Universal Vacation Club International / UVC International

We have had this time share for seven years. Due to aging parents, we have been unable to use our weeks consistently for the last couple years and have put unused weeks into their bank. This year we missed the deadline, a deadline we didn't even know about, to bank our weeks free and now to keep them, we have to pay $70 for each week, even the weeks put into the bank in prior years. I have received two emails in the last week to bank this time for the fee but received no emails at all as notice that the free banking period was ending.
Another thing: We paid $13, 000 for our off season week and now pay $627 a year for that week. Take a look at any hotel booking site and you will be able to get seven nights at this resort for pretty much the same cost as our yearly dues.
We like this resort. We are sorry we haven't gotten to go every year. But buying into this resort, and probably any other Universal timeshare is a huge waste of money and you must be prepared to pay lots of extra charges and put up with yearly attacks by salespersons during your stay.

Back in 1987, while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, My wife and I encountered a salesman for UVC while looking for a tour operator. What ensued was a very slick presentation and high pressure pitch by a professional con artist. Were I as wise then as I am now I would have vacated immediately. However I can't go back. The salesman worked us for so long and convinced us that it was such a great deal to buy into the time share in PV at a place called "Villa Del Mar. We finally agreed and signed up. The thing that convinced us was the statement by the con artist that "after 30 years the resort must be sold by the company and at that time you will get a share of the sales price comparable to the value of the week you buy". We handed over a pile of money and received a large pile of documents (who pours over that stuff while on vacation?) After 25 years of paying higher and higher fees the final date arrived, 12/31/2011. So I called the member services folks to find out what happens next. The woman on the other end of the phone says, " our relationship with you ended on 12/31/2012, have a nice day.". WTF! Anyone out there avoid these ripoffs at all costs, Read the fine print!. Get out of any agreement with them. If you work for UVC and read this I have one suggestion, Move to Death Valley so you can get used to very hot weather, some day you will be judged and where you are going in the end is very hot!

Below is a letter sent to the management of The Villa Group, a letter received (USPS tracking confirmed) by the company last week (March 14, 2011). This followed an earlier email requesting our deposit back. To date, we have received no response from the Company. Despite their unsigned messages on the internet to the contrary, it is apparent they neither contact you nor wish to work with you.

When trying to contact them, be aware of a trail of old phone numbers that no longer work. These companies are all under one management, and all located at the same address. Here is the current information:

UVC / Reh Villa Group / Bobkis Marketing, ResortCom International
404 Camino del Rio South
Fourth Floor
San Diego, CA 92108 Toll Free [protected] Direct([protected] Fax([protected]

Below is our last letter which has gone unanswered:

To: Corporate structure: UVC (Universal Vacation Club) Owners
Association, The Villa Group, Robkis Marketing, ResortCom International, (All in the same address in San Diego, CA) Constructora Los Arcos del Cabo S A De C V.

To: Management: Fernando Gonzalez Corona – President, Owen
Perry – Partner, Robert Kistner – Vice President, Jose Luis Banuelos – CFO, Alejandro
De La Garza – Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing, Ricardo Orozco –
Corporate Director, Cabo San Lucas, Carlos Aquino – Corporate Director,
Vallarta

RE:
Villa Del Arco Timeshare sales - Deception occurring Feb 27th Salesman:
Douglas XXXXX

Acct number xxxxx, Requested return of full Deposit

March 11, 2011

To all the above:

Based on deceptive and fraudulent sales practices by the trained sales agents at the Villa del Arco on February 27th of this year, practices that caused us to purchase a timeshare based on false and purposefully misleading information, we require our deposit back. Fraud / deceptive practices occurred when your trained sales agents purposefully misled us about:

• The 5 day cooling off period - well documented in many other complaints on various internet sites. The Salesman told us that, under Mexican contract law, we could not get our $ back if we signed the contract, and the high pressure sales effort, sprinkled with other serious mis-information, caused us to sign. His statement was not true - there is a clause in small print on the back of the contract that directly refutes the salesman's words. But his lies directly resulted in our not reviewing the contract until we got back home. When we did investigate the company via the internet, we were astounded by the extraordinary number of people who have had the same lies given to them.

• availability of properties (we were told all units all are available to time share customers at all times. Well, no, only 35% are available for timeshare customers at any time. This then begs the question - can we get a room? We have found out that rarely can you make a reservation under two years in advance, which means we can not actually use our own timeshare in the winter months for at least 2 years from the date we signed - most likely more. (I believe this will certainly become more problematic as they continue to sell timeshare slots).

• specifics about the ownership of the Villa del Arco (For example, Doug - our company trained salesman, touted The Villa Group as a listed company that owned Travelocity – to ease our concerns about dealing with a local group. This is, of course, untrue.

• we will have strong trade up potential from our studio to a 1 bedroom (well, no, there is very little availability in the winter (the season we paid for) and 0% trade up capability.

. We could cancel any time within 30 days after signing, but we would lose our deposit. (We have not heard a word from management yet.)

and many other deceits...

Absent the lies regarding the 5 day cool-off period, we would have uncovered the many, many other people that warn against dealing with this company, and about the many others that were lied to. With that understanding, we would have asked for our deposit back immediately. Instead, we waited until we returned home (7 days). That is the purpose of the cool-off period, and that is the reason your agents are trained to deceive the customers.

Fraudulent behavior grants the seller no rights. Based on the many, many stories highlighted on the internet, this is your normal behavior - and we are now one of those stories.

Please respond immediately with the return of our deposit. All the above addresses are receiving this same letter, and we will post this to the internet sites in 1 week to let others know of our experience. This is not a threat - simply a listing our our next actions brought about by your own deciet.

Below is a short list of links where you will find others who have been similarly deceived (I know this is not news to management, but others who read it will be interested).

To the management: I recommend your hasty retreat from an operation where a significant percentage of your revenue flow comes from tricking buyers. These schemes usually do not last long, they are ill gotten gains, are supported by illegal practices, and often lead to undesired endings for those involved. No matter how convoluted your organization structure, it is built upon an unsustainable foundation. I will go away with the return of our deposit, others may not. This is not a threat, all you need to do is listen to the growing outrage on the internet.

Regards,

Bob XXX

Other “satisfied” customer experiences - with exact or similar fraudulent tales as discussed above:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/villa-group--universal-vacation-club-c224395.html

http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-scam-mexico/villa-del-palmar-timeshare-10

/link removed/

http://universal-vacation-club.pissedconsumer.com/universal-vacation-club-rip-off-20080326116546.html

and many, many more….

This letter currently remains unanswered. Unlike others, I have a pretty good recording of the salesman's pitch which may be helpful as a lever to get our $ back.

Anyone with information - and that includes the management team at The Villa group et. al - which can support my effort, please come forward. I made a bad decision, but that decision was based on fraudulent claims, and I very much regret ever going to this resort. I suspect I will not receive an answer, that I will get billed common charges next month, and when these go unpaid, will have my credit rating attacked.