Heard of "M" Resorts in Puerto Vallarta? [AKA Castles & Condos]

[PapaBearAB]

someone is paying Resorts Advantage - who is that

I have said several times in different posts and emails that one sign of hope is that someone is actually paying Resorts Advantage to operate "M Hotels-Castles & Condos Residence Club Customer Care Center."

Perhaps Resorts Advantage are also being paid to be Enchantment Residence Club Customer Care Center, though I do not know if there is such a thing.

Perhaps a TUG post reader already knows the answer to those two questions. If so, please post that information.


I once queried Adrian Toca on who is "We", as he often uses that expression in emails I have sent to him. He responded in an email once:

"We are Resorts Advantage , we represent M Hotels-Castles & Condos Residence Club Customer Care Center. "

Knowing who is paying Resorts Advantage would give us a more specific target of whom to talk to regarding our memberships and their future status and privileges. I suspect it is DNG Capital Corp., or more likely, a company created by them, so there is no direct to DNG, like another M Hotels. But the answer to that question is certainly going to be helpful one way or the other.

so this is the email I just sent to Adrian, Magaly, and Ralph (have never heard from the perhaps ghostly person Ralph Diaz-Cortes). I honestly don't expect a reply, as they are likely to say the contract with whoever is paying is a private matter between Resorts Advantage and that company, but maybe they will divulge that information.

again, here is the email sent today to Adrian, Magaly, Ralph ...

re "We are Resorts Advantage , we represent M Hotels-Castles & Condos Residence Club Customer Care Center. "

This is a statement Adrian once sent to me as part of one of the email replies to some of my questions.

I am assuming Resorts Advantage therefore is the operator of "M Hotels-Castles & Condos Residence Club Customer Care Center"

But who is Resorts Advantage contracted by for managing those operations? A company is paying Resorts Advantage to operate the above noted customer care centre. You are not doing it out of the kindness of your hearts.

Are you able to disclose the name of the company that has contracted Resorts Advantage to operate the above noted customer care centre?

Are you also operating a customer care centre for The Enchantment, and if so, is it the same company that has contracted Resorts Advantage for the two customer care centers, one for Castles and Condos, and one for The Enchantment?

Joe Faubert

 

[KarenLK]

Boy, great accommodations. No furniture and no electricity. So do you bring a sleeping bag? And lots of batteries??
By then the water will probably be shut off too. Sad, sad, sad.

 

[YFAM_SR]

The Resorts Advantage at CC and Enchantment lie

Greetings all~
I just registered here at TUG. I have been very active in the Trip Advisor Forum reagrding The Enchantment. We are 20 plus now as well. Our stories are somewhat similar with one very strong connection_ Resorts Advantage. Joe and I were thinking exactly alike as I have been hammering Magaly Pena for some specific information regarding exactly who this service company is working for. She continues to spout the line the "Resort will be open in summer of 2010". I have asked repeatedly who provided this information to RA. As yet, no answer to anything. I just get told to have patience and accept their "assurances". Right.. and I am going to wait for Worldcom stock to have value again too!! NOT. It is possible (and likely) they are complicit in the manuevers of the con men Danilel Mamann, DW Busby and a host of others.

The CC group has more information about your land owner ( albeit not encouraging) DW Busby than The Enchantment "owners" have about the Cardenas family. We cannot find any background info to determine if they are real people or not. All attempts to reach them have failed tus far.

While I have no substantive assistance to offer your group at this time,- Joe has a handle on it all -I did want everyone to know the Cabo San Lucas Enchantment investors are equally dismayed and frustrated. We are stuggling along with faint hope of seeing either any money for progress.

All the best to all of you. May justice prevail.

Steven L. Rouse

 

[indigo502]

Update Friday July 24

I just spoke with Adrian Toca at Resorts Advantage and he confirmed I am indeed on the list at Resorts Advantage and he confirmed I’ve paid in full (without asking me- so I know he was looking at a real file). He did make me feel slightly reassured that the project is set to begin again next month. I was also transferred to Magaly who told me they are awaiting the compilation of the owners files/info from the developer and then they will be in touch with all of us with next steps. I’m really hoping this all works out and we don’t have to involve lawyers to a great extent.

Thanks
Kandy

ps- I am one of the owners with "M Dreams Constructions" on my contract, which is why I was unsure I'd be on the Resorts Advantage list, but I am, so that's a small bit of good news- they have done some transferring of files at the very least. Adrian said to provide his contact info to any members who would like to confirm if they are on the list- he can be reached at 1-866-944-2213 xt 2473 (Miami).

 

[PapaBearAB]

answer from Adrian Toca at RA on who is paying (well, sort of)

Adrian provided a partial answer (did not mention Enchantment at all)

He first replied with
"Greetings, for your records when I sent you that email I was not yet informed that Castles & Condos & M Hotels had ended their relationship. We as a service provider offer business's what is called "Private Branding" which means we act & operate as if we were the customer. Due to the special circumstances I can inform you that C & C has contracted us to remain the service provider for your Residence Club."

so I asked him who "C & C" is, his reply was
"Castles & Condos is DNG, the contact number available is the following:1-866-944-2213 which is our department"

As for Enchantment members, he says Resorts Advantage are also the service provider for The Enchantment members, but did not say who is paying for that service contract. I emailed him again therefore asking who is paying for it, DNG or someone else. His reply the 2nd time was "yes we are the S.P for the enchantment". No company mentioned. I have emailed him again to clarify or tell me he can't tell me the answer.

Joe

 

[indigo502]

further...

By the way, don't get me wrong- it's not all roses simply b/c I'm on a list. I'm probably the most cynical one on this entire thread and I'm the one who has been in contact with a legal firm in Puerto Vallarta (http://www.matalaw.com/). All I'm saying above is that I was suprised that I had even been heard of at Resorts Advantage b/c I hadn't heard of them until this week, but he had my file, so something had been done as far as a transfer.

Also, knowing that Resorts Advantage in itself is a legit company with a solid history and registration with the BBB in the U.S., I'm hopeful they wouldn't have any dealings with shady scam artists. Time will tell. Hopefully soon.

 

[CaptainCaveman1945]

When I purchased, I purchased at Castles and Condos in a sales room. The contract I signed was with Castles and Condos, my anual maintainence fees have been payed to Castles and Condos through resort advantage. This Donald Busby who owns this resort is the one who owes me my timeshare and that's the way I look at it. I'm not going to focus on any external people like Sebastian Morad or companies that do not seem like they can help me. My concern is to get my timeshare. Doing anything but is a waste of energy and will most likely result in a waste of money.

 

[SalesRepJohnDoe]

Greetings,

As a former sales rep for Castles & Condos I feel it is necesarry to let you know of the goings ons that have lead to this point. Firstly we were hired to sell timeshares at the Castles & Condos resort. When money began to get tight for Donald he fired us, opting for a sales team that would work for lower comission. The financial problems he was encountering were not the result of our high comissions, they were because of the Swine Flu outbreak and the poor global economic climate. As a result of this the sales team has gone under. On behalf of the entire sales team I'd like to wish you all good luck and hopefully Mr. Busby will have the project back on track by the end of the year.

-John Doe

 

[pittle]

Thank you JohnDoe. If you could provide any information we would appreciate it. Do you think it will be completed within the next year or so?

Was the guy with the ponytail Donald Busby? My salesperson pointed him out as one of the investors.

I do know how the swine flu scare and the econmy has been affecting the Mexican economy. I went to Mazatlan in June and most of the resorts were at less than 30% occupancy.

 

[SalesRepJohnDoe]

Yes that is Don with the white ponytail about 70 years old

 

[DeniseM]

Tuggers - Please be aware that poster "CaptainCaveman," and poster "SalesRepJohnDoe," have the exact same IP address and neither one is posting from Mexico...

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Tuggers - Please be aware that poster "CaptainCaveman," and poster "SalesRepJohnDoe," have the exact same IP address and neither one is posting from Mexico...

Thanks for checking on that Denise. I was more than a bit suspicious that some of the posters in this thread might not be what they claimed to be.

 

[DeniseM]

Thanks for checking on that Denise. I was more than a bit suspicious that some of the posters in this thread might not be what they claimed to be.

You are most welcome! My Spidey Senses told me that something was a little fishy here!

 

[pittle]

Tuggers - Please be aware that poster "CaptainCaveman," and poster "SalesRepJohnDoe," have the exact same IP address and neither one is posting from Mexico...

Thanks Denise. It is good to know that our Moderator is looking out for us. As you can tell - someone needs too!

 

[PapaBearAB]

members behind TUG names, & thank you moderator(s)

I first would like to thank the moderator(s) for all the work they do reading through so many posts and checking out what they can and watching out for us and maintaining the integrity of this forum. You are dedicated volunteers, like so many other TUG members. Thank you for your efforts.

I can tell the readers of this thread that of the TUG posters in this TUG forum, and of the Castles & Condos TUG forum, who have said that they are C & C members who purchased at C & C, or similarly Enchantment members, of those posters, only 4 have not identified themselves to me with name and contact and other information in private messages or email.

Thus I trust most of the posters in this forum. Gustavo and SalesmanJohnDoe (if I remember that TUG name correctly) and some other posters are not purchasers, and thus have had no reason of course to contact me outside the forum. Of the 4 purchasers that have not identified themselves, CaptainCaveman1945 is one of them. He and the other 3 purchasers I can't yet identify might want to do contact me and thus remove any doubt that they are purchasers, though until the double-ip address, I had no reason to doubt anyone.

Other non-posters that are purchasers but don't want to post are also welcome to contact me, or to join as TUG forum member and provide more identification there and not be just a guest. Joining TUG itself does cost $, but it is a very worthwhile membership.

Anyone is welcome to contact me via email (joefaubert at shaw.ca), and when you do, I provide my full contact and purchase information to you, and thus you can trust me, as can be vouched for by most of the posters in this forum that have emailed me. I, Joe Faubert, have lived in Calgary Alberta for 30+ years. I have no reason to hide my identify.

The other 3 TUG posting purchasers I would like to hear from privately, besides CaptainCaveman1945, are mmirata, soccergirl, and D&D, though perhaps some of you have contacted me and in your private email did not link yourself to your TUG name and I have not been able to do so yet either just by matching other information.

At the same time, privacy is very important to many people, and I also don't expect all purchasing members to contact me. I am just one poster (very busy poster) and C&C purchaser on this forum. But I can say that almost all posters in this thread can already be trusted and all such persons have just one main concern - to either get use of the membership they purchased, or their money back, or are an anonymous poster just trying to provide us purchasers with more information.

But all information needs to be vetted / confirmed by further follow-up and second opinions, especially when they refer to specific people's character. So everyone keep digging when you have the time, and posting also.

It is easy as a guest to be a spy or an instigator against either 'side'. Is is easy to even easier to be a guest and not post and just monitor everything said, which is why some people don't say much and wish to protect their privacy and not get into hot water. I am sure the developer(s) and Resorts Advantage and others are watching these posts regularly. They would be foolish not to.

Again, I thank the moderator(s) for all the work they do reading through so many posts and checking out what they can and watching out for us and maintaining the integrity of this forum. You are dedicated volunteers, like so many other TUG members. Thank you for your efforts.

Thank you readers for putting up with what always turns out to be too long a post (my TUG login has usually timed out before I have finished writing my post and I have to log in again to send it!)

Joe Faubert (PapaBearAB)

 

[PapaBearAB]

to moderator(s) - re merging of two similar tug forums

The two TUG forums "M Hotes / Castles and Condos" and "Heard of "M" Resorts in Puerto Vallarta" to date have had very similar purposes and content from all posters involved.

Is it possible to merge the two threads or only one has to be monitored and so that readers reading one don't miss something that might have been said in the other on the same topic?

Joe Faubert (yes, maybe my shortest post!)

 

[Kimmedee]

Adrian Toca

I'm a purchaser with The Enchantment and Adrian Toca is also my contact and everything that is posted here about their conversations with Adrain echo mine about the Enchantment?????

 

[indigo502]

Name on Contracts

Hi Joe-

Lawyer confirmed receipt of yesterday's email. He also said that it's not good that there are two different names on the contracts. Of course I won't be following up with him until we hear back from DNG, which we are giving a week a per your earlier post. Out of curiosity, have you received enough info from members as to what their contracts say- DNG versus M Dreams Constructions? I'm thinking it's relative to the year purchased, but wondering if you've received enough feeback from other owners to establish any sort of pattern?

Thanks

 

[pittle]

I just got an email from C&C.

July 25, 2009


Dear Member:


DNG CAPITAL CORP, S.A. DE C.V. is the owner and developer of the CASTLES AND CONDOS project in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. We have a professional and ongoing working relationship with the former resort owner and developer CASTLES AND CONDOS, S.A. DE C.V. DNG Mexico and Castles and Condos, S.A de C.V. are working together to ensure a smooth transition from the prior developer to the current developer. We can assure all members that the change in developers has had no impact on the development of this project.

You have recently received a “change of contact information” message from M Dreams advising that they are no longer affiliated with our project in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico and that all future correspondence should be directed to our attention. The notice from M Hotels does not address the reasons why the change was required. We can state that M Hotels is no longer affiliated with our project for some very specific reasons, the details of which are a matter of record in Mexico. At this time we are working to get things back on track and complete the project, however the manner in which M Hotels conducted their prior sales activities was, in our opinion, not up to the standards which we have established for this project. An example of this is that it has taken us significant time and effort to deal with simple matters such as a list of active members and their contact information in order to send you this message.

We are working together with our legal advisors in Mexico to deal with the transition from M Hotels as the sales agent. The issues to review are many, ranging from sales practices implemented by the former sales agent, M Hotels, to the use of proceeds other than as intended. We are working to minimize the impact on members from the past actions of M Hotels.

One of the first things to be done is to obtain all contracts which were issued by M Dreams, few if any of which, were presented to the developers for approval and signature. We will have to have new contracts in place between you and DNG Mexico. It is our objective to ensure you have the vacation club weeks you purchased, at the cost you have agreed to pay. In order to achieve our objectives we do need all active members to continue with the payments for the purchase of the vacation club weeks as well as the residence club dues.

It is our objective to get construction back under way within the next 90 days and complete the building within the next 10 months. If you wish to make a reservation you can do so at any time and if Castles and Condos is not complete when you wish to visit then we will provide comparable accommodation at no or limited additional cost.

We have retained an independent contractor, Resorts Advantage, to assist us in collection of payments and processing of reservations.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the change in sales agent but in our opinion the change was necessary to advance the development of this project. We would appreciate your continued patience while we go through this transition period and can assure you that the principals of the company are committed to the completion of this world class property.


Sincerely,

Nick Demare
President DNG Mexico


CONTACT INFORMATION

Contact details for Castles and Condos a development by DNG Mexico:
Silvia Herrera and/or Maé Garcia
castlesandcondospv@gmail.com

Tel: (322) 2216464 Ext. 130

Contact details for Reservations and Collections at Resorts Advantage:
Reservations: Castles&Condos@Resorts-Advantage.com
Payments: Castles&CondosCollections@Resorts-Advantage.com


Contact details for M Dreams / M. Hotels:
Daniel Mamann
mamanndevelopments@gmail.com

Fraser Smith:
fsmith@mendenhallsmith.com
Tel: 702-3676725
Fax: 702-3672727
Mobile: 702-5964775

 

[PapaBearAB]

contact letter from DNG

thank you TUG poster pittle for posting the letter you received today

especially glad to see it posted since all Castles and Condos members did not get this letter - I am guessing for now that those that got the letter are either
a) all members still owing on their purchase balance, or
b) all members with a contract that says M Dreams got this letter.
so if you fall into one of those categories and did not get the letter, maybe check with Resorts Advantage if you have not already confirmed that they know about your contract (based on your ICC contract number)

I did not get the letter, but it was forwarded to me by one of the members that did receive it

I have just read it, will analyze it more later, but a few initial comments
a) it is from Nick Demare, probably a good thing
b) it is maybe not the letter I think DNG is planning to send out to all members that was mentioned by Sylvia at DNG, but this one only to those it affects re payments or M Dreams contracts, but I will ask Sylvia about that personally on Monday when the DNG office is open
c) at first it was a concern that I saw Daniel Mamann's name on it, but looking at it again I note that his name is not given in connection with DNG, but as a reference for those with contracts with M Dreams, rather than DNG, and I am guessing that Fraser Smith is the lawyer for mamanndevelopments, but someone can email him or call him and find out

So I do believe that Daniel Mamann is NOT connected in any way with Castles and Condos by DNG Mexico, and I am guessing that he is not connected with the Enchantment any longer, but we are not yet hearing much from the Enchantment property owners, unless they just sent out a letter also - the good news for Enchantment owners is that someone is paying Resorts Advantage to take your calls and talk to you, just as for Castles and Condos, and I believe that is a good sign

I have to go out for the evening - I will look at this later again - I am sure it will generate more posts yet.

Joe Faubert

 

[PapaBearAB]

reservations mentioned in the letter

The only other point I make before running out for the evening is the sentence

"if you wish to make a reservation you can do so at any time and if Castles and Condos is not complete when you wish to visit they we will provide comparable accomodation at no or limited additional cost"

so those of you that already have reservations (not waiting list for reservations) that were approved by C&C (and not perhaps those with reservations approved by M Dreams, but hopefully both will be honoured), contact Resorts Advantage and then let us know by posting here what they say about your reservation

and for those that don't yet have reservations, I doubt Resorts Advantage will be taking them yet, but let me know if they are - 90 days to restart construction and then 10 months to completion is 13 months, which puts us in August 2010 - so it will be interesting when Resorts Advantage will start to actually book reservations therefore for fall 2010 and winter 2011, and what they will do with those that might want to use a 2009 m week they were gauranteed (likely will be told again that you can only carry it forward) - I certainly will be trying to book as soon as I can for next fall, so I will let you know how that turns out

if you find out sooner, let me know

FOR THOSE ALSO KEEPING PRIVATE CONTACT WITH ME, LET ME KNOW WHETHER YOU GOT THE LETTER, SO I CAN CORRELATE THAT WITH WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WHETHER YOU ARE PAID IN FULL AND WHETHER YOU HAVE A CONTRACT WITH M DREAMS OR OTHER COMPANY - I will then report back as to whether any correlation was found (unless Mr. Demare cares to let us know right away anyway who got the letter and who did not)

thanks

Joe Faubert

 

[kscar]

Hi Joe & everyone,

We got the email also!!

A We are paid in full.

B Our contract has DNG as the owner & M-Dreams as the sales rep.

It will be interesting to see what it is that caused some of us to get this & others not.

(It is our objective to get construction back under way within the next 90 days and complete the building within the next 10 months.)

Joe, I am reading the line above a little differently than you. I think there are saying they hope to have the building completed within 10 months.

 

[pittle]

We paid in full and DNG is not on any of our paperwork. It said Castles & Condos on the official Purchase Agreement document (one with small print) and Platinum Membership by M Dreams Construction on the larger print one that is also have in our packet.

 

[indigo502]

Interesting

Hi All-

Interesting letter above from DNG. Still don't know if I believe it or its source, nothing would suprise me at this point. In any event, I, like pittle, have paid in full (1 bedroom, 1 week/1 M week) and I have M Dreams Constructions on my contract.

I posted yesterday that I had contacted Resorts Advantage on Friday and I'm on their list, however, I did not receive the above email. So no consistency in pattern there.

Thanks

 

[pittle]

Today's email came to the email address that I have on file with C&C, not the email address that I use on TUG or any other BB. It was an attachment of a Word document on C&C letterhead. The logo was in gold. I just copied the contents and pasted it here. The email was from the castlesandcondospv email address on the letter.

We also got copies of the original email we received last week via the US Mail Thursday. That one had to be real because it had not only our names, but our children's names on the label. They were listed on the contract so they could use the golf deal.

So, someone has all of our contact information correct. I have my credit card receipts if I ever need them for proof of payment in my packet.