# [2009] Urgent HELP!!!!!



## mexicanvictim (Apr 27, 2009)

Please help me!!!
We are in a desperate situation!!!

I went to PV with my wife on March. We end up purchasing a Mayan Palace week there and when we got back and were reading the papers we found out that none of the verbal promises about renting our weeks and selling our other timeshares were in the contract. 

We got scared and call them to cancel right away. They told us to relax because they would send the cancellation letter to us but we never received it. Now that I called, they told us that we should have sent a letter of cancellation within our five days cancellation period. We were taken advantage from Mayan Palace twice. 

We felt frustrated and taken advantage of. While checking with other victims of Mayan Palace on the web, I found a law firm in Mexico. We were so desperate that we end up hiring their services. 

Does anyone have any experience with this company? The name is Gonzalez Law Firm. Please, if you have any past experience with this company or with Mayan Palace, let me know about your case. We are crossing our fingers because we can not afford another timeshare.


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## Karen G (Apr 27, 2009)

You can also contact  Profeco  if you believe there is fraud involved.


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## MelBay (Apr 27, 2009)

Just curious how the original poster came out on this deal.


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## Passepartout (Apr 28, 2009)

MelBay said:


> Just curious how the original poster came out on this deal.



It's only been a couple of days. If they get any satisfaction from Profeco it will be months. Or they may be joining the ranks of TUG members who are getting the best out of something they bought on impulse. This sounds like fraud, but that's hard to prove unless they have some conflicting promise in writing compared to the contract they signed. 

They will be in good company here finding how to use their timeshare.

Jim Ricks


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## pianodinosaur (Apr 28, 2009)

I understand the frustration of mexicanvictim.  However, Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta is an excellent resort and the other Mayan Palace resorts in El Grupo Maya are also very nice as well.


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## stopfraud (May 5, 2009)

Mexicanvictim, you are not the first, nor the last victim of Grupo Mayan.

Not only PV, but all the Grupo Mayan Resorts run the most aggressive, deceitful, fraudulent, and shameless time share sale operation imaginable. Their sales people are probably trained to mislead you, lie to you, intimidate you, coerce you, and trick you into buying time shares from them. That is why they get the huge commissions. They will promise you the stars - most of which will be blatant lies. They are also very skillful in preventing you from legally canceling the deal within the required 5 days - as they did with you.  I am surprised that you knew about the 5 day legal time to cancel: they usually tell you (as they told me) that once you signed, you cannot cancel.

I don’t think you have much chance to cancel after 5 days. They are very careful to protect themselves legally. Note that one of the items they asked you to initial on the sign-off sheet was that: "I have not received or relied on any promise, offer or inducement of any kind, oral or written not set forth in my contract."  And the contract, what you eventually got, only listed what you bought and the $$$ you paid (probably via a new Bank of America credit card – and they will not let you out of paying it either). 

Going to a law firm will be just throwing good money after the bad. Also, don't fall for their lie if they told you that they can sell your weeks quickly, if you want to. All they will do is to send you to Regal which, for a huge up-front fee, will list it on their home page - and you will never hear from them again.

So, I agree with Passepartout and pianodinosaur: try to enjoy what you bought – and DON’T LET THEM TALK YOU INTO ANY UPGRADE IN THE FUTURE!  DON’T EVEN GO TO ANY OF THEIR PRESENTATIONS!

And let us know what happens with you!


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## mexicanvictim (May 5, 2009)

Karen G said:


> You can also contact  Profeco  if you believe there is fraud involved.



I have initiated a dispute with PROFECO. I have my first hearing shortly. However, the letter I received from them is this:




_PROCURADURIA FEDERAL 
DEL CONSUMIDOR                                                   
Dear Sir & Madam,



The Department of Conciliation Services for Foreign Residents provides assistance towards solving controversies for foreign or Mexican citizens living abroad that acquire any product or service from a Mexican supplier and are not satisfied with it.



Because of the administrative nature of this Federal Office, we cannot dictate mandatory resolutions to resolve controversies presented before us. We assist the parties within a mediation/conciliation procedure; based on the terms of the contract that consumer supplies us. The Federal Law of Consumer’s Protection contemplates three conciliation meetings to reach an agreement between parties. 



Our services are free of charge and do not require the presence of the consumer during the mediation procedure. According to Article 105 from the Federal Law of Consumer’s Protection there is a term of 1 year, after the purchase or inconformity, to submit a complaint through this Office and verbal promises are not valid for our procedure. 



We have received all the information requested. if something else is required i will let you know by this same mean, if nothing is missing, then, we will assign you a file number and a meeting's date to the first meeting with the legal represenative of the company.



Thank you & please wait for news. 



Sincerely,

Department of Conciliation 

Services for Foreign Residents_ 

There is a paragraph where PROFECO states that they cannot dictate mandatory resolutions. so  if we cannot come to an agreement, that means that I am all alone again!!!!

I cannot afford this purchase.


If anyone out there has been sucessful with PROFECO, please contact me. I can´t have much sleep.


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## Passepartout (May 5, 2009)

mexicanvictim said:


> I have initiated a dispute with PROFECO. ....Snipped for brevity.....
> PROFECO states that they cannot dictate mandatory resolutions. so  if we cannot come to an agreement, that means that I am all alone again!!!!
> 
> I cannot afford this purchase.



If you are living that close to the edge, you had no business attending a TS sales meeting. Yeah, I know, the goodies, the excitement, the pressure. Just sign here.

Looking at your 1st post, you say you can't afford another TS. It appears you went into this with your eyes open. I'd suggest you change your username, You weren't a victim, you went willingly to the slaughter.

I am not a lawyer, so take my advice lightly. 

If you truly can't afford this purchase- ie. its the mortgage, food or the TS payment, you need to see a local attorney who specializes in bankruptcy. Depending on how deeply in debt you are, you may be able to reduce or have your unsecured debt-like TS RTU's- discharged. If you can afford your mortgage, you may be able to keep your house. Your retirement funds are unaffected by BK. Many trustees are allowing people to keep paid for assets like boats, snowmobiles, RV's, because they are virtually worthless in this economy.   

Take a look at this: http://www.newsweek.com/id/177749 It says the time for bankruptcy is when you have something to save, not when it's all gone.

Best Wishes. Hope you get some sleep.

Jim Ricks


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## EdwinHoward (Oct 18, 2010)

*PROFECO Yes they try*



mexicanvictim said:


> I have initiated a dispute with PROFECO. I have my first hearing shortly. However, the letter I received from them is this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




We worked with PROFECO for a year.  The TS (CABO Golf Resort) kept coming up with excuses for why they would not let us cancel within five days and did not show up for the last meeting with PROFECO.  PROFECO sent us a nice email stating that they had done all that they could and closed the complaint. :annoyed:


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## Tropical lady (Oct 18, 2010)

So Mexicanvictim from a 2009 post, how did you finally make out?  You asked for advice, did a few posts, then did not update those who offered info!


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## pjrose (Oct 19, 2010)

Tropical lady said:


> So Mexicanvictim from a 2009 post, how did you finally make out?  You asked for advice, did a few posts, then did not update those who offered info!



That's very typical - it's annoying to provide help and then never get any update.  Sometimes I've sent long emails, and then no thanks or update.   Mexicanvictim hasn't been on TUG since May 5, 2009 (You can check that by looking up the person on the Users List above).


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## DeniseM (Oct 19, 2010)

You can just click on their blue user name in their post, and then Public Profile, to see the last day they visited TUG.


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## pjrose (Oct 19, 2010)

Oh, Duh...
I think the user list says last visit, and the profile last activity - didn't realize they were the same.


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## gcole (Oct 19, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> If you are living that close to the edge, you had no business attending a TS sales meeting. Yeah, I know, the goodies, the excitement, the pressure. Just sign here.
> 
> Looking at your 1st post, you say you can't afford another TS. It appears you went into this with your eyes open. I'd suggest you change your username, You weren't a victim, you went willingly to the slaughter.
> 
> ...



Wow, this is a bit harsh don't you think? We reaaly do not know there situation. I can't afford another TS because I don't want to spend the money on it.


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## pjrose (Oct 19, 2010)

gcole said:


> Wow, this is a bit harsh don't you think? We reaaly do not know there situation. I can't afford another TS because I don't want to spend the money on it.



I don't know.....generally when people ask for help we try to give help (not that they come back and read it Grrrr) and we don't generally slap their little handies for a bad decision.....but presumably everyone here is an adult and everyone here should be able to take notes and ask questions and read contracts, especially when there are tens of thousands involved!

You know you can't afford it, and you aren't here trying to get out of buying something you can't afford.  

They said they couldn't afford it.  So if they can't afford it, they shouldn't have signed the papers!  Part of their post said "we got back and were reading the papers ..." - those papers should have been read before signing, and before paying.

I think Jim's advice is right on - if you can't afford it, don't go for the presentations, or at least don't sign! The freebies aren't worth potentially being in debt for thousands of dollars. 

And yes, I do know that many presentations are very high pressure....and people are humans who do make mistakes - that's why we try to help and in some cases our help is received gratefully and we find out that our advice worked!


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## Passepartout (Oct 19, 2010)

And after a year and a half, I still stand by my advice. The OP was a victim of their own doing. Does make one wonder how it came out though. I bet we never find out.... Jim


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## mikenk (Oct 20, 2010)

Passepartout said:


> And after a year and a half, I still stand by my advice. The OP was a victim of their own doing. Does make one wonder how it came out though. I bet we never find out.... Jim



I agree with Passepartout. We love to bash the timeshare people, as we should for their tactics, but we generally feel sorry for the buyer and allow them to play the victim. In reality, people need to take responsibility and be accountable for their decisions; If someone is not prepared to buy something, why would you go to a sales presentation? if you do buy something, why wouldn't you read the contract to ensure you got what you were promised?

Mike


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## pjrose (Oct 20, 2010)

mikenk said:


> I agree with Passepartout. We love to bash the timeshare people, as we should for their tactics, but we generally feel sorry for the buyer and allow them to play the victim. In reality, people need to take responsibility and be accountable for their decisions; If someone is not prepared to buy something, why would you go to a sales presentation? if you do buy something, why wouldn't you read the contract to ensure you got what you were promised?
> 
> Mike



I can't find the discussion now, but there was one recently about a member who watched the people headed into the timeshare presentations, then later at the pool asked if they bought - some said yes, and most if not all had not read their contracts.   Sigh.


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## pittle (Oct 20, 2010)

pjrose said:


> I can't find the discussion now, but there was one recently about a member who watched the people headed into the timeshare presentations, then later at the pool asked if they bought - some said yes, and most if not all had not read their contracts.   Sigh.



That was mikenk when he went to Cabo this year.  I have done the same thing - asked if they had questions and tell them to make sure they read everything BEFORE they leave for home.  

Gosh, we own bunches of timeshares and still buy from the developer sometimes - if we feel it is worth spending the money.  In our case, it is because we WANT to go to that place every year and even though we KNOW that only half of what they are telling us is true.  We bought at 2 under construction timeshare properties in 2008.  Both have had some issues with getting the property completed, but we have been patient and they are panning out.  Our June month in Mazatlan is a fixed time/fixed unit (oceanfront) and we have loved it. We will know more about the other one Saturday when we arrive in PV for our first vacation there.


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## mikenk (Oct 20, 2010)

In Cabo, the discussions were quite enlightening for me.

I talked to four that had just bought; None really could describe what they  bought; all seemed to appreciate my advice to read the contract as they had five days to rescind; two did and took action; I don't think the others did anything.

I also talked to a group at the swim up bar during happy hour - all owners from the past. All bought from the developer; most (not all) know they paid too much; all know they were lied to during the sales presentation; Surprisingly, they mostly didn't seem to care - just the way it was. Several joked about the lies they were told - almost trying to top the others. All were having a great time which seemed to trump whatever they paid. They were very happy victims.

Mike


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## BlindBat (Oct 20, 2010)

mexicanvictim said:


> Please help me!!!
> We are in a desperate situation!!!
> 
> I went to PV with my wife on March. We end up purchasing a Mayan Palace week there and when we got back and were reading the papers we found out that none of the verbal promises about renting our weeks and selling our other timeshares were in the contract.
> ...



Call me a cynic but I smell a Shrill.

The wording, sentence structure, and tiny grammatical errors read like they were written by someone with excellent, but not perfect, English as a second language skills.

Is the angle an attempt to drum up business for the Law Firm described? Is the follow up post - that never came - a long and detailed glowing review of the work the firm did?

My apologies if I am wrong about this.


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## Blondie (Oct 30, 2010)

I believe that would be "SHILL" but point well taken. I agree.


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