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Krystal Cancun

Krystal Cancun review: Fraud 49

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10:55 am EDT
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Krystal Cancun is practicing fraud over and over again. My husband, and I was fraud ed over $35000 Jun 2009. I don't know why no law going after this resort. Hate them so much. They took our money we work so hard for many many years. I don't know how We can get back our money and forget Kristal Cancun forever. Please avoid this place choose another place if you go to Cancun

Resolved

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

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49 comments
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Bertd
Atlanta, US
Mar 24, 2023 1:04 am EDT
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Never sign a contract at krystal. Ask them to change the wording of 19 and 20 and see how they would react. Krystal is a huge scam!

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michelle rippedoffnmad
, US
Mar 27, 2022 12:02 pm EDT

I visited this resort in February of 2022. I also sat through the timeshare presentation. I allowed them to run my credit to see how of much a credit line was going to be available for the deposit. I initially verbally agreed to the purchase. I signed for the new credit line in the amount of $4500 and put the remainder on another existing card I already had. However when we started to go over the actual paperwork and I started reading it, I did not like the wording in many things. I took the unsigned contract back to my room to read alone overnight. The next morning I told them I would not be purchasing. After another three hours of them attempting to shame me into purchasing, we signed an agreement for them to refund the deposits they billed the day before. Recall one of them was a brand new credit line I had no idea what those card numbers were because it was a new line. The agreement further stated that they had 15 days to give me the refund. It has been more than 30 days. I still do not have a refund. The agreement has the wrong account number for the new credit line on it. I fully believe this was done on purpose. The credit card company is “Barclays.” This was recommended by Krystal, I have tried several times to file a dispute with this company. Every time I try their system is “down.” Sometimes they don’t even pretend to go through the motions of taking the information, they simply state the system is down and hang up on me. I have filed a report with the US Consumer Affairs fraud department against Barclays for not allowing me to dispute the charges. The other credit card is no issue, those charges have already been reversed. At this point I believe Krystal and every company they do business with is in this together. Mexico has its own department of consumer of affairs that is especially interested in timeshare scams however there is no way for an English only speaking person to file a claim on their website. You can however mail a claim. I will call Barclays again on Monday. The first “payment” for this $4500 is due in April. I will dispute it with the three major credit bureaus if I cannot get satisfaction by Tuesday. I received zero services and have a signed letter stating the entire sale was canceled. I also still have an unsigned blank copy of their contradictory contract contract.

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vietnameeh
San Jose, US
Feb 09, 2023 5:02 pm EST
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Hi Michelle

did you ever get this resolved. I have overcome the first fight... we have rescinded based on our agreement with Krytal within 5 days. We signed a cancellation letter to refund our money but the account number doesnt match the card we received in the mail.

But i had weird feeling that the Master Card account number the provided was not correct.

It was verified when i finally got the card that the numbers were not right that is on our agreement... however they were able to charge us the downpayment.

I verified with Barclays the account number used doesnt exist... so Now not sure what will happen

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Dan dbchicoyne@hotmail.com
, US
Dec 14, 2021 10:21 pm EST

I’ve been through this as well. I simplyy stopped paying. They try to scare you by threatening your credit rating etc. Don’t even think about that…what will they do…say they’re not paying the scam money they owe us?!?

As for your credit card company…tell them in writing it’s a scam and you are no longer paying for it. They are all about money…they won’t take you to court to get money for someone else…

Just stop paying!

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Dan dbchicoyne@hotmail.com
, US
Dec 14, 2021 10:24 pm EST

Selling your timeshare is also a scam…
So are the companies who say they can get your money back…you’re just throwing good money after bad…

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lalaletswin
, US
Jan 24, 2022 4:15 pm EST
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Hi Dan, did they actually send your account to the collection agency? I haven't been paying but worry they will send to collections and damage credit. It's a large amount so I don't want them to go legal, or garnish wages.

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SaraBela
Dallas, US
Mar 10, 2022 1:32 am EST

I fell victim a year ago. I had many questions. Made many calls, sent many email, had many WhatsApp messages. Since no one would return my calls/messages, I never paid. They turned it over to collections in January of this year, and collections has been threatening me. I have so much proof they ignored my calls, texts and messages from March 2021 - September 2021 and emailed that proof to everyone one I could at Krystal and the collection agency. I got a letter today saying they have cancelled my contract. I have also found out that being in Mexico, they cannot report it our credit agency in the states. The only thing I'm not sure about is if I can get my down payment back. It wasn't much, about $2,000, so if I don't, I'm okay with it. Here is some info you may find helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlJPF9Pcvo

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-About-Timeshares-Before-During/dp/1723334340?fbclid=IwAR1EHeuhRZ9_1-qj_or1dTPPCXzpgiGy4GIHU4IlRgO19CG5pJTuu_8J1sI

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Cam97
, US
Jul 05, 2022 3:30 pm EDT
Replying to comment of SaraBela

Hi. Quick question how did you finally cancel the contract? Did you have to file something in? I want to know the right way to get my money back too

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Hoang Huynh
, US
Mar 23, 2023 2:00 pm EDT
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no, i i think they are international and hope that is not doing anything to them , if i was u ,i will cancel my cc and stop paying , since they are a scammers

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Christine28
, US
Jan 11, 2024 8:37 pm EST

Hi, did you ever get this sorted out? I’m in the same position and they’re telling me they will send it to collection after 3 months of delinquency and will damage my credit.

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Stressedandconfussed
COVINA, US
Mar 14, 2024 9:12 pm EDT
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Hello, I am in a similar position. Did they send it to collections?

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mgazes
, US
Aug 12, 2020 1:54 pm EDT

My wife and I were also pressured into a time share sales pitch. The salesperson assigned to us was a kind, elderly woman, and out of respect to her we agreed to speak with her boss at the headquarters.

We were in vacation mode and were not prepared for the deception. A couple of free drinks and we were not thinking clearly. We paid $3000 to become "Krystal members". For our money, we received a leather-bound folder full of pamphlets. The moment we left we realized what happened and it soured the rest of our vacation. The Krystal sales team are an impressive group of predators. Anyone can fall prey to their style of manipulation.

This happened back around 2006. Krystal has been doing this for over a decade, and from the comments above it sounds like they are growing more dangerous.

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lalaletswin
, US
Jan 24, 2022 4:18 pm EST
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Replying to comment of mgazes

Did you end up paying for the entire time you originally signed up for or how did you get out of your contract? I just fell victim Sept 2021.

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Christine28
, US
Jan 11, 2024 5:45 pm EST

Hi, I’m also a victim. Just following up. I stopped payments 3 months ago but now they are threatening me that they’re sending it to collections and it will affect my credit score.

Any updates on your end?

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Russ Atter
, US
Aug 03, 2020 11:55 am EDT

Has anyone found any legal counsel or representation to help with this. My story is the same as all of yours... I signed up in Jan of 2019, and stopped payment in October of 2019 - they keep harassing for back payments, maintenance fees, etc. I paid Latitude 21 exorbitant amounts to list the property with nothing in return...cannot access ICE, etc... I'd be happy if they would just let me alone, and not charge anymore money or harass me any more... If I lose out what I paid, oh well. What I am looking for is some legal representation to get out of this...anyone know of anyone dealing with this?

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lalaletswin
, US
Jan 24, 2022 4:19 pm EST
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Replying to comment of Russ Atter

Hi Russ, any updates on your case? I fell victim Sept 2021. I keep getting called for payments. I don't want to be sent to collections.

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NGarcia3313
Chicago, US
Mar 14, 2022 4:10 pm EDT
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Hi, I fell victim Sept 2021 too. They cant send anything to collections as they are in Mex. They've threatened my credit and even tried to get me to sign a contract to hush (without offering a refund of course).

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Sérgio Lopes
, US
Oct 24, 2022 3:21 pm EDT
Replying to comment of Russ Atter

Hello, I'm having problems with them, I would like to know how you solved the problem, I'm from Brazil and it gets even more difficult. If you could email me and let me know, I'd be happy. thanks. (sergio@tecnopizza.com.br)

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Hoang Huynh
, US
Mar 23, 2023 2:03 pm EDT
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do not buy anything from them

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Jan 07, 2020 9:31 am EST
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We have reached an equitable agreement with Latitude21 and wish to rescind my negative comments about them.

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lalaletswin
, US
Jan 24, 2022 4:19 pm EST
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Replying to comment of Ron/NancyB

Ron & Nancy, please tell me how you got out of all of this! I fell victim Sept 2021.

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Christine28
, US
Jan 11, 2024 5:51 pm EST

Same! I’m in the same position. I’ve been paying since sept 2021.

I don’t know what to do. They said they’re sending it into collections

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Dec 13, 2019 7:58 am EST
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Harassment complaints continue for owner of Latitude21 on other forums and youtube. She using aliases and vulgar langues to try and shut everything down.

If you got caught in her scam, CALL YOUR CREDIT CARD PROVIDER. They can reverse the charge and investigate if you are within a 90 day window of purchase. If you are past 90 days they will still investigate but harder to get your money back.

Latitude 21 and Krystal will be going nuts trying to defend themselves against the fraud they are committing.

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Marilyn P. Serafino
, US
Dec 04, 2019 9:21 pm EST

Ditto, same scenario with me as all the above posts! Latitude 21 keeps asking for more $ too and none of my weeks were rented. Then they claimed my account wasn't even activated & that's why my weeks were not rented. What? What was the $3K for better advertising for then that I paid them? Where can we get legal help - a website, anything? HELP PLEASE !

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Client23
, US
Nov 06, 2019 3:41 pm EST

Is there a class action suit in place? Legal action as a group?

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DoNotReply_123
, US
Sep 23, 2019 10:31 am EDT
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Test ... just testing ...

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ChristieB007
, US
Sep 09, 2019 6:44 pm EDT
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OMG, this happened to my friend as well when we went to Krystal. Friend bought the timeshare, because it sounded so good. You buy a timeshare, sell your weeks back to Latitude 21 and then use the ICE rewards for your vacations. Um, same thing here. Has NEVER had 1 sell of timeshare weeks and has had to pay maintenance fees annually. Now she has a firm that has contacted her saying they want to buy her timeshare for more than double what she paid. Get this, they buyer is in Mexico. SMELL A SKUNK! This is so bad. She needs to get out of this nightmare. Does anyone have any suggestions? Did the Gonzales Law firm listed above work for anyone?

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MeShah
, US
Jul 26, 2019 11:46 am EDT

Was anyone able to sell their timeshare or get out of it?

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Preciouschance
, US
Apr 01, 2019 2:58 pm EDT
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My husband and I also had the same horrible SCAM happen to us. We were pressured into the timeshare meeting as well. We knew we didn't have alot of money to spend so we were just going to see what they had to offer so that maybe in the future we could purchase. After sitting through 3 representatives that were hounding us for any money at all we decided to buy the travel package which guarenteed us to stay anywhere in the world for $57 a night or $399 for seven days. As you already know that has not happened. We've made payments for thousands and nothing, we get nothing. We get discounted hotels with 1 room. We signed the contract so I'm not sure how we get out of these payments...can anyone help?

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Ron Bastien
, US
Mar 08, 2019 8:35 am EST

The saga continues.

So due to the fact we where not interested in having anything to do with Krystal or Latitude 21 anymore, we decided to cancel our membership with Krystal. We still owed money on our payment plan and 13 weeks worth of maintenance fees. So it was financially cheaper to buy out and walk away from the thousands of dollars we have already lost. We refuse to ever go back to Krystal ever again or give them any more money than we already have to.

To pay out our loan and walk away we where charged 4200$ US. We where than asked to sign a cancellation agreement that basically states we will never go after Krystal for any money or services. In other words we cannot sue them if we bought out. They took our money first of course. Now we are refusing to sign their paper work and they are threatening to not pay out our loan and send us to the credit bureau. Do they have that legal right? They took our money on 27th Feb to buy out and we received another debit out of our credit card for the next months payment a few days later. Crooks!

We have filled a complaint with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) office in Wilmington, DE. Picked that office because Latitude 21 has office in same city according to their web page. They (BBB) replied with refusal to help as our claim was considered to be over a year old due to date of purchase. I suggest we flood their inbox with complaints. They are a government agency that are paid to investigate this kind of scam. Free service to us.

The last payment Latitude 21 squeezed out of me was in January to release 10 of my weeks as they claimed they had a interested client. I payed that with the same credit card that my monthly instalments come from.

Yesterday, I called my credit card to make a stop payment to Krystal and the informed me that they have a system to investigate fraud as well. They are now investigating the resent charges to both Latitude 21 and Krystal. More free help.

Lets just be a pain in the [censored] to both those scammers... If we never get our money back at least we will be a pain in their [censored].

Now I just need to ensure my $4200 to Krystal was a wise decision and find out if I should sign that cancellation agreement as written. Any suggestions?

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Sep 27, 2019 10:15 am EDT
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Can someone explain to me how I could delete or edit this post?

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Jan 07, 2020 9:25 am EST
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I have reached an equitable agreement with Latitude21 and wish to rescind my negative comments about them.

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Feb 24, 2019 4:05 am EST
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Krystal:
I would like to start with the positive. The resort is beautiful, staff is amazing, the beach is like something off a post card and the food is spectacular. Really was a dream vacation if it wasn't for the aftermath of the time share fiasco.
On the morning of December 12 2017, my wife Nancy and I (Ron) where pressured into attending a time share sales pitch at Krystal Resort during our stay at same resort. Although we were impressed with what they had to offer, we had no financial means of getting into a contract. The high pressure sales team were truly friendly but also very good at giving you a high rate of info, and no time to think things out.
We were convinced by our Krystal sales person and his supervisor, that the financial burden of a time share could be alleviated, if we bought into the shares as an investment opportunity. If we bought the 17 weeks (13 weeks plus 4 bonus weeks) we would be guaranteed a projected annual average of 200% of bi-annual maintenance fee. We were also told that the weeks would all be sold in a average of 2 to 3 years. The sale of our shares would be organized through a 3rd party "Latitude 21" set up by Krystal resorts. As explained to us, the bonus for us would be that our shares, although not used by us would create an income that we could use to travel to other destinations using the ICE rewards program and RCI that we would be register for if we bought in.
The cost to us in US funds that day was as follows:
2625.00 down payment (paid December 12 2017)
7875.00 financed on monthly payments (186.18 a month till 01/01/23)
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10 500.00 Purchase price

1 189.00 Administrative registration fee (paid December 12 2017)
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11 689.00 Total charge and Finance, billed by Krystal for purchase of above mentioned 17 weeks.
840.07 Maintenance fee for first year (billed bi-annually with increased cost every year "862.76 for 2019" for the 17 weeks when used)
862.07 X 17 = 14 655.19
total cost of ownership once all 17 weeks are used and/or sold 11 689.00 + 14 655.19= $26 344.19 (plus interest and increased maintenance cost year over year)

As explained by sales staff at Krystal, using the 200% average above maintenance fee promised the financial gain was :
200% of 840.07 = 1680.14 X 17 weeks = $28 562.38
28 562.38 - 26 344.19 = $2 218.19 profit.
This $2 218.19 profit would likely cover interest and maintenance fee increase if our time shares were all sold in the 2-3 years promised. The gain for us would be discount travel through RCI and ICE rewards program included in our Krystal International Vacation Club membership.
This concludes our experience with the sales team at Krystal. So far a good experience with no complaints.

Latitude 21:

On the day of purchased of our time share with Krystal, it was explained to us and formalized through a Latitude 21 letterhead paper work given to us by Krystal sales staff, welcoming us to Latitude 21 rental program, and informing us of that we would need to communicate with Latitude 21 ASAP to activate our program.
On January 6 2018, we communicated with Robert Diaz at Latitude 21. He informed us that we needed to provide them proof of ownership, a copy of a valid ID for both my wife and I and a fee of 695$ to activate our membership. This cost was explained to us on the day of our time share presentation by resort staff and expected. Robert explained to us that once they received the paper work and fee, they would activate our sales program and call us with a follow up appointment to finalize some details. Fees and paper work was sent that day through email.
On January 17 2018, the follow-up phone call was established and this is where the surprises began. I was informed by Latitude 21 staff that the $695 fee we had paid was only for a basic starter membership and it did not cover what the financial benefits that staff at Krystal had explained. If we did not upgrade our package, we would only receive 125% above maintenance fee for each week sold, it would take 15-25 years to sell them and I would be in full control of the selling process. In other words, 695$ to post my add on their web page is the only thing our money had bought.
In order to get maximum publicity and effectiveness out of our sale process, we were convinced to upgrade to the "Professional" package. At a extra cost of $2082 above the $695 already paid, they would Guarantee the sales process at 250% above maintenance fee and told that our 17 weeks would all sell in a 2 to 3 year average from date of purchase.
It was explained to us that this would mean that every one of our weeks would sell for $2400 plus $840 maintenance fee, totaling $3240. The maintenance fee portion of that would be paid directly to resort. Being skeptical, we asked how it could possibly sell for so much. He explained that the cost to the end customer is a all inclusive vacation price for a family of 4, includes transportation to and from airport and local tours. He also said that these weeks would likely be sold in the high travel season where the costs are always higher.
He also explained that they have a $54.99 / year fee. We assumed that after 3 years, our 17 weeks would be sold and that would mean an extra (54.99 x 3= $164.97)
If we did not upgrade we would only receive add placement at the bottom of their listing. After several questions we decided that we really didn't have much of a choice as we had already invested so much. With the professional package the way it was explained to us we would receive the following.
- Add placement at the top of their listing
- Advanced description of our product
- Photo slider on add
- Weather widget on add
- Map of hotel on add
- Special offers (ie, golf, tours, airport pickup)
- Renter processing Guarantee
- Resale Escrow services... (not sure what this even means)
- Renter closing service
- Cart Check-out
- Phone Agent Assistance
- Ad blast splash page
-Secondary search page exposure
- Front page add exposure
- Added channels (sending out a list)
- Full service package

Financially, if they do what the promise, our investment would now look like this:

Total cost with Krystal as described above: $26 344.19
Total cost with Latitude 21: (2082 + 695 + 164.97) $2 941.97
Total overall investment cost $29 286.16
Potential income (3240 x17) $55 080
Total profit [protected].16) $25 793.84 - interest and maintenance fee increase over years

The Problem:

We are currently half way through the second high season of vacation sales and we have not had one single sale. We have contacted Latitude 21 several times and keep getting excuses. Over a month ago we were contacted by Latitude 21 and told that there was a third party "travel agent" interested in our 10 weeks that are currently available. (7 more weeks to be releases by Krystal next year). This is where we were explained that the $54.99 annual fee was to release our weeks to be sold, therefore needed to pay an extra (54.99 x10 = 549 plus fee/tax = $637.90) so that our first 10 weeks could be sold without delay. With clarification that this would be the final cost to us in order to sell those 10 weeks and assured that most or all of these weeks would be sold this high season we authorized yet another charge to our credit card.
We have since contacted Latitude 21 2-3 times to see how the sale is going as we were led to believe the sale was imminent. Latest excuse told to us was that Krystal resort is not giving any availability to potential clients, but yet their web page does not indicate any full house bookings this season.
We have also been in communication with Krystal resort and they have even indicated through messaging that they have no Knowledge of Latitude 21 or the promises made to us by both Krystal and Latitude 21 staff. The initial set up of this whole deal was initiated by Krystal and I have dated paper work to prove this.
We have also been in communication with a few other Krystal/Latitude 21 clients that are not getting any results or sales as well. One of these members has been dealing with this since 2016, very similar storyline as ours and no results.
Also in communication with a former accountant of the owner of Latitude 21 who prefers to remain anonymous for the time being. He is providing me with proof that Latitude 21 is a Scam.

Our Demands:
Our demands are simple and if we don't receive satisfaction ASAP we will flood the internet and social media with all details of your scam. We will gather as many of the affected clients as possible and start a class action lawsuit against both Latitude 21 and Krystal resort.
We demand that your promises are fulfilled and we start seeing return for our investment without delay or a complete refund of all costs for both Latitude 21 and cost of time share purchase.
If you do not reply with action plan and response to demand by Friday March 8th we will put our action plan in motion.

Yours truly

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Andrew Enerson
, US
Dec 20, 2019 8:19 am EST
Replying to comment of Ron/NancyB

Ron & Nancy we would be interested in helping as a affected client of Latitude 21 & sales liars at Krystal, Best regards, Message me on fb Drew Enerson

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Dec 20, 2019 12:31 pm EST
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Andrew, I have contacted a Drew Enerson on Facebook. Unsure if I got the right guy.

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Ron/NancyB
, CA
Jan 07, 2020 9:32 am EST
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Replying to comment of Ron/NancyB

I have reached an equitable agreement with Latitude21 and we wish to rescind any negative comments about them.

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Jeri Metzger
, US
Oct 16, 2018 12:51 pm EDT
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OMG! This is what my fiancé and I are going thru right now. We don't know what to do. We were on vacation Jan 2017 to Krystal and we got the scam. It sounded so great at the time. We have no money and had to borrow money to just the money up front. To this day we are still paying and every time I call to find out about my shares. Oh we are still working on it! A whole year I have been listening to this. I paid over 2, 000 just to release the shares another of course fee. We don't have this kind of money floating around and don't know what to do. We don't want to default and ruin our credit, as we are desperately trying to rebuild. Does anyone have an answer for us. We need to get out of this...Please

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Jeri Metzger
, US
Sep 26, 2019 6:32 pm EDT
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Just wanted to give you an update. We have been working with Krystal to negotiate a settlement agreement and are making progress. We would like to redact the word, "scam" as used above. We don't believe that Krystal is a scam. We are sure that it works great for some people, it just wasn't a good fit for us.

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Kashusha1
, US
Nov 20, 2019 9:31 am EST
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What kind of settlement are you able to negotiate? We are in a similar situation.

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xdairyman
, US
Aug 21, 2017 1:10 pm EDT
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In April of 2016, my wife and I were duped by Krystal Cancun with their program which sounded too good to be true. It was too good to be true! We were told we purchase 25 weeks for $16000, Latitude 21 in Vegas agreed to sell 5 weeks per year for 5 years for much more than we paid for them. This is actually the part of the sales presentation that made the deal for us. We didn't know it was just BS. Krystal also arranged for our Hawaii timeshare to be traded in so no more maintenance fees and we got a lifetime membership into a travel club called ICE for a one time membership fee (the ICE membership has actually worked out). The Latitude 21 deal fizzled, the $895 fee turned into $2000 and the selling in 90 days+ turned into no sales in the first year and then they wanted ANOTHER FEE per week of $40+, so another $1000+, to renew! (scam) WE QUIT. The timeshare trade-in via VALUE TRADERS aka VACATION WORLD cost us approximately $2, 000 and wasn't finalized 8 months later. We then decided to keep the Hawaii timeshare (they offered that option) instead of continuing. In summation, we paid over $22, 000 for a membership to Krystal Cancun for 25 weeks which we didn't really want and got a lifetime membership into ICE rewards. We still must pay a usage fee of over $800 a week when we use 25 weeks. In short, Stay Clear!

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Adolfo Moreno
, US
Jul 09, 2017 5:12 pm EDT

Krystal Cancun is a scam. They lie and lie until get the deal finished. Later searching on the net I noticed that we're one of many that have been defrauded. Adolfo

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Tell your story
, US
Nov 10, 2016 11:54 pm EST

Total scam, Mexico should be ashamed of this, if they want dollars, they need to work for them

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krias
, US
Oct 01, 2016 7:08 pm EDT
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We have similar story as you. They already took over $7000. We purchased in December 2015 due to they said this is investment opportunity. We found out all thing is scams. There are lies one after one. Latitude 21 is the crook company as Krystal resort. They are together to rob your money. I do not know how to do. Do you have contact information?

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Lucinda Woodward
, US
Aug 11, 2016 7:52 am EDT

On May 17, 2016, my husband and I attended one of the “90-minute” sales presentations hosted by Krystal Resorts, Cancun. We are both educated and intelligent people who have attended such presentations in the past, but when weighing the costs-vs-benefits of time-share ownership, have always opted out of committing to ownership. In this case, however, our salesman German made a very compelling presentation based upon a “vacation package” offered exclusively by Krystal Resorts called the ICE Rewards program. According to German, if we purchased a time share condo with Krystal Resorts, we could also purchase a lifetime membership in the ICE Rewards program for $875. He assured us that this program offers guaranteed lowest rates on airfare (40% off the lowest published rates), cruises (50% off lowest published rates) and hotels ($199 per week if booked one-month or less in advance, and $399 per week if booked three months out from travel). When queried about what hotels this included, we were informed that it included all the international hotels listed on the ICE website (per German this included the Hilton, Hyatt and Radisson). We asked him to show us what hotels specifically were available for $199 in London, England at that particular week and he pulled up a long list of hotels comparable to those listed on Hotels.com. This offer had great appeal to me as I book a great deal of student travel and getting the guaranteed lowest rate would be beneficial to my job. I had no interest in the timeshare contract, however, and indicated this quite clearly to the sales staff.

German informed us that the ICE program was only available if we purchased a time share studio at Krystal resorts for $18, 000 for 25 weeks of rental and with an annual maintenance fee of $625. The full contract was for 25 years at one vacation week per year, but we were given the option to rent up to five weeks annually through their rental agency Latitude 21. We were guaranteed that IF the condo rented, we would receive $1, 250 per week of rental ($6, 250 – the annual maintenance of $625, per German’s math or $5, 625). According to German, the cost of the time-share would pay for itself in rental income. I was concerned by the verbiage of our contract (section 8) which indicated that maintenance fees must be paid in advance for each week of rental. When I specifically asked German, what happens to the 20 remaining weeks of maintenance fees if we rent or use all 25 weeks of our timeshare in the first five years, he assured us that “it goes away.” I clarified, “you mean we don’t have to pay it?” and he assented that this was correct. I also asked if we could book up to nine rooms simultaneously in one year, say for a destination wedding and he assured me this would be no problem. After clarifying the muddied sections of the contract verbally with the salesman, we signed in good faith. We were never informed of how we might extricate ourselves if we had a change of heart on the contract. Less than two weeks after signing a contract with Krystal, we were contacted by the listing agent and asked to pay the “listing fee of $675.” To date, there is no evidence that the condo has ever been listed for rental. Our ICE Rewards program did not activate until 51 days after we signed our contract (over a week later than promised).

All aspects of the sales pitch were a lie. The ICE Rewards program can be purchased separately on an annual basis for just a few hundred dollars a year. It does not offer hotel rooms for $199 and $399 per week in major cities across the globe, nor are the rates any cheaper than Hotels.com or Cheapoair.com. It has a handful of bargain hotels (six when I looked in July) that were offered at comparable low rates, in undesirable locations like Grenada and Gatlinburg, TN. In fact, in comparison, the rates at the same hotel for the same period in London, England were $15 per night higher on the ICE web site than at Hotels.com. When I pointed this out to the ICE customer service staff, they made no effort to match the price but did finally acknowledge my right to withdraw from the program since I was within the ten-day trial period.

I was not so lucky with the Krystal Resort customer service staff. When I pointed out the deception involved with their sales tactics they simply said that I “signed a contract.” I then requested to book nine rooms for January 2017 per my contract in order to extricate myself from the time share as soon as possible. I was told that I could only book nine rooms if there was availability and that I only had priority booking for one room. Furthermore, I would have to pay the $625 maintenance fee nine years in advance to reserve the rooms that I could not be guaranteed. So, German’s assurance that using my weeks in advance would cause my maintenance fee to “go away” was also false. After doing my own math given this situation, I determined that I would be paying Krystal Resorts $200 a year to not use the condominium, assuming that I would be able to rent it regularly, which is doubtful. When I requested to quit claim deed the condo back to Krystal and walk away from the $6000 I had already sunk into the down payment and closing costs, they informed me that my contract said I was responsible for 40% of the remaining cost of the time share or an additional $7200.

It is my interpretation that by international law, a contract is only binding if both parties understand the stipulations of the contract and any explanation involves complete disclosure on the part of the contractor. If deception is used to misrepresent the articles of the contract, the contract is no longer binding. I would assert that Krystal Resorts used deception and fraudulent sales tactics to trick me into signing a contract that I did not fully understand. When I asked specifically for clarification, I was given deliberate misinformation. I fully intend to sue the company for its fraudulent business practices and warn anyone considering purchasing a time-share with Krystal of the dangers of working with this company. Certainly, do not purchase a condominium only to join the ICE Rewards program, however, as you would be far better off with the cheap annual membership than committing to a lifetime membership with time-share strings attached.

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RoseWaissbluth
Santa Monica, US
Oct 15, 2013 2:01 pm EDT

It seems like this is a very common problem in Mexico. My wife & i bought into a Royal Elite Timeshare in Playa del Carmen. We stayed in sandos caracol resort & signed contract for royal elite. we've found out in the last few months that availiablity of resorts that we require are very limited (sales person shown us extensive range of hotels). flight deals are no better than booking myself. we enquired to stay lanzarote sandos dec 2012 the ai rate is in total $1900 for the week. i feel that this is going to be costly in the long run, not the ideal deal that was sold to us. This is a forum with more complaints about this company:

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

I'm in the process of calling the BBB and PROFECO and seeing what they can do. Possibly the attorney General also!

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kruczer
McKeesport, US
Jul 30, 2009 8:25 am EDT

OMG.. I am the next victim. we my husband and I .. bought the timeshare.. it sounded good.. and now we get home.. look at the web.. and find all these complaints.. WHAT are they doing. and why are they allowed to take are money.. isnt this FRAUD.. I have called them KRYSTAL .. with No one calling me back.. and now i am calling the lawyers listed above.. thanks for giving me the names.. cant wait to see what is going to happen will tell you in due time.. Emma..

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Matt Preston
Flushing, US
Jun 29, 2009 12:17 pm EDT

While in Cancun we were invited to a 90 minunte timeshare speech. The salesman tour us that if we bought, he would help us renting the week because NH Krystal is very close to the convention center. He assured us there were lots of people looking to rent weeks at Krystal because of the proximity to this place.

Dumb enough, we believe him. Six months after, we were still waiting for this rental income. We called him several times asking him what was going on until he decided not to take our calls anymore. We searched the internet just to find out that everything we were told was a total lie. We went back to Cancun to cancel and they tried to sell us more! It was unbelievable.

On the way back to the airport, we found an ad of a law firm specialized in timeshare matters. We contact them and they help us cancel and recover our earnest money.

Please be aware that if you go to a timeshare presentation in Mexico these salesmen will try anything to get you to buy their product. Timeshares are worthless!

If this advice is too late for you, contact www.GonzalezGonzalezLawFirm.com, they will help you cancel. Once they see that you have legal assistance on your side they will give you the respect we all deserve.

Matt Preston

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Sendtodh
, US
Jan 20, 2018 3:13 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Can you provide me a contact number for the attorney as the web address does not work. If so, please send it to my e-mail: sendtodh@aol.com

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RAMoore911
, US
Apr 30, 2019 5:04 pm EDT

Can you give me the phone number or better web address for the lawyer?