Timeshare scam
Complaint
Deborah
Country: United States
When we arrived at the airport in Cozumel a man approached us and said he was a "Tourist Advisory". He gave us some pointers about what to see while we are there, and then offered a good deal on a car rental. We agreed to rent a car from him and he gave us an invoice with signatures saying it was paid in full. The man also invited us to visit a newly built Mayan Palace and listen to a one-hour presentation on timeshares.
We didn't know if we would have time to do it and we said so.
When we were at the airport a week later getting ready to register for our flight home, the same man approached us and said we owe him a balance of $200 because we didn't listen to his presentation. He then showed us our invoice with fine print that said in order to get the car rental rate we received we would need to listen to the presentation. He then threatened us with police.
We paid the money with our credit card and now I have requested my bank to cancel that transaction.
Do not get caught in this scam! It's a well played game. Do not get caught in it.
We didn't know if we would have time to do it and we said so.
When we were at the airport a week later getting ready to register for our flight home, the same man approached us and said we owe him a balance of $200 because we didn't listen to his presentation. He then showed us our invoice with fine print that said in order to get the car rental rate we received we would need to listen to the presentation. He then threatened us with police.
We paid the money with our credit card and now I have requested my bank to cancel that transaction.
Do not get caught in this scam! It's a well played game. Do not get caught in it.
Comments
Very unprofessional if you hold your ground and say no - ie - Lying JERKS
It is specifically taught to new salespeople. All timeshares are not fraudulent, there are very good ones but Mayan Palace has probably the worst rep. in Latin America.
Don't be a hater just because they fired you because you couldn't sell anything.
After turning down the initial offer of $55,000 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath floating one week. They asked what it would take.
We told them that we had two timeshares already and the we weren't interested in taking on another week, since we only had limited vacation time.
They offered us a resell unit at $35,000. That there was $5,000 already on deposit, so we were only looking at $30,000. That they would take both our timeshares in trade, then we would sell back the week in 2009 & 2010 for $1,700 each week so we would basically not have any cost.
They took our Luna Palace timeshare right there on the spot for $8,800 and the balance of $21,120 would be placed on a new Bank of America Credit Card. That since the other timeshare was a deeded in Las Vegas, that the paperwork would be sent to us. The minimum value was $16,400 and we could see an average of $18,900 for our timeshare in Las Vegas.
Also that the new Credit Card with Bank of America was to be no interest and no payments for six months.
We get home from vacation and find a bill from Bank of America for the $21,120 with a minimum due. They didn't charge us any interest.
After two weeks and not hearing anything from the timeshare transfer company I called them, they wanted a $349 fee for processing the transfer. We paid and they sent us the paperwork, when it arrived it was for reselling the Las Vegas timeshare and not the trade in for the minimum price of $16,400.
Called the Mayan Resort in Mazatlan and was told that wasn't the deal they had signed with us. That we still owned the Luna Palace and Las Vegas timeshares and we had no recourse to get out of the contract.
But they were willing to take the Las Vegas timeshare ( with a $445 fee ) and downsize us from a 2 bedroom to a 1 bedroom and credit the credit card $5,000. Then they had the balls to say they were in customer service and were only offering the above deal to us to make us happy.
BE VERY CAREFULL WHEN DEALING WITH THESE PEOPLE
The resort itself seems very nice, the sales pitch, however, is pure high-pressure sales. The sales people are snakes, their only motive is greed. They have no concern for what is ethical and will “brow beat” you to make their money. It was not worth the free breakfast and $50.00 dinner coupon. When I finally got up to walk away from the table, Luis got in my face and began to argue with me, telling me I couldn’t leave until he said the presentation was over. I continued to walk away as I raised my voice at him. You would think that that would be the end of it, but they will continue to pass you to the next person for a “survey” which turns into another sales pitch…these people are shameless. If you agree to attend the 90 minute presentation you will regret it.Search online for Mayan Palace Scams for other “horror stories”.
No one handcuffed you to get you in.
People out there be careful.
After turning down the initial offer of $55,000 We told them that we had two timeshares already and the we weren't interested in taking on another week, since we only had limited vacation time.
They offered to buy both timeshares for $45.000 and the remaining $10.000 they would rent 4 of our weeks at $2500 each so it would basically be a wash out.
They took our Cancun Palace and El Cid timeshare right there on the spot for $45.000 and the balance of $10.000 was to be placed on a new Bank of America Credit Card.
Also that the new Credit Card with Bank of America was to be no interest and no payments for six months.
We got home from vacation and found a bill from Bank of America for the $10.000 with a minimum due of $100 They didn't charge us any interest.
two weeks later we were charged the maintenance of Pälace Resort. We contacted Mayan Palace and were told they couldn´t buy them. we were on our own.
We can´t afford another timeshare and we know by now the weeks we were supposed to rent are not goint to turn into reality. We are asked $299 per listed week.
We were told we can cancel but will loose the $10.000 we put on the bank of america card wich we haven´t even paid.
A nice vacation for my wife and I turn into a hole of deception.
Be very carefull when dealing with this company.
Ask for Cindy. they took care of everything in less than a 15 days. we got our downpayment and our peace of mind back. hope this info will be useful for you.
Ask for Cindy. She was very proffessional and empathetic. Hope they can help you with your issues.
Best Regards!!!!
Amber Taylor