Hacienda del Mar (Cabo) - lies and deception

My wife and I are writing to report that we believe that were intentionally misled (swindled actually) by the sales staff at the Hacienda del Mar resort in Cabo San Lucas. We signed a contract August of 2009 for a one bedroom timeshare with the understanding that we had purchased an every-year program. However, when we returned this past January (2010) to stay at the resort for the first time under the contract that we had signed, we were astounded when we heard the sales person say when reviewing our contract with us that we had actually purchased an every-other-year program. Also, when we expressed our disbelief when the sales staff said that we only owned a every-other-year program, instead of the sales staff sitting down with us addressing our concerns immediately, they said come back after hours and we were quickly ushered out of the meeting, as if trying to hide their practices from other potential clients, or to get rid of us because we weren't going to purchase anything.

We exchanged from one of our timeshares to stay at the Hacienda del Mar resort last August because we had heard that it was a lovely resort. Although we were really not interested in purchasing another timeshare, we attended the sales meeting anyways because we were interested to know the various rooms and the purchase options for the various rooms at the Hacienda del Mar resort. The sales person went through several different every-year options for various sized rooms - none of which were attractive to us. The sales person then laid out one more option which did interest us, basically because the sales price was about half the amount described earlier for the same room. The sales agent said that it was a resale and he called the program "every other year maintenance fees." We asked if this meant that we would be able to use one room each and every year and, of course pay the maintenance fees when we used the resort, but if we did not use the resort that we would only be required to pay the maintenance fee every other year (required maintenance fees are a big deal in case you cannot use the resort in any year). The sales person said yes, indicating to us that we would be signing onto an every-year program at about half the price of the previous deals that had been described to us. At no time that we could recall did the sales person say that it was an every-other-year program or in any way state that we would only have access to the resort every other year. Even the guy who went through the contract with us at closing did not state that it was an every-other-year program. He used the same terminology as the sales agent, which is that the program was "every other year maintenance fees."

On another issue we eventually learned that the sales person was telling us lies. The principal sales agent promised us that we would receive a "40 percent discount at the restaurants and bars.” We asked if that meant that we would receive that discount each time we returned, and he said yes and they had been offering this discount since the resort had been opened. We asked if that could be written in our contract and he said that they could not do that because the amount of the discount could vary. After we signed the contract, we went out to eat at a restaurant and asked for the 40 percent discount that members received. The waiter looked at us strangely and said he did not know what we were talking about. He called a manager who also explained that he did not know what we were talking about. He did provide us a 15% discount which was the discount available to us by attending the sales meeting. He suggested that we speak to the sales agent to find out what discount he was speaking about. The first thing next day we went back and spoke to that sales agent who then modified his story to say that the 40% discounts are only obtainable through the sales office, but he confirmed that we would receive the discount each time we return (another lie). This made the purchase very desirable because we not only saved on the apparent room cost with our purchase, but we would also save on the food and drink bill – particularly since the resort is located a distance from town. We accepted his explanation and went on our way (after all, this a Sheraton-affiliated resort). We did receive several 40% off discounts from the sales office last August. However, when we returned this past January as members for our first stay at the Hacienda del Mar resort, we went to the sales office and asked for the 40% off coupons. The sales agent we dealt with for the purchase the time before said that they were not offering the discounts anymore (another lie). However, we spoke to another member of the sales office and she said that the discounts we were asking about are only available the week of a new purchase and are not offered to members for return visits. We then realized that we were duped about the restaurant and bar discounts.

We have one more issue about the practices of the Hacienda del Mar sales office. They readily hand out (push) alcohol drinks during the sales meetings. When we were in the sales meeting last August, the waiter asked whether we wanted a drink of some champagne. We said no (more than once actually), but the sales agent insisted that the waiter pour us each a glass of champagne anyways. This indicates to us a sales staff which attempts to get you tipsy so that they can get their sale – this is a pathetic practice for making sales. At our follow up sales meeting earlier this year, the sales person also asked whether we would like some alcohol drinks. Although at least this time when we declined, they did not try to push the drinks on us. Of course, that may only have been because we reacted early on in the meeting to what program we had purchased.

We documented these lies and deception in a letter which we sent to Hacienda del Mar and to the Sheraton. The Hacienda del Mar response did not even acknowledge that we stated that we were lied to - they said that because it was after 5 days, the contract was fixed. They also tried to sell us more time at the resort!! The Sheraton complaint person said that they have no control over the Hacienda del Mar sales staff. The thing is, if the multi-billion dollar Sheraton Hotel chain really wanted to lean on Hacienda del Mar, Hacienda del Mar would respond. I am very disappointed in the Sheraton (in fact, I will never stay at a Sheraton Hotel again).

More dramatically, I think that we were much more easily duped because we trusted that because it was a Sheraton-affiliated resort, that we could trust them. Ironically, this was the worst sales meeting (in terms of lies or deception) of any sales meeting that we have ever attended. I believe that based on the sales practices (lies and deception) that we obverved, that many more people were swindled by Hacienda Del Mar. I have counted 7 so far which is a LOT for a very small resort.

The above is a wake-up call that everyone should read their timeshare contracts in full (within the recission period stated in the contract) .... what the salesman said verbally means little .... it's what's in the written contract that counts in a court of law.

The only option I can offer you is to get in touch with Profeco and file a complaint .... Profeco is the consumer advocate agency in Mexico. You can search these forums for contact info.

The thing is, the contract is written in a way which we interpreted to mean that we have an every-year program. Because of the problems with the contract, we did send a complaint letter to Profeco, the Mexican consumer protection agency. This is what we put in the letter to Profeco:

Our first complaint is that the Hacienda del Mar sales staff lied to us stating that we would receive 40% off of restaurant and bar bills. They also deceived us into thinking that we had purchased an every-year program, but were actually trying to sell us an every-other-year program. However, the contract is unclear about what program we actually purchased, so we are requesting that ALL of the money that we have paid to date (see above - month dependent) be returned to us. The text below describes the wording issues in the contract:

The key language in the contract is the room type, and our use of the room per year and in what season. As you can see in the contract document, the text says:

Unit type 1 LUXURY SUITE one weekly interval per year in RED EVEN YEARS season first year use year 2010.

First, this text is nonsensical – it makes no good sense in English.

The most literal meaning of the text is that the contract is that we have use of 1 LUXURY SUITE one week per year, and we can use the resort in RED seasons in EVEN YEARS, but not in RED seasons in ODD years, starting in 2010.

Another document says:

"I have entered into a binding contract to purchase the right of use of the Hacienda del Mar Condo Share Interval(s) 1 LUXURY EVEN RED RED SEASON and I have fully ..."

What does 1 LUXURY EVEN RED RED SEASON mean????? Clearly, this text is nonsensical.

One document does say that it is an every-other-year program, both at the top of the page and below in the text, but this document conflicts with the contract. The contract is both nonsensical and self-conflicting. For these reasons, the contract should be voided and the money we paid returned to us.

It looks to me like it plainly states "one week per year, every red even year". Did you catch this when you read the contract after purchasing ???? I agree the language is confusing but the words 'red even year' are plainly stated.

However, if anybody can help you it's Profeco.

Profeco did get involved (they had to because the contract was so poorly written). Profeco has not had much of an effect though. Hacienda del Mar cancelled our contract after Profeco got involved, but months later Profeco still has not gotten our money back. While Hacienda del Mar has our money, Profeco is showing up as a toothless organization that cannot make anything happen.

So how much are we being ripped off for??? Hacienda del Mar has about $5000 of our hard earned dollars - which is about half of the value of the whole contract!! Hacienda del Mar said that because we stayed there for one week, that this is what we owe for that one week (coupled with the $700 in maintenance fees, brings the total that Hacienda del Mar is charging us (ripping us off for) to almost $6000, but for only one week! This is over 5 times higher than what we would have paid under the contract. Also, that week that we stayed there was miserable because we had learned that Hacienda del Mar had scammed us into the contract.

Profeco is not a legal office and cannot force them to give refund you the money, by law you have 5 business days to cancel the contract and be able to get back 100% of monies paid. Important: Profeco is just an intermediary between you and the resort, cannot demand anything. I would like to help you with any legal information you may need, I have worked in the ts industry for many years and I may be able to provide reliable information. Samuel.

At this point in time, I think that I need to look at other options. I also filed a dispute with the credit card agency with which I purchased the timeshare, but that does not seem to be going anywhere either. How can I contact you?

Lester

Hi,

I did my own research and sent the letter within the 5 day window and we shall see what the final outcome is. Thanks!

My wife and I did get more of our money back, but Hacienda del Mar is still holding onto way too much of our money!

We still feel swindled by this egregious, greedy organization. It is difficult to understand how people can relax on Hacienda del Mar's beach when it is that greedy!!

lesterw10 wrote:

My wife and I did get more of our money back, but Hacienda del Mar is still holding onto way too much of our money!

We still feel swindled by this egregious, greedy organization. It is difficult to understand how people can relax on Hacienda del Mar's beach when it is that greedy!!

Also, never take a timeshare salesperson's verbal word in a presentation. WHAT'S IN THE WRITTEN CONTRACT IS THE ONLY LEGAL STANDING IN A COURT OF LAW and it looks like it read = "1 week every even year" .... that means every other year. If you were unsure of what the contract stated before you signed then you should have asked what it meant. Also, Mexico is red season all year long so the word 'red' actually means nothing there. Another lesson to be learned from this experience .... never, ever go to a timeshare presentation or an owner update, all they want to do is get more money from you.

Your message is interesting. You say that you should never trust what the salespeople are saying, but then you state that we should have asked what the contract meant. I read that text (I am VERT familiar with the English language) and I read two interpretations, just as I laid out.

I did ask what the contract meant and they responded in a confusing matter. When I asked if it was an every-year program, the sales person said yes (in no uncertain terms). The sales person lied to me, not just about perks.... but also about the contract itself.

I don't understand what you said about Mexico is red season all year long since most of the several timeshare companies that we sat down with made the distinction of red versus nonred season. Mexico may be "all red", but that is NOT true of the people who stay at the resorts in Mexico. Timeshares attempt to guide people to come down during the slower summer season.

Just to inform you about other people who were swindled by Hacienda del Mar, you can do a search for "timeshare scam." A Mexican law firm named Mexican Timeshare Solutions, which attempts to help timeshare victims get their timeshare contract nullified, allows people to post their stories on their webpage. You can see many of the complaints that people have had about Hacienda del Mar. They rank timeshare companies with the ones with the most complaints ranked first. Howevr, if they changed their criteria to rank timeshare companies for the number of complaints relative to then number of rooms that a resort has, Hacienda del Mar would be at the top of the list!

Another website named timeshare owners community (TOC) also lists a number of cases how people were swindled by Hacienda del Mar.

You can forget Trip Advisor since it is definitely biased towards the resorts. I posted a negative review about Hacienda del Mar and after a while they took it down, but you will not see them take down any positive reviews about Hacienda del Mar. My wife tried to post a negative review about Hacienda del Mar, and they would not even post it. Apparently, Trip Advisor is trying to sweep the timeshare owners who are mistreated under the proverbial rug.

Every time I visit Hacienda Del Mar, they try to sell me more timeshare weeks. No greeting as you enter the lobby after a long plane ride. Very rude liars who promise gifts if you go to free breakfast and listen to sales presentation. Beware of Cesar in the lobby! There is no hospitality! Guests should be treated with respect and not harassed by sales people! How about be greeted with ice water and appetizers?