Vida Vacations & Grand Mayan lies

I doubt they will threaten you unless you post something that isn't true. No one likes to be slandered.

Post the truth, as long as you abide by any confidentiality agreement you may have, and I'm sure no one will "threaten" you. If someone threatens you, post the threat.

I've seen many remarks removed voluntarily. I can only assume that this was done after they reached an agreement. With any business agreement of this sort you would want the customer to withdraw the complaint as part of the agreement. This is only good business practice.

lindal918 wrote:

I've heard they will threaten you for posting on this site as well...

Hello there,

I read your post and was hoping you could answer a quick question for me...I unfortunately signed up for a Vida vacation package in September. After working with the credit card company, I also got it refunded and the claim was permanently closed after 45 days of not hearing from Vida. My question is did you ever get a separate bill for them? I know it's closed on our side, but was worried about theirs. Any feedback is very appreciated :)

Thanks!

I never received a separate bill from them. It took awhile to get a refund but they honored the five day window. Hope that helps!!

Sadly, I am adding my own story to this long list of familiar gripes with Vida Vacations (Vidanta). Most that fall for the sales lies of Vida don't read these stories until it's too late, so I'm not sure whether adding my story will help anyone. Nevertheless, I felt it was important to add my experience to the list anyway.

I was ignorant of what timeshares even are, let alone how they work. So taking a first-ever Mexican vacation probably made me an easy mark. It all started when I checked into the Mayan Palace and was told no room assignments could be made unless I spoke to a concierge (I booked the trip via an armed services vacation club, so I didn't realize I was checking into a timeshare property). The "concierge" turned out to be a marketing agent for Vida and it wasn't long before she had convinced me that in exchange for a 1-hour presentation, I would get an upgraded room, and a free zip line activity. Seemed like a no-brainer, I thought…

It turned out that the presentation was held at the Nuevo Vallarta... a half hour north of Puerto Vallarta by cab. The resort complex is immense, so the ability to leave after an hour was simply not possible. I ended up in a persistent and endless presentation that lasted 6 hours. I know I could've marched out of the hotel, but I felt stuck. Despite round after round of "no", followed by better offers, followed by more delays, I sat there like an idiot until somehow I started to believe their marketing bs.

I'm a firefighter and my partner is a teacher - we were simply overwhelmed by their slick presentation, fast talking, and assurances of top value. There is no doubt that this sales team was very good at what they do. I tried to Google "Vida TImeshare" during one of our negotiating breaks as it did seem a bit shady, but I had no internet connection (otherwise I may have stumbled on the stories in this thread earlier). At the end of 6 hours, I relented and they got my credit card. It was at the end of the day, and so we rushed through signing pages of contracts. I was assured all along that I could cancel or sell my contract at any time it was no longer a value to me. The 5-day cancellation window was in the fine print, but I wasn't even home before those 5 days already passed (even if I had noticed it as we raced through the forms). Then they told me that they would mail all the paperwork and membership info to me so I wouldn’t need to carry it – what sales genius! Now I didn’t even have the ability to read the fine print during the following days - chalk up another victory for the opportunistic sales team at Vida.

I did try cancelling later (well after the 5-day allowance), and was sternly told "No." They did offer yet another contract for a lower price (by this time the price had fallen 80% from their opening offer... I still have no idea on what the actual value of this timeshare but clearly their pricing is not connected to the value, but rather what they think they can extract from you). I did get an email back from Vida saying that they would cancel my contract, but I would forfeit my 35% deposit. How generous of them!!

I did try to reverse charges on this 35% payment through my credit card, but was unsuccessful. I saw the reply Vida sent to my bank, and it is clear they have as successful of a set of lawyers, as they do salesmen.

I cannot condemn timeshares in general as fraudulent - I just don't have the legal knowledge to judge that. Besides, for some folks, timeshares may fit their vacation styles just fine. Nevertheless, I can say that my experience has shown me a pretty dark side of business ethics. In retrospect, there were plenty of danger signs during those 6 hours - but when I was in the midst of it, I fell right into their trap. Clearly, I am not alone, but I still feel stupid and naïve to be taken for so much money.

It will be years before I can replenish my vacation funds that Vida took. When I finally do get a chance to return to Mexico, I will be much wiser and sadly, a lot more cynical too. And most certainly, I will share my experiences with anyone I see waiting in line to speak to the “concierge.”

I've been an owner with Vida for many years now. I began as owner at Mayan Palace, upgraded to Grand Mayan 2 bedroom and a few years ago upgraded to Grand Bliss 2 bedroom. I love these properties and look forward to my yearly vacation. On the plus side of my deal I only pay a usage fee...that means only when I book my stay do I pay a fee. I am not billed if I plan to not use my 2 weeks. On the downside I never can secure a reservation at the Grand ?Bliss so I'm downgraded to the Grand Mayan even if I book the required 8 mos in advance. This has occurred several years in a row at the ?Riviera Mayan property. They simply do not have enough rooms available for Grand Bliss owners....but if I call my exchange company SFX and see if I can secure an exchange using my other timeshare, it is available. They are interested in getting new people in to purchase and always will try to upgrade you. I am in for $30,000 and refuse to spend any more so I will not attend the so called " update sessions". The staff is remarkable and always refers to us by name and welcomes us "home" each year.

we are definately not being given what we were promised

Same story - different players. You are far from alone in this situation. You have contacted Vida in an attempt rescind your purchase and you were rebuffed. Don't fall victim to any company who can get you out of your contract - for a big upfront fee. It won't happen. However, Vida fashions themselves as an upstanding corporate citizen and a fair player. Your best bet is to start contributing to all the "complaint sites." Vida hates bad publicity, and has a department to handle internet static. Many people have come back to these complaint sites, after communicating with Vida customer service and reaching some sort of agreement. Who knows what the settlement might be. However, you have to make some noise to be heard. Good luck.

This sounds just like us!!!! Omg !!! I attended the latest presentation.... Just for fun! They gave us the 10% off the bill and $3000 more pesos off the bill. Our guy must have googled us prior to our meeting. He came from our tiny home town!!!! What are the chances of that happening???? He said he wasn't part of the sales team. He was paid a salary. He was awesome till we said we were not giving them any more money. He said we were only 1 of 84 people in the U.S that actually bought at the grand bliss. That they are tearing down Mayan palace and grand Mayan. We need to give them $19,900 or $26000 to move over to grand luxx.... So we said nice try but no!!! Then the non salesman got seriously rude and aggressive !!!! Roger Benson is a mean aggressive liar.... They need funds to build 3 hotels and theme parks across the street. Get the money elsewhere I told him I am not a bank!!! I can't even get a room at my downgrade of grand Mayan !!! They wanted to plop us in building 9 "the jungle" after I spoke with the front desk a few days before arriving. Funny persistence and a 40 minute front desk check in got me building 5 2nd floor. They are just crappy !!!!! I'll trade it.... Eventually we will get rid of it!!!! So sad cause it's really beautiful and the staff there is amazing!!!!

Dear Karen .... I Called customer relations today. I returned from my trip Sunday. I cut my experience at grand bliss/ grand Mayan short and left there on Thursday instead of Saturday. Went to my happy place Leblanc spa in the hotel zone. I am really sick of a few things. As a charter member of the resort ( we bought pre construction 15 years ago)... I do not feel we are treated very well. The lies are just annoying at this point and the way we are treated as long time loyal owners is just pathetic and sad. We began at Mayan palace... Then upgraded to grand Mayan ...then small other upgrades along the way... In 2009 we paid to upgrade (reluctantly) to grand bliss. Here is where the lies really began. There are 2 reasons we upgraded. 1 we were told the grand bliss would have better trading power because it would have an ocean view... Just like the model unit. LIE!!!! The other reason was we made a low offer. Told it was accepted and then after much confusion ( and 5 hours in the hostage room) we were yelled at by a very rude man and told to leave!!!! I left that room humiliated and crying!!! Some vacation experience.... The manager contacted me and offered the grand bliss to us at slightly higher then our offer... We decided to do it. We feel like fools now!!! Why you might ask. Because since 2009 we have only been able to stay at the grand bliss 1 time. They didn't get built right away and there are only a couple of buildings now. I live closest to riviera maya and they are simply never available. I can down grade back to grand Mayan at 20% off the rate .... Yippee!!! I gave $7100 more dollars to own something I can never use!!!! Lucky me. Then when I get there I have to spend 45 minutes at the front desk begging to get in buildings 1-5 ( to avoid the jungle building and the friggin shuttles)... Somehow a room magically appeared!!!! Not sure why that simple request from a charter member is so difficult to handle ???? I even called a few days before I arrived and spoke to the front desk. That certainly helped .... Then the room had no robes and no fresh flowers ... No water... no view ... Very sad. Jose the sales rep that was assigned to us seemed nice. He said your being respected as charter members now and we see in the past you had trouble at one of the presentations, therefore you are not going to be bothered about going. We were like ok. Then a few days went by and I get a voice message from someone and it's to invite us to a special members update. The person says that he knows Jose offered us 2 tickets to the circ de sole show or 3000 pesos ... Um no Jose never offered us anything. We decide to hear the update and take the money. Our rep Roger Benson seemed awesome!!! Seemed is the operative word. He was from our hometown his mom went to our high school !!! What a crazy coincident ???? I wonder how much of what mr benson told us was true.... Funny he was going to give us his private cell number to help us with reservations etc... What a cool guy!!!! Oh he isn't a sales rep. He is a member helper ... He isn't there to sell anything. He is just going to help us with what we already have. Yeah right. When he pitched grand luxe to us he wanted us to pay either $19,900 or $26,000 to upgrade. We said no . Not going to happen. Well here come more lies... They are planning to demolish Mayan palace and grand Mayan. Everything will become grand luxe. No one wants the other stuff. We are only one of 84 people( idiots) in the U.S that bought the grand bliss. Everyone prefers luxe. According to customer relations that is not true!!!! We all have contracts!!! This is all such BS!!!! If a grand luxe owne can't get a unit when they book you pay them 10 times their maintance fee??? They are not in the exchange program ??? Um yes they are!!! Interval and registry have them. Also mr benson became aggressive and when he did we got up and left. All set. I would love my $7100 back for grand bliss. I would love to simply be done with the lies .... I am just disgusted that everyone I met at the new pool / beach club traded into grand bliss ... I am a friggin owner and could not get it!!!! So much for being an owner giving me preferential treatment !!!! The grounds are beautiful, the staff are friendly . Wish someone would make things right for us !!!! We feel very wronged !!!!!

I too have been unable to secure what I own, Grand Bliss. However if I exchange my Orlando timeshare I can get onto GB...this sucks. You are correct...at the GB pool you hear how many are on an exchange and you get so angry. We love the property but sorry we upgraded to the GB. We only get to stay at the Grand Mayan. I refuse to attend any more presentations so no more hassles. We always go in Feb so I begin making reservations in Jun and still cannot secure GB. Next year I'll try for Nuevo and see if I get lucky.

Same exact things happened to us! And the famous u don't pay unless u use??

Unfortunately we became members 7 years ago, and have never use the Grand Mayan Palace or Vida Vacation resort. We had been scammed not once, but three times and the scam is still keep on going by paying this yearly maintenance fee. These company has brought us so much grief that my husband and I almost got a divorce from all the arguments we had over the years. When we got scammed the third time it was a big a mount of money in the $10,000. Until now we are being slave to pay the yearly maintenance fee that keeps on going up in price, it's started up at $400 and now its in the $700's. I feel we are wasting our money since we've never use their resort anyway. Four years after we signed up, somebody called us and said, they re going sell or rent it for us, we paid them $1500, and nothing came out of it; and then the second time somebody called us again, the deal sounded too good to be true, my husband took a chance and did it any way, sure enough it was one the big scam; they said there is a buyer /renter, we just to have pay $10,000 for the closing and we will be getting $30,000 dollars for the so many weeks they are going to rent it. It was my husband who did the dealing, he was instructed to wire the money to Mexican bank, but after my husband wired the $10,000 to their bank, they did not answer our phone calls anymore. Evidently they sold our information to a bunch of scammers,..we don't know if these scammers are a part their circle because they used the same tactics and manipulation when we first signed up, they try to sweetened the deal they are very cunning and skillful, as if they went to school and have Masters Degree on fooling people, they are equipped with answers for every leery question you may have. We been fed up and frustrated with their lies,... I want to cut our ties with Mayan Palace, or at least get the money we paid for the time share. I'm so mad at these people, until now we are continually being screwed over by Mayan Palace because we don't want to ruin our credit, so every year we reluctantly pay $600 for nothing, this years bill is now is almost $700. We have never use the Mayan Palace Resorts but yet we pay every year for the maintenance fee. They have never stood up of what they promised, this could mean breach of contract, they were supposed to have it rented for us and we should be receiving rent money every time it supposed to be rented!,..bunch of liars!! Now I'm about ready to hire a lawyer and maybe start another Class Action Law Suit! I want to talk to their customers service first. And if I don't get the result I want this is what I'm going to do! Our story is similar to those who made some complains about this resorts, they use high pressure sales tactics, then lied to you about getting it rented, they said a part of that maintenance fee is to pay for somebody to help manage and get it rented, but until now we haven't received any amount money from any renters. I remember I went to the bathroom before we signed the contract, and the sales person waited and trapped me at the door, I told him I want to speak to my husband first before we make our decision, but he was so skillful at trickery and before we knew it, we managed to signed the contract with out having a chance to discuss about it first. We want to at least get our money back we paid for the time share, and get what we paid every year for the maintenance, and apart from this amount, we already been scammed $11,500. I think this company should be band from operating their business!! Or should be off limits to all Americans!! " I'd like to know what other's are saying about you don't pay unless you used?" cause I pay every year whether I use it or not and now I just received a bill it's almost $700!!! I just so had it with these company Mayan Palace!!

They are very skillfull as if they have master degree in fooling people!

I could care less if I ever go back to Mexico again. This company, Vida/ Mayan Palace and it's employee gave me a bad after taste with my experience with them. We all can start another Class Action Law Suit. I heard they just finished with one class action law suit not too long ago! I know there are still a bunch of us who had been fooled by there high pressure sales tactics and still paying for their yearly maintenance fee. It's been 7 years and they continually keep scamming us! They have taken us for a fool! I hate this company with passion!! Every time I think about them my blood just boils!

i wish i could say the same however....

I bought a timeshare just this past December. I was already on the fence about it when a lot of financial discrepancies started to occur, one of which being them charging my credit card account a whole month early. Before I left Mexico I cancelled the contract. The customer care staff were friendly up until I gave my final NO to the deals they gave to entice me back. Now it's nearing mid January, weeks after the last day they said it would take get my money back, and over a month since I cancelled the plan AND I STILL DON'T HAVE MY MONEY. On top of that, I have had to start repaying the credit companies back. Horrible! This company has put such a bad taste in my mouth regarding all timeshares. Each time I call customer care to inquire about repayment I am on hold for over 20 mins(MINIMAL) and then I get some off the wall story after another. One lady told me the money was already deposited! More lies. This has been such a nightmare

This company is a scam don't you see most of the posts??? if I don't get a good customer service and a good resolution to this I'm going to share all of these in Facebook!! We wiill see if they make anymore money from scamming people!!!

Dear Users,

We were alerted to your concerns and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

We truly regret to hear about the inconveniences you all have experienced.

Please contact us at 1-800-292-9446 or at customercare@vidavacations.com. Once we obtain your contract's information, we will certainly provide you personalized assistance in a promptly manner to help you make the most out of your vacation package.

We are grateful for your time.

Sincerely, The Customer Care Team.

I did call customer service.... While they are really nice they simply quote the contract that was signed. They say they are sorry that the sales people lie and manipulate .... They can't do anything. We were told they even on our last visit that our maintenance fee $1300 is for the whole unit. It's a 2 bed lock off. We were told we could break it up... I like to use half there and bank 1/2. This was the first time I was charged more money ( $1300 plus extra to deposit 1/2) why???? I'm not even able to use my grand bliss ???? The whole rental thing is another scam ... Fell for that several years ago... Only lost $250... Would just love to recoup the grand bliss upgrade money ... Am fed up with the poor treatment and am sick of vida b/s!!!!

Just reading Vida’s routine messages posted here from “The Customer Care Team” makes me so angry. Really? Like we didn’t try that first?

I spent a lot of time with customer service. I often wonder whether they think we are all idiots. There is no doubt that they are aware of the deceit and manipulation that happens in the “presentations”, after all, it appears to be a Vida Vacation culture. Further, they must be totally aware of complaints of not being able to book into properties as promised (Bliss especially), or being downgraded into lesser properties routinely. So if the Vida Vacation Customer Care team really wanted to resolve the “inconveniences” that they read about on forums like this, they need to take a little different approach than just mocking us by tossing the contracts in our face. Frankly though, it is clear that they are more interested in leeching cash from unwary new travelers, than earning an honest profit by providing a great product transparently. They could do either, but instead choose to profit using shady practices. A real pity.

As other readers have posted, the facilities and on-site staff are great. However, Vida Vacation business practices are dreadful and in my opinion, totally unethical. I hate the idea that a lot of my money they took is used to pay for their team of lawyers to defend these practices and impose them on others. I will help spread our frustrated message on all the other timeshare forums I can find. Hopefully, at least one potential customer will read our warnings before giving cash to feed this organization!

It really makes me feel bad that people keep falling for this scam. The sales people are highly trained and will do just about anything to take your money. They honestly have no shame and could care less if it affects you financially or psychologically.

Please hang up immediately when anyone calls you to say that they can sell or rent your timeshare. If you don't hang up, you will be scammed again.

The truth is that legally, you can actually just stop paying your maintenance fees and nothing will happen to your credit score.

The only thing that will happen is that you will receive lots of calls from them (since they have a team of people that are paid to call you and convince you to keep paying). And, guess what, they actually earn a commission when they do convince you.

They will also send you notifications of payment due, pass due, etc. and you can just ignore them as well.

If you're serious about the Class Action Law Suit, be sure to contact an attorney that has already won (and can actually prove it). Otherwise, you will only be wasting more money. It is highly doubtful (but not impossible) that any attorney has won a Class Action Law Suit against them since the contracts people sign are binding and legal in Mexico (and only in Mexico).

Good luck.