Vida Vacations & Grand Mayan lies

annet118 wrote:

It is unbelievable to me that Mexico allows these shysters to conduct business in their country.

It brings money into the Mexican economy. Mexico relies a lot on tourism. Without these timeshare sales and vacationers therein, the economy would suffer greatly. And we can see what happens in countries where the economy tanks. It's a domino effect that's almost tragic.

It is very strange, how we get taken into these kinds of things. Years ago, "Awesome Lady", and I, were at the Mayan Palace at NV. Just as an aside, that was the nicest entrance of any of their buildings, too bad it has been changed. However, we were well aware of the timeshare tactics and the costs. We still ended up buying into it. We bought a unit at the Sea Breeze. It is still a popular place. Last time we were there the restaurant had as many Grand Mayan and Luxxe wrist bands as it did Sea Breeze. We got talked into another upgrade and we went to the Grand Bliss.

After our last visit there, I feel that the company is "mining" its "owners" and the fresh people, for as much money as they can. The resort restaurant prices are high, IMHO, for what you get. The entire project seems to be oriented into keeping everyone "on site" and spending the money there.

Our last salesperson got very angry and hostile with us. We refused to upgrade. They brought over two more "managers" which just meant another half hour of fast talking and loose numbers being tossed around.

We are happy enough with what we have. We will not upgrade. I, personally, wish that we had not bought at all. (If I was able to turn back time!) Yet, we did make up our own minds and we did sign the papers.

It is a beautiful property and location. Nothing ever gets worn out there, they are always changing, taking apart, re-building, re-arranging, re-sculpting, etc. If we tried to do some of the things that happen there, in Canada, we would be stopped cold.

But I do like visiting there.

We bought a membership yesterday but are not happy and want to cancel and get our money back. Please tell us how to do this within the allotted time.

grupom wrote:

Dear "Robertd617":

The comment you have posted on this site has been brought to our attention. As you can imagine, monitoring the internet is an impossible task for anyone, so we sometimes rely on the help of our committed clients to inform us about this type of remarks when we are not contacted through the proper channels.

We would like to be given the opportunity to investigate this further as this does not reflect the way we threat our guests. If you received such treatment from members of our staff, we would like to be able to report it and take the necessary actions to prevent this from happening again.

So forth, you can email us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com. We would very much like to know who you are to provide you personalized assistance.

We value and respect both our members and non members. Allow us to provide you the quality service you deserve as honoured guests of our brands that continuously receive recognitions throughout the international travel industry.

We are grateful for your time.

Sincerely, Karen Rose Customer Support Representative.

cathyl214 wrote:

We bought a membership yesterday but are not happy and want to cancel and get our money back. Please tell us how to do this within the allotted time.

grupom wrote:

Dear "Robertd617":

The comment you have posted on this site has been brought to our attention. As you can imagine, monitoring the internet is an impossible task for anyone, so we sometimes rely on the help of our committed clients to inform us about this type of remarks when we are not contacted through the proper channels.

We would like to be given the opportunity to investigate this further as this does not reflect the way we threat our guests. If you received such treatment from members of our staff, we would like to be able to report it and take the necessary actions to prevent this from happening again.

So forth, you can email us at grupomayanblog@grupovidanta.com. We would very much like to know who you are to provide you personalized assistance.

We value and respect both our members and non members. Allow us to provide you the quality service you deserve as honoured guests of our brands that continuously receive recognitions throughout the international travel industry.

We are grateful for your time.

Sincerely, Karen Rose Customer Support Representative.

The package you received should have rescission instructions. These timeshare companies have been known to hide the instructions somewhere obscure. Look carefully and thoroughly.

There's also a limit to how long you have. Mexican law usually allows five days.

cathyl214 wrote:

We bought a membership yesterday but are not happy and want to cancel and get our money back. Please tell us how to do this within the allotted time.

In your contract look for the part concerning rescission .... it should provide the exact information for you to rescind.

I would also write a short letter saying that you merely want to rescind, include the contract number and send it by the postal service .... certified mail with return receipt .... it's the time stamped on the envelope that counts .... not when they received it. It's the law in MX that you have 5 days to rescind.

Also make sure you follow the recission instructions to the letter. Make copies of everything and send it receipt return and post marked with the date within the recisssion period. Do this IMMEDIATELY so you make the dead line.

Hello All,

So my grand adventure at Grand Mayan was very...okay not so much fun. We got hooked on 5th Ave with promises of cheap tickets. Off we go 3 kids in tow to do this big adventure, you know free breakfast, quick info session, then off to adventure. Well quick breakfast took 2 hours, then an hour tour, then another 4 hours in the fun room with everyone running numbers at you and very unhappy kids. Long story short we bought what they were selling, to good to be true and it was. We signed up and asked to eat onsite as it was now 6 hours from when we last ate and kids were starving, so family of 5 ate and was a 1000 pesos, and no steak and lobster just regular lunch. Now I will point out that we did get the cheap tickets as promised. We then proceeded back to town and had to pay for the cab back, 150 peso they told us and was 500. Anyways once back where we were staying I did some internet followup on the sites that the people in the resort claimed advertised and sold our time share for us. I would explain all the numbers they throw at us but honestly I was overloaded and do not remember. The start with oh you can rent it out for this etc etc. Well the golf is not included, the food is not included and where we bought turns out to be a 10 minute walk from where you eat, oh ya and you are only allowed to eat in certain restaurants even though you are paying? Anyways I did website traffic polls on the sites that were claimed to be renting the sites. One site did not exist, one had like 30 people in 3 months and the other had 3 in 6 months. So not exactly stellar numbers. We then turned to the internet and discovered as many others have the yikes we stepped in it. Then we tried to figure out how to cancel the contract. We were given the contract in two pieces, the one we were told expired in 10 years and the other was the actual time share agreement. Well it turns out in Mexico that anything with the contract number was the actual agreement. So the temporary 10 year agreement, hand written on, was part of the actual agreement and contained the cancellation clause. So we wrote a letter, downloaded template from website, stating our desire to cancel the membership. There was two options one to send letter and one to return all documentation to the resort. I was not really in a trusting mood at the resort and their integrity. So we drafted a letter, scanned the document, and then dealt with Mexipost to send a certified letter to the address, exactly as presented, on the cancellation clause. I then called the membership help number to inform them that we had mailed the certified letter, Mexipost works very well. I also emailed the letter, which I now know is all that is required by Mexican law. They took my information and told me a resort representative would help me. Next day got a call from resort asking me to come and they would refund my money immediately or make me an even better offer than before. If I wanted the refund all I had to do was sign a form. I said email me the form and I will review it and see. Lady said manager would not let her email or fax the letter. Even she found that curious. I emailed her back that I had sent the cancellation letter both by certified letter and email and was dated X and by law they had 15 days to refund my money in full. They then send me a document stating that we needed to sign it in order to be refunded. The letter basically said that I could not bad mouth them on sites like this and if I already complained on sites like this I had to post that I was fully happy with the outcome, or some such wording, which is why there are those odd posts out there. I asked the very nice young lady, she was very pleasant and helpful, to show me where in the contract it stated I had to sign this document. We did not sign this document. Two days later we got a full refund.

So in short act within the 5 days, outside of that it is binding by Mexican Law. Treat everything they gave you as the contract, they lied about basically everything so the contract all being one piece should not surprise you. Within the contract is a clause that states to cancel you must either sent certified mail to X or return everything to the resort. Do not go the resort. By Mexican law sending them and email works as well but we did both as....better safe then broke. Do not sign the "do not bad mouth us contract" as it is not required to get your refund. I think that is it. If you need anything please let me know as we have the contract still and can walk you through it if it has not changed.

donp196 wrote:

Also make sure you follow the recission instructions to the letter. Make copies of everything and send it receipt return and post marked with the date within the recisssion period. Do this IMMEDIATELY so you make the dead line.

Frustrating customer service!!

When someone tries to sell you any product that you must buy NOW! That you can't think it over and come back tomorrow, it's a scam! If it sounds too good to be true, it must be....

Dave An unpaid ex-employee.

Freudian slip?

<< this does not reflect the way we threat our guests.>>

Note she said "threat" and not "treat"!

We loved staying at Grand Mayan a few yrs back. We signed the contracts only so we could review the language in the comfort of our unit for a few days and of course rescinded it after finding all the loopholes and researching it on the internet...we found ZERO happy customers. Play the game for the free dinner/round of golf/car rental or whatever the touts offer, but never buy at the resort! Go on the resale market to see what they're really worth and subscribe to Timeshare Users Group to get objective advice. Saved me thousands of $$$!

Kudos to all of the above that did their homework via the internet and successfully rescinded within the allotted time frame in your contract.

I wish I had read any of these reviews before I "bought" a Mayan Palace unit. The GLOBAL GOLF CONNECTIONS rental/resale company is a FRAUD. But that was one year plus ago. GGC is one huge scam. How such beautiful resorts such as Mayan Palace etc. can associate themselves with such scum is beyond me. THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY AND NEVER EVER GIVE YOU ANY MARKETING SERVICES. You never hear from them again. There is no website you can view your listing for sale or rent. THEY HAVE EXCUSES, they are SMUG…"Your contract says no refunds." Yes, it also says GGC will market my timeshares, BUT THEY CANNOT PROVIDE PROOF OF THAT. We will have to just use our timeshare to get our $$$ worth. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH GLOBAL GOLF CONNECTIONS - THEY ARE THIEVES.

OMG ! This was us last year.

Did you ever sue and or have you gotten any satisfaction Yes we were sucked in as well with the idea of them selling the timeshare we already own

We just returned from our vacation at the Myan resorts in Cancun. We were there last year and have been to the Grand Myan in Nuevo, Vallarta. First let me say that these are just beautiful resorts, with amazing staff. Having said that, I am also going to say our trip is always close to being ruined by the High pressure sales lies of Vida Vacations!!!

We were sold a pkg of 3 weeks of master rooms at the Myan Palace, along with a BIGGER AND BETTER HSI vacation package ( we already owned one) ,, 50% off golf package, membership with RCI and SFX. We were told if we marketed them with Global Marketing for a fee of 300.00 we would receive 1100.00 per unit per year to pay for all our traveling needs! We did, only to cost us 600.00 AND WE NEVER HAVE EVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN!! Let me say the HSI bigger and better pkg was just LIKE the one we had! THERE IS NO 50%. OFF GOLF PKG!!! They told us, it was not worth the paper it is written on!! We were also told we were sold WHITE weeks,, ok what is that? You can only book June - sept!! Nice!!, yes it is in the contract, they do not give you time to read!

So here is the thing, we decided we would NOT go to another meeting with them in vacation. Well they kept calling,, a free brkfast is in your pkg,, and u need to tell them your concerns. Ok we went ,, BIG MISTAKE!! They do not care if u are happy,, they just want to sell you more, and belittle you! , made us leave a 10.00 tip for brkfast, wanted to renig on our promise of 10% off our bill!

So what they are doing to themselves?? We just do NOT have to go anymore and we will spend our vacation dollars that 5 of us spent in their area someplace else!!

Our host Edgar wqs so nice until we told him NO,, then the attitude changes! I WALKED OUT!! SHAME ON YOU VIDA VACATIONS AND THE GRAND MYAN!!

This is the reason why, no matter what you're offered, for timeshare owners to NEVER accept an invitation for an update .... these people are relentless in their endeavor to get more money out of you.

Kudos to you for walking out.

I have been in touch with Vida Vacations, and this matter has been settled to my satisfaction.

posting removed

If they don't pay their staff, why would they care about your concerns? Lies, lies and more lies!!

wendyk169 wrote:

My best advise to anyone considering purchasing with the Vida group of resorts (Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, Bliss, Grand Luxe, etc) is to avoid this company at all costs.

Actually, some of the best advice is not to buy from a retail sales presentation anywhere, especially in Mexico.

Now that you have your purchase, it's best to learn how to use it. If/when you do visit there again using your week, avoid any sales presentations regardless of the gift offered.

And most of all, now that you own a Mexican timeshare, watch out for resale and rental scams where they phone timeshare owners telling them that they have a buyer or renter waiting in the wings who wants to pay top dollar for your timeshare.

It's a scam!