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This is to inform anyone considering buying a so called private residence club at the bell air in Puerto Vallarta Mexico that it is a scam, a fraud, and a conspiracy being misrepresented and lied about. Starting at the front chain of the tiny property, with a short drive up to the small sales center, housing an exquisite show suit, what you see and can touch is all that is real. And who knows if ¨T¨ (T is for owner) even owns that. The promises made about building the suites will never be followed though on because there are no intentions of even building! Sell then run away! They will guarantee rental and the resale in writing which is just lies on paper. The licenses they show, bonds, building permits, projected completion, and opening dates - it’s all fabricated.
Bell Air resort in marina Puerto Vallarta is a complete fraud, rip off and money laundering operation! It’s designed to be short-term, and then run. If you have purchased a private residence membership from Anthony Copella or anyone else at this resort you money has been stolen. No construction of condos has been started after more than a year of selling. The building permits are false, as are the licenses. The salespeople have been sworn to that everything is as represented, but after finding out the truth and confronting Anthony with concerns they are fired and no commission owed are paid, even when faced with legal recourse. To try to recuperate your money you can contact profeco at http://www.profeco.gob.mx/ and [protected] also (+[protected] and here [protected]@profeco. gob. mx.
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What did you expect, bldg to be put up in one day, construction is going on as we speak, we have ten buyers in my area, Condos are out of this world, should be the nicest place in Mexico. I go down there every six months and I haven't seen anything nicer. Maybe you should have bought something that was finished and paid double what you paid. this isn't Mcdonalds.
I would love to disagree! We bought the Bel Air timeshare in July 2008, after a long long deliberations. I would love to believe that it is legitimate, but so far everything that they promise didn't materialize. My husband doesn't sleep well when we talk about it in the evening, and I keel my fingers crossed., still hoping that we didnt just throw $25000 away.
Just returned from P.V. and walked by the Bell-Aire. Some construction going on. It has been over 2 years since a friend bought in and he worries that the place will never be finished. Anyone have any information on a date for using the place?
Came back from P.V Mexico June 27th and bought 4 weeks at Bellaire Luxury suites. In addtion saw Mira Mar Project, whick is due to open month of July this year. This is quite a beautiful project and was almost ready as we saw a finished unit. The view is a 2 Million dollar view and probably one of the nicest properties availble in P.V. when it opens. Construction is proceeding on Bellaire and it is for sure to be a superior project. Maybee just a dream, but I have not been lied to yet. Steve was my sales Rep and not high pressure at all, yet very professional and courtious.
Mike
I believe that the above post by "Mike Gilmore" is a plant. The exact same post is up on this site http://www.redweek.com/forums/messages?thread_id=13197
Also, the post by "Roger Moore" appears to be a fake post as well.
From everything I have read or seen about the Belaire, it is in fact a scam.
08/22/09
I met who I think looked like a Anthony Copella, older man slicked back hair, wearing a fancy suit. My wife and I just returned from PV. We decided not to buy at Bel Air, THANK GOD. We were waiting in the main lobby, when the man in the fancy suit arrived kissing the young girl behind the desk. My wife stated he must be the owner. He then walked towards me asking why I came to Bel Air, then called me out. He stated to leave and take the sales man, Richard with me, he was to be fired. I told him I was at the Bel Air since 7am, and it was now 11am, I was waiting for my gift for attending the sales presentation. He told me F--- You get the H--- out of his resort. I explained to him I did not care how much money he had. I told him off in front of all his employees, with profanity going back and forth in the main lobby. He threatened to call the local police and have me arrested.
The employee that save the man from a hurting, told us we should not have attended the presentation if we were on vacation. I had been to presentations before and own in Disney World.
I am glad I did not buy there, the thousands of dollars that werer being promissed to me, a check 01/2010 for 5, 000 and another to follow in 06/2010, did not add up.
THIS PLACE IS A SCAM, THERE WAS NO ONE WORKING ON THE UNFINISHED BUILDINGS. DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY OF YOUR MONEY.
WATCH OUT FOR BEL AIR SCAM!
[protected]
My wife and I agreed to attend a presentation at Belaire during our vacation in N. Vallarta. The sales person was very friendly and from Croatia. He gave us a tour and we liked what we saw of the showroom. When we sat down to look at numbers a Mexican guy gave us the pitch. I think his name was Carlos. He said and promised that that they would rent out our weeks for 2000 a week. It was guaranteed. I liked it but then we asked to see contract for review and the Mexican guy started to tell us that they could not do this. I told him I wanted to do due diligence and read contract prior to buying. He got up abruptly and said ok we will sign you out. Then another guy came in trying to sell us another package but we were done by this time. He did let me read a PROFECO document that stated that Belaire would only rent out the mandatory week and the buyer would have to rent the rest of the weeks. (this was a contradiction of what the Mexican guy said) At the exit we spoke to Richard and he offered us a test run for one year for 3000.00 and if we liked it then we could buy into program. We told him that we had been lied to by the Mexican guy and did not want anything to do with it. I am glad we did not buy. We were given a gift of 4, 000 pesos and in retrospect it was a waste of our four hours of vacation.
Richard in Los Angeles
11-28-09
We just returned from PV on 11-21-09 and on 11-18-09 we attended a presentation at the Belaire.
I completely agree with the above comments from Richard. We were subject to intense pressure
for almost 3 hours. The showrooms above the office were beautiful-BUT-we could see no workers
or equiptment on site at the proposed condos next door. There was concrete and steel shell-but
that was it! We were also offered unbelievable deals from reselling our unit in 3 years for 75% of
the finished product and free maintenance fees for life (100 yrs). We declined to buy and the
supervisor-a John Kerrigan-became very angry and said-"did you just come here for the money?"
I said no and my husband said we wanted to see the property. Anyway John Kerrigan said well
if you did not just come for the money then they were not going to give it to us! I said we were not
leaving until they paid us and they called the police-so we did leave(before the police arrived)
However we ended up going to Profeco with our complaint and they called the Belaire and they
wanted to give me all kinds of spa treatments in place of the money-which we refused-they also
wanted us to return to the site to talk to them-which we again refused-they ended up paying us
$2500 pesos and $2000 peso credit at a store at the Marina-which was another scam! But oh well!
Anyway Profeco does have authority over them-so do complain if you are taken. Better yet-
do not even attend a presentation-it is a waste of time on your vacation.!
Cathy in Nebraska
Cathy, is your husband Norland. Pat and I met with you back in '08 or '09.
My husband and I attended a presentation at Belaire in November 2009. We were fooled enough to believe the story "Eddie" our salesman pitched us. We foolishly purchased for $20, 000. We were offered 4 weeks a year, with the option of selling one week a year for $2, 000- guaranteed by Belaire. After we purchased, we learned we were scamed by citizens of Puertro Vallarta. Within 5 business days we went to Perfeco and they helped us cancel our contract. They advised us to go back to Belaire and hand them our cancellation. We did just that. Antonio, in his fancy suit and pulled back hair, came out into the lobby and threatened us with arrest if we did not leave his property. We tried to explain that we only wanted to cancel our contract. He used extreme profanity (which was audio taped:)) and then we proceeded to leave the property. A friend that was with us tried to take some pictures. When she did, one of the employees grabbed her camera. In efforts to get her camera back, she was bruised and his shirt was torn. Belaire called the police. We were threatened with arrest. We were coerced into sigining new contracts or being arrested. We signed new contracts out of total fear and intimidation. We then went to the US Consulate and filed a complaint, submitted a new cancellation that was sent to Profeco and this was all faxed to Belaire. After we got home, we recevied a call from a scam collection agency "Vonage Holdings" saying they were putting a lien on our property. We will fight this forever and not give these jerks a dime. Protect yourself and do not go to a presentation and for heavens sake don't buy if you end up going... and if you were as dumb as us and did buy, contact Perfeco and cancel NOW. This company is heartless and has stole thousands of dollars from inocent tourists. Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful city, it is a shame that jerks like this are able to continue to tarnish a good name.
How do we contact Perfeco?
You guys need to wake " when it's too good to be true then it is what it is"!
First I would like to say feel truly sorry for the ones that lost their hard earned money-it is a disgrace that people get away with such a scam. I hope you can put it as a lost in the next Income Tax-
It is not just in Mexico that those scams happen! EVERYWHERE in the world even in U.S.A and Canada so we hope that you will eventually put this awful experience behind you and continue traveling where you want..
Mike Gilmore: You are a fake-I live in PV and work in real estate; I can assure you guys that Miramar, Belaire and who ever uses the word Guarantied rental are lying to you.
Me and a group of other honest local people are trying to put together literature to educate people-reach the newspaper-anything to stop or at least discourage those con artist to continue their illegal activities.
If you are a local or a tourist in the city of Vallarta and you see those con artist please call 226-8087 (This is "reglamentos" and they don't tolerate this kind of activities-they will show up and help you! They are like the police of illegal activities) You will need someone help you since they speak spanish. They also help to control the activity of OPC (the suppose people that gives out tourist information or free coupons for cooking class or free tour but only if you attends this short 90 minute presentation!) those people are aggressive to people on the street and will say anything to get you on these tours.
Now for your information" Mayan Palace is a scam" Miramar-Belaire-any resorts that offers rental if not using your timeshare or uses the word guaranty. They should be using words like you can rent it or your own but there's no companies that will rent our your week for $2500! IMPOSSIBLE think about it! Would you rent a week at Mayan Palace for $2500? Plus airfare etc..a room is normally from $150 to $300 a night for standard room.. so if they rent their room for that kind of money how can they pay their marketing and make a profit...too good to be true then it's BUL#%$^ !
The only ones I can think that are legit are Four Seasons and Paradise Village(look them up and you won't see negative comments like those resorts that I mentioned to be scams.
If you think you have been scam and bought a timeshare and would like to cancel call right away Profeco-have someone from their office come with you (you will probably need to tip them to come with you!) also you can call Reglamentos 226-8087; the cons are afraid of those guys. BE persistent and right away call your credit card company to let them know you have been scam. Do not wait or let anyone tell you that your money will be refund in 90 days (you will never been refund within 90 days) Make sure you stay in the sales office and get your money back right away-if they say they will call the police then call them yourself! The Puerto Vallarta Police protects tourist so if you feel you have been rub by timeshare people then call the police and tell them I have been rub! HELP!
The best is NEVER buy anything that seems to go to be true and always do your research before buying anything-you shouldn't have to buy the same day-incentive are a way to get you in the deal same day but those are just pure crap! You should be able to "think about it" and do your research.
I hope this was helpful : )
GOD bless the victims and take the cons to where they deserve to be.
Amen
HI EVERYONE, MY NAME IS JAVIER MACHAIN I AM A NEWS REPORTER, I WORK IN VALLARTAOPINA NEWSPAPER (www.vallartaopina.net) OR (www.vallartatoday.com).
I'VE BEEN RESEARCHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IN THE WEB, AND I HAVE REALIZED THAT THERE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE WORRIED ABOUT THIS.
I WANT TO HELP YOU, SOMEBODY TOLD ME THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE A MEETING IN A PLACE CALLED "CASA CORAZON" ON MAY 20.
DOES SOMEONE HERE IS AWARE OF THAT MEETING? I WANNA KNOW MORE DETAILS. IF SOMEONE KNOW SOMRTHING PLEASE TELL ME.
I WILL BE IN TOUCH IN A FEW DAYS AGAIN, IF ANYONE WANT TO MAIL ME SOMETHING, DO IT, I'LL BE AT YOUR SERVICE AT: javiermachain@gmail.com
I AM COLLECTING SOME TESTIMONIALS TO BE PUBLISHED. AND FOR THOSE WHO HASN'T BEEN IN VALLARTA FOR A WHILE, YESTERDAY I TOOK SOME PICS OF THE BUILDING, , HERE I LEFT THIS. JUST GO IN THE LINK BELOW
http://machainlodehoy.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post.html
HELLO EVERYONE, I HOPE EVERYTHING IS OK.
WELL, IN THESE DAYS AS I TOLD YOU, I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION. AFTER POSTING SOME PICTURES OF THE BULDING I WENT TO THE AGENCY THAT GIVES THE PERMITS (OBRAS PÚBLICAS) AND EVERYTHING IS OK WITH THE PAPERWORK STUFF THEY (BELAIRE) HAVE ALL IN ORDER, AT THE MOMENT.
HERE COMES THE BAD NEWS. I WAS SEARCHING ABOUT ANTONIO COPELA IN THE WEB AND I THERE IS AN ANTECEDENT FROM SEPTEMBER 9 2009. THIS NOTE WAS PUBLISHED IN VALLARTA OPINA (AT THIS MOMENT I STILL WAS STUDING MY CARRER). I WILL RESUME YOU THE NOTE
" THERE WERE TWO PEOPLE UNDER ARREST, ONE OF THEM IS DANIEL NIÑO CHAVARIN (HE IS MARRIED WITH A COPELA'S DAUGHTER) AND HE PARTICIPATE IN THE COLLECTION OF 120, 000 USD FROM A EXTORTION MADE TO JOSÉ DE JESUS CARRANZA (AN ARCHITEC), IT IS SUPOSE THAT THIS ARCHITEC FAILED ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO CONDOMINIUMS THAT WAS PLANED TO BE RISED ON ALBATROS STREET IN MARINA VALLARTA". THE NOTE DOESN'T MENTION THE NAME PROYECT, BUT I THINK THAT THEY WAS REFERING TO BELAIRE. THE QUESTION HERE IS, THIS ACTION WAS PLANED BY COPELA? I CAN'T ENSURE THAT, BUT BY THE TESTIMONIALS THAT MANY MEMBERS TALK ABOUT THE WAY HOW COPELA TREATED THEM, IT IS POSSIBLE.
I TALKED WITH A CONSTRUCTION AGENT FROM THE COMPANY THAT WAS WORKING ON THE BUILDING, THEY WERE DOING THE PARKING BASEMENT. AND THEY STOPPED WORKING ABOUT A YEAR 1/2 AGO, BY THE LACK OF PAYMENT. THE COMPANY LATER WAS AWARE OF THE TRICKY WAY TO WORK OF ANTONIO COPELA AND THE ENGINEER CLAVEL (THEY START WITH PAYMENT ON TIME, BUT AS THE WORK CONTINOUS THEY GET DELAYED, UNTIL THEY STOP PAYING), THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE CONSTRUCTION, THE AGENT TOLD ME THAT THIS WASN'T THE FIRST TIME THAT THEY DO THIS. THIS IS LIKE THE 2ND OR 3RD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY THAT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH BELAIRE.
AT THE MOMENT THEY STILL OWE MONEY TO THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND THEY HAVE A LAWSUIT WITH THEM. DEMANDING THE PAYMENT THAT BELAIRE OWES TO THEM.
AM WATING FOR A PHONE CALL OF THE PERSON WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE SITUATION, BECAUSE THIS COMPANY HAVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN MEXICO CITY. SO ILL BE IN TOUCH SOON.
AT THE MOMENT I HAVEN'T PUBLISHED ANYTHING, AM STILL RESEARCHING TRYING TO GET MORE INFO. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IS COMING OUT.
THIS PROYECT HAVE SOME SERIUS PROBLEMS, BUT I BELIVE THAT YOU CAN DO SOMETHING TO GET BACK YOUR MONEY, AM REALLY SORRY ABOUT THIS, I HOPE THAT SOONER THIS ENDS WITH A GOOD SOLUTION FOR ALL OF YOU. AND I AM REALLY IMPRESSED BY THE LACK OF COMUNICATION BETWEEN THE COMPANY AND THEIR COSTUMERS, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.
HAVE A GOOD DAY.
P.D. SORRY IF I MISS OR MIX SOME WORDS IN MY WRITING.
Hi everyone, two days ago i received a phone call from Leonardo Menije, he is the legal representative of Belaire. We arrange an apointment at 10:00am on wednesday in the Belaire Restaurant. i ask so many questions and he was kind and was willing to provide all the answers.
i spoke with him for an hour, i mentioned some of the cases that i have read. He explained some of the problems that they have gone during the construction, despite of the problems, he ensure me, that everything is gonna be alright. He told me that in three weeks there's going to be people working again ( they have had problems with some labor union) problems that they will let you know later.
You will have to be very patient, i saw the dates of construction and the end date for the construction of the first tower will be until 2012, they are in every order to offer you what you need while the construction is done.
i made emphasis on the lack of comunication with their costumers, and he really showed concerned about that. This area, comunication, is no the task of Leonardo Menije, but he told me that he is going to talk with the personal that is in charge of this.
trust me, he really was worried about everything that i mentioned. maybe this is a way to make them to put more attention on their business. from now on, they must be rearranging a lot of things. I'll be ware of what happens soon. and i will keep in touch.
Am sure that you still have doubts of this, but now it is turn of BELAIRE to give you an explanation.
Have a good day everyone. Till next time
HI EVERY ONE,
THIS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IN NUEVO VALLARTA IS A COMPLETE FRAUD! STARTING FROM THE NAME
THEY TOOK THE NAME OF "BELAIRE", AND THIS NAME THAT DOESN´T BELONG TO THEM, THEY DON´T HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE THAT NAME.
THEY ARE TARNISHING THE NAME OF A REAL HOTEL CHAIN THAS IS NOT RALEATED IN ANY SENSE WITH THIS FRAUD, AND THIS IS NOT FAIR, THE REAL BELAIR IS A SMALL AND CUTE BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN CANCUN (www.belaircollection.com) AND I REPEAT THERE IS NOT RELATION WITH THIS FRAUDULENT AND DISHONEST COMPANY.
THE HOTEL IN CANCUN HAS PROPERLY REGISTERED, YEARS AGO, THE NAME IN THE "IMPI" (INSTITUTO MEXICANO DE LA PROPIEDAD INDUSTRIAL).
IT IS A SHAME, BUT THIS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IS GOING AGAINST THE LAW IN MANY WAYS.
I HOPE THE LAW CAN DO SOMETHING TO FINISH WITH THIS COMPLETE FRAUD.
THEY ARE FAKE STARTING FROM THE NAME!
I purchased from Belaire over a year ago and have tried to cancel my contract on two (2) different occasions. Both within the allotted time per my original contract and an addendum I received from Mr. Copela. The second time I spoke with a Ms. Pena and she assured me my money would be refunded in May 2010. I also had alerted the local Profeco of my situation. They drafted a document for me to present to Belaire instructing them to refund all my money. It is now the middle of June and I have yet to see any of my money or even hear from Belaire as to when they will be returning my money. I am not able to be PV until they decide to reimburse me. The profeco is my on site agent while I am not in Mexico. I filed a formal complaint with the Profeco but have not heard from them either. I'm frustrated and angry. I did stop by the project last Feb. when I was in PV and noticed the lack of progress on the first building. I truly believe they are a SCAM. Shame on me.
This Message goes out to all Member's who have bought a package from the Belaire Resort in Puerto Vallarta. Please resond to this post expressing your experience with this resort. Please include good and bad experiences, your reply and emails will be kept completley confidential.Send all emails to jarmex2020@yahoo.com.
Any and all Txt sent to me will be used exclusively for the use of investigating Belaire Resort and Gulf. jarmex2020@yahoo.com
we were down there in September '10 and nothing has been done. Grand miramar is also a fraud and please don't deal with any man named Joe porter.
both belaire and grand miramar are frauds. stay away from any one named Joe Porter.
Has anyone received any money back for their investment?
Has anyone contacted the Ambassador to Mexico, the consulate or embassy regarding this scam?
has anyone been in contact with President Obama?
really! are you serious Carollyn schneckenberg!
New reforms to Mexican Law will allow class actions to be brought against frauds of this type. We are already in contact with several affected people. If anybody is interested in joining in this class action, please contact me at rodrigo.cruz@riconabogados.com.
OMG! I'm not surprised, but so so disappointed and discouraged! My husband hasn't working in a year and a half and we've struggled to continue paying our monthly payment. Now I'm completely sick to see how completely stupid we've been. These people have taken money we don't even have, we've been living off our retirement! I'm so sick! I'm hoping someone sees this and can help direct me to a place to file a formal complaint, and hopefully have these people held accountable! Our last payment in this month, I'm going to try to stop it!
My retired parents have been defrauded by this horrible scam as well. It sickens me to see all their hard earned money going nowhere!
Why does the Mexican government/tourism industry allow this kind of thing to continue.
Now people from this organization have bilked more $$ from my parents with a promise of buying it back.
Makes me sick.
We are still being contacted by the Belair group saying they want to refund our money, but the only way is to come to P.V. and meet with them and go to the bank to sign papers. People by homes and other things by scan and email all the time, so here we go with more lies and scams. We heard that Mr. Copela was a wanted man and now he's supposedly back and wants repay everyone, Yeah Right?
Hello my name is Daniela Compton, well good news after all, Mr. Copela and Tomasello are finally in jail. There´s a class suit against them, if you want to hop aboard so we can finally make them pay for what they have done to us get in contact with Mr. David Connell or Mr. Omar Ortiz, I´ll leave there web page. http://www.mexicolaw.com.mx/
I booked into Secrets Vallarta Bay and was quoted a price...booked and it was been taken from my Visa immediately $2300.00 Cdn.
I was sent a form which I believe was to attend a time share presentation. I was supposed to sign & return..I did not meet any of the requirements i.e. unpartnered, over 65 and income lower than minimum. Based on this I did not return but instead emailed the Supervisor of Booking for Bel Air Hotels Hector Sotelo.. I emailed twice and received no answer. I am leaving in the am and received as call saying since I did not return form - I do not having a booking at this hotel.. I have been on the phone all night trying to get an operator at the resort ..zilch...I have been listening to a voice mail for hours.. I have paid my money plus $1, 000 for a flight and now my holiday is ruined before I even begin...
Hello, my name is Klara Silva. I have been scam twice by Tony Copela. We purchased 1 bedroom at Bellaire in Puerto Vallarta in 2009. For few years we try to contact or resolve this problem. We contact Profeco but they are useless. Few time they respond that representative did not show up at the hearing and that they was find 6.000 Pesos. ( tiny slap on the hand)
In summer 2013 I went to see Bellair site and was told by security that someone will call me at my hotel. Then Michale Logen call me, he took me to Punta Mita where I talk to Tony Copela.
Tony seemed very sincere, recovering from stroke. I want to trust and believe in second chance but I was so naive and wrong.
Then he told me to change Bellaire to Signature in Punta Mita for 2 bedroom and pay more $11.000 Unfortunately I went for it.
Next in November I came back to PV and try to arrange meeting with Mr Copela. I got many excuses to avoid our meeting. Finely I went to Punta Mita and surprise him. He seemed very nervous and told me to go get massage and manicure and pedicure in Bellaire salon and that he will meet me in next few days. Then I got email from Michale Logen that Tony Copela was taking in.
Never hear from them again.
I read complaints board from Daniela Compton. She said that Mr Copela is in jail.
Also to contact Mr. Omar Ortiz at http://www.mexicolaw.com.mx
I did contact Mr Ortiz he told me he need at least 30 people to start proceed, which he does not have. Also he told me that Mr Copela jumped the bail and that he is in jail in US.
There is lot of property that should be sold and return money to us.
I can believe that there are not at least 30 people to join the forces and try to get our money back.
If you know anything else about this scam please post it here or contact Mr Ortiz at
http://www.mexicolaw.com.mx
Thank you
Klara Silva
I have not been able to contact Bel Air to even book a room; we originally purchased in Los Cabos. It was disturbing to see this news. Does anyone have any updated news?
I have purchased an every other year studio unit in 2007 in Puerto Vallarta I have paid my fees but when I try to put this into my interval account I can't get onto the website so I can't see if this is real or not I've had nothing but trouble with this whole timeshare company since I purchased. I have only used this 1 time and that's when I purchased are they all crooks and is this company a real company anymore. I certainly got hate mail from them when I didn't pay my fees till late one year. I haven't even gotten a fee notice in the last year.
have they gone out of business? I paid my fee but cannot get ahold of anyone in the vacation club...Anyone know what has happened to them?
It's seems they recently purchased the resort next door and have plans to make more improvements based on funds they intend to raise from a special assessment on members. Has anybody else heard about this?
If so, I would recommend not paying this special assessment or membership dues until they provide financial records for the last 5 years that clearly demonstrate how membership fees have been used for improving the existing premises.
Members are entitled to this information. Every time I have asked for this information I have never received a reply. Perhaps it is time to mobilize enough people for a class action suit.
Have you requested these documents?
Don't pay
I agree, just got the assessment and it is BS $1, 1512 for a 2 bedroom unit. I would like to see documentation on where they are authorized to even do this by what I agreed to when I bought the unit YEARS ago, before it was Bel Air. They need to raise their rates to outside bookings instead of screwing over their owners. I am told, places like this only reserve 30% of their inventory for owners, the other 70% is for outside bookings. Very pissed off right now at this BS charge. I never even go to Mexico anymore, always bank it because of all the crime there now.
I also received the assessment ripoff, $900.00 and we only have a studio every other year. Bel Air say's they are not selling anymore week's so Krystal Grand must be the only ones looking for fresh blood. We're trying to unload our week one way or the other as we don't even like the growth, as it's too many units for the property. we're back to being second class owners since they push for all0inclusive.
I have gone to Nuevo Vallarta Belair for many years to stay in my 2 bedroom unit. Over the years, it's gotten a bit worn and then 2 years ago the new hotel was being built. I didn't use my unit last year but friends of mine did. They had a terrible experience. According to them, only one restaurant was open, service was bad, the room was in terrible condition and timeshare owners were treated poorly. Now I recevied the special assessment and am skeptical . It says in the letter I received that the improvements included "renovated units with new furniture". Does anyone know if this has actually been done? Increasing the number of restaurants from 4 to 11 means nothing to me. Why should timeshare members pay to upgrade profit making restaurants? We don't get a share of the profits. Shouldn't those restaurants pay their own way? And didn't we all pay maintenance every year to cover renovating rooms on a regular basis? I think we need to see more evidence of what's been done to benefit timeshare owners and see where all the money we've been paying each year has gone. Does anyone know how we can do this? Thanks. I plan on contacting Belair and asking questions.
Yes, we also received this special assessement letter on July 3, 2019. Our BelAir contract includes the Club regulations. One of the regulation paragraphs ( 8C. In our case) spells out that the Club can impose a special assessment at any time but also states that the Club MUST provide a detailed report directed to members. We have asked for this detailed report but still have not received one.
Tell everyone you know about this.
We were at the Nuevo resort this March and some room improvements have occurred. Such as new flooring, new furniture, all bathtubs replaced with a shower. The kitchenettes have not been updated yet. Some stoves not working, ovens taken out.
Two towers appear to be unavailable for members' use. Tower 3 has all the kitchenettes removed and now belongs as part of the Reflect Krystal all-inclusive resort. Also the front tower #7 which is the full ocean units is not available to members either. Those were one bedrooms with kitchenette.
The tower 2 is where the 2 bedroom lock offs are and they use the lock off portion as a studio and they have the 2 double beds in them. We had that for our first week and the second week they provided us with the other lock off portion for our 1 bedroom week.
The property looks beautiful but has lost the quaint boutique feel of what we fell in love with and purchased in 2006.
About 8 years ago Raintree vacation club, which owns the Westin Regina in cabo, imposed an assessment fee for improvements. Some people, including me paid. Other people didn't pay and filed a class action suit. The end result was that the people who refused to pay didn't have to pay. They also got a free extra week for their troubles. The people like me who paid upfront received nothing because we had agreed to pay. We didn't get our money back, we got nothing. Lost out all around by paying the fee. Just saying !
So are we required to pay the special assessment or not? I've had the membership since around 2008 as well, and only have to pay maintenance fees if we use the unit, which we have not for several years. Why should I have to pay a special assessment for a unit I neither own or use? It's a membership, that was one of the selling points. Would love to hear updates from folks who have reached out to Bel Air re: this special assessment already.
You say you haven't paid your maintenance in years because you don't use the weeks. Have they been hassling for the money. I have been thinking about stop paying myself as I have not used unit for last five years. I would think that they would harass you. They send me a invoice every month for pass dues owed even though I am paid up in full. When I call them they say that I am paid up and disregard the bill. The next month I get another bill. I think it's a scam. Billing people with the hope that they will not question it and just pay the bills.
Some of the contract members do not pay yearly maintenance fees, we purchased such a contract also around 2008. So we only pay when we use it, but like the previous comment we have not been there for years. The last time we went there we were forced into another time share meeting because we bought when it was play del sol and now that it was Bel air we had to sit and listen to them. What a scam they basically told us our membership was no longer valid and if we tried to book again we would have a hard time because we were prior playa del sol members and would be treated as second rate citizens. We declined on their additional $20, 000 fee and have not been back. Now they want a special assessment? Sorry, not from me! I did request the detailed financial report but no response.