Vida Vacations & Grand Mayan lies

We are searching for advise to solve this problem as well. Any info would be appreciated? I refuse to pay due to fraud. Can they really report you to the credit bureau?

Has anyone actually got a bad credit rating for not paying on their timeshare via vida Vacations?

we paid the down payment and then came home to find this web site, so we are not paying balance on the contract. I wonder also about the bad credit rating. We need legal action against Grand Mayan. From Lyn

lynettek15 wrote:

We need legal action against Grand Mayan.

Legal action is pretty sketchy. Since this is in Mexico, are you going to use Mexican attorneys or American ones? What did Grand Mayan do that was actually illegal and worthy of legal action? You would probably be spending a lot of time and effort (and maybe even money) chasing after something.

Your best bet is just to stop paying and accept the loss of what you already paid.

I also just paid the first payment and then stopped paying. I received reminders from Vidanta for about a year, then it stopped. I have not noticed any influence on credit rating.

Hopefully we don’t see any difference on our credit as well.

Hello, it’s nice to finally hear positive things about Vidanta. We are first time Vidanta members and were wondering if you can share with us where we can rent out our unused weeks? Thank you very much.

elainea76 wrote:

As a long time owner with Mayan resorts, almost 25 years, I feel qualified in expressing the positive things about this company and my membership. Mayan has built many wonderful resorts just as they said they would, and most resorts in the exchange networks cannot even come close to their amenities and services. They keep adding more options so now our choices are unlimited if we want to trade. Our children were young when we bought and our grandchildren now travel with us. We have used t heir rental program for weeks we didn't use, and the money received was a nice plus. We followed the steps given to us, deposited our weeks early just like we do with RCI and have never had a problem. As long term members we have upgraded our membership twice and always received our full equity towards the upgrade. There are many happy members but it seems like the few unhappy ones post comments. I felt it was time for you to hear from the silent majority. I challenge you to google any major company and take a look.... If you want to find something negative you will.

For Elainea 76..... We are Vidanta timeshare owners and have 3 weeks. We would like to rent the 2 weeks. Which company should we rent it through, someone reliable and trustworthy. Any tips on the best way to rent. Also we bought into Vidalifestyle, and have never used it. What can we do to get out of it?. Paying monthly. Still have to payn$3,000.00. We have some financial difficulties and it’s become very stressful. Thank you

Hi Miriam, As far as the Life Style membership, I would just stop paying. I also found the membership to be worthless. You could try cancelling it, but not sure you would get anywhere. I don't think it is something that would affect your credit if you just stop paying. Renting is difficult. I have had our units listed on VRBO for almost 2 years & have only gotten 2 inquiries, both for Christmas & New Years weeks which we don't own. If you have those weeks maybe you would have some success. If you go onto the Vidanta owners Facebook site, there are some owners who have had some success renting & have listed info there. Good Luck

how do you rent through Vidanta? I'm also a long-time owner with extra weeks usually. How much do you get per rental? I own 2-bedroom villas at the Grand Luxxe on both coasts. I do love their resorts and spend at least 4 weeks there myself. Thanks.

I've contacted an attorney in the US, but he wasn't interested in taking the case for "a variety of reasons." I think it's because it's in Mexico, and they don't have much of a chance in getting my money back.

The company I hired to get me out of the contract (Lonestar Transfer), said if I didn't give them my social security number, they probably wouldn't be able to get this to negatively affect my credit. Fortunately, I didn't give it to them, so we'll see.

They are VERY aggressive, and I had to literally get a new credit card and block their phone number from my phone. Then they finally left me alone. Otherwise, they just kept charging me without my approval. It was terrible.

My husband and I went to Vidanta Riviera Maya in late October and were targeted. Staff literally and deliberately stalked us until we agreed to have "breakfast" with one of them, except it was a "membership update" meeting instead. It was only supposed to last "about an hour" that lasted all day long! They told us there was an "issue" with the membership corporate was looking into, so we needed to sit tight until it was cleared. In the meantime, Jean Marc (the sales guy) told us about how Vidanta was now selling fractional properties -- tangible, deeded properties as long-term investments that were NOT timeshares. We got a tour of one of them, he showed us a website of various versions of them in Mexico, etc. Too bad it was all a lie. They didn't feed us or give us anything but margaritas, which is illegal in that country and the U.S., which I later found out. My husband is hypoglycemic, and I was in need of some meds (which were in the hotel room I didn't have access to). Both of us were very tired, and there was still that membership "issue". I was told if I just signed for the purchase of a fractional property (which I could cancel "at any time"), they would upgrade our room the next day and release us to enjoy our vacation. Little did I know they had attempted to charge the entire amount of a down payment on my debit card, which they had on file, which engaged a fraud alert with my bank. It caused a huge problem with my financial institution, and I hadn't turned my cell phone on for international usage, so it soon became a cluster. I was waning fast, so like sharks in the water, they began to circle. They separated me from my husband, who needed food (fast), ushered me to the basement to be alone with some man in a room. I became really scared, didn't know where my husband was, and began to truly fear for my life. I was told to initial and sign and then I'd be returned to my husband -- it was really, really creepy. From being stalked and dragged out of a restaurant, taken against our will to a sales office under false pretenses, then separated from each other until docs signed. Now I'm trying to get the money back that was illegally charged and taken from my bank account under duress. I was told I had five days from the time of purchase, which would have been the Monday after I returned. Except that wasn't true, it was from the time I signed, which was during the time I was there. They had lied to me, so I couldn't go home and change my mind. I did try to change our flights and leave early, because while we were there, we felt like we were being followed all the time. It was creepy. Honestly, this company is a huge scam, and they definitely target people. I was told they probably knew all about me before I arrived, such as checking my name, property I owned online, what my husband did for a living, etc. With the Internet, nothing is private anymore. There are so many other options out there, so why would you choose Vidanta? STAY AWAY, people!!!!!!!! I'm out thousands of dollars now, hard-earned money I'll never get back from these criminals...and that's what they are: common criminals.

To Lindeh, You need to contact your credit card company (or debit card company) right away. You can dispute the charge. Your credit card company will refund your money & they will reach out to Vidanta to get there side of the story, but trust me, you have enough reasons to get out of this contract. Vidanta will have a certain amount of time to respond, but will most likely not bother. I had a similar experience on an update meeting where I was physically threatened. We had purchased many years before, so there was no chance of us getting out, but I did contact member services and they were responsive and I did receive some concessions. Keep fighting!

Thank you -- you have given me hope!! I will keep plugging away...it's been such a violation and terrible experience!

Linde H., were you on site at the resort? It sounds as if you might not have been. Why did you allow them to manipulate you to such an extent? You say "No" or No thank you!", and ask to speak with management. These negative reports that surface here about Vida are astonishing. We have owned there for several years and have not had any issues, and know others who have had no problems. Some of the sales people can be aggressive - and they do lie - but you push back. I am wondering if you are dealing with some rogue outfit off site of the resort? Vida Lifestyles is really a bit of a scam if it still operates the same way. Just a matter of quietly sitting down and figuring out if the benefits they offer and describe will work out. They didn't so we cancelled, never to renew. They aren't operated by Vida, by the way. Separate and apart.

Lies and Deceit are their Moto. All you have to do is smear them on other timeshare sites and you can get your money back!! So many things were told me that were too good to be true and then when I started following up, I realized it was all a big scam. I got some good advice about disclosing their unethical practices on several sites and the Mayan Clan gave me my money back. I also froze other credit cards and disputed them so they were no charges given. What a total friggin joke.

To Joan C., You must have been one of the fortunate ones. I'm curious, did you ever upgrade? It seemed that because we did upgrade, they marked us and every time we went to an "update", we had extremely aggressive sales people. I was physically pushed down into my seat & they refused to give back my husband's credit card & license. I had to threaten to call security. We agreed to go to the meetings because we had complaints & questions about our contract. The only time I had a positive experience was when my husband was not with me so that they couldn't sell me anything. I will never go to an "update" again, they ruined too many vacations & soured my opinion of the resorts.

To Julie M., Can you share what sites you posted on? I think I need to give that a try. Thank-you! Laura

juliem757 wrote:

Lies and Deceit are their Moto. All you have to do is smear them on other timeshare sites and you can get your money back!! So many things were told me that were too good to be true and then when I started following up, I realized it was all a big scam. I got some good advice about disclosing their unethical practices on several sites and the Mayan Clan gave me my money back. I also froze other credit cards and disputed them so they were no charges given. What a total friggin joke.