Caught In Mayan Palace SCAM

[Borntotravel]

I would like to say that we have reached an amicable settlement with Grupo Mayan concerning our Mayan Palace timeshare in Playa Del Carmen. With this in mind I would like to retract the story we placed in the forums here at Independent Traveler.

Next up is finding a new way to deal with our Las Vegas timeshare, but thats another story for another forum on another day.

Borntotravel (me)
Borntotravel2 (my wife)

[tiresmokindad]

I just want to begin with saying that my loving wife and I exchanged RCI points for a trip to Mayan Palace Riviera this past April. We get there and find the place is stunning and the service is top notch. First day there we commit to the 1.5 hour sales pitch during what they call “buyers week”. Well, in the end it was 5 hours and a majority of the presentation was focused on how these units are investments and that they give you “flexibility” in an extra week to use as a rental. The rental income was presented at $1700 net income after maintenance fees were taken out. We bought into the idea….it sounded great. Upon returning home I researched renting these units and found that they rent for far less than they stated repeatedly in the presentation. I have obtained training material that Mayan employees use explaining in detail how they leverage this with vacationers, then skim over the disclaimer sentence that is listed in the mounds of documents. This fraud has to stop. I would not have entered into this agreement if they had been truthful about this. They describe the rental agencies as partners verbally and that you get your rental check quickly in 60-90 days, which is not true. They used scratch paper to show you the money you would make renting these units and how fast they would pay for themselves, which was untrue.
There was no mention of any cancellation period during the presentation, so by the time we arrived home and called to cancel our agreement….we were told it was past the 5 days.
I have called and talked with a number of people. To date they have been unwilling to cancel and refund our credit card. A complaint has been filed with the Mexican Government, Profeco and FTC.

If you go to any Mayan Palace resort, PLEASE do not get caught it the misleading sales pitch!!!
Just enjoy the resort....

I want to enjoy also in that resort. Can you post some pictures of it so that they would see how nice to go to that Palace. However there are some are scamming that is why don't ever talk to strangers.

[lesliez88]

Could you be so kind to share with us, how did you come up with an agreement with them?

[wouldrichest]

How did you resolve your issue? Need help with ours. Thanks.

That is ridiculous I'm so sorry that happened to all of you, Thank you for letting the travel community know about it at least your maybe stopping some other individuals from the same scam. I hope everything gets cleared up with all of you.

[carolinaM]

We are victims of Mayan Palace and seems to me that they (mayan palace) has no remorse about it. I too try cancel with in the five days and I was told this could not be posible, this of course ruin my vacations with my family. It is awful when no one gives you a straigh answer, or when you think you are making progress with the people at Mayan Palace, they suddenly stop answering your emails or phone calls, its so frustrating and whenever we are not able to make ends meet we are hassel to pay them.

we were promise my dream vacations and the only thing we got is was a BIG DEBT.

I have try with PROFECO but it has being over a year with no results, I have done my research and I found this company (mexican timeshare solutions) I called and they request some information from me later they gave a consultation, (i agree to it, since they dont ask for any upfront fee, which NOW i know; not to give any upfront fee to ANY company) I liked what I was told but I am letting right now my option open and doing more research on other companies (if I find another one that dont ask for any upfront fee) that could help me cancel my contract.


I will let you know what was the outcome of my situation.

[LETS FIGHT]

I am going to make my point clear. Mayan Palace is a SCAM! I was in cancun in october and was lured into going to their 90min presentation for discount tickets
on excursions. To make things short, let me summarize the horrible experience I had and having with the Mayan group.
The things your representatives tell you are LIES!
They will use all of the information they know about you to come up with lies to suit your needs

Ex. 1
Laureen knew that I am a golfer. She guaranteed 50% off all golf courses all around the world with the HSI membership... We confirmed this many times over the 10hour period of being at the Mayan. She clearly said it over and over again that the discount applies to all courses local and international. She was intentionally lying to us.

Ex. 2
She exaggerated all the details about the program. She told us the essentials on how we can use the weeks we purchased but we come home to figure out that all the details have been much exaggerates to the point where nothing she said was applicable.
1. Using the weeks outside of Mayan for exchange program with any other hotel in the world would give us twice the stay (1 week at mayan = 2 weeks elsewhere)
2. A flat rate of $779/week applies to all hotels around the world. Since point 1, it would add up to $779/2 weeks. I tried making a reservation for a random hotel in New York City just to see if this was true through HSI and the est. came out as nearly 1000 for 3 nights stay.
3. Lowest price for flights and cruises guaranteed. Again, she specifically said 50% off all flights.
All the "benefits" are very limited, and from my experience none have been applicable.

Ex. 3
One of the most upsetting lie was about the cool down period. She specifically knew that we cannot contact mayan group to cancel our contract in the 5day period (actual cool down period) as we are on vacation and we do not have internet access. So when we asked her about the cool down period, she said 14 days to make us feel safe about purchasing. We come back home after our 7day vacation and that we can no longer cancel our contract despite finding out it was a scam.

Ex. 4
Guaranteed buybacks. I did not know what this was however she brought up this topic herself and explained to me that it is a program where we can decide to sell our timeshare. Mayan group guarantees buyback policy with original payment plus equity.

STAY away from Mayan Palace!

[tlcnate]

Mayan Palace Update

Almost two years after the first post here the Mayan Palace continues withthe same sleazy, high-pressure sales tactics. We just returned from PuertoVallarta and attended one of their "presentations." If you read thefirst post in this thread you will find an exact description of our experiencewith only the names and dates changed so I won't go into great detail about ithere.

I am a native of Mexico now living in the US and it saddens me to see thesefraudulent, corrupt practices. I am sure there would be more capital investmentin the country if they cleaned up the corruption but I don't expect that tohappen in my lifetime.

It also saddens me because my wife and I were truly interested in upgradinga timeshare we currently own at Rain tree Vacation Club where the building isgetting a bit dated. The Mayan Palace is truly stunning and it mystifies me whysomeone would build such an incredibly beautiful facility and then dedicatethemselves to screwing people in the process of selling it to them.

Quality products sell themselves and they do not require a sales force akinto car salesmen on steroids. If they were truly selling what they say theywould have no qualms about letting you take time to think, to review thecontracts, to investigate. The "sign now or no deal" strategy is aclear indicator that what they pitch is not what you get in the end asevidenced by the many complaints on this site.

Yes, some complainers have rescinded their comments but who can blame themonce they finally got their issues resolved. It is obvious that MP is only"reaching out" to the most belligerent posters in order to keep thecomplaints to a manageable level. If they were truly interested in selling thequality resort they built they would fire their entire sales force and changestrategies.

Finally, it is upsetting because I really liked the place and wouldhave liked to buy there but there were so many alarm bells going off in my headI would have been a fool to do so.

The last guy as we went out the door sarcastically told us we had "just wasted a whole morning of your precious vacation time." Since we weregiven $350 when we were invited to the presentation and we were there for aboutfour hours we actually made about $87 an hour so I am happy to report at leastwe got the last laugh and we did not sign anything.

[LETS FIGHT]

I take back everything I have written about Mayan Palace as all of my issues have been resolved in a satisfactory manner.

[Lefty]

Riviera Maya timeshare is a scam operation from the top to the bottom. The sales staff use scratch paper for their "presentations and it should be used when it comes time to sign the contrat to compare what was promised with what it is in the document you are about to sign. They will not allow that of course as it is all vapor ware that the sales staff promises.

[mgb15]

Would appreciate some tips on how you resolved your issues with them. Did they cancel your contract, any money back.
I have talked to a Mexican lawyer and have gotten a few details, but looking for any additional advice.

[eddy70]

Unfortunately you got hooked into a timeshare presentation, Mayan Palace Timeshare sales tactics are known for being particularly high-pressure. ALL the transfer companies, car rental companies, etc. are OUTSIDE the airport. The people between Customs and the doors to the outside are almost all timeshare reps (couple of kids trying to make a few bucks hauling luggage for folks also). If you go back to the Riviera Maya do not stop or talk to any of these people until you get outside. If you feel you must be polite just say No gracias and keep walking with your eyes down or straight ahead. Most of them wear these really official looking uniforms and will tell you all sorts of lies, like how you have to show them your transfer papers, etc. Just ignore them and keep going.