property that this was in fact a lie. Mexico consumer protection laws do not allow you to waive the 5 day rescission period.

If you are within the 5 day rescission period you definitely need to visit the website MESCAM.COM, there you can find sample rescission letters which you should copy and paste. Finding the mescam.com website was truly an act of god as it is hard to find in a search.

I emailed my rescission letter on June 2, 2023 (3 days post contract signing) then mailed June 3, 2023 (4 days post contract signing) by usps registered mail and FedEx international mail.

On July 5, 2023 I received a credit of 5900.00. If not for MESCAM sample letters and advice I don't think I would have been able to get a refund. Please trust me on this advice, I dont benefit in anyway from this recommendation and will forever be indebted to John and his website Mescam.


Andrew K.
Jul 28, 2023

Well, I'm glad your were able to rescind your purchase in time. However, there is no need for MESCAM. Rescission instructions are included with the owner's package you receive. The rescission instructions are quite simple as is the letter you have to write.


Lance C.
Aug 05, 2023

Dear Lance C,

I'm surprised by your advice you dont need to visit a website like MESCAM, i couldn't disagree with you more. Go to the website and read everything on it you are either naive or clueless.


Andrew K.
Aug 06, 2023

andrewk414 wrote:
I'm surprised by your advice you dont need to visit a website like MESCAM, i couldn't disagree with you more. Go to the website and read everything on it you are either naive or clueless.

Well, if Mescam worked for you and helped you rescind your purchase, then great, I'm happy for you that you were able to rescind. All I'm saying is, in order to legally rescind a timeshare purchase in Mexico (or anywhere else for that matter) you do not need Mescam. Dozens of people have come on this website recounting how they were able to successfully rescind a Mexican timeshare purchase without the help of Mescam.

When someone signs a timeshare purchase agreement, that person gets with his package clear instructions how to legally rescind. Nowhere in there does it say the person must go to Mescam's website.


Lance C.
Aug 08, 2023

We both got phone calls this morning from a Mexico Number. The lady who left a vm said her name was Patricia Rojas attorney with Montes. She said something about a liquidation agreement and that if we have not received our payments then to give her a call.

Not sure if any of you have also received this phone call or not.

So I called my friend who is an attorney in California bay area. He said that this is also likely a scam. That Mexico does not have laws that protect anyone, including most Mexican nationals. She said there was a construction lawsuit that was filed and that we are part of the National Register of Victims. According again to my attorney who works here but is Mexican this is not true. In any case I thought it might be nice to get my $ back if this is legit but again another tactic to try and pressure us who were scammed into giving them more $.

My attorney friend said that they can't come after us, part of the Geneva convention. He said in order to attach our wages or whatever, they would have to personally serve us, not just call and send aggressive voicemail messages. This lady also said if she does not hear back from us by Friday that she will send me paperwork to opt out of this lawsuit. Since I have yet to get anything at all in the mail from Mexico, I'm doubtful that after 10 years I would get one now.

I also just google earthed Vallarta Gardens and it's the same as 10 years ago. Still the same footprint, no more new condos, no yacht harbor, nada.


Lisa M.
Aug 09, 2023

Lance C:

You are doing a great disservice to those of us who have been scammed by a Mexican timeshare outfit by advising you don't need to visit a website like MESCAM.COM. YOU DO!!! Mescam has great information on what to include in your rescission letter to show these Mexican timeshare companies you mean business and you know your rights.

Here is my letter:

June 3, 2023

TTR GO, S.A. de C.V., Vallarta Gardens, Concierge Club #CC1774 KM 1.2 Carr. Punta Mita La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Bahia de Banderas Nayarit, Mexico 63734

SENT: U.S. MAIL & REGISTERED MAIL & FEDEX EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL &

EMAIL TO: CONTACT@CONCIERGEC.COM

RE:  Vacation package:  Vallarta Gardens, Concierge Club membership #CC1774, TTR GO, S.A de C.V., a Mexican corporation         Address:                  KM 1.2 Carr. Punta Mita                                          La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Bahia de Banderas                                          Nayarit, Mexico 63734 I am writing to you today to cancel my “membership” (AND ANYTHING RELATED TO MY PURCHASE) that includes but is not limited to TTR GO, S.A.de C.V., Vallarta Gardens, Concierge Club CC1774, Advantage Program, Advantage Services, innova Marketing Incentives AND to get a full refund of the $5900.00 which you have already charged to my credit card.  I am providing you with notice that I am canceling this contract within five working days from the signing of the contract/agreement.  IAW Article 56 of ARTICLE 56 OF LEY Federal de Protección al Consumidor states: " The contract will be perfected within five working days from the delivery of, or the signature of the contract, whichever occurs the latest.  During this period, the consumer will have the right to revoke his consent without any responsibility.  The revocation will have to be by warning, or delivery of notice, in person, by registered mail, or another method of average reliability.  The revocation, according to this article, will terminate the contract.  In this case, the costs of shipping and insurance will be the responsibility of the consumer.  If the contract is for services, this article will not be applicable if the date of receipt of the service is less than ten working days from the date of the order of purchase." I am aware that my right to cancellation and to get a full refund is non-waivable (the buyer cannot give it up) and even if the buyer is convinced to sign a document to give it up (waive the right) that waiver is not valid, and the buyer still has the 5 day right of rescission or cancellation.  A copy of the foreclosure letter (illegal) your representative Mike Hill had my wife and I sign will be forwarded to PROFECO if necessary. Further any argument you have claiming any fees are non-refundable are invalid according to Mexican law and this has been verified with PROFECO.

I have been in contact with other Americans and know what my rights are under Mexican law.  If you plan on sending me an email stating "As indicated in our agreement - you may cancel your membership at any time, but the enrollment fee is non- refundable, I am afraid I cannot comply with your request'; do not waste your time or mine.  You must comply by law or face fines.  You can also forget about sending me an email saying that filing a complaint with PROFECO will tie up my refund for months.  I know this is not true. Any attempt by you to refuse this request will be forwarded to PROFECO with my demand that PROFECO fine you to the utmost extent of the law.  You should also know that any email you send refusing me my rights, may be posted on the Internet for all the world to read and see how you do business. Due to the increasing number of resorts which are refusing to comply with Mexico Consumer Protection Laws (Article 56) and accept a legal cancellation of a contract ; I will be sending a copy of this cancellation letter to my credit card company and instructing them that any continuing effort by your resort to charge my credit card is an illegal act under Mexican law and constitutes Fraud.  I will also instruct my credit card company that if they choose to process your charges, which are in violation of Mexican law since this contract has been legally cancelled, I will file a lawsuit against my credit card company in a US court for damages.  You will be welcome to send your representative to the US for the trial and to testify for my credit card company and explain why you chose to ignore this cancellation which is being performed in accordance with Article 56 of Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor. Comply with the law, cancel my contract, and send me my refund now!  You should also note that I am copying several Mexican and US government agencies by email this letter as proof that I notified you within the legal time period. Thank you very much for your time,

Do you really think a generic rescission letter simply stating you wish to cancel your contract would have the same effect to a Mexican timeshare outfit.

Lance please go to mescam.com, take 15 minutes to review their website and come back in this forum with your thoughts, unless of course you work for a mexican timeshare company. I look forward to your response.


Andrew K.
Aug 10, 2023

I think you are just advertising your scam website!


Mike W
Aug 10, 2023

andrewk414 wrote:
Do you really think a generic rescission letter simply stating you wish to cancel your contract would have the same effect to a Mexican timeshare outfit.

Lance please go to mescam.com, take 15 minutes to review their website and come back in this forum with your thoughts, unless of course you work for a mexican timeshare company. I look forward to your response.

First of all, I do not work for a Mexican timeshare outfit. Frankly, I would rather have a job scraping squid guts out of the dumpster in a NYC back alley than work for a Mexican timeshare outfit.

And if you would read what I posted earlier, you would see this. I am happy for you that you were able to rescind your timeshare purchase. If Mescam helped you in this regard, then great! All I'm saying is, someone who purchases a timeshare or right-to-use in Mexico, or any other place for that matter, does not need Mescam. There are many purchasers who have come here on these boards saying how they were able to successfully and legally rescind their timeshare purchase without the help of Mescam.

In order to legally and successfully rescind a purchase, the purchaser gets instructions in his package how to rescind. Nowhere does it say that you have to go to Mescam's website to do so.

But again, if Mescam helped you successfully rescind your purchase, then great! I'm happy for you.


Lance C.
Aug 12, 2023

Mike W,

There is nothing you can purchase on the MESCAM website, it is just a great place to get educated with plenty of examples of what you are up against. If you were to actually investigate a little bit by going to mescam,com for 10 minutes you would see how wrong you are but why bother just share your ignorant opinion, Im sure your thoughts have helped a lot of people.


Andrew K.
Aug 12, 2023

Lance C,

I apologize, I read the first seven pages of this thread and can see that you are definitely trying to help people who are within their 5 day rescission period and have been for quite a while (my bad). Nothing is more important than your point that you should read the rescission language of your contract and follow the instructions to the letter to rescind your contract.

For those like me who are scared to death in having to deal with a mexican timeshare company given several thousands of dollars are at stake general knowledge about scams and mexican timeshare in general can provide a little relief. Towards that end educating my self was a way to provide a little relief. Until I actually received my refund I did not sleep well agonizing over one of the worst mistakes of my life.

In my case my wife and I signed a foreclosure document acknowledging the 5 day rescission period had already been used by the original purchaser. I could have just gave up but my gut told me to look into it. Well I learned that what I what I had purchased was actually an "RTU" and so foreclosure was not even possible. Additionally I learned that Mexico consumer protection law does not allow purchasers to waive the 5 day rescission period.

I am incredibly greatful for the information provided in the mescam webiste and can see that I may seem like a tout for mescam but the fact is this website was one of the best I found in the countless hours I spent researching rescission of timeshare contracts and also this website sells absolutely nothing and like you just wants to educate and help people out of a terrible predicament.

Again my apologies.


Andrew K.
Sep 20, 2023

Sounds like us Twelve months have passed,no timeshare money. I am assuming that we won't receive any marketing week money at the end of this year. We were really duped.


whmis

Last edited by deborah733 on Nov 16, 2023 07:54 PM

Sep 20, 2023

Sounds like us Twelve months have passed,no timeshare money. I am assuming that we won't receive any marketing week money at the end of this year. We were really duped. Look at Facebook for group

jeannab22 wrote:
I purchased a fraction this week, 3 days ago. Put down payment on my cc. Main reason for doing so is they offered to buy my current timeshare, then I can give them my Weeks that I don't want and they will pay me yearly. Today I decided to do more research as I found it strange that they were wining and dining me AFTER I already signed the contracts. What part of the deal is the scam? I am reading all these comments and it's saying it's a scam. Do they not actually follow through with the payments they promised for my weeks, even though it's in writing? And will they not pay me for the timeshare they purchased from me, although it's in writing? I am still here and supposed to stay at their property for the next 2 nights and they sent me on luxury tours after my purchase. I did it more as an investment.


whmis
Oct 11, 2023

Thanks for all the info.

We were also duped by the marketing scam of renting out our unit for a few years, so it would pay for itself. We found out after the fact that this is a scam.

We are currently battling with VG to rescind our agreement. We sent a letter and documentation to VG within the 5-day rescission period. We never heard anything. We tried to contract them via email and phone and never got any response or talked to anyone. We had put our downpayment on 2 credit cards. In hindsight, seems like a red flag, but we had the money in savings, and could pay off the credit card right away. Since we did not hear from VG, we submitted disputes on the charges to our cards for the downpayment, and put a halt on any charges from VG on our cards. One of the two banks approved the dispute. We still have about $5,000 sitting out there trying to get back. To my knowledge, VG has never tried to charge our card for anything, including the monthly payment.

We never received any contact from VG for anything like an overdue payment, or payment refused by our credit card’s bank, or anything. No contact whatsoever. Fast-forward to a month ago, and we were contacted by a collection agency that we owe ~$25,000 for the VG timeshare. We explained the situation, which they took back and researched - supposedly. They came back with an answer that VG never received our Letter of Rescission. Well, I have proof from FedEx that "someone" signed for it. I am not responsible for what they do or don't do with it after that.

So, I have not heard anything for about 10 days. I am sure they are ramping up to file a lawsuit, so I'm getting ready for that battle. I am sure they have people on staff who love this battle. They live for making this as painful as possible and not give an inch. Based on what I see on this board alone, they have TONS of people who try to get out of the purchase. They are masters at scamming people and trapping them into paying.

I have a meeting with Wesley Financial to discuss. Their reviews are not very good, but maybe I can glean some information on how to proceed.

Here's a question for y'all: Is it possible to look up the property description that we "bought" and see if they have resold the exact same property someone else since we rescinded our purchase?


Lorenzo H.

Last edited by lorenzoh5 on Oct 11, 2023 05:01 PM

Oct 12, 2023

lorenzoh5 wrote:
I have a meeting with Wesley Financial to discuss. Their reviews are not very good, but maybe I can glean some information on how to proceed.

Here's a question for y'all: Is it possible to look up the property description that we "bought" and see if they have resold the exact same property someone else since we rescinded our purchase?

What you "bought" in Mexico is really nothing more than a "right to use", by contract. You don't actually "own" anything there at all; it's essentially just a "membership", with no actual ownership. The short answer to your question is no, since everyone basically gets sold the exact same RTU "product" anyhow (albeit at different prices, depending on sales hyena tactics and the the resistance or acquiescence by the unfortunate buyer).

Wesley Financial cannot help you; don't waste your time (or money) with them. If you submitted your contract rescission (cancellation) properly and on time, you should definitely contact PROFECO, since failure to acknowledge and process a timely and properly submitted rescission would be a clear failure of the seller to comply with applicable law (...or what passes for "law" in Mexico). PROFECO is really the only avenue available to you with any prospect of success. Good luck!


KC

Last edited by ken1193 on Oct 12, 2023 03:18 PM

Nov 27, 2023

Thanks for your reply.

UPDATE: Nothing has changed since the last time we were called by the collection agency. We haven't heard anything at all. I half-expected to hear from lawyers by now, or maybe a hit on our credit history and rating, but nothing so far.

VG still has $5000 of our downpayment, which was on a credit card. I tried once to dispute it and lost. But I may try again. What are they going to do, say 'no'?


Lorenzo H.

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