Our plane landed on February 1, 2009 at the Cabo San Lucas airport. After going through Immigration and Customs, my girlfriend and I retrieved our bags and proceeded to the arrivals area.
Reeling in the marks...Once we walked into the arrivals area, there were a number of men pretending to be our taxi driver (we pre-booked). I knew for sure that they were not and they tried to stop me from walking away. Another man at the information booth to the left, was nicer and told us he was with our taxi company. He told us that since it was our first time in Cabo, that he would provide complimentary breakfast at the
Playa Grande hotel if we listen to his presentation. He also promised that we would get $150 in restaurant gift certificates. We thought it was a pretty good deal, so we agreed and even gave him the $40 that he requested, which he would return to us if we showed up for the 90 minute presentation.
Monday, February 2, 2009On Monday morning, at 7:30am, we took a taxi from our hotel to the Playa Grande hotel. We gave the driver a pre-paid payment slip. We walked into the main lobby. We filled out a short survey and provided photo ID and to flash our credit card logo. A short while later, a man walked over and told us that unfortunately since we were not married and that we were not over 30 years of age, that we were not eligible. He said that my girlfriend could attend the presentation but I couldn't. Though he later rescinded and said that we could both go and that if we purchased today that he would give us $200 in restaurant gift certificates. We agreed to both attend.
The "presentation"...Our Australian presenter walked us around the resort telling us how everyone here owns and that you can't find a better place with beachfront property. We walked around the beach a bit and she asked us if we were ready for our free breakfast, so we proceeded to one of the buffet restaurants. After breakfast, the presenter tells me to tip the waiters.
We walk around the resort a bit and she shows us a few different floors, what you can see from the top, a view of one of the rooms. This took a good 2 hours. She finally walks us down to the sales room and sits us down with a piece of paper and tells us that this is a great investment in a resort that will open in 2011 (Grand Solmar).
The convoluted math...She brings over the sales person who writes down the numbers. He tells us that if we bought today that he'd give us a lower price and that this price is only for today. If we leave, we would never get this price again. He asked us how much we're spending on our vacation now. He did the math and showed us that we could be spending way less. He said that we could lock in this rate because as with everything, vacations will increase with inflation. We could lock in a great rate. I was very hesitant at this point because the two of us are in a point in our lives where we won't exactly know which city we'll end up in in a year or so. It might make it inconvenient to travel back to Cabo.
We told them that we were unsure, that we don't make large purchase decisions like this without talking to family and doing our own research. We asked them to leave us alone so that we could talk in private. However, only one of them would leave us alone at a time, so in essence we were never alone.
I knew I wasn't that comfortable because I just didn't understand the math. It didn't make sense to me. I didn't understand these special weeks that we would get, but apparently my girlfriend did. The salesperson also told us that we would always have to pay the $600 maintenence fee every year regardless of whether we vacationed or not. He also told us that we could exchange weeks through Interval International, which only contains 6- and 7-star hotels. The salesperson asked me to name a place I'd like to visit, and I named a few of which didn't show up in the book (e.g. Florence). The salesperson told us that we could exchange our weeks for $150/week if we booked at least 90 days in advance. Upon doing the math, my girlfriend thought it was a good idea. I was a little hesitant, but I trusted her.
We signed the credit card slips, which stated that there was no refund.
After signing the slips, we were escorted to another room where we had to sign the rest of the documents indicating that the salespeople were telling us the truth. Hmm, a little bit out of order?
We sat in front of a very obese man who had trouble breathing. He asked us if this is our first time buying a timeshare because we seemed very wary. He tried to assure us that it's a good deal and that he has a number of timeshares that he rents out. He shows us a verification statement and asks us to initial everywhere. Two statements that struck me were that the maintenence fee could increase with inflation and that there was no provision for recission. I asked this guy what that meant, since I had not heard that word before, and he told us it meant cancellation. I discussed it with my girlfriend and she said it was okay, so we signed.
They gave us a $50 restaurant gift certificate, to which we demanded the other $150 that they promised. We left the premises and realized that we never got our $40 back.
Upon walking out of the resort, we bumped into another couple who asked us if we were the couple who just purchased. They said that they have timesehares in Vegas and that they're very happy with it and that they wish us luck. That made us feel a little better about our purchase.
A long night...We didn't feel comfortable sleeping at night. It was definitely a large purchase and we had a lot of doubt, but we assured each other that things would be okay.
Sunday February 8, 2009Once we arrived back in the US, we visited the website where we would be able to book hotel stays for $150/week. We were excited to be able to give my sister a vacation as wedding gift. We browsed the website and could not find any places offering $150/week and were annoyed. That was our first realization that we had been duped. All of the hotel stays were at least $499/week. We emailed the salesperson and asked him to show us what he was referring to. In the meantime, my girlfriend had to drive back up to Canada since she's a Canadian citizen and had to work the next day.
Our letter:
Hi Mr Salesperson,
This is X and Y. We met you on Monday, February 2nd at the Playa Grande in Cabo San Lucas. We purchased a junior suite at the Grand Solmar and have a few questions.
We signed up on icerewards.com with the activation andauthorization codes and if we understand correctly, this is the one where we have unlimited selective weeks that cost $150/wk if we book 90 days in advance of the vacation. We were looking at vacations in April 2009 and prices were listed as $400+/wk. We were wondering where the $150/wk comes in.
Thanks,
X and Y
My girlfriend arrives in Canada and calls her parents to tell them about her recent purchase and they say "oh no, you didn't". Her father had been approached about these "deals" on their vacations in the past and said that she should have stayed away. He suggests that we cancel because there's always a grace period and that we should inform our credit card company. She calls me to tell me this. And in the meantime, I get a reply back from Mr. Salesperson.
X, hope all is well and it was a pleasure meeting you both.
The ICE weeks are available as low as $150/wk prior to 90days from booking. Not all reservations will be that price exactly at the 90 day period, however as the time frame gets shorter (say 60 days, etc) they get lowered. At the 90day interval, they all get lowered to the $400/wk regardless. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us.
Regards,
Mr Salesperson
Playa Grande Spa and Resort
I frantically look through the contract documentation and tell her that we signed something that said that there was no cancellation. In the meantime, I browse the web to find other incidents of this and stumble across the MeScam website. I found out that we have a right to cancel with a full refund within 5 business days, regardless of what we signed. So I wrote back Mr. Salesperson:
Hi Mr Salesperson,
Regarding the $150/wk, that's not what you told us. This makes it veryless than ideal for us financially. As such, we'd like to cancel our contract and receive a full refund. I will be sending a formal cancellation email shortly.
Regards,
X
I wrote up a cancellation letter and sent it to Mr Salesperson, PROFECO, and ResortCom (their US billing company):
Mr. Salesperson,
February 8, 2009
Playa Grande Resort and Spa
Avenida Playa Grande # 1
Cabo San Lucas,
B.C.S. 23410
Mexico
I am writing you again today to cancel X and Y's contract #xxx for one Junior Suite at the Grand Solmar Land's End Resort and Spa that was purchased on 2/2/2009 and to get a FULL REFUND for the $X which you have already charged to my Visa; account ending in xxxx. I am providing you with notice that I have cancelled this contract within five working days from (the delivery of, or the signing of) the contract IAW Article 56 of ARTICLE 56 OF LEY Federal de Protección al Consumidor. (Article 56 of the Federal Consumer Protection Law states: "The contract will be perfected within fiveworking days from the delivery of, or the signature of the contract, which ever occurs the latest. During this period, the consumer will have the right to revoke his consent without any responsibility. The revocation will have to be by means of warning or delivery of notice, in person, by registered mail, or another method of average reliability. The revocation according to this article, will terminate the contract. In this case, the costs of shipping and insurance will be the responsibility of the consumer. If the contract is for services, this article will not be applicable if the date of receiptof the service is less than ten working days from the date of the order of purchase.")
I am aware that my right to cancellation and a full refund is nonwaivable (the buyer cannot give it up) and even if the buyer is convinced to sign a document to give it up (waive the right) that waiver is not valid and the buyer still has the 5 day right. Any argument you have claiming that my enrollment fee is non-refundable is invalid according to Mexican law and this has been verified with PROFECO.
I have been in contact with other Americans and know what my rights are under Mexican law. If you plan on sending me an email stating "As indicated in our agreement - you may cancel your membership at anytime but the enrollment fee is non-refundable, I am afraid I cannot comply with your request. You must comply with this request by law or face fines. Please do not send me an email saying that filing a complaint with PROFECO will tie up my refund for months. I know this is not true.
Any attempt to refuse this request will be immediately forwarded to PROFECO. I am also sending a copy of this e-mail to PROFECO. As indicated in the dated e-mails below, I have made a good faith effort within 5 working days to resolve this issue and request a full refund in a professional, polite manner and with full intent.
Please comply with the law, cancel my contract and send me my refund immediately.
Your timely response is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
X and Y
