Renting Weeks at Mayan Palace

I'd like to start renting out some of my weeks at the Mayan Palace, and I'm considering using RedWeek...but I'm concerned about the price to rent them for. I'm seeing some really low prices...how can it be worth it to rent weeks for so little, when you have to pay the maintence fee and you've paid for the actual timeshare (i'm estimating that i'd need to rent my weeks for $1200 just to make my money back and pay the maintence fees, but i'm seeing weeks going for less than $800! how does that work??!!

Many developer timeshare salespeople will tell prospective buyers that they can make a huge profit renting their timeshare(s), which is a lie in most cases. There are only a few very high end timeshares and locations (such as Hawaii, Aruba, St. John) that can yield a profit from rentals by owners. Most owners will do well to get their maintenance fees in return. People are not going to pay resort rack rates when there are so many deals to be found on the internet and elsewhere.

So basically, what you're saying is, when I bought my timeshare at Mayan Palace, and was promised it will be a great investment (ie that I can rent out my weeks and make all of my money back) it was a huge lie and I bought my membership under false pretenses. So how do the rental companies, who are selling the weeks for more than double what I'm seeing on redweek, ever find renters? or don't they?!

lisag275 wrote:

So basically, what you're saying is, when I bought my timeshare at Mayan Palace, and was promised it will be a great investment (ie that I can rent out my weeks and make all of my money back) it was a huge lie and I bought my membership under false pretenses. So how do the rental companies, who are selling the weeks for more than double what I'm seeing on redweek, ever find renters? or don't they?!

Yes, the old saying is, "if a timeshare salesperson moves their lips they're lying". It's only what's in the written contract that counts legally since a buyer can't prove what a salesperson might have said or promised. The rental profit is one of the biggest lies out there.

Timeshares are never financial investments, they are merely an investment in future vacations. If you bought from the developer, you'll never, in most cases, get your money back by reselling it or make a huge profit by renting it.

lisag275 wrote:

So basically, what you're saying is, when I bought my timeshare at Mayan Palace, and was promised it will be a great investment (ie that I can rent out my weeks and make all of my money back) it was a huge lie and I bought my membership under false pretenses. So how do the rental companies, who are selling the weeks for more than double what I'm seeing on redweek, ever find renters? or don't they?!

Yes they lied ! and that is also the definition for timeshare presentations. The investment you really made is that you will know be going to one of the mayan palaces each and every year, or else you're throwing away the maint. fee.Did they sell you a 2bdr. mayan palace unit then give you 2or3 extra weeks the first year and 2 extra weeks per year for 5 years at sea garden in mazatlan. Then the best is when they indirectly recommend an agency to rent all these weeks for you if you would like to rent. The agency will be willing to take a couple of hundred $ for a one time fee. We have been going to mayan palace for 4 years and nothing has been rented out by the rental agency. Sorry for the bad news, but your not alone. hey see you at a mayan palace someday!!

brian1124 wrote:

lisag275 wrote:

So basically, what you're saying is, when I bought my timeshare at Mayan Palace, and was promised it will be a great investment (ie that I can rent out my weeks and make all of my money back) it was a huge lie and I bought my membership under false pretenses. So how do the rental companies, who are selling the weeks for more than double what I'm seeing on redweek, ever find renters? or don't they?!

Yes they lied ! and that is also the definition for timeshare presentations. The investment you really made is that you will know be going to one of the mayan palaces each and every year, or else you're throwing away the maint. fee.Did they sell you a 2bdr. mayan palace unit then give you 2or3 extra weeks the first year and 2 extra weeks per year for 5 years at sea garden in mazatlan. Then the best is when they indirectly recommend an agency to rent all these weeks for you if you would like to rent. The agency will be willing to take a couple of hundred $ for a one time fee. We have been going to mayan palace for 4 years and nothing has been rented out by the rental agency. Sorry for the bad news, but your not alone. hey see you at a mayan palace someday!!

They sold us 1 regular week and 1 vacation fair week per year + a "sunpak" week that we can only use between may and september each year. the good news is, we don't have to pay maintenece fees unless we actually use the weeks (they waived that - in writing - at the sales presentation) the bad news is, we were totally taken for fools and believed them when they said we can rent out our weeks through these rental companies and actually make a small profit. So you said you did go with one of the rental agencies, and they haven't sold any of your weeks yet? can you tell me which agency you chose? what was their excuse for this, after i'm sure they "guaranteed" they'd sell your weeks??!! this is outrageous, that these companies can get away with this. how do they live with themselves?!?!?!

Did they have you initial any part of the contract where it talks about your right to rescind the purchase before a certain time period ?

If so.....you don't have a valid contract. You will be let out of it, along with all $$ returned to you.

kekouri wrote:

Did they have you initial any part of the contract where it talks about your right to rescind the purchase before a certain time period ?

If so.....you don't have a valid contract. You will be let out of it, along with all $$ returned to you.

Hmm...I'll have to check. So you're saying that if I DID sign something that said we can get out of our contract within a certain time period, then my contract is invalid? Why is that?

Many of the Palace ( and other) Mexican resorts sell timeshare RTU contracts that MUST {by Mexican law } include the rescind clause. It must be in the contract that states the time period for the buyer to rscind. ( Guess what?....I forgot the time limit...but that doesn't matter).

What the salesperson would so would say we are adding so much...or giving you such a great deal... that we must have you initial that paragraph and waive you right. (Or they never put it in the contract to begin with.) I

If that happened, the contract is void. I think I saw two posts on these forums & many on tug where the resort had to return all the money ( ALL THE MONEY) to the people they (tried to ) sell to.

Its unbelievable that such a nice place as the Palace Groups allow this to happen. Its never heard of being done at the ISCO Royal Resorts in Cancun, on the Caymens, or even the slightly troubled Royal managed Pelican Resort on St Martin. PALACE IS THE JOKE of the TS Industry (IMO). Promises, Promises.....Wink, Wink.... They all musta grew up in my childhhood county....Thats Hudson County in NJ.....

lisag275 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Did they have you initial any part of the contract where it talks about your right to rescind the purchase before a certain time period ?

If so.....you don't have a valid contract. You will be let out of it, along with all $$ returned to you.

Hmm...I'll have to check. So you're saying that if I DID sign something that said we can get out of our contract within a certain time period, then my contract is invalid? Why is that?

kekouri wrote:

Many of the Palace ( and other) Mexican resorts sell timeshare RTU contracts that MUST {by Mexican law } include the rescind clause. It must be in the contract that states the time period for the buyer to rscind. ( Guess what?....I forgot the time limit...but that doesn't matter).

What the salesperson would so would say we are adding so much...or giving you such a great deal... that we must have you initial that paragraph and waive you right. (Or they never put it in the contract to begin with.) I

If that happened, the contract is void. I think I saw two posts on these forums & many on tug where the resort had to return all the money ( ALL THE MONEY) to the people they (tried to ) sell to.

Its unbelievable that such a nice place as the Palace Groups allow this to happen. Its never heard of being done at the ISCO Royal Resorts in Cancun, on the Caymens, or even the slightly troubled Royal managed Pelican Resort on St Martin. PALACE IS THE JOKE of the TS Industry (IMO). Promises, Promises.....Wink, Wink.... They all musta grew up in my childhhood county....Thats Hudson County in NJ.....

lisag275 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Did they have you initial any part of the contract where it talks about your right to rescind the purchase before a certain time period ?

If so.....you don't have a valid contract. You will be let out of it, along with all $$ returned to you.

Hmm...I'll have to check. So you're saying that if I DID sign something that said we can get out of our contract within a certain time period, then my contract is invalid? Why is that?

We actually had no idea that we could cancel our contract at all. Our salespeople told us that, according to Mexican law, we HAD to make our decision THAT DAY and that was it. No mention of a period of time to rescind. They told us that Mexican law stated that if we don't buy today, we couldn't buy from or even contact the Mayan Group for an extended period of time (I don't remember the exact time period, but it was definitely more than a year.) Thus if we "passed this opportunity up today, we couldn't get it back" As for the contract, after reading all of the fine print (once I was home from the honeymoon, of course...after the time period to rescind had expired) I did see that there is a section that says: "you have the right to cancel this agreement within 5 days after the date you sign by (A) returning all documentation to the member service representative at the resort with all signees being present, and (B) sending written notification by certified mail, return receipt requested, within 5 days from the date you sign the agreement, to the administrative center..." We didn't initial that exact section, but we did sign the contract. Like I said before, the salespeople never made us aware of this part of the contract, and never went through the "long" contract with us...they gave us a "shortened" version that they said was exactly the same as the long one except easier to read/understand. The "short" version said nothing of the 5 day cancelation period. Anyway, even though they didn't make us aware of the 5 day cancelation period, it was in the contract so it looks like we don't have a case, right?

lisag275 wrote:

Anyway, even though they didn't make us aware of the 5 day cancelation period, it was in the contract so it looks like we don't have a case, right?

Exactly ... it's only what's in the written contract that's legally binding. Everyone should read their contracts backwards and fowards before signing on that dotted line, no matter how much legal mumbo jumbo and boring info is in it. If you had read it, you would have known that you had 5 days to rescind.

lisag275 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Many of the Palace ( and other) Mexican resorts sell timeshare RTU contracts that MUST {by Mexican law } include the rescind clause. It must be in the contract that states the time period for the buyer to rscind. ( Guess what?....I forgot the time limit...but that doesn't matter).

What the salesperson would so would say we are adding so much...or giving you such a great deal... that we must have you initial that paragraph and waive you right. (Or they never put it in the contract to begin with.) I

If that happened, the contract is void. I think I saw two posts on these forums & many on tug where the resort had to return all the money ( ALL THE MONEY) to the people they (tried to ) sell to.

Its unbelievable that such a nice place as the Palace Groups allow this to happen. Its never heard of being done at the ISCO Royal Resorts in Cancun, on the Caymens, or even the slightly troubled Royal managed Pelican Resort on St Martin. PALACE IS THE JOKE of the TS Industry (IMO). Promises, Promises.....Wink, Wink.... They all musta grew up in my childhhood county....Thats Hudson County in NJ.....

lisag275 wrote:

kekouri wrote:

Did they have you initial any part of the contract where it talks about your right to rescind the purchase before a certain time period ?

If so.....you don't have a valid contract. You will be let out of it, along with all $$ returned to you.

Hmm...I'll have to check. So you're saying that if I DID sign something that said we can get out of our contract within a certain time period, then my contract is invalid? Why is that?

We actually had no idea that we could cancel our contract at all. Our salespeople told us that, according to Mexican law, we HAD to make our decision THAT DAY and that was it. No mention of a period of time to rescind. They told us that Mexican law stated that if we don't buy today, we couldn't buy from or even contact the Mayan Group for an extended period of time (I don't remember the exact time period, but it was definitely more than a year.) Thus if we "passed this opportunity up today, we couldn't get it back" As for the contract, after reading all of the fine print (once I was home from the honeymoon, of course...after the time period to rescind had expired) I did see that there is a section that says: "you have the right to cancel this agreement within 5 days after the date you sign by (A) returning all documentation to the member service representative at the resort with all signees being present, and (B) sending written notification by certified mail, return receipt requested, within 5 days from the date you sign the agreement, to the administrative center..." We didn't initial that exact section, but we did sign the contract. Like I said before, the salespeople never made us aware of this part of the contract, and never went through the "long" contract with us...they gave us a "shortened" version that they said was exactly the same as the long one except easier to read/understand. The "short" version said nothing of the 5 day cancelation period. Anyway, even though they didn't make us aware of the 5 day cancelation period, it was in the contract so it looks like we don't have a case, right?

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Actually, I believe there is some law/rule which is intended to prevent the sales people from hounding you if you don't say yes the first time and they may also make special offers to encourage you to buy immediately (for obvious reasons). That is quite separate from the right to cancel within 5 days.

However, all is not lost if you do have a contract which is beyond the date to cancel. I have had rather good luck renting Mayan Palace for a comfortable amount over Maintenance Fees. I try to rent my 2BR lock-off as a single unit, but price the 1BR suite alone for over the MF if someone wants only that. Then whatever I can get for the Hotel style 1BR is gravy and I'm not in the hole if it fails to rent. What the hotels such as Winston and Sheritan ask for a hotel room down there is HIGH, so don't be afraid to try for a decent price. MD

I agree, all is not lost, my wife and I purchased our first time in Mexico (Villa del Mar) in 1990. In 2000, we bought into the Mayan palace, this year we traded to the Grand Mayan. We have been to the Mayans in Cancun, PV, Neuvo and Rockey point. We have had many excellent vacations in doing so. We have exchanged three times, once to Spain, once to Aspen, Co., and once to Sun Valley, ID. with the Del Mar property. In addition, we traded once through the ICE network for a cruise to the Caribbean.

We have rented our time share to friends a couple of times which basically paid the maintenance fee. Word of mouth through people at my work place works well. You are correct about it being difficult to get the rack price charged by the resort. The four companies on the list they gave to me recommended by them did not fair well when a check was made to the BBB. You to can call the BBB and put in the 10 digit phone # listed on that sheet and find out what track record is attached to that phone # for no charge. One of the numbers indicated that a "window installer" owned that number.

Kind of getting off the subject, anyway, we bought our timeshare as a commitment to take vacation and it has worked well for us. The current contract with the Grand allows that you pay the maint. fee only if you go which works well for us.

You own the time so start enjoying your weeks, we do and of course so do many others. les