NH Krystal, Rafael Septien, Ray Rubino Timeshare Fraud CANCUN, QUANTANA ROO Mexico

We want to thank the staff at the Krystal International Vacation Club for addressing our concerns. They have been very attentive to our issues and we have come to a resolution. We especially want to thank Mr. Tom Fisher for the professionalism displayed to us and his help bringing our concerns to closure.

The NH Krystal Cancun is a beautiful property in a great location and worth exploring for those interested in timeshare property. The crystal clear waters are adorned by this stunning beach front property! The setting is spectacular, yet within walking distance of great restaurants and attractions. There is nothing that the Krystal Cancun lacks; the people are friendly and accommodating, the rooms have awesome views of the water and the food is great. They even have free wifi for the guests to use, where other Cancun properties nickel and dime people for conveniences such as this! NH Hotels is a world class organization and this property is one of the reasons why it has gained that reputation.

Our issue with this merchant has been resolved

We would like to report that the Krystal Cancun is operating with unethical business practices, and what we believe to be fraudulent, given what we recently experienced earlier this year (May 2007). We would also solicit your help in helping to bring justice to the countless others that have been taken by their schemes by seeing to it that refunds are made and this practice stopped, as it only tarnishes this beautiful country.

Summary of complaint

1) Income misrepresentation.

During our sales presentation it was stated that we could easily resell our ownership, and by the time our 6 month same-as-cash financing would be due, have enough rental income to pay our investment off. Mr. Rafael Septien even put that in writing at a follow-up meeting where we had presented him with a request to cancel. During that meeting, he filed the rental agreement which they had failed to complete during the transaction, made written statement of the rental income promise within the six-month timeframe and also provided a letter from Emrem, the broker they were dealing with, claiming "high demand" and that the property, indeed, would have no problem renting. Because of these actions and a "sugar-coated gift" of extra weeks for our "inconvenience", we withdrew the cancellation.

Unfortunately the income promises turned out to be false. 8 months had passed and not a single rental took place, let alone the several that would have been required to pay off my contract as was promised. My same-as-cash financing with Bank of America came due during this time, so not wanting to destroy our credit record or pay high interest rates, we decided to pay this off. To make matters worse, after contacting the brokers owner, we learned that Mr. Septien had no right to make any income promise or rental claims on their rental agreement form, as this was not their practice. He even implied this was not even their rental form and that had nothing on file in that regards. Not only is this unethical, it is fraudulent.

2) Lost week of timeshare.

We purchased in May 2007, with the first week of our contract effective also in 2007. Later that summer we paid our 2007 dues. We were told during our meeting that we had until the end of the year to deposit that 2007 week with RCI while we held out on the rental possibility. While waiting for clarification to that in a message sent to Daniel Diaz (Emrem) and Ray Rubino (Krystal) we decided to contact reservations, when we then learned our reservation window had expired. Sadly, when we had written Rubino and Diaz, we were still within our reservation window and they didnt even show us the courtesy to inform us that we better make that reservation straight away.

When we called to complain, Mr. Septien promised to make it right by issuing us a bonus week. Unfortunately that "bonus" turned out "bogus" as it came with a "$200 string attached", hardly giving us the week we were entitled to! Just to show how wrong that was, we supposedly already had the benefit of unlimited weeks anywhere in the Krystal vacation club at a similar cost (something we also now believe to be untrue) so why he'd think that his bonus week was a bonus under those terms is beyond me.

Mr. Septien, and others serving him during this entire transaction, not only mislead us with false information, they lied to our faces by making untrue claims and promises. At this point we don't even have the confidence in the Krystal to think that anything we were told (or sold) was true, even to the point of claiming ownership of a legitimate timeshare!

This institution is being tarnished by people like Mr. Septien that are using a former football career and his "dream team promises" to completely mislead people with unethical business practices. He is not part of any "dream team" that I want to be associated with.

We have written formal letters to NH Krystal, Krystal International Vacation Club, Profeco, Bank of America and the Texas District Attorney. We had also filed complaints with various travel websites and thesqueakywheel.com and are now reaching out to NH Hoteles (corporate).

At this time, Bank of America has credited our account for the charges in response to our filing of the dispute. They initially pushed back, but when we provided them wiuth the written evidence of Mr Septiens income promise, they reconsidered their position and refunded us. Emrem, too, has issued us a refund for the rental fee, releasing them and us of any contractual obligation. The Krystal has not been cooperative thus far. They didnt acknowledge our request for refund, which is why we approached Bank of America. They also have not acknowledged our request to cancel, even though Bank of America has reversed the charges.

It is our hope that our story will steer others away from this institution before they are drawn into their deceit. Some of you reading this may think we are dumb tourists that were just caught up in the moment. The truth is we are experienced timeshare owners in Colorado with several years of "home resort" usage and exchange. These people are slick, but thats where their credibility ends. Save yourself some trouble and stay away from the Krystal Cancun!

Paul
Monument, Colorado
U.S.A.