I am a former TIMESHARE EMPLOYEE IN MEXICO

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 own with the Mayan Palace and recently upgraded to The Bliss. We were given a coy of a letter from Resort Rentals Mexico and we were told we just had to call this company and tell them we wanted them to rent it out and they would send us the money for the week. I called the company and they said we had to pay $299 up front and then they would list it and let us know when they rented it. Was this the company you wre with?

dianes351 wrote:

We own with the Mayan Palace and recently upgraded to The Bliss. We were given a coy of a letter from Resort Rentals Mexico and we were told we just had to call this company and tell them we wanted them to rent it out and they would send us the money for the week. I called the company and they said we had to pay $299 up front and then they would list it and let us know when they rented it. Was this the company you wre with?

Never pay an upfront fee to any company to sell or rent your timeshare.

HI, I am wondering what you think the timeframe is to get going in timeshare sales. I work in a gold crown/ocean/intl/red all year resort. I just started and hav made one sale of eight tours.

I am sincere and know many people who use timeshare.It has always worked where I have seen it(red/ocean/intl/gold crown) so I do believe in it.(at least at my resort/my family owns)

so, how long to get going? my manager is pretty pressuring and I am just learning the ropes. Its frustrating to say the least, because I have so much to learn and know I can do well while being honest. Thank for your input.

kellyj96 wrote:

...I know I can do well while being honest.

Your good intentions may be noble. Unfortunately however, you now labor under a serious disadvantage in today's age of the Internet.

There is virtually no reason for a smart shopper to EVER buy directly from a developer or resort "sales team", since any smart shopper can usually buy the exact same product in the resale market for 80 to 90+% LESS than the absurdly high, inflated developer prices.

At a resort, your ONLY prospective "buyers" today are really only those relatively few people who don't / won't even bother to do any research into other (i.e., resale) purchase alternatives, where they could pay 95% LESS for the exact same thing, any day of the week!

kellyj96 wrote:

HI, I am wondering what you think the timeframe is to get going in timeshare sales. I work in a gold crown/ocean/intl/red all year resort. I just started and hav made one sale of eight tours.

I am sincere and know many people who use timeshare.It has always worked where I have seen it(red/ocean/intl/gold crown) so I do believe in it.(at least at my resort/my family owns)

so, how long to get going? my manager is pretty pressuring and I am just learning the ropes. Its frustrating to say the least, because I have so much to learn and know I can do well while being honest. Thank for your input.

No timeshare educated person is going to buy from a developer and with the internet most people research before buying any timeshare and the education provided on the internet does not bode well for developer salepeople.

Hi, I was wondering what/where/how I can start in selling my timeshares. I am a student and I was young to be lured into buying the timeshare. Now I just don't know what to do b/c I can't afford paying for it with being in debt with loans.

jennyt38 wrote:

Hi, I was wondering what/where/how I can start in selling my timeshares. I am a student and I was young to be lured into buying the timeshare. Now I just don't know what to do b/c I can't afford paying for it with being in debt with loans.

If you still have a loan on your timeshare, there's no way anybody will buy it .... it's hard enough to sell a timeshare that is free and clear of any debt.

If your timeshare is free and clear then this is the very worst time in the history of timeshare to be selling .... many weeks can't even be given away ..... it all depends on the supply and demand of your week and resort.

Have you heard of anyone selling their week and getting the $1700 that was stated in the presentation?

Thanks,

Frank Deanda Deanda@aol.com

Frank, nobody gets their weeks rented for $1700, using the web you can probably get 3 weeks for the 17 hundred without owning a ts contract. Owners are able to rent their weeks but they will never get as much as sellers "verbally guaranteed". I am an expert and if you want another advise please contact me back. Samuel.

i believe the OP IS from Groupo Mayan, now Vida. We are educated but fell for the bargained for bonus weeks, elite weeks and purchased a studio for $8K. After havi.g opportunity to get online and talk with someone about resale, we went back with letter ro rescind with intent to bargain, for the security of dealing directly with the company and "knowing" what we're getting since not evetything transfers and we're unfamiliar with the legal proceedings on resale. We were happy to be offered an "owners upgrade" not requiring the 5/25 yr extra fees, pay on usage only, and additional 2 weeks of 2 br with Vida weeks as well as 50 elite weeks, with $1500 taken off our original contract price. Essentially 4 weeks of 2br and 3 weeks of studio per year, all paid only if used, for $6500. Looking at resale sites, thats less than most ppl ask for these properties (not saying that they get it, but what do I know). Get back home, find out from brother/sil who were sold similar weeks as an upgrade,that these weeks are useless and get you junk in low demand time, not the elite holiday time theyre presented as. They cant even use these bonus weeks to get the GM that they own bc its not on the qualifying list. Sooo...day 4 after signing NEW contract with MP, we mail our intent to rescind as well as email salesperson we dealt with. Here is my question: our deposit is dated on credit card as original purchase date, and while the first contact to cancel was within the 5 days of that, and we mailed cancellation within 5 days of 2nd contract being drawn up, can they then holdus to the original since they did it as an "owners update"? They said the new one nullifies.the original, but im worried.

I am ready to sign a resale contract but dont want to be stuck with 2 committments to a Mexican ts that we currently dont have extended time to use or $ for air to use more than once/yr if lucky.

You are so right. I sell too and have seen this every day! My current company I'm selling for has been pretty good with honesty. I would love to find a place around Puerto Vallerta to spend winters at selling. Do you know any good companies there that would like a experienced American sales man? Email me and maybe we can trade and share ideas. Glad to find your page!

It takes about a year or more. This is such a strategic mind game and physiological sale. The slightest and simplest things make such a enormous difference. Just commit to it. Be flexable to the situation but never veer from what you are doing. The ones who struggle the most and start by saying "we aren't buying anything" a lot of the times turn out to be your buyers. But keep your personal expenses low, save your money, and take notes on every tour you do. You should always have at least 3 to 6 months of bills saved up before you start spending money like crazy. I see more new sales people get 1 or 2 good checks and start partying and blowing money like crazy. Be patient!

Hi i want to gety in touch with a timeshare salesman in mexico i have a few question to asl Thanks Michel

Hi. I am looking into working for one of these timeshare companies in Mexico. I would love to hear feedback from everyone regarding this. Is it a good idea, is there money to be made etc..

gordonm75 wrote:

is there money to be made etc..

Sure there is. If you have no problem lying to prospective buyers, holding them hostage until they buckle, and brow beat them, then yeah there is money to be made.

Just remember, you only get paid if you can convince people to plop down $15,000 right there and then for a product that can be bought resale for pennies on the dollar and will be worth pennies on the dollar resale.

The Mexican timeshare fraud is a scam made by a number of companies (specifically resorts and condos) through some of their employees. If you want to know more about timeshare scams, visit this page:

Mellisa is trying to steer people to another scam company. I just looked at their website and it's a scam company trying to pretend to help people. Avoid the scammers. Mellisa is a shill for the scammers.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me if this is a good deal or not. We currently signed a 5 year contract for a one bedroom studio oceanfront for $7200 for 30 weeks. Deposit is about $3500 and monthly $116.00. The maintenance is $595 per year. We also got an extra week for next year. We recieved a few more things but all and all I wondering if this is a decent deal? Thanks for any comments.