Beware Of The Mayan Palace. Beware Of Their Time Share Scam!!!

Passepartout said:

Excellent post, Julie! C'mon back anytime you want to talk timeshares or vacations.

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Thanks JIM. I will! I want to learn all I can on TUG to make vacationing the best I can!!

Regards, Juli

If you don't mind saying, how much did the advice you got on TUG save you? PM me if you don't want to say publicly.

Congratulations! I am glad it worked out for you. Once you are not talking to Sales, but Customer Service, you can get things resolved.

pittle said:

Congratulations! I am glad it worked out for you. Once you are not talking to Sales, but Customer Service, you can get things resolved.

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Thank you Phyllis, You all are awesome here!!

What I find ironic is the crooks who want to rob you first before helping you.
Beware of companies like timesharescam.comwho want to charge you over 35% of amount you are getting back from Timeshare resorts.

red fuji said:

What I find ironic is the crooks who want to rob you first before helping you.
Beware of companies like timesharescam.comwho want to charge you over 35% of amount you are getting back from Timeshare resorts.

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If you get anything back at all- or if they even actually get your TS out of your name. We have ALWAYS counseled people to NEVER PAY ANYTHING UPFRONT to anyone to sell or 'relieve' you of your timeshare.

Honest brokers take their commission from the proceeds of the sale. Period. 'Nuff said.

Scammers can only operate with your permission.

Jim

Hi everyone, my staff and I have produced a detailed documentary about how Vida Vacations which is owned by Grupo Vidanta are, and have been systematically deceiving their own members and prospects for decades. The documentary was carefully done, making sure we can back up all of its content by irrefutable evidence provided by inside sources. The following link will take you to a 50 minute preview. Seat tight, and be ready to know the truth.


George McGarrett

Bringing a class action against them here (US) had been unsuccessful back in '08. Since then they have taken measures to make sure none of their transactions are conducted in the US. It won't be easy cause as you know they have a ton of money to fight.
But I do applaud the effort, don't think you have a snowballs chance but if it forces them to change the quality of the sales presentation to equal the quality of the resorts and services we win!

Really??

OK. George whatever,
I have been following this and could not see that was worth my time to acknowledge your "new found info to share and spare us from bad guys".
Ho Hummm.....what else do you have? For the owners who go to the presentations we know exactly what we believe, upgrade or not. We do not sanction the sales practices and challenge them as needed, negotiate our own contracts. There is so much here, that after the fact, your info is out dated. Sales are on to other approaches.
There is much info here on TUG that even a newbie can get caught up.
Mexico does not have the market on sleazy sales, the US can give them a run for presentations.
If sales presentations are your expertise (used lightly) why not include the whole t/s market and discuss buyers remorse?

Resolved my issues with Mayan Palace timeshare

I had made an earlier post regarding my purchase at the Mayan Palace. After working with a very nice lady at Mayan Palace Member Services, who really listened to all my concerns, I was able to work through all my issues and come to a successful resolution, directly with Vida Vacations, that I am satisfied with.

I found the company to be very receptive to my concerns and most willing to work on a compromise. My suggestion to all who have an issue with Mayan Palace would be to go directly to Member Services and begin a dialog.

Tropical lady said:

OK. George whatever,
I have been following this and could not see that was worth my time to acknowledge your "new found info to share and spare us from bad guys".
Ho Hummm.....what else do you have? For the owners who go to the presentations we know exactly what we believe, upgrade or not. We do not sanction the sales practices and challenge them as needed, negotiate our own contracts. There is so much here, that after the fact, your info is out dated. Sales are on to other approaches.
There is much info here on TUG that even a newbie can get caught up.
Mexico does not have the market on sleazy sales, the US can give them a run for presentations.
If sales presentations are your expertise (used lightly) why not include the whole t/s market and discuss buyers remorse?

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Yes owners are hip to what's going on but a great portion of their sales are new sales, and only a very small amount of them find their way here, so George's videos do serve a purpose.

As for their approach being different maybe so but they're are still pitching it dirty, they have to it's the only way they can get the volume ownership requires.

As I've said before, people get overwhelmed at the Mayan because the are stunning and can't conceive that ownership would allow such a dirty pitch.

Vida Vacations - Vacation privileges club

After going to a timeshare presentation at the Mayan Palace and refusing to buy, we were talked into a "vacation club". Vida Vacations grossly misrepresented the vacation club, which was called Vacation Privileges and was based out of Arizona. Once home, my husband and I realized it was a bait and switch scam and that that we had paid $4900 for timeshare and hotel rentals that we could have received without the membership. We tried to cancel but our emails and phone calls were not returned. Initially, our credit card company agreed to credit our account, but later recharged us after Vida stated that the contract that we signed did not cover "verbal promises". I have contacted the BBB in Arizona hoping that they will be able to intervene. Anyone else out there with any additional advice?

Please see the link in post #8 of this thread for a way to reach customer service for help (if you are past the 5-day rescission period, which I'm assuming you are).

You should always follow the cancellation instructions in your contract to the 't' --and do not go back to sales to try to rescind, where you'll get more pressure and delays. If you run into issues, contact Customer Service a.s.a.p.

Tug2.net reference at 22:00.

This video was better than anything on TV at 2am... I'm still laughing at the word "trick-f**k"!!! To hear a sales manager say that in a meeting with sales associates...YIKES!!!

pmbois said:

I have contacted the BBB in Arizona hoping that they will be able to intervene. Anyone else out there with any additional advice?

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Forget about the BBB. Wyndham, the largest TS Developer has an "F" rating and over 1,500 complaints.

pmbois said:

Anyone else out there with any additional advice?

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Since you bought, then didn't read in the contract that you have at least 5 days to cancel it like nothing ever happened, here's my advice: Stick around TUG, and learn to use what you bought. Lots of TUGgers (about half) bought their first TS from the developer, so you're in good company. It's no sin to have overpaid for something you didn't understand, and were pressured into buying. The Vida resorts are great places to vacation, and you'll have many memories to show for this purchase. Just don't dwell on the sales and buying process.

Jim

Passepartout said:

Just don't dwell on the sales and buying process.

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And, it goes without saying, watch out for the scams aimed at TS owners (especially owners of Mexican TSs) that claim they have a buyer who will pay a king's ransom for your TS but you have to pay some sort of fee or tax to complete the deal.

As well, watch out for these outfits that are, at worst, scams and, at best, questionable law firms, that claim they can get you out of your timeshare agreement, sue the salesperson, etc.

Just returned from Cabo San Lucas 2 days ago (missed the hurricane by 12 hours). While there my wife and I went to a presentation at the Grand Mayan in Cabo San Jose. This was by far the best presentation we have ever had at a Vida property. No tricks, no hard sell, no lies, no renting promises as an incentive to lower the sales price, etc.. Everything talked about in this thread was absent from the presentation. We already own a MP 2BR (bought in Acapulco) and seriously considered upgrading to the package they presented. In the end we declined their offer to upgrade for $8500. We certainly have had our share of dishonest Vida presentations, but, this clearly was not one of them. Good job Grand Mayan Cabo San Jose.

Yes it appears that for the time being they are cleaning up their act. I think that the George McGarrett video was a wake up call for them. Also with Cirque du Soleil is set to open in Cancun in Nov. and there is probably some concern there about brand damage.
Should be interesting to see how long they'll stay clean, once the sales totals drop. They still have a lot of building to do to catch up with the reservations demand. I'm a MP owner and I usually get what I want if I plan far enough in advance, but listening to the GL owners at the resorts they are always bitching about availability. Some have spent well over 100k and they're still being put in the GM.

Hello,
I'm new here and will try to not bore you all. My gosh I wish I would have found this sight a few years ago....I'm sure you hear that alot.
I would just like say that I'm trying to get unscrewed from the thieves who disguise themselves as legit sales people at Mayan/Vida Vacations.

Back in 2006 I had undergone a stem cell transplant. First there were 6 rounds of chemotherapy, one every three weeks, as was standard at the time. Then, because mine was such a high-risk cancer (I had 37 cancer-positive lymph nodes---basically "off the charts"). Then I was placed in the hospital, in isolation, for nearly a month, where I received very high dose chemotherapy in order to kill my blood cells. It was GRUELING. I left with no immune system, no hair, no fingernails, no taste buds, you name it. Recovery from that was arduous.

Once I was cleared to travel I went to PV to relax. Made a terrible decision to spend 20k with the Mayan, fell hook, line and sinker for the rental pitch as well as some exchange lies. Had I been on top of my game I wouldn't have been so stupid, I just wore down. Once the exchange info came I called to say it wan't as promised they said sorry that's what you have purchased. I told them if that's the case I need to cancel. I guess you all know the rest. And you all know how the rental income went.

They did take a little responsibility and refunded 5k which I took out of desperation to pay some medical bills. Now I'm trying to get the remainder of my money and I noticed that the squeeky wheel gets the oil, which is what brought me here. Sorry if this is going too long.

As a side note I have posted on other complaint sites and yesterday the Mayan informed me when I accepted the 5k I signed a gag order and they are looking into coming after me legally now. I told them I would make my medical history available to them, to which they never responded. They really don't give a hoot.

I see that alot of you are happy with their product and that's great and I don't mean to knock your decision, but I just don't know what else to do, so I'll just keep posting and posting.

Thanks for the read,
Christie

Welcome to TUG, C Survivor. You might go back to the first page of this long thread and look at posts 8, 10, and 12 for some contact email addresses for customer service at Grupo Mayan. Nothing to lose by trying.

Thank you Karen.
We actually have been in communication with Karen Rose and she replied to my request with a threat of legal action because they say I'm violating the gag order. I see that some people on this forum have taken a dim view of that Mayan Empire video on YouTube but I'm here to tell you that's what happened to me.
As the sales trainer so eloquently phrased it I was "trick f#*%ed". I hate playing the victim I'm just lucky to still be alive and I'm not ok with walking away from 15k.

Thanks again Karen, hopefully they'll see this and do the right thing.
Christie

Somehow, I don't think they would want you testifying in any sort of open court about their practices, gag order or not. On the other hand, if you bought in 2006, there has been a lot of time to rescind, come to some sort of agreement (well, it seems both you and MP have a different view of $5,000).

Our experience here has been that even though some time has passed, telling it like it is, and not backing down has frequently worked. Post it BIG. Use BOLD printface. Post in different places- especially travel sites. I have often seen posts (I think there might even be a couple in this thread) where a poster has stated that they and MP have come to an agreement and they retract all the statements made. One of our chief Kahuna moderators has kindly deleted all the derogatory posts at the request of the poster. It's no secret that there's a quid pro quo going on.

Good Luck!

And after surviving what you went through, everything else is just frosting on the cake.

Jim

Thanks Jim,
And yes I am on several sites and I'll just keep at till they realize supporting what happened to me is not good for anybody.
You are correct Sir, I'm on bonus time

Christie

It's been about 7-8 years since you made this purchase? And you've received a partial payback which apparently incorporated a 'gag order.'

And now you want another payback after all these years?

I am sorry for your health issues and certainly hope you are doing better now. But, seriously, (and perhaps this is more for fellow TUGgers) how many other timeshare systems would allow any (or an additional) payback after all these years, regardless of sales pressure at the time of purchase? I would suspect none. At some point, we need to stop the coddling here on the board.

This is a case where I don't agree Vida should compensate further, regardless if the posting is in BOLD letters.

That's JMO.