Hello folks! Just discovering this forum today and looks like y'all are exactly who I need to ask. Because of a unique situation with my only debit card, I got to walk away from a deal after I was offered a ton of stuff without having to sign. They're expecting me back tomorrow, so I'm doing as much research as I can to make a final decision. Wall of text below, but for context: I'm 25 and single but have a family of 3 (mom, dad, sister) that absolutely vacation every year. Thank you in advance for any and all assistance! Also, I have 0 experience with timeshares and this sector in general, so I'm flying very blind.
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I'm on vacation in Mexico at one of the Grand Mayans and was offered what seems like a unique and very good deal for a membership to Vidanta's group, which is effectively a timeshare though they hate calling it that. I got away with not having to sign anything today, but they're expecting me to return tomorrow and I'd like some help figuring out if this is a good deal. I'm looking for general evaluation of what i've been offered and also questions for me to ask them when I go back tomorrow, which I have to do either way. Thank you so much in advance for any and all help!
What's being offered:
-2 regular weeks of the Grand Mayan level of room + 1 park week, which I can use either at their soon-to-open cirque de solei park or at any of their grand mayan level or lower resorts for a week's stay
-No membership or maintenance fees
-Only a usage fee for when booking.
-An annual golf membership for free, which is supposedly a 12,000 value (So why would you offer it for free without me asking?)
-An annual spa and gym membership (each also apparently 10k value and I didn't even bring up)
-Ambassador program (apparently something you also usually have to pay for but I didn't ask) - a program that lets you recruit people to stay at a Vidanta resort for a good price (like 250 USD for 7 days, which is the groupon deal I took to get here in the first place) and get $300 cash from each of my weeks they use + a commission of the membership they end up making
-At the end of my 10 years, I can use 65% of my initial investment towards turning my rental into a permanent residence or I can get 65% of my initial investment
-Ability to exchange these weeks on SFX, which values a week at Mayan palace as 2 weeks at most of their other resorts
-Ability to give a week to Vidanta to sell themselves, of which I'll get 50% of the profit
-This membership would last for 10 years as the first visit trial program. At the end of those 10 years, I can pay something like 1,650 to renew for another 10 years, where it usually would be similar to full price.
-A refund of 10x usage fee if I request a date/location at a vidanta property and they don't have it available.
Cost:
-A total cost of something like 8000 USD.
- The initial deposit is $2,000, of which I can pay $300 now and do the rest over the next 90 days with 0 interest and after that I can do a payment plan with 9% APR
-$89/month to finish paying the total cost
This cost would last for 10 years as the first visit trial program. At the end of those 10 years, I can pay 1,650 to renew for another 10 years under the same plan.
Their pitch boiled down:
They aren't a timeshare because they don't do any hotel sales. They don't sell rooms like a regular hotel and all of their units are sold through this membership-style program or through exchanges. Because of this A) SFX values a Vidanta week as 2 weeks and B) they always have rooms available for members. They also said this is why I'll never receive maintenance or other annual fees besides the initial investment I agreed to pay. They're also pitching that the value of this deal will only increase as their company gains more money (which, admittedly, it does seem like Vidanta is only going to grow).
Why this was sweetened for me:
From the jump, I explained that I'm a student on a vacation I can already barely afford (I definitely convinced them I have less than I actually do, which made them desperate from the start) and then I had the added complication of having only one credit/debit card and it was lost and a new one wasn't sent until after I left for Mexico. So getting me to sign up and pay even if I was 100% ready and willing was a pain in the ass I clearly wasn't interested in, so they kept on adding to it as I kept sounding like I wasn't going to do it.
Why I'm particularly interested:
I will be traveling at least once a year in Central and South America for an absolute minimum of 1 week at a time. I'm getting more and more remote/freelance work and intend to spend more time here. Plus, this seems like a particularly good deal even by their standards.
And.. I think that's everything. Sorry it's so long and thank you again for any and all help! I'm really at a loss here, as this seems like a genuinely sweet deal.
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I'm on vacation in Mexico at one of the Grand Mayans and was offered what seems like a unique and very good deal for a membership to Vidanta's group, which is effectively a timeshare though they hate calling it that. I got away with not having to sign anything today, but they're expecting me to return tomorrow and I'd like some help figuring out if this is a good deal. I'm looking for general evaluation of what i've been offered and also questions for me to ask them when I go back tomorrow, which I have to do either way. Thank you so much in advance for any and all help!
What's being offered:
-2 regular weeks of the Grand Mayan level of room + 1 park week, which I can use either at their soon-to-open cirque de solei park or at any of their grand mayan level or lower resorts for a week's stay
-No membership or maintenance fees
-Only a usage fee for when booking.
-An annual golf membership for free, which is supposedly a 12,000 value (So why would you offer it for free without me asking?)
-An annual spa and gym membership (each also apparently 10k value and I didn't even bring up)
-Ambassador program (apparently something you also usually have to pay for but I didn't ask) - a program that lets you recruit people to stay at a Vidanta resort for a good price (like 250 USD for 7 days, which is the groupon deal I took to get here in the first place) and get $300 cash from each of my weeks they use + a commission of the membership they end up making
-At the end of my 10 years, I can use 65% of my initial investment towards turning my rental into a permanent residence or I can get 65% of my initial investment
-Ability to exchange these weeks on SFX, which values a week at Mayan palace as 2 weeks at most of their other resorts
-Ability to give a week to Vidanta to sell themselves, of which I'll get 50% of the profit
-This membership would last for 10 years as the first visit trial program. At the end of those 10 years, I can pay something like 1,650 to renew for another 10 years, where it usually would be similar to full price.
-A refund of 10x usage fee if I request a date/location at a vidanta property and they don't have it available.
Cost:
-A total cost of something like 8000 USD.
- The initial deposit is $2,000, of which I can pay $300 now and do the rest over the next 90 days with 0 interest and after that I can do a payment plan with 9% APR
-$89/month to finish paying the total cost
This cost would last for 10 years as the first visit trial program. At the end of those 10 years, I can pay 1,650 to renew for another 10 years under the same plan.
Their pitch boiled down:
They aren't a timeshare because they don't do any hotel sales. They don't sell rooms like a regular hotel and all of their units are sold through this membership-style program or through exchanges. Because of this A) SFX values a Vidanta week as 2 weeks and B) they always have rooms available for members. They also said this is why I'll never receive maintenance or other annual fees besides the initial investment I agreed to pay. They're also pitching that the value of this deal will only increase as their company gains more money (which, admittedly, it does seem like Vidanta is only going to grow).
Why this was sweetened for me:
From the jump, I explained that I'm a student on a vacation I can already barely afford (I definitely convinced them I have less than I actually do, which made them desperate from the start) and then I had the added complication of having only one credit/debit card and it was lost and a new one wasn't sent until after I left for Mexico. So getting me to sign up and pay even if I was 100% ready and willing was a pain in the ass I clearly wasn't interested in, so they kept on adding to it as I kept sounding like I wasn't going to do it.
Why I'm particularly interested:
I will be traveling at least once a year in Central and South America for an absolute minimum of 1 week at a time. I'm getting more and more remote/freelance work and intend to spend more time here. Plus, this seems like a particularly good deal even by their standards.
And.. I think that's everything. Sorry it's so long and thank you again for any and all help! I'm really at a loss here, as this seems like a genuinely sweet deal.