Why not to buy in Montecristo Estates

-The salespeople are crooks -You can rent a villa for as much, or less, than you will be charged for the annual maintenance fee -there is no market for resale villas -the golf course, which has been promised for years, isn't even in the design phase. -If you really want to stay here either rent or buy elsewhere and use these villas as an exchange -the salespeople use the small print on the back of the contract to get around all of their lies

I agree. I will return to this beautiful resort as a renter, but not a owner. I won't have to have a relationship with the sales department or the developer, for who I have no trust or respect. I will not have to worry about paying the maintenance fee, or how much the fee is going up each year. I will not have to compare what I paid for my unit, and what I would, even if I could, sell it for on the resale market. Instead, I plan to come back and enjoy all the pleasures of Sunset Beach and Montecristo, with out any of these concerns. Thank you to all the current MC owners posting all their concerns and for the access to the internet before we left the Cabo (within the 5 business day of signing our MC purchase contrace). Being able to see great rental prospects for MC and Sunset Beach on Redweek, and hearing about numerous deceits by the sales team, we turned in a written letter of rescission before leaving the resort. The letter was not well received, and I was sent from department to department when I insisted that someone acknowledge that I was turning in my letter and sign that I had done so. That was a battle, but I did get a signature. Of course, they told me I would lose my deposit, but I knew from language on the deposit agreement and by reading PROFECO website, that was not legal. I have not ever heard back from MC sale office about my deposit or the contract. But.. I disputed the charge (the deposit) with my credit card company. I sent them complete document copies, names, dates, conversations. After their dispute dept reviewed everything, the credit card company has returned the deposit and foreign transaction fee to me. I still will be following up, trying to get something from them in writing to state the contract was rescinded, so they don't play game with my credit.

We are still fighting them and they wont even return our emails. We are working with PROFCO AND I HAVE PROOF THAT WE TRIED TO CANCEL WITHIN 24 HOURS AND IN WRITING WHERE DIRK SAID WE COULD NOT./ We will not give up this is wrong

any progress? We bought and rescinded within 48 hrs (two days) and they said we wouldn't get our deposit back....if I have to fly back there, I will!

Good luck going back but all they will do is accuse you of harassment which is what they did when I went back. There is a clause in the small print to cover anything they feel like to cause them to be able to cancel your contract but keep your money. Like I have said before...I bet they never do a project in the states as they wouldn't be able to get away with these tactics.

did you get your money?

] did you get your money?

No, we lost all of the $85,500. We are unsure which clause of the contract they used as they originally told me they were canceling the contract because i had tried to sell our ownership on-site for 50% of what we paid. However, when the sales manager brought that up he found out the contract had already been canceled due to our failure to make the annual maintenance payment. Earlier I had been threatened to have it canceled due to me contacting other owners who also were having problems. That was considered harassment. They have small print for lots of different occasions.

We purchased and resecinded by written letter within the rescission period. It was hard to get anyone affliated with the resort to accept the letter, but I was persistant. The sales manager also told me I would lose our $10k deposit, but I am was not going to buy that line. The sales office will not be the one to refund deposit. I filed protest with my credit card company (card used for deposit). I submitted all the my recission letter (which I had a MC rep's signature on), paper work and they reviewed the situation. The credit card company stood by me and reverse the charges for the deposit (including the foreign transcation fee). The piece of paper they have you sign saying the deposit is none refundable, would only be valid after the recission period. Use your credit card company if you rescinded per the contract terms. I did and I am now "free" of the problem the the MC sales office tries to tell you is nonrefundable, noncancellable. They are basically using scard tactics. Good luck.

Thanks cathy484. We actually have followed your exact path! I am confident that we will get it refunded.

FYI after the credit card co reversed the charge for the deposit, I asked if that was it, was it all done. They told me Monte Cristo had 45 days to protest the reversal and to do so would have to submit something to show the reversal was not valid. The 45 days did come and go and the charge was never "reposted" to my credit card, so I am officially completely refunded. Just wanted to add this to let you know that Monte Cristo did not pursue anything after the charge was reversed.

If you are reading this during your recission period..THE DEPOSIT IS LEGALLY REFUNDABLE. THE SALES OFFICE WILL TELL YOU LIES ABOUT THE REFUND AND ABILITY TO RECIND, THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO SCARE YOU. PUT THE RECISSSION IN WRITING AND INSIST THAT SOMEONE SIGN YOUR LETTER IF YOU ARE STILL THERE, OR SEND THE RECISSION LETTER BY REGISTERED MAIL. THEN USE YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY TO FILE A PROTEST AND GET YOUR CREDIT CARD CHARGE REVERSED. YOU WILL NOT GET ANY RESPONSE FROM MONTE CRISTO SO DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

if you don't mind me asking, who is your credit card company? I did the exact same procedure with Bank of America and they did not stand behind us because it has to do with "mexican law". we recinded within 3 days.

thanks,

keri

Keri, I also used a Bank of America credit card. If you have proof you recinded within contract terms, I would contact BofA and keep after the disputed transaction issue. You may ask Bank of America to review the protest of my transaction #24321020190000403884737, date 7/8/2010, acct ending in 4466, and to be treated with the same resolution I received. BofA was very accomodating with me from the get go. Don't understand why you were told otherwise. Just like many calls to businesses, you can get a different answer depending on who picks up the phone. I would definately keep persuing the refund. Cathy

The Mexico Statute is 5 Business Days . Counting only M -F. According to the following article, there is a term of 5 working days to cancel the contract without penalization: Article 56 of the Federal Consumer Protection Law 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 means of 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." Besides, this right cannot be waived according to the Art. 1 from the Federal Consumer Protection Law. You must send your cancellation request by mail to all the Mexican addresses in the contract, since It is every important that you keep the evidence in written of the cancellation notice within the allowed term, it means, return receipt requested. (You may send your cancellation notice by Fedex, UPS or other mailing service company) You may follow up with e-mails and/or faxes however they may not be considered as a method of average reliability and the normal time frame to get a response and / or refund from the company is around 20 days. You may contact your credit card company and dispute the charges if you paid by credit card, sometimes the credit card rules to your favor before the companies does. For Mexico business days will be from Monday to Friday. WE inform you that PROFECO does not cancel contract but we can assist you if the company does not honor your contract or cancellation request. For additional information or help, do not hesitate to contact us again, or if you do not received your cancellation / money back within the term above mentioned you may file a formal complaint with us. Please keep us informed. Thank you LAURA MEJIA L. Department of Conciliation Services for Foreign Residents

I am STILL fighting! going back to mexico next week......dealing with Profeco for 1 year so far!

Can any one offer any help? I too found out after I purchased that I would do what the salesman said rent out the space earn money or breakeven on the total purchase. So I kept to my word with purchase and found out sometime after that it's not that easy, doesn't truly work that way, other cost involved, a lot of other same units available, I've been bamboozled, on and on. Frustration!! STUCK! Now I'm just looking to get out of this contract and wondering if anyone has experienced this or knows a way to do so?

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you get your money back or get your desired weeks there. Either way, you should be doing your dome work when looking and researching a resort like this anywhere in the world. I am a big fan of Tripadvisor and Buyatimeshare.com for second hand opinions and feedback. In the future, look into timeshare resales within google and you'll have luck or at least better luck with this developer and resort as in the past. I have purchased multiple units with two week stays and love this resort. I'm sorry that you got "bamboozled" for the full retail price from the salesman. Sincerely, Happy Montecristo owner

I agree. I have purchased a number of various size units within Pueblo Bonito over the past 8 years, and my family and I couldn't be happier. We recently upgraded as we were able to exchange our 1 and 2 bedroom units at Sunset Beach for a full purchase price credit toward our new phase 2 Monte Cristo unit , and we couldn't be happier. If we had decided within the 5 day cancellation window not to purchase at Pueblo Bonito, my family would be missing out on irreplaceable memories that we will cherish for years. We didn't buy at Pueblo Bonito because of the financial returns we expected to receive, we bought to provide memories for my wife and i and our children for years to come. We are heading to Pueblo Bonito this year in just two weeks and we are just as excited as we were the first year we arrived. We love Pueblo Bonito!!!

that is great that the love your place so much. However, you could have loved it even more by buying on the secondary market or better yet buying a place in the US, and have the protections of their laws, and exchanged for the same enjoyment at Pueblo Bonito. Why am I bitter? They took every cent of my $86K after lying through their teeth during their sales pitch. When my attorney wrote to them they even had the guts to call me to tell me perhaps I was right but any court case would have to be heard in Cabo and there wasn't a court or judge to be found that would go against the hospitality industry. I tried to sell for $25K and couldn't even get an offer. Enjoy your over priced vacations.

I'm a Colorado Re/max guy retired here for three years (otherside of the hill, Pedregal). Sellers and buyers asking me all the time about MC, cant get in as a realtor thru gate.....make it hell to "show". There's plenty of interest, but 25-35% of new sale price seems to be typical resale value (throughout Latin America anyway).

Hey Gary, Do you know anything about what is currently going on at Montecristo? I just received an unsolicited offer for $90,000 for my deeded 2 weeks. When I checked a couple years ago the average sale price was in the low thousands.