RCI just Cancelled my Grand Mayan NV trip next week!!!

[Ellis2ca]

Correction

The MP/GM are not points based. They are floating weeks.

Correction: The lesson to be learned out of this, for everybody, is... don't ever BUY at any timeshare resort that is sold on the supposedly "flexible" floating weeks or points systems... and DON'T EXCHANGE into it, either... the Floating weeks or points systems give the developer carte blanche to oversell the resort as many times as they want to, and the loser is us.

The other lesson is: There is nothing on Planet Earth that comes close to a Royal Resort.

- Ellis

 

[rja]

Correction: The lesson to be learned out of this, for everybody, is... don't ever BUY at any timeshare resort that is sold on the supposedly "flexible" floating weeks or points systems... and DON'T EXCHANGE into it, either... the Floating weeks or points systems give the developer carte blanche to oversell the resort as many times as they want to, and the loser is us.

The other lesson is: There is nothing on Planet Earth that comes close to a Royal Resort.

- Ellis

I'm not sure I agree with the "don't buy floating weeks". I haven't heard any stories of owners getting booted from GM to MP and their reservation system is pretty darn easy to use. If they allow you to trade in, they should take care of you, of course, but perhaps they need to be a bit more selective in the trades they are allowing.

 

[linda5g]

Just returned from Nuevo Mayan Palace and here's what we heard

Hi,
First, I'm so sorry that happened to you!! I had RCI cancel one of my traded weeks three years ago with just a 10 day notice and I was totally freaked out. I feel your pain. My cancellation was due to the hurricane in Puerto Vallarta. The Sheraton Bugambilias was declared uninhabitable but RCI simply cancelled us without trying to get us moved somewhere else. After I got insistent about having non-refundable air tickets they did find us a space but it was in a pretty run-down resort. We made the best of it and had a great trip anyway.

I just got back (1/20/06-2/3/06) from Mayan Palace-Nuevo (I'm an owner) and heard from several employees that Mayan Palace-Nuevo, Mayan Palace-PV, Sea Garden-Nuevo and Grand Mayan-Nuevo were completely booked due to the Cancun hurricane(s). According to the taxi drivers and restaurant people we talked to, all of PV is overcrowded with tourists because the hurricanes eliminated so many rooms near Cancun. It was definitely more crowded than usual on the malecon in the evenings.

I'm guessing, and this is only a guess, Mayan Resorts tried to accomodate their Grand Mayan owners who wanted to switch coasts first and the RCI trades got the space that was left. I talked with a family on the plane home who experienced the same switcheroo from Grand Mayan to Mayan Palace. They weren't told until they arrived. And they didn't get Grand Mayan pool privileges.

None of this is to excuse or defend what's happening to you. Like I said, I feel your pain. Just wanted to pass along some firsthand info.

As for another poster saying the pool security guards were posted to keep them out, there are always security guards at both Grand Mayan and Mayan Palace pool areas to limit pool use to their respective guests. This isn't something new because of the overbooking situation.

You will be able to use all the restaurants at Grand Mayan and charge to your room at Mayan Palace.

I would try to get a letter or email fom RCI stating you were originally booked at GM, then if RCI can't get you GM pool privileges before you go maybe showing the letter to the Grand Mayan manager will get you pool priveleges. It's worth a try.

And, frankly, I'd just have your Grand Mayan group get extra beige pool towels and go over and use the lazy river until you got kicked out. The Mayan Palace towels are green and will be a dead giveaway at the GM pool as will your red RCI-trade bracelet from Mayan Palace so be discreet. And, alternatively, the GM people can come over to MP and use the pool (and the green towels) anytime.

And speaking of the Grand Mayan pool, the wave pool is a disappointment. Small waves and an unattractive concrete "beach" and it only runs for a few hours each afternoon. The lazy river however is fun, especially between 1pm-3pm when they create waves in the river. It felt like only one area of the Grand Mayan pool was heated and the rest of the pool felt just like the Mayan Palace pool temperature (cool to cold). We found that if one part of either pool was cold sometimes a different area was warmer. The Grand Mayan pool area is broken up into small sitting areas by the vegetation so you feel kind of closed in (although it is very pretty) and it was hard to find lounge chairs after 11AM while the Mayan Palace pool is expansive and there were always lounge chairs available. The beach at both places always had lounge chairs available.

There's a train and a water taxi that go between GM and MP fairly frequently and the walk between the main buildings of MP and GM is about 3 minutes.

I hope you have a great vacation at Mayan Palace despite the last minute switch. Both resorts are lovely. If you're getting there on a Friday or Saturday and don't get a room location you like, remember there are rooms checking out on Sunday too. If one of them is in a location/building you prefer, you might be able to have the front desk flag it for you and then move. That's what we did.

If I can give you any info about the resort or things to do or transportation, just let me know.
Linda

 

[glenn1000]

I just returned from the Mayan Palace last night and the same thing happened to us. We made reservations about a year ago at the Grand Mayan. We were having a family reunion. We had reserved six rooms total in the Grand Mayan. Two weeks before we were to go, we got a call from RCI telling us that the Grand Mayan had cancelled our reservations. All 2-bedroom reservations were moved to the Mayan Palace.

This situation seems a bit different. The Grand Mayan confirmation specifically prohibits multiple units so it's surprising that you didn't get changed to 5 units at the MP and one at the GM, unless these were confirmed on different RCI accounts.

We are headed to the Grand Mayan this November and I hope that this is sorted out by then. It would be disappointing and unfair to be downgraded. It seems like many people are upgraded from the MP to the Grand if they take the tour, so it's a bit strange.

 

[Ellis2ca]

In goes Grand Mayan, out comes Mayan Palace

I'm not sure I agree with the "don't buy floating weeks". I haven't heard any stories of owners getting booted from GM to MP and their reservation system is pretty darn easy to use. If they allow you to trade in, they should take care of you, of course, but perhaps they need to be a bit more selective in the trades they are allowing.

Think about it for a moment: In goes Grand Mayan, out comes Mayan Palace. Something is being stolen... somebody stole something, and somebody was robbed. Something very unfair is happening when they downgrade a guest from the Grand Mayan to the Mayan Palace.... The Grand Mayan stays with a more valuable week that they can rent, and gives in exchange a less valuable week. Somebody stole something... and somebody was robbed.

A Grand Mayan OWNER deposited his week into R.C.I. and somebody traded his timeshare somewhere else for it. The owner of Grand Mayan theoretically gets a top notch trade somewhere for having deposited a Grand Mayan week, and the person who traded in also theoretically deposited something that is of equivalent value. If the owner had gone himself, or if somebody else is going in his place, it should be the same to the Grand Mayan.

EVEN IF the Mayan Palace is "lovely" it is less valuable than the Grand. The Grand Mayan owner deposited his week at the Grand, not a less valuable week at the Mayan Palace...

And it is unbelievable that they don't allow the guests of their Mayan Palace resort to visit the Grand Mayan which is also their resort. It is very nasty, bad hospitality, and very bad manners to tell your own guests that they are not welcome in the Grand Mayan... (It is also very bad marketing because these are excellent prospects to buy a membership at the Grand Mayan, but that's besides the point.)

- Ellis

 

[Harmina]

Ellis2ca - You are absolutely right. They lure you in by offering the Grand Mayan, then when it is too late to try for something else, you have no choice but to accept the Mayan Palace. I am sure that my guests will be offered a tour of the GM. That only adds insult to the injury.
I had used my best trader for the Grand Mayan. I am still very bitter.
As I said before, I will never accept a trade to any one of their properties.
I can't wait to hear from Barb when she returns this weekend.
I also find it interesting that there has not been a reply from Madge on the "ask RCI board"!

 

[Pat H]

You don't know that a GM owner deposited the weeks that are being cancelled. They may be developers' weeks. That doesn't make it any better for those being cancelled though. I wonder if we will ever find out who is at fault here - MP or RCI?

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Think about it for a moment: In goes Grand Mayan, out comes Mayan Palace. Something is being stolen... somebody stole something, and somebody was robbed. Something very unfair is happening when they downgrade a guest from the Grand Mayan to the Mayan Palace.... The Grand Mayan stays with a more valuable week that they can rent, and gives in exchange a less valuable week. Somebody stole something... and somebody was robbed.

A Grand Mayan OWNER deposited his week into R.C.I. and somebody traded his timeshare somewhere else for it. The owner of Grand Mayan theoretically gets a top notch trade somewhere for having deposited a Grand Mayan week, and the person who traded in also theoretically deposited something that is of equivalent value. If the owner had gone himself, or if somebody else is going in his place, it should be the same to the Grand Mayan.

EVEN IF the Mayan Palace is "lovely" it is less valuable than the Grand. The Grand Mayan owner deposited his week at the Grand, not a less valuable week at the Mayan Palace...

And it is unbelievable that they don't allow the guests of their Mayan Palace resort to visit the Grand Mayan which is also their resort. It is very nasty, bad hospitality, and very bad manners to tell your own guests that they are not welcome in the Grand Mayan... (It is also very bad marketing because these are excellent prospects to buy a membership at the Grand Mayan, but that's besides the point.)

- Ellis

There's actually a pretty quick response on this in the RCI system, provided exchangers do their job and mark down the exchange experience on the comment cards.

Bad comment cards trash the resort's VEP rating, which in turn levels the trade power for the resort.

A resort can be the fanciest, most luxurious place in the world, but if it gets bad ratings from exchangers, it won't have decent trade power.

 

[quiltergal]

Ellis2ca - You are absolutely right. They lure you in by offering the Grand Mayan, then when it is too late to try for something else, you have no choice but to accept the Mayan Palace. I am sure that my guests will be offered a tour of the GM. That only adds insult to the injury.

Can you say Bait and Switch?

 

[tonyg]

More disappointments here: http://www.timeshareforums.com/showthread.php?t=5420
This is a sad situation and I agree with Steve that anyone downgraded should take it out on the resort in the evaluation. I can't see how it could be RCI's fault as even if it was developer units the MP had to deposit them. I wouldn't trust them to do anything ethical or correct.

 

[Noni]

Is this the same resort that "sally" is trying to sell to everyone?

 

[quiltergal]

One and the same! Great value huh?

 

[sally]

this is unfortunate ..but..

We traded with a point system for many years.Sometimes you were lucky, sometimes you were not! We ended
all that when we purchased a grand mayan unit directly from the developer. You see..when you find a resort chain that is top shelf, you dont buy the clearence deal,and that is where all of the rci traders fit in. This has happened to us before at many resorts,and it does get one p.o.ed.Availability must be preserved for the top owners.It is really quite simple to understand this,it is like looking into the rci book when planning a vacation, you look at all these great resorts, but can not get your dates ,or any dates for that matter.To many people in the system.And really...sending bitch cards to reduce thier ratings? right! like that will ever happen.I dont see what you all are complaining about the regular mayan units(at least in riviera maya) are nicer then most we have seen in the entire rci book,and we have stayed at a ton of resorts.


stop blaming the mayan palace, rci is the culprit here, they are the people claiming you will stay in the GRAND units any how!

If you want the creme ,you must pay the piper. It is a flawed system (rci)getting worse all the time.My advice? be like the many garage sale heroes, that have scored ebay deals, if you really want to avoid the pitfalls of the rci system.

sally

 

[sally]

you people!

I am not trying to sell anybody! you guys just do not get it.Please go ahead and complain to your hearts content.This will take care of that (need to slay someone) thing that so many here have going.BE REALISTIC!...is there any thing in life that does not have its problems?..Timesharing is a system,learn how it works.That is what we did and why we just bought the AAA package.Now we do not have to worry about getting shafted.

 

[quiltergal]

Sally, not to be argumentative, but who is at fault in this case has not been determined yet. It may very well be RCI, but I have a strong inkling that there is just as good a chance that it is the fault of the Mayan resorts.

I'm glad you feel assured that by paying the big bucks and not being a bargain shopper that you won't get shafted by MP.....that is until you try and exchange those weeks through RCI somewhere else. You really ought to check out some of the other threads about MP written by other owners.

 

[Barbeque]

Bottom line is that there is a breach of contract when the Grand Mayan is cancelled, and a Mayan Palace is substituted. The Business LAW course that I had in college makes me believe that those that were wronged may have some legal recourse. I dont like law suits and I think they are over used but this seems to have been an a problem that has spilled over from the old Sea Garden days. Who is responsible I dont know it is one of two or a combination of RCI and the Mayan Resorts. (Maybe someone needs to learn to operate in an ethical matter) I have a banked week that I have been considering trading for a Grand Mayan Week but the Mayan Palace would not be an acceptable trade for the week. I have checked and my week would pull a Grand Mayan for the time I want to go. But I feel the Mayan Palace would be a step down and I dont want to accept that. My week as consideration would be worth more than the Mayan in Nuevo. As I have previously stated RCI rents the Grand Mayan for Considerably more than the Mayan Palace in Nuevo so they also recognize the difference. I guess I will wait and see how Madge responds to the thread in ask RCI to make my decision whether or not to book the Grand Mayan.

There was a poster that referred to a Sheraton Buganvillas that was cancelled by RCI after the Hurricane. The hotel was hit by a 50 foot wave that was an act of GOD and that does not compare to what has happened at the Mayan. We were in Puerto Vallarta 3 weeks after Kenna and that town took a beating.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Frankly, I have a hard time believing that RCI is doing the switcheroo here.

As Tony mentions the weeks are deposited by the resort. All resorts that bulk bank do it electronically. If the wrong resort code was input into the RCI system, that means that the resort input the information incorrectly.

We're not privy to the details of what is going on, so can't know for sure what's really going on. By far the most likely explanation is that the Mayan deposited a bunch of Grand Mayan weeks that they are either unable to honor or are unwilling to honor. So they are pulling the units back from RCI and substituting Mayan Palace weeks instead.

This type of thing often happens on a smaller scale - sometimes it's a result of human error at the resort when a deposit is made the isn't truly available.

Is it likely to have been human error in this case? Again, we can't know. But considering the well-known questionable ethics of the overall Mayan operation, it's easy to believe that it's not human error. It's like the kid in school who's a known cheater on tests. If the student turns in an answer sheet that's identical to kid siitting in the next desk, it doesn't provie which student copied. But the odds favor it having been by the kid who has shown a pattern of that type of behavior.

*******

On another tangent, I'm glad that Sally believes that Mayan Palace will treat her with more regard than other owners because she paid full price. I hope that's the case. But if I were her, I wouldn't rest easily in that knowledge. In my years of living, I have found that people who have low ethics don't make those types of distinctions.

To paraphrase Reinhold Niebuhr: When they screwed the exchangers, I didn't complain because I wasn't an exchanger. When they screwed the owners who bought resale, I didn't complain because I didn't buy resale. When they screwed me, there was no one left to complain.

 

[dsfritz]

grand Mayan cancellation

The same thing just happened to us 2 weeks ago. We found out 2 days before our departure that our GM Riviera Maya 2nd week had been cancelled for the same reason that has been mentioned. A supervisor was able to book us into the Mayan Palace. Once we were there we requested staying in the GM. They let us stay in the same room. I still don't know if it was GM 's fault or RCI. Good luck to you.

 

[suskey]

After reading all of this, I cancelled my exchange to the Grand Mayan for a 2br Dec '06. Instead I went over to my II account and we are going to the Marriott Canyon Villas in Phoenix. I am so tired of RCI's questionable practices, that as soon as I can I intend to only use RCI for my DIK week and use II for the other 8 weeks I own.

If this is indeed the fault of the Mayan Palace, RCI has a responsibility to its members to put a stop to this. Obviously they are sorely lacking when it comes to taking care of their members whether it be instances like this or their rental scam.

Susan

 

[sally]

legality?

A)Yes,people were shafted.B)can somebody be sued? sure!wouldit be worth it? hardly.C)how does MEXICAN INTERNATIONAL law play into this, if indeed it is the mayans doing? I am sure there is some fine print in the mayan charter , that protects them from this sort of matter, such as 'the resort or company reserves all rights to change or alter any room accomodations or dates of reservations.'As rci has these same fine prints.D)Do you want to have mayan grand units guarenteed? Buy from the deveoper this type of unit,this will NEVER happen to you,barring the mayan corp. going out of business. Possible,yes,probable, no.Please someone state one person that purchased from the developer that this has happened to? anyone? I did not think so. E) you get what you pay for F) In light of all this, NO I GUESS WE DID NOT PAY TO MUCH FOR OUR GRAND MAYAN UNIT!!!G)and finally we have been shafted by rci in this manner a few times before and that is why we said the heck with it,rci is just too bloated, lets just lock into the best resort chain in latin america! life is just to short for this aggravation,Yes?


sally

 

[Harmina]

Back in Dec. & early Jan. I noticed The Grand Mayan & Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta available on Extra Vacations for the same week that I had booked. That is why I am so upset that they did the switch from Grand Mayan to Mayan Palace. I don't believe for one minute that the wrong resort code was used when the Mayan deposited to RCI. Why is it an ongoing thing with the exchangers only being notified so close to check-in?

 

[ValDar]

Grand Mayan and SFX

Has anybody responded as to their recent experiences with SFX, or have I missed it. We have exchanged into the Grand Mayan in NV and the Grand Mayan in Riviera Maya within the last year through SFX with no trouble at all. I would love to know how many SFX exchangers are having trouble or being sent to the Mayan Palace.

 

[Monica]

What did you use to trade with?

Just got a call from the RCI rep who told me the Grand Mayan just canceled our scheduled vacation for February 4th and are now putting us in the Mayan Palace next door -- of course a smaller 2 BD unit and now no access to the Grand Mayan amenities. How can they do this??? I am FLAMING! We've had this planned for 18 months and are taking two couples who I have touted timesharing to this entire time. Any recourse? Of course we all have Non-Ref airfare, so we're going. I am LIVID!!!

Since it was 18 months out, what did you use to trade with?

 

[Harmina]

Monica, wheaties is down there now. They return this weekend. I am looking forward to hear how this all turned out for her.

 

[krisj]

There's actually a pretty quick response on this in the RCI system, provided exchangers do their job and mark down the exchange experience on the comment cards.

Bad comment cards trash the resort's VEP rating, which in turn levels the trade power for the resort.

A resort can be the fanciest, most luxurious place in the world, but if it gets bad ratings from exchangers, it won't have decent trade power.

Unfortunately, writing a bad review (although called for in this case of Bait and Switch) doesn't get the exchanger one iota of added customer satisfaction. In the end, it punishes yet another victim (the Grand Mayan owner) who gets inferior trades when they did nothing wrong.

It's a very bad deal all the way around. Shame on RCI and the Mayan resorts!!!

Kris