Vida Vacations & Grand Mayan lies

We were on site on vacation and they took my credit card upon checking in saying they didn't accept cash anywhere at the resort (Riviera Maya). They lied and said the upgrade would be a fractional property -- deeded investment that could be rented out when we weren't using it. My parents owned a fraction condo, so I understood what he meant. Unfortunately, that was a total lie. When I got back to the U.S., I found out it was a scam and that the company didn't have that capability -- it was just a timeshare (BIG difference). I was also told I could cancel "at any time" -- also a fat lie. So when I immediately emailed the day after our return and then called them, the woman literally laughed on the phone and said "no, it's too late." Besides, while we were there, they literally stalked us -- came to our room, came to restaurants where we were eating, left voice mails on the room phone. It was a very, very hard sell. They charged my card without my authorization -- and the signature page was not pointed out to me but part of a packet disguised as something completely different, slipped in discreetly in a huge rush. The reservation was made with Vidanta, but the customer service number I called is Vidanta's, the paperwork originally had Vidanta's name on it, and the sales guy showed me Vidanta website detail. Yet the copies of documents handed to me were Vida Lifestyle and Sfx -- huh?! They're crooks, and Vidanta lets them run their operation there as a subsidiary. It's all a sham, and I want my money back. Conde Nast and Travel and Leisure gave them travel awards this year, and they should be ashamed of themselves for not vetting them. They're misleading travelers by helping to lure innocent people to these shark tanks.

Same with us! They literally stalked us and harassed us, dragging us from a coffee shop to the meeting room. I felt like I was a prisoner! I was yelled at and belittled, also. It was horrible. Then they separated me from my husband and was told to "hurry up" and "just sign" or they wouldn't bring my husband back to me. What, had they kidnapped him? They're criminals.

Was no need to upgrade, but we went to 2 presentations. One in Riviera Maya especially ugly, was BS, and told them so, which ended it. Of course you're a "mark" once you buy upgrades. But I find some of these postings reflect badly on the victims. Know your subject. (If you are buying a car, or even a house at home, presumably you know "something" about the subject.) Unless they hold a gun to your head, get up and leave, find management. Many are American or Canadian if that's what you're comfortable with; but at Vida (Vida Vacations) most MX nationals in management are competent, honest and trustworthy. The sales room is full of desperate people mostly, all kinds. It's like the oval office in DC - you lie enough and people start to believe it. Vida Lifestyles, and the relationship with SFX, is suspect. Should not be on the resort site unless they clean up their act.

I did report them! Their manager only brought me back to the sales office telling me the first person was right, that the membership "update" was "mandatory" because they had found there was an "issue" with my account that had to be resolved before my vacation could proceed. The sales office was a huge building with these cockroaches going in and out touring people around like royalty. Vidanta knows they're there -- they give them carte blanche to do what they want. That's how they make they're money. Except at the end, the paperwork all says Vida Vacations and Sfx -- huh?! Very slippery. I expressly told them I wanted NOTHING to do with Vida Vacations or Sfx, and they assured me I didn't have to become members of those "side groups". Liars, that's what they are. They will say anything.

I also tried to call security, but there was no one anywhere to call. Riviera Maya had no security people around. We ran into one guy on the beach, but he didn't speak any English and just waved us away. Yeah, we felt really safe -- NOT.

To Linde, Send an email or call member services. I worked with Tatyana & she at least got me some concessions. She said they dealt with our sales manager, but I doubt that. But at least you can alert the resort. The resorts themselves are at least well managed. Give it a try. If you recently did pay for a membership or upgrade you can go to your credit card company & dispute the charges. There are people who got their money back. I also think you should post on sites like Trip Advisor. I think I am going to keep doing that & see if I can get anywhere. Maybe some day we can find a Mexican attorney to go against them.

lindeh wrote:

I did report them! Their manager only brought me back to the sales office telling me the first person was right, that the membership "update" was "mandatory" because they had found there was an "issue" with my account that had to be resolved before my vacation could proceed. The sales office was a huge building with these cockroaches going in and out touring people around like royalty. Vidanta knows they're there -- they give them carte blanche to do what they want. That's how they make they're money. Except at the end, the paperwork all says Vida Vacations and Sfx -- huh?! Very slippery. I expressly told them I wanted NOTHING to do with Vida Vacations or Sfx, and they assured me I didn't have to become members of those "side groups". Liars, that's what they are. They will say anything.

I also tried to call security, but there was no one anywhere to call. Riviera Maya had no security people around. We ran into one guy on the beach, but he didn't speak any English and just waved us away. Yeah, we felt really safe -- NOT.

My bank is working on everything, and I filed a complaint with PROFECA, the Mexican consumer protection agency. Hopefully I'll get somewhere with them, because someone else on this site did that. I've dealt with Tatyana already, but she's told me they won't refund my money and won't cancel the "upgrade". The problem is, they didn't upgrade me, they promised me a sale of a fractional property, which is a deeded piece of land. They lied through their teeth -- HUGE FRAUD. They are really upping their game now. People need to REALLY be careful with these guys!!

I've spoken with the IRS, and the money I've lost is a tax write off, so that's good news, at least.

Hi, I just bought the Vida vacation yesterday on 12/16/2019 and still at the resort. I’m still with in the 5 days period. Can you please give me advise on how to cancel it. Thank you.

I’m on my day 2 and still at the resort. Any advice I would really appreciate.

The experience you describe by Vidal reps seems to be a standard practice. We own the Vidal property in Matuzalen. Visited Grand Mayan to listen to presentation to upgrade. Experienced what you described. Promised and given certificates that were outdated. Called the number given and Vidal management, no solution. I noticed that at the end of every complaint, Vidal writes and ask for an opportunity to correct the issue. The issues are poor practices. Send a undercover agent to any location and you’ll understand what people are complaining about. Stop your BS practices. We’ve owned a Mayan property for 20+ years, we are happy with our vacation location, but, we hear the complaints regularly from others.

robertd617 wrote:

Short version: promised 90 minutes and $300, received OVER 4 hours and $0.

Longer version: Having read reviews from people who have lost their money, I should begin by saying all we lost was a half day of our vacation, but we are still mad a week later. We were convinced by Efrin Fitch, who the timeshare people themselves refer to as a "body snatcher" at the Advantage Car Rental that a pleasant 90 minutes would earn us $300 CASH "green money". At the 3 hour mark, after Nick (and Ian, and others) had used every ridiculous combination of numbers possible to make buying at Grand Mayan seem like it made sense, we told him no thanks and ask for our gift. After 30 more minutes of "survey" with Rafael and such questions as: "describe in one word why you are not taking advantage of this wonderful offer", we again ask politely for our money. After over 30 more minutes of stalling us and handing us back and forth between different people, each of whom was supposedly going to help us, we finally gave up and left in disgust, just as like several other vacationers ahead of us had done.

The icing on the cake was when we ran into Nick at the Walmart in Cabo that same afternoon. He tried unsuccessfully to avoid my family, and when I ask him (in front of his girlfriend) if he was proud to lie for a living, he acted as if he had no idea why I was upset and suggested that I go back to the Grand Mayan and "just ask for my money".

As I told my ordeal to every tourist who would listen all week in Cabo, I heard more and more similar complaints about Vida Vacations in Los Cabos, as well as complaints from people actually staying at the Grand Mayan, a subsidiary I think of Grupo Maya. My motto now: No Gracias.

tahm wrote:

I’m on my day 2 and still at the resort. Any advice I would really appreciate.

Yes, definitely rescind! Make sure you follow the directions carefully in the owner's packet you received. Get on it right away!

Go back to the office with all of the papers and tell them you want to rescind the deal. Law is on your side. Under No. 11 "General Provisions" it states you can cancel, so do it! Be strong and stand your ground. They'll try to fight you on it, but don't let them!!

Yes, you can cancel by going back to the sales office with all of the documents. Under No. 11 "General Provisions" it clearly states Mexican law allows you to rescind the contract within five days, which you can do now. They'll try to tell you differently and will fight you on it, but they'll be lying. Be strong and stand your ground!!

Good luck!!!!!! Don't take "no" for an answer!

If they still won't honor your demand of cancellation, contact Profeco, which is the Mexican consumer protection agency.

http://www.blueroadrunner.com/profeco.htm

You can call or email them. I've been in touch with them, and they are scheduling a hearing for me to officially file charges against Vida Vacations/Vidanta. They have been very helpful, but they won't be able to get your money back for you once it's gone. They aren't lawyers. They act as an agency to warn others about fraudulent businesses out there acting not in good faith.

Run get your money back within the five days don't take no for answer they will suck you dry

Sadly, I just bought VV. It's very difficult to cut through the lies. For example. the sales rep told me that you can use the Vida Dollars to book outside the system. In fact, you can use to VD to pay a small portion of the total cost. In other words, I paid a lot of money to get what is free through Orbitz and Kayak. I was treated nicely, but the lies and deceptions are hard to cut through. They know we, the consumer, only have a short 5-day window to rescind the contract. PROFECO can't do much because the laws do not protect the consumer against fraud.

but you have the 5 days do it get out

To Tah M, Did you pay on a credit card? If so contact your credit card company immediately & start a dispute on the charge. You can usually do this on line. There are a number of people who got their money back. Then unfortunately you have to deal with the sales office. Put something in writing to them & copy the resort management so that you have a record of it. Good Luck!

We are in exactly the same boat. We were told Vida Dollars are equivalent to US dollars and you can use them for cost of cruises or to buy merchandise. However, the sales woman never told us the amount of redemption is case by case, not like a straight redemption. The way she had described to us many times during the presentation is that you simply just redeem the dollars to go on cruises or buy wine or whatever and that there is no restrictions.

For example, if the cruise costs $1000 and you have $1500 Vida Dollars, you cannot just use the Vida Dollars towards your $1000 cruise. You will only be allowed to "buy down" a certain amount with your Vida Dollars, and this "certain amount" that you can buy down is different depending on the season, the cruise line, the cabin type. You might only be able to redeem $50 for one cruise or $400 with another.

We find out how it actually worked several weeks after we signed the contract because it took them 2 weeks to send us the login information so that I can access the website to see what I want to redeem my Vida Dollars for and another week of browsing their site to see what they have to offer. I also found out that with merchandise that you can redeem with Vida Dollars, it's just a discount, like 3% off this and that, etc., which I can actually buy cheaper somewhere else without any discount. The whole thing is a scam. By the time I found out how the whole thing actually works it was way past the 5 days rescission period. In fact, the rescission period was over before we left the resort to go home.

I filed a dispute with my credit card company but they are saying that I didn't follow the cancellation policy to cancel the contract within the 5 days. However, we didn't even know what they sold us is not what we got until after the 5 days. It's like buying something with a 5 days return policy (from the day of purchase) and you don't actually receive the merchandise until 10 days later (which is already after the return period). Upon which time you found out the item you purchased is "not as described", but there isn't anything you can do about it because it was already past the returning window. How is that legal?

Anyways, this is giving me a lot of stress... Any help or advise is appreciated. Thank you.

Did you call Profeco? I tried to call that number but it doesn't work...

What do you mean by posting on sites like Trip Advisor? How does that work?

I called the resort and they supposedly filed a case and is supposed to get back with me but no one every did. I even have a case number but that didn't do any good...