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CB Travel and Vacations Review of Mayan Resorts / Grand Mayan / The Registry Collection
Mayan Resorts / Grand Mayan / The Registry Collection

Mayan Resorts / Grand Mayan / The Registry Collection review: Travelers, beware of the Grand Mayan! 23

Author of the review
12:00 am EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

August, 2006 we stayed at the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta, and after Seven hours of high pressure promises we purchased. Based on an "Equity Exchange" of our Florida timeshare, we were required to sign a contract that waived our five day cool-down or right to rescind period. According to Mexican law, this right cannot be waived. The Grand Mayan used fraudulent sales practices to keep us from canceling our contract-EVEN THOUGH WE STAYED THERE 7 MORE DAYS! We lost sleep and felt sick but had been told there was no way out. We were told we would make $2500 a week when renting out our unit, when in fact, according to various websites, i.e. ebay, tug2.net,TimeShare User Group, etc.. we would be lucky to rent a week for $800. We were told our salesman had contacts to get our full value from our Florida property (after we were allowed to purchase it back from GM for $1)-Lies! You pay $300 to get it listed and never hear from them again! Travelers BEWARE OF THE GRAND MAYAN! We have requested our contract to be canceled but to no avail as of yet.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

23 comments
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wkdavis2
Baton Rouge, US
Jul 10, 2014 5:26 pm EDT

I would like to retract my previous comments

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
, MX
Jun 27, 2014 4:13 pm EDT

Dear JImsWidow,

We have been alerted about your comment.

We truly regret that your experience was not what you had anticipated. 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.

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

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 are grateful for your time.

Sincerely,
Karen Rose
Customer Support Representative.

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JimsWidow
Jacksonville, US
Jun 13, 2014 1:28 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have never had a timeshare and truly didn't understand how they work. Honestly, I'm still confused by the whole process. I was in Cancun with my minor son and meeting family. I was approached in the airport and told that Grand Mayan was NOT a timeshare, they offered a speedboat trip and my son was excited by that. I went to sales presentation, I told them I am a widow and not working. The first person was very polite and said he just had to get approval - then we could go. Then another person came and he went through this whole explanation that this was great for person with no income, because will generate income. It didn't seem to make sense and I asked how - he told me they make money from renting to golfers. I said no, really can't afford it because no income. Another person came and he was very brusque. I said I wanted to leave, and he said they would not provide us any transportation out, much less the promised voucher, by this time I just wanted to leave. I've never had such a persistent and harsh sales presentation before. I don't speak Spanish, I wasn't exactly sure of where we were and they were telling me I couldn't get a taxi from their location. Bottom line, I caved and signed. I was not informed of the 5 day refusal. But I tried to put a good face on it, of at least I'll have a vacation place to go to, and maybe I can get a small job to pay for this. They told me this would be an all-inclusive resort - apparently that (like most of the spiel) was also a lie. I know as an adult I am responsible for my actions, but I believed that these people were aboveboard. Now I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't afford their 'discounts' - are all timeshares like this?

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wkdavis2
Baton Rouge, US
Jun 13, 2014 11:19 am EDT

DO NOT under any circumstances agree to a sales presentation at the Grand Mayan regardless of what they offer you. Even if you are able to make it through all the tiers of sales people they will send you through it will be 5+ hours later before you finish and get your “gifts.”
The almost short version of the story is we were hit up in the Airport by someone who claimed to be with our transportation to the resort (they were not) and they offer some attraction tickets that we were interested in to attend a “tour” of the resort. We already own a timeshare and knew it was a sales presentation but were dumb enough to think we could get breakfast and our “gift” in a couple hours. The presentation is very well done and they sell you on the point that it is an investment where you can rent out your weeks through an affiliate they set you up with for much more than your useage fees. In our case we bought 2 weeks in a 1BR suite that costs us as members $570 each year in maintenance for one week and 2 additional weeks at $570 each paid when you book it. We were told that these units rent all the time for $1000.00 per week and that was a low number and we could expect to get much more. We were also told that they are the top timeshare and the plan we bought would continue to increase in value so if we ever sold it we would also make a profit. We were then told that demand was so high for these units that they would credit our sales price the $4000.00 if they could keep 2 units for the next 2 years to meet the demand for units. All lies of course, once we returned home and started looking into renting the week we still had we found a lot of available units for much less than $500 per week even on the 2BRs. We also researched the resale prices to find our same plan could be bought for less than $1500.00. The easy way is go check ebay for Grand Mayan timeshares and see the buy it now prices, then see that very few ever sell at all.
Even if you fall in love with the place you can buy online from an owner any week you want to go for a fraction of the price of the annual fees. Stay away at all costs, timeshare sales are bad but this place takes it to a whole new level. It ruined our vacation and possibly our future vacations as we now are paying much more and stuck in timeshare with little value.

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ThomasR70
Fort Lauderdale, US
Nov 04, 2013 12:30 pm EST

The resort itself seems very nice, the sales pitch, however, is pure high-pressure sales. The sales people are snakes, their only motive is greed. They have no concern for what is ethical and will “brow beat” you to make their money. It was not worth the free breakfast and $50.00 dinner coupon. When I finally got up to walk away from the table, Luis got in my face and began to argue with me, telling me I couldn’t leave until he said the presentation was over. I continued to walk away as I raised my voice at him. You would think that that would be the end of it, but they will continue to pass you to the next person for a “survey” which turns into another sales pitch…these people are shameless. If you agree to attend the 90 minute presentation you will regret it.Search online for Mayan Palace Timeshare Scams for other “horror stories":

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

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charlesb12
, US
Apr 27, 2013 11:58 am EDT

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. Most of the Mayan Palace Timeshare Scam being committed by the Sales representative is that they don’t let their buyers know they have a 5 days cooling period if they wish to cancel; instead, they repeatedly tell they buyers once the contract is being sign there is no cancellation period. I suggest you to read this article on how to get out legally from a mayan palace timeshare scam:

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

HUNTER Liars
HUNTER Liars
, MX
Apr 25, 2013 5:26 pm EDT

Programa de Apoyo Financiero

A partir de hoy y de forma permanente donaremos $1, 000.00 Dólares mensuales a todas las familias que necesiten de nuestros servicios.

Si Ud. considera que llegó el momento de reorientar SU presupuesto vacacional

¡ Llámenos !

Somos especialistas en desvincular a los Socios engañados de sus Clubes de Tiempo Compartido

+ info: [protected] * LADA sin costo: [protected] * www.hlmexico.com.mx

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
, MX
Jan 05, 2012 4:48 pm EST

Dear "chelsealuv":

Your comments have been brought to our attention and we would like to be able to provide personalized assistance to your uncle.

Could you please have him contact us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com or by telephone at [protected] in order to provide him personalized assistance? We want to make things right as your perception about our services does not reflect our true beliefs. Our resorts are more spectacular than ever and our attention to detail and Customer Care is the driving force behind the loyalty of our members. We would like for him to be part of the thousands of loyal members happily enjoying our resorts.

Regarding his desire to rent his weeks, please bear in mind that our contacts clearly stipulate that the company makes no representations regarding the market for vacation ownership rentals, nor recommends buying this product for rentals or investment.

Since the main purpose of acquiring a membership with us is for our members to use it for their leisure time and in that way, create memorable vacation moments; we are certain that if we are given the chance, together we will find a way to help him make the most out of his membership with us.

Thank you for your time and intervention. We look forward to continue this dialogue with your uncle soon.

Sincerely,
Karen Rose
Customer Support Representative.

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No2GrandMayan
San Marcos, US
Oct 09, 2011 10:48 pm EDT

Don’t be scammed! A trip to Cabo can be wonderful but beware of one location that goes by the Vida Vacation Club, Grand Luxxe and Mayan Palace. While at Payless car rental, the person helping us said he would like for us to attend a timeshare presentation at Vida Vacation Club. We agreed since the incentive was a $300. credit towards our $400. car rental for our time. We also own timeshare in Cabo and under the right conditions would consider adding to our portfolio. The next morning we followed this individual to what was the Mayan Palace. I told the person I did not want to attend because of the poor reputation Mayan Palace has. I have been visiting Cabo for about 25 years and people talk at the pool. One common phrase is “if you are buying, they are lying and if you are not buying you are crying”. Others have stated that they were there for hours and not given the gifts they were promised at the end. I was told that the Mayan Palace changed their name because they were under new management and was promised a much better experience than the proceeding reputation. Unfortunately, the new names Grand Luxxe and Vida Vacation Club were the only changes. After spending 4 hours at our 90 minute presentation, we said we were not interested. The price was much higher than what we paid for our other timeshare and we did not see the value in it. We also did not trust the Mayan Palace because of their poor reputation. The sales manager then came over and pushed very hard. After again saying “no” the insults began. The sales manager insulted both my husband and I and the United States, where we live. He made comments about the US economy being bad because people like us make bad financial decisions by not seeing the value in what he was presenting and he continued on even after I asked him to stop insulting us. The bottom line was that we were asked to leave without receiving the gift we were promised. There was a man in front of us that was promised a $400. fishing trip and he too said that he did not receive his gift. There are beautiful timeshares and honest companies in Mexico. It is a shame that the Mayan Palace shows the worst of Mexico. This is the kind of place that gives Mexico a bad name. Enjoy Mexico, check out a timeshare but beware of the Mayan Palace and all of the new names they are using to lure you in!

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Scuba doo
Kalispell, US
Apr 04, 2011 9:20 pm EDT

It is very interesting to me that those of you that are unhappy with the poor decision you made place the blame solely on the resort. It seems that our society just can't take responsiblilty for ones own actions and have to blame someone else to make themselves feel good. You had the ability to say no, I am not interested and get up and walk out. Nobody held you hostage for hours on end and force you to sign on the dotted line. You did this on your own free will. Step up and take responsiblilty for what YOU have done. It seems to me that when I was in the presentation it was presented to me that there was a potential to make $2500 in rent off the property. There was no promise of that. If anyone who purchased a timeshare thinks for one minute that you will be able to rent it out and pay the payment on it you should have never purchased it. Because you made a bad choice don't blame it on the saleman or sales department. You were solely responsible for buying it, take responibility. I purchase the unit that I have because I liked the resort and and what the organization had to offer. If I can make a little money on the side great. But then again, I am not in the habit of blaming someone else for any stupid decisions that I may make. Make no mistake this was not a stupid decision at all. Maybe that makes me an exception in our society today. The botom line is this, I think the Groupo Mayan is a class organization.

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I do blonds
Blond, US
Feb 25, 2011 5:50 am EST

You all are a bunch of idiots for staying in the sales rooms getting scammed into spending a tone of money. Grow a pair and act like adults and admit the only one to blame is yourself. No one held a gun against you heads and told you to spend. All you had to say was no thank you. YI love how everyone uses the term "SCAMED" when you need to be using the term we got "SOLD" sale people are there to pitch deals it's your choice to buy. Like I stated a bunch of idiots. Oh yeah and I did buy time from Mayan resort and I have never had an issue . I guess I buy [censor] for good reason to enjoy it, I'm not worries about making money on it.

Vida Vacations
Vida Vacations
, MX
Jan 26, 2011 10:37 pm EST

Dear "SOM123",

We have been notified about your comment. We would like to be given another chance to work this out with you in the best possible manner for all parties involved.

Please contact us by email at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com or by telephone at [protected].

As one of the most reputable vacation club sellers and top beach resort developers in the world, our goal is to address all of our client's concerns to preserve top customer service.

Thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Karen Rose
Customer Support Representative.

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Joyful Traveller
Wentzville, US
Aug 24, 2010 4:40 pm EDT

People that think timeshares are fraud, is because they are not well informed before buying it or they are not willing to accept responsability for their actions. There are others like JJB that are taking advantage of these complaints and the people complaining to make a business off of it; more money leaks. Anyhow, the way I see it is, you buy a timeshare because you like the resorts, the concept of paying a sum every year to get away from a busy life and if you can afford it. Otherwise, do stay away from them; but be fair, don't blame it all on the timeshare company. We all make decisions under our own best judgement, whether they turn out to be good or not, no one can actually force anyone to do anything against their will.

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Ellitoellner
Harrison, US
Aug 22, 2010 5:48 pm EDT

We have been Mayan timeshare owners since 2003.
Just dont go to the "Spiel", its high pressure for hours and they will get you to sign. I tell everybody dont go, their salesforce is extremly well trained and once you are in their clutches, there is very little you can do, BELIEVE IT, even if you think you are more clever. They are highly trained to pressure you till its to late.
Enjoy the Mayan, never go to a representation and you will have a great time in any of the Mayans. The re-rental is a lie and we fell for it when we signed up the 1st time with $ 350.00 US spent to a rental service that was on their list. Never heard from them once in all these years and it was a lifetime membership.
El Cid is worse than the Mayan.

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JJ6
Sacramento, US
Jun 03, 2010 12:56 pm EDT

Dear Joseph and Roxanne Gillis,

Unfortunately, these types of fraudulent sales happen daily. It ´s good that you are sharing your bad experience with your timeshare to prevent other potential buyers from timeshare scams. I found a very interesting article on the Internet, maybe you would like to read it.

http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-cancel/8_indicators_you_are_a_timeshare-1

Gonzalez & Gonzalez Law Firm
Gonzalez & Gonzalez Law Firm
, MX
Jun 30, 2009 7:47 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

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

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ian dowie
,
Nov 09, 2008 9:17 pm EST

Clealy i cannot disagree with the predessors complaint since that is what she feels/experienced in her situation.
I have been to most of the Mayan reorts with my kids, friends, and wife . We have experienced only great thing; in fatc no complaints. What we were told happened. And this is over a 5 year usage period with several visits a year, and several ownership upgrades.

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Sandra
,
Aug 29, 2008 11:57 am EDT

My husband and I just returned from spending a week in Mazatlan, Mexico at the Mayan Group resort there. We went through the presentation and we declined their too good to be true offer. I have a legal background and my husband has a business background so we knew better.
I feel very sympathetic toward people who would be duped into their arrangement. They offered this wonderful opportunity to travel anywhere in the world through their exchange affiliates and we would have to pay nothing (provided that we allowed them to apply for a line of credit in our name through Bank of America). Letting them rent our rooms for 5 years, it would all be paid for. So, one of the sales agents said he could not understand why we would not agree to such a wonderful offer. He even tried to make me feel stupid - like I was passing up an offer to my detriment and only a dumb person would do that. I simply told him that there was not a chance that I would enter into any kind of contract in Mexico because any lawyer in their right mind would NEVER enter into a contract without the full protection of AMERICAN law.
I could easily see retirees wanting to travel or add a little extra income to their fixed income situations could be drawn into such a scam. Please do not do it!
On a side note, I complained to the front desk about being left in the rain downtown at night while on a tour that was ran through the hotel. After again being treated like total idiots by the employees of the resort, they "compensated" us by offering to pay for our transportation to the airport. In order for use to receive a voucher for a taxi, I was given this waiver to sign. Being someone who has a good understanding of legalese, I was shocked at what I was reading. If any legal issue arose from the situation, I would have to pay all of their legal fees. I would be submitting to the jurisdiction of a Guadalajara, MX court, and I waived my right to bring any legal claim whatsoever against the Mayan Group because of receiving a ride to the airport! I told the woman that I could not sign this, and she said that we would not be getting transporation to the airport then. No problem. A $35 taxi ride wasn't worth signing my life away to some Mexican scam group. I took the waiver letter with me. As we were leaving, they would not allow us to leave unless I gave it back to us. In exchange for the letter, they gave us a voucher for the taxi and permission to leave the resort.
If you can avoid traveling to any of their resorts, I would. Just stay at a Holiday Inn and save yourself a headache.

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Diva Milani
,
Mar 31, 2008 1:20 pm EDT

Our issue has been resolved.

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Diva Milani
,
Nov 26, 2007 4:22 pm EST

My husband and I visited Mexico and stayed at The Grand Mayan in March of 2007. We were completely de-frauded, as mentioned by several other complainants on this website. We were kept in the sales office for over 10 hours without food or water and shown dozens of catalog's for upscale, luxury resorts that would be available to us with the purchase of the time share. We were also told that there was no "right to rescind" because they "purchased" our Scottsdale, AZ time share. Then, they "sold it back to us" for $1 or something similar. The point is... months later, we still have not received any PROOF that those luxury properties exist. We were not provided with catalog's as promised, and we were sold a complete lie. We have disputed the charges on our credit card with our bank and unfortunately, after many months of going back and forth with appeals, they bank has just held in The Grand Mayan's favor, because of their continual lies. They hide behind the words that "specific locations" are not guaranteed access in the agreement. Yet, they knew the ONLY reason we moved forward with the purchase was that those properties were supposed to be part of the deal. They even had us complete a form listing the reasons we purchased and then conveniently refused to give us a copy. It has been a nightmare. They are thieves and are clearly defrauding many tourists. We have consulted with two attorneys but welcome referrals to any lawyers that have been successful in this case... or any information that will lead to The Grand Mayan not doing this to others. We are about to file complaints with Consumer Protection Agencies, the U.S. attorney's office, and several other organizations, including the American consulate in Mexico. We will have more power if we all join forces. The attorneys we consulted with informed us that the more of us that speak out, the stronger our case will be, and the better chance we will all have to get our money back. Please contact us with any insight, comments, suggestions, help, you can provide.

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Johanna Denesiuk
,
Nov 21, 2007 3:33 pm EST

We are in the same situation. We have spent $60,000 and were told that we have a good chance on renting in Mexico, but would have to try to get a timeshare as much as two years in advance for anywhere else. Also that there is a 50% chance that we can rent our timeshare out. What did we get for our money? The pitch convinced us otherwise. The owner is Mr. Daniel Chavez and his address is P.O. Box [protected] Houston Texas 77227. I am most anxious to hear from any Canadians specifically that would like to proceed with this issue.

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ueck72
Calabasas, US
Nov 11, 2007 8:29 pm EST

I has a very similar thing happen to me in Nuevo Vallarta when we bought at the Playa del Sol Grand. Lots of lies about how we'd be able to get money for our old timeshare towards purchasing their new one. Also told how we'd be sure to rent out our units and make thousands in profits every year. Lies to no end. We fell for them all. In the end, it turned out okay as we use the timeshare and like the resort, but definitely not a vehicle for investing. ONLY BUY TIMESHARES FOR VACATION USE. Any suggestion that it will make you INCOME is a bunch of lies to help them get the sale.

We are now in CABO and went on the GRAND MAYAN timeshare tour and heard literally "word for word" the same exact sales pitch. This time they spent hours telling us how Playa del Sol hotels are frauds and that they are legitimate.

They say "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me". The sales pitch was very convincing, but just didnt want to risk making the same mistake twice. After reading this post, I now feel good about y decision.

Don't know why this is, but it seems like all timeshare sales people in Mexico are a bunch of liars who will say whatever is necessary to make the sale. BUYER BEWARE!

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Tim Rehfeldt
,
Jul 24, 2007 9:38 pm EDT

We too were fraudulently scammed. We made such a mistake believing Mayan Resorts that the timeshare would pay for itself either by donating the weeks as tax write-offs or by renting the weeks out. We have disputed charges and are complaining to every consumer protection agency I can in both the US and in Mexico.

If anyone knows of an attorney that can help us, please respond via email.