Sales promises

Has anyone else been made promises by the sales person only to find out they aren't true?

All lies....they sold my husband down the stream without oars... he bought six weeks of the MonteCristo Villas telling him that they would rent them for us. NOT...the golf course was suppose to be completed in Spring of 07', NOT. As a result there are many many for sale!!!

We purchased in 05 villa 13 and still no golf, the truth is that these villas are beautiful and spacious and for the first few buyers affordable. We enjoy staying there 8-10 day a year and we have been able to rent out the rest of our time at an affordable fee, our maintance fees are low compared to the people that purchased after us, but the truth is without the courses and the glut of phase II are resale has gone down and that is what concerns my wife and I. It would be nice if the people at Pueblo Bonito would compensate the buyers with some type of perk when we stay at the resort to make up for the delays (lies). Just wishful thinking.

My wife and I bought into a villa in late 2006 after being told of some great benefits, including having the unit paid for, within 7.5 years, if we gave it up for rent each year. Well, that was just one of the lies, that they seem to cover up with the very small print. Now, they have taken the unit from us for not paying the $4000 annual maintenance fee in a timely manner. So, we are losing all of the $86,000 purchase price.

Was your sales person perhaps Andrew Cameron?

davidb645 wrote:

My wife and I bought into a villa in late 2006 after being told of some great benefits, including having the unit paid for, within 7.5 years, if we gave it up for rent each year. Well, that was just one of the lies, that they seem to cover up with the very small print. Now, they have taken the unit from us for not paying the $4000 annual maintenance fee in a timely manner. So, we are losing all of the $86,000 purchase price.

How can they do this? Did yo seek legal counsel to challenge the action? I definitely would! JW

annabellaw wrote:

davidb645 wrote:

My wife and I bought into a villa in late 2006 after being told of some great benefits, including having the unit paid for, within 7.5 years, if we gave it up for rent each year. Well, that was just one of the lies, that they seem to cover up with the very small print. Now, they have taken the unit from us for not paying the $4000 annual maintenance fee in a timely manner. So, we are losing all of the $86,000 purchase price.

How can they do this? Did yo seek legal counsel to challenge the action? I definitely would! JW

They say that the fine print found in the contract allows them to do so, as it states, " The Provider or the User shall be able to rescind this same contract in any of the following cases: b) when the User or the Provider do not fulfill any obligation charged to him under the same contract." I have spoken to attorneys here as well as in Cabo. They both said Pueblo Bonito is very big and well connected in the area and no judge or jury would ever rule against them, or anyone else in the hospitality industry. I was threatened once before about having the contract canceled for contacting other owners who also were disappointed in their purchases and again for trying to find a buyer on Pueblo Bonito property. The fine print seems to give them a lot of power.

We had the exact same promises and denial when I confronted them. Our salesman Dirk the Dickhead is the most proficient lier I have ever encountered.

I am glad to hear others have confronted them, as they make me feel like I am the only one who didn't understand what we were being offered. When I was there a couple of weeks ago I heard their project near Newport Beach was being held up due to not being able ot find the right piece of property. However, I think they are a little nervous about doing business in the states, as they won't be able to use their standard selling practices. I don't think there will be quite as smug in the states.

This all sounds very familiar. Our salesman, Craig Gordon, promised to rent our weeks for us at a minimum of $1000/nt if we gave him enough notice. A year later he stopped showing up for work according to the sales manager. other lies: free airport shuttle service, 24 hr maid service, a deed! dude, where´s my deed? i´m at montecristo right now and nobody will answer that one. anybody else? i could go on and on. the worst part is that i love it here and i probably would have bought anyway. the unnecessary lying robbed me of a chance to feel really good about this purchase which is awful. When they try to upsell me I practically laugh in their face. I say would you ever do business with people you know for a fact to be liars?

davidb645 wrote:

Was your sales person perhaps Andrew Cameron?

Hello, I am trying to find and contact this sales person. Can you tell me if you may have current contact information for him. He is a very tall Canadian man. Thank you for any assistance you can provide. ~K~

He left, or perhaps fired by, Montecristo Estates and is selling elsewhere in the Cabo area. I heard his wife divorced him and took him for over $1,000,000. I think his wife was related to the owner of Pueblo Bonito. You might find him through Google. One thing you will find is others who have been taken by him and wrote about it. Also I think his email was CaboAndrew@gmail.com.

lewisb21 wrote:

He left, or perhaps fired by, Montecristo Estates and is selling elsewhere in the Cabo area. I heard his wife divorced him and took him for over $1,000,000. I think his wife was related to the owner of Pueblo Bonito. You might find him through Google. One thing you will find is others who have been taken by him and wrote about it. Also I think his email was CaboAndrew@gmail.com.

Oh, thats ironic... He couldn't get his money out either.

Maybe he lied to her about the benefits of being married to him!

Just reading through messages regarding Montecristo Estates. We too purchased in 2006-Villa #33. We have gone down to Cabo every August since our purchase only to find no golf course. Instead where the golf course was suppose to be there are now houses. RCI is not using our maintenance fees to repair/replace items in the house. Have found they are just moving furniture, computers around when they know an owner is going to visit. Originally all the items in the villa were marked with a #33. Now the computer is from #27, some of the dining room chairs are from other villas and the list goes on. Feel we have been ripped off and have decided to contact an organization in Mexico called "Direccion General de Quejas y Conciliacion to see if they can help sort out this mess.

Have asked RCI for other owners of villa's and they are reluctant to give any info. We truly believe they do not want all the owners getting together to compare problems. Perhaps they are afraid of what might happen-not a bad idea though.

Our salesman was Mark Mauer. We believe he is still there however is not anxious to discuss our problems when we ask to see him.

Be careful when trying to contact other owners as we were threatened to have our unit taken away as they considered it harassment. It didn't matter, as they took it from us for not paying the maintenance fee on time. We lost all of the money we paid for the unit. They will use every opportunity to take back the units. As I have said many times..if you want to use villas here it is best to either buy on the secondary market, buy in the US and trade for time here or just take advantage of some of their marketing offers. It is a scam.

is it too late for someone to come in with hard money and clean up to save at a discount as in other lets call it similar foreclosures?? or is it ancient history???

steve 310 780 2504

RE: Montecristo-How can they "legally" take the unit away if we are paying on time?

They took ours away and we had paid cash. They took it because we were late with the maintenance fee which turned out to be twice what we had been told by the salesperson. That was just one of the things they lied about.

If they take your unit away, how can you buy it back?

My contract clearly states what the maintenance fees are. If an owner purchased 2 weeks around the 80,000 price tag as we did that tells me they bought pre-construction as prices increased for both the unit and the maintenance fees as the development progressed. Our maintenance fees are about 2400.00 and started out at 2000.00. If someone purchased early on and they owe 4000.00 in maintenance that sounds like 2 years of maintenance fees. Try not paying your property tax in the US for 2 years on a home that is paid for and see before a tax sale is levied against the owner.