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Has anyone purchased from Vallart Gardens? (by Paula H.):

Much to my regret, I purchased a ‘fractional residence club ownership’ in mid-October, 2012. As I read your posting, I was amazed at how closely my experience paralleled yours.....just different salesmen. The Swiss Alliance contact that Ms. Gonzales referred to is Dan Saur who has been hired by the new ownership of Vallarta Gardens as the onsite manager of sales.....he was previously employed by Swiss Alliance. Even if you were to be provided an annuity contract, this would be no guarantee that the document would be worth the paper it is printed on. Vallarta Gardens is an older resort that went broke in the last couple of years when the economy tanked. It is being reinvented by a new sales group who is referencing and claiming among other things: they partners with Remax (this is for the credibility factor; VanCom Marketing Strategies out of Houston, Texas will market your timeshare (for an astronomical amount as I have discovered) that will in essence pay for your timeshare...(and they will for an upfront fee of approximately $1100 with no guarantee of a rental....'if the market is right'). I had a timeshare I was told would be used as trade-in value on the Vallarta Gardens 'Fractional Ownership' at a price that I agreed to (and was impressed by). Later, as I was home reviewing all associated documentation (and away from the 'high pressured' belly of the sales war room), I realized that there absolutely no reference, mention, nor barter value included for the time share I have owned for some time. Whatever that was about, I haven’t figured out yet. I have since had to pay the maintenance fee for the older timeshare since I have been back from Mexico. I did not plan on keeping two vacation plans and all related fees but find I have no recourse. Laws need to change for consumer protection. Several pieces of paper are put in front of customers to sign in rapid succession as the salesperson is saying...'remember this is what we agreed to'. Only, in a deep and introspective review of all related sales documents does a customer see that basically the contract(s) virtually cover and actually dispute many claims made and put forth by the salesperson. I purchased my 'fractional ownership' in October 2012. And, from statements I overheard, I believe this sales team has recently been put together and is just gearing up to repackage and 'resale' these properties. So, many more unsuspecting customers are on the verge of being sold a 'dubious' bill of goods. Call Ms. Gonzales and request to speak to Dan Saur. Tell him you want the Swiss Alliance Annuity that you were promised and will supposedly pay the cost of your purchase in full (in whatever number of years you were told it would payoff). You were promised this insurance in the sales pitch and the seller needs to provide what he promised. The hope was that you would ‘forget’ the annuity thereby allowing them to recoup even more money from your sale. I received a call from a Swiss Alliance customer representative on Tuesday evening after returning home of Saturday….supposedly to welcome me aboard and to verify beneficiary information. It was only a week later while balancing my checkbook that I realized that a debit for the cost of the annuity as well as the related transactional fee was made from my account almost wiping all funds from my bank account. In retrospect, it struck me as odd (perhaps even shady) that the lady never informed me that the debit was going to be made immediately following our conversation. I actually, and incorrectly as it turned out, thought the cost of the annuity was included in the down payment I made and the remaining and ongoing payments till payoff. Annuities are the latest tool in enticing unsuspecting customers into sales agreement for what used to be called ‘time shares’ but now due to the bad publicity associated with the term, are being labeled as ‘fractional ownerships’. I wonder.....how is it that so many offers and promises can be misrepresented verbally during sales discussion(s) by resort salespeople and yet be completely nullified in the documents that are pushed rapidly in front of customers during the signing phase….. leaving one with so little redress? This seems to be the habitual and continued platform for ‘time share’ sales.