Warning! Avoid Carlos Mondavi's Timeshare Scam

I'm posting this on behalf of my sister-in-law who just returned from a season in Puerto Vallarta, and has a horror story which could be a useful warning as to what is going on in the beautiful resort town.
My sister-in-law has been staying for years in Puerto Vallarta and rented apartments for the few months she would be there. The winter of 2008/09 she decided to look into longer-term housing, and found an ad in the Mano-a-mano for a real estate agent to take care of finding her a place: Carlos Mondavi.
Mondavi claimed to be a real-estate agent with years of experience in Puerto Vallarta specializing in condos for American and Canadians. When my sister-in-law met him, Mondavi said he would be able to get my sister-in-law into a place for the following winter (2009/10). He said he would need a retainer to find a place, which came to $1500 USD. She begrudgingly paid the amount, and was told that everything would be in order.
When she was getting ready to come back, my sister-in-law emailed Mondavi and he told her that he would be able to get her into a 'luxury suite in a famous hotel' which sounded up her alley. When she arrived, Mondavi was nowhere to be found. It took a couple weeks of asking questions before we were able to locate Mondavi. He told us he 'lost his phone' and therefore didn't have my sister-in-law's number, despite being in constant email contact.
Mondavi then had the gall to say that it was my sister-in-law's fault for not arranging things with him more clearly.. As if "Find me an apt in Nov." wasn't good enough.
My sister-in-law was forced to get a hotel room while Mondavi arranged the room (which should have been done ages ago) and then told her that he would be able to get her a room in the Grand Miramar Resort. Well, we checked it out and it was still under construction. We looked on here, saw the posts and told Mondavi NO WAY! He told us the place was a castle in Conchas Chinas and the condos were immaculate and brand-new.
Mondavi quoted my sister-in-law a ridiculously high price, and said would knock it down if she attended a timeshare presentation a month (!?!?!).
AND(!!) that she would have to lie on his behalf and say she was just visiting for the week.
It didnt' take long to figure out that Mondavi scammed my sister-in-law's money, had no intention of finding her a ligitimate place to live, and was trying to "OPC" her into seeing presentations so he could profit off her even further!!!
Please DO NOT get mixed up with Carlos Mondavi, he is a timeshare OPC who is only interested in committing fraud upon trusting foreigners.

Thank-you for reading my sister-in-law's story.

Fraud in Puerto Vallarta

Thank you for your post.
My husband and I have been thinking about looking into longer-term stays in resorts also in Puerto Vallarta, but have heard many stories about these OPC's that will promise you a great deal on a wonderful new resort in a beautiful location, but never come through when it comes down to it.
This Carlos Mondavi sounds like just the person we were told to watch out for. Thank you again for the info and we shall spread the word that this Carlos Mondavi is not a man to do business with.
We are sorry for your sister-in-law loss and that she had to run into such a man as Carlos Mondavi. :annoyed:

Sharks

are all over in Mexico. If you have been going there for a long time, ask for a referral from someone that you know. The manager at the resort you stay at. If you frequent a restaurant a lot and they know you ask the waiter. I would do a lot of reasearch before I handed over any money.

Aside from not paying any upfront fees to have anyone SELL your timeshare, we all need to be as careful not to pay to have anyone RENT one on our behalf.

So sorry for your sister in law's plight and thank you for making others aware of yet another predator to steer clear of.

Sadly it isn't the Sharks INthe water you have to look out for!!!

Mondavi and his scams

nazclk said:

are all over in Mexico. If you have been going there for a long time, ask for a referral from someone that you know. The manager at the resort you stay at. If you frequent a restaurant a lot and they know you ask the waiter. I would do a lot of reasearch before I handed over any money.

Click to expand...

Thank-you for your post. This information can definitely serve to help those unfamiliar with the high-pressure and sneaky techniques some of the locals do on unsuspecting tourists.

Please be aware and cautious at all times while in Mexico.

Mondavi the Condo and Castle King of Puerto Vallarta (Ya right!)

Toughbeat said:

Aside from not paying any upfront fees to have anyone SELL your timeshare, we all need to be as careful not to pay to have anyone RENT one on our behalf.

So sorry for your sister in law's plight and thank you for making others aware of yet another predator to steer clear of.

Sadly it isn't the Sharks INthe water you have to look out for!!!

Click to expand...

Your reply was appreciated, thank you for your words of support. Mondavi and all these other crooks should really be investigated and sent off to some deserted island with a smoke monster (Too much Lost). They really hurt the reputation of such a beautiful location as Puerto Vallarta.

Mondavi and his scams on Puerto Vallarta tourists.

Eva64 said:

Thank you for your post.
My husband and I have been thinking about looking into longer-term stays in resorts also in Puerto Vallarta, but have heard many stories about these OPC's that will promise you a great deal on a wonderful new resort in a beautiful location, but never come through when it comes down to it.
This Carlos Mondavi sounds like just the person we were told to watch out for. Thank you again for the info and we shall spread the word that this Carlos Mondavi is not a man to do business with.
We are sorry for your sister-in-law loss and that she had to run into such a man as Carlos Mondavi. :annoyed:

Click to expand...

Thank-you for your support. My sister-in-law appreciates the words of encouragement each of you left.

We will continue to visit Puerto Vallarta armed with the knowledge that Mondavi gave us (trust nobody!)

Mondavi Still at iT! Avoid the Scammer and Don't Get Fraud'd

I was just looking in the Mano-a-mano online edition and there it is.. another ad Mondavi posted trying to lure unsuspecting tourists into his shell-game.
I hope to warn people coming to Puerto Vallarta, especially the 'newbies' not familiar with the unscrupulous tactics some of these guys pull. Can you imagine if the resort's solicitors were regulated like back home or in Canada? I've been to Vail, Whistler, and other ski resort towns and not once was I hassled as much as the OPCs in Vallarta.
Mondavi's tactics to get my sister-in-law to lie at timeshare resort presentations in exchange for a reduction on an inflated rent is just bad news! I imagine the resort companies take fraud seriously and it would put my sister-in-law in jeopardy by lying to them.
Please let's get the word out about Carlos Mondavi and his brother Juan Paulo. Don't get scammed by these fraudulent brothers preying on naive tourists with a bait-and-switch resort deal that's too good to be true.