[2011] Villa del Palmar, Timeshare Scams,Universal Vacation Club

[ProTurbo]

Timeshare presentation Villa Del Palmar Advise

We did book with BookVip and because of the price we will have to attend a timeshare presentation at the Villa Del Palmar.

So on Feb 5 , 2015 will be checking in and the following morning will be attending a 90 minutes or 4 hour presentation.

Can I have some advise on how to be able to get out of there ASAP and anything else to help go through this presentation.

I thank you very much

Pro

 

[Karen G]

Can I have some advise on how to be able to get out of there ASAP and anything else to help go through this presentation.

Don't ask any questions or give them any information. They will have a comeback for anything you might bring up such as "I can't afford it." Just keep saying NO.

 

[Karen G]

So after many phone calls and emails, we finally got assistance with our cancellation and were assured that it would be finalized by January 10. Dave Smith was very helpful. Thanks for your response

Congratulations and thanks for letting us know.

 

[PStreet1]

Definitely, just keep saying "No." Karen is right about any embelishment you make: they've already thought of it and have an answer. I have a friend who adopted "It just doesn't feel right to me," and when pushed said vaguely "I don't know why; it just doesn't." She said there really wasn't any reply they could make to her "feelings."

 

[Karen G]

I have a friend who adopted "It just doesn't feel right to me," and when pushed said vaguely "I don't know why; it just doesn't." She said there really wasn't any reply they could make to her "feelings."

I love that response!

 

[ProTurbo]

Thank you very much

Pro

 

[Passepartout]

One of my favorites is to print out current offerings and completed auctions of the exact resort from eBay. It sorta takes the wind out of their sails when they know that you are aware of sales at their resort for a dollar. 'Course wearing a TUG T-shirt (Buy resale, save THOU$AND$) doesn't hurt either. Search Cafe Press dot com.

Jim

 

[OlgaS]

to Jeff Robbins

Dear Mr. Robbins,

Hello and how are you? My name is David and I recently was taken advantage of by The Villa Group in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. To make a long story short, I had informed them that my wife and I absolutely could NOT get this because we could not afford it. Then, while my wife was crying, they said that they would provide us employment. I am starting to understand this was a hoax just to get us to sign. I also asked them if I could purchase the membership after I start employment. They informed us that 'no, everyone here is a member and you must first be a member before you can work here'. I also discovered this to not be true when I got back home and researched them on the internet.
Also in my research, I found out about you. It seems that you are very helpful to individuals in my position.
Mr. Robbins, I would be beyond gratitude if you would get back to me and help us in this dire predicament. I am beyond shock with the tactics they used and the promises they made. And no, now that we understand, we never want to work in that kind of environment. We could never do such things to other people.

Sincerely and Gratefully,
David & Olga Steele

 

[Ty1on]

Jeff Robbins hasn't posted here in almost 4 years.

 

[OlgaS]

Looking for anyone to help us cancel a timeshare

Does anyone know any individual who can help me with cancelling a timeshare contract? My husband and I were incredibly swindled in quite an unbelievable way; we were even promised employment - of course that was a lie.
If anyone can help us with this information, we would appreciate it so much.
Thank you and sincerely,
Olga & David

Thank you Ty1on for the info. Do you know anyone else that can help with my query?

 

[Ty1on]

Does anyone know any individual who can help me with cancelling a timeshare contract? My husband and I were incredibly swindled in quite an unbelievable way; we were even promised employment - of course that was a lie.
If anyone can help us with this information, we would appreciate it so much.
Thank you and sincerely,
Olga & David

Thank you Ty1on for the info. Do you know anyone else that can help with my query?

Пожалуйста

I will defer to those who know more about Mexican timeshare issues, who will probably suggest you get Profeco involved.
ps I would take those emails down, unless you want every scammer on the planet to start spamming you.

 

[Karen G]

Does anyone know any individual who can help me with cancelling a timeshare contract?

You can contact Profeco, the Mexican consumer protection agency through their website.

To contact another poster on TUG, click on their blue user name and a box will drop down where you can choose to send them an email or private message.

 

[Passepartout]

OlgaS, you said you were recently 'taken advantage of' by this outfit. If it was within the last week, you can notify them in writing that you wish to rescind. It's your right and cannot be signed away by you.

I agree that in your case, it appears that PROFECO would be your best defense.

We wish you well.

 

[OlgaS]

Thank you everyone, we sent email to the office we bought from and to main office ( which is in US), We researched in internet and found PROFECO, The Villa Group company seems to be registered in US and Mexico both, so we hope we can use legal help in both countries. We purchase last Sunday, and informed them about our decision to cancel last night, so hopefully "technically" we are not to late yet to rescind the deal. And yes, we were tricked, they used 5 representative on us, they all pretended to be nice, and kept repeating how honest company is, and bla bla bla, they didn't leave us even for a second alone to clear up our minds, and team promised us all possible good benefits, including the job in company...They lied into our face...I'm still shocked about techniques they are using to close the deal!!!
P.S. Ty1on thank you for advice about removing emails*)

 

[Passepartout]

Since you sent the rescission letter within a week, you should be fine. Keep the proof that you mailed it. It is not important when they get the letter, only that you send it in a timely manner, and the way they specify in the contract. I doubt that email is listed as a suggested way to deliver a rescission letter. FAX, possibly. Certified USPS, most likely. And yes, Mexican timeshare sales techniques are high pressure, and there is little to no respect for the truth. They can and will say anything, and promise the moon to make a sale.

Now, you probably should consider alerting your credit card carrier that you intend to challenge any charge from these weasels, and if necessary, close that card account and open a new one- citing possible fraud. Do the same if you gave them access to a bank account. Change it.

Jim

 

[OlgaS]

Hi Jim!
We did call our bank last night, bank can't stop payment by this merchant(the Villa Group) they only can close account (which we can't do to right now) and they can change limit per purchase by card. We change limit till 100$ do you think it will work or we need to empty account?
Thank you

 

[Passepartout]

Hi Jim!
We did call our bank last night, bank can't stop payment by this merchant(the Villa Group) they only can close account (which we can't do to right now) and they can change limit per purchase by card. We change limit till 100$ do you think it will work or we need to empty account?
Thank you

It really depends on your comfort level. If you trust that they will simply refund any down payment you made, then don't close the account- it will be better for them to credit an account they already have. But If you feel they will try to continue to withdraw any payments you agreed to, then close it and move any funds to a new account. Closing an account is a PITA because you have to change any automatic charges you have (utilities, other payments), and add the new account to other 'one click' payments you may have.

If it was me, if I was sure I had firm proof of the rescission letter being sent on time, I'd probably just alert the charge card of the fraudulent charge, then continue to watch that account daily until the down payment is returned. That can take up to 45 days. They are required to process your rescission. They are NOT required to give you a progress report, or even acknowledge that they are processing it.

It is a stressful time, with the waiting. But it's better than buying from these 'wolves in sheep's clothing'.

 

[EJC]

Did you JUST email them saying you wanted to rescind? Did you JUST call them to inform them you want to rescind? What specifically does the contract say you have to do to rescind? I'm not sure emailing or calling them is enough. Many times you have to send a registered letter. I don't know whether or not your contract requires a registered letter to rescind.

 

[OlgaS]

We did emailed them, we JUSt found in contract that we can cancel with no fees within 5 business days. But we need to inform them in writing. So, in our case Monday to Friday were our 5 business days. Today is Sunday. So we probably late. We need to send certified mail to them, But until Monday (tomorrow) all post offices are closed. Even places we can send fax to them not available till tomorrow. We still gonna try and not give up on that.
As per accounts we are trying to empty them now.
Any more suggestions? Please!

 

[Ty1on]

We did emailed them, we JUSt found in contract that we can cancel with no fees within 5 business days. But we need to inform them in writing. So, in our case Monday to Friday were our 5 business days. Today is Sunday. So we probably late. We need to send certified mail to them, But until Monday (tomorrow) all post offices are closed. Even places we can send fax to them not available till tomorrow. We still gonna try and not give up on that.
As per accounts we are trying to empty them now.
Any more suggestions? Please!

You missed your rescission period, so I think Profeco is your avenue.

 

[tartanwood]

Back in 2003, we were pressured into buying 2 summer weeks. We returned home to discover that my employer was making cuts, but by then it was too late to rescind.

We called, anyway, and they did give us partial relief. They allowed us to cut back to 1 week instead of 2 and they told us we would not have to pay that year's maintenance fee. We found a way to pay off the remaining balance immediately, so that they could not automatically take any payments from our bank

Even with this partial relief, we still resented the whole experience and did not use the resort for several years. The original resort in PV still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but we finally used all of our banked weeks at one of the newer resorts and discovered that we enjoyed it. We've gone back to the various resorts 4 or 5 times, and all is good as long as we do not attend sales meetings. It was a costly lesson, but at least we are getting a little pleasure now for all of the pain.

Should we have purchased from the developer in the first place? NO
Should we purchase any more from the developer? NO

Are we making the best of what we have? Finally, YES.

I hope you can get out of your contract completely; but if not, see if you can find a way to make it work for you.

 

[OlgaS]

Thank you Ty1on
To Tartanwood: Thank you for sharing your story, we will see what we can do to get out of that contract, fingers crossed for at least some refunds, we transferred all funds to other account now. We gonna keep trying, ourself and with profeco, or bbb, we even found some reporters who collecting those kind of stories, at least we want to post everywhere we can, so other people can be aware of those scammers.

 

[Ty1on]

Thank you Ty1on
To Tartanwood: Thank you for sharing your story, we will see what we can do to get out of that contract, fingers crossed for at least some refunds, we transferred all funds to other account now. We gonna keep trying, ourself and with profeco, or bbb, we even found some reporters who collecting those kind of stories, at least we want to post everywhere we can, so other people can be aware of those scammers.

BBB can't help you in any way, unfortunately.

 

[melissaj]

Timeshare Scam

I bought a timeshare too and it was one of the worst financial mistakes I ever made. I just attend the timeshare presentation for free stuff and the high-pressure sales person convinced me to sign the contract, and I ended up with a timeshare. It was one of the hardest things to get rid of, and I lost about $20,000 in the process. It was an expensive lesson learned.

 

[sarinae]

Surrender and Mexican Timeshares

Hi All,

We bought two contracts on Ebay for UVC. When we traveled to Loreto, we upgraded to the points membership. It works for us, and we felt the price was fair. This was when they first started selling them, sounds like the sales tactics have changed.

I can confirm the scam about buying your other contracts. We held a deeded ownership in the US, and 2 points memberships in Mexico with other timeshares (inherited from my deceased Mother). They credited us a value for those contracts toward our purchase and told us that we had to use this company to finish getting rid of them. Well, that was a scam. It took a year, but I finally got a refund from my credit card company, I had to wait for deadlines in the contract to pass before I could request a refund. The company never made an attempt to complete the transfer. Every time I called I got another pack of lies.

We went to a company that offered to get rid of our timeshares. The 'attorney' we spoke with said that he could help us with the deeded ownership but that any RTU Mexican timeshare was beyond his help. But, we wouldn't need it, we could just stop paying the maintenance fees and it would disappear. I doubted, but did some research here and other places about this. It was true, we stopped paying the Raintree RTU (kept in my Mom's name). After a year of requests to pay up, they just stopped bothering us. We also had an inherited Grand Mayan, an odd contract that you only paid a MF on when you used it, but it still had the additional MF every 5 years. I get an email once in a while on that one, but that is all. Fairly easy to ignore. Evidently, it is too hard to pursue US Citizens internationally so they just give up and resell it. If you read the RTU contract, it does say that if you fail to pay for it, you lose the right to use after 1 year.

The deeded US timeshare was tougher to get rid of, we finally ended up giving it away to someone in our state through Craigslist. We handled the deed change ourselves and the person paid the transfer fee. We were lucky, they were honorable. This can be a tricky transfer.

I really do love the VDP resorts. The hardest part is to get them to leave you alone about the "presentation" when you visit. Like all of the TS companies out there going to points, they try to sell you on the fact that you can use the points to buy other things. This is such a poor value. If I consider my MFs alone, it represents a 20-50% markup on costs for things like the all inclusive meals, car rental, etc.

LIke all of those presentations, you have to be vigilant about saying no. Go home and find the same ownership on the secondary market. Usually you can pick them up for about 10% of the original price at the developer sales pitch. Thank goodness for TUG, I've learned a great deal from lurking here and reading the experiences and advice of others.