The Grand Mayan San Jose Los Cabos Watch out for these sharks Los Cabos Mexico

Watch out for the sharks...  and I'm not referring to the sharks that swim in the ocean.  (You won't have to worry about whether there are any of those, since people are warned off swimming in the ocean at this resort because of the rip tides, but this is not mentioned until after they have your money.)  Unfortunately, my husband and I were talked into visiting this property for a 90 minute 'tour' along with a free breakfast.  Once we were there, of course, the sales presentation started.  I wish I had gone on-line and checked the reviews before I ever went.  The sales rep spent three hours (much longer than the promised 90 minute tour and presentation) explaining the 'vacation club' offered by 'Bliss' and the terms sounded appealing.  No wonder they sounded appealing -- since it turns out that none of these terms are real!  Nearly everything the rep said was a bald-faced lie.  I'm not referring to shading the truth or exaggerating slightly.  I mean that he outright made clear-cut claims of what was on offer, and when questioned, stated unequivocally that these provisions were laid out in the written contract (which, naturally, given the nature of this bait and switch swindle, he didn't have a copy of while making the presentation.)  When he wore us down enough to consider purchasing a basic unit, we were whisked off to a 'closer', who had piles of paperwork that had to be signed and initialed.  The company apparently counts on people who are sleep-deprived from overnight flights (such as we were) having their guard down against swindles... 

The closer had so many papers of various sorts (for 'the Advantage Program', for 'Vida Weeks', for financing terms, for the 'Bliss Program', etc.) -- all with lots of fine print and legal jargon -- that it was easier to assume the outright guarantees the sale rep had promised were in there than it was to carefully read and analyze the 20 or 30 pages of fine print to ensure this was the case.  How naive!  (This is exactly what the company is counting on.)  Of course, none of the promised terms are in the contract, and they make sure that one of the multitude of conditions that is buried in all that talk and jargon state 'the Company makes no representations about vacation ownership, rentals, or resales.'  They slid that one right past, as they intended, without it being noticed that this totally contradicted one of the major claims that their sales reps kept hammering away about (and one of the major reasons the sales reps were able to get people interested.)  Once they got the signatures and the down payment, they presented all the contracts that had been signed along with lots of promotional literature in a large heavy leather 3 part folder, and then 'graciously' offered to mail it, since it would add to the weight of one's luggage if one took it along with them.  Quite convenient for them, since there is a standard 'buyer's remorse' clause, that allows one to cancel the contract (and get a refund of the down payment) within 5 days.  They certainly wouldn't want people reviewing the contract and realizing they weren't getting any of the terms the sales rep had promised until after that grace period had passed. 

When I contacted the company regarding the fraudulent misrepresentations made by the sales rep, I was told that they recorded all the 'verification interviews' (i.e. the conversations in which the 'closer' quickly reviews the terms the company actually intends, rather that the ones the client thought they were getting) so they can 'prove' what was actually offered.  Of course, the sales reps don't even allow the client to take out of the room any of the papers on which he spelled out his falsified version of things. 

I hope this cautions others not to fall into the same trap (and I'm hopeful that someone will plan ahead and have a tape recorder running in their purse or bag when they go for one of these 'presentations', so they can give a news reporter the word-for-word version of the 'guarantees' made by the sales rep and contrast these to the actual contract that this swindle convinces one to pay for.  It would make for an interesting expose.)  However, unless you're interested in doing a little 'investigative reporting', I would advise you to stay away from these fraudulent sales presentations at all costs.