Royal Elite Vacation Club review: News Letters 7

Yes. I contacted my credit card company last week. They reversed the charges while they investigate. I have held off on filing a case with Profeco hoping Royal Elite would do the right thing. But got an email today saying I didn't send them a signed letter asking to cancel ( don't have to and they already acknowledged receipt of my numerous cancelation emails) and since I am refusing to sign later promising not to speak badly of them and won't send back contract, paperwork etc. they can't cancel. Made international call to Profeco today and they confirmed that Royal Elite can not require I sign anything or send back anything in order to cancel and give me a refund. Guess I can now use the contract against them. I don't understand what their end game is. Yes, many might walk away leaving their refund on the table. But given I continually send them the exact wording in the contract and law and repeatedly say I contacted Profeco and am filing a claim, they know I will win. Why not just do the right thing.

Have you contacted PROFECO? Have you contacted you credit card company to dispute charges on your card?

I too feel victim to Royal Elite and plan on posting on every board I can find despite Royal Elite trying to get me to sign a document agreeing not to talk about this at all or they will take back my deposit (they haven't returned it yet so they can't exactly take it back). We used RCI to book our vacation. Once checking in to Sandos Playacar, after hours of traveling, we were invited to a timeshare presentation and offered some perks if we went. We agreed thinking we already have a timeshare so there is no chance we will buy. We were assured the presentation was only 90 minutes. 4 hours later we were timeshare owners(I am actually told now it is a vacation club, not a timeshare-no idea what the difference is). We verified that the 5 business day cancelation was indeed in the contract. We were also told about some investment program where we give a British company 16% of the cost of our timeshare and we are guaranteed our entire purchase price back in 15 years. This was the selling point for me:even if it wasn't as good as they say we get our money back so what can we loose. I did read through the contract and had concerns the next day. But we foolishly decided to hold judgement until we could get home with real wifi and do real research and check out this investment portion. Upon arriving home and doing simple google searches we became alarmed. The Sandos family we were told owns the Sandos resorts, who we were told were into real estate, do not actually own the resort and probably do not exist. What we found was articles about the owners being charged with tax evasion in Dec. 2013. We discovered that other things we were told were not supported by the information in the contract and there was a missing document. We were really disappointed because we loved the resort and had already starting thinking about returning with a large group using our new timeshare. But we just did not feel comfortable doing business with them after the discrepancies we found and no longer trusted that the investment company they mentioned was what it claimed. We contracted them within the 5 business day period. That is when we realized that we made the right decision. We still have not received our refund. They are not responding to emails as quickly as they have. They are requiring we send them all documents they sent us and sign away all rights to talk about this matter or say anything negative about them. This document even states we need to take back any post we made that was negative. Once they receive these documents, and only after verifying everything is in order will they give us back our refund, minus any amount they feel is proper for use of the black bands and services we supposedly received while using these sacred bands, and based on the exchange rate for pesos. Our price for the Timeshare was never discussed in Peso and not charged in peso. The contract simply says cancel in 5 business days and get a refund. Mexican law says cancel in 5 business days and your contract is canceled. End of story. We too will tell out story on any site we can find. We canceled in the correct amount of time and should not have to fight for our refund. Once Royal Elite gives me a full refund I will gladly post that the issue has been resolved as they have requested, but I have every right to tell me story as long as what I say is truthful.

the "HORROR Story". Please read so you could avoid my mistakes!
This was my first (and probably the only time) in Mexico. First trip with my amazing boyfriend. I was very excited, ready to enjoy my vacation, really wanted to see as much as I could during this week. Rose-coloured glasses were permanently glued to my eyes.
At the airport, after we had to wait for our luggage for hours, we were approached by a lady from one of the resorts, offering a package of some very popular local trips (Xcaret, Tulum, Chich Itza, etc) for a fraction of a cost. What the catch? We have to come and look at their resort. No obligations…
The next day we had an orientation in the lobby at Santos Caracol with the one of the customer service representatives and we mentioned that presentation at another hotel we have to attend in order to get our tour package. This lady was genuinely concern for our safety, told us that it was she was one of the timeshare scam other hotels do. She went to talk to her managers and came back with great news that Santos will reimburse us for the money we paid at the airport. As a part of the orientation she offered a tour of Santos Royal Elite Club area so we could see what Santos has to offer. it was right before lunch but she said it will not take long but at least we will know our way around. No, this is not a timeshare presentation, they do not sell timeshares… They just want us to see the areas that are for members only and normally are not accessable by people who bought vacations through regular travel agencies. But because we are so great, we deserve to see everything. But wait, there is more! As a welcome present we are going to get $150 spa certificate we can enjoy later. What a generous resort…or so we thought.

Another super friendly lady was showing us some nice model suits (much nicer than our room), beautiful REC pool, telling us of many perks we can get for years to come if we become Royal Elite Club members, we can travel the world by exchanging our weeks for other vacations all over the globe. We will get some magic points, thousands of them, that we can exchange for airfare. Pay $20000 and enjoy 60 magical weeks at any Sandos resorts (except 4 diamonds Sandos Cancun, unless we pay extra) I can take any time I want even if I decide to take them all at once by bringing all my friends on vacation with me. We will be set for life! The list of perks was so long I was about to faint. Sounds too good to be true, I am so lucky!

We met another friendly man from Canada, a very smooth italian man "Ron", who used to live basically around the corner from me and used to own a dollar store just 5 minutes drive from where I live, now he lives in Playa de Carmen and works for Sandos Royal Elite Club. Because we are so amazing and such a cute couple, and Ron was my former neighbour, we also got 14 days we could use at this Luxury Cancun resort absolutely FREE. 3 hours later, very hungry and a bit tipsy after a surprisingly strong mojito (compare to the other mojitos they serve around the resort) on an empty stomach and a glass of bubbly wine (to celebrate ) I was a proud member of the greatest club EVER.
I signed the contract, that was patiently explained to me in details by my new lady friend and my former neighbour so I didn't even have to read it. (I could't see anyway, rose-coloured glasses are not the best reading glasses, my vision is not great, I can read lunch menu, but not the fine print of the contract). Also, how could I not trust them, why would they lie, right? We became Facebook friends (there are no closer friends than your Facebook friends) right there in the office (thanks to some unstable Wi-Fi connection available in REC area. They also reassured me that I can cancel or sell my membership if I get sick of being happy.

I was finally free to go and get some lunch (almost dinner) and continue with my vacation.
We were very busy, tours every day, Xcaret being my favourite. I was in paradise! Who has the time to look at contract papers, I can always read them at home by the fireplace, dreaming of my next magical vacation. And I can Watsapp or Facebook with my new friend if I have any questions.

We came back on 28th of December. Unpacking, laundry, resting after the busy vacation, visiting friends and family we didn't see for Christmas and inviting them to come along next time to our own newly purchased piece of paradise, looking through about 20000 pictures of EVERYTHING…
It was - 30 C outside, the perfect temperature for planning our next vacation so we finally read the contract. Wait, what? Where does it say " 1 bedroom all inclusive luxury suite during high season - Christmas, New year and Thanksgiving" Can I use my magical RCI points for airfare? What happened to the RCI website my lady friend was showing us with tons of destinations? Why the first entry when I google Royal Elite Vacation Club is "Beware of scam!"? Where is my mojito, everything looked so much better with mojito in my hand. Help.

Long story short, If it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is!

According to Mexican Law there is a 5 day "cooling" period only. That wasn't mentioned during the sales speech. I was trying to contact Royal Elite but couldn't get anyone on the phone. On January 2nd I contacted PROFECO representative by phone and asked for advice. I have been told to send cancellation request letter by registered mail and I did that on January 2, 2015. I have been told to wait for 2 weeks for Royal Elite response. I also sent an email and I asked to cancel my contract. I was sending emails every day and finally got reply from Adrian Venter 6 days later. They refused to cancel it and are trying to force me to pay, threatening to send my contract to a collection agency.
My new friend, who sold me this contract, reassured me on the phone that contract could be cancelled, but I will lose my down payment of 5, 852 usd because I did not cancel in within 5 days. She told me that she emailed her director who also promised to help me, but refused to forward that email to me, saying that she might get in trouble. I have not heard from her since…I guess our friendship wasn't meant to be.
Customer Service representative is refusing to cancel, offering me a small 10% discount and keep threatening me to "send the contract to the legal department and to collection or the credit buro" as per his email. He is saying that would like to solve this issue within 30 days so I would't lose my investment "we have 30 days to have some kind of arrangement with the members" he says in his email but his only proposal is for me to pay a full price or else.
I am not sure if PROFECO can help me. But I can help other by telling my story on EVERY vacation site and a complaint board I can find.
It is the most expensive lesson I've ever had. Please do not repeat my mistake. If you see Royal Elite Club representatives - run for your life! Put some necklace, made out of garlic, spray them with holy water, bring some silver bullets or they will suck your blood out.
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La Asociación Mexicana de Desarrolladores Turísticos reporta que 8 de cada 10 Propietarios de una Membresía Vacacional se encuentran satisfechos con el servicio que reciben de sus respectivos Clubes.

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Its sad when a salesman will tell you all kinds of lies, even getting other companies involve in his lies to get you to purchase a timeshare membership. Sandos is a great hotel, shame their timeshare sales will bring down the good name of this resort. Here is anothe forum of this hotel, where more complaints are made to Royal Elite.

http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-complaints-resorts-black-list/6-royal-elite-sandos-timeshare-complaints/

Last year I purchased a time share with Sandos. At that time all-inclusive was quoted to be $ 35 usd pppn TO $65 USD pppn FOR THE ALL-INCLUSIVE FEATURE.
In one year it is now $65usd pppn to $122 usd pppn depending on time of year.
At $122 usd pppn it is cheaper to travel thru a package co. like Apple or Fun Jet and recieve a much lower price and not to forgot the $$$ put out to purchase the time share.
At $122usd pppn I can't eat or drink that much and the room is pre-paid thru the time share purchase.
BUYERS BE VERY AWARE OF HOW YOU WILL BE SCAMMED!