MAYAN PALACE Timeshare COMPLAINTS

To whom it may concern:

On august 2008 I checked into the Mayan Palace Resort with my family  for a one week vacation. We booked the stay with RCI using our banked week of vacation ownership at Harbor Hill Resort in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Shortly after checking in at the Mayan Palace, we were approached by a GM representative, who asked if we would like to attend a special “owners” presentation, lasting 90 minutes for which we would receive free breakfast and 10% off our hotel bill. We accepted the offer and contacted the GM representative, who scheduled the presentation foe the following morning at 8:45 AM.

The next morning we checked in at the presentation area at the Grand Mayan, where we were scheduled to meet a GM sales representative. A few minutes later we were greeted by Dorothy, she asked us a few questions about our current timeshare situation and employment status, then accompanied us to breakfast.

After breakfast, we returned to the GM sales area, where the hard sell began. Using hand written notes on scratch papers, Dorothy explained that GM could arrange the sale of our timeshare in Cape Cod for far more than it is worth on the US market. She told us that wealthy Mexicans are eager to pay high prices for real estate in the US because property owners can get a US visa with no problem. It sounded like a reasonable explanation, she asked a GM worker to find out how much our current timeshare property was worth. He came back with a faxed confirmation saying they could sell the property for $15,300 usd. This was very attractive to us, as we knew that if we tried to sell our timeshare in the US, we would not get even a third of that price.

At this point, the “90 minutes” presentation had turned into 5 hours and we were eager to make a decision and get out of there. The whole plan sounded like it made good financial sense and we ultimately agreed to the terms we were offered. Dorothy escorted us to the GM offices at the Grand Mayan, where we met a male representative, signed a number of documents, and that was it. We were new owners at the Mayan Palace Regency Vacation Club.

It was not until we returned home and tried to deposit our weeks with the sales/rentals agency (Alliance Integrated Marketing Systems AIMS) that we suspected that we had been lied to by GM. AIMS told us we needed to pay a fee of $499 usd before they would proceed with the sale of our timeshare. AIMS sent us an email which outlined the documents they would need in order to sell our timeshare. We sent them the documents in early September, to date, we have not heard anything from AIMS.

I called AIMS several times to ask about the rental process, their explanation was very complicated. They instructed me to call GM and say I wanted to deposit my week for a week at a GM resort in Feb. or March, GM said we could not do that. After many calls and several hours time, my frustration turned to anger and suspicion that I had been scammed and misled into buying a GM timeshare. It was at this point that I decided to do an internet search about GM, the search found countless instances of people being lied to and deceived in the same way we were by Grupo Mayan

We attended a timeshare presentation at the Mayan Palace recently. We were told many things that convinced us that we would be interested in purchasing their product. After we looked over our paperwork and checked out Holiday Systems International on the internet we realized that we had been misled about them renting our unit and we would receive $700 usd once a year by doing so.

We have nothing but the memory of the scratch paper that was all written on. We do have a Trade in agreement with Travel Around the World, Inc. in regards to our relinquishing our one bedroom unit at Villa L´Auberge in Del Mar California. It was also our understanding that we would be receiving a welcome package a few days after we returned from our visit at the time to send them the Deed to our timeshare that has not happened.

We have only received a payment booklet and address labels. We were also told we would be going through Stewart Title Company and that we would receive a Deed as we have had with 2 other timeshares that we own and have not had any problems with them except that the maintenance fees keep increasing every year. Uli Janke, the sales rep. said she would call us a few days later after came home and she has not. We were told that we would not have any maintenance fees, yet we have and Addendum to contract (waiver of mandatory maintenance fees) but the document states that Maintenance Fees must be paid upon use of the weeks.

We were trading them our Del Mar Timeshare to stop the maintenance fees, we also were told that we could not return back to Mayan Palace, EVER, which at the time was not a problem. All of this has been extremely upsetting for us.

My husband and I purchased a two bedroom master suite; red week; 1 registered week; 1 vacation fare week; as an investment -- clearly stated on the form The Mayan made us fill out at the end of the sales presentation -- in July 2009.  Our representative, Uli Janke, assured us she had several weeks that she re-rented strictly as an investment for income.  Uli even told us that of the rental companies given to us on a list provided by the Mayan, AIM was the one she used and had never had any problems with. 
 As soon as we got home we started contacting the rental agencies on the Mayan list.  Two of the listings were no longer in business; one agency went on and on about how we couldn't trust the others, how they changed their company and personal names to confuse and keep scamming; one offered us a very simple, straight forward contract and assured us they would have no problem renting our weeks out; and AIM assured us that if we paid the $499 VIP fee they would guarantee our weeks would be rented out and we would have our money within the first three months of each year.
Because of Uli Janke, we went with AIM and paid for the VIP membership.  A month later they billed us $39 for "marketing" as they put it.  And when we asked where our contract was, that they had said we would have by September, they said another would be mailed but that they had not received the first one back.  To this date, May 3, 2010, we have not received a contract, our weeks have not been rented (they told us to expect payment in March and then when we didn't receive it, we had to call them to find out why not and were told, vaguely, that the renters had cancelled), and each and every time we call we are told something about new marketing or "we have someone interested," or "pay your maintenance fee and reserve a specific week and we can rent it for you faster" (we did that with one 2009 week and they still haven't rented it out and even had the gall to say they never told us to reserve a specific week).
 Now we have a company, Vacation Solutions Network, that says they want to "buy" our weeks for the next six years and will pay us a lump sum of money once we have signed the transfer papers.  That is once our contract has been approved by their title search and is approved free and clear, we will receive our lump sum xxx amount of dollars per week x 12 weeks, 3 - 4 weeks later.  They state that they will pay 50% of the title search and that all fees, maintenance and title search, will be reimbursed to us by the renters.  They say they are not a rental agency, that they are a liasison for large corporations planning conventions and need to have several weeks over several years to bundle for these corporations.
 Since we purchased this timeshare strictly as an investment, never intending to use it ourselves, we are very frustrated.  Don't want to think of our money as gone forever and once the 5-year maintenance free addendum lapses, we do not want to pay for something we won't use.  We were suckered in once before back in 2005 with the Mayan but fortunately had enough time left in our vacation to take everything back within a day and get our money refunded.  This time Uli Janke was so smooth and convincing -- lured us in with "10 burn weeks a year through HSI" and breakaway weeks (which we said we'd never use), she even gave us a mexican cell phone to call her with questions and picked us up to drive us to Playa Del Carmen when our doubts were getting us ready to back out again. We called out our questions on the contract, reitterated statements made to us that were not referred to in the contract (even did this when the sales supervisor or closer was going over the paperwork) but never got satisfactory answers.  We relied on Uli Janke, thought we were pretty good at judging people.  Guess she showed us how easily we could be persuaded.  Never, Never, Never attend a time share "90" minute presentation!!!!!!  Especially at the Mayan!
 My brother is in real estate and has had time shares for the properties the resort he works at as well as its exchange companies and has never had the experiences we have had.  We probably should have contacted him before buying.  We didn't and are now extremely embarrassed that we were so gullible.  
Can you help us get our money back?  Our contract is paid off.  We've paid $499 to AIM and $349 to Regal and $699 maintenance fee for a rolled over 2009 week we will not be using and have not been able to rent.  Have you ever heard of Vacation Solutions Network?  Are they a legitimate company?  What are our chances of recovering our $20+k?

I understand that you represent people who are seeking to having their timeshare contracts voided and their money returned. I filed a complaint with Profeco two years ago and never heard anything. I own a timeshare with Grupo Mayan, two weeks of Grand Mayan usage. When I bought, they told me that I had to waive my 5 day rescission period so I didn't attempt to back out of the deal. Later on I learned that Mexican law doesn't allow such a waiver. I would like to get my money back.

Want to cancel our timeshare contract. We were promised that our timeshare would rent every year for a profit. We already sent in the cancellqtion letter but are worried because we signed an activation letter & received 2 t-shirt, 2 hats & a beach bag plus $300 in fist club money. Can we still cancel or is that considered using our timeshare within the 5 days.

Bought a timeshare with Grupo Mayan in October 2009. They recommended that we deal with Imperial Property Management to have the timeshare rented. It appears Imperial Property Managment is not legit? I have given them a down payment of about $2, 600 (US) and we are now paying about $150.00 (US ) per month for five years. Is there a way out of this timeshare?

I would like you opinion on how and if i can cancel my timshare with the Mayan. We were told many untrue facts and not happy at all. Your profesional advice would be greatly appreciated to let us know if we have a case or not.

Hello, I was wondering if you could help us with a dilemma. This past December my wife and I were vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We were pressured into buying a timeshare with RCI. We feel that there were some aggravating circumstances and would like know the legalities of contractual and breach of contract proceedings. Some of circumstances include, the drinking of free alcohol provided by RCI before signing the contract, the verbal contract (contents discussed at the table) were not included in the contract itself, it has taken months for RCI to activate account, excessive credit card transactions took place on behalf of RCI (we signed three credit card receipts, RCI ran five transactions), poor customer service and paid way too much for the property. Additionally, my wife is currently in active duty officer in the United States Army who has issued an order not to travel to Mexico. The State Department has also issued warnings. We put a down payment on the property $17,000 and owe approximately an additional $31,000. We have not spent one day in his timeshare. We like to get out of this contract.

My husband and I purchased a two bedroom master suite; red week; 1 registered week; 1 vacation fare week; as an investment -- clearly stated on the form The Mayan made us fill out at the end of the sales presentation -- in June 2009. Our representative, Uli Janke, assured us she had several weeks that she re-rented strictly as an investment for income. Uli even told us that of the rental companies given to us on a list provided by the Mayan, AIMS was the one she used and had never had any problems with. As soon as we got home we started contacting the rental agencies on the Mayan list. Two of the listings were no longer in business; one agency went on and on about how we couldn't trust the others, how they changed their company and personal names to confuse and keep scamming; one offered us a very simple, straight forward contract and assured us they would have no problem renting our weeks out (Regal); and AIMS assured us that if we paid the $499 VIP fee they would guarantee our weeks would be rented out and we would have our money within the first three months of each year. Because of Uli Janke, we went with AIMS and paid for the VIP membership. A month later they billed us $39 for "marketing" as they put it. And when we asked where our contract was, that they had said we would have by September, they said another would be mailed but that they had not received the first one back. To this date, May 21st, 2010, we have not received a contract, our weeks have not been rented (they told us to expect payment in March and then when we didn't receive it, we had to call them to find out why not and were told, vaguely, that the renters had canceled), and each and every time we call we are told something about new marketing or "we have someone interested," or "pay your maintenance fee and reserve a specific week and we can rent it for you faster" (we did that with one 2009 week and they still haven't rented it out and even had the gall to say they never told us to reserve a specific week). Now we have a company, Vacation Solutions Network, that says they want to "buy" our weeks for the next six years and will pay us a lump sum of money once we have signed the transfer papers. That is once our contract has been approved by their title search (which we have to pay for prior to receiving any money) and is approved free and clear, we will receive our lump sum xxx amount of dollars per week x 12 weeks, 3 - 4 weeks later. They state that they will pay 50% of the title search and that all fees, maintenance and title search, will be reimbursed to us by the renters. They say they are not a rental agency, that they are a liasison for large corporations planning conventions and need to have several weeks over several years to bundle for these corporations. Since we purchased this timeshare strictly as an investment, never intending to use it ourselves, we are very frustrated. Don't want to think of our money as gone forever and once the 5-year maintenance free addendum lapses, we do not want to pay for something we won't use. We were suckered in once before back in 2005 with the Mayan but fortunately had enough time left in our vacation to take everything back within a day and get our money refunded. This time Uli Janke was so smooth and convincing -- lured us in with "10 burn weeks a year through HSI" and breakaway weeks (which we said we'd never use), she even gave us a mexican cell phone to call her with questions and picked us up to drive us to Playa Del Carmen when our doubts were getting us ready to back out again. We called out our questions on the contract, reitterated statements made to us that were not referred to in the contract (even did this when the sales supervisor or closer was going over the paperwork) but never got satisfactory answers. We relied on Uli Janke, thought we were pretty good at judging people. Guess she showed us how easily we could be persuaded. Never, Never, Never attend a time share "90" minute presentation!!!!!! Especially at the Mayan! My brother is in real estate and has had time shares for the properties the resort he works at as well as its exchange companies and has never had the experiences we have had. We probably should have contacted him before buying. We didn't and are now extremely embarrassed that we were so gullible. Can you help us get our money back? Our contract is paid off. We've paid $499 to AIMS (June 2009) and $349 to Regal (January 2010) and $699 maintenance fee for a rolled over 2009 week we will not be using and have not been able to rent. Have you ever heard of Vacation Solutions Network? Are they a legitimate company?

Hello: We purchased Timeshare from Grupo Mayan in 2006, we own time in the even year. We are tired of paying the maintenance fee every other year for something we don't use... How can we get out of this? Do you think we can get some money back? We bought it 4 years ago, and 2 years ago, we paid an agency to sell it but of course it was another scam...