Occidental Allegro Vacation Club Coerced us into signing a waiver of our cancellation rights; BEWARE - THIS IS ILLEGAL! Playa Del Carmen Ft. Lauderdale Florida Mexico

We stayed at the Grand Flamenco Xcaret for 2 weeks to March 9, 2009. We were invited to breakfast and a presentation regarding Occidental Allegro's Vacation Club. We were subjected to a high-pressure, coercive sales pitch, first by Arturo then by the manager, Ryan.

We asked about a cancellation period and were told we were not entitled to it; we were told by Ryan to sign a waiver as it was a resale package and therefore, the cancellation clause 15 was null and void. This was also reiterated by the legal verification officer, Grace. The sales pitch was accompanied by champagne and the sound of popping corks to celebrate yet another happy customer - part of the whole scam. We ended up signing but immediately regretted it.

We reread the contract that evening and noticed that the cancellation clause was not voided or initialed; it indicated that any attempt to have someone sign a waiver was "unlawful" and we were entitled to a 5-day cancellation period. We also noticed that there was no copy of the waiver included with our contract documents. We immediately followed the cancellation procedures to the letter and received our money back.

Before we cancelled, we were showered with flowers and personal phone calls welcoming us to the "family"; clearly, this was intended to distract us so we did not second guess our decision and read the contract more carefully. What likely would have happened had we not read the contract carefully and the 5 days had passed was that Occidental staff would deny the existence of the waiver - given that it's illegal - but still bind us to a contract obtained under fall pretenses.

Although we were fortunate and got out of this illegal and fraudulent interaction, we just want to be sure that no one else is taken advantage of by the unscrupulous and dishonest staff we dealt with. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone and hope they are fully investigated to prevent this fraud.

Shannon
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada