Royal Holiday Vacation Club
reviews and complaints

royal holiday comfort suite on paridise island is part of a mexican timeshare scam, they promise you a good deal, all the workers who work in the comfort suite offices are aware of the scam and they refuse to cancel membership they keep charging moneies i spent christmas 2009 in nassau and it has become a night mare to get my money back first of all mexicans representatives keep calling your home harassing you, no one return calls and they all have a different story even the top managers one of the top managers from nassau posted a positive comment on a site praising his own company pretending to be a customer so as to attract clients, i have made it my personal crusade to have royal holiday nassau investigateda nd shut done, i have brought my story to the canadaian pres and newspapers, i will ensure that every canadian who goes to nassau is aware of these scam artist at the comfort suite on paradise island, they recuit third partiesat the hotels to invite you to these promotions, i am taking my story to the bahamas tourist board and the minister of tourist board and i am asking the canadian goverment to post advisories for all canadians travelling to nassau about this scheme, nothing is real, they keplying all the managers floridaa, nassau mexico, i will do everthing in my power to have this fradulent business shut down

in August of 2008 we sign this contract with Royal holidayin Cancun Mexico.They promess we could book in any 5 star hotel w/ a suite right by the water, air fair allways half price, hotels all inclusive, but none of that is true, every thing works with points, I want a five star Hotel I need to open a certificate for 30.000 points or even more each certificate can cust 0ver $ 400 each one +you have to pay for each day you stay at the hotel, price is not the same depending the month, air fair, I don't get any discount . They never explain that. I been shopping unlined and I can get a better deal. It's abig scame I want to get my money back . I never booked any thing . I know I'm not the only one who complain about Royal Holiday, some body has to go after theme, they still money from people. isn't that against the law.

Contract Number: 444503

My husband and I were scammed by Royal Holiday while on vacation in the Dominican Republic in 2006. We were deceived and pressured into purchasing this timeshare in the Dominican Republic, and bought the silver points package of 20, 000 credits. We must have been there for at least three hours or more with these devious salesmen who make a living out of ripping people off. We were going back forth about not being interested and how we just wanted to enjoy our vacation, but they mislead us into believing that if we joined we would get discounted airfare tickets (70%). We thought it was awesome, discounted airfare, unlimited reservations at the Bavaro Princess and Ocean Blue Hotel plus an added bonus certificate to be used within 2 years as an incentive. We purchased based on the fact that the annual payment was not a maintenance fee, but a fee that was paid for a travel agency with RH that gave us discounted airfare tickets. When we came back to the USA we realized we had been conned, so we tried canceling but it was too late.

We've made numerous attempts to get out of this sleazy company with misleading business practices, but unfortunately we have been able to get out. We would like our money back or at least part of it.
We filed a complaint with the BBB and this caught RH attention so they contacted us, and asked us that if we agreed to remove the complaint they would pay us 1, 000. We took the 1, 000 to pay for the annual fee of $795.00 last year 2009 . The annual fee started at $495 and we were told that this would never go up. We've called RH numerous times but since we didn't remove the complaint with the BBB they refuse to speak with us and transfer us to the legal department which are so rude and even hang on us. At this time we want NOTHING to do with ROYAL HOLIDAY CLUB we want to leave this nightmare behind us. We proceeded to file a complaint with the FTC Federal Trade Commission and we are still waiting. This company is sleazy and underhanded, and we would happily join a class action suit. I have invested many thousands of dollars, we are extremely disgusted.

I was fooled into purchasing a timeshare in 2005 from Royal Holiday. The membership is suppose to be a bronze which is 5000 credits. This membership does not even exist. I have tried to cancel the membership and take my loses and they sent me to a collection agency for the annual fees. If I cannot use the membership because those credits are not even enough for a couple of nights. why should i continue to pay the annual maintenance fees? They also have sent special fees for other reasons that i have been force to pay. i have spent over $8000. dollars on this membership and cannot even vacation with them because my credits are not enough. All I want is out they can keep their membership and stop affecting my credit. They are a big fraud. does anyone have any suggestions how can i get rid of it? other than sell it which does not work because no one will buy it. I am desperate to get rid of it financially i cannot afford to continue to throw money away. I think with 8000 i would have been able to vacation somewhere really nice. Please advice

The royal holiday sale person lied to me that their holiday credits can be used to exchange for air ticket.
And each holiday credit worth 0.25 USD.

When I called them to book air ticket, the royal holiday staff do not allow me to buy any air ticket using my holiday credits.
they showed me the RCI points during the presenation. when I tried using the holiday credits, it was another story.

I did not use any of the royal holiday service yet. I really want to complain the company and get the refund.

we when santo domingo for vacation an they told us we can go there many times they we wants with some payments an we can take vacation all the times we whent first years them the second years the room are more expence an final never reserve with then

Amid all the rhetoric about business and other relations between the USA and Mexico there is a Mexican company which Has scammed hundreds of US citizens out of thousands of dollars. Especially appalling is that the Mexican officials have made no effort to curtail their fraudulent conduct.

The company is Royal Holiday club with headquartyers in Mexico City and offices in almost all major Mexician resorts. Written comments and complaints on the internet give Royal Holiday a D grade for serivces and product, but an A+ in corruption.

Their main scam is in the sale of memberships. They promise all sorts of incentives, which are seldom delivered, to by a membership. In addition they have scammed many people by connecting them with a company that offers to buy other time shares for sufficient monies to cover much of the cost of the membership. The company, International Leisure Group (ILG), does not have offices where they say they are doing business from and phone nubers that connect unknown addresses. They, Gene Cantrell or Jack Lewis, even correspond with the victims giving them assurance and excuses about the purchase of the time shares. The Scam is not at the local sales level. It is well known and sanctioned by the corporation. A corporate financial officer at Los Tules, Luis Tello, participates in the closing of the sale knowing part of the agreement includes ILG's offers. Royal Holiday should be avoided at all costs. They have scammed over 400 people to date in the last few years.

We just got back from Cancun where we stayed at the Oasis Cancun. We attended a presentation on a vacation club which appealed to us because we like to cruise and we enjoyed the all-inclusive. Sadly we agreed to purchase, were given a book which I started to read and observed that the information did not match what Kris Garcia told us about cruises. We called the credit card company but they said charges went through. We attempted to cancel in person but were threatened that we would have to pay more for a supposed upgrade to our room, that it would be better to wait til we returned to USA. We did talk to a woman in Mexico City who was aggressive and said we were not being truthful. We just want our money back since we are seniors on a fixed income. I have been travelling to Mexico since 1969 and this makes me wary of ever returning, since the Oasis company is allowing this fraud to be carried on! Beware of friendly people in Mexico who have something to sell.

In October 2006 I and my husband went to Dominican Republic for selebration our 21 Aniversary. There we were "caught" by royal-holiday sellers who offered us "perfect" deal we canot refuse it. They promissed that they give as apportunuty to buy vacation packages directly from the Head of Travel Tourizm Industry who sells to Apple Vacation company and Master Travel company. The whole prize for 30 years vacation was 14K. Every year for 15000 points we can invite up to 8 friends to be with us at not less then 5 stars hotel in ambassador room. Plus we, as member of their club, can buy airplans tickets with up to 50% discount." We did terrible mistake to trust that proffecional layers! We paid 40% down payment by Amex credit card and sign "preliminary" contract. The sells manager mr. Pena who informed us that he is christian - what means lie is not acceptable for his nature- said that when we came home we will recieve all documentation for study and permanent contract to be signed. Only after that the charge will be in effect. Also he told if we refuse this offer we never will have this chance again. We fell secure because we paid by credit card and knew that we can stop payment if something wrong. We didn't get any documentation when we came back home. Month later I tried to call Mr.Pena to ask him about documentation but he hanged up on me as soon I introduced myself. I thought it was accident and recalled him but he hanged up before I said one word. The contract has to be in effect on Jan.1, 2007, but already on 12/20/2006 I requested my credit company(AMEX) to help me to cancel this contract and refund my money. They even changed my credit card account, but up to today royal holiday succsessfully charged my account. Unfortunatelly AMEX suggested that this company acting by law. Now when I found many responds of deceived by royal holiday club customers it will be easier to prove fraud action to my credit card, that it was lemon cotract and help me to take my money from thiefs. We have to fight to locked up this "robbery" club to get our freedom.

This is a total scam and a rip off. You cannot get away from Royal Holiday Club sales people. We made the mistake of joining when we were on vacation in Mexico. Many maintenance fees have been paid for nothing. I hope something can be done about this organization.

Having read several of these complaints, I want to ad one more. We purchased "unlimited use" for a 30 year period at our home resort Bavaro Princess, in Punta Cana. We were originally told we could use a suite whenever available, and for our friends and guests also. We only had to pay the "all-inclusive" daily fee, which at the time was about $44.00 per person per day. As they told us "The hotel makes money on the food, and you get the room basically for free." We paid $6, 000. Our first surprise came when we resevered a week, and were told that for members of the unlimited use plan, the daily all inclusive fee is $78.00 per person per day, which of course is almost $500 a week more for two people. I told them I would never had bought the plan if I knew this in advance. Based on our annual "points" cost, we were only saving about $20 a week for our $6, 000 purchase. It would take us 300 weeks to make up the $ difference. Of course all who have written about Royal Holiday will tell you that such appeals to logic do not register with their representatives. Well, I am writing today to tell you we have just been informed that "unilimted use" members now can only reserve "platinum" suites at a cost of $113 per person per day. I looked on line, and could easily book the same week, with the same flight for $777 dollars LESS than the cost of my membership plan. Non "platinum" suites are readily available. Even a "platinum" suite is $156 less (for two) on line. This begs the questions what did I actually GET for my purchase? I think "screwed" is the answer. I printed out the on line package and am bringing it with us to show them. I do not expect to get any satisfaction from them. THE POINT: Don't listen to anything they say, do not take a tour or be lulled into a "free" breakfast - it will be the most expensive breakfast you ever had. Above all else "DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT!" Stay away from these scam artists. They change their story every visit.

E-mail sent to royal holiday:

"it is with a deep sense of regret that I have to pen this letter to you.
My husband and I were on vacation in the bahamas in march 2008. We were
Staying at breezes bahamas and were approached by a young man to visit
The wyndham to have lunch and to visit the casino. We were then told
About a great opportunity to join royal holiday and the benefits told
Were extremely generous but as we indicated to the sales rep, david
Sweating, we already had a time share with westgate in orlando.

He
Then indicated to us that they would sell our timeshare for us (Free of
Charge), thus making it easier to meet our payment with royal holiday.
He also offered us a mediterranean cruise which we could use for 10
People valued at us$900.00 per person. We then inquired from him if we
Were unable to go on a mediterranean cruise what would happen. He
Offered to convert it then to 45, 000 points which we were told covered
The same above and that we could use to go on any cruise for the same
Value.

Now we are trying to use our points to go on a caribbean cruise for 10 people as promised, we are being told the following:

1.
We do not have the 45, 000 points to go on a cruise for 10 people. My
Husband spoke to yasmin at [protected] who pointed out an addendum
Clause to the contract (This document was signed in haste as they quickly put it in front of you as a matter of formality). This
States that only if we cash out the balance of $11, 772.20 within 30-90
Days of the contract date only then we would have received the 45, 000
Points. (What is the sense of this)

2. We spoke to someone at
The cruise department who said that you can only use 15, 000 points on a
Cruise at one time per annum. We could never have used all 45, 000
Points. (Another lie)

3. We are still paying our westgate
Timeshare without any word from royal holiday with regards to their
Sale of this. (Now we are paying 2 timeshares)

In light of the
Above and as per numerous reports we have gotten, we wish to
Dis-associate ourselves from your company. Please accept this letter
As your authorization to cancel this time share immediately. We have
Also instructed our bank to refuse all entries processed by your
Company as they are fraudulent. Additionally from further
Investigations made there are a lot of reports which confirms our
Claims that this seems to be the modus-operandi of royal holiday. As
Such we request a full refund of all monies paid to you.

We
Trust that this matter can be resolved amiably and our solicitors do
Not have to get involved. We look forward to your co-operation in this
Matter."

Above is an excerpt of an e-mail I sent to royal holiday. I have written to them on numerous occasions and no one has responded. I eventually
Went to their website and pasted the e-mail above. They eventually said someone would contact me regarding my complaint. No one did. On saturday 15th august 2009 a rep by the name of jennifer [protected] x 2630 continuously called my home leaving abusive messages and threatening me for not paying maintenance. Exactly what am I paying for. Giving away my hard earned money to some tricksters. They have lied to me promising me things they in no way was giving. I would like to know if their is any agency that this company can be reported to and if anyone has had any success with these people?

While on vacation in Cancun in July of 2005 our family was solicited to attend a presentation given by Royal Holiday at RHC Hyatt Cancun. We were told several statements that were simply not true. We were subject to several misrepresentations that have been proven to be totally false.

1. We were told that all hotels would be equivalent to the Presidential Suite that we were shown or better & that the hotels would be 4 or 5 star hotels only. The choices of hotels to choose from we received did not contain the same quality brand or specifications offered us at our sales presentation.

2. We were told that unused points could be carried over indefinitely from year to year anytime they were not used. Within 48 hours we read in the booklet that this was not true so Roger went in to discuss with the sales person & was told that the rule book was wrong & out of date & did not apply now and that the rules have been changed & not to worry about what the book stated. Our points have not rolled over.

3. We were told that we would have matching points with the reputable RCI Company. Yet RCI charged us a yearly fee & the same trips were twice the number of points for the mostly 3 star locations. We made it clear to the salesperson at Royal Holiday at the presentation that we were not interested in staying in 3 star locations & would buy only if the hotels were 4 star or higher. The sales person stated that the hotels were 4 or 5 star hotels to choose from & that the book showing lesser quality hotels was in the process of being updated to include the deluxe hotels we were desiring to vacation. After hours & days of phone calls & internet correspondences attempting to resolve using RCI using Royal Holiday conversion points we attempted to book online and were unable to book anything online due to RCI points & Royal Holiday not matching as was stated to us in the presentation and Royal Holiday not releasing our points.

4. We were also told that if we attempted to use the product & it was not to our satisfaction that Royal Holiday would buy back what we purchased at full cost with no questions asked. This false statement was made to trick us & get us to take advantage of the revised price of the package at the time of the sale. They repeatedly reduced the price and offered more points to secure higher quality hotels that we did not qualify for nor were there locations that we were interested in vacationing.

5. The high pressure sales team made several promises that were not true. Given the truth about the product we would have never agreed to buy. When we requested our money back from Nancy D’Argence she would not return our emails or our phone calls.

6. We have not used this product as it is not what we agreed to purchase. Every year we attempt to resolve by contacting Royal Holiday & we are told more lies. Every 1st of the year we are threatened by Royal Holiday to ruin our credit if we do not pay maintenance fees for a product we will not & cannot use due to low standards of locations, number of points received, and lack of receipt for what were promised. Royal Holiday uses their company Concord Servicing Corporation to send us threatening correspondences & harass us with phone calls threatening to ruin our good credit if we do not pay maintenance fees yearly. Concord Servicing Corporation is Royal Holiday PO Box 150 Scottsdale, AZ 85252 at physical address of 4725 N. Scottsdale Road Suite 300 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 phone [protected].

We feel that a full refund of $25, 884.16 & $1, 800 in fees are justified since Royal Holiday made several false statements regarding what they were offering versus what we received & never used. We will never use this bogus company for travel yet are forced to pay yearly maintenance fees or threats are made against our credit. For 3 years we have paid yearly maintenance fees just to prevent Royal Holiday/Concord from destroying our credit. This is the first year that we have refused to pay these ridiculous maintenance fees & we have been harassed endlessly. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS BAIT & SWITCH. PLEASE REFUND OUR MONEY ASAP!

I am sitting right now to document everything that has happened to date with this company that made many promises and none of them are true.

Upon our arrival in Cancun April 10, when we got to the hotel, we were invited to attend a short 90 minutes presentation, the person who invited us begged to attend the presentation and finally we agreed.

So Sunday 12 at morning we told our children we would go attend this meeting, much to their disappointment as this is not what holiday time means to them. Our 90 min. presentation turned into 5 or so hours. We went from 1 person to the next, that day we had 5 people talk to us about this so-called one day ONLY opportunity of a lifetime. After 3 hours my children were asking to leave, so we were going to go as we had decided at this point it was not affordable for us at the moment ($30, 000). Then in comes the manager Brian, who tells us that he has even a better offer. It just so happened that he had a prior client who was upgrading and wanted to sell their membership. So Brian began to share how much better this offer was than the first one.

By this point, I wanted to go and get something to eat and I needed to go to the washroom. They were very concerned about us leaving at this point and followed both of us. When we returned, they continue to hound us about this great offer. So my husband asked if we could leave and take the information back to our room to read over and discuss. They said no. It had to be all completed first. They were relentless! We have never felt pressure like it and by this time my wife was saying she had a headache and would like it all to end. They assured us repeatedly that they were a very reputable business for the past 30 years and we could believe and trust them. They assured us that the all documentation is legal, because the government has said they had to.

We finally felt like we had no choice. So we agreed. When I asked about getting our deposit back should we change our minds and want to cancel he assured us that Royal Holiday is multi-million dollar company which would not worry about a �measly� $4500 US down payment and should we cancel there would be absolutely no problem having it all returned. When I questioned how long we had to cancel he told us 5 days. I asked starting from when, and he replied 5 days AFTER, the 90 days when our final down payment of $2000 US is applied to our Visa card in July 09. That is when our contract would begin with our first payment to start in Sept. /09.

Later that evening my wife and I both discussed how we still felt uncomfortable about our day and we shouldn�t have let them pressure us into signing documents without doing any research about this company. So the next day I went down to find Brian but he was nowhere to be found. I talked to another man and he told me I would be so happy with the club and not to worry so much as I am on holidays and should be enjoying myself.

We flew home Friday April17/09 and I checked my email; I found my first e-mail from Nancy of Royal Holiday. So I replied to her and asked how we could cancel as we had decided that we really were not comfortable about everything, she responded to my e-mail on Monday April 20 and informed us that cancelling was not an option at this point as we had 5 working days as stated in our contract. I couldn�t believe it.

I decided to go on-line and do some research about this company only to find time and time again that it was notorious for scamming people, giving people false information, and to avoid this company at all costs.

While we were on vacation in December 2008 (November 28th to December 5th) in
Cozumel my wife and I were approached to visit a resort and get a free lunch in exchange
to visit the resort with the pretence that the resort was just rebuilt after the hurricane and
they wanted tourists to rediscover it. So we went.

What we got there was a sale pitch for a "holiday membership" with which we could
travel the world for the next 30 years with our travel cost fixed (not getting higher year
after year). After three hours of talks where the offers seemed always better and better,
we signed... The worst mistake ever.
Almost immediately that same night we started to have second thoughts but we decided
to sleep on it. Before leaving Cozumel, the day after, WE CALL THEIR HELP-DESK FROM THE AIRPORT AND TOLD THEM WE WANTED TO CANCEL. But they told us they could not do it yet because the contract had not been processed yet and was not in the system. They told us to call back when we were back home.

So the next Monday I called back and still the contract was not in the system. I sent them an
e-mail, as follows :
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jean-Pierre
Date: Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 3:28 PM
Subject: Membership cancelation
To: [protected]@royal-holiday.com
Hello, as I've stated on the phone I would like to cancel my membership with you. I know
my contract is still not on file but please notify me when it is so we can proceed with the
cancelation.
Member # 669254.
I tried calling again during that week and the week after and finally I did receive an email
on December 20th sending us our password to access the site, stating that we had
requested it! I replied to the email and called the helpdesk and they told us that they can't
cancel our membership because we were passed the 5 days cool-off period!
During the Christmas holidays we were not able to contact anyone and then in January
someone in Finance (Nancy d'Argence) contacted us to welcome us to the club. I told her
I wanted to cancel my membership but she told me she could not do anything for us
except refinance. SO SHE GAVE US A REFINANCE OFFER WHICH WOULD HAVE COST US THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS MORE IN THE END (FOR LOWER MONTHLY PAYMENTS). We refused.

She then said that the only thing we could do was to resell our membership. AND WHEN
WE BOUGHT THE MEMBERSHIP I SPECIFICALLY ASKED IF IT WAS RESALABLE AND THEY TOLD US THAT THEY SOLD EASILY, QUICKLY AND FOR A PROFIT. So she gave our names to their sales department which in turn gave them to a broker in the States (Global Resort Services), which contacted us. I talked to the broker and they told us that we could get 29 000$US for our membership! Wow, we're even making a profit. We had to pay 600$US for the account and the publicity they would put out.

I called the broker about once a month but nothing was happening. So in April I started to
do more researches on the Internet and realized that there were a lot of people in the same
situation as I was and moreover the only information I GOT ON PEOPLE THAT HAD BEEN ABLE TO RESELL THEIR MEMBERSHIP WAS FOR ABOUT 10% OF THE PRICE!

On April I started writing my story on different websites specializing in scams and
fraud and copied Royal Holiday with the information. We received an email from Royal Holiday stating that they had received our complaint and it was forwarded to a supervisor.

I started from this moment to talk to Octavio on a regular basis and exchanging emails.
But although Mr. Robles was telling me day after days that he would be presenting my
case to the board of directors, I still haven’t had any news (I understand that the offices
were closed 3 business days due to the flu pandemic). And for the last 2 weeks I am not
able to reach Mr. Robles and he is not returning my calls.

This is the reality: you have to pay an annual fee (465$US now) that can and will go up
With the years; you still have to pay for your food, which will go up; and finally you
Reserve based on a point-basis, so today with 30 000 points I can get 2 weeks, but in 2
years it could cost me 40 000 points. Plus they told us that we could easily resale our
membership for a profit, which is false. And finally they told us we had 5 days to cancel
but we got the turn-around with their helpdesk until it was too late.

Jean P.

These are the lies that Royal Holiday told my wife and I:

We were told that the Rent Sure program did not cost any money and we could easily transfer the points to pay for our annual maintenance fees. When we actually tried to do it, we were directed to a website that required us to pay more money. Why are we paying more money when Royal Holiday claimed that they will pay for the points?

We were also told that points can be saved from year to year. However, after receiving the operating rules months after we purchased our membership, we discovered that this is not true.

We were told that we can easily cancel our membership if we are not happy for the first year even though the contract said otherwise. The salesperson told us not to worry about the contract and said they would happily resell our membership because they will make an additional commission. However, since we have been having difficulty booking any kind of vacation, we requested a refund but Royal Holiday now denies it. We have also discovered it is illegal for them to issue a contract without allowing a 5 day 'cooling off' period.

Also, we were issued a $2, 000 certificate to pay for our plane tickets but Royal Holiday never sent the money to us even though we provided all the information they needed. We couldn't even use the additional points that were given to us when we purchased our membership.

Any legitimate company would have cancelled our contract and refunded our money when they heard our complaint. We were sold the membership based on lies. This company has to be exposed.

Here are two websites that will help anyone else that have been scammed by Royal Holiday.

Is their anything we can do against an International Company - Royal Holiday - Timeshare scam - granthix corp is managing the funds we were sold the promise of an annuity product and timeshare - Since 2004 we have not been contacted, nor have we received any statements regarding promised annuity with interest retrurns - HELP! They call for payments and increase fee's annually. Yesterday - they called me to request payment for late fee's that were waived due to poor mail service in my area.

The agents are rude and can not give you a straight answer!

No straight answer and no way to get out - HELP without taking the loss and messing up my great credit. What can I do - i am ready to band together and file a class action lawsuit becuse this practice is still happening and people are caught in the same situation - that initiallly sounded like a great opportunity with a good company, so we thought. HELP!

Do not purchase a timeshare many of them are scams...Especially, outside of the country - Mexico.

Please advise, or re-direct...

The short story: My wife and I purchased a 'vacation club' membership from Royal Holiday in Cancun on 5/16/09 with a down payment of $3, 800. We then cancelled the contract on 5/18/09. It says in the contract that we signed that we have 5 days to cancel for a full refund and we should expect the refund within 15 business days. It is also Mexican law that we have 5 days to cancel. To date, about 1 month later, we have recieved no payment, they say they don't have the cancellation document (we've emailed it twice and faxed it twice) and they told me that even if they had the cancellation document, it wouldn't matter. We are now in legal procedings with them to recover our money AND have them acknowledge our cancellation.

Roque Baca Chavez (a slightly longer story): My interaction with Roque was our first clue that we had been scammed. He called me to 'settle the complaint'. I informed him of everything mentioned above. He told me, "Even if you have a cancellation letter, how are we supposed to believe you? It means nothing." I told him that I have the letter, written on Royal Holiday letter-head, that I wrote it IN THE CANCUN SALES OFFICE, that is has the signature of the same Royal Holiday representative that signed our sales contract, and I even included the business card of the Sales Manager who was there for the entire process. Roque's response: "The person who signed your letter (Hector Mendez) is no longer with the company so the letter means nothing. Ryan Grover (the Sales Manager) told me he doesn't remember you, so how are we supposed to believe you?" I repeated all of the facts above to him. Furthermore, I emailed the cancellation letter (scanned copy with proof that we faxed it as well) to Roque and he never responded to our proof. He simply said "So then you are not going to settle this complaint". I responded with, "I would like to settle the complaint by recieving a full refund per your contract and Mexican law". His response, "OK, I will forward this item to our legal collections department".

Last, and certainly not least, Roque had the audacity to say to me "Shame on you for believing our sales people" amongst many other ridiculous comments that are too many to share.

Here is Roque's information: His email addresses are [protected]@aol.com and [protected]@reservationscancun.com. He has a seperate company (?) called Travel Services International on the website www.reservationscancun.com. My goal is very simple and two-fold: First, that the truthful statement above helps in my efforts to recover the money Roque and Royal Holiday fraudulently are keeping from us and, second, put Roque, those like him, and Royal Holiday out of business for good.

Anyone who has been scammed in the past by this company can email Roque and Royal Holiday... you can tell him that Scott Weaver sent you. Please help me in this effort. Best of luck!

UPDATE: I've started a new blog at royalholidayscams.blogspot.com. Visit it and share your story, provide and receive tips to fight RH, and help eachother to get our money back!

We paid our initital cost of $16, 000.00, paid it off, paid dues and then cancelled because we saw what a total and complete scam it was. They simply wouldn't let us cancel and kept billing us for dues even though we ever only used the service once within our initial time frame. We never could get accomodations when we needed them and they always added so many fees and charges that it was cheaper to book our own trip online not using the vacation club. They should have refunded our money but we just let it go. Now after several years they are trying to bill us for past dues and on top of that, they are harrassing myself and ex husband. They call me at work and threaten me and harrass me. I'm angry and I want them stopped. We are sick of it. I think a class action suit needs to be brought against them to stop them once and for all. I'd venture to say that thousands of people would join in.

While we were on vacation in December 2008 (November 28th to December 5th) in Cozumel my wife and I were approached to visit a resort and get a free lunch in exchange to visit the resort with the pretense that the resort was just rebuilt after the huricane and they wanted tourists to rediscover it. So we went.

What we got there was a sale pitch for a "holiday membership" with which we could travel the world for the next 30 years with our travel cost fixed (not getting higher year after year). After three hours of talks where the offers seemed always better and better, we signed... The worst mistake ever.

We signed a contract for 30 years, for 30 000 points per year, for 25 0000$US of which we a downpayment using our credit card for 8 750$US, having to pay 450$US per month for the balance for the next 3 years.

Almost immediatly that same night we started to have second thoughts but we decided to sleep on it. Before leaving Cozumel, the day after, we call their help-desk from the airport and told them we wanted to cancel. But they told us they could not do it yet because the contract had not been processed yet and was not in the system. They told us to call back when we were back home.

So the next Monday I call back, and still the contract was not in the system. I tried calling again during that week and finally I did receive an e-mail on December 20th sending us our password to access the site, stating that we had requested it! I call the helpdesk and they told us that they can't cancel our membership because we were passed the 5 days cool-off period!

During the Christmas holidays we were not able to contact anyone and then in January someone in Finance (Nancy d'Argence) contacted us to welcome us to the club. I told her I wanted to cancel my membership but she told me she could not do anything for us except refinance. So she gave us a refinance offer which would have cost us thousands of dollars more in the end (for lower monthly payments). We refused.

She then said that the only thing we could do was to resell our membership. And when we bought the membership I specifically asked if it was resalable and they told us that they sold easily, quickly and for a profit. So she gave our names to their sales department which in turn gave them to a broker in the States (Global Resort Services), which contacted us. I talked to the broker and they told us that we could get 29 000$US for our membership! Wow, we're even making a profit. We had to pay 600$US for the account and the publicity they would put out.

I called the broker about once a month but nothing was happening. So in April I started to do more researchs on the Internet and realized that there were a lot of people in the same situation as I was and moreover the only information I got on people that had been able to resell their membership was for about 10% of the price!

So I'm now in communication with a law-firm in Mexico that specialize in this kind of rip-off (I can't tell their name yet because I still not on a retainer with them).

So this is was they promised us: fixed vacation cost (about 2 weeks) for the next 30 years.

This is the reality: you have to pay an annual fee (465$US now) that can and will go up with the years; you still have to pay for your food, which will go up; and finally you reserve based on a point-basis, so today with 30 000 points I can get 2 weeks, but in 2 years it could cost me 40 000$.