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Cancel Divi Aruba Phoenix Timeshare

zxswordxz

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Hi Everyone,

While on vacation in Aruba with my family, I made the dumbest mistake in my life. I follow my in-laws and uncle and buy with them a 2 bedroom timeshare. I've been trying to get out of it without any luck. Did anyone ever get out of Divi Resort timeshare? If you can share how you did it, I would greatly appreciate it or anyone with advise. I want to provide some info as to what take place.

We were drinking at the beach, a guy met us and advise offer us some trips if we listen to some sales pitch. I didn't want to go because i know how these things work. Everyone one was like, it won't hurt to go(big mistake). We ended up being pressured to buy a 2 bedroom timeshare. I was very pessimistic in signing but got suck into it by everyone else around me. Everyone was fine until we were on our way back and open the RCI package that the provided to us after the signing of the contract. No one never explain all the rules, fees and regulation that comes with RCI. In addition, no one every mention that there are no cancellation period.

When I return home, I immediately send them an email to terminate our contract. The refer my email to their legal department who respond 3 days later that our contract is binding and there are no rescinding period in Aruba. I've been going back and forth with their legal department proofing my case of being misled and misrepresentation during the sales presentation.

I call the Justice of Aruba department who inform me that the law to cancellation(rescind) has been pass in Aruba but will not go into effect for another month or more(which will not apply to my case). The advise to take a lawyer and fight for Misleading/Misrepresentation. At this point, I'm not sure if it is worth it.

I'm so stupid for not following my instinct but I can only blame myself.
 

DeniseM

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I recommend that you dispute it with your credit card in writing, and state that you have been defrauded.

Keep is short and sweet, and don't tell them you were drinking. ;)

If you have authorized future payments on this card, direct your credit card company not to make any more payments. Some people have reported that they cancelled the card to stop the payments.
 

zxswordxz

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Hi DeniseM,

I'm worried that they might come after us for the payment because the mention in the contract that the reserve the right to take a lawyer to obtain the payment and charge us a penalty with late fee and others. My in-law did put down a deposit on this card and I told him to cancel the card and dispute it the day we return but I think he was worried that he might get into more trouble.

Did you or anyone have done this before to know what was the end result?
 

DeniseM

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I'm only telling you what I would do - my personal opinion - legal help is beyond our scope here.

A credit card dispute is a legal way to dispute a purchase and that's the first step I'd take.

But if you are not willing to fight this, you will not get out of it - they are not going to make it easy.

Good luck!
 

stanleyu

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Your post says everything was fine till you started looking at the RCI package. It that really the only problem? You can cancel the RCI part a lot easier than cancelling your TS purchase.
 

pacodemountainside

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At this point ball is in your court. You have to do something.

Legal Department has heard your tale of woe many times and you will not get any sympathy from them!

Personally I would dispute credit card charge and ALSO cancel card. If you win then ball is in their court. Of couse, there is nothing to stop them from proceeding with collection at your expense. Buyer's remorse is not a vaid defense. A consulation with local attorney would be a good idea, but contract probably specifies Aruba as venue and cost of fighting there vs getting some use out of it is best idea.

Also, sounds like other other owners are happy campers so you will not get much support.

As far as RCI most Developers throw in first year membership free so you are probably not out anything, $89 at most. By cancelling CC they cannot make any future charges.
 

Tia

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zxswordxz did the Aruba Justice Department offer names of suggested lawyers?
How much are you out? Might it be worth another thousand to try to fight it?
 

am1

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Paying a lawyer in Aruba is probably flushing more money down the toilet. If the 3 of you bought one unit you should make sure you are all on the same page before you do anything. It seems you spread the loss 3 ways.
 

JeffW

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Not wanting to pile on, but you might just be out of luck. Although you aren't happy with the purchase, from what you described I'm not sure I see anything that you can contest as being illegal.

The reality is ALL that matters is what's on the contract you signed. What may have been verbal discussed is typically irrelevant, as is the fact that you'd have hoped there was a recission period, even though there's nothing in the contract that states that.

While most timeshare resorts are nice to stay at, unfortunately the sales tactics at some of them are less than ideal. Buying out of the country I have to think is worse, because any issues you need to deal with (whether valid or not) are that much more difficult to deal with.

I don't know the particulars of your resort, but the resale market in general is pretty bad (quite literally, pennies on the dollar). While you might pursue ways to disassociate yourself from the timeshare, you might also try to make the best of a bad situatuon and find ways to enjoy it.

Good luck.

Jeff
 

jaym

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Not wanting to pile on, but you might just be out of luck. Although you aren't happy with the purchase, from what you described I'm not sure I see anything that you can contest as being illegal.

The reality is ALL that matters is what's on the contract you signed. What may have been verbal discussed is typically irrelevant, as is the fact that you'd have hoped there was a recission period, even though there's nothing in the contract that states that.

Jeff

I have to agree with Jeff W. on this....you now find yourself in a difficult situation, one that you were hoping to avoid.

The harsh lessons that you have learned from this unfortunate experience include:
a) follow your instincts/gut on most decisions, that's usually where you'll find your comfort zone, tolerance.
b) learn to simply walk away from sales pressure situations, get aggressive with a pushy salesman if you need to, look him in the eye and ask what part of "not interested today" he doesn't understand. I would have left my spot on the beach for a few minutes, walked away from him if need be....
c) NEVER sign anything that represents a significant financial commitment without a thorough, careful review of all its terms and obligations. Weigh the decision overnight or longer until you know the consequences/benefits of such a decision.
d) when life gives you lemons, try to make lemonade, even if it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth....:mad:

Wish u luck, may you find some to extract yourself from the Divi contract.
 

stmartinfan

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I can't provide any solutions for your wish to get out of this contract. But if it turns out you're stuck, I want to add that Divi can be an excellent timeshare chain, if you decide to make the best of your ownership.

For people who like to visit the Caribbean, Divi has resorts on several different islands and you can swap your unit within the Divi chain for a small fee, without having to hold an RCI membership. The resorts are generally well managed, and I think the maintainance fees are below what you'd pay to rent a similar unit. (Of course, since you also need to figure in the cost of your purchase, it will be many years before you reach a break even point.)

There is a Yahoo group for Divi owners, which you might want to join. People swap info about the islands and Divi, although the management of the group does not allow much criticism of Divi. Recently, the group started a listing for people who want to sell or rent units, so you could try renting your place there if you want, since these are people who know Divi and are regulars to Aruba and the other islands. Some units do get sold, but I don't track resale prices and assume it's unlikely you'll be able to sell your unit at anywhere close to what you paid. But if you decide you just need to get out from future maintainance fees at any cost, you could monitor the discussions and sales there to see what kind of price you might be able to get for it on resale.

I've been to enough of the "owner's updates" at Divi to know that some current owners continue to buy additional weeks at the full Divi price because they like the resort and don't know any better. In their minds, the purchase is worth it, because they don't trade their weeks, they want a specific week in a specific unit, and enjoy the vacation experience so much they want another week or two.
 

zxswordxz

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@stmartinfan - Noted with Thanks
@Tia - The provide me with a list of lawyer. I'm not giving them a dime. The all want retainer fee + payment + sign documents with out explaining if I have a case or not. I don't want to dumb money into fruitless things.
@stanleyu - The swapping of hotels in different countries was our main purpose of buying and the didn't mention anything about RCI fees, rules and regulation. The only thing the mention was, it is a $124 yearly fee and you just call and choose a hotel in a different country and book it.

Regarding the credit card, it was on my in law card and he advise me that he call his credit card company and they tell him that the can't do anything if he sign a contract.
 

shar

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If you want to trade your Divi TS to go to other islands, Divi has their own internal exchange system that has worked very well for us. We own at the Aruba Phoenix and love it. We have used RCI and Divi to trade depending upon what we want to do. It sounds like you really don't understand RCI or Divi and how to trade within them. Really after the expense of the TS the trade fees IMO are not much.

The other bonus to owning at the Divi resorts are the extra weeks that you can get for yourself, friends and also use to trade in RCI or DAE (another exchange company that you do not have to pay a fee to belong to each year). Divi sends out the bonus times several times a year. I just received a notice in the email yesterday.

So you don't have to belong to RCI, it is just an option. There is also the ability to trade with other people here on Tug. We have done that several times with no fees involved.

Most of us have purchased our first TS from the developer and then learned to work the system for additional purchases and or trades.

Using the RCI credit system, if you purchased a specific week you can actually get more than one week in exchange from your Divi spacebank most likely this is true with points also.

By the way Divi is a corporation in N.C., not sure how that impacts your Aruba contract.

If you can't get out of your contract, you have lots of memories to make using your week or weeks that you can get.

We have been to many islands and Aruba is our favorite. This will be our 13th visit this year. Owning the TS has been much less expensive than paying for a room all these years and we have so much more space.

Just trying to point out some of the positives for you.

Shar
 

zxswordxz

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@Shar Thank you for your advised. I really appreciate it and I believe you are right about not understanding the RCI and Divi program. I think I will invest some time into it and see how it work out. I appreciate all the advise everyone has provided to me.
 

npe1jar

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@shar Thank you for your advised. I really appreciate it and I believe you are right about not understanding the RCI and Divi program. I think I will invest some time into it and see how it work out. I appreciate all the advise everyone has provided to me.
I know this is an old thread, but are there any updates? The same thing just happened to my parents and I'm trying to help them. Can anybody provide any insight as to the 5 day "cooling off" period for Aruba?
 

LannyPC

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Can anybody provide any insight as to the 5 day "cooling off" period for Aruba?

When did your parents sign the contract? There is a sticky thread here that gives you direction how to cancel or rescind a developer purchase. The instructions for the rescission should be included in your parents' contract.
 

Passepartout

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When did your parents sign the contract? There is a sticky thread here that gives you direction how to cancel or rescind a developer purchase. The instructions for the rescission should be included in your parents' contract.
Lanny, I have been looking online using every trick I know, and find no rescission period for Aruba. It may be some obscure Dutch law, but they hide it well.
 

npe1jar

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I know this is an old thread, but are there any updates? The same thing just happened to my parents and I'm trying to help them. Can anybody provide any insight as to the 5 day "cooling off" period for Aruba?
When did your parents sign the contract? There is a sticky thread here that gives you direction how to cancel or rescind a developer purchase. The instructions for the rescission should be included in your parents' contract.
We rescinded within 3 days of them signing. That's the good news. The bad news is the Contract included specific language stating: "By signing this agreement you acknowldge, agree, and accept that Aruba does not offer a right of recession [sic] for this product. Since it is not a timeshare or real estate, there is no cancellation policy. You also acknowledge, agree, and accept that it also does not fall under the cancellation policy of your credit card institution, i.e, Visa/Mastercard, etc. and any attempt to cancel will result in client's responsibility to pay any additional fees incurred such as lawyer's fees and collections. " Our contention would not be to cancel for RESCISION, but for SERVICES NOT AS PROMISED. That is: they could not deliver the item for which we paid (discount travel). Pardon the delayed and lengthy response
 

npe1jar

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Lanny, I have been looking online using every trick I know, and find no rescission period for Aruba. It may be some obscure Dutch law, but they hide it well.
Passepartout: I was able to find some information about a law being passed, but the contract specifically states that this is not real estate nor timeshare. We would be canceling strictly on the grounds that the services were inadequate.
 

LannyPC

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I don't know if it's too late but can you dispute the charges with the credit card company? The wording you quoted in the contract looks more like a scare tactic to me.
 

npe1jar

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I don't know if it's too late but can you dispute the charges with the credit card company? The wording you quoted in the contract looks more like a scare tactic to me.
1. YES: we did cancel through the credit card company and are awaiting their decision.
2. I agree that these seem like a scare tactic, but the fact of the matter is: they signed it!
3. I saw somewhere an Aruba statute that the ability to rescind was a NATIONAL RIGHT in Aruba, and any contract language that forbids that is, therefore, illegal (and, I'm assuming, unenforceable). I now, however, can't find this. Can anybody assist me in finding this??
 

npe1jar

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Rose MRUI

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Hi DeniseM,

I'm worried that they might come after us for the payment because the mention in the contract that the reserve the right to take a lawyer to obtain the payment and charge us a penalty with late fee and others. My in-law did put down a deposit on this card and I told him to cancel the card and dispute it the day we return but I think he was worried that he might get into more trouble.

Did you or anyone have done this before to know what was the end result?
Hi Denise I'm new to the group but trying to find out if this contract was ever cancelled, were you able to get out of it?
 

LannyPC

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Hi Denise I'm new to the group but trying to find out if this contract was ever cancelled, were you able to get out of it?

Actually, it wasn't Denise who signed the contract. It was the OP with the user name zxswordxz. Also, the OP posted his experience nearly eight years ago. If you want to find out if the OP got his/her contract rescinded, you can click on his blue user name and send him a private message.
 
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