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My husband and I purchases a bi annual jr suite timeshare. We were told that we would receive 1 week every other year at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach, a lifetime membership to Pueblo Bonito Premier, PLUS 4 Bonus Weeks per year to stay at hundreds of affiliated hotels for these prices: $50 for a jr suite, $75 for a 1 bdrm, 100 for a 2 bdrm or $125 for a penthouse suite. We were also guaranteed to be a part of their rental program and could rent out our jr suite every other year rather than use it and we would certainly make a profit. Our salesman Mark Schaub told us we don't ever have to stay at Sunset Beach, we could use our 4 bonus weeks instead. He specifically showed me a website and said we could stay at one of their sister resorts in Dana Point San Diego for the above prices.
Now we are being told by Pueblo Bonito customer service that no such bonus weeks exist for those prices and to contact Pueblo Bonito Premier...but they also tell us that no such bonus weeks exist for those prices.
We ONLY purchased the timeshare for the promised bonus weeks and rental program. We had 4 other adults in our group that heard this same presentation. Our experience is that Mark Schaub lied and that Pueblo Bonito is aware of it and unwilling to make this right.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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I was encouraged to purchase at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach as an investment opportunity and it seems that similar sales tactics were used with all of you. PB's sellers are taking advantage from many of our conational's making thousands from this timeshare issue every year, I find it very disturbing and I feel that PB's contract is protecting the lies of sales department, why to invest if we are not going to make a profit from it?
Share your thoughts.
My wife and I were taken for the "purchase a bi-annual contract and we will give you 2 free weeks every year for 90 years" scam. All of a sudden no one affiliated with the resort's timeshare sales and customer service has ever heard of free weeks or bonus weeks. Stay as far away from this resort as possible. It's fraudulent, unethical and a complete rip-off.
My wife and I attended a Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach on Oct. 21, 2010. The promoter ("promotor turistico") was Felix Ramirez S. (felixcomingback2000@yahoo.coml [protected]). Felix promised us a $200 credit toward the hotel bill (which was honored) and two $55 sunset cruise tickets (which was also honored). At Sunset, we met Mitch Feld (mitchfeld13@gmail.com; [protected]). Mitch was a high-pressure, snake oil salesman. I had no interest in buying, but wanted to complete all obligations to receive our gifts. Mitch, 53, originally from Palm Desert, CA (can't miss him--squirreliest hands you'll ever shake, and the worst cologne ever), told us so many gems it was crazy. In no particular order, here are the best--(1) you make money--upwards of $1200 a year--just by buying the TS and renting it back; (2) the Sunset TS is the best one behind Hawaii, and you can use your weeks anywhere in the world for ridiculously low prices; (3) when the Sunset catering manager got on our golf cart, he asked how many buffet items are offered "because [I] just lie about the number everytime I talk about it, and want a real total;" (4) Mitch had no office [just shared a common cafeteria called "Sales Room 3"], no Pueblo email, no business card, and no brokerage license nor an international brokerage license, and (5) as friendly as he was, when I told him I would think about it, he said I either buy that day or forget it; when I told him to forget, we were promptly and rudely shown the door. Also beware that Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday are the prime targets for these promoters to get you to the TS presentation, and EVERYONE is in on it--concierge, bellboy, poolboy, bartenders, even some of the shop owners downtown. Mitch had one fact which I took for truth--that 0.0063 of people who walk out of the resort don't come back to buy timeshares. Maybe we can get that same number to people who walk through the door in the first place if they read more posts and blogs like these.
I agree. I had my encounter with Alberto Carrasco. He lied and misrepresented what we were actually getting. He sold me the Black Diamond program, which turned out to be just like RCI an not what he said. What is hard to believe is that Pueblo Bonito Sunset is not some small resort. It is owned by a well known person and most of the people who go there are Americans. How is it that the resort is allowed to continue to swindle unsuspecting Americans? Everything that several of you were told is what I was told. So it is apparent this is their method of operation.
Alberto, Felix, Mark...I know them well. All [censor]. They basically have a license to steal and they are VERY, VERY good at it! Too bad ya'll didn't see my website before getting screwed!
http://pueblo-bonito-sunset.com/
Fortunately I've saved 3 people that I know of with my website, which means I've screwed these guys back! ed
Help, I went to Sunset Beach Resort and got suckered into buying. This was Oct. 24th the day after we got there. I tried to get out of it the following morning after realizing what I had done and they said "its too late you already signed the contract". I have not given them "anything" except for a 299.00 to "seal" the contract. What do I do? Do I contact my bank to put a hold on them trying to get the 2, 000.00 down payment.? And then what, according to my bank the 299.00 has not come out of my account yet.
we have had the same exact situation - promised 4 bonus weeks and no such thing exists. I think we should file a complaint with the better business bureau and I have contact ABC's 7 on your side to see if they would want to investigate. Is anyone in? I am headed there in February and plan to take this up in person with teh head of sales since it get the run around when I call.
ME12345, When we signed our contract at Sunset (same sort of story you tell) we were told Mexico has no rescision period. However, I come to find out some years later looking around on the web that this was a lie. Mexico provides 5 days to rescind and this cannot be waived, even if you signed a waiver.
Here's a web page: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Rescind-a-Timeshare-Purchase
Like me, it's now time to enjoy your timeshare.
Dear Timeshare Owners,
We invite you to get to know our services at G&G Mexican Timeshare Solutions. We are a Mexican based company that specializes in cancelling contracts purchased under fraudulent premises. We offer free consultations to anybody interested in our services to discuss the details of their case.
We are empathetic to victimized consumers and we work on a contingency basis; which means no upfront fees, and if we don't achieve results, you don't pay us a cent.
We look forward to helping you in your claim.
Customer Service,
info@timesharescam.com
[protected]
www.timesharescam.com
now I am worried I just bought it on May 15 2011 and had to put down a 5000.00$ deposit to secure the jr suite I get one week every year with 8 additional weeks to use there or other parts of the world at a lower cost. I have to pay the other 5000.00$ by June 13 so in total 10, 000$us. Then start paying maintenance yearly fee Jan 1 2012 of 400.00$ a year. Now the deposit s non refundable should I get out lose 5000, 00$ and not pay the rest? Also I emailed Ramirez and the reservation email on Tuesday and today is Friday and I emailed them again today and still nO reply. Is his usual? What can u suggest? They also said I can sell my 8 weeks to make money. Please advise me?
Thanks
Hello-
For those who are within the 5 business day rule, please google Pueblo Bonito Timeshare scams and look for Josh's story.
This is a response to his guide to getting out of the timeshare.
I just wanted to inform everyone that it still works! Thanks to Josh for his detailed review and transcripts.
I think the key is the 5 business day rule. From the mescam website, that seems to be the case as well. The buyer is protected within that timeframe.
Also from other websites, its apparent when the front man (guy at the airport) wrangles up his potential buyers, he asks a few subtle questions to get an idea of how they might be successful. One question is how long are you vacationing?
Someone mentioned the time share presentations are on Mon-Wed, so if you are flying in on a weekend and attend a presentation and do sign up, the clock begins to tick immeadiately!
The last thing any person will think about is contesting or exercising the 5 days rule and before you know it the 5 days are up and the contract is in play.
Like Josh, my wife and I were lucky we went on a Wednesday and contested it on a Monday!
We only went on a Wed b/c of the 10 days it apparently rains in Cabo (what the timeshare salesman told us), it rained hard that Tuesday and so the roads were flooded and it was a mess... so we went the next day instead.
But again, thanks to all on this forum for their feedback! The last post before mine "Thankful Guest" is correct. You have to be firm, forceful and demanding. Its YOUR money and if you want it back, act like it!
If not, the timeshare people will blow you off. Use Josh's transcripts as a guide and template and good luck.
I just wanted to update this as my newly wed wife and I were successful.
July of 2011.
Good luck and remember what Josh and the rest said on this message board!
can you forward it to me I can't find it. PB sent me to collection after I discover that there were no discount and not even the 1, 000 credit that I can't use.
My family and I went to Cabos in Feb.2010. On arrival to collect a rental car, we were asked to attend a Time-share gathering. Being Naive, I accepted. Our Sales man, Omar and Menos told us a pack of lies similar to all the complaints I have read. I am truly dissappointed in these unscupulous sales men. I have been suckered into buying into a BIG SCAM. All the promises of 8 weeks additional vacation at a lower price, that I do not have to take the 2 weeks in Feb. that I can exchange without cost, that I can rent out the property(3bedroom) and not occur a lost is a lot of Crap.I too have lost a lot of money, but I have also lost faith in Mankind.
Hello,
For those that canceled their contract within the 5 days, was your down payment refouded? Please answer as soon as possible. I am in the 4th day!
Thanks, this post is very useful.
Greetings,
I'm a bit worried after reading all the posts here and on a few other timeshare scam forums. My wife and I purchased a 2 week bi-annual/even yrs. fractional ownership in the new Quivira development, which won't be completed until June 2012^^. We had already spent a week at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach (all expenses paid by PBSB) and it was actually our last day in Cabo, but our flight was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. We had already checked-out and had to rebook nightly at a cheaper room. We decided to attend the timeshare presentation and ended up becoming members mainly due to the promises that were presented to us during the timeshare presentation. After "11" straight hours of negotiations, we were offered another week in a super presidential suite ($850.00/night) and a credit of what was already charged for the night ($400.00+). We were also given a $1000 certificate for food and beverages, PLUS $200 cash!. As part of our contract, we were offered golf at 50% off, free lifetime membership to Pueblo Bonito Premier, 2 yrs membership to The Registry Collection, "Unlimited" weeks at specific resorts+fee upon availability and "four" $149.00 weekly resort stays at specific locations. We were also informed that they were building a supermarket and other structures on site and 2 Jack Nicklaus golf courses by 2013. We were told that if we don't use the property, they would rent the property for a desirable profit^^. I am really sceptical about all of this now and hope that this is not too good to be true. Is this a new approach to get people to purchase? I have already contacted my credit card company and verified that there were no additional charges to my account and the hotel charge was credited to my account. Should I be worried?
Correction...My wife and I purchased a 2 week "biennial"/even yrs. fractional ownership in the new Quivira development, which won't be completed until June 2012^^.
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Check it out at:
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**For the moment our website is under maintenance but within the next weeks places would be ready to be shown to people interested in local rentals.
Sincerely, Mazatlan Vacation Rentals.
"Renting with the locals, vacationing as one".
We too feel like we were scammed by Alberto. Just recently, there was a charge of $299.00 that was deducted from my checking account. I come to find out it was a debit from Pueblo Bonito. So I called them on this and they told me that it was for the premier membership that we had signed up for. I explained to Eddy Childers that we did not agree on this and that I never authorized anything to be deducted out of my credit card, with the exception of the down payments. Then Eddy says that we will be credited back the $299.00. A week later and no credit. So I emailed Mr. Ramirez and he emailed me back with an attachment and a note stating that I did sign an authorization form. When I looked at it, I saw alot of things wrong with it...#1. It was dated December 22, 2012..#2. It looked like the document was altered with the information about the premier membership. So, I emailed him back to told him that the signature is mine, but I felt like everything else was altered. So I demanded that he take a picture of the document, not a photo copy. I haven't heard back from him as of yet. But late last night, in my husband's email was a merchant credit receipt for $299. I just checked my account and still no credit. So, I will wait in a few days to see if it will get credited. Now, knowing that they can do this and try to get away with something to me that is illegal, I have written them again to cancel my contract and to reimburse us our full down payment. I have also sent a copy of the email I received from Mr. Ramirez with the attachments to PROFECO. I hope that they to get investigated for wrongdoing. We were also given false information, i.e., 4 bonus weeks to be used at any facilities, rent the place out if we are not using it...After reading all the above comments, I hope something can be done to this company to stop them from cheating hard working people.
I was able to get my 299$ Pueblo Bonito Premier fee reversed after about 4 months of diligence. I had to Arizona and Mazatlan several times. I'm still trying to get my deposit refunded fro the timeshare. The time share salesman just lied too much. If a salesman has to lie about his product, it probably isn't a good value.
We purchased November 2011. Really detested the sales tactics as well as the lying promises about rental options etc. Buying a timeshare for investment was not our plan so we looked at future usage only. Only thing that it is / can be used for. Pueblo Bonito Black Diamond instead of RCI was another rip-off replacing Premier. Just BEWARE!
This sounds like a variation on our experience with Pueblo Bonito. The property at Sunset Beach is great. We had a great week there. However, the timeshare folks lie through their teeth. If anyone has a valid e-mail address for Eddie (Eddy?) Childers I would love to have it. I've tried the one I was given on the phone today and that doesn't work. I've tried a few others and they've bounced, too. On the phone the lady I spoke with insisted it was "Eddie". No joy. I've tried "Eddy", as in eddychilders1@gemail.com and that hasn't been returned as bad. So we'll see.
BTW, the rental options were a selling point in 2006. That hasn't worked yet and all attempts at communications have been ignored. This time the claim was that they would take a membership in a different timeshare as payment. That hasn't happened, they won't answer e-mails and I now have the payment book in hand. If it weren't for the good experiences we've had staying in Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas I'd blast the whole operation. But, the timeshare people make used car salesmen look like paragons of virtue. Buyer beware.
Salesperson has client sign a waiver giving up their 5 day right to cancel as it is a special one-day only offer. This is illegal in Mexico. http://www.timesharescam.com/
Common Complaints:
Salesperson has client sign a waiver giving up their 5 day right to cancel as it is a special one-day only offer. This is illegal in Mexico.
Salesperson promises to sell their old timeshare to offset the cost of the new timeshare. In the end the client is referred to a resale company that does not sell the old timeshare and the client is stuck with two timeshares and the maintenance fees for both properties. http://www.timesharescam.com/
Thats weird that yours hasn't been working well because mine has.. I have 2 bonus weeks each year and I use the preferred website to book them because I was also given some sort of credit each year to book vacations and my weeks end up being like $250 total, granted some bigger rooms are a bit more but still $250 for a week? That's pretty cool, I would talk to your sales rep so have him help you because mine did.
Our experience is exactly the same as the first comment on this page. We have been trying to get out of our signed contract but they have the upper hand. It is a total scam when the sales people tell you something different that what the small print states. Does anyone know of another recourse since Pueblo Bonito won't budge and the credit card company will not continue the dispute?
I think I just made a huge mistake yesterday by purchasing the studio timeshare...
I've been looking for information online but can't find anything recent (all dated stories from 2010 or 2011 or further back)
If anyone has anything recent or can acknowledge that all the above is true please please please let me know
Hello all, I often take to the internet to read about people's experiences on Pueblo Bonito. Please do not mistake me for being a supporter or promoter of Pueblo Bonito or timeshare in general, but I do have some on advice on this. I have been an owner at Sunset Beach since 2006 and I got exactly what I thought I would, but I did have to wade through the BS that they tell you. This is how I look at timeshare and specifically Sunset Beach. ONLY BUY if you are going to use your timeshare at sunset beach. DO NOT BUY FOR AN INVESTMENT and DO NOT BUY TO TRAVEL ALL OVER THE WORLD AT A DISCOUNT, it will never work. I bought because I want to travel to Sunset Beach every year. I look at it as paying a lump sum up front to receive a discount on a high quality resort property, nothing more. The up front fee (the timeshare sale) gives me the mind set to travel there every year and the actual cost of going is a discount over just booking there every year. That's it. You can rent out your timeshare privately and recoup your maintenance fee. If you put it in their pool you probably wont recoup all your maintenance fee, no matter what the salesmen says. With regards to traveling and exchanging, it's risky as inventory is never guaranteed and probably wont meet high season travel dates. As for buying and not using it, but using bonus weeks etc to stay..listen to what your saying, it doesn't make sense. Never will work. When I originally purchased I was given 5 "bonus weeks" through RCI. I had 3 years to use them and it cost $199 to book. I purchased a 1 bedroom and the bonus weeks were only for a studio. I used them over the 3 years at sunset beach and went in low season, no problem. A side note is that sunset beach is a large property so getting inventory on RCI in low season is usually a breeze although in the last year they have upped their rates for extra weeks. They have tried for years to get me to switch to the point system. I have resisted. I don't like it as they try and sell it so you can have multiple weeks in a smaller unit all the way up to 1 week in a monte cristco unit. Who has 6 weeks a year to travel to mexico? No thanks. Plus with points it seems many people have trouble booking due to inventory issues. I have one week a year (floating) in a one bedroom unit. I have had very little to no issues booking as long as you have a two or three week window to travel. Just yesterday I called to book my 2016 week for Nov and was told it was all sold out (I figured this as Nov is high season) however October was wide open, So I grabbed last week in Oct. Not so bad. So in summary, don't believe that timeshare is an investment, it isn't. Don't believe you can buy a timeshare, never go to the home resort, make your money back and travel on bonus weeks all over the world...that sounds too good to be true and IT IS! Buy a timeshare if you like the home resort and want to return to it every year over the length of the contract for a discount over doing the same just booking it every year. THAT'S IT, simple. Remember they want are in this to make money, not to make your wildest dreams come true. The salesmen are there to do that, sell! They are not all honest trustworthy people, so wade through the BS and ask lots of questions. Anytime they tell you something qualify it by asking if their plan involves trading or depositing your timeshare into a third party company like RCI or Premiere...if so then stop believing everything they say after that, because it just isn't a guarantee just a plan. DON'T BE BLIND AND ALWAYS PLAY DEVILS ADVOCATE. Good luck and enjoy what you buy...I have but I'm not gonna lie and say it's a money making investment. Pueblo Bonito made the money, but I enjoy it there and go every year for cheaper then if I just called them and booked!
Definitely agree with you, blue suit! We bought at Pueblo Bonito 5 years ago and have always been happy. But we also book our vacation a year out to guarantee we get the dates we want. We're going again in Dec 2022. We have never intended this as trade goods. Agreed that just doesn't work. The presidential unit we expected with that glorious deck has always been perfect. The only difficulty was once when they placed us in a unit far up the hill with an obstructed view, but they moved us to a perfect replacement when we asked to be moved. We are also not fond of the very crowded and competitive pool scene there, but that's not why we're there. Our favorite option is to combine a week here with a week or 2 at Club Regina in the Raintree Vacation Club system to which we also belong. My target is to keep our stays at between $100 & $200 a night for extraordinary resorts and so far since 1998 when we first came to Cabo, we're on target.
Ben there ! You should check this article in relation about, MTS where the only people that really helped me after many tries ..good luck
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/121-how-to-get-rid-of-a-timeshare/
Do not purchase a timeshare from these people. They will type in a fake address on your contract so that you cannot send a timeshare cancellation letter let alone own a timeshare at a fake address. They will also discuss your finances with third parties. Be prepared to get weird phone calls from Mexicans claiming to be attorneys working for the Mexican Government that are investigating them that want all your personal information. Do not! They are criminals working for these people. They pass around your personal information like diarrhea of the mouth.
Most likely you will book your week well in advance and find that upon your arrival they will tell you "there is no vacancies left and they will send you to their older resort next door" where the food will give you the runs.