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CB Travel and Vacations Review of Playa Del Sol Resorts
Playa Del Sol Resorts

Playa Del Sol Resorts review: Fraud time share! 3

L
Author of the review
12:00 am EST
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We bought this time share 11/11/06. We tried to cancel the contract within the recession period & was told we can but will lose all our deposit. In spite of the documentation we have at hand, the salesperson insisted that the document does not apply to us. We felt trapped & helpless. We figured that's the end of that. Upon coming home in the U.S., we discovered more inaccurate information. We had pleaded our case with the company & so far has not resolved our issue. We can not believe what sales people will go to make commission. This is not right.

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Mike Uivary
Dec 18, 2006 9:06 am EST

In October of 2001 we purchased a timeshare thru Grupo Playa del Sol de C.V., in old town PV. I had visited PV yearly since '95 and viewed this as an opportunity to secure a regular winter get-a-way from beautiful but rainy Seattle.

Wendy, our sales person was very down home and charming. We were told that we were purchasing 2 weeks that could be used every year; or both weeks could be traded or banked (later we learned only 1 week could be used for these purposes) this was the 1st in what we later learned would be many lies.

We were assured that we would always be able to stay at the Resort in old town (since we've only been able to book 'our' time once, and have twice stayed by trading to get our own time? or with friends who reserved as quests of the resort! Lie #2

We were assured that we would be able to book our time electronically and that if we needed to speak to someone we could always call and receive top notch customer service, lies #3 and #4. The 'resort' did not get electronic booking for 3 or 4 years after we purchased, and when we called we waited an average of 25-30 minutes to speak to the customer non-service rep.

I have worked in the home building/real estate business for 20 years and was confident that since Stewart Title (a company I was very familiar with in the States) was working with this group, it must be legit. A big mistake on my part.

In January 2004, we received a glossy new Playa del Sol Club booklet, at this time there was a whole new system of contacting the 'resort' and strangely enough an exact definition of what 'award' week was, and what 'primary' week was, essentially re-writing the terms --as we understood them-- of the contract.

I could go on and on! Able to pick ocean view room--you bet. Easy to trade--not even, if you 'bank' to Interval International thru them, they keep the good slots and re-sale retail at the 'resort' hotel. Unfortunately the biggest mistake I made was to pay off my 'investment' with home equity line. If not I would have walked away from any monies down.

If anyone gets anything going re legal action against this bunch of crooks let me know, and/or please contact me directly as I have some ideas on how we might 'network' with others who feel the same.

The saddest thing is we love PV and the 'resort' to bad they had to cheat and lie--they had a good product!

Take care, AND DON'T BUY AT PLAYA DEL SOL
Mike Uivary
[protected]

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Luis Cruz
Nov 19, 2008 10:43 pm EST

Mike,

I couldn't agree with you more about the scam that Playa Del Sol has perpetrated.
I have had the same problems with this resort. I too totally duped by their dubious promises to rent our rooms or resell the timeshare. I don't know if you realize this but they no longer allow the use of their location in Centro (which we were never told about) and that property is owned by a new company.
We purchased in 2006 and have raised their maintenance a ridiculous amount. We used the resort (Grand) once and it was in disrepair and badly in need of upgrading. We paid a lot of money for this timeshare and I am beside myself considering I will be obligated to pay a lifetime of high maintenance for sub standard accomodations. If you are pursuing legal action, let me know perhaps we can join forces for a class action suit!
Let me know if I can help.
Luis Cruz [protected]

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Bryce and Helen LeBaron
Qualicum Beach, CA
Sep 29, 2009 2:43 pm EDT

My wife and I got suckered in by their lies in January 2006. We were promised all the same "award weeks" and "breadaway weeks" baloney with the repeated assurances that we could always easily get bookings at any venue of our choice with no problem. We have never been able to get a booking at any time at the venue of our choice. We have written repeatedly to the company, including registered letters to the board of directors as well as to the company owner/ceo (Ken Molinaro) with never so much as an acknowledgement of receipt. At this point, we have been informed by them via a form letter that since we have declined to pay the yearly "maintenance fees" ( they have risen in spite of a guarantee that they would never increase) that our contract with them has been nullified and that we now have nothing whatsoever to show for the more than $27, 000 we paid out to the company.
If anyone is successful in mounting a class action suit against this pack of fraudsters, we will be most happy to join. We are most interested to hear from anyone else who finds themselves in the same unhappy situation. We are Bryce and Helen LeBaron, residing on Vancouver Island, Canada. Our telephone is [protected] and our email is helenbryce@shaw.ca