• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

[2012] SCAM - Occidental Vacation Club

Karen G

Moderator
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
Messages
9,470
Reaction score
1,983
Points
749
Location
Henderson, NV
Resorts Owned
Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
If you feel there was fraud involved in your transaction you have nothing to lose by contacting Profeco here. Maybe they can help you.
 

siesta

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
3,514
Reaction score
57
Points
283
You arent the first person coming here to complain of occidentals sales practice, and you definitely wont be the last. However, thhe last thread i remember seeing got someone from corporate's attention, and I think they let the person off the hook if they redacted their post. You should look for that persons contact info and forward him this thread
 
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles beautiful downtown L.A
As Karen said, there is nothing to be gained by any interchange with the sales weasels. However you might just copy if back to them with the addendum that you are exercising your legal right of rescission within the allowed time and that you expect a full refund of every cent you paid. And you expect it as soon as possible. And indicate thay you are cc'ing Profeco.

I ignored the 1st email from the sales rep.
But now they are emailing me again. I'm so frustrated. I had to mail over night copies to my citi cc proof of the contract date I mailed cancellation along wih emails. They said it would take no less them 45 days to get a final answer .
So the 15 day refund is a big lie too .. Why am I surprised ? Big lesson learned.
 
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles beautiful downtown L.A
Response to email received from sales rep

Post of reply written to sales rep...8/27/13

Im exercising our legal right of rescission within the allowed time and i will fight for a full refund of what we paid. Its been more then 15 days since we mailed and emailed are rescission and yet no refund has been made. I will be contacting Profeco.

None of the things we were promised were given to us. We couldn't even do tulum because we left so late from your place. That's why you offered and we accepted a Snorkeling trip. Now Greta wrote she gave us taxi tickets.. Really ? We picked up the other sales rep in our car rental from the fairy.We rented a car that's how all this got started why would we need a taxi ?

Out of our three day honeymoon we spent a whole day in your presentation . Not the 90 mins we were told ... it actually was more like 8-9 hours.

The membership you offered was not special .. Dozens of ppl have been scammed and posted reviews on line for the world to see. Like the fact you told us we would have 30% off . When my husband asked why it wasn't in writing you said it was ok . But I've read dozen of ppl who were told the same thing and the club didn't honor it.

I was even contacted by someone from the club after I posted my personal Experience.

Let me be clear we wish nothing to do with scam anymore . I mailed and emailed my rescission since 8/8/13

C.Alvarez
 

KingCupcake

newbie
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
[Post text removed at request of Original Poster. This is required by the developer as a condition of settlement. -- Makai Guy, TUG BBS Administrator]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Karen G

Moderator
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
Messages
9,470
Reaction score
1,983
Points
749
Location
Henderson, NV
Resorts Owned
Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
I sent my original post to the profeco email address someone posted on here, so I will wait to hear from them before I proceed to create a website/blog.
You might also try calling Profeco. Phone numbers are on that website that I linked in my post above. I believe someone posted in the past that they had a successful outcome with Profeco by talking with someone there on the phone. They had to ask for an agent who speaks English.

From the website, here's what they need from you to file a formal complaint:
To submit a formal complaint, you must send the following paperwork: a brief description of the problem, copy of the contract and of your ID.
 

KingCupcake

newbie
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
You might also try calling Profeco. Phone numbers are on that website that I linked in my post above. I believe someone posted in the past that they had a successful outcome with Profeco by talking with someone there on the phone. They had to ask for an agent who speaks English.

From the website, here's what they need from you to file a formal complaint:
To submit a formal complaint, you must send the following paperwork: a brief description of the problem, copy of the contract and of your ID.

Thanks for all the help, I certainly appreciate it!
 

jagibbs

newbie
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
DAMN fell for this scam, any suggestions?

Damn...

We just realized today (almost 1 year after signing up for an Occidental package) that we were taken surprise by Occidental also! Didn't realize it until today when I called to book our first week vacation. We were taken aback to find out that the $15,000+ we paid for the membership doesn't cover much. Apparently we need to pay between $50-200 PER PERSON PER NIGHT for each trip we use, in addition to the $275 maintenance fee and $15,000 up front cost for the 13 week package.

Comparing the overall price of a particular trip (initial cost+maintenance fee+all inclusive per person fees) to the retail cost of the same trip for non club members, makes it seem like a decent deal because they are just so expensive to begin with, however it's still more than it was made to seem during the sales pitches and explanation of the contract.

Do I feel deceived and cheated? Yes, a bit. Is it the end of the world? No, and likely we will try to use our membership as best as possible to get the moneys worth.

J
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles beautiful downtown L.A
Sales team will target you after you cancel

It's been over 30days since I cancelled and I still can't get a refund. Not only that... on my way to work one of the sales rep called my cell to harass and threaten me . When we got off the phone he emailed me a vulgar email with profanity . These people have no shame! God willing I will see our money back and plan to stay as active as possible to open people's eyes to this scam!

For those of us who got scammed .. Keep it going with updates ! Ppl who find us on the web need to see this company for what it really is, a scam!!!!
 

KingCupcake

newbie
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
[Post text removed at request of Original Poster. This is required by the developer as a condition of settlement. -- Makai Guy, TUG BBS Administrator]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,463
Reaction score
17,214
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
I am getting an confirmation email tomorrow, and once that is filled out it should take 15 business days to get the refund issued.

If this is in fact legit, and goes down as he said it would; I am more than happy with the outcome and will rescind all negative comments about Occidental Vacation Club.

Those who have successfully untangled themselves from Mexican timeshare purchases seem to have this in common. It seems to be S.O.P. for getting a refund. The last thing they want is a story such as yours to be the first thing that pops up on a Google search when a mark gets to their room after a purchase.

All the best to you and I suspect you'll get the refund, in full- and on time.

Jim
 
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Los Angeles beautiful downtown L.A
Becarful they lié about refunds

A gentleman named Damon from Occidental Vacation Club just got in touch with me apologizing "from the bottom of his heart" for the lies I was told, and is offering me a full refund. He said he came into the company a few months ago, and his first job was to get the garbage out of their company and fix the mess they left behind. He also informed me that the two sales persons who sold me my package are no longer with the company because of their lies and deceit in sales.

He seemed genuinely concerned, and was very apologetic and cordial about the whole thing. At this point, I am happy with what he, and Occidental Vacation Club is willing to do to make things right with me. I am getting an confirmation email tomorrow, and once that is filled out it should take 15 business days to get the refund issued.

If this is in fact legit, and goes down as he said it would; I am more than happy with the outcome and will rescind all negative comments about Occidental Vacation Club.

I'll let you know how this progresses!


Please see emails bellow I cancelled within 5 days as stated by law in the contract ...it's been over 45 days not 15 days like they promise to refund you in

Oh By the way they are deducting 575 . These ppl are scam artist


Hope my story helps someone !

My email response bellow and under email from Greta Sanchez ovc


To whom it may concern:


In reply to an email from Greta Sanchez ...

I expect my full refund as the gifts that were promised were not given. Your so called 90 min presentation kept us there more then 8 hours and our id and credit card were held for the whole 8 hours plus. due to this fact i was not able to do any of the things promised to us. I was very upset and confronted the sales rep, Because of this I was offered a snorkeling trip i could use on Cozumel where we were staying ... which now your trying to charge me? this is ridicules! Also the taxi vouchers were not accepted by us . We even picked up your sales rep from the fairy dock in our own rental car at our own expense. I will continue to dispute this charge with citi bank. As this so called club membership was nothing more then a scam. Your sales staff not only mislead us they sent vulgar harassing emails.

If I don't receive my full refund you can expect us to continue to post not only on tugg but other private and public websites, exactly all the misleading tactics you used on us, our awful experience with ovc staff and of course all the emails from your sales staff where I was harassed.

Be sure to note that I respected the 5 days asked by law for cancelation however you exceed the 15 working days to grant me my full refund which now you are disputing. Over 500 dollars !

C.A












Sent from my iPhone5

On Sep 18, 2013, at 5:25 PM, "Greta Sanchez" <grsanchez@mx.occidentalhotels.com> wrote:

Good afternoon

We have confirmation from our accountant department that the refund to your card for the amount $1,131.50usd was applied yesterday, please verify with your bank that you have your money back, and please sign the attached letter, that would be the last document needed to complete the cancellation process since we need to have it back in your file, you can send it scanned back to this same e-mail address.

We will be waiting for your response.

Kind regards,


Greta Sanchez
VLO/ Operation Supervisor Playacar
Occidental Vacation Club
 

WorryWart

newbie
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
new york
not worth it

[Post text removed at request of Original Poster. This is required by the developer as a condition of settlement. -- Makai Guy, TUG BBS Administrator]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Dear KingCupcake,

Here is a note from the President of Occidental Vacation Club:


"It is of my understanding that a refund was issued on your behalf, but I wanted to make a few comments.

If the reason for buying our Membership was the belief that we have partnerships with airlines that guarantee you some sort of Discount then, we need to give you your money back as we do NOT have any arrangements with any airline.

A Company such as ours has to be responsible for how their product is sold by its sales staff. Short of having a corporate officer present every minute of the sales presentation we concentrate and proper hiring, training and culture, additionally, to confirm what was said, we have a legal team sit down with each new sale and review the contract and a 27 point disclosure statement where we ask for your initials on each of the 27 points.

One of those points (23) does indicate that you understand that Occidental Vacation Club does not offer or Guarantee that has the capacity to sell airline tickets at discounted or preferential fares. Our contracts show that you did initial this clause.

Unfortunately this does not stop a bad apple from taking the easy road and simply lying to get a sale. We do not accept this, is wrong, is bad business practice. As I have said before, I have absolutely no qualms about refunding all the money you have paid if the sale was made under false pretenses. Even if is not a false pretense but mainly that you understood something else of what was being said, and that understating changes dramatically what you thought to have purchased.

I also understand that our members need additional time to re-think what the new commitment means to their lives: will it make it better? We normally extend the 5 days legal cancellation period to whatever is reasonable. Our issue is not so much the 5 or 30 days, but we look more towards the fact that you are happy and comfortable with the new purchase.

I gather from your comments that you did like our product, the units, the Yacht Club etc. That you’re dissatisfaction comes from the airline discount promise. Thou we work with an agency that specializes in Bulk Pricing and can sometimes get our members a good deal, we do NOT have any special partnership with any airline nor can include airline discounts as part of our Occidental Vacation Club product.

Best regards,


Luis"

Let me preface this rant with the fact that I am in no way opposed to getting a product, for any price, if you receive what was promised. I have already lost $12,000 and a lot of my sanity because of the lies, deceit, and sales tactics of the folks at the Occidental Grand in Cozumel, and their "Occidental Vacation Club". If nothing else comes of this legally, I can sleep a little easier at night knowing that I have hopefully steered others clear of my mistake.

We were first time travelers to Cozumel, and Mexico in general. At the airport, we were quickly offered a "free rental car" if we came and listened to a sales pitch for a vacation club. Sounded like a decent deal to us. So we agreed to this. At the end of the sales pitch from the two American sales people (Jason and Joshua), we decided that what they were offering was in fact a good deal for us, so we signed on the dotted line. The biggest factor for making that decision was that 1) Occidental Vacation Club partnered with all major airlines to get members rates 30-50% off that of published rates. They didn't say "possibly", or "maybe", or "from time to time"... they said it as if it were a regular, ongoing agreement between their company and the airlines.

Because of this, I factored that if we regularly spent $800-$1,200 USD round trip per person to visit the Caribbean and Mexico, that we would now be able to get it for approximately $400-$600 USD per person. Since we regularly travel twice a year, that's an annual savings of $2,400. If we brought more than just the two of us (friends and family) the airline savings would be even more evident. This was enough of an incentive for me to sign the contract.

We came home, and after a few weeks I started to check into this agreement that Occidental had with the major airlines, and much to my surprise, no one at Occidental or RCI had any idea what I was talking about. There were several other things that also were dishonest at best, including acting like this whole book of "$5 Travel Adventures" was so easy to use and navigate, when in fact it's next to impossible to book anything without the airfare that again, I thought I was getting 30-50% off.

When I sent an email to the Mexican "lawyer" with whom we signed the paperwork with about the airline discounts, this was her response:

When we went through page 5, clause 26, I clearly explained that the reservation department may provide the Airline booking service and I recommended to you to check also with RCI and the Airline Company to compare prices as we can not guarantee preferential or the lowest rate.

So as you can see, she says she told me all about how no one can guarantee preferential or the lowest rate, yet the sales people (standing in the next room no less) told me with 100% certainly that we could always get the special travel deals on airfare if we signed up for their vacation club. THIS IS WHERE I HAVE A VERY BIG PROBLEM. If that's not bait and switch, I don't know what is. They lie, lie, lie, and then once you get in the room and they go over the 10,000 legal items, they have you legally hooked on contract.

Should I have listened better to Page 5, clause 26? Absolutely. Is this partially my own fault for not paying complete attention? Again, yes. However, after spending the better part of six hours in a sales pitch, mixed with alcohol, and the excitement of what I thought was an awesome deal I was getting; you can forgive me for not listening line for line through her broken English.

The bottom line is OCCIDENTAL VACATION CLUB sales people have been taught to say whatever it is you need to say to get the sale, and then leave it to the legal department to get us to sign on the dotted line, with no intention of ever fulfilling the promises made by their sales staff.

Also, they have free will to "upgrade you" for the remainder of your stay to their top of the line rooms (which was very nice), as well as take you out to dinner and use of their private yacht. The sad part is, we really enjoyed these things thinking it was their way of saying "thanks" for signing up. When in actuality it was just another sales tactic. I am so utterly disappointed in this company, and how they conduct business. While I will probably never see my money back, I Would at least like to see that no one else out there gets taken to the bank like I did.

As a business owner myself, I know that sometimes employees do things outside of their training, or what I have taught them. The few times that has happened with me, even though it cost my company money... I bent over backwards to ensure my customers that that was a poor individual decision by a bad employee, and didn't reflect us as a company. It seems that with OCCIDENTAL VACATION CLUB, it's business as usual.

*p.s. - If anyone (other than Fabiola Márquez) from Occidental would like to talk to me, I would be more than happy to listen to your explanation of what happened to me.
 

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
We became members with Occidental Vacation Club about two years ago and we went to costa rica this year. I have never had such a FRUSTRATING mentally exhausting "vacation" in my life. I have called their customer service to try to put an end to this contract with no success. Since we have used it I know a full refund is out of the question, but I need to cut all ties and obligations to these people and their fraud. I was traveling with three other family members. We needed 2 rooms, one with one bed and one with two beds. When I booked over the phone, I was told this was guaranteed. I get there and both rooms have one bed. It took them the entire day to change this and they gave us a room with a giant hole in the ceiling in the bathroom. This room was not a vacation club room and also located across the resort from the rest of my family members. Not my idea of a great family vacation when we're all separated for the majority of the time. To top it off, they kept saying they would switch our room again and NEVER DID. We come to find out that this resort does not have double rooms in the vacation club area. We were never told this when booking. How is a room with two beds such a crazy unforseen request?? $16,000 for this membership and it doesn't buy a room with two beds for a week? This whole thing is worthless. To top it off, our building lost power one evening and lost water another evening. I am beyond upset with this company for wasting my time and money. This was marketed to us as a family vacation club. Why would a family vacation club not have rooms with double beds? If anyone could point me in the right direction to end this contract without paying another fortune in legal fees I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading.

Hello, here is a note from the President of the company regarding your situation.

***

Hello, WorryWart

I have read your comments. Not happy that instead of a great holiday you had all these problems.
I would like to compensate you for those issues with a certificate for a free week stay for two in any of our properties (excluding Aruba and Royal Hideaway). Additionally I'd like to make you a deal: if you are not entirely satisfied with your next holiday I will cancel your membership and refund whatever you paid less time used.

Our promise is to make your holidays better, not worse. If we are not able to do this, I think we should be able to give you your money back.

Luis Namnum
President
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,463
Reaction score
17,214
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
Hello, here is a note from the President of the company regarding your situation.

***

Hello, WorryWart

I have read your comments. Not happy that instead of a great holiday you had all these problems.
I would like to compensate you for those issues with a certificate for a free week stay for two in any of our properties (excluding Aruba and Royal Hideaway). Additionally I'd like to make you a deal: if you are not entirely satisfied with your next holiday I will cancel your membership and refund whatever you paid less time used.

Our promise is to make your holidays better, not worse. If we are not able to do this, I think we should be able to give you your money back.

Luis Namnum
President

I would hope that in the interest of customer service, you would CC the person you are replying to's email. It has been 2 weeks since their one and only TUG post outlining their troubles with your company, and one week since their last visit to TUG.

Surely your records have a better way to contact customers than via public forum.

WorryWart: If you DO get communication from OVC that brings you satisfaction, please report back. We'd love to hear of your success.

Jim
 

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello Passepartout,

As you just said, we do are contact with the user.

Have a nice day!

Ignaura Tejeda Solimán
Community Manager
 

royroy63

newbie
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
61
Location
Toronto
Occidental Vacation Club - False Sales Promises

Hello everyone,

After reading many of the posts here, I have decided to add my voice too. After reading KingCupcake’s post, I would have to say that our experience has been very similar to what has been posted. I hope others reading this take heed and avoid getting suckered by the less than scrupulous sales staff and their tactics.

We were vacationing in Occidental Grand Xcaret in Mexico. The resort is nice and has eco-archeological theme park right next to it. We were planning on visiting the park, and were told by Occidental sales staff that we could get free tickets if we attended a 60-90 minute sales pitch for the club. Let me tell you this, you will be there for much longer than the advertised time. You will also be offered plenty of drinks during the presentation. My advice is to refuse the drinks and stay sober.

We were told that we could use Occidental for our 1-stop vacation shopping, arranging for our vacation week, air flight, and airport shuttle with one call. We were also told that we, as club members, would receive 30% off the published rates, and discounted air flights. Additionally, we could make use of “accelerated” vacation time were we could use 5 additional weeks per year for friends/relatives, OR even for rentals. The sales staff told us we could rent out up 5 weeks per year at a rate of $700-$800 per week. The Occidental Sales Staff even provided a sales brochure and a business card for the Resort Rentals Mexico, claiming that they handle many rentals for club members. I did end up listed my unit for rent (for a nominal listing fee). It’s been close to 2 years now and there have been “zero” rentals occurring regardless of the asking price. Lies upon lies were layered on top of us. The deal sounded too good to be true, but the Occidental Sales Staff is very slick and put on a very believable pitch with the terrific benefits of membership. Next step was with the Occidental lawyer, who reiterated the important legal points of the contract to the liquored up customer.

As KingCupcake mentioned, the bottom line is OCCIDENTAL VACATION CLUB sales people have been taught to say whatever it is you need to say to get the sale, and then leave it to the legal department to get us to sign on the dotted line, with no intention of ever fulfilling the promises made by their sales staff.

The sad part for us is that we actually enjoyed the resort, but because of the many false promises and business ethics of the sales staff, we are not likely to ever visit an Occidental resort again. It is quite sad that a resort needs to employ unscrupulous sales staff and sales tactics in order to sell vacation memberships. I would not wish this experience on anyone.

I’m looking forward to a response from OVC for an explanation of why this is happening all too often.

Regards,
Roy
 

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello Roy, below is a comment from the Club's President regarding your recent post.

"As a result of using this medium we don’t know details about your account nor can we check up on this statements. We will contact you directly through Private Message to get more information on the account.

Our sales teams are NOT trained to say anything they want in order to make a sale. This is not a very healthy or intelligent business strategy, as sooner or later the customer is going to want fulfillment of what was promised.

We maintain our policy that if the product we sold you is not the product we are delivering we will refund.

We are aware of the rental pitch and we do not condone this. Any member has the possibility of renting their weeks. We don’t think that you can pay for the membership with rental income. We try to indicate in our contracts and by asking the member in the disclosure statement, that they understand to be entering this agreement without any expectations of generating profits but to use as a vacationing experience. All members MUST sign this disclosure statement for the deal to go through

We also cannot control simple greed. If you are purchasing a week of something and the salesman is telling you that he can get you five more for free so that you can rent those five other weeks and earn a profit to pay for the product you are buying, then is not so much that the salespeople are lying but that both may be getting together in a private business deal. Especially if ALL the paper work is telling you otherwise.

Members do receive a large discount on their rate usually 30 to 45% of what is published. More important, if at any time the hotel publishes a rate lower than the members rate, we not only grant that discounted rate to the member but tack on a 15% discount.

Members may accelerate their weeks not only 5 weeks but all 25 for one large group. Is just subject to availability.

We would like to make clear that there is no hard liquor served in the sales room. Potential buyers are offered juice, soda and beer. The picture that we force- feed alcohol to our clients without their noticing is a bit childish.

The official policy is that if a client has been irresponsible enough to get drunk during or prior to visiting the sales room the contract is simply NOT signed. In addition all customers have 5 days to undue the contract or any of the welcome calls made 30 days of purchase. I believe that if a person signs any type of contract while drunk then is mostly due to their own lack of character.

Best regards.

Luis"
 
Last edited:

royroy63

newbie
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
61
Location
Toronto
Hello OVC, I also have a few comments as per below.


“As a result of using this medium we don’t know details about your account nor can we check up on this statements. We will contact you directly through Private Message to get more information on the account.

Our sales teams are NOT trained to say anything they want in order to make a sale. This is not a very healthy or intelligent business strategy, as sooner or later the customer is going to want fulfillment of what was promised.

We maintain our policy that if the product we sold you is not the product we are delivering we will refund.”
For the above statement, is OVC referring the “product we sold you” as per the description in legal document or as per what the Occidental Sale Staff was pitching. There is a huge difference. I thought I was buying into what the sale staff was presenting.

“We are aware of the rental pitch and we do not condone this. Any member has the possibility of renting their weeks. We don’t think that you can pay for the membership with rental income. We try to indicate in our contracts and by asking the member in the disclosure statement, that they understand to be entering this agreement without any expectations of generating profits but to use as a vacationing experience. All members MUST sign this disclosure statement for the deal to go through

We also cannot control simple greed. If you are purchasing a week of something and the salesman is telling you that he can get you five more for free so that you can rent those five other weeks and earn a profit to pay for the product you are buying, then is not so much that the salespeople are lying but that both may be getting together in a private business deal. Especially if ALL the paper work is telling you otherwise.”

I was not looking to generate profits by renting out my weeks to pay for my membership as I already have paid out of pocket for that. However, I was looking to use the rentals to help subsidize part of my annual usage as a “vacationing experience”.

“Members do receive a large discount on their rate usually 30 to 45% of what is published. More important, if at any time the hotel publishes a rate lower than the members rate, we not only grant that discounted rate to the member but tack on a 15% discount.

Members may accelerate their weeks not only 5 weeks but all 25 for one large group. Is just subject to availability.”

“We would like to make clear that there is no hard liquor served in the sales room. Potential buyers are offered juice, soda and beer. The picture that we force- feed alcohol to our clients without their noticing is a bit childish.”

The wife and I do not drink hard liquor, but we both do drink beer. And during the course of this presentation (close to 4 hours), we did have a few. We are on vacation by the way. On top of that, once we agreed to purchase with the sales staff, we were then offered complimentary champagne to celebrate the sale, all this before seeing the lawyer.

“The official policy is that if a client has been irresponsible enough to get drunk during or prior to visiting the sales room the contract is simply NOT signed. In addition all customers have 5 days to undue the contract or any of the welcome calls made 30 days of purchase. I believe that if a person signs any type of contract while drunk then is mostly due to their own lack of character.”

We were at Occidental for 7 days, and signed the contract within the first couple of days. Are you suggesting that we cancel the contract before we even leave the resort? Also, please keep in mind that we were on vacation and people typically do drink while on vacation. We were not drunk and staggering, but would not likely be able to legally operate a motor vehicle in most countries.
The bottom line is that we trusted what your sales staff was saying as being the truth. I guess that is completely my fault. My encounters with sale staff elsewhere have typically been a positive experience without being marred by false claims and promises.

Best regards.
Luis


Thank you,
Roy
 

CraZyBIrD

newbie
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
WOW

Originally Posted by WorryWart
We became members with Occidental Vacation Club about two years ago and we went to costa rica this year. I have never had such a FRUSTRATING mentally exhausting "vacation" in my life. I have called their customer service to try to put an end to this contract with no success. Since we have used it I know a full refund is out of the question, but I need to cut all ties and obligations to these people and their fraud. I was traveling with three other family members. We needed 2 rooms, one with one bed and one with two beds. When I booked over the phone, I was told this was guaranteed. I get there and both rooms have one bed. It took them the entire day to change this and they gave us a room with a giant hole in the ceiling in the bathroom. This room was not a vacation club room and also located across the resort from the rest of my family members. Not my idea of a great family vacation when we're all separated for the majority of the time. To top it off, they kept saying they would switch our room again and NEVER DID. We come to find out that this resort does not have double rooms in the vacation club area. We were never told this when booking. How is a room with two beds such a crazy unforseen request?? $16,000 for this membership and it doesn't buy a room with two beds for a week? This whole thing is worthless. To top it off, our building lost power one evening and lost water another evening. I am beyond upset with this company for wasting my time and money. This was marketed to us as a family vacation club. Why would a family vacation club not have rooms with double beds? If anyone could point me in the right direction to end this contract without paying another fortune in legal fees I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading.



After reading this forums
We are very sad as well.
We hoped to see the benefits of the Occidental Vacation Club and it sounded great. For the last 2 years we have tried to use the benefits of the Club.
But always running into issue’s (there are too many to mention at this time)
Our last vacation we went to Occidental Grand Cozumel was again we flew West jet because we could not book through Occidental. But we are so happy it ended up this way because we always meet other club members down at the resort and either couple or many other couples who booked a year in advanced did not receive their First club room or Royal room and in fact they received a room worse than we had from West jet. Yes the resort was under maintenance but 3 building were not occupied and were empty. WOW great organization Occidental Vacation Club. Some club members had a meeting in the First club with some official from Occidental. Which after their discussion a lot of angry people left the meeting and were very (very) unhappy? And make note President of Occidental Vacation Club there were many members there and not one happy person among them, unless you count us West Jet vacationers.
So up to now, we have been a member and have not been able to use any part of the so called benefits to being a member in this club. It is a fantasy, not real except for the yearly fee which we really regret owning this privileged membership that is not worth the paper it was written on. So what do we do, I ask you President of Occidental Vacation Club. How can you make us a believer in your Occidental Vacation Club?
So as a wise man before me stated?
If anyone could point me in the right direction to end this contract without paying another fortune in legal fees we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading.
P.S. While at the resort they tried to persuade us to buy more into the Occidental Vacation Club. Really! While all these members around us were being totally ripped off and very unhappy.
Thank you West jet
 

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Dear Roy, here's is an answer on behalf of Mr. Namnum.

Dear Roy

My job is not so much to argue with my members but to deliver the best vacation experience possible. If we run into problems, to try and solve them to everyone's satisfaction.

I understand what you are saying about drinking and vacation, is what most of us do. I just wanted to clear up that we do not push people to drink so we can sell them. For us is a long term relationship.

The product my staff sold you should be the one we are delivering. The paper work counts also but is what you thought you purchased that matters. If it's not we should talk about fixing it or changing our relationship.

I can't say that after time has passed we are ready to refund for any complaint, as this would more likely CREATE complaints from people that maybe have no problems but see ways of getting something.

What I'm saying is that if we can reasonably assess that you entered into this deal based on lies from my people or we are not delivering or cannot deliver what was promised then we should work something out.
 

OVC

newbie
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
After reading this forums
We are very sad as well.
We hoped to see the benefits of the Occidental Vacation Club and it sounded great. For the last 2 years we have tried to use the benefits of the Club.
But always running into issue’s (there are too many to mention at this time)
Our last vacation we went to Occidental Grand Cozumel was again we flew West jet because we could not book through Occidental. But we are so happy it ended up this way because we always meet other club members down at the resort and either couple or many other couples who booked a year in advanced did not receive their First club room or Royal room and in fact they received a room worse than we had from West jet. Yes the resort was under maintenance but 3 building were not occupied and were empty. WOW great organization Occidental Vacation Club. Some club members had a meeting in the First club with some official from Occidental. Which after their discussion a lot of angry people left the meeting and were very (very) unhappy? And make note President of Occidental Vacation Club there were many members there and not one happy person among them, unless you count us West Jet vacationers.
So up to now, we have been a member and have not been able to use any part of the so called benefits to being a member in this club. It is a fantasy, not real except for the yearly fee which we really regret owning this privileged membership that is not worth the paper it was written on. So what do we do, I ask you President of Occidental Vacation Club. How can you make us a believer in your Occidental Vacation Club?
So as a wise man before me stated?
If anyone could point me in the right direction to end this contract without paying another fortune in legal fees we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading.
P.S. While at the resort they tried to persuade us to buy more into the Occidental Vacation Club. Really! While all these members around us were being totally ripped off and very unhappy.
Thank you West jet

Hello CraZyBIrD,

Below is a message from the Club's President

"Our mission is to make your holidays better. From this comment we cannot identify the customer so as to look at the concerns. Obviously not being able to book the unit you purchased is a big issue. Save a couple off peak season weeks, Grand Cozumel seldom has inventory issues as the general occupancy in Cozumel is in the 70's year round.

In any case, I am very interested to hear all the running issues, even if they are too many to mention as this is a sure way of fixing the individual problem and any general problem that might exist.

Club Member Satisfaction in this particular property is extremely high, 93.2%. It has been an RCI Gold Crown the last five years in a row, currently top 4 properties in Cozumel according to Trip Advisor. People really enjoy this particular property.

That does nothing for to unsatisfied customer, as each experience is individual not based on average. I urge you to contact my office directly and will the best I can to solve the issues and gain your confidence back.

Luis"
 

DStehman927

newbie
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Punta Cana

Not sure if there are separate threads for my particular post, if so please redirect me. My wife and I recently vacationed at the Occidental Grand Punta Cana for our honeymoon. Overall a very positive experience. We were approached by concierge staff offering "time shares" and we thought "what the heck let's see what they have to say." So we sat down with one of the reps (who was very nice by the way) and went over all the information. Holy information overload!! We did the best we could to sort through it and keep everything straight. We asked many questions, some of which our rep didn't know the answer (he even admitted he was still new at being a rep) and sought other representative's opinions to try and get our questions answered. So after about 3.5 hours and several cups of café con leche we decided we were convinced and agreed to become a member. So then we were taken into a room with (I don't remember her title, but she too was very nice) and went over the contract and initialed where requested. After that was done we went to lunch with our rep. While at lunch we asked if since we were members if we could get upgraded to the room we just paid all this money for. After about a 15 minute conversation with one of the managers we were instructed to pack up our room and check in again at the First Club check in. Great!! We were then instructed to go to book our complimentary romantic dinner for two in the private royal club restaurant which we thought was a nice gesture. We also were given a second "honeymoon upgrade" in which we received 2 bottles of rum, additional chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room, and yet another bottle of champagne. So after all this was done the rest of our honeymoon continued with absolutely no issues. We had a great time, and not sure if it was the right time of year or coincidence but the food was great every meal(we ate at Le Buffet every night except the romantic dinner due to my wife's gluten allergy).

Our problems with OVC did not start until we were already home, well past the cancellation time. It actually started this month when we were looking to book our first stay for this year. We were looking to return to Punta Cana and when we were speaking with a rep we were informed that the All Inclusive rate was per night, not per week which is what we were told when we signed up. We were told that we would have to pay $63 per day per person for the length of our stay, and for a 7 day stay would equal $882 on top of our maintenance fee and monthly finance payment. Then we were told about the Saturday to Saturday rule. This rule states that we would have to arrive on a Saturday to be treated as a member and be able to utilize the room we paid for and the perks of being a member. Arrival any other day we would be treated just like any other customer and we would get a regular room. We were never explained this during our presentation nor was it pointed out when we were signing paperwork. Had we known this we would have never signed up in the first place. So after doing all the math our trip would cost us - Airfare: (approximately) 800/person, all inclusive: $882, monthly finance payment: $180, yearly maintenance fee: $375 - for an approximate total of $3037. We booked our honeymoon through a travel agency site (I forget which one) but it only cost us $2200. This is hardly a money saving technique.

So my question is: how would I go about getting this cancelled and possibly (hopefully) refunded since we were misled in the presentation and we are well out of the cancellation time?? Thank you all in advance for your advice

D & D
 
Top