Timeshare Scam: 8 Tips to Avoid being scam

The timeshare industry has two faces: on the one hand, has guaranteed vacations in beautiful and luxury suites in amazing places and promise to be less expensive over time to travel through a travel agent. On the other hand, unfortunately is also rife of deception, misrepresented promises and scams by unscrupulous sellers who are not interested in nothing but their welfare despite leaving an innocent purchaser with unnecessary debt.

In MTS, the majority of people who contact us is because they've been victims of a scam. They contact us when they realize they can’t exchange their timeshare for airline tickets, when they waited for the check for the rental of their property and the check never arrived or simply because their reservations and exchange system was not as efficient as the seller promised.

That's why we decided to make a list of the most common lies spoken by sellers lacking of professional ethics hoping that this list can help people to realize if you made a smart decision when purchasing a life time vacation or have been a victim of timeshare fraud.

Below you will find a list of most common lies said by the sellers at timeshare presentations. Read them carefully and if your sales person told you some of the statements read in the list, take action on this issue and contact us now to give you a free consultation on how MTS can help you with your problem.

In MTS our priority is to help people who have been victims of timeshare fraud to cancel their contracts. We work with determination to eradicate this type of fraudulent sales, with honesty and loyalty to our customers, and gives confidence to offer a system of payment for our services that is based on results. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your timeshare and get a free consultation to receive advice from one of our experts.

Walk away as soon as you hear these lies:

2. There is a marketing or rental program that will rent your timeshare for a profit

This is probably the biggest timeshare scam of all. This is usually mentioned at an early stage in the presentation when the salesman is offering the different usage of the timeshare. Then, when the closer or "manager" comes in to close the deal, this last person hits it hard to justify the cost of the purchase. He makes it look like a good way to recover the money invested if the couple can´t use the timeshare. This and the next tip can really damage the economy of the customer if they purchase based on a future income to cover the cost of this timeshare.

3. The developer will buy your old timeshare or sell it within certain time for a profit

This is the most common timeshare scam, many people have come to us because of this option. If a client already has a timeshare, the salesman makes the customer believe that the resort will buy their timeshare or refer them to an agency that will sell their existing timeshare within 60-120 days. Often there is a fee to list the property, and they never sell the timeshare, leaving clients with two timeshares.

4. The timeshare is presented as "easy to resell"

This option is also presented at an early stage of the sale process, the salesman would say :"you can use it, rent it, resell it... in fact, our timeshare goes up in value 5% every year...". Other timeshares go to the extent to offer the right of first refusal. This is nothing more than the creation of an atmosphere where the salesman makes the customer believe that if for any reason they are not happy or can´t afford it, the company will buy it back for a profit next year.

5. Great discounts on airfare, cruises, hotels, car rental or tours

It is very common that the sales people exaggerate the benefits of the timeshare to add value to the timeshare. The salesman might show you a chart explaining how they can get you an airfare for up to 75% off or how to get a car rental for half of what it would usually would cost you on an internet site. While getting some discount is probable, obtaining the "exaggerated" reduced cost in airfare is not likely to happen. Clients have contacted us and expressed their dissatisfaction because they were told by the salesmen the airfare from New York to Cabo would be less than 300 US round trip. When they get to talk to customer service at their resort, the airfare is at least twice that amount (same as the internet or travel agent).

6. There are tax advantages

There are no tax advantages in the USA or Canada when purchasing a timeshare in Mexico.

7. It is a deeded or like a deeded property (perpetuity)

Timeshares in Mexico are a right to use or lease. While some timeshares are for up to 99 years, the average is from 20 to 30 years. This means that once the lease has ended, if the customer wants to extend the membership, he will be obligated to buy the timeshare again at future prices.

8. You signed a waiver rescinding your 5 days cancellation right

The right to cancel your membership within five days is a constitutional right that cannot be waived. Resorts such as Krystal, Royal Holiday or Velas include in their contract a waiver letter of this right. When handing over the copy to the client, that copy is not included in the contract since it is illegal. YOU HAVE 5 DAYS TO CANCEL YOUR TIMESHARE NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE TOLD OR WHATEVER DOCUMENT YOU SIGNED.

Villa del Palmar Timeshare Contracts

Villa del Palmar is known as a timeshare resort, is open for members as well as non members, Villa del Palmar doesn’t have the reputation they wish to have, Sales associate has made Villa del Palmar look like a timeshare scam resort, the sales pitch can be exhausting and long hours, no matter how much they promise you it only takes 90 minutes, they will take their time long enough for you to cave a sign a contract without reading careful.

Villas del Palmar sales associate will let you believe that is your dream timeshare that is being there always waiting for you to purchase it. However any kind of information you give to them, villa Del Palmar sales associate will accommodate so it looks like in fact is all you are looking for. Trade-ins are common in the sales pitch, they used this strategy when you argue that you don’t have enough money to buy a new membership and you are already a current owner of a timeshare, another tactic they use is that the sales associate will referred you to a rental/sell company with a promise to sell your old timeshare in 60 to 120 days and the money that you get for selling your timeshare will be used to pay off the membership with Villa del Palmar. However this rental and selling companies that Villa del Palmar refers you to will ask you for an upfront fee with the promise of list and take into inventory your timeshare and when the time is up and you have to paid off your new membership with Villa del Palmar you will realize the rental/selling company did nothing to sell your old timeshare, so now you are stuck with two timeshares.

Villa del Palmar sales associate will also tell you that you can purchase a small unit for a profit and that in no time you will have your money back, in fact with the rental money you can pay your maintenance fee and still keep a few dollars to your pocket.  However the contract clearly states that if you wish to purchase a timeshare membership at Villa del Palmar for the solid purpose of profit or investment that you should reconsider your purchase, because Villa del Palmar timeshare memberships are for the solid purpose to easy your way to vacation.

The contract most of the time is being misrepresented by the sales associate by letting you know just a few pointers that they believe you should know to be able to get you to purchase, you are entitle to read the contract fully careful before signing or purchase anything is your right, and like any pricey purchase you should do your research and think careful if you are really up to the task to pay the annual maintenance fee and that the unit they are selling you accommodate your needs. If you are not allow to think for a couple days and then come back for purchase because this is an “ONLY TODAY OFFER” you should walk away, this might be scam.

Villa del Palmar Customer service is awful and lousy, you will never get anyone to answer you the phone or your emails, booking is also a hassle there is never availability and more often than ever if you get someone to answer you the phone , the service they will provide you will be rude and poor.

Consider very careful if a timeshare is the right option for you, is a high amount of money you will be spending on this, might as well be something that accommodate your needs, not your sales associate’s needs.

Timeshare Contract Cancellation

The rescission period is the time you are given by the law if you wish to cancel your timeshare contract, some sales person won’t tell you have this right, or just tell you that since this is “one in a lifetime offer” there is no right cancel the timeshare contract, some resorts even make you sign a waiver to rescind your right to cancel your timeshare contract, however this is illegal in Mexico and this document is not valid.  If you wish to cancel your timeshare contract within the five days period, you should be able to find in your timeshare contract instructions to where and how to send the cancellation letter via  certificated mail,  You can also talk to your sales person and let them know that you wish to cancel your timeshare contract, you don’t really need a reason just your wish to cancel your timeshare contract, be polite and if they turn you down, contact the headquarter office and let them know about your wish to cancel your timeshare contract and that you had send a cancellation letter via certificated mail. According to the law in Mexico if you cancel your timeshare contract with in the 5 days period you get a FULL refund of your money with no exceptions.

                                                                                                                                                       

Canceling your timeshare contract after your rescission period is matter of diplomacy from the resort, but don’t expect it to be a easy process, you can still get your cancellation and a refund of a reasonable sum of your monies already paid to the resort, the longer you own your timeshare the less possibility you have to recover any monies, since every day the timeshare value drops. However the resort will try to fight back your request to cancel your timeshare contract since for them will be a lost of money.

Seek for legal advice and make sure your attorney is familiar with timeshare matters in Mexico, If you are planning to hire an attorney or a company that is going to be handling your case, make sure is a legit company and that meets your needs, do not pay any upfront fees, now a days there are companies that continue with the scam, making believe they are there to help you get some relief from your timeshare situation.  You can also contact PROFECO, which is Mexican governmental institution that is designed to protect customers from fraud or scams in Mexico, you can submit a claim to PROFECO, which they will help you to get a settlement that is convenient for both parties. You can contact PROFECO still on your rescission period or after it has past this time, you should know that cancelling your timeshare contract with PROFECO is going to take a few more months that you probably expect. When it comes to the hearings, you should be fully aware that you will need a translator, and you should always be on time if for any reason you can’t make it on time or be on the phone at the time of hearing, this is consider as you didn’t approve of the settlement given by the resort and it will push back the date to finalize your case, you should also be prepare with all evidence you need to present a strong case against the resort.

Royal Holiday Timeshare

Here in Mexico Royal Holiday counts with Resorts at Cancun, Conzumel, Playa del Carmen, Acapulco, Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Los Cabs, Mexico City and Cuernavaca.  Royal Holiday offers different recreational activities such as golf, fishing, sailing, scuba diving, and a variety of water sports among other attractive activities and is definitely a place you want to spend your vacation of course if you are already a Member with them.

Royal Holiday is well known for textbook hardcore sales-pitch. They will go all the way to try to get you to sign a contract with them. The sales person will present the program as “the most popular program and therefore the most expensive one in the market!” it’s a way to lure you away making you believe you are getting the best from the best. As they explain you how the system works you will find out that you will need more points that the amount they are selling you in order to meet your needs for vacation needs.

They will also tell you if you don’t use your points you can cash them out with “RentSure” but that will have an extra cost to you which ended up being the same as loosing those points.  All the selling and signing is done outside the office around the hotel so as a “courtesy” they will let you sign the contract on the spot so you don’t miss on the great opportunity you have to become a member with them but of course there is no time to read the contract and realize on the moment that everything they have promise to you is not establish on the contract and that one of the clauses in the contract establish that everything the sales person  promised you verbally  and that is not on the contract does not have any validation.

The sales person will assure you that you are making a great investment on real estate by buying their point system membership, however a timeshare or a vacation club is NOT consider a “Real estate” purchase, since you are not owning a part of the hotel, you are leasing it. The sales person will also sell you the “Cruise program” but of course your “silver” membership doesn’t have enough points to book a cruise, so either you upgrade and spend more money with them or pay cashto book a cruise, when you can book the same cruise cheaper online and without the necessity or using a timeshare.. If you have a previous timeshare already and you tell them that is the reason why you are not considering buying with Royal Holiday, they will referrer you to “International Leisure Group” (or any other they are working with at the moment) which of course as many other Resale-Rental companies they only promise to List not Sell or Rent your previous timeshare. 

Customer Service is a major problem at Royal Holiday, it is lousy and they don’t always answer you the phone and if in case you are one of the lucky ones they don’t have an answer for you and they will transfer you to other department where they will tell you they are not in charge of whatever your phone call was about and they will keep transferring you until you give up. Booking is another major problem with Royal Holiday, they barely have availability no matter how before ahead you call, and they promise you that Royal Holiday will call you back when they have availability but that never happens.

Owning a Timeshare as an Investments

Timeshare scam is very common these days; never think this could never happen to you. There are still a few honest timeshare sales associate out there; you just need to stay clear of the ones that want to rip you off. Here is a list of the most common lies in a Timeshare scam and the true behind it:

1.     Buying the timeshare that way you can rent it for a profit.

The true is there is little or no market to do this, so it’s impossible to rent your weeks or points to get your money back.

2.     Owning a timeshare is an investment

Most contract state that if you are buying a membership of a timeshare for a profit that you should reconsider your purchase, owning a timeshare is for the solid purpose of saving money while vacationing.

3.     Extended List of Resorts and Locations where you can exchange your weeks or points.

you should do your research on what resorts and locations your timeshare is register at, and if and what you need to do the exchange and if this is what you want and suits you best.

4.     “Trade In” your old timeshare, and deducting the cost off the purchase price with a promise of selling your old timeshare.

-More often the sales associate are doing this, when the prospect buyer tells them they don’t wish to buy because they already own a timeshare, and if the buyer agree to trade in, the buyer is refer to a selling company, which the company will ask for a sum of money upfront to list the timeshare, and at the end the buyer will be out of thousands of dollars and now owning two timeshares.

5.     Taxes advantages on your timeshare purchase

-The true about a timeshare is that you are buying the right to stay at the hotel once a year, and you do not own the resort, there is why you can’t have taxes advantages with this purchase.

6.     The headquarter office of our resort is in USA, the recession period law doesn’t apply in this contract, you cannot cancel.

All contracts sign in Mexico are subject of the Mexican Laws, therefore by law you have 5 days period to rescind if you wish to cancel your timeshare contract, you cannot give away this right, and if the sales associate gave you a waiver to rescind your rights to cancel this is invalid and has no legal power.

At the moment of signing here are some points that aren’t explain or told to the buyer :

1.     All inclusive is mandatory in some resorts.

-At the moment of trying to book on your resort, they ask you to pay for all-inclusive, this is not explain at the moment of purchase because it represent an extra cost besides the mandatory maintenance fee every year.

2.     The recession period you have to cancel.

-The sales person leaves this information out on purpose, or verbally promise you that this contract cannot be cancel. You should be able to find in your contract fine instructions on how to cancel your contract if you are still within you 5 period days of recession.  

3.     Don’t allow you to fully read the contract.

Most sales associate won’t let you read the contract so you can sign the contract. Some other sales associate will tell you they mail the contract to your home and let them worry about everything else and when you get home and realize your purchase was full of lies you already pass your 5 days to cancel.

If you have heard any of this lies during your timeshare presentations, I suggest you walk away. Read the contract before signing it, it’s your right to know what you are signing especially with a timeshare. If you felt you were pressure into signing a contract and you don’t feel right about your purchase, seek for legal advice and do your research on how to cancel your timeshare contract.

Villa del palmar Timeshare

At Villa del Palmar there is no “only timeshare owners” sections, from suite, penthouse, condo, and villa are both for timeshare owners and guest. To book a reservation with Villa del Palmar, “All Inclusive” is optional but it is strongly suggested by the staff at Villa del Palmar, be aware that this is a catch since everything is so pricey that makes “All Inclusive” the real deal.

Buying a Timeshare at Villa del Palmar has its perk since it’s a “timeshare resort”.  Once the staff knows you are already a member, that is when you can start to relax and enjoy of your 5 star hotels, otherwise the sales person will keep harassing you to attend to one of their Timeshare Presentations and a polite “No thank You” wont just quite do it for them.  If you already owned a timeshare somewhere else, “that is not a problem” they will answer you, all you have to do for them is to “sell” your old timeshare and buy another one at Villa del Palmar.

 They will refer you to the company “Regal Timeshare Sales & Rentals”, which the sales people will tell you they are in charge of “selling” your old timeshare contract. This company will ask you for an consider sum of money up front to LIST not SELL your old timeshare, there is a big different between taking into inventory your timeshare and actually selling your timeshare, and after a few months you realize you have lost both your money and time with them and got nowhere with trying to sell your old timeshare and now you are a owner of two timeshares.  The other “perk” they will try to sell you so you can buy a timeshare a Villa del Palmar is the “Airfare Guarantee Program” which is supposed to give you a “discount” on Airfare and transportation from the airport to the resort, but later on you will find out those “discounts” are actually more expensive than the actual airfare and transportation to the resort than booking online.

At Villa del Palmar they advertise Customer Service is number one priority, what they don’t tell you is that customer Service is only available for you, If you are a current timeshare member calling to make a payment, otherwise if you are one of the lucky ones and get an answer from the Customer Service department, they will transfer you from one department to another and get nowhere with them.

The sales person at Villa del Palmar are well known for misleading clients to purchase a timeshare that is not what the salesman is offering.  Other common lies are: “there is no recession period since the headquarter office is located in San Diego is a USA contract and the Laws of Mexico does not apply to this”. This is a lie because the contract is being sign in Mexico; the contract must be subject of the Mexican Laws.

They can also make you sign a waiver to rescind your right to cancel, however this is a common fraud; Mexican law establishes you cannot rescind your right to cancel your timeshare contract within your first 5 days from the moment of signing the contract.