Purchased a timeshare with Grupo Mayan in 2007 and am using it for the first time

[ccoolawn]

A little backstory, me and my wife purchased a time share with GM( now Vidanta Vacations) in PP in 2007 and we came to a property in Cancun this week. We have not been able to use it regularly due to the fact that life has sort of gotten in the way, and we started a family, etc. In preparation for being here we found this forum and tried to prepare ourselves for the intense hard sell that we experienced many years ago. We kinda came in a bit defensive thinking that we would be pushed to get rid of our current contract based on other information that we had read here on the forum, and we took a position of if they wanted us to change it , they would need to upgrade us free of charge. Instead they took a position, that they have every intention to honor our current contract and they have no intention of not doing so. Needless to say, we were very taken aback and the member services rep just wanted to explain that at some point there was an offer for “founding” members to convert their contracts to Grand Mayan units for just the taxes and closing costs totaling about $50k. Since GM is sold out we were offered a grand imperial unit that we would be able to trade for a GM suite. We are about to put two kids through College, so this really is not an option for us. We explained our situation to the representative and we declined the offer and he let us go on our way. I have read that folks have had different experiences and I wanted to share ours, one, so that we could get an understanding of our current position and what advantages we have with our current contract. And where do/should we go from here to make sure that we maximize our position so that we can benefit the most moving forward. We were newlyweds when we purchased this and were a bit ignorant to how this would all work out. I think we sincerely thought that we would use it more. Even though they made an offer on the way out to have us pay $20k and they would cover the rest, I could not in good judgement pay that kind of money for something I have only been able to use once in 15 years. If we find that we are able to use this more in the future, this may make sense to do. But our two oldest are in tons of activities/club athletics in high school that make it difficult to plan trips out too far in advance.
I guess that I am looking for advice on how to get the most from what we have paid for moving forward and at what strategies do you recommend for dealing with the 3xMF that we are going to have to deal with in the next 10 years or so. I wish that we had found this forum years ago. I’m sure that we would have been a thousand times less ignorant had we done so.

 

[rboesl]

First off, good for you for resisting this time around. There is no way taxes (what taxes?) and closing costs amount to $50k. This makes it seem like you are buying a real estate contract. There is no way a Right To Use (RTU) contract can be considered a real estate transaction.

With Vidanta the devil is in the written word. So, study your contract closely. It will lay out exactly what you have and the features like golf discounts, etc. At this point it's not really worth worrying about what will happen 10 years from now. Learn what you have. Use it to see if you like it and it fits your needs over the next 10 years or so. THEN decide if you want to walk away or renew at the 10 year mark.

 

[jules54]

Question please: Did you pay maintenance fees for 15 years and never go to a Vidanta resort? Did you bank your weeks and exchange to go elsewhere or did you just write off the maintenance fees every year? This is an important question. I have know owners who paid fees and did not use for a few years and they got their paid weeks reinstated. This would not be something a sales department at a resort can do. You would need to contact customer service and plead your case.

 

[ccoolawn]

[mention]jules54 [/mention] We did not pay yearly maintenance fees for 15 years. We have a contract in which we only pay if we use it. We did pay the maintenance fee at the 10yr mark in 2017. We banked a week with RCI the year after we purchased it and then we payed to use it to vacation with the family this year. Now that we are living in Texas we can see some options where we would be able to use it more often, due to direct flights from central Texas, and option to drive to PP from where we live. We are really looking to gather more information on what you or others have done to leverage weeks into other types of accommodations so that we actually use what we paid for. We purchased the timeshare impulsively as newlyweds and I believe that due to the high pressure sales environment, never feeling like going back.

 

[Tacoma]

Well congratulations on figuring out how to make use of what you own. The resorts are beautiful. Learning how to say no is very important in any timeshares environment. We refuse to even go to the presentations just to avoid the high pressure. There is nothing we want badly enough to suffer through a high pressure sales tactic at the possible cost of a day of our vacation. One vidanta rep even said he would blacklist me for refusing to go, of course that hasn't happened. Having been to both the Mayan Riviera location and the Nuevo Vallarta one I will say I think the NV location has the fancier rooms, pools, lazy river etc. but I like the Mayan Riviera's ability to get around the area and the water of the Caribbean better. It will depend what interests you. If you like a fancy resort feel NV is awesome. It is too far from Puerto Vallarta for my liking but each to their own. So glad you have found TUG and plan on using what you paid for years ago.
Joan

 

[Passepartout]

[mention]jules54 [/mention] We did not pay yearly maintenance fees for 15 years. We have a contract in which we only pay if we use it.

Welcome to TUG. It seems that even though it was an impulse purchase, you have been able to recover from the purchase. The 'only pay if you use' bit in your contract has saved you thousands, and as stated above, Vidanta DOES honor their contracts. Don't feel pressured to 'upscale' your contract. They are famous for telling longer term buyers that eventually their level will be eliminated, but to my knowledge, it hasn't happened.

We're glad you're here. Stick around and learn. Hopefully you'll pick up some hints on maximizing your use and make some great memories for your family.

Jim

 

[jules54]

That is wonderful you only have to pay when you actually use the resort. You lucked out there.