Krystal International Vacation Club Cancun They lied, cheated, abused, misled, and caused financial hardship by not reversing the charges after our timely cancellation cancun, Internet

Beware of an extremely unethical business being allowed to operate in Cancun.  I am referring to Krystal International Vacation Club.  On December 5^th, 2009, just after arriving in Cancun and retrieving our luggage from the airport baggage claim, we encountered a dozen people who appeared to be official government tourism employees who were strategically stationed inside the airport approaching tourists before they could leave.  They appeared to be legitimate considering they were wearing badges authorized by the airport, and Polo shirts resembling uniforms that identified them as tourism advisors, and had their own designated podium in a location that enabled them to prey on unsuspecting tourists.  We were approached by one of them who claimed to be helping facilitate our pre-arranged transportation to the resort where we were spending our honeymoon.  He also offered to help us visit some of the attractions in Cancun at a discounted price.  His stationery read:  Servicios Turisticos Aeroportuarios (Airport Tourist Services)

The discount turned out to be relatively insignificant compared to the full price had we gone directly to the various attractions and bought our tickets at the door.  In actuality, he made us almost two hours late for our hotel shuttle that had been waiting for us outside.  We didnt figure out until the following day that he wasnt representing any of the attractions he signed us up for but rather it was just a ruse to get us to agree to attend a 90-minute timeshare presentation.  We could not retrieve our pre-paid, discounted tickets until we finished the supposedly only 90-minute timeshare presentation.  After 90 minutes, we were still not interested and wanted to leave but were compelled to stay because we had not yet received the tickets that we came for.  After being bombarded for 8 hours by 4 different salespeople, we were finally lulled by what turned out to be numerous false promises and signed the contract against our better judgment.

The entire first day of our honeymoon was utterly wasted by Krystal and their high-pressure sales tactics which apparently included telling us whatever we wanted to hear to get us to sign on the dotted line, only to later discover that what was promised verbally did not at all reflect what was written in the actual contract.  Of course, there was no time to adequately read and inspect the bulk of written material we were presented with nor were we allowed to take it home and look at it before signing it.  We had to sign right then and there but we were assured that, if for any reason we changed our mind within 5 days, we could just cancel the contract and our 10% deposit would be refunded within 15 days. 

After reading the fine print and realizing that we were duped, we duly followed the cancellation procedure as outlined in the contract.  We sent an email, two faxes, and a certified lettereven more than what was required, well within the mandatory time period, and tried to enjoy the rest of our honeymoon which was already off to a bad start.  As it turns out, it finished as bad as it started, for the same reasonKrystals unethical business practices.  We were almost stranded in Peru because I ran out of funds prematurely, incurring several hundred dollars worth of overdraft penalties because Krystal never credited my bank account the $848.06 (10% deposit) that they were supposed to upon my cancellation.  Furthermore, they went ahead and charged $ 8,290.98 (now $8,336.15 with penalties) to the Bank of America credit card they signed us up for.  So now, because I havent paid B of A, I get harassed every few hours with automated phone calls reminding me of my debt.

We feel that despite the numerous complaints that had already been filed against Krystal, the Mexican government helped legitimize their fraud by sanctioning their business right in the airport and allowing them to con people wearing official looking shirts that deliberately misinform people of their true intentions.  If his shirt clearly said Krystal Timeshare Sales Department then I wouldnt be blaming the Mexican authorities for aiding and abetting.  Instead of warning people about these wolves in sheeps clothing, the Mexican authorities that license and provide sanction for them seem to be in cahoots with them and dont care about the welfare of the tourists that help support their economy.  Companies like Krystal leave tourists with a bad taste for Cancun.  People want a hassle-free vacation, not a long-term headache.  Now that were back home, trying to get resettled, in addition to a million other things we have to deal with the burden of getting our money back and proving to two banks that were not responsible for the charges.

In the course of our honeymoon, we traveled to 9 different Latin American countries and this was the worst experience we had.  Nowhere else are such con artists given such security clearance and overall governmental sanctioning.  We later found out that Krystal and the other timeshare pushers were told they had to leave the airport by the end of 2009.  The question we have is why were they given ANY more time to continue preying on unsuspecting tourists if the government already knew they were up to no good?  We understand that Cancun has been hit hard with a lack of tourism because of the Swine flu and hurricanes, but repeat incidents like this further depress the tourism industry and give Cancun a bad reputation.