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Vida Vacations & Grand Mayan lies
Short term it is waste of time and lies. Long term we were promised to have 60 minutes presentation and $150. The staff were hardly pushing us to buy and kept reducing the price and exchange staff ended up to half a day but I was calm down and asked nicely for the promised money until I got it. The dirty game that the staff tried to play it and I really don't like it was using my relationship with my wife to convince me to buy, say happy life is happy wife, but my wife trusted me and my decision. I don't recommend this way of selling time share
grupom wrote:Dear "Robertd617":The comment you have posted on this site has been brought to our attention. As you can imagine, monitoring the internet is an impossible task for anyone, so we sometimes rely on the help of our committed clients to inform us about this type of remarks when we are not contacted through the proper channels.
We would like to be given the opportunity to investigate this further as this does not reflect the way we treat our guests. If you received such treatment from members of our staff, we would like to be able to report it and take the necessary actions to prevent this from happening again.
So forth, you can email us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com. We would very much like to know who you are to provide you personalized assistance.
We value and respect both our members and non members. Allow us to provide you the quality service you deserve as honoured guests of our brands that continuously receive recognitions throughout the international travel industry.
We are grateful for your time.
Sincerely, Karen Rose Customer Support Representative.
Joseph D.
Hi, I recently purchased a contract. Can someone explain to me the maintenance fee issues? My contract does not stipulate a maintenance fee rather I have to pay a usage fee for each week used. Also nothing in the contract concerning special assessments or extra fees, other than if I want to re up in 10 years I pay an extra usage fee for each week. I see a lot of complaints in this thread about maintenance fees so making sure I understand. Thanks much, h
Heather K.
Dear heatherk201,
Reach out to our Customer Care Centre at 1 800 292 9446, where our experienced vacation specialists will be pleased to provide you the specific information about your membership with us.
We look forward to provide you and your family with the amazing vacation experience you deserve!
Sincerely, The Customer Support Team.
Vida V.
They don't call them maintenance fees. Think it's just a booking fee.
Listen carefully! Run for your life! You're within the five day window. Read clause 11(ii). Type a quick note saying you're canceling per the terms of the contract.
Go to Fedex and mail it tomorrow!! The USPS return receipt is honor system. They'll have no incentive to sign that they got your cancellation. You've got to sign for a FedEx.
My neighbor just did this and he said they were nice and are in the process of refunding his money. But if you wait and mail it on day 6, you're hosed. You don't have to look too hard to find people telling you to run now!!
Dan G.
Heather If your contract states that you do not pay maintenance fees, you do not have to. Let's say you purchase 4 weeks for a given resort, Grand Mayan, Grand Bliss, etc. It is assumed that you will try to use it, rent it, exchange it or ignore it for any or all of those weeks. You only pay when you make a reservation to use (usage fee) any of those weeks. On the other hand, any week you do not use, you loose them. At the end of the 10 years Contract, if you want it to extend for another 10 years, you will pay 1/2 x (your 4 weeks) of the prevalent usage fee. To be more clear, say your usage fee is presently $xxx, obviously ten years from now will be more, say $yyy, this will be the prevalent usage fee and to extend your contract you need to pay 4 halfs times $YYY or 2 times $yyy. This is my understanding, please confirm with Customer Service. BTW, This site is full of complains from people dissatisfied with VIDANTA. To get a balance opinion from satisfied Owners, visit the site called: aimfair.com, an independent site maintained by Owners.
Conrado D.
We've been owners since 2008 and love the properties. We now own 2 weeks at ?Grand Bliss but only pay when we make a reservation. If you wish to exchange your week, you pay the fee then list it with your exchange company. The only complaint I have is going to updates when they try to upsell. I now refuse to attend these sessions. My entire family enjoy the amenities of the resorts.
Elaine F.
Is it still true that you guys offer gifts to people to come see presentations and then scam them?
I am traveling to Cancun in a few days and someone suggested I attend one of the presentations in the Cancun area since I once stayed at the Acapulco hotel and loved it. I believe the name was The grand Mayan. But if this is the case i would not be interested in attending or do any kind of business with it if is not trustworthy.
Rafael V.
What I learned after the fact is if interested in purchasing it's better to skip what they have to offer and the pain of their 6 hour grueling process and purchase through resale. I ended up with Mayan palace for same price I could have gotten resale for grand Mayan and wish I had known to purchase resale.
Heather K.
Last edited by heatherk201 on Aug 16, 2015 05:39 AM
rafaelv18 wrote:Is it still true that you guys offer gifts to people to come see presentations and then scam them?I am traveling to Cancun in a few days and someone suggested I attend one of the presentations in the Cancun area...
Whoever suggested that you attend a Mexican timeshare sales presentation is not your friend. I don't know if you've had a chance to read the many horror stories of people who attended these but they are not pretty.
The promise is usually attend a 90-minute presentation and get a gift. Many times these stretch out to 5 hours or longer of being passed from one sales person to the next, being brow-beaten, insulted, starved, etc.
There are better ways to spend your vacation time. But, if you feel that whatever gift they are offering is worth your vacation time (and your sanity), then make sure you do not buy anything. Before buying a timeshare, you should do months of research, not a 5-hour presentation!
Lance C.
I just finished writing the following message but I had to come back to the top to say I did not mean to write so much but I was irritated with all the complaining...Flame away! I can take it.
Firstly, why would you pay that much money and not read the contract? Secondly, why would you go to a sales presentation for a few bucks or a small gift? Thirdly, there is NO ONE that can hold me in a presentation if I didn't want to be there!!! NO ONE! Fourthly, who in their right mind would pay just to get out of a long presentation??? REALLY?? Who is that weak?? Try this-->Look at the sales person eye to eye and say, "Thank you for the sales presentation but at this time I am not interested in your product. Thank you for presenting me with the information. Have a great day." Then get up and walk out!
I went to this presentation in February, 2015. I didn't ask for a gift to attend. I didn't expect a gift for attending. Everyone knows what a sales presentation is for...it's to sale! Another thing every adult should know, just because a sales person promises something verbally doesn't mean its gospel. If it's not in writing then the promise spoken wasn't worth the energy it took you to listen to it. NEVER EVER take a salesperson at their word. Get it in writing and READ the contract! Salespeople have a job to do. Some do it less skillfully then others or have more debt they have to pay for...probably a time share. :-)
The property at Puerto Vallarta sells itself and this is why I went to the presentation. If I wasn't interested in a timeshare, I wouldn't have taken time out of my precious vacation to listen to a sales pitch...regardless of what I was promised in return. It is time that consumers get savvy regarding making purchases. I assume we are all adults here. Before you buy another big ticket item, learn how sales works. Learn the techniques used. Most of this information should be pretty obvious but a quick read will save you money and grief in the long run. For example, we met our sales associate for breakfast. This is where they are supposed to make a "connection" with their customer. How do they do this? They show you pictures of their wife/girlfriend/boyfriend, kids, grandparents, dog, cat, or lizard. Then they tell you truth/lie about their background. Ask you about you and your family. Everything you tell them will be kept in a notebook in their head (our in an actual notebook). They already know a little about you based on your zip code and the level of accommodation you've rented (socioeconomic status). After an hour or so, while having breakfast, the salesperson is expected to make a connection. Then you are led to the slaughter house. <--ONLY if you are the hog...after all, "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered." You get shown around to the models. Everyone is very kind and on their best behavior...Kind of like being on your first date. They hold the door for you, everyone smiles, they offer you water, etc... Then you go up to the "office" where you sit for the "presentation." They tell you all about the benefits, VIDA dollars, RCI, going here and there, doing this and that. I blocked all of that out. I was interested in buying a timeshare not golf. I could give a crap about Vida dollars, golf or spa! All of that extra stuff will cloud your primary objective. That primary objective is to evaluate the value of the MAIN product being presented to you. All the extra stuff can be dealt with AFTER you have decided if you want the timeshare. IF you are not interested then say so. IF you are interested...determine what the product is worth TO YOU and not the person sitting at the table next to you or behind you. If the price isn't right, and you are not able to negotiate the terms you are happy with, then be willing to get up and walk out. JUST SAY NO!
A few thing could come into play at this point. One technique that could be used is to elude to the fact you probably can't afford it. For many, when this technique is used, pride takes over and you say to yourself, "I dare he doubt I can't afford this. I will show him." This is another way of "up-selling" you. I am by no means an expert in sales technique but I have taken the time to make myself aware.
Time and patience is key. If you enter the process with a bad attitude or expecting to be ripped off then things will probably be unpleasant. I went in viewing it as a game of how low they can go. I actually outlasted the salesperson and his managers. They had to bring in lunch to feed me and my family because 7 hours had gone by and we hadn't even talked a dollar amount. I had questions that I wanted answered and I wanted the answers in writing so I could remember it, have evidence of it, and then have it documented in an addendum. I began to think we were going to get kicked out. :-)
We reached a deal on the price that "I" was happy with. I am sure someone else probably paid less, but I don't care because I paid what I felt it was worth. Then we went into the "confirmation" room where a manager reviewed what was discussed, what was negotiated (E.g. Vida dollars, spa service, golf, weeks in the contract, etc...). Once we confirmed everything was correct she made a phone call to a third party verification company to record what was discussed and what we were paying for.
HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!!!!!! Once the documents were signed and it was time to depart, the manager asked if we wanted to have the documents shipped to our home so we didn't have to keep track of them while on vacation or take them with us. ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! Ask to take the documents with you so you can REVIEW them when you get back to your room. And by GOD you better review the contract!! The Vida contract was a very poor contract. I don't know if they intended it to be so bad to make it confusing or that they have made so many changes piecemeal that in one section the verbiage didn't match other sections. For instance, in part of the contract it referred to a maintenance fee and in another section it was called a usage fee. It doesn't really matter what it is called...it's a fee. It just made the contract difficult to understand.
Also, there is a 10 year contract and a longer contract...If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it is for a hundred years. You are buying the 10 year contract NOT the 100 year contract. Your 10 year contract will most likely be 1 week stay every even year and you must pay your "usage fee" for that week. The 100 year contract is 1 week every odd year and you only pay the usage fee if you use that week. Here is one thing to remember, the only week that is registered with the government is the 1 week every even year. (I could have the even odd years switched...regardless, one year usage fee is required and one year it is paid only if you use it) The week in the 100 year contract is not a guaranteed week ...it is based on availability.
If you leave the presentation believing you understood everything mentioned...you are WRONG! There is so much stuff piled on in the presentation there is no way to keep it organized in your head. I went back to my room that night and pulled out the contract and read it from front to back at least 5 times. I marked it up with all of my questions and concerns. Afterwards I had a hard time sleeping because of all the questions I had. What did that statement mean? How much do we have to pay each year? Is there or isn't there a maintenance fee? What is the usage fee for? How many weeks do we get? What's my name? I READ in the CONTRACT that there was a 5 day period where I could rescind the contract so I decided the next morning I would go meet with the contract specialist. I was prepared for the worst! I had my notes. I took pictures of all the pages in the contract in case something happened and I didn't get my originals back. I was determined that I wouldn't leave without a signed document from the contract specialist stating my contract had been rescinded and I didn't owe anything and furthermore I would be getting a full refund. ONE QUICK POINT HERE....If you got an upgrade to your room when you purchased, look at the document you signed for the upgrade (there is a document you signed for the upgrade). There is a price listed that tells you how much you will owe if you break the contract (back out of the timeshare purchase). It is not cheap!!!! Anyway, I went to my meeting prepared to spit nails and rip the roof off the place if I didn't get what I wanted. Because I had made an appointment by phone, the contract specialist knew what I was there for. The contract specialist greeted us in the lobby and invited us to join her at a table in the lobby. She brought us something to drink and a snack for our son. She said that she understood that we were there to rescind our purchase. I confirmed that was the reason we were there. She pulled out a form she had already prepared which stated that we had rescinded the contract, the date, nothing was owed and we would be getting a full refund within a few (5?) working days. She signed it and gave it to me. There was no sales pressure. No attitude. Just someone doing a great job at, believe it or not, "customer retention." Have you ever called to cancel your cable/satellite service because you wanted to change to a different provider because they offered you a lower rate? I'm sure you were sent over to the retention department where it is there job to keep you as a customer. They probably offered to match the competitor's offer and give you free HBO for 6 months (but if you don't cancel it you will be buying it! Gotcha!!) Well, she did just that! I even called her a one woman retention department while we were talking. After she gave me the signed document, she asked about my concerns. I told her how poorly the contract was written and I had too many questions to feel comfortable with keeping the contract. She asked me to describe one of my top concerns so I told her I didn't know if the usage fee was the same as the maintenance fee or if there were two fees. I asked her if they were the same thing and she said yes. She also confirmed that because of changes over the years the changes were not carried out throughout the contract (not good on their part, but ok). She said that she would put that clarification in an addendum. I got the contract that I had marked all over and started going through the list. She was making notes and at the end she said that there wasn't anything listed that she couldn't clarify with an addendum. Over about 3 relaxing hours discussing the contract and the property I was ABSOLUTELY comfortable tearing up the letter rescinding the purchase.
This is how concerns regarding a contract should be handled. You don't go onto a bulletin board attacking someone or an organization. Do you really think attacking will make them feel like helping you? I'm sure you have heard the saying, you can catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
It really comes down to how does one get into this situation? Did your poor salesman lie to you? Whose fault is it for not getting it in writing? Do you believe everything you are told? Especially a salesperson! (No offense salespeople) Did you read your contract? If your contract is anything like mine, it is all in black and white. Did you overpay? If it was worth signing the contract then for that price then why is it different now? Is it buyer's remorse? Get over it. Learn from it. Move on. Have you ever had any other company return money because you fell for their slick ad/sales pitch? I highly doubt it. The next time you go buy a car, try returning it a week later. Oh, and when you are buying that brand new car...be sure to buy the maintenance/service package, the under coating package, the extended warranty, scotch guard interior protection, etc... That is up-selling at its best. And for all of you that traded in your previous time shares...trade in your car when you buy that new car. It's the best price you can get.
You really aren't mad at the company. You are mad at yourself for feeling like you got screwed over. If you had done what adults do, and that is to read the contract, you would not be in the situation you find yourself today. So go ahead, everyone can flame me for siding with the evil Vidanta Corporation. But I am very happy knowing that I purchased this contract at a price I could afford, at a price I agreed on and not a single concern of being tricked into my purchase.
And no, I do not work for the company, represent the company, or affiliated with the company in any fashion. Hell, I'll probably get flamed from them for saying too much about their sales. :-/
Walter S.
all I can say is, "YOU NEED TO GET A LIFE" if this is all you can do to fill your time!!!! There are many of us who were not looking for gifts, etc. but had other reasons to consider doing business with VIDA and naively presumed that they were an honest company and were scammed! Don't think you know it all and save your time to put to good use like donating your time to a charitable organization!
Barbara D.
Thank you, I have a great life!...and I do donate my time, and money, to several charitable organizations. Do you?
I will say it once again...you didn't get scammed, you just didn't read your contract! From my experience, Vida honors their contracts...so should you.
barbarad439 wrote:all I can say is, "YOU NEED TO GET A LIFE" if this is all you can do to fill your time!!!! There are many of us who were not looking for gifts, etc. but had other reasons to consider doing business with VIDA and naively presumed that they were an honest company and were scammed! Don't think you know it all and save your time to put to good use like donating your time to a charitable organization!
Walter S.