Mayan Palace Great Vacations Club reviews and complaints

Several years ago, while visiting Mexico, we purchased a vacation package from Mayan Resorts great vacations club. We recently attempted without success to book a vacation on-line. We called the 800 number provided by the company, only to be placed on hold and disconnected. The Company has not responded to our e-mails.

This is obviously a scam.

I have been a member of GVC Great Vacations Club for many years. My husband just got back from ANOTHER terrific trip courtesy of them.. this time in a beautiful cabin in Boone, NC. Every trip I have taken, which is many, has been outstanding. On the very first trip I took with them I received the value back of what i put into the purchase. I have absolutely love my membership. I do not feel that the salesman mislead at all.. I have been perfectly happy with GVC. Ive been to the Mayan resorts a few times and LOVE it! The pool is great and the tropical surroundings are beautiful. The staff was great! Disconnect your room phone if you dont want to be hassled with a 'presentation"! You have to be FLEXIBLE on where you are travelling! The only thing Im getting "irked" about is that their website is STILL down.. If you think you are "stuck" with this vacation package.. why not give it a try? their accommodations are spectacular! NO! I am not one of their employees writing this... Im just a real member who has had a really great time with Great vacations Club!

Beware of Vacation Class S.A. de C.V. (advertising The Bliss Resorts, Bliss Vacation Club, Grand Mayan, Vida Vacations, VidaSales and more).
My mother and I traveled to Mexico to celebrate my graduation from college. After about seven hours traveling we were met at the airport in Cancun by some saleswoman misrepresenting her intention. The next day we were at their Grand Mayan where we were subjected to five hours of high-pressure sales tactics before we relented signing an English-only document purporting to be selling "lodging rights and services."

After getting away, we learned more about whom we had been picked up by from websites like tripadvisor, timesharescam, complaintsboard, scam, mescam, pissedconsumer, independenttraveler, and fodors, to name a few (all ending dot com). We notified the sales office that we cancel and asked for our downpayment back. They pretend to be confused and refuse.

We learned that Mexican law protects consumers under PROFECO; that all contracts regarding property in Mexico, including timeshares, must be in Spanish and bear certification by a Notario--neither of which was true for us; and that we can file a complaint in at any Mexican Consulate.

Our lawyer is putting together copies of their responses to share with you the names (and taunting words) of these sales people and the additional aliases they use. We hope that this post reaches you before you travel to Mexico, so you know to stay away from these people when they try to get you at the airport.

Unfortunately you got hooked into a timeshare presentation; Mayan Palace is known for particularly hard sell tactics. Mayan Palace sales tactics are hardcore and they will tell you anything you want to hear to get you into the contract and keep you in contract with them. Mayan Palace’ Sales Pitch will explain you all the places you can go with your timeshare and how much you are going to love your vacations with them and how exclusive and prestigious its to own a Mayan Palace timeshare. What they fail to explain you is how the timeshare works and what are the real possibilities of traveling to those places. Mayan Palace’ sales representatives also fail to explain what kind of unit you are in fact purchasing and more often than ever it is now the unit the sales representative shows you in the tour, They also promise to get you discounts in airfares and certificates for cruises which both of them are false. Fortunately, there's a way out, you should read this article about Mayan Palace:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

Hi Diane and Cristina,
We would really appreciate if you give us the opportunity to contact you and clarify your issues with our firm, as the personnel for Gonzalez & Gonzalez is highly trained and supervised; and we can assure you that none of our customers have been attacked in any way.
Looking through the files and data base of our company we do not show any record under the name of ¨Diane Jersey¨ and/or ¨Cristine ----¨, who are the people complaining and defaming against the firm.
After 15 years of experience we knew some day this will happen, being conscious of this we back up ourselves by recording every incoming and outgoing telephone call.
In case of the existence of a recorded conversation with you under another name, we would like to expose it to the internet community to prove the opposite of the complaints made on June 30th against Gonzalez & Gonzalez to discard the fact that the post was exposed by our competitors or from the timeshare developers full of frustration by our advocacy and success on the resolution of the cases handled at Gonzalez & Gonzalez.
Also, Gonzalez and Gonzalez has never charged such exaggerated retainer fees, we have a long list of satisfied customers who support our firm, with identifications to validate their existence and able to show their satisfaction by the success in the resolution of their cases.
Gonzalez & Gonzalez counts with ample evidence, to show the Internet community and guarantee that there is no existence of this type of situation in our firm.
Respectfully,
Jose Gonzalez

They are scam artists. They got me to beleive that I got a deal, with a 2 unit I could get 1700 per unit per year, they got me the money to invest - FIA Credit Services (Bank of America). When I came back to America I found that the credit "given" was taken from a Credit card I had with bank of America 15 years, with really good credit as I am always careful of how I use it. All gone, credit and downpayment because the Mayan does not want to cancel the agreement and the bank said they "transfer" the credit to allow me to buy what I want, without letting me know!. If I have known I would never put all my credit towards a timeshare!

My wife and I were both victims of the Mayan Palace scam. We sat through the long presentation and after about 6 hours the salesman finally convinced us to buy. He explained to us how Mayan Palace is a great investment etc.. etc.. He also told us he was giving us this great deal and since it was such a "great deal" and it was a "previously owned timeshare" we had to waive our 5 day cancellation period. Little did I know this was the scam. When I got home and started surfing the net I realized what had happened. I immediately drafted a cancellation letter, filed a dispute with my credit card company and filed a complaint with PROFECO. As of today this issue is still not resolved and I am out $6300 dollars. All though Mayan Palace knows I cancelled my contract they continue to call me at my home trying to sign me up for another timeshare. DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY! I am hoping that PROFECO can help me get my money back.

In December my wife and I attended timeshare sales pitch at the Mayan Palace in Playa del Carmen. We did not buy a timeshare but did purchase a membership in Great Vacations Club. Within days of reciving the membership package we realized we had been ripped off. We e-mailed them and sent a registered letter asking to cancel our membership and refund our payment. They did not respond until we disputed our credit card payment. Now they responded to the credit card company saying they never heard from us (even though they signed for the registered letter) and claiming that we have had to cancel within five days to get a refund. They never disclosed the five-day deadline to us verbally or in their written materials. We are now trying to get our credit card company to sustain our dispute.

If you go to Goodle Earth and view Mayan Palace you will see a warning about the dangers of the Recrutiment building. We laughed when we saw that. Now we are not laughing and we urge everyone to stay away from Mayan Sales and the Great Vacations Club. They will tell you that you can "choose from thousands of resorts worldwide" and stay for $349 a week. Neither is true. According to our experience and many other postings, there is little or no avaialbility and, if they have somehting, it will cost a lot more!

The "Great Vacation Club" should be called the "Great Rippoff Club". DO NOT SIGN UP. You can't get a booking when you want it. And the prices they 'offer' are more expensive than going straight to the internet and booking privately. Customer service sucks, and could care less if you aren't happy.

My sister purchased a GVC plan through the mayan resorts a while ago after all of us lost a half a day of vacation due to the hard sell time share pitch. She gave me a week to use a certificate because they are expiring. So I find a resort in cozumel that I wanted to go to that was available. I go to reserve the resort through the GVC website and the dates are incorrect. I call to get someone to help change the dates for me and they absolutely refuse. Both Darlene and Paco from GVC told me that because I had booked the reservation online myself that there was nothing that could be done, but had I booked the reservation by phone with them that they would be able to help me. Now they won't cancel the reservation and expect me to pay hundreds of dollars for a vacation I cannot take due to the dates. I am being punished for using the website. In order to make us happy all they had to do was change the dates of our reservation, is that really too much to ask? They also say that unless I pay the fee for this reservation then the rest of the certificates that my sister has cannot be used. I never want to travel to Mexico again thanks to these people. They are so horrible. Do not purchase this plan and if you have, do not book through the website (that is if you find anything available to book)! Turns out my trip could have been booked for the same amount of money through AAA. What a scam!
Jessica

I also had a horrible experience with them. I've purchased my timeshare 3 years ago, and it's been impossible to get out. I was pressured to sign a contract, and i was also scammed, they never did what they promised. We must do whatever it's in our hands to put finish to those thieves!
I was looking for some information about this resort and all their scam tactics, and i've found these articles that have a lot of info
about them, take a look:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

At least you didn't end up buying a timeshare from them! Mayan Palace sales tactics are hardcore and they will tell you anything you want to hear to get you into the contract and keep you in contract with them. It is too common for the sales representative to offer you an upgrade if you already own a timeshare with them. I recommend you all to read this article on how most of the mayan palace timeshare scams are being committed:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

no way he was the best sales man i have ever see but you are so cheap so some how he was not rude becouse you did not buy but you always do that go in the resort for the gifts only so he want to make sure you want do that again

We had a similar experience at the Mayan Palace in Cancun. It was worse than buying a car. We sat thru 5 salespeople and a "manager". Each time we told them we were not interested in the $40, 000 studio vacation time share. What a rip off! And then it was pouring rain. When I finally got upset and said I just wanted to leave and stood up.
I started to walk away. It was over 3 hours into this disortation. We were promised a 90 minute tour. We were pushed out the back door into the rain and forced to walk thru the resort to the parking lot...we could not find our car. This was the worst experience I have ever had. The salesperson BLEDI was very rude when he found out we were not going to buy. Don't fall for the free stuff...it is not worth wasting an entire day of your vacation!

I agree. The salespeople there are completely ruthless. I was totally bullied into purchasing, and then when I went to cancel within the 5 day period, they wouldn't acknowledge me. I've never felt so helpless in my life. We finally had to hire help because we weren't able to get anywhere by ourselves. You should visit www.timesharescam.com if you need to cancel your contract. They were able to get my money back for me and I didn't have to pay anything in advance.

we attented a sales presentation at the mayan palace on [protected] it is amazing that people falling for there presentation. sales people are very badly trained. managers are very rude and low class products of there profession. just stay away

Christmas 2007, we got suckered in to buying a package. When arriving home, I googled the company and my heart sank. I was ripped off.

I took advise from this web page and others. I contacted the company and told the rep that I was cancelling my package. When asked why, I told them the truth, they are nothing but a scam and I will stop at nothing to get my money back.

I then sent an email to the company and the rep I bought it from. I told them the same thing. I also told them the date on the contract was wrong because the five days to cancel are 5 working days, not calendar days. I hinted that I started a file with the credit card company, drafted a letter to the Mexican consumer Department and how with internet, I could reach virtually millions of people. I also hinted that I would also start a campaign against the hotel for allowing this to happen there.

It was actually the 6th working day after I signed the contract. I did not expect to get my money back. Without any correspondance, my credit card was credited the $6000 I paid.

I think I was very lucky. Good luck to everyone else getting there money back.

Talking about dummies, my husband and I spent a week at the Mayan Seagarden in Mazatlan and got "suckerd" into buying a 5 year membership at GVC for $ 5000,. All sounded good at the presantation, because we are seniors and the price was reasonable for what we got, untill we received the documentation. I called the Houston office for more info or a book and complaint about not beeing able to find anything not all-inclusive and was very rudely advised to go on the internet for info. When I wrote a reg. letter asking for our money back, they had the sales rep. from Mazatlan call and ask why we wanted out. Since than I wrote another letter, contacted the Attn. Generals office in my state who contacted the Att. Gen. office in Texas,because they did not get a response and were not able to reach them by phone. This is going on now since May 2007 and I wonder if we ever get our moneys worth.

We paid $2000 for GVC and were told we had 4 years to use it. I told them that was good because I would not be able to use it in 2008 due to my work schedule. We bought it in Dec of 2006. When I read the fine print latter I saw that it was only for 2 years and would cost me an additional $399 to get it renewed for 2 more years.I told them there was no way I could use 11 weeks in 2 years let alone 1year. I tried to get out of it when I was down there but they said I would loose the $2000 and didn't have to use it. I called the phone # they gave me in Houston ,TX when I got back but they told me I had to talk to the manager in Acapulco. I called him several times about the paper work the salesman wrote up showing it was 4years and faxed it to GVC. They said that didn't matter because I had initial were it said 2 years. When I did the initialing the saleman told me that what I was initialing was every thing he told me and he was in a hurry because they were closing for the day.What a mistake that was. When I call for places to stay they either are not available or cost double of what I was told.

After being beat up at a timeshare presentation in mid October 2007 my wife and I got coerced into buying a GVC vacation package. I will not go into the details as everything that is said on all the other sites about the crooked company is true. We looked it up on the web right after we agreed to purchase and have been trying to cancel and get a refund ever since. We have made 3 request via email since this is one of their prescribed methods for communication and have not had a reply message yet. I have asked American Express to not honor the charge. Here is a link to some info that is all true:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150796-i163-k225367-o20-Warning_Great_Vacations_Club_Don_T_Do_iT-Central_Mexico_and_Gulf_Coast.html

Whatever you do not fall victim to the sales slim that works for this company.

I also had a horrible experience with them. I've purchased my timeshare 3 years ago, and it's been impossible to get out. I was pressured to sign a contract, and i was also scammed, they never did what they promised. We must do whatever it's in our hands to put finish to those thieves!
I was looking for some information about this resort and all their scam tactics, and i've found these articles that have a lot of info
about them, take a look,

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

I also had a horrible experience with them. I've purchased my timeshare 3 years ago, and it's been impossible to get out. I was pressured to sign a contract, and i was also scammed, they never did what they promised. We must do whatever it's in our hands to put finish to those thieves!
I was looking for some information about this resort and all their scam tactics, and i've found these articles that have a lot of info
about them, take a look:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

Do NOT do the Mayan Palace Timeshare presentation! We tried to say no until we were so tired of it we agreed to a 90 minute presentation for $100 USD per couple and 10% off of our charges for the week. The 90 minutes became 150 minutes. Each time they were ready to let us leave a different person prevented us from leaving. Very rude and dishonest. I had to express anger at the fifth person before they showed us the door. This left a sour taste in our mouths for the last few days:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

We were scammed in Mexico also. Don't know how people can look hard working people in the face and lie to them. They lie time after time. Please, those of you going to Mexico, they'll meet you in the airport and promise free car rental. You may get the free car, but, believe me, that 'free' car will end up costing you several thousand dollars unless you can keep saying, "NO". They won't let you leave. They are pros, they will wear you down. Just walk away when they first approach you. You'll be glad you did.

D. McGehee, Texas

My wife and I were also duped with gifts to come and see this timeshare scam. I kept asking for a guarantee or proof to everything they promised. They just kept double-talking and repeated themselves over and over again. After 5 hours, the price went from $90K to $9K and we bought (temporarily). Back at our hotel, I looked up the Grand Mayan and two days later we went back to cancel. They refused to let us cancel (which is illegal). They wanted us to make an appointment the morning before our flight left. I didn't have 5 hours to argue with them again so we sent an email cancellation from the hotel. I got home and sent a fax cancellation then sent a certified letter to the hotel. Finally they acknowledged my cancellation (within the 5 day period). I also contacted Profeco. Fortunately, I realized soon enough what a scam this place is. For your family's money- DO NOT BUY AT AT THE MAYAN. This is a forum with many angry Mayan Palace Timeshare owners:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/

I too fell victim to this scam. I was in Cancun during 2005 with my teenage daughter. I was approached at my hotel to have breakfast and receive a gift if I sat for a presentation. I didn't know anything about timesharing at the time and I thought everything sounded so wonderful and worth the money they were asking $4, 000. Later, that day I begun to feel like I just made a mistake but was unsure of how to correct it. So, the two GVC representatives( Edgar Alarcon & Paul Ramirez) promised me all they had showed me and talked about would be waiting when I arrived home. The package arrived to my home and all there were was coupons for specific weeks. I was very upset and angry that I fell prey to a SCAM while on vacation. Please press for a Class Action.

Man...please don't be fooled by Great Vacations Club. It should be called Nightmare Vacations Club! BAD BAD BAD!

My parents purchased this a few years back. Because it is so difficult to find a vacations where you want, they have only used it once, this year in Florida, at a stinky hotel (Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel). THey have options for last minute certificates (which we can never find anything that we are looking for- NEVER) and they also have Resort & Regular week certificates, which are very expensive. A hotel in Hawaii costs about $900/week through Great Vacations Club, and if you go on any travel site it is $30-40/night for that same resort (I am talking about a 1-2 star hotel).

THIS IS A COMPLETE SCAM. I am never going to any timeshare presentations.

HELP FOR VICTIMS OF TIMESHARE SCAMS:
Ok, for all you folks out there who were "sold" on the idea that you could actually afford these over priced vacations by renting out your weeks (which the Grupo Mayan sales people promise you that will definitely happen, no problem, but then they make you sign a contract that says you are not buying with intent to rent! The way they talk out of both sides of their mouth boggles the vacationing mind, doesn't it?) I have some good news for you.

Recently, we were given the name of Gonzalez & Gonzalez law firm in Mexico. We contacted them via email. (info@gonzalezgonzalezlawfirm.com) They were able to handle our case, get our deposit money back and cancel our contract. All in a very short time, and they are VERY pleasant to deal with, very sympathetic.

Of course, now the resort or marketing company has someone on all these sites (pretending to be an unhappy customer) saying G&G is a scam and that they took their money and were never heard from again. NOT TRUE! You work with them through PayPal, not sending a personal check to some unknown Mexican location. And those reading this may think I am affiliated with them somehow. But I am not. I am just a satisfied customer wanting to help other victims out there and wanting to send these resort scam artists the message that we aren't all going to take their crap anymore!

So if you want to do something about your situation, please contact these folks. You will be so happy you did. We are!

Apparently either people don't listen and understand the details, or they don't read before signing anything. Here is my family's POSITIVE experience with the Mayan resorts and experiences with timeshare presentations in general:

Our first encounter with Mayan was when we went to our honeymoon to the Grand Mayan Palace in Acapulco, Mexico, in 2001. Our presentation lasted 2 hours, the guy was Caucasian and very polite and took our "No Thank You" and gave us our vouchers we were promised.

Our second encounter with a timeshare (NOT Mayan) was a couple of years later in Mazatlan, Mexico. We bought and never used it. But because my husband is a Mexican citizen, we actually got Title and Deed for the property. It is all legit and legal.

Our third encounter with a timeshare presentation was again with the Mayan Palace, this time in Puerto Penasco, Mexico, as follows:

My husband and I had the pleasure of going to a Mayan Palace resort presentation in Puerto Penasco and were treated like royalty. We had a delicious meal in a gorgeous restaurant and were given a full's week pass to use the facilities for FREE the entire week we were visiting Penasco. We went everyday to use the pool and when my daughter fell and hit her nose in the pool, the security guards all ran to help her and carried her to the on-site doctor who checked her for FREE and gave her an ice pack. At our presentation, we did not feel "pressured" but my husband did haggle. We ended up buying a Jr. suite with an RCI membership and have since then used it many, many times without any problems. We have gone to the Mayan Palace in Acapulco (in the older, original resort) and absolutely LOVED it, as well as the Mayan in Mazatlan. We have also used the RCI services to go to Vegas twice and were privileged to have traded in our Mayan JUNIOR suite for a 1600 sq. ft., two bedroom, suite with two full kitchens, two full living rooms, two bathrooms, two jacuzzies and two king sized beds that slept 8 for only $189 for the upgrade for the full week just this past month.

Finding availability is always difficult if you wait too long. It's a well known fact among all seasoned timeshare owners that you need to plan your vacations a year in advance. However, using RCI, I have gotten suites in prime locations in only a week to a month's notice in Gold Crown (5 star) resorts. If that is not availability, then I don't know what is.

I'm sorry to read so many people having had such negative experiences, but I think a lot of them are due to the ignorance of the timeshare process. And in the Mayan's defense, these timeshare presentations, bait & switch, etc. etc. ALSO happen here in the U.S. in many resorts. We just came from one in Vegas. The only difference is, here in the U.S. you're lucky if you get a cold sandwich for the hours you've wasted with the many sales rep's they throw at you because they can't take no for an answer.

My best advice for everyone here is, do your RESEARCH before even attending a presentation! Those hundred dollar compensations they offer aren't worth the thousands you're going to pay for something you aren't going to use! LISTEN to the details and take your own notes or ask for the rep's notes and ask for his business card. READ before you sign anything!

People get scammed for lack of knowledge.

Shell Vacations Club is a RIP OFF.

We need more people to stand up together and get stronger. shell vacation victim please join my communite forum at http://antishellvacation.com

Why would someone pay $400 a night with Shell Vacations Club points when you can stay at the same Hotel for $150 by booking with Expedia or other website. The economy is in real bad shape and we should let current owner NOT TO PURCHASE MORE POINTS AND MAKE SURE OTHER PEOPLE DO NOT GET SCAMMED ON THIS RIP OFF.
Do not get fooled by FAKE positve comments made by Shell Vacations employees. Read what current pissed owners have to say about.

http://antishellvacation.com