# Beware of occidental vacation club



## Jradway (May 17, 2011)

On May 7, 2011, my wife and I traveled to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for 8 days. On May 12, 2011, we were approached by a gentlemen outside of the Occidental Hotel. He asked us if we would come in and see their hotel. We asked if this was a timeshare presentation and he informed us that NO, it wasn’t a timeshare presentation. Since we had some extra time to spare, we decided to visit the hotel. Once we entered the hotel, we were approached by the representative, Eduardo, welcoming us to the hotel and telling us that it would only take about 90 mins to show us everything and that we weren’t obligated to anything.

Eduardo took us around, telling us about the hotel, showing us all the nice areas and then proceeded to take us to get some lunch at the hotel. After about 90 mins, Eduardo took us back to the hotel sales office. He showed us some of the vacation plans and prices. We told him we could not afford to pay for any of the plans. Eduardo went and got his manager, Erdem Cavus, who came and showed us different plans and different prices. They finally showed us a price ($11,600.00) that seemed affordable to us. We were told that by buying this “plan” we would actually be SAVING money since we like to vacation at least once a year. They asked us to put down a deposit of $424.00 and 20% off the total price which came out to be $2320.00. We ended up paying a total amount of $2744.00 on May 12, 2011. On May 13, 2011, we decided to just go ahead and pay the rest of the balance which was $9280.00. We were told that what we purchased was a RESALE and that we were NOT able to cancel this membership. We were made to sign a waiver form stating this. Surprisingly, they neglected to put this document in our “welcome packet.” We also accepted a free stay at the hotel for the remainder of the trip which we were offered as a incentive to signing up. Little did we know that free stay would "lock us in" to the contract and negate our 5 day window (or so they say). We had a bad feeling about our decision and decided to do some research about the hotel and vacation club to see what others had to say. We starting seeing complaints and against the same people we had spoken too. We also found out the waiver was a scam, and getting us to stay in the hotel during was also a tactic to intentionally trap us in a contract without respecting Mexican law.

On May 15,2011, 3 days after we signed the contract, we went back to the Occidental Vacation Club, stating that we would like to CANCEL our membership and requested a FULL refund. We were told that we COULD NOT cancel and there was nothing they could do. They denied our right to cancel the membership while being ridiculed and lied to. Under Mexican law, there exists a 5 business day period of cancellation , during which the contract does not become perfected. This 5 day right of cancellation is NOT waivable (buyer cannot give it up) and even if the buyer is convinced to sign a document to give it up (waive the right) that waiver is NOT valid and the buyer still has the 5 day right.

We have emailed everyone possible and have found out that this company is a scam. We contacted the vacation club BEFORE our 5 days were up and were told in person that we are not able to cancel and since we were pressed for time, we left and decided we would handle this when we got back to the USA.*


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## rpennisi (May 17, 2011)

I have 2 questions:
What does your membership entitle you to get each year?
Why did you decide the day after signing to pay the balance?
Good luck.


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## Jradway (May 18, 2011)

2 regular weeks ( which i can sell back for 700.00) and 3 bonus weeks. 
i don't like having monthly payments, so i would rather just pay the balance in full, the next day i wanted to see how our resort compared to others, and i guess i was still a little nervous. i started seeing ratings with the people i was dealing with as the primary targets, i even started looking for good reviews but was having trouble finding any. at that point i wanted to cancel, i would rather just have my money and a lost opportunity, than lose money and get a lemon.


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## pjrose (May 18, 2011)

You should contact the Mexican agency Profeco.  Read this thread http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61829 which is near the top of the Mexico forum.


Do not fall for any offers where you have to pay money for someone to take this off your hands - that'll be a scam.


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## california-bighorn (May 18, 2011)

If you paid with a credit card try contacting your bank to contest the charges.  I think your best point is they told you that you couldn't cancel when I believe you still had that right.  You might have to pay for the days you stayed there.


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## Karen G (May 19, 2011)

Jradway said:


> We ended up paying a total amount of $2744.00 on May 12, 2011.


Call Profeco immediately at the number on this brochure.Speak to someone there to verify the Mexican law and give you any advice they can. You have five business days to rescind a contract for a timeshare in Mexico, and if you signed on May 12, I think May 19 is the fifth business day. Mail your letter of rescission on the 19th and be sure you get proof of mailing it that day.


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