# [2008] Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam



## PJTSytms97 (Sep 25, 2008)

On December 17, 2007 we entered into a contractual agreement with Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico. Our salesman, Mr. Fernando Lobato authored the contract and the addendum. Mr. Lobato agreed to sell our Virginia Beach, Virginia timeshare, and we agreed to purchase 27, 500 fractional ownership points from Boutique Resort La Jolla. The addendum to the contract allowed us to cancel the contract if Mr. Lobato did not sell our timeshare by June 17, 2008. The addendum also stated that Boutique Resort La Jolla would reimburse all monies given up to that point, if they did not sell our Virginia Beach timeshare. Mr. Lobato required us to sign a waiver of our 5-day cooling off period rights, which I later found out was against Mexican law. We were also required to make a 50% earnest money down payment with a new application for a Bank of America credit card. Payments on the Bank of America credit card would not begin until July 12, 2008, which would have been after the Virginia Beach timeshare had been sold. We were happy when we left the sales presentation.  On December 27, 2007 I received an email from Mr. Lobato, stating, "The state laws in Virginia seems to complicate things for us a little." In January, 2008, I received my first credit card bill from Bank of America, requesting 1% interest payments on the earnest money down payment. I called Bank of America and explained the contract and the addendum, and requested that the payments be deferred as per the contract agreement. Bank of America told me that only the merchant can defer the 1% interest payments. I emailed Mr. Lobato
and was refused. I began making the Bank of America payments, until I received a letter from Bank of America on March 31, 2008 crediting me my monthly payments and the entire remaining balance of the earnest money deposit. I thought that perhaps the merchant had canceled the contract, due to his inability to sell the Virginia Beach timeshare. On June 10, 2008 I received another letter from Bank of America stating that they had tried to contact me, but were unable to do so, and they were reissuing the earnest money deposit. Apparently the merchant had requested a charge back.  Bank of America granted the charge back without my authorization. On June 17, 2008, Mr. Lobato, had not sold the Virginia Beach timeshare. We notified Boutique Resort La Jolla that we were executing our option to cancel the contract as per the addendum, and requested to be reimbursed for the earnest money down payment, again as per the contract. Bank of America
refused to grant another credit to the credit card. Boutique Resort La Jolla
breached the contract. On July 21, we received an email from Mr. Lobato, admitting that, "first of all you are obviously right in not being delivered what was promised." I sent a copy of Mr. Lobato's email to Bank of America
and they still refused to credit my credit card.  Mr. Lobato went on in his email to request payment in full for the remaining balance due on the contract, which was canceled on June 17, 2008, via US certified mail, return receipt requested and email confirmation. We had to hire a lawyer, and paid another $500 to reinforce the cancellation of the contract for Mr. Laboto.
I have reported my experience to my Congressman, the Better Business Bureau of Delaware and Maryland, the Attorney General of the State of Delaware and Maryland, Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America and the Comptroller of the Currency. I received a letter on Sept. 4, 2008 from Bank of America telling me that my dispute has been resolved, and that I must pay the earnest money down payment. This timeshare scam has taken both
a financial as well as emotional toll on me. I decided at one point to just give in and stop fighting a loosing battle. However, with the support of my wonderful husband, I am going to continue to fight for my reimbursement.
I submitted my consumer complaint to PROFECO, in Mexico City. I also submitted another consumer complaint package to the US embassy in Mexico. I am hoping to meet other victims of timeshare frauds on the worldwide web, and perhaps we can all share our experiences, and seek some type of resolution, so that other unsuspecting vacationers do have to go through this nightmare.


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## PJTSytms97 (Nov 10, 2008)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico Scam*

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico  Scam! *


I just wanted to post an update to my case against Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico. I am continuing to work with PROFECO in Mexico City, in filing my consumer complaint for a full refund of my earnest money down payment in the amount of $6175.00. After reading all the travel forums and websites, and discovering just how many Americans have, and are undergoing this same dreaded experience, I sent a letter to President Calerone` of Mexico. I have read a biography of this Harvard-educated man, and I decided that he should know, from a victim, just how one feels to be 
treated, by some of the timeshare merchants in Mexico.
I told President Calderone my entire story, or should I say nightmare, of being lied to and defrauded by Boutique Resort La Jolla, and our salesman Mr. Fernando Lobato, on December 17, 2007. I informed President Calderone`
that I am just one of hundreds, or thousands of tourists, who let their "guards
down," while on vacation, and fall prey to unscrupulous timeshare salesmen, all saying, the same thing, "Let me make you a deal that you can't refuse!"

I was very moved by what I read in President Calderone's biography. I believe that he is a very just and honorable man. I am going to trust that he will have someone in his Executive Branch investigate these abuses of tourists in Mexico. If others would like to email President Calderone, I have listed the email address below.
https://contacto.presidencia.gob.mx/...nes/indexn.php


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## PJTSytms97 (Nov 13, 2008)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan,  Mexico Scam*

I received an email confirmation from PROFECO today. My first hearing is scheduled for February 4, 2009. I am hopeful of a just resolution. I have been living this nightmare for a year, as of December 17, 2008.

Please wish us luck!
PJTSytms97


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## california-bighorn (Nov 13, 2008)

*Location of La Jolla Resort*

Is this resort just up the beach from Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay?  Sounds like the place we visited (on TS tour) last February and had a quite an experience.  I won't make any further comment until it is confirmed or dismissed that we are talking about the same place.


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## pittle (Nov 14, 2008)

I've been watching this post because we bought a month at one of the villas at Boutique La Jolla in Mazatlan.  We did not by points for the timeshare units that have not been built yet - we chose our unit and month.  We were able to negotiate fixed maintenance fees for the life of the contract.  We bought to go there and enjoy the beach.  The units are not as nice as our Mayan Palace & Grand Mayans, but we have plenty of them to use for exchanges or other vacations.

We bought out right, so did not have to count on them selling a unit for us.  I think that is the biggest issue with the original poster - they did not sell his unit, nor did they honor the agreement that he could nullify the contract and recieve a refund if they did not sell by a certain date.  I agree that they should refund his money.

California-bighorn -  We were there in February 2008 also.  I would be interested in what your experiences were.  We found the sales presentation very low-key and the prices were very reasonable.  It was on a great stretch of beach (just up from Emerald Bay Pueblo Bonita) and the small resort appealed to us.


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## california-bighorn (Nov 15, 2008)

Pittle
We were there in February 2008.  It was mostly under construction at the time although I believe one of the buildings (4 units) could be occupied.  I could see the resort from our room at PB Emerald Bay and was curious what it was, so we went to the presentation when we were invited while walking up the beach. The pool, also under construction, looked like it would be nice for the size of the resort.  I was not impressed with the actual rooms we saw.  They had a model unit set up that was nothing like real units.  Even the model of the resort under glass in the showroom was nothing like what was actually being built.  The actual resort was very much downsized from the original plan.  My 1st thought was they were running out of money. The salesman, who knew we were staying at PB Emerald Bay, got real upset when I said I preferred the PB resorts much more.  The salesman also showed us the area by the pool that was going to be parking for RV's for those who drove to Mazatlan.  I don't want to offend any RVers, but I would not want to buy at a "boutique" resort and sit by the pool with a view of the RV parking lot.  The closer was extremely rude, yelled at us for wasting their time (which I understand) and left us to sit there without giving us what we were supposed to get.  Can't even remember what it was, but it wasn't much as we just wanted to see the place.  So we just sat there for a while and I helped myself to the Kahula at their "bar". Even though we had no intention of buying, everything about the presentation left me with the feeling there was something strange going on there.  To many outragous promises and too many excuses for the shortcomings.


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## pittle (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks for the information.  We were there in Feb 2008, I just typed the wrong year.  We bought the 2nd floor of the 1st building overlooking the pool & beach.  Yes, the models are for the timeshare units that will be built behind the 4 villas.  We did get to go in a villa and see how they were laid out.  We would not buy sight unseen.  We have since seen pictures on their website with the pool full and buildings finished.

I was a little apprehensive, but hubby loved the beach and the price for a month was about the cost of a MP 2-bedroom with maintenance fees about the same as 2 weeks of MP.  We later heard that PB wanted to buy the land and buildings.  Only time will tell. 

We have made some bad timeshare decisions before and know that we don't make money on them.  We generally buy on eBay, so this was a leap.

Our first year to use it is 2009, so I will have to check into what is going on then.


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## california-bighorn (Nov 15, 2008)

*Correct on great beach*

You could not be more right on with your comments about the beautiful beach setting at this resort.  We spent a long time just walking up and down the beach in this area. As far as being "on the beach" this will be hard to beat. And I'll bet the completed pool does look very nice.  As mentioned before, we could see while under construction that the pool would be good sized for the number of units being built.   
I hope they changed the plans for a RV parking lot at the back side of the pool.  Or maybe the salesman thought that was something we would want to hear.  We caught our salesman in several mis-representations about timeshares, RCI and Points (surprise, surprise) but we just politely corrected him and moved on.
Good luck and looking forward to a report after your next visit.


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## pittle (Dec 12, 2008)

FYI - we got photos of our unit today from our salesman.  It is finished and we are looking forward to going in June with our grandson.


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## DianeH (Dec 17, 2008)

I just had to chime in with our t/s tour experience this past November.

DH and I were walking the beach when 'Melvin' ran up to us to offer us a tour.  We would get $250 usd  and his sister would get $100 usd.  We agreed.

When we arrived at the resort, there was some chatter amongst the salesmen and Melvin and finally he approached us and said we would only get $150 usd and his sister $50.  We argued and discussed and a couple came out and I asked them if the tour was high pressure and they said it wasn't so since we were there, we figured why not.

Once inside we had to wait quite a while and noticed Melvin was not making eye contact with us.  We were starving and getting a little cranky at this point.  Finally another salesman came over and told us Melvin has made a mistake.  We would receive $50 and sister would receive $25.  We laughed. 

We stayed for our free breakfast (which was wonderful) and then the van took us back to our home resort Pueblo Bonito. Perhaps we should have taken the tour for $75 but at that point all we wanted to do was get back to the pool! 

We'll not soon forget LaJolla!


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## PJTSytms97 (Dec 21, 2008)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico Scam!*



DianeH said:


> I just had to chime in with our t/s tour experience this past November.
> 
> DH and I were walking the beach when 'Melvin' ran up to us to offer us a tour.  We would get $250 usd  and his sister would get $100 usd.  We agreed.
> 
> ...



Hi DianeH,

You were lucky to have escaped! I have had a year now, to repent our decision to buy the 27, 500 fractional ownership points from Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico. Believe me, if I had it to do over again....   But we had a contract with an addendum, so we thought that we were safe. We also had a good relationship with Bank of America, so again, we thought that we were  safe. This was a very hard lesson to learn, but learn I have.
I am hopeful of a just outcome with our PROFECO claim hearing scheduled for February 4, 2009.
We own at Pueblo Bonita Emerald Bay, and we love it.  We just returned from a delightful 1-week stay at the Grand Mayan in Puerto Vallarta. We are Mayan Vacation Club owners also. We love Mexico, and we will not let this one very negative experience influence our future vacations in that beautiful country. 
Thanks again for chiming in.
PJTSytms97


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## PJTSytms97 (Feb 16, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

We decided to celebrate our anniversary on February 9, 2009 at our timeshare at Pueblo Bonito, Emerald Bay in Mazatlan. We walked along the beach near Boutique Resort La Jolla one day, and were very surprised by the amount of construction that has been completed since our visit on December 17, 2007,

when we signed Contract No. 417 with Addendum with Mr. Lobato.

I seem to remember that the model that was shown to us,at that time, was much larger in scale, than what has now been actually constructed. Since our resort is a neighboring property, fellow tourists would stop and ask me if I knew anything about Boutique Resort La Jolla. Needless, to say, I am not a walking advertisement for that particular resort. We will be neighbors of Boutique Resort LaJolla for the next 28 years, so it will be interesting to watch the progress. We love Mazatlan and our timeshare there.

It would be very helpful to Americans, if the US State Department would inform Americans who visit Mexico,that we have PROFECO as a resource, when we have consumer fraud issues, while on vacation in Mexico.

I hope that all you who purchased from this resort, are able to obtain the services that you paid for with your hard earned money. I checked in at the PROFECO office in Mazatlan, while we were there to check on the progress of my case against Boutique Resort LaJolla. The first of three PROFECO hearings was scheduled for February 4, 2009 in Mexico City. 

The PROFECO staff informed me that my case is still in progress. 

Good Luck to us all!


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## pittle (Feb 16, 2009)

Thank you for posting that you could see major progress has been made at this resort.

We were pleased to see their website state that phase 1 was completed and they were ready to start on phase 2. Phase 1 was the 4 buildings (villas) that are along the pool.  Our unit is the 2nd floor of the building closest to the pool, pool bar, and beach.  We can see furniture on the patio in the photos and are looking forward to going there ifor the month of June with our grandson.

Phase 2 is the tower that has units like the model.  It will be behind the villas.


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## PJTSytms97 (Feb 17, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

I'm sorry if my previous post was misleading. I meant that the sight of Boutique Resort La Jolla was shocking! We were surprised by the lack of completed construction, since we were there on December 17, 2007.  The scale model that Mr. Lobato showed us displayed larger buildings, and the design of the scale model, was much more expansive overall. I was told that this resort has been under construction since 2003. 

Again, good luck to us all.


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## PJTSytms97 (Apr 17, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico Scam!*

My first PROFECO hearing against Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico was held on February 4, 2009. I am still awaiting a response from them. 

In November, 2008 La Jolla sent me an email
requesting that I remove my story of being defrauded of $6175.00 by them from the internet. La Jolla, my debtors, asked that I post a new story, recanting my entire nightmare of a sales experience on the internet. The email also asked that I address the integrity of Mr. Lobato. If I agreed to the offer, the email said that they would return one-half of my down payment up front,


in what they termed as, "in good faith." and the remainder would be returned, once my posts had been removed, I have satisfactorily recanted my story, and addressed Mr. Lobato's integrity. I refused my debtor's offer. On December 17, 2007, I signed Contract No. 417 with Addendum in good faith, and then was defrauded by Mr. Lobato on June 17, 2008. I do not the have words to address Mr. Lobato's integrity.




On November 11, 2008, I received an email response from La Jolla, my debtors, saying that they were going to initiate a law suit against me. I am still waiting to here from Boutique Resort La Jolla's attorneys. 


Americans are protected under the US Constitution for freedom of speech. Every word that I have posted describing my sales experience with La Jolla is the truth, and is very well documented.


When we were recently in Mazatlan, we were told that PROFECO takes time and patience. I am still hopeful of a just outcome. I believe that businesses like Boutique Resort La Jolla should be put out of business, or heavily fined by PROFECO, for their unscrupulous business practices.


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## pittle (Apr 17, 2009)

I will be there in 6 weeks!  I have talked to one person and received an email from another that our unit has been occupied by other owners since January and they are expecting us for the month of June - per our contract.  Our unit is on the 2nd floor of the building overlooking the pool and closest to the ocean and pool bar.  Once we get there, I will post an update on the progress that is being made.

We did not buy points - we bought the month of June in one of the fractional villas.  It was about half done when we purchased.  They have started the tower building that will have the timeshare units that are affiliated with the points system that you purchased.


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## Clintshare (Apr 26, 2009)

*Not so bad*

While at PBEB we also went over to LaJolla for the presentation. The deal was 2000 pesos, breakfast and a tour. We had a great breakfast, listened for the alloted 2 hours, said no thankyou, 

and left with our 10 200 peso notes.  

Relatively low pressure... compared to Mayan Palace. The deal offered seemed too good to be true. 4 weeks for $4000.00 or so. Fixed maintenance fee of $400 a year for all 4 weeks... NOT 1600.00 a year.... which was hard to believe. And 4 weeks tradeable within the HIS (or whatever combination of these 3 letters). The salesman showed us their version of RCI last call. Live on his laptop.   PBEB in early November for 222.00 a week? Not bad since we were sitting in LaJolla in mid October.

As I said we declined.... but were tempted.  Let's see how the prior posters do with LaJolla in 2009...  I hope all works out.


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## PJTSytms97 (Aug 30, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

Yesterday, we received a letter from a man claiming to represent, Mr. Fernando Lobato,our Boutique Resort LaJolla, Mazatlan, Mexico salesman. The letter states that they are investigating the stories of my timeshare experience with Mr. Lobato, that I have posted on the worldwide web. This is the second notification of possible legal action, that we have received from Boutique Resort LaJolla. Americans are protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution for freedom of speech. My stories of our timeshare sales experience with Mr. Lobato, are documented clearly in Contract No. 417 with Addendum, that was signed by us and Mr. Lobato on December 17, 2007. 

On June 17, 2008, Mr. Lobato breached Contract No. 417 with addendum, when he did not sell our previously owned timeshare, and he did not "reimburse all monies given up to that point." The contract stated that if he did not sell our timeshare by June 17, 2008, we could cancel the contract, and we would receive a refund of our earnest money downpayment of $6175.00. Mr. Lobato personally initiated and signed Contract No. 417 with addendum on December 17, 2007. On June 17, 2008 we notified Mr. Lobato by email and certified mail, that we were canceling the contract, and we wanted to receive a refund of our earnest downpayment of $6175.00. We had to hire an attorney to reinforce the cancellation of Contract No. 417 with Addendum, but still we have not received a refund of our earnest money down payment. It is really very simple, we abided by Contract No. 417 with Addendum, Mr. Lobato did not. This business transaction would have ended amicably on June 17, 2008, if we would have received a refund of our downpayment as written in Contract No. 417 with Addendum.

We are now the creditors and Mr. Lobato is now our debtor in the amount of $6175.00. I believe that contracts are legally binding instruments in both Mexico and the US. 

Let The Buyer Beware!


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## pittle (Aug 30, 2009)

We went to the Boutique Resort LaJolla in June.  We had purchased a month in the villa closest to the pool and ocean.  The unit itself exceeded our expectations.  Even the Studio side kitchen area had a dishwasher.  Because of the economy, swine flu scare, and media reports on drugs/violence, everyone but us cancelled.  There are 8 villa units completed.  We had the entire resort to ourselves.   We had our 10 year old grandson with us.

We did not use any of our other timeshares as trade-in as we have seen that fall through with many people over the years.  Resale timeshares just do not bring the price they will tell you it will.  Taking a timeshare in on trade is just something they do to get you to buy.  You probably could have purchased at the same price without the resale of yours.  We were offered that on another timeshare purchase last year and were loking forward to having 3 less maintenace fees, but the re-seller sent it back to us because we only had 7 years left on the contract.  The resort we purchased at told us just to keep the weeks, they did not want them.  So, we basically got the same deal as we would have had we not tried the trade in system.

PTSystems97, you must remember that you purchased in another country.  The laws there are different than ours, but we have to abide by those laws when we are there.  My guess is that if you were to hire an attorney and take it to court, you would be taking big chance.  You would be out attorney fees and might lose - then you would have spent more money.  This may become one of those situations where you take lemons and make lemonade.  The resort is nice.

We are looking forward to going again next year.  You can see photos of the LaJolla by clicking on the link under my signature.


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## Karen G (Aug 30, 2009)

pittle said:


> We went to the Boutique Resort LaJolla in June.  We had purchased a month in the villa closest to the pool and ocean.


Phyllis, your pictures were lovely.  Looks like a great unit. That must have been weird to be the only people at the resort! Was there a restaurant open for you?


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## pittle (Aug 30, 2009)

Karen G said:


> Phyllis, your pictures were lovely.  Looks like a great unit. That must have been weird to be the only people at the resort! Was there a restaurant open for you?



They have a small restaurant and would have kept it open after all the breakfast "prospects" left, but we had brought a bunch of stuff to cook for the 10 year old who is a picky eater, so we told them not to keep someone around just in case.  We drove down to Mazatlan from Phoenix so had a vehicle to drive to some of the restaurants.

It was like having our own private place on the beach.  The pool was really nice and I had taken a floating chaise so just floated around in the afternoon while Cameron jumped in and out and dived for pennies.  Our grandson got bored with no other kids and not a lot of TV channels, but we did have our laptops and they do have wifi in the units, so we could watch his home TV with Slingbox and he could play computer games.  We did leave early so that he could go to our house where he has some friends in the neighborhood before he flwe back to KC.  Next summer, we are going to do just adults - we already have 2 couples lined up to join us for a week.

Thanks for looking at the pictures.  Emmy (iconnections) told me about the Picasa web albums and I recently set it up.


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## Karen G (Aug 30, 2009)

pittle said:


> We drove down to Mazatlan from Phoenix so had a vehicle to drive to some of the restaurants.


How was the drive to Mazatlan? That's kind of a long drive, right? Are the roads good--was it scary?


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## pittle (Aug 31, 2009)

The drive from Phoenix was better than we expected. There is a 4 lane divided highway (toll road) from Nogales to Mazaltan.  It costs us about $125 RT.  The local people do not use it and there was very little traffic - just a few semi trucks. We did have to drive through one or two towns, but bypassed all the small ones and Los Mochis.  On the way down, we stopped in San Carlos and spent two nights at the ILX resort.  San Carlos is 1/2 way there from our house. We got to San Carlos about 3 PM and would have kept on driving had we not made reservations.

On the way back, we decided to drive it in a day.  We left Mazatlan at 6 AM and arrived at Nogales border crossing at 6 PM.  It was 3 more hours to our house, so a 15 hour day.  That was long, but not too bad and it was daylight all while we were in Mexico.  We have driven 15 hours a day driving across the US before and will most likely drive down in one day when it is just the 2 of us.  From Nevada, you could drive to Nogales and spend the night on the US side, then drive the 12 hours to Mazatlan the next day.


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## PJTSytms97 (Aug 31, 2009)

*Boutique Resort LaJolla Mazatlan Mexico Scam*



pittle said:


> PTSystems97, you must remember that you purchased in another country.  The laws there are different than ours, but we have to abide by those laws when we are there.  My guess is that if you were to hire an attorney and take it to court, you would be taking big chance.  You would be out attorney fees and might lose - then you would have spent more money.  This may become one of those situations where you take lemons and make lemonade.  The resort is nice.



Hi Pittle,
First, let me say that we are very happy that your purchase experience with the resort has been a successful one, and hope that your satisfaction continues for years to come. Your committment in helping to make the resort successful, is very evident in each of your posts. We, too have experienced some wonderful vacations in Mazatlan.

We are owners at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay, and up until the current health and violence issues there, we visited Mexico 1-2 times a year. We also own a timeshare in the Bahamas. So, abiding by the laws while on foreign soil is not unfamiliar to us. We have of course sought legal advice, and have been told that a legal recourse will cost much more than the debt that is owned to us, by Mr. Lobato and Boutique Resort La Jolla. A contract, however, is a legally binding instrument in both the US and Mexico.
My intent has not been to defame Boutique Resort La Jolla or even Mr. Lobato, for that matter. My intent was to inform unsuspecting tourists just like myself and my husband, that even the most travel savy person, can fall prey to timeshare fraud while on vacation. 

As for taking lemons and making lemonade......
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that idea.
That glass of lemonade would be a little bite too pricey.

Good luck,
PJT


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## PJTSytms97 (Nov 23, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

I recenty received an update, from PROFECO, regarding my consumer complaint against Boutique Resort LaJolla, Mazatlan Mexico. I was told that LaJolla did not send a legal representative to the February 4, 2009 hearing, nor did they send a legal representative to the November 5, 2009 hearing. 
I understand that PROFECO levies fines on the resorts for non-compliance with the legal process.  If anyone has any information regarding the fine schedule, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.  PROFECO informed me that the next scheduled hearing with LaJolla is schedule for January 10, 2010.

I would question, that if LaJolla defies Mexican Federal Law, with regard to a consumer's complaint, then what recourse, would an owner have, if they do not receive the services they contracted for?


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## PJTSytms97 (Dec 23, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

Boutique Resort La Jolla and I have arrived at a settlement agreement.


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## Karen G (Dec 23, 2009)

PJTSytms97 said:


> Boutique Resort La Jolla and I have arrived at a settlement agreement.


Thanks so much for following up on your situation.  I hope the agreement was satisfactory for you.  It must be a great relief to finally have a resolution.


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## pittle (Dec 23, 2009)

PJTSytms97 said:


> Boutique Resort La Jolla and I have arrived at a settlement agreement.



It is good to hear that things worked out for you.  You put in a lot of time and effort.


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## PJTSytms97 (Dec 24, 2009)

*Boutique Resort La Jolla Mazatlan Mexico Scam*

I have reached a settlement agreement with the resort. As a condition of this settlement, I have asked the administrators to remove my previous posts from this thread.
May I offer thanks to all who have offered support during this very long and difficullt situation.

PJTSytms97


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## Clintshare (Dec 29, 2009)

*Great news*

I have followed your travails since you started. I am happy for you! Your tenacity in the face of such a mess is remarkable and has been rewarded. 

Hopefully, your experience will benefit others! 

"I have reached a settlement agreement with the resort. As a condition of this settlement, I have asked the administrators to remove my previous posts from this thread.
May I offer thanks to all who have offered support during this very long and difficullt situation."


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## mpariseau (Oct 22, 2010)

*La Jolla Boutique Scam*

I fell in love with Mazatlan and bought a timeshare in 1987.  I have enjoyed many years at my timeshare.  My timeshare is soon to expire and I thought I should start to look for a new timeshare.  I was approached by LaJolla on the street to view their timeshare pressentation.  Steve, who stated he was the developer, brought in from CA to keep things moving was here to give me the best deal they had.   He offered to take my current timeshare and compared it to the "Cash for Clunkers" that was currently being done in the U.S. He said the program would allow him to give me $15,000 to trade in my current timeshare.  So it sounded like a good deal that the U.S. government was giving.  When I returned to my current timeshare that day, I made a phone call to the number of LaJolla to arrange the timeshare trade and that is when I found out that they planned to sell it and there was no program.  I then called Bank of America and Bank of America made it sound like it was no problem and they would take care of it because I had emailed, faxed and hand delivered my cancellation to LaJolla.  I went back to LaJolla and talked to Fransicso Kelly, he stated and showed me the fax that they had received from me.  Fransicso stated they Steve was going to be fired that day for misrepresenting LaJolla.  I saw Steve the next day, still working at LaJolla.  I filed a complaint with Profeco and sent all the necessary paperwork.  The first meeting with Profeco and LaJolla, was held in October, 2010.  I received a response from Profeco on October 21, 2010 stating that LaJolla would refund me $2,850 of my $15,000 original claim.  I responded to Profeco that this was not satisfactory and another court date is set for January, 2011.


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## pittle (Oct 25, 2010)

We own there and have had the opportunity to go for the month of June in 2009 & 2010.  We purchased the entire month of June in the villa above the model by the pool.  We just loved it and had friends join us.  We can hardly wait until June 2011.  We were fortunate that we got what we bought for a great price.  

Sorry to hear about your problem.  Since we were over the model unit, I heard several "tales" that salesmen were telling potential buyers.  We lucked out and got a low key salesman when we bought.  He just laid it out and made no pie in the sky promises.  He knew that we owned other timeshares and did not want to trade them in. Therefore, he just showed us what he had and what it cost.  We bought a fixed month in a specific unit.


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## stopfraud (Oct 25, 2010)

*Timeshare buying - wherever.*

Phyllis,
It was not just luck. You are smart and you knew what you were doing.


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## flexible (Nov 2, 2010)

*CONGRATULATIONS on your settlement!* You might recall our PMs in October 2008 when my husband and I visited La Jolla. My husband was extremely impressed with everything he was told about HSI. We recognized many of their timeshare reps from El Cid where we have a 3.4M point contract and they remembered us.

When I used their WiFi and found your post I printed it out and showed it the reps and the two owners at La Jolla. They said it was the first they knew of your complaint. (I bet that was not true.) We did NOT buy because what were told by the Reps about HSI was NOT what HSI told us EVEN though they allowed us to use their office telephones to call and fax HSI. Eventually HSI (after about six phone calls and faxes refused to discuss a potential HSI membership with us because of the conflicting information from the timeshare representatives and the HSI representatives. We returned to La Jolla about five times during two weeks and eventually I sensed their owners could care less if we purchased because they knew I would hold them accountable for everything they told me AND *I would require them to SIGN documents I typed up listing the VERBAL promises made. That way I could make a check list so we had a full and complete understanding.*

*
If EVERYONE on TUG that went to timeshare presentations would search TUG during the presentation perhaps AND read any possible concerns like yours to the liner/closer/management while there perhaps people like you and http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=837698 would have quicker resolutions. *



PJTSytms97 said:


> *I have reached a settlement agreement with the resort. As a condition of this settlement, I have asked the administrators to remove my previous posts from this thread.
> May I offer thanks to all who have offered support during this very long and difficullt situation. PJTSytms97*



I am unsure if we will upgrade any of our various timeshare contracts soon BUT I am certain any timeshare that does NOT fulfill their WRITTEN AGREEMENTS with me will regret it. I understand it costs money to run a safe, clean, relaxing and FUN resort with good food BUT if a timeshare thinks they can lie to me and I will not post it online they are mistaken. I was a software consultant for 20 years and have over a dozen personal hobby websites so I am familar with search engine tactics to be sure any future complaint will be one of the TOP search engine results whenever someone enters a resort name in quotes  + complaint.


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## DianeH (Nov 2, 2010)

I so wish we could get atleast a portion of the money Torrenza stole from us.  Now they are sending Maintenance bills for Torrenza Boutique which they cleverly bought and renovated when they knew they would not be able to honor the original Torrenza towers purchase agreement.  Our response?  'we did not purchase this timeshare, we purchased the towers and therefore we will not pay MF's on a property we have not purchased.'
If they gave us half back we'd be happy and quiet.  Until then......


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## flexible (Nov 4, 2010)

DianeH said:


> I so wish we could get atleast a portion of the money Torrenza stole from us.  Now they are sending Maintenance bills for Torrenza Boutique which they cleverly bought and renovated when they knew they would not be able to honor the original Torrenza towers purchase agreement.  Our response?  'we did not purchase this timeshare, we purchased the towers and therefore we will not pay MF's on a property we have not purchased.'
> If they gave us half back we'd be happy and quiet.  Until then......



Are you saying they want you to pay MF on what was originally Playa Marina? Are the still building the Torrenza Towers in the Golden Zone. We met with them on their grand opening in late October 2008. Is it another "Bellaire" like the one in PV next to Velas Vallarta?


My husband purchased 2 weeks at Marina del Rey (in Mazatlan). He pre-paid the MF for the life of the contract when Luis needed money to build Playa Maria next door. My husband purchased a 2 week contract at Playa Maria with a GUARANTEED MF of $325 per week per 1 bedroom unit. Luis sold Playa Marina because he needed money to build a third project next door for full time owners.

We were told our PM weeks internally accumulated.  We were told we had to use up accumulated weeks by 31 Dec 2008 so we made reservations and banked them with exchange companies. We used 4 in October 2008. The last week we were there a "3rd owner" showed up. So the "Playa Maria" sign came down and if I remember correctly a "Crown Bay" sign went up. After returning from PV in February, the new sign was "Grand Bay." The next sign was "Torrenza Boutique."

If I recall correctly the 3rd or 4th owner told Playa Maria owners that had to pay to CERTIFY their weeks and the MF would rise substantially. We never responded to their requests.

Have you ever visited what was Playa Maria recently?


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