Mayan Palace Vacation Club Vida Vacation Club Sales representative did nothing but lie and deceive us into purchasing a Mayan Palace Timeshare Internet

On July 4, 2011 my wife and I flew to Mexico for a short vacation.  When we arrived at the car rental business we were solicited by a sales woman that offered a $200 discount
on our rental car if we attended a timeshare sales presentation.  We explained that we were not interested in purchasing a timeshare but the woman guaranteed that was irrelevant, as long as we attended the presentation we would receive the $200 deduction for the cost of renting the car.  My wife and I agreed to make the hour trip to your resort to attend the sales presentation.

The following day, Tuesday July 5, 2011 we drove to the Mayan resort to attend the presentation. Our sales representatives name was Erin Jenkins.  She showed us around the grounds and brought us through the rooms so we could view what was offered.  At that time we felt that it was a nice resort but we knew that purchasing wasnt possible as we could not afford to purchase another timeshare.   We already owned two that we rarely used.  One located in Arizona and the other in Florida.

Erin took us to sit down and proceeded to explain the cost of the unit that we viewed.  The unit was the 2 bedroom/1 bathroom for one week each year over the course of 25 years.  After reviewing the cost we explained to Erin that it was not possible for us to purchase a timeshare at the Mayan due to the fact we owned another timeshare. Erin then called in a representative that she said was her husband.  Erins husband asked us to explain the details about the timeshare we already owned so we did.

We told him that it was called Desert Oasis; it was located in Scottsdale, AZ and we answered all questions he had regarding the details of the Desert Oasis timeshare.  He asked us if we could give him a couple of minutes and he explained he was going to make
a few calls and see what he could do in regard to selling Desert Oasis.

When Mr. Jenkins (Erins husband) returned he said, great news!  We can sell your Scottsdale, AZ timeshare for an amount between $25,000.00 and $27,000.00 if we were willing to purchase the Mayan timeshare.  Erin then explained that the $25,000 to $27,000 was probably a price on the lower side and there was a good chance that they could sell it for even more.  After Erins Husband gave us the amount that he could sell our AZ timeshare he exited not to be seen again during the presentation.  Erin went on to ask If we are able to sell your Desert Oasis Timeshare would you purchase here at the Mayan?  We thought about this for a few minutes and Erin proceeded to get into the other benefits of owning a timeshare with Mayan.

The second deceitful, bait and switch part of the sale was when we were told that if we purchased the timeshare from the Mayan, for every year we didnt use our week at the resort, we would be given a $5,000.00 USD refund.  In addition to this benefit, Erin also informed us that if we purchased the timeshare today we would also receive 2 additional weeks to use our timeshare at no additional cost.  Let me repeat that, Jenkins says that if we purchase a timeshare from Mayan we will receive:  1. Our timeshare in Arizona will be sold for between $25,000 and $27,000 to help cover the cost of purchasing the timeshare
located at the Mayan, 2. Any year that we decide not to use the week worth of time at the Mayan, the Mayan will send us a check for $5,000.00, 3. In addition to the one week annually that we will be purchasing we will also receive 2 free weeks (annually) at no additional cost.

At this point in the sales presentation we are much more  interested.  We calculated the cost versus the gains and realized that by having the Mayan sell our Scottsdale
timeshare for $25,000.00 and by trading 1 of our registered weeks for each of the first 4 years of our term, we would take in $45,000.   Again, the $45,000 includes; $25,000 that
Erin guaranteed our current timeshare would be sold for and $5,000 for each registered
week that we owned for the first 4 years year. 

We asked Erin over and over again to confirm that this was accurate and with each question we asked she confirmed that it was accurate.   If it wasnt for these 3 key factors presented to us at the sales presentation, I assure you, we NEVER would have agreed to purchase the Mayan timeshare.

When Erin finished explaining this to us my wife and I talked it over and it appeared to be an offer that we couldnt refuse.  I mean, the way it was presented, it was a win win situation and a situation where we wouldnt have to pay for anything except for giving up our Arizona timeshare.  So, we agreed to move forward.  It was at this time when we feel we were once again deceived by yet another bait and switch type of presentation.

After agreeing to go through with the purchase we were led into another room where we sat down to go over the documentation that needed to be signed and initialed.  Erin was not
present for this, a new representative that we had not yet met handled this part of the, what I like to refer to as, CON.

As we began to attempt to read through the information the representative informed us that we would receive copies of all of the documentation that we could read through more thoroughly after we left.  This way, he could get us through the documentation quickly without having to risk us disagreeing with the verbiage in the contract.  Although, he thought of it as youre on vacation, youll have plenty of time to read this over later
and you can always cancel if the contract isnt accurate with what you were promised.  We went through the pages, initialed where he pointed and took his word that we could review more .thoroughly back at our hotel which was an hour away.   He explained canceling was very easily done if thats what we wished to do.  However, when we left, the representative suggested that since we were still on vacation, instead of having to carry all of the  documentation with us he would mail it to our home and it would be there when we arrived.  At the time, it seemed like a good idea but when my wife and I got back to our hotel room we felt very uneasy about the entire thing. 

We were staying at a resort that was located about an hour drive away from the Mayan so we attempted to contact Erin by phone so we could return and pick up the copies of the contract that we signed.  We didnt want to wait until we arrived home in Idaho to review.  When attempted to reach Erin, she was not available.  The representative that we did speak with explained that there was a large storm coming in and we shouldnt drive back to the resort.  On top of that the representative explained that Erin wasnt there and the resort was gated; this meant that if we did want to make the drive through the storm it was unlikely that we would be able to enter the resort to pick up the copies of the contract.  This type of response made us even more nervous about what we had agreed to, so we went to the rental car facility where the person was that originally solicited us on the Mayan timeshare presentation.  We explained to her the situation we were in and somehow she was able to get Erin to contact us by phone.  When we spoke to Erin by phone she assured us that everything she explained to us was accurate; including the $25,000 purchase of our Desert Oasis timeshare and the $5,000 refund for each registered week that we chose not to use.

Erin also explained that the copies of what we had initialed and signed had already been mailed to our home Idaho and they would be there when we arrived on July 11, 2011.
When we arrived home on July 11, 2011 my wife and I were again very nervous.  The details that Erin promised were not in any of the information that was mailed to us.  So, on July 12, 2011, which was day 4 of the cooling off period also known as the cancelation period, we attempted to contact Erin.  We made several telephone call attempts but we were unsuccessful in reaching her. I did however, send Erin an email but she didnt respond (copy of email included in this fax).   After several messages over the course of the next week, we still hadnt received a return call.   Not until July 21, 2011 did anyone decide to call us back from the Mayan Resort. 

It was at this time when we were informed by a different representative that we could not get out of the original contract now that the cooling off period had expired.  My
wife and I were extremely disappointed to say the least.  Since none of the promises that Erin made were true, we did not wish to continue with the purchase.  However, the new representative explained that if we didnt purchase something, we would lose out on the $8,975 deposit that we had paid.  Now we were in a real bind.  Like I said before, we had no interest in buying until Erin promised to sell our other timeshare for $25,000
as well as receiving a $5,000 refund for any registered week that we chose not to use. 

It was at this time that a new contract was sent to us that detailed a cheaper product which was a 1 bedroom instead of a 2 and a 10 year period instead of the 25 year.   This was offered to us because it was not possible for us to purchase the original offer
with out receiving the $25,000 purchase price for our Arizona timeshare, or without receiving the $5,000.00 for each registered week that we decided not to use.  We thought about this for a day or two and thats when Erin called.  Imagine that, 3 weeks of trying to reach her and now the opportunity to squeeze more money out of us appears so she decides to call.

When she called she gave excuses as to why she hadnt been in touch with us but the point of her call was to address the Arizona timeshare that shed promised to sell.  She said she was calling to remind us that, like she said in July, it could take 6-7 months for that sale to go through.  She mentioned something about Mexican citizens being willing to pay more for timeshares located in America and again assured us that the sale would close and we would
receive the $25,000 from the proceeds.  Several times she assured us that in order to receive these benefits, (selling our AZ timeshare, $5,000 for the unused weeks) we needed to be members and at that time our membership was still pending.

She again guaranteed that everything she had promised would be delivered once we had paid the balance listed on the 2nd contract and enough time had been allotted for the sale of the AZ timeshare to close.

After hearing this we agreed to sign the new contract due to the new purchase price being reduced from $35,900 to $17,835.  I would like to note that the new contract came through already dated and that date was July 1, 2011.  This date was 5 days prior to us meeting with Erin or anyone at the Mayan resort.  In fact, it was 5 days prior to us having any knowledge of the Mayan timeshare resort.

After all of this a representative from Vida Vacations offered us a settlement refund.  She agreed to refund $12,703.00 of the amount we had paid to Vida Vacations/Mayan Palace.  However, we have recently received the refund and it was only $8,935.00.  This is $3,768.00 short of the amount promised to be refunded.  When will the lies and deceit end?  I strongly suggest that other people do not sit through any of these deceiving presentations and certainly do not purchase with this company or resort.