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2.5 24 Complaints
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Vida Vacations Complaints 24

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8:55 pm EDT
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We signed up on 4/4/2024, I sent the following letter to Tarah Blum a few days ago. Her phone number is [protected] ext. 60801. We met with Sandra for a tour, I do not recall what all she offered us, what I do remember is that she offered us that you would pay off our RCI contract, 6 weeks stay at $500 per week with the option of a 2 week buy back for...

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Vida Vacations VIDA VACATIONS SCAMMED ME OF $7,755.00 ON 11/03/21

On 11/03/21, I was directed by Barba Rangel, Supervisor Vida Vacations to Wire $7,755.00 USD to their Vida Vacations Banking in De Zuniga Jalisco. I was given a Reservation # 5258389 confirming rentals of 5 Units at the Grand Luxxe Residence Club for dates 07/03 thru 07/10/22. This Reservation was given on Grand Luxxe letter headed paper. I started contacted Ms Rangel to activate my

Certificate since early this February and after several unsuccessful Tel calls & Emails, she emailed me 3 weeks later stating I need to wire additional fee for activation which I refused. I then contacted the Grand Luxxe Reservation Desk and was advised this Cert # was already used by someone in year 2020. Since then I emailed her Manager and others at Vida Vacations without any response at all. I filed a complaint with [protected]@vidanta.com/[protected]@grupovidanta.com who clearly advised me that there are no Barba Rangel/Hugo Armendariz working for them and that I have been clearly SCAMMED. i do have proof of my wiring to the Vida Bank Account and funds were confirmed received. I am trying to cancel this rental reservation and reclaim my wired $7,755.00 and absolutely no one at Vida Vacations can help. How can I be SCAMMED by such an affluent most desirable large Organization as VIDA VIDANTA GROUP as this? PLEASE HELP AS I CAN FURNISH ALL PROOF OF DOCS and contact telephone numbers.

Desired outcome: I need help in receiving a full refund of my wired $7,755.00 USD for cancellation of false reservation at the GRAND LUXXE RESIDENCE CLUB NUEVO VALLARTA for date 07/03/22 thru 07/10/22.

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9:58 pm EST
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Vida Vacations Wired $7,750 us$ cash for booking of 5 luxury units and supervisor not returning calls and many emails. Think I might be scam.

Upon instructiion from bona fide rental-sales finance manager, I was instructed to bank wire nothing but all $7,750.00 us cash to reserve 5 luxury weeks vacation at the grand luxxe residence club in cancun for dates 07/03/22 thru 07/10/22. The finance manager gave me all guarantee that they are ligitimate and that is how vidante vacations do their business. I was given a certificate # and now that the time is drawing soon, I made many telephone calls and sent several emails with absolutelty no response. Whenever, I call, a voice came to say 'hold on' and phone went dead.

I am afraid this might be a big scam of my hard earned $7,750 us $ by this prominent and large grand luxxe residence club. Also, when we did call the resort an d gave the certificate #, they disclosed this was designated to someone in year 2020 and used up.

Can someone help or advise

Emily at Emrealtyflorida.com

Desired outcome: PLEASE REFUND OR NEED THE BOOKINGS FOR O7/03/22 THRU 07/10/22

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Is Vida Vacations Legit?

Vida Vacations earns a trustworthiness rating of 96%

Highly recommended, but caution will not hurt.

Our conclusion: After a detailed review, ComplaintsBoard finds Vida Vacations to be a trustworthy company. Although there's a 37% resolution rate for customer complaints, which deserves attention, Vida Vacations is known for their high standards and safety. If you're thinking about dealing with Vida Vacations, it's wise to check how they handle complaints.

We found clear and detailed contact information for Vida Vacations. The company provides a physical address, phone number, and 2 emails, as well as 4 social media accounts. This demonstrates a commitment to customer service and transparency, which is a positive sign for building trust with customers.

Vidavacations.com has a valid SSL certificate, which indicates that the website is secure and trustworthy. Look for the padlock icon in the browser and the "https" prefix in the URL to confirm that the website is using SSL.

Vidavacations.com has been deemed safe to visit, as it is protected by a cloud-based cybersecurity solution that uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to help protect networks from online threats.

According to our analysis, Vida Vacations appears to be offering travel services on their website. While many travel companies are legitimate, it's important to be cautious and do your research before booking a trip to ensure that you are getting a good deal and not falling victim to a scam.

However ComplaintsBoard has detected that:

  • Despite a high level of trust, our investigation found issues with Vida Vacations's service, including poor customer service, lack of accountability, and responsibility to resolve complaints. Customers may face long wait times for responses, receive generic or unhelpful answers or no response at all. Only 37% of 0 complaints were resolved.
  • Vida Vacations protects their ownership data, a common and legal practice. However, from our perspective, this lack of transparency can impede trust and accountability, which are essential for establishing a credible and respected business entity.
  • The website belonging to Vida Vacations has a low number of visitors, which could be a red flag for users. However, it's important to conduct additional research to fully evaluate the website's legitimacy and trustworthiness.
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Vida Vacations Using high pressure tactics on elderly people to buy membership

My two distrs and I attended a sales meeting (I am 80 yrs old and my sistrs are 74 and 78. on 12/4/21. We told them we could not afford membership but using, "Let me talk to my manager tactics" we broke down and brought a membership that costs $10, 500 via credit cards and have to pay them $19, 500 over the nest ten years. The major selling point was that we would transfer the deed to our present timeshare to primarily avoid the $2000 in yearly fees, but in actuality they do nothing with this time share. They "gave us a bonus of entering the Ambassador program that would help pay, but found out this was also a skam. After much consideration we are asking for a nullification of contract and if this does not occur we will go into default before we make the first payment. Though we are all competent we think they used"the elderly tactics of being "Overwelmed".

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2:20 pm EST
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Vida Vacations membership with vida

Me and my friend Nat were staying at the Mayan palace in Mexico and we attended a meeting. We purchased that day and decided to cancel 3 days later. We were told that we had to come back Saturday and we attended another meeting with Jose, he talked us into a cheaper plan, we signed on the 7th of September and decided that we would Cancel the second contract. They refuse to cancel saying that we did not Cancel within five business days. We were told that it was not business days in Mexico but 5 days. I spoke to some one else and they told me that Saturday counted as a business day. So many lies and they refuse to refund the money I put on my credit card. I would never stay at this resort and I will advise anyone that asks not to stay there. I travel the world and I have stayed in many resorts and attended many timeshares. This is the worst because they are so dishonest. Beware do not attend a meeting at Grand Mayan.

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PabloC
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Nov 04, 2020 1:13 pm EST

Vida Vacations will claim anything just to not let you go, though now there are many websites and forums where you can inform yourself and avoid getting scammed. Most of the forums talk specifically about each of Vidanta’s luxury resorts and its scams, sales tactics and more. It’s just a matter of doing a good research.
I experienced a really bad situation with them also a few months ago (march), I had already known about timeshares and owned one at a different place and I had ever had a situation like this; baffling fees, wanting to “purchase” my existing timeshare in exchange for a Limitless Vacation membership by Vidanta and to make it worse, Vidanta involved a third-party timeshare resale company to complete the sale of my timeshare.
Going back to what I mentioned before: doing a good research; a month ago after posting here my experience and reading about all the complaints Vidanta has, and doing a good research about it, I came across a webpage that exposes timeshare cancellation testimonials about different resorts written by former clients of a company that specializes in the cancellation of timeshares in Mexico by the legal way. For anyone who is still struggling with their timeshare, take a good look on the web.

https://www.timesharescam.com/blog/tag/Vidanta-Timeshare/

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7:19 pm EDT
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Vida Vacations vida time share fraud

10/17/18 We are members of Grand Mayan We wanted to upgrade our membership Went to meeting, negotiations took place. Sales person told me to put my offer in writing. I did. Salesman assisted with making sure I had everything discussed. After a short time salesman came back and said congratulations, they accepted your offer,
Shook My hand and written offer was stamped approved and initialed. He came back with documents to sign and was not as was approved. I bedroom instead of 2 bedroom deluxe at Celebrate Club All addendums as previous contract. 7 weeks- 2 red, 2 holiday 4 international weeks When I questioned this I was told I was wrong by Another person, manager.

Then I presented a copy of my offer stamped approved. Then the started making ridiculous offers. I said I want what they approved. They said no they could not do that. I asked for my credit card and ID back Took over an hour to get my ID and credit card Kept sending us to different floors, buildings finally I said if I do not get my credit card back Now I am calling the police. It was finally returned. What can be done? It is the principle now. I want what was approved.
I lost a whole day of vacation 9:30am to 5 pm and got the runaround at the resort when I asked for the person in charge of sales at every desk and person we encountered. Never being given a name.
Went to member services, Alex, and he handed us a form to fill out.Alex stated that it goes to owners daughter not in trash.

Alex Offered exact same deal as sales force. Also he already knew we where coming.

Never acknowledging that we have an approved offer, saying that it would not be honored. He stated sales team does not make that decision.

I have an approved offer. Stamped and signed.

Please assist me in this matter.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey and Pamela Golarz
29 Staples St
Old Orchard Beach, Me 04064
[protected]@aol.com

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9:19 pm EDT

Vida Vacations vacation club

When vacationing in May 2018 at the Grand Lux in Neuvo Vallarta, my mother and I attended a pitch so we can get various discounts through the stay. Well to my dismay, I was scammed out of $7, 000 in that very meeting.

Several sale representatives came to the table offering deals starting at $40K and went as low as $7000. I was told me that through one of their 300K+ partner hotels and resorts we could stay in a studio for $49 and $299 for an entire week, anywhere in the entire world. They also said you can book single hotel stays if desired for 60% off of regular retail rates.

This second agent asked me what kind of a booker I was and I responded a last second one. So the arrangement I ended up with was 200 adventure weeks, 200 diamond weeks and 10 weeks of Vida weeks. This was after I agreed to put everything on a bank of america credit card.

The Vida weeks is the only thing they were upfront about the costs (although I haven't used any weeks yet). I gave them 5 very specific scenarios of potential trips that I would want to do to include other family members, on selected dates, in specific parts of the world. Their answers were yes, yes, yes it can be done.

Over over a month goes by after signing up and I didn't receive any literature in the mail so after 3 phones calls they were finally able to find me in the system and told me my login for the Destinos Unlimited website where you book these hoel or week long stays. The first time I went to site was to book a hotel. I learned that a) the prices were the same as other travel sites + you had to buy that rate using vida dollars b) the booking actually was made via expedia b/c the hotel told us. That was my first clue we've been scammed. I made a call to Vida Vacations to express what I was told vs what was reality on the website. They told me that someone would call me back from Destinos b/c they weren't familiar with their website.I also was shorted $1000 vida dollars and took about 4 months for full resolution on that. On all of my calls to Vida I expressed to them my huge dissatisfaction on the hotel rates they were advertising and that I could get cheaper in some cases on another booking sites and without using vida dollars.

As the weeks progress and I finally speak to an agent at Destinos and asked how do I book the adventure + diamond weeks. These said vacation weeks limited to the very small selection of "deals" that are posted on their site and in no way shape or form are $49 and $299. They are much more expensive than promised, they are not customizable, they are not at all what was promised to me and you sure as hell can't plan any of the five scenarios that I specifically asked them at the sales table. And for these reasons I'm another victim.

I told this representative Humberto that I ve been chatting with over the past few months that I want to get all of my money back which they keep denying. They have offered 10% or $700 which I haven't accepted due to wanting to take legal action.

We moved across country so haven't had a chance to pick this up, but I am back on the case and ready to take action. I am looking for anyone that has been scammed by Vida Vacations to join me in a legal battle that can help us get our money back.

Join me and many others in a class action. Email me today.

Stephanie Adili
adili at me dot com

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1:04 pm EDT
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Vida Vacations unethical behavior - nightmare company - stay away

We purchased in October of 2017 and used our membership in March of 2018. I already did not feel good about what we purchased, but imagine showing up at the resort only to be told "that's not what you signed up for".

We were informed we did not purchase what we thought we had purchased - the Grand Mayan. We were put in the Grand Mayan for this "one time only" first use. You see...when you visit their resorts, you have "classes of customers". Lower class (Mayan Palace, The Bliss, etc) cannot participate in the things the Upper Class (Grand Mayan, Grand Bliss, Lux, etc) can do - but they are very sneaky when selling this to you. They tell you all about the upper class stuff, then sell you the lower class package and don't state that you can't do any of what they just showed you.

On our first visit, we were again made to sit through a sales presentation that was pitched to us as an "update on your properties" for hours and hours. This was no update, it was another sales pitch. The horrid sales people kindly let us know that we didn't buy what we originally thought but that we could cancel the contract if we "upgraded" purchased a new contract. After hours and hours, again, to get out of there, we signed (stupid I know!). You see...this company preys on people like us who have a very hard time saying no to the sales lady who went on and on about her 2 boys with no dad.

I sent a letter within the 5 days cancelling the new contract, but instead of cancelling the whole thing, Vida wants to put us back into the old contract. That is not how it works. The old contract was cancelled when the new contract was put in place. We signed a new finance contract and paid a new down payment. I still have the credit card bill from the old contract.

I was told that they would cancel the new contract "only if I removed any and all negative reviews of the resort" but that I had to honor the old contract. This is what they do to anyone wanting out of their contract and this is how they try to keep a 4* rating. I initially agreed to remove the negative reviews, but only if my entire contract (new and old) is cancelled.

Another thing they sell you on is Vida Dollars. Theses are a joke - they are virtually worthless. You can find better hotel deals searching online on your own. They really push the vida dollars making you think you are getting dollar for dollar savings when you actually only get to use about 10% on the dollar.

We have met many people who have had the same experience. Please don't get sucked in like we did.

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3:25 pm EST

Vida Vacations join me in another class action! mayan palace continues to refuse full refund!

I was able to get approximately half my money back in 2011 for a downgraded contract with an offer of downgrading my contract to a one week suite, but I am still in the hole for $7600 and unable to sell my contract to anyone else due to the assignment clause number 6.

Not only would they not provide a full refund, paragraph 6 requires a transfer fee equal to 10 current usage fees in order to sell the contract to another party not family. I was not ware of this at the time of the partial refund.

I just got off the phone with Nick Steele who refuses to assist in any way. Clearly if Vida Vacations cares about their owners, they have the ability to remove or reduce the transfer fee in paragraph 6 to at least make it easier for us who where misguided, misrepresented and otherwise ripped off, get the balance of our money back by selling to another party. The must continue to honor these contracts even if they do not offer them anymore.

I believe under the circumstances of a prior class action lawsuit and admission of misrepresentation during sales, any espnable judge or jury would find the demand for transfer fee unjust.

Please join me in challenging Vida Vacations in court over 1) A full refund not provided and 2) Unjust contract transfer fees.

Jeff Nicholson, PhD, PA-C jeff.g.[protected]@gmail.com

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copepoddy
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Dec 19, 2019 12:19 am EST

Is this class action suit going forward? I would like to join.

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Sutton Bennett
US
Jun 07, 2018 4:53 pm EDT

The sales people at Vida Vacations have a masters degree in lying and will stop at nothing to get your money. Yes their resorts are absolutely beautiful. The resort employees (maids, restaurant workers, etc) are wonderful and go out of their way to help. Unfortunately, even with both of those things working in their favor, the hours of being held against your will to hard sell made the whole experience awful. After being badgered for hours, we purchased. Yes, our fault in the first place for purchasing, but according to our contract, we had 5 days to rescind. I sent a registered letter within the 5 days to rescind our contract. This was over a month ago and we have heard nothing at all from the resort. Sent emails, nothing in return.

I am so disappointed in the whole experience. I wanted to love this place but I still get sick thinking about it 2 months later. Not sure what our options are at this point...do we just not pay?

Please also note that unless you are a LUX owner - there are no options for you...you can't ask for a room where you want, you are treated as a lower class citizen.

I implore anyone thinking about visiting this resort to stay away!

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9:08 am EDT

Vida Vacations they didn't take responsibility for their customers safety and health issues

We have visited the presentation of the company Vida Vacations. They offered to get the contract, which provided money and within 10 years you can return this sum without any interests. The company also offered the services in finding the place, where you wanted to stay, and they helped to fill the necessary papers. But if something happens with you on this vacation, this company doesn’t take responsibility. So think about it.

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Mark Miles
US
Mar 02, 2016 4:06 pm EST
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It is always best to hire someone skilled to do so, unfortunately in most cases these companies dedicated to cancel timeshares usually cheat for the second time to their customers since they are vulnerable and desperate. If you are thinking of hiring them you just have to make sure you do not have to make any payment upfront ... I found these articles that speak precisely about this, you should read them, that might help you to resolve many doubts:
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/46-timeshare-cancellation-or-donation-should-not-cost-you-anything-upfront/
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/158-how-to-cancel-a-timeshare/

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
MX
Nov 02, 2015 12:53 pm EST

Dear Reviewer63299,

We received a notification about your comment. We truly appreciate your preference and welcome you to our family!

We would like to further investigate your claims and clarify our policies through direct dialogue. For that reason, we kindly request that you contact us at [protected] or by email at customerservice@vidanta.com.

We look forward to hearing from you to provide you all the information you need to start using your vacation club with us.

Sincerely,
The Customer Support Team.

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10:03 am EST
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Vida Vacations timeshare deed scam

Vida Vacations Selling Deeded Timeshare? NEW

The Deed: If you think you own a deeded interval of time with Vida Vacations you're sadly mistaken.

What they explain is that you can upgrade to their PRC program, which has a deed...perpetuity, whatever they may say. The deed recording sales shows in Recitals (Company declares) is in fact deeded to the developer, who then divides that deed into one week intervals and packages them. Make no mistake that is the developer’s deed...not yours! You will never receive an actual deed as you would in the US. If it was deeded you would have visited a Public Notary, and sign "the book" which is law in Mexico with all deeded property.

Vida Vacations sells "right-to-use" (RTU), unless you actually purchase a condo outright. Clause 1 of recitals explains this clearly. You may trade-in the RTU contract to purchase a deeded property, which means you need to spend a lot more money, the RTU equity that you would use to buy a condo cannot exceed 20% of the purchase price. Which means you'll pay 80% of the asking price. If you have a $150, 000 RTU equity and you want to buy a $400, 000 condo you would only be able to apply $80, 000 of your equity.

But there's a chance sales will inflate the sticker price as they do with the timeshare, in which case you will pay close to full price for the condo and effectively receive little or nothing for what you trade in.

This is done with full knowledge of Corporate Management as well as Ownership. It is viewed as creative selling, although those who are on the receiving end of the scheme don’t see it that way.

If you bought and none of what I mention were factors you have a great product.

Ms. Rose I urge you to reconsider.

JW

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raymeyer
US
Jul 24, 2015 4:34 pm EDT
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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/

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3:32 pm EST
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Vida Vacations timeshare scam

We're back...sorry to bother you all with our sad story but we won't let Vida do what they did and just say ...too bad, so sad.

The bottom-line here is we kept saying no. Then they put us on the phone with a Rental Broker from a list they provide who proceeds to tell us he has tons people waiting to rent the type of unit they we're trying to sell us (how convenient) ...the broker literally begged us to buy so we could list weeks with them. He also guaranteed to resell our other timeshare. We believed and trusted what we were hearing based on the magnitude of the project, we couldn't imagine whoever built it would allow such deception. We were wrong!

Yes we know we are way past the 5 days. That's the beauty of their scam...you don't realize until it too late. What's even better Ownership/Corporate Mgmt backs up the pitch.

I almost forgot, after a year of not renting any weeks or reselling our other timeshare the broker who we listed with had the nerve to call us and ask for more money...this really happened! They said "oh...you don't have our premium plan if you really want it taken care of give us another $150". We didn't find this broker on our own, as I said they were working hand-in-hand with Vida sales.

I am I the only one this has happened to? I doubt it!

Deb & Sara

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raymeyer
US
Jul 24, 2015 4:35 pm EDT
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I was scammed, lied to, misled, deceived, and defrauded. I want to express my sincere frustration and dissatisfaction with Royal Holiday and how they lie to their potential members and their unethical business practices. Nothing that they tell you is true. Be careful and try to be well informed about how they work. I recommend you this site that might be helpful:

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

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7:06 am EST
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Vida Vacations Timeshare scam

My husband, myself, sister and my brother in-law were deceived into buying something we can't use. All four of us took the presentation at the Grand Mayan in Cabo we made it clear we always vacation together and needed a 2 bedroom with a kitchen.

What we wound up with was a hotel unit and 50 HSI breakaway weeks. You can see by the floor plan attached how they deceived us.

When they made the circle their exact word were "this is what you get".

After we finished paying our downpayment I called to make a reservation that's when I was told I would have to use breakaway weeks to get a 2 bedroom, but I could not use breakaways at any Grand Mayan we would have to exchange to another resort. We bought it to use there!

Trying to make the best of it we remembered the Vida sales rep making a big deal on how easy it is to rent out the weeks through brokers that their members use. I couldn't find the list in my paperwork so I called back customer service and they sent me a list of brokers.

As you can see there are four on the list, so I wanted to see who was the best. Upon looking them up online, one was worse then the other.

Knowing I was feeling ripped off they send me a list of scammers. Unbelievable! Obviously I didn't use them so know I stuck and The Grand Mayan says there's nothing can do.

I urge The Grand Mayan to do the right thing.

Mary M

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Stephanie Adili
US
Oct 07, 2018 8:51 pm EDT

Hi - We were also robbed of $7, 000. Mine as well have put in down the garbage disposal. I am joining some others in a class action lawsuit. They cannot get away with this. adili at me dot com if you want to join.

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Mark Miles
US
Aug 21, 2015 3:07 pm EDT
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In my opinion this is a nice resort, unfortunately they are liars and thieves. You have to stay away from them and their timeshare presentations, don't make the mistake to go just waiting for free stuff! Be careful! I was scammed too, 2 years ago, and it's been a nightmare for me. I was reading some articles about this fraudulent resort and they really helped me to understand a few more things.
Take a look at these, maybe you found something of help:

http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/51-mayan-palace-timeshare-scam/
http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-complaints-resorts-black-list/3-mayan-palace-timeshare-complaints/

Don't give up on communicating to others what this people is really doing, we cannot let them to keep robbing people.
Good luck!

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11:18 am EST
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Vida Vacations Timeshare Scams

Vida Vacations in Cahoots with Rental Brokers

My friend and I bought last year in Cancun, plain and simple we got screwed! We kept saying no, no, no. We already had a program at Palladium and were still paying on it. They were relentless, kept going on and on about a guaranteed rental program. Eventually they put us on the phone with one of brokers from a list they have, we spoke to a person at Global Golf and they assured us of the huge rental demand for Mayan weeks, he said we would have a check within the first three weeks of Jan. 2014. Then he went on to assure us that they would have absolutely no trouble selling our Palladium program. Because of these assurances we decided to go ahead and spend $13, 500, this was the price after the phony credit they gave us for our Palladium program and rental credit.

Another part of the deception was the opening price was $50, 000, turns out this was an inflated price. The scam is they discounted the price and gave us rental credit, giving the false impression that there is a huge demand for rental weeks (this really helped convince us) then they gave equity credit for the Palladium, there were some other credits which we can't remember but in the end we paid $13, 500. I repeat we would have kept saying no, but having an "independent broker" begging us for weeks he so desperately needed was the tipping point for us. When we got back to our room and the broker called us anxious to sign us up which made us feel like there was a genuine need for rental weeks and we signed up.

We have tried to settle this offline but the Mayan refuses because we have decided to use a third party. After what they did to us can anyone blame us. They are masters of deception and we need someone who has more knowledge of the situation. BTW there is nothing in the contract that states we cannot retain assistance. They rely on the contract when we complain about the bogus rental/resale scam, they say you shouldn't have bought for rental/resale even though they put us on the phone with a broker...astonishing. We understand that if we take it upon ourselves and seek out rental brokers and get no results that's our fault. But the Mayan colludes with brokers as we mentioned then they stand there with their hands up saying they have no responsibility here.

We have the absolute legal right to seek assistance, they are accustomed to taking advantage of unsuspecting consumers and we are just trying to level the playing field and get someone who know what they're talking about.

We will continue to spread our story until this situation is resolved.

Deb & Sara

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Update by deb sara
Nov 20, 2014 5:31 pm EST

Here's an update with the Mayan Empire: They are now telling us with whom we may associate with. First they tell us a bucket full of lies, the two recommendations they gave us from the rental list ($1, 100 in fees) were just backing up their lies. So we find someone who IS telling us the truth and NOT charging ANYTHING until they produce and they refuse to deal with them.

So the moral of the Mayan story is listen to their lies or anyone whom they recommend and you'll be fine. But to challenge their deceptive sales practice WITH PROOF they just babble about how you need to learn to enjoy a product they had to lie to get you to buy.

I know they have many happy owners who bought for the right reasons. We bought for the wrong reasons because we were lied to. Should we have realized they were taking advantage of our trust? I don't think so, with the level of collusion they employ they deceive masses of unsuspecting consumers, its an unfair advantage .Especially when they incorporate partnerships with Cirque du Soleil, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman ect.

They reply to us touting their legitimacy, well legitimacy is not subjective. You can't claim to be legitimate when you allow your sales teams to do what they do or have done. You can't have it both ways, you can't just tell the truth some of the time and claim to be legit. If you allow your sales teams to lie and upon discovery you do nothing, or worse cover it up, your claim of legitimacy is yet another lie. Its a vicious circle and we are stuck in the middle.
Deb & Sara

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Vida Vacations Timeshare Fraud

Vida Vacations Blames Members for Believing Lying Sales Reps.!

Unfortunately the saga with Vida vacation goes on another day.We are trying to resolve this offline but Vida insists that they are within there legal rights to support a process that trains sales reps to present benefits such as rental, resale and now there latest scam is presenting their Private Residence Club as deeded property, another lie.

It is still right to use, you "own nothing", it's still a lease agreement. Vida contends that they are absolutely within legal bounds to train their sales teams to misrepresent their product and if the victims of this misrepresentation don't realize it after a usually 6 hr presentation Vida is not responsible. They essentially are saying "hey, it's not our fault you were stupid enough to believe our sales team".

Surely this post will be followed by a standard copy/paste comment from Karen Rose stating how they what to work with us so we can enjoy the benefits of our agreement, not the benefits vida presented to me the day I bought.

These comments reach a relatively small number of people, if your are a victim of this scam please spread the word to help others avoid the Vida Cirque-us.We will be expanding the range of our message please join us in bringing awareness to this absurd business practice.

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Bestefar
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Nov 24, 2019 5:08 pm EST
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After signing a membership contract, we reflected on what was said and decided we had made a grave mistake. (Kudos to the sales staff. So we went back 2 days later and informed them we wanted the contract scheduled. After a short period of time trying to dissuade us. They prepared a signed statement declaring the contract rescinded and was told our deposit would be credited back to our credit card account within 15 days. Needless to say, this did not and still has not happened though it's been over 6 weeks as of this writing.
We have made numerous attempts to contact them over the phone and via e-mail and have either been totally ignored or been told the "responsible person" would get back to us in a few days. Again, needless to say we continue to be ignored.
Have any of you who have been scammed contacted Profeco or engaged any legal help that has led to success and if so let us know?

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Vida Vacations timeshare fraud

I’ll say it loud and clear: The Mayan Palace/Vida Vacations is a giant FRAUD
.
Back in 2008 after completing radical stemcell surgery I went to a timeshare presentation at the Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta, I wanted the freedom of a place to relax but knew that there was a chance I would need the money more after all of my medical bills. So I wanted to be sure this was an investment I could easily rent or sell if I could not use it.
The sales staff lied. The promised that I would be able to rent this with my eyes closed. And that there was a robust market for the property. I have tried countless times to right this wrong but those who are in charge--namely Kelsy, Sales Manager and Priscilla, VLO Manager have decided that keeping my $15, 000 is more important than the truth. I WILL NOT stop until The Mayan returns whats mine. Forget the fact that i was medically impaired, not one of the promises they made to was even close to the truth.
The internet is littered with their victims, mine is not an isolated case by any stretch of the imagination.

How the owner Daniel Chavez supports this is beyond belief. For him to deny knowledge about what’s on the internet is ludicrous. In my mind these practices flow down from him--he is the true leader of this organization.

I will continue to post on any and every venue that reaches anyone who may consider purchasing at the Mayan Palace. As it turned out I am on disability so I have nothing to do all day and night but speak the truth and bring down this incredibly fraudulent operation. Shame on you!

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Update by CR0731
Dec 07, 2014 1:32 pm EST

Vida's Disney Dream!

I am posting AGAIN to continue bringing awareness to how Vida Vacations/Vidanta deceived me.

Because I'm still an owner I receive their promo emails. I think that this new partnership with Cirque du Soleil is wonderful for the folks who purchased it as a vacation vehicle. Unfortunately I fell hook, line and sinker for their investment pitch and I am not in a position to use it, so I'm stuck.

Vidanta is obviously attempting to get into the space where Disney, Universal Studios and other premium theme parks exist. And there's little doubt they will achieve it. However contracts like mine are their dirty little secrets.

So my question is, would Disney ignore their Members having been sold using fraudulent sales practices? Doubtful.

If Vidanta really is the leader they are say they are, how then do they reconcile with situations such as mine? Up to this point their strategy has been to blame me for believing the sales rep they assigned to show me their product. I think it's pretty safe to say that given the same circumstances Disney would not be supporting the deceptive sales practices used on me. Unfortunately that's exactly what Corporate Mgmt. at Vidanta has decided to do.

If Vidanta wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Disney can they ignore people like me? They are either the next Disney and all that it entails or they're not. Disney is recognized as the world leader in that space. Their Mission Statement refers to integrity and respect, I have received the exact opposite from Vida/Vidanta. Again, they lied to me and refuse to repudiate the fraudulent manner in which I was sold.

Please properly deal with my situation and reject fraud and deception.

Forcing consumers like me to pay a huge price for your lying sales reps is not what a legitimate company does. It's simple, you are either a company that has integrity or you are not.

Christie.

Update by CR0731
Nov 04, 2014 5:40 pm EST

It's been over a week since we have placed a complaint on this site in an attempt to encourage Vida Vacation to cancel and refund our purchase. Their response has been to show concern about us getting benefits from their program, they refuse to acknowledge the benefits we were promised by their sales team (rental/resale).

We know they have incredible resorts, that many of their members seem to enjoy. However, we have demonstrated that we were sold under false pretenses and cannot be a part of their "happy family". Their latest answer to us has been that we file a complaint with an arbitration board in Guadalajara, Mexico and work it through the court system there. They expect us to travel at our expense to Mexico and hire a local attorney to represent us there. We have done some research and these types of cases typically take 8 months to a year if we're lucky to resolve, and we would have to attend some of the hearings to be deposed. This obviously is not an option, which Vida knows unhappy and cheated members would ever choose. The fact that they have set up their dispute resolution process this way is yet another demonstration of their contempt for anyone who objects to their deceptive sales practices.

We have knowledge that Vida has stopped selling their rental/resale pitch which we applaud but we are stuck with a relic of their past and urge Vida to acknowledge our claim and reconsider their position.

Update by CR0731
Oct 31, 2014 8:24 am EDT

Unfortunately the saga with Vida vacation goes on another day.We are trying to resolve this offline but Vida insists that they are within there legal rights to support a process that trains sales reps to present benefits such as rental, resale and now there latest scam is presenting their Private Residence Club as deeded property, another lie.

It is still right to use, you "own nothing", it's still a lease agreement. Vida contends that they are absolutely within legal bounds to train their sales teams to misrepresent their product and if the victims of this misrepresentation don't realize it after a usually 6 hr presentation Vida is not responsible. They essentially are saying "hey, it's not our fault you were *** enough to believe our sales team".

Surely this post will be followed by a standard copy/paste comment from Karen Rose stating how they what to work with us so we can enjoy the benefits of our agreement, not the benefits vida presented to me the day I bought.

These comments reach a relatively small number of people, if your are a victim of this scam please spread the word to help others avoid the Vida Cirque-us.We are seeking to widen the the reach of our message.

Update by CR0731
Oct 30, 2014 9:54 am EDT

We are trying to cancel a contract with Vida.Vida doesn't deny their reps lied, they just keep saying those lies weren't in the contract.

The lies are the same as all the other posts here and other forums mostly rent/resale.

There's actually a video on YouTube "The Philanthropist and his Mayan Empire" detailing their scam and when presented with the facts of how it happened to us they deny responsibility for what there sales reps are trained to do.They are blaming the consumer for believing what was presented by their company.

It truly is a Cirque-us of lies and deception

Update by CR0731
Oct 28, 2014 12:29 am EDT

Ms. Rose Vida sales reps trained by Vida management conned me into believing that rental income from this purchase was a certainty, and I believed them. If it's in your contract that you shouldn't purchase for rental income then why is it trained to your sales teams to sell it that way? If Vida is truely the good corporate citizen that it purports to be in all of its advetising and philanthropic endevours, then your decision to finally do what's right should not be a difficult one.
Christie

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Mark Miles
US
Mar 02, 2016 4:04 pm EST
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It is always best to hire someone skilled to do so, unfortunately in most cases these companies dedicated to cancel timeshares usually cheat for the second time to their customers since they are vulnerable and desperate. If you are thinking of hiring them you just have to make sure you do not have to make any payment upfront ... I found these articles that speak precisely about this, you should read them, that might help you to resolve many doubts:
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/46-timeshare-cancellation-or-donation-should-not-cost-you-anything-upfront/
http://www.timesharescam.com/blog/158-how-to-cancel-a-timeshare/

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
MX
Oct 24, 2014 9:11 am EDT

Dear CR0731 user,

We have been notified about your comment.

We can safely confirm the legitimacy of our operations as we proudly have more than one hundred thousand very satisfied members and we continue to host a large amount of guests on a weekly basis. Moreover, this year we are celebrating 40 years in the tourism industry; which would not have been accomplished if your claims were legitimate.

Nonetheless, as part of our daily quest for improvement and high regard for customer satisfaction, we are diligently working to resolve any pending concerns that our customers might have and we make sure they are addressed.

Each case is different and handled accordingly. Based on that premise, we kindly ask you to reach out to us by telephone at [protected] or by email at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com.

We look forward to providing you personalized assistance. We truly appreciate your time and look forward to helping you make the most of your vacation membership with us.

Sincerely,
Karen Rose
Customer Support Representative.

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Vida Vacations timeshare fraud

I am lodging my complaint here to raise awareness about what’s going on at vida vacations. I made the mistake of believing what my vida sales rep told me. When i was looking at vida, i told them we rarely used our 2 weeks per year that we already had with shell vacations. The vida sales rep told me that this was not an issue at all, that we could easily sell our shell timeshare through a recommended broker for cash and that this was a plan that many of their members sucessfully used. We could then use the cash procedes to replace the money we would use to buy the vida timeshares. Plus, vida was different because whatever weeks we didn’t use from vida could be rented out through the same broker, which seemed like a safe bet to me. A year and a half later nothing has happened—i now own 4 weeks that i don’t use, cannot sell and cannot rent. I feel like fool because i believed them… i couldn’t imagine how the developer daniel chavez would allow his sales people to do such things. But after reviewing the internet, sadly i’m not alone. In fact, i have just seen the youtube video “the philanthropist and his mayan empire”, which is an indicment of the entire fraudulent mayan sales process. I’m originally from guadalajara and it’s sad for me as a mexican to see how a man capable of such greatness has allowed this.

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Update by EF0325
Nov 05, 2014 9:06 am EST

Vida doesn’t dispute that I was lied to, and in fact this would be an unrealistic position as their notorious practices are well documented throughout the internet. What the company does say is that those promises made by the sales team are not consistent with the timeshare contract, and therefore Vida will not support the representations made by its sales teams.

If the i choose to dispute my contract they i travel to Guadalajara, Mexico, hire a local attorney who speaks Spanish and file a case with an arbitration board. This would likely take eight months to two years of hearings to conclude, some of which would require the plaintiff’s attendance. Obviously this makes the likelihood for such a dispute, as well as its proper resolution all but impossible.

Update by EF0325
Oct 31, 2014 8:22 am EDT

Unfortunately the saga with Vida vacation goes on another day.We are trying to resolve this offline but Vida insists that they are within there legal rights to support a process that trains sales reps to present benefits such as rental, resale and now there latest scam is presenting their Private Residence Club as deeded property, another lie.

It is still right to use, you "own nothing", it's still a lease agreement. Vida contends that they are absolutely within legal bounds to train their sales teams to misrepresent their product and if the victims of this misrepresentation don't realize it after a usually 6 hr presentation Vida is not responsible. They essentially are saying "hey, it's not our fault you were *** enough to believe our sales team".

Surely this post will be followed by a standard copy/paste comment from Alin Gines stating how they what to work with us so we can enjoy the benefits of our agreement, not the benefits vida presented to me the day I bought.

These comments reach a relatively small number of people, if your are a victim of this scam please spread the word to help others avoid the Vida Cirque-us.We are seeking to widen the the reach of our message.

Update by EF0325
Oct 30, 2014 1:36 pm EDT

Ms. Gines,
You talk about your commitment. Your commitment clearly is to support the duplicitous sales practices of your sales teams. Yes I'm sure you have great benefits, but to say for the umpteenth time Vida sales reps sold me on the rental income and the resale of Shell. They are trained to do so and that's not in dispute, mine is not an isolated case. A couple of posts ago you said what I was saying was illegitimate, is training your sales reps to pitch me something Vida can't and won't support legitimate?
Back to commitment, you are committed to customer acquisition that's clear. If you are knowingly training/selling benefits that you never intend to deliver on, that's criminal plain and simple. As I mentioned to you yesterday Vidas position will always be burdened with the actual truth.
Last, boundaries, will Vida not take responsibility for inducing clients into a contract with lies and deception?
Once a client is stuck with a contract based on fraud, then you become sanctimonious and expect compliance on behalf of the injured party. It's hard to believe you're actually defending a well documented scheme to defraud and claiming the high moral ground to boot.

Update by EF0325
Oct 30, 2014 9:58 am EDT

Ms. Rose,
We don't dispute that your contract covers what you state. What we are disputing is how the contract was achieved, something that we've stated in each of our posting but something you refuse or can't address without admitting culpability.
Fraud: If one person knowingly made a material misrepresentation that the other person reasonably relied upon, and disadvantaged the other person. A material misrepresentation is an important untruth. The contract may be set aside on the grounds of fraud. Fraud requires an outright lie, or substantial failure to state a material fact about an important part of the contract. Fraud will invalidate a contract. Thus we contend the contract you mention is invalid.
You refer to legal boundaries, does Vida consider pitching rent and resale to prospective members within legal boundaries knowing it’s a benefit that will NEVER be achieved? If we understand you correctly you're saying that Vida sales reps can misrepresent your product to unsuspecting clients tell them whatever is needed to achieve the sale, and Vida policy is that this practice is within legal bounds and Vida will support this duplicitous way of selling. Due to the facts we’ve presented this is the only conclusion one can draw. It’s worth mentioning, this contract has never been used. Although the contract says it’s not to be purchased for investment, the sales team made repeated assurances that rental income and the resale of the Shell property was not going to be a problem. Yes Mrs. Ford is guilty of believing the Vida sales team. And Vida’s position Ms. Rose is that was a mistake on her part?
This entire contract was achieved via lies and deception. Please address why you allow such deceptive sales practices and then blame the unsuspecting consumer for believing what they were told by sales reps representing Vida Vacations.
Ms Rose we urge you to reconsider your position.

Update by EF0325
Oct 29, 2014 8:15 am EDT

I posted here a couple of days ago and I want to everyone to know I've been in contact with Karen Rose and they essentially said too bad! Too bad? Yes too bad I trusted them. My case is no different then the many, many victims who have posted here and other complaint sites I fell for the rental/resale scam.

There's no question they know their sales teams say whatever they have to to make the sale (they actually think they're creative and legitimate) and they(Ownership/Management) some how justify supporting this.

The reason I fell into their web of lies and deceit is they seemed so credible. Who would think that the owners of one of the magnificent places on the planet would allow such a thing. It never really crossed my mind they were not tell me the truth about the two main reasons I was buying (rental income and reselling my Shell Vacation program).

Another point of credibility was how they touted their association with Cirque du Soleil, they are number one in the world in what they do. So I thought who would build all this, be able to attract a world class leader such as Curque and allow the sales teams to run wild and say whatever it takes, truth be damned.

This is not to be an indictment in anyway against Cirque, I've seen four of there shows, but do they really want to be associated a group that is doing what is so well documented here and other consumer forums? That's a head scratcher.

Ms. Rose I urge you to reconsider your position

Update by EF0325
Oct 28, 2014 12:48 am EDT

Ms. Gines, Vida sales reps trained by Vida management conned me into believing that rental income from this purchase was a certainty, and I believed them. If its in your contract that you shouldn't purchase for rental income then why is it trained to your sales teams to sell it that way? If Vida is truely the good corp. citizen that it purports to be in all of its advertising and philanthropic endeavors, then your decision to finally do what's right should not be a difficult one.
Elvira

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anne gilmer
Brownsville, US
Mar 28, 2015 5:17 pm EDT
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What are the facts on the 10 and 100 year contracts...after 10 years what happens to the 100 year units?

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CR0731
Richmond, US
Nov 13, 2014 1:30 pm EST
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Vida Vacations...Above The Law?

We are still trying to get the Mayan to issue a long overdue refund for selling a contract based on deceptive and fraudulent sales tactics. For those of you who don't know the Mayan no longer uses the infamous Rental/Resale list. Bravo!

Unfortunately I own a Mayan artifact of their deceptive past. The Mayan wants us to be quiet and learn to enjoy what they tricked us into buying, that is not going to happen. If they want us to be quiet they need to fix what they admit their sales team did to us. They think that by threatening us with legal consequences we will cower and go away. We have made every effort to resolve this dispute offline but they prefer to support their duplicitous sales team, so we are exercising our right to freedom of speech.

The Mayan enabled their sales teams to pitch us rental income all the while knowing it would never work. Their position is we should have been aware that their sales team was allowed to promote a benefit that was proven to be useless. As incredible as it sounds it's true. Anyone who has been on a Mayan sales presentation in the last 10 years can attest to the fact that rental income is a huge part of their presentation. We sent a letter to Cirque du Soleil informing them that The Mayan is abusing public trust and confidence by employing such tactics and are waiting for a response. To be clear Cirque has nothing to do whatsoever with the sales practices the Mayan uses...not at all. But it is a shame that the Mayan drops names such as Cirque, Nicklaus Golf, Greg Norman ect... to lead unsuspecting consumers into believing that their credibility is unquestionable, then they allow sales reps to deceive unsuspecting consumers and by the time you figure it out like me...it's too late.

Christie.

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
MX
Oct 24, 2014 9:09 am EDT

Dear Anonymous user,

We have been informed about your comment. We are committed to helping you understand the great value of acquiring a membership with us, as well as the significant benefits we offer our members. Although the information is clear in the signed documents, we continue to work towards an even clearer communication.

That being said and as stated in your contract, remember the company makes no representations regarding the market for vacation ownership rentals or resale, nor recommends buying this product for rentals, resale or investment. Not only is this included twice within the body of the contract, but it is also included in the summary outline which you initialed more than once.

Our hard work is focused on developing a great product and surpassing your expectations; as we continue to grow in the industry by making your vacations a memorable experience.

Based on that premise, give us the opportunity to work things out with you. The only way to assure that we do that is by contacting us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com or by telephone at [protected].

Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Alin Gines
Customer Support Representative.

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Vida Vacations 100 yr contract does not have Profeco registration #

My husband and I purchased with Vida Vacations Club-Bliss Resorts in Mexico and have now found out with the help of family members that we were given two contracts, one for 10 years and one contract for 100 years. We have now discovered that the contract for 100 years does not have a authorization number with Profeco and all contracts have to be registered with Profeco before being sold. The only contract that is registered is the 10 year contract. We were told by the timeshare salespeople that we were buying the 100 year contract and that they were giving us another week for a 10 year period but really it is opposite. the contracts say we are only buying what is registered for 10 years. These timeshare salespeople have not been honest with us! They told us we would own for 100 years but the contract is different. they gave us a price for 100 years of owning with them. If the contract is not registered with the consumer agency then by law we don't own anything after 10 years. The customer service who is attending us says that we cannot cancel since consumer law says that there are no cancelation after 5 days. But the company has not followed consumer law in our opinion. We will never go to a timeshare presentation again in mexico which is a shame since my husband is mexican and we did not want to own in mexico.

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Update by Kar. Ayala
Feb 13, 2014 10:38 am EST

We wish to retract the above post. Customer service has addressed our issue satisfactorily.

Resolved

Our consumer complaints have been resolved. The customer service department has resolved our complaints and we now wish to retract the above statements.

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Vida Vacations Contracts Not In Spanish

My husband is mexican and we bought with Bliss REsorts on November 18th, 2013. We were told that the certain agencies would buy back the timeshare weeks for a set amount. We have now found out that this is NOT TRUE. The agencies will only rent the weeks AND THEY WILL NOT BUY THEM BACK FROM US which the sales representatives described. It may or may not occur that the timeshare weeks are rented since the agencies do not buy them back from us in the beginning of the year as the sales representatives said. The sales representatives said we would get the money every year, no problem! The agencies have now confirmed that if the timeshare weeks are not rented then we do not get any money. That is not how it was explained at all.

We found out from Mexican family members during Christmas that it is also ILLEGAL IN MEXICO to not have spanish language contracts especially for mexicans on national territory as the law clearly says. We were suprised when after we bought they brought us contracts in English only and not spanish since my husband does not really speak english and for the fact that we did the whole presentation in spanish, even the contract verification in the end was in spanish. We have seen online after speaking with mexican government agencies that ALL CONTRACTS IN MEXICO MUST BE IN SPANISH FIRST, AND THAT THEY CAN HAVE ANOTHER LANGUAGE TRANSLATED BUT IT MUST BE IN SPANISH AT LEAST. When we asked for a spanish language contract they said that they did not have one, when we called to cancel the contract they said that consumer law only gives 5 days to cancel BUT NOW I FIND OUT THAT CONSUMER LAW ALSO SAYS THAT IT IS ILLEGAL TO NOT HAVE A SPANISH LANGUAGE CONTRACT SO THE COMPANY MUST REFUND OUR MONEY. SINCE THEY DID NOT FOLLOW MEXICAN CONSUMER LAW!

Articles 73 and 73-Ter of THE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS IN MEXICO state that by LAW all contracts celebrated in Mexico must be in Spanish language, as the legal language of the courts. Article 85 of Adhesion Contracts of CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS clearly states that ALL contracts must be in Spanish. The NORMA OFICIAL MEXICANA also states that contracts must be in spanish. My husband asked for a spanish language contract which he thought was the law! Now their customer service wants to use Consumer Law to their benefit, BUT IT IS ILLEGAL from the start for the timeshare company to not have provided us with a spanish language contract that we could read and sign. Since I speak english the sales representative tried to use me to verify his statements but it was very tough to concentrate on our 3yr old son who needed to be taken care of and also to read a contract in english meanwhile be holding a verbal conversation in spanish. We feel they held a spanish language contract away from us so that my husband couldnt read it and they knowing that I was busy! WE FEEL THEY DID THIS ON PURPOSE TO GET US PAST 5 DAYS TO CANCEL AND KEEP OUR MONEY! THIS IS SO UNETHICAL! HOW IS IT THAT THEY ARE ALLOWED TO OPERATE IF THEY ARE NOT FOLLOWING MEXICAN LAW!

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Update by Kar. Ayala
Feb 13, 2014 10:39 am EST

We wish to retract the above post. Customer Service department has addressed our issues satisfactorily. Thank you.

Resolved

Our consumer complaints have been resolved. The customer service department has resolved our complaints and we now wish to retract the above statements.

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Caroh
AR
Nov 14, 2014 11:03 am EST
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I completely agree with what you say, it happened the same to us. We bought our week almost 3 years ago and we felt that we have been scammed. The sale representative told us that it was really easy to rent the weeks that we just have to contact one of the Re Sale companies on the list they gave to us. We paid My Vacation Broker $299 in advance and in all these years we never got a rental.
Also, we are from Argentina, and we didn`t get a Spanish language contract neither. Our contract is in English.
They used the same tactic with us, since I speak English the sales representative tried to use me to verify his statements but it was very tough to concentrate on our 2nd old daughter who needed to be taken care of and also to read a contract in English meanwhile be holding a verbal conversation in Spanish. Afterwards we also felt they held a Spanish language contract away from us so it was more difficult to us to understand in English.

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Vida Vacations Deceptive Sales Methods

My wife and I traded our Club Intrawest timeshare for a reservation in the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta in early December 2013. Being born in Mexico, I still have family and whenever we make a trade to mexico, we always make time to see them or they come and stay with us. On this particular trip, we all decided to meet up in Puerto and Nuevo Vallarta.
Upon checking in at the resort, my wife and I were approached to attend their t.s. presentation. We accepted since they said it would only take 90 minutes. We told the seller that we are not beach people and that our visits to mexico was mainly to see family. We told the seller that we like city locations better but that they are hard to exchange to and quite expensive when booking suites with expedia or other online sites. The seller then proceeded to tell us that we could exchange with their program for city locations at a very low price of 299 dollars for the week. The sellers even showed us a booklet called small luxury hotels and said that we could exchange for that too. They said that their concierge would handle everything, all reservations, with the exchange companies. It sounded great but I was a bit suspicious so I asked to keep the sellers paperwork where it shows..Concierge..connected to multiple exchange companies, even small luxury hotels. The sellers also told us that we could easily rent the t.s. weeks for 2, 600 dollars per week and that they are not a hotel or timeshare and had companies to assist us. the seller also wrote the rental rates on the sheets of paper that I took with me. At first, the sellers did not want me to take the papers that they had presented the program on, but i told them that i would not buy without taking them. I also asked why it was such a problem? I now see that papers have information that goes against the the contract.
Everything appeared great but their prices were expensive and we said no thanks. That is when the presentation began to focus on our Club intrawest timeshare. They said they would do an equity research of our t.s. to find its value. They came back with a document, that showed our t.s. was worth 42, 900 dollars if we were interested in signing it over to them. The price was still expensive and we said no thanks. then a manager offered a pre-owned contract for less money and said that they would help us to resell our Club intrawest for 19, 200 dollars. So basically the cost would be under 7, 000 dollars. I was skeptical and asked how we could be sure that these figures were correct and not just typed up and printed out. The manager then said that he would never bring me something that was not real, and that the Grand Mayan company was reputable! He went on to show us a document that said Nuevo Vallarta International Sales Department Exchange Database was showing 107 sales that ocurred in the last 12 months of the same exact Club intrawest timeshare. He said it would be easy to liquidate at the lowest price of 19, 200 dollars. I also asked for a copy for our records.
During the signing we found out that the Grand Mayan company did not sell our Club intrawest t.s. as we felt we were led to believe. Now it would cost almost 400 dollars to liquidate it. they recomended we call Global golf conections, in which I made two calls during the holidays. They told me two different stories when asked them about the resale price of our t.s. The first story was that there was no lowest price but whatever price we wanted to sell it for they would sell it. this was not what the sellers told us. The second time I called and asked about being told and given a document showing lowest price and the person responded that, yes, they could sell it for the lowest price. We have now gone on Ebay and other resale websites and see that the prices quoted us and given to us on a print out are not true. My wife is retired now and may be forced to go back to work since we were led to believe that this would only cost us under 7, ooo dollars. We feel totally scammed now!
We have also done research on the 299 dollar weeks and they cannot be used for hotels that don't offer timeshare system and the W hotel does not offer timeshare. That was a big mistruth! The concierge does not book all travel as we were told, just like club intrawest we have to call the exchange companies ourselves, so there was really no difference. We received an email stating the exchange companies and small luxurey hotel was not listed on it.
The sellers also told us that cirq do soleil will be giving entertainment next year. Who knows if that is true either? We are so upset that we trusted them and now realize we should not have. this has become a nightmare and what worse timing than it being Christmas, New years holiday.

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Update by aestrada998
Jan 04, 2014 1:17 pm EST

My wife and I traded our club Intrawest timeshare for a reservation in the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta in early December 2013. Being born in Mexico, I still have family and whenever we make a trade to Mexico, we always make time to see them or they come and stay with us. On this particular trip, we all decided to meet up in Puerto and Nuevo Vallarta.

Upon checking in at the resort, my wife and I were approached to attend their t.s. presentation. We accepted since they said it would only take 90 minutes. We told the seller that we are not beach people and that our visits to Mexico was mainly to see family. We told the seller that we like city locations better but that they are hard to exchange to and quite expensive when booking suites with expedia or other online sites. The seller then proceeded to tell us that we could exchange with their program for city locations at a very low price of 299 dollars for the week. In fact the manager said that he recently stayed at the W Hotel for 299 dollars for the week. The sellers even showed us a booklet called small luxury hotels and said that we could exchange for that too. They said that their concierge would handle everything, all reservations, with the exchange companies. It sounded great but I was a bit suspicious so I asked to keep the sellers paperwork where it shows..Concierge…. connected to all exchange companies, even small luxury hotels. The sellers also told us that we could easily rent the t.s. weeks for 2, 600 dollars per week and that they are not a hotel or timeshare and had companies to assist us. The seller also wrote the rental rates on the sheets of paper that I took with me. At first, the sellers did not want me to take the papers that they had presented the program on, but I told them that I would not buy without taking them. I also asked why is it a problem? I now see that papers have information that goes against the contract and the truth of how the program really works.

Everything sounded great but their prices were very high so we said, no gracias. That is when the presentation began to focus in on our Club Intrawest property. They said they would do an equity research of our t.s. to find out its value. They came back with a document, that I asked for a copy of, that showed our t.s. was worth 42, 900 dollars if we were interested in signing it over to them. The price was still to high, so we continued to say, no gracias. A manager then came to speak with us and offered a pre-owned contract for less money and told us that they could resell our Club Intrawest t.s. for us for 19, 200 dollars. So basically, the cost would only be the difference between the two which would be less than 7, 000 dollars total price. Being skeptical, I asked how my wife and I knew for sure that these numbers were real. The manager then said that he would not bring me anything that was not real or true, that Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta is a reputable company that would be held responsible! He went on to show us that the Nuevo Vallarta International Sales Department Exchange Database was showing 107 sales occurred in the last 12 months with clients having the same exact Club Intrawest timeshare. He said that it would be very easy to liquidate at the the lowest price printed on the document of 19, 200 dollars. I also asked him for a copy for our records.

During the signing we found out that the Grand Mayan company did not sell our Club Intrawest as they led us to believe earlier and that it would cost 399 dollars to have another company to do it. Global golf connections is who they recommended. During the Christmas holidays we called global golf connections twice and got two different stories of how they operate. The first call they told me that there is no minimum price and that whatever price we wanted to sell it for, they would list it. The second time I called I told them that the sellers gave us a price quote of 19, 200 dollars for the lowest price it could be sold and the story changed that they would at least sell it for the 19, 200 dollars. We have now gone onto Ebay and other resale websites and see that the prices that have been quoted to us and given to us on a print out are not true. My wife is retired now and may be forced to go back to work since we were led to believe that this would only cost us a few thousand dollars. We feel totally scammed now!
We have also done research on the 299 dollars weeks and they cannot be used for hotels that don’t offer timeshare and the W Hotel does not offer timeshare. That was a big mistruth! The concierge does not book all your travel, you have to call the exchange companies directly just like we do with club Intrawest, so there is no difference.
The sellers also told us that cirq do soleil will be giving entertainment on the property next year. Who knows if that is true either? I am so upset that we trusted them and should not have, this has become a nightmare and what worse timing than it being the Christmas, new year holidays!

Update by aestrada998
Jan 11, 2014 11:57 am EST

In direct reference to the above post, at this moment Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta customer service has addressed our issues in a most professional manner. They have satisfactorily solved our customer concerns and all of our issues are now resolved. We have no further complaints whatsoever.

Resolved

In direct reference to the above post, at this moment Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta customer service has addressed our issues in a most professional manner. They have satisfactorily solved our customer concerns and all of our issues are now resolved. We have no further complaints whatsoever.

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Overview of Vida Vacations complaint handling

Vida Vacations reviews first appeared on Complaints Board on Jun 29, 2013. The latest review Lied during presentation was posted on Jun 19, 2024. The latest complaint timeshare deed scam was resolved on Nov 26, 2014. Vida Vacations has an average consumer rating of 3 stars from 24 reviews. Vida Vacations has resolved 9 complaints.
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    +1 (800) 292-9446
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    Av. Francisco Medina Ascencio № 1768 E, Col. Olímpica, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, C.P.48330, Mexico
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    Oct 24, 2024
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