# Vidanta (mayan) Timeshare



## rliou (Sep 21, 2015)

Just wanted to share my experience at Vidanta.  We are currently on vacation at the Grand Mayan at Nuevello Vallarta.  We already own a gold Hilton timeshare 2 BR.  We were roped into the timeshare presentation for an upgrade to ocean side view.  Well we did it.  The breakfast was good then we went on a long tour.  Then come the sales pitch.

They try to offer a timeshare of 110k for 2 bedroom suite in the grand collection to us.  We said no.  Then come the obligatory, let me get the manager.  The manager then offered us a deal for 20k for 1BR @ 3weeks which we turned down.  then he came back and said, "we will buy your hilton timeshare at a loss and give u 9k for it".  Which brings it down to 11k.  We then bargained a bit and got it down to 10k.  They then throw in the "celebration week" when the circque theme opens and says that the best deal they could give.  It all sounded pretty good with the Vida weeks and the VIDA vacation/dollars.  Plus they say that  you only have to pay the "usage fee" when you book the resort which with us likely not going on vacation soon with 2 infants, sounds pretty good.  They then throw in the enbassador program.  We then proceeded to sign the contract after wasting the whole day at the sales office

But after reading the contract more in detail, I think I will cancel (I just signed yesterday).  here are my reasoning

1. The contract is pretty vague.  Unlike a purchasing contract in the US where it clearly states how much you pay and what you own, they simply gave you a bunch of generic paperwork stating that you will own the week stated on the "cover page".  Now the cover page doesn't exist.  There is a separate sheet of paper stating you you own 1 registered week for the 10 years and 2 registered weeks x 100 years (with 9 renewals) but no where is the 10k written on the same page.  So.... my gut tells me they either are sloppy with paperwork or that contract really sucks

2. The contract is for the private owners resort club.  So you don't own any deed.  so theorectically, if the company goes under, you don't get anything.  At least with my hilton, I own a minute 0.00001% of the deed so if they go bankrupt, at least I get 0.00001% of whoever buys the property

3. As a club, the contract states you can gift your membership to families but there is no mentioning of the ability to sell or transfer it to others. (not that you can make much money in the resale market anyways, but at least you get some of the investment back.)

4. During the sales pitch, they keep mentioning that you get one VIDA week on top of the 3 weeks you purchased (basically a SFX week if their explanation is correct) that you get with the registered week free of charge and comes with just the exchange fee.  However, I do not see any of that mentioned in the contract.  In googling VIDA week, it turns out it is a SFX promo where they would double you week when you deposit it in SFX.  However that would mean you pay the booking fee ($899) and then deposit into SFX.  Then you have to pay SFX 399 for the exchange fee for using the extra week and another 399 for the other week.  That wasn't quite the math the sales rep quoted.  The extra VIDA week was one of the reasons we bought but we didn't realize you have to deposit the week first (basically an extra $899)  Plus once deposit into SFX, you cant get back into a Mayan property through it so you essentially just get 2 SFX week instead of the 1 Mayan and 1 SFX week they promised.

5. They used a very nebulous term in the contract for the "collections" series of timeshare/hotels.  We were under the impression that these series of hotel were part of the property we stayed at.  Not so, it only includes mayan palace properties of which there is none in the complex.  While we were explained grand mayan was not part of the deal, the way they explained it makes it sound like there is a bliss or mayan palace in the complex we currently stay at.  This however is my fault as I should have checked

6. While the sales team really have corrected their language and sale pitch (reading the old posts it looks like they were more aggressive in the past), there is some pitfall in the 10 year vs 100year.  Someone had mentioned that the 10 year contract requires you to pay the booking every year, I didn't see that in the contract.  It does appear that the 10 year contract is really for the purchase of 1 week total.  You are required to pay the booking fee for that mandatory week (899) and you get 10 extra bonus week total over the 10 year period (1 per year).  While they mentioned that this one mandatory week was for the "celebration week" at cirque, no where does it specify that that is the resort you will stay at. In fact if I read the contract correctly, they only have to give you the Mayan palace level hotels.  While technically the sales teams are correct, the contract doesn't back them up or protect us.  Also these are "bonus weeks" in the contract and is subject to availability and they don't have to honor it if they claim there is no availability.  For the 100 year contract, They do stipulate that you have to pay one year worth of booking at the time of the 10 year renewal.  Someone here mentioned that they will essentially build bigger timeshares and phase out the lower tier ones and essentially force you to upgrade at 10 years.  I can see that happening as the language only allows you to book into the tiers of hotel/timeshare that is consider "sister equivalents".  As such I worry about it.  The sales team keeps saying the 10 year renewal is to remodel the property so they stay "fresh".  But the contract states that this is a renewal fee and the money doesn't necessarily go into refurbishing the property

7. After reviewing how much I spent through RCI to get our Grand Mayan two bedroom, I felt like I actually got a down grade in timeshare.  We pay about 1000 a year for hilton hoa/fees.  That nets us 5000 points on RCI when we did the conversion.  I only spent 3400 points on my 2 br grand mayan (which is in the tier higher than what I bought with "the collections" series of timeshare).  So I am paying 10k more and giving up my timeshare to have a 1 BR instead?  Granted I get 3 weeks for 10 years and 2 weeks for 90years after.  However I would have to pay $900 to book each week for 1 BR so I think I am actually getting less. Yes I know there is the 1/3 rule with RCI but at least I am not stuck vacationing in mexico mainly.  (If I have to go through SFX, the cost would be similar to my 2 BR timeshare fees)

8. The Vidavacation dollar is pretty worthless as others have mentioned.  Can only use a portion of the money on purchases and the purchases are all inflated in price

9. Ambassadors program sounds like a good deal getting money back for referrals.  But after much thought, I feel like you are just participating in a ponzi scheme by becoming their ambassadors

10. To be fair, their prices sound reasonable (for developer timeshare) if you want to stay at their lower tiered properties but after much thought, compared to what we already have with the Hilton, I don't think we are getting that much more with additional 10k and giving up our hilton time share.  So I am going back to the sales office to rescind the contract.  Wish me luck


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## Passepartout (Sep 21, 2015)

We're thrilled that you actually LOOKED OVER your contract and saw how misleading the sales weasels' words are.

I'd caution you from going back to the sales office to rescind. They are trained to parry any argument you come up with to 'save the sale'. They may well 'sweeten the deal' even more, and offer more 'bonuses'. Look near the signature page of your contract for their instructions for rescission and follow them EXACTLY. Hopefully, the 5-or 7 day rescission period will run out about the time you are leaving the resort so you can drop the rescission letter at the Post Office (Correa) on your way out of town and they will think they have another sucker on the line while you are there and continue to ply you with post-sale goodies.

If you decide to attempt the rescission in person, unplug your phone and beware of uninvited guests and knocks on the door.

Good Luck!

Jim


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## raygo123 (Sep 21, 2015)

Lol 10k plus your timeshare, received the same deal back in 2009.  We bought it 2 weeks for a 1 bedroom Acapulco.
We owned Wyndham lake lure 2 bdrm.  When we got home, their resale broker called asking for details on lake lure.  I asked them what they wanted for it they said $5000. I told them I only paid 4000 for it.  I told them I would give them $500 for it and they accepted.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## pittle (Sep 21, 2015)

The Mexican timeshares are R-T-U which is the right to use one week each year.  You do not own anything. These are impossible to sell to someone else because if you look for the fine print in the middle of your packet, you will find that it costs 10 Maintenance Fees to transfer it to someone other than immediate family.

We love the resorts and own two 2-bedroom weeks at the Grand Luxxe.  We have been part of this group for 15+ years and have had some wonderful vacations.  But, I would not give up a Hilton week + $9000 for a 1 bedroom Grand Mayan.

Your best bet is to rescind.  Good Luck!  They will try everything to keep your $$$.  It can be brutal, but just hang in there and you can do it.


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## rliou (Sep 21, 2015)

It gets more interesting.  Apparently they enter all new members into a drawing.  Today i got a call from the cell phone they gave saying that we won a grand prize.  But they cant elaborate.  Sounds fishy?  Maybe to keep u distracted so u forget about rescinding?  Anyways wife and i were too busy today so we decided to go tomorrow instead.  Unless they are giving me the points for 100 dollars, i would no be signing anything else other the rescindment paperwork.

Having said that, i agree.  The property at the grand mayan is wonderful.  Too bad the timeshare they sold us was just the mayan palace


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## pittle (Sep 21, 2015)

We started with Mayan Palace and loved it but now like the newer, larger accommodations.    A 1-bedroom will not work well when those kiddos get bigger.  $10,000 is most likely their "bottom-line" for a 1-bedroom MP whether you have a trade-in or not.

It is your money, but since you have a 2-bedroom Hilton, that gives you more flexibility for your family.  I would still recommend that you think it through before the 5 day time frame runs out.  This is your only time to rescind.

Don't get me wrong - I love Mayan World as I call it.  We have been time sharing since 1991 and now own where we want to go - Vidanta resorts are our favorite!  We go each year and seldom trade now.  We have more $$ tied up with them than other places but also have awesome accommodations and perks.  We were able to trade in MP units we bought on resale market to upgrade.  This does not happen much anymore as they started implementing the high transfer fees.

We do not regret our timeshare decisions because they helped us travel more and go on great vacations each year. We have shared weeks with our family and gone many places.  The first 10-15 years we made a lot of exchanges, and then we decided to consolidate to our favorite resorts.


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## John Cummings (Sep 21, 2015)

Keep your Hilton and rescind immediately. We love their resorts and have stayed many many weeks at them but I would never own in Mexico. It is very easy to exchange there. All our exchanges were with SFX.


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## Karen G (Sep 21, 2015)

Rescind while you still can. You won't regret it!


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## rliou (Sep 27, 2015)

Just got back from the vacation and we rescinded without too much hassle.  However, I do want to share the experience for those who might want to rescind for the future

1.  Rescinding in person requires that you make an appointment with a "contract specialist"  so that usually means u can't walk in on Day #5 and cancel on the spot.  So unless you want to cancel by mail, you should plan on canceling early

2. If you felt that you got a bad price, go back and rescind even if that is the only reason that you don't want the timeshare.  When we went back, they offered us $2000 off the 1 BR (total price of 8k plus the timeshare trade in).  We told them no because we already had a 2BR timeshare so then ended up pitching the 2 BR weeks to us for 12k which we also declined (why would we want to pay 12k for the same thing we already have?)

3. The grand Mayan level is supposedly very expensive.  (way above what we are willing to pay).  The contract specialist pretty much said that she won't be able to offer anything at that level that would make us happy.

4. However, they are willing to throw in extra weeks at the grand mayan (3 weeks over the life of the contract) to sweeten the deal.  We said no because we talked to a few owners at the pool.  They can pay an upgrade fee to use the grand mayan during the low season when they are not booked. so what they are offering is not really a "bonus"

5. Yes, the contract specialist tries to salvage the sale.  They say that they need to pull the contract from "the archive" which will take 30-40 minutes.  They use that time to talk to you to see why you want to cancel and what you like about the program.  They use that info to try to give you deals to make you change your mind.  However, my contract specialist was very nice and not pressuring me for anything.  She basically just try to address the reasoning by offering me stuff that will make the contract better suited for me.

6. After the contract specialist, we were told we need to go to "accounting department" to finalize the refund.  Turns out that was the closer department.  There is a "CPA" who tries to salvage the sale.  He tries to offer us $5000 package which included 4 weeks of Vida weeks. (all requires you to pay additional exchange fee)  Then he threw in 3 weeks of Grand Mayan (again exchange fee required).  And he throws 6000 dollars of credit toward future purchase.  This is high pressure sales.  He kept pushing and we said no.  Then he dropped it all to $1000 for everything.  If you can discount something 80%, its either a bad product or you are over charging in the first place.  We probed a little bit to make it sound like we are interested.  Turns out you have pay a $99 fee every year thereafter with the program.  Sounds like a horrible deal to me!  We said no.  Then this "CPA" accused us of not being "educated professional".  "because an educated professional would allow me to salvage the sale.  This is a great deal!  You're just saying no because your mind is already made up or because some sales guys lie to you upstairs."  I find those comments very annoying but before I could respond at how "unprofessional" he was, my wife busted out her water works.  Then he stopped and gave us the money back.  By the way, the money was already refunded by the time we get to the office, he lied to us and said that it would take some time to refund the money and he wants to talk to us in the mean.  I find this last process very annoying and very rude.  This guy was really the only a**hole that we encountered in the entire resort.

7. I have a great experience at the Grand mayan and nuevo vallarta.  While the timeshare was not what we needed or wanted, the sale team were nice as were the contract specialists.  The only bad experience was with the so called "CPA" accountant. we would definitely stay there again.  If the price is right, we would consider buying but only on our terms and if it suites us.  We are happy with our current Hilton timeshare which had allowed us to have this great vacation.  I hope this thread will help people in the future


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## Karen G (Sep 27, 2015)

rliou, thanks so much for letting us know about your experience--so glad you were able to rescind!


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## pittle (Sep 28, 2015)

Thanks for the report - I was thinking about you guys earlier today an wondered how it went.  So glad you were able to work it out.


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## PamMo (Sep 28, 2015)

Yes, thank you for posting your experience, and happy to read that you were able to rescind your purchase. We're leaving soon for a couple of weeks at the NV Grand Luxxe (first time in a Mayan property), and I was curious how the sales presentations were going these days. We've owned timeshares in Cabo for many years, and the Mayan timeshare tour was commonly known as the most grueling experience out there! Once we met a young honeymooning couple on a whale watching trip, and they told us about their all-day "90 minute" tour. The wife couldn't stop crying over how they spent all the money they saved up for her nursing school education on a RTU at the Grand Mayan. The sales team had given them an unbelievably good deal and they thought they'd never get such an opportunity again! We told them they should rescind, but they were embarrassed and skeptical that they'd be able to rescind, so I don't know if they ever did. I'm glad to hear that you had the good sense and confidence to do so. Good on you!!!


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## travs2 (Sep 28, 2015)

Very pleased rliou that you were able to rescind your "deal" from the Mayan.  They really can put people through the mill and I am sorry that you had to go through this experience.  I hate how they appeal to what I call the " Greed Factor".  In other words they appeal to ones feeling that individuals often want what others have ..... making the decision NOT to upgrade or buy look like one is " uneducated and /or unprofessional.  I frankly believe that you are very educated and well informed about your decision to rescind.  Good for you now go out and enjoy what you have.


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## Go2Guy (Aug 15, 2017)

Hello Vidanta owners! 
Looking for a little background education.  Is there any practical difference between having the "home" resort that you purchase named as Nuevo Vallarta vs Riviera Maya?  We recently attended a sales presentation in Cancun, yet the unit they proposed to sell us is at Nuevo Vallarta.  We were told it doesn't really matter, that owners have equal access to reserve at either location, but they suggested that the Nuevo Vallarta might be a better investment (have higher value in the future) due to the Cirque du Soleil theme, etc.   I don't really understand how this could matter; is it that if/when you ever choose to sell your ownership, you'd get a higher value for Nuevo vs Cancun?  Do you get the same value when depositing either of these properties into The Registry Collection?   If we see ourselves wanting to vacation more often at one of the locations, is that a reason to push for ownership at that "home" property? 
Thank you!


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## rpennisi (Aug 15, 2017)

It makes no difference, and btw, there *is *a Cirque du Soleil in Cancun (Riviera Maya) already.
We are at the RM property right now (GL trade).


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## T-Dot-Traveller (Aug 15, 2017)

The counter balance of the " no go / no pay" - MF on use only addendum in Vidanta contracts -"is that the transfer fee is 5 x MF  to all but family ( newer Grand Luxe contracts are likely 10 x MF ) So hard to resell .
If you have MF on use only there is no reason to resell anyway . Newer contracts have a 10 year renew fee ( general one MF or $ 1000 - depending on contract ) If you decide not to pay - the contract ends .
Pre 2010  contracts renew at 25 years / but have a reno fee every 5 years ( same $ as current MF)
 Vidanta is ( RTU ) Right To Use - not deeded . Older contracts often have lower MF , since many have a % cap on any increase . IMO - Vidanta  is generally happy getting weeks back , as it allows them to sell the next exchanger .

Great Resorts

Hard working staff -
who should be tipped - as it is an important part of their income .


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## LisaH (Aug 15, 2017)

Go2Guy, if you just bought and can still recind the purchase, please do. There is no difference as both are equally worthless.


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## MN2Travel (Aug 28, 2017)

We own with Vidanta - Grand Mayan. I see no reason to buy or upgrade again. You can rent here on Tug pretty reasonable.


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