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DONT BUY A TIMESHARE FROM VILLA DEL PALMAR / UNIVERSAL VACATION CLUB.
We own several timeshares and love to vacation in Mexico. We were at Villa del Palmar Flamingos in Nuevo Vallarta in April 2008. We were approached for the timeshare sales; we went to get the “discounts” and made it clear from the beginning that we were not interested because we already owned enough timeshares. The two sales people we dealt with were Jimmy Munoz and Alberto Garcia. To make a LONG story short, we were told they would sell our existing timeshare if we purchased one of theirs. They wanted to sell us a studio unit, summer season. We told them we would never use or trade a studio because it is too small for our family. They said, “of course you won’t use it, that is why you rent it and make 2 or 3 times your maintenance fees”. They explained we would get a letter setting forth our maintenance fees with an option to check the box that said, “rent it”. Thereafter, they would rent it and we would get the money. Furthermore, if we ever wanted to vacation there, we would be Gold members of Universal Vacation Club and could reserve and pay for whatever size unit we wanted. They knew we wanted a 2 bedroom or larger, and said we would just reserve one and pay for the use of it at our special discounted rate. (After returning to the states, I called to see if we could reserve a 2 bedroom unit for a future vacation and was told we could only do that 60 days in advance. This is not what we were told, we were told that we belonged to a fractional ownership club and would have access to different size units as long as we paid the discounted rental fee. We were never told that we could only do that 60 days in advance. Again, one more reason that the studio is something we will never use.)
So, now that we believed they were going to buy our existing timeshare, we could rent the timeshare we were going to purchase and we would have access to units of all different sizes as long as we paid the rental fee, we were ready to work out the details. We worked out how much we would pay and how much they would buy our timeshare for. We expected to walk away with a check from them because our timeshare was worth far more than the one we were buying. When we thought the deal was done, they informed us that we had to buy theirs first and in a separate deal they would sell ours. After more discussion, they convinced us that buying their timeshare was a good deal because we could rent it out, reserve units of different sizes during the time of year we liked to vacation, etc. They told us we would meet in the morning to sign the contract to sell our timeshare. They lowered the price of their timeshare and in return, we agreed to pay them more commission on selling ours. We thought that was good because it gave them more incentive to get ours sold. They also promised that if it didn’t sell in one year, they would buy our timeshare at the agreed price. Just before we went to the “closing” room, they told us that we could not tell anyone that we were purchasing the Villa del Palmar timeshare solely because they promised to sell our existing timeshare. In fact, we couldn’t even talk about the fact that we had an agreement for them to sell our existing timeshare. That made me nervous, but “they do it all the time, don’t worry, we will take care of you”.
The next morning, we met for breakfast and we signed an agreement for them to sell our timeshare or buy it out in 12 months. When we asked for a copy of the agreement, they said they “couldn’t make a copy now, but we would receive a copy along with other paperwork in the mail in 30 days”.
Needless to say, 30 days passed and no paperwork in the mail. However we did get the maintenance fee statement and when I called to find out how we could rent it, I was told that we couldn’t because that request had to be made a year in advance. So, now we are paying maintenance fees on a unit we will never use or trade because it is too small for our family.
I started e-mailing the sales people from Villa del Palmar in July with questions as to when they were going to contact us to sell our timeshare. About 2 weeks ago I finally got a call from someone from Regal Timeshare sales and rental. The lady told me that my salesperson had asked her to call me and that since I was referred to her, she would not charge me the large commissions and give me the corporate deal, so I only had to pay her $661 to list my timeshare for sale with them. When I explained that I was not supposed to have to pay her because that that was not part of my deal and my sales person said he was going to take a commission, she said there was no other way to do it. When I asked her about the 12 month guarantee to sell my timeshare, she didn’t know what I was talking about.
If we would have known the true facts, we would nave never agreed to purchase the timeshare from Villa del Palmar.
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The exact same thing happened to me in August 2008 (same place, same agent, same resell company). If anyone knows of a way to get us out of that deal, please let me know.
I am one of their recent victim. This timeshare ordeal is causing me so much anxiety. It disrupts our family peace. I have been trying hard to cancel it. Timeshare sales people at Villa del Palmar Flamingos, Nuevo Vallarta are totally ruthless and heartless liars. So deceptive they are. They used all kinds of tricks to trap honest buyers. They need to be prosecuted for illegal sale practice. I am surprised that Mexican government has not shut them down. It is disgraceful to their nation to do such things to foreigners who just want a peaceful vacation.
I hope this will help you. My husband and I had bought a studio at Villa del Palmar Flamigos at the end of June 2008, and we got our money back. You will need to contact Bill Conley, the Regional Sales Director. Don't bother wasting your time calling anyone in San Diego as they cannot help you. I called the main number in the Welcome Package for the original Villa Del Palmar in Puerto Vallarta and asked to be transferred to him.
Bill was very helpful and relatively fast in processing my refund. It only took him about two weeks to file the paperwork to cancel my contract, refund my deposit, reverse the maintenance due, and reverse the late fee penalties. For privacy reasons, I don't think I can give out his contact information in a public site. Also, it seems that the staff in Mexico has a lot of vacation, so you'll have to be a little patient in getting responses.
Anyhow, when my husband and I bought in June, the resort was promoting the air fare guranteed program being offered through their partner Travel Escape Club. This was one of the main reason why we purchased the timeshare. However, when I called the reservation desk (operated out in San Diego), I discovered this program was never actually offered. The vendor backed out at the last minute. Needless to say, I was very upset, so I started calling UVC. It wasn't until I spoke to the sales manager at the Flamigos resort that I finally got a sympathetic ear and some results. I believe the resorts have since stopped promoting this program some time back in October 2008.
Therefore, if the airfare guarantee program was an important consideration in your purchase, Bill should be able to help you. It took me many, many hours to compile my case and to gather the backup documentation for my argument. However, Bill is quite reasonable, and is familar with my case. If you contact him now, it should still be fresh on his mind.
For other reasons or disagreements, you'll have to file a complaint with the Prefeco in Mexico for timeshare disputes. They may be able to help you.
A very similar story to the first on this thread. We wanted to downsize, and made it very clear that we were not interested in a third timeshare. And yes they twisted us around so that we bought a third, and agreed to sell the others for a sum that would cover the new one, give us cash back, and yes we could rent the unit back to them, and get as many weeks as we liked to deposit to Interval. The firm that was to handle the sales never called. Another firm, Regal sales, called, left a message, but have not called back. we were worrying that they could sell our old timeshares without our knowing!
I will call Bill Conley when we get his number, or contact the sales office directly. Thank you for the information.
I just upgraded my current UVC/villa del palmar membership. Now all this has me worried! THe rental company, Regal, can't rent my weeks out without me signing, can they? At least I'll have the $$ to pay my upgrade fees, but after reading all this, I'm NOT going with the rental company. I'd rather pay my fees and USE my weeks than take the chance of getting NO $$ out of it.
ANyone know...I can't lose my weeks without knowing it...can I?
I had the same experience and we actually got sucked in to signing a purchase agreement. Same deal "don't tell anyone what a great price you are getting...and you can rent this one to more than pay for your purchase." I could buy a luxury car for the price of this time share! Now that I have read all these other comments I am really glad that we decided to go in to the sales office and cancel the purchase agreement before the 3 days right to cancel was up.
We recognize each of the concerns addressed above and take each of them very serious. We encourage you to contact the Developer's Representative in Puerto Vallarta, MX directly at [protected] if an of these problems persist.
I would like to direct any readers of this posting to go to a website I just published www.universalvacationclubmembers.com and read to your heart's content. It is addressing many issues and concerns with the Villa Group (Developer) and the UVC. If you are a UVC Member and would like to add your name to my UVC Member mailing list, please contact me via the “Contact Us” page on the site or send an email to jeffsuomi1@msn.com. Jeff Robbins.
Dear Members and interested parties, please be aware the number for the Developer Representative in Puerto Vallarta has changed. If you need to contact the Developer's Representative for any issues related to the Villa Group, you may now contact [protected] or [protected](US Lines). We look forward to hearing from you.
Developer Representative
Puerto Vallarta Area