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[2008] Club Velas Vallarta Scam

Peace of Mind

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In the Spring, my husband and I purchased a timeshare at Velas Vallarta in Mexico. At a sales presentation, our sales representative told us that we had to sign a waiver of our 5-day right of rescission to obtain ownership. We questioned him many times about this right but he continued to tell us that we had to sign the form in order to get this “special package deal.” We tried to cancel within the 5-day period but were told that we had waived our right to change our mind. When we returned to the States we mysteriously found that the signed waiver was missing from our contract documents packet. We later found out that Mexican law requires the purchaser to have 5-days to think over the purchase and to cancel the contract and obtain a full refund. Clearly, we were victims of fraud.

We also later determined that numerous items from the sales presentation had been misrepresented including:

1) We were told that through Holiday Systems International (HSI) we were entitled to a 30-day reservation guarantee. The 30-day guarantee was supposed to assure that we could vacation at a like property at a city of our choosing during the requested time-frame, so long as reservations were made 30 days in advance of travel. If HSI was not able to perform on this element, then Velas indicated that it would pay for us to go on a vacation of our choice. Of course, this turned out to be untrue. When we complained to Velas, they would not let us out of the contract.
2) The sales team told us that if we purchased the timeshare at Velas Vallarta it would be a good financial investment. We were told that a one week rental of a 2BR unit would yield us approximately $3,000 a week. However, when we returned to the States and looked at rental listings, it became clear that it could only be rented for $1,500 at best.
3) We were told that our property could be sold for twice as much as the market bears in the U.S. This was untrue, as well.
4) We were also told that if we rented out no more than four Velas weeks a year, our rental income would not be subject to Federal taxes. Of course, no evidence was found to support this assertion.

Keep in mind that many times, timeshares, rental companies, etc. are all in cahoots. Don’t fall for the scam. It is probably best not to make major decisions in one day.
 
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Karen G

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Have you contacted Profeco in Mexico? There is information in this article that might be of some value to you. If you signed a paper to waive your right of rescission, you have been defrauded and might have some recourse through Profeco.
 

rickandcindy23

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Karen is giving you excellent advice, but I will further add that if you have a copy of the waiver you signed that gave up your right of rescission, you have a very valuable piece of evidence against this company that Profeco will want to see. Unfortunately, no one ever seems to have a copy of that waiver because they purposely do not give it to you.

I am so hoping you have that paper. If you do, you have an excellent case against Velas Vallarta.
 

Egret1986

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The OP doesn't have that because it was not included in their copy of the documents.

My Mother was there in March and came home with her new purchase. I'm glad she informed me immediately. I told her she had to recind immediately. She couldn't because she had signed away her rights. I worked diligently getting everything together for her over the next 24 hours. They fought it the whole way saying it couldn't be done, making other offers, etc. In the end, she got her money back. However, it was a fight the whole way. These people are horrendous. I hope you sent the required paperwork to recind anyway.
 

lprstn

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I experienced their high pressure tactics, but thankfully being a TUG member, I am less inclined to purchase onsite at the initial TS presentation. However, that doesn't stop me from coming home and salvating over the deals of that resort on the resale market. In situations where you are recinding they try to make it a very painful process so that you give up.
 

KarenLK

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I own a week there and my advice is this...the MFs are not cheap. If you are buying it to use it, that is fine. If you want to trade back in and use another week you MUST pay the AI fees, which are high. If you use your own week, you get to decline the AI or use it at half the price that RCI and other outsiders pay.
 

pammex

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I too am an owner there, of a few weeks. Lovely resort. I do have to say think some of tactics and such not on up and up, but if just buying to use your weeks or trade, it is great. The AI is on high side but well worth it and optional for owners. The MF's are a bit on the high side, but many are in Mexico especially if uppercrust resort.

We have had some fantastic vacations there, but we use our weeks, no trade and not looking for investment, for that matter I say never buy for an investment a timeshare only for personal vacation enjoyment.
 

taffy19

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The same scam has been done many times before so

We were defrauded in our purchase of Club Velas Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico owned by “Desarrollos Turisticos de la Costa”.

---

All of our fears were finally confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt on April 24, 2008 when we found much information on the internet regarding the “Club Velas Vallarta scam.” It all suddenly made sense – we had been scammed and our rights had been violated. Please get the word out to everyone you know about the fraud going on at Club Velas Vallarta.

Howard and Cheryl Eaton
Profeco is well aware of it. If I were you, I would send them a formal complaint if the resort won't rescind the contract voluntarily at your request. They acted against the law and they know it. :annoyed:

If you used a credit card, start disputing your charge immediately and include some of the same complaints that you have found on the internet about this company plus this thread here. It worked for another couple but with a different resort. It was an identical story.

I wished people would complain to the Consul General or to the State Attorney. The more people complain, the easier it will be to rescind these fraudulent contracts because these agencies may put pressure on them to do so.
 

taffy19

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Karen is giving you excellent advice, but I will further add that if you have a copy of the waiver you signed that gave up your right of rescission, you have a very valuable piece of evidence against this company that Profeco will want to see. Unfortunately, no one ever seems to have a copy of that waiver because they purposely do not give it to you.

I am so hoping you have that paper. If you do, you have an excellent case against Velas Vallarta.
Cindy, nobody ever gets a copy of the waiver they signed because the sales office removes it from the package. Another resort did the same to us.

One lady here at TUG disputed it with her cc company so the Mexican resort sent a copy of the waiver to the cc company and this is posted on the Internet somewhere at this link here with her name removed.

Never use this copy in your complaint but that is what it looks like. You didn't get it and Profeco knows this all too well.
 

taffy19

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Here is a copy of the waiver!

http://www.mexicantimesharefraud.com/images/KrystalWaiver.pdf

Several resorts have used this tactic but the wording may be a little different from each resort but you are under the impression that you signed your rights away which you haven't. The problem is that most people find out too late that they were scammed but if you signed this waiver, you most likely have a way out. :)
 
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california-bighorn

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A few years ago, pre TUG, we got into the same situation at the Mayan Palace in Puerto Vallarta. We were told the unit was a re-sell and the price was very good for a MP from the developer, about a third of the going price. But after getting back to our room, we found several omissions on the contract that we were promised at the end of the long, long sales pitch. We went back the next day and notified them we were resending. Like you, they told us we could not resend because it was a re-sell unit.
We mailed all the necessary documents to PROFECTO that day, with proof of them being sent. When we got home I called the Mayan Palaces office in thhe US (somewhere in Texas?) and after I faxed all the information to be and pointed out the outright deceit and deception of their sales staff, they cancelled the deal for us.
After TUG, we are now owners at Velas Vallarta buying very cheap on eBay and we love the place. But, one time we attended what was advertised as an owners update and we didn't wait until the end, we just got up and walked out. I also complained to the manager that owners didn't need to be insulted the way we were.
 
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molly1295

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Velas Vallarta Timeshare Scam

I also experienced this unconscionable timeshare scam at Velas Vallarta last Spring. The sales representative, Ken Waller, told me that Velas would take a trade-in of a timeshare I owned at a different resort to offset the purchase of a Velas upgrade from a studio unit to a one bedroom. He was essentially offering me the same amount for my other timeshare that I would be spending on the upgrade and closing costs. I questioned Mr. Waller about why Velas would want to buy my timeshare and he gave me some plausible answers. I decided to go ahead with the upgrade. Mr. Waller referred me to Sierra Rentals and Resales for the closing services as he indicated it was a conflict of interest for Velas to perform the resale to their resort.

When I sat down to sign the upgrade documents, I could find no mention of the trade-in in the documents. I asked Mr. Waller why the trade-in was not in the documents and he told me that it would be on a separate document and that I would receive the confirmation of the purchase before I left. He said he expected the fax very shortly. I told him that my purchase of an upgrade was based on the trade-in and I would not be doing it otherwise. After signing the contract, I was ushered downstairs into the lobby. Mr. Waller came into the lobby with what he told me was my trade-in confirmation from Sierra and put it in my sales folder.

When I looked at this document after returning home, it stated the trade-in timeshare was being accepted into a listing inventory. The forms Sierra Rentals e-mailed were also not the closing documents I expected and appeared to be for the purpose of listing the timeshare for resale or rental. There had been absolutely no mention of listing the other timeshare for resale or rental in our discussion. Any discussion was solely about the trade-in to Velas. I did not sign these documents and requested the correct closing documents from Sierra Rentals and Resales. Sierra was unresponsive to e-mails and the customer service person from Velas acted as if Velas knew nothing about the trade-in. He stated that the issue was with Sierra. They said they had no copy of the fax from Sierra in their file. That was when I realized this was all a FRAUD!

When I asked Mr. Waller about a cancellation period before signing the documents, he told me that no cancellations were allowed on upgrades. This was an outright lie as I later found that Mexican law requires a 5 day cancellation period. This also applies to upgrades.

Velas Vallarta started calling about monthly payments for the timeshare and I refused to pay any more to the resort when they were not acknowledging the trade-in. I gave Velas ample opportunity to follow through with either their purchase of my other timeshare or the cancellation of my membership upgrade and the refund of my deposit which amounted to over $7000. They have not done so and seem to be taking no responsibility for the fraudulent actions of their sales staff. Velas recently notified me that my contract was being cancelled. I have turned it over to Profeco, the Mexican consumer protection agency.

Please do not do business with this company. Their lies and deceptive practices are plausible enough to believe. The resort appears to be upstanding on the surface and it can be very deceiving. Please stay away!
 

taffy19

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I am glad you turned it over to Profeco. They are well aware of what is going on and not only here but at other resorts too in the area. It's really awful that this is still going on.

Good luck but be patient with Profeco.
 

BeniciaBrit

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Any More News ???

Hi All,

I'm (unfortuneately) late into this site. We purchased in V.V time in 2007 and i'm now starting to get the sense that we haven't got exactly what we believed and/or promised we were going to.

Has anybody had any luck unwinding their contracts, reading this thread it appears as though some people my have been able to do so based on fraudulent tactics but the embedded document links aren't valid.

Hopefully it's not as bad it it seems....

Jem..
 

Duke Phillips

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Another too late

Hi. Unfortunately, I'm a late in learning about the Velas myself. I purchased in October, 2006. Even after telling them I couldn't afford it they showed me how I could by renting my weeks out, up to six per year. It all sounded great and would put something extra in my pocket so I could return to Puerto Vallarta, rent somewhere cheaper, and pay for my airfare. Yeah right! The weeks didn't rent. So I went back in March 2009 with the intention of selling it back to them. But they convinced me that the weeks would rent faster if I upgraded to a larger unit that was year around. Made sense, so I did it. But they STILL HAVEN'T RENTED! Now I just want my money back. ALL OF IT!! I wrote a letter to President Obama and copied it to all of my representatives to see what my government can do to help me get all of my money back from these liars. One senator, Maria Cantwell did respond and am hoping there will be an avenue there to work with. In the meantime I've started two blogs devoted to the Velas scam:

http://velasresortsscam.blogspot.com/

http://www.causes.com/causes/495784

Feel free to visit them and leave comments. I've also posted my letter to Obama on them and a copy I sent to President Felipe Calderon. It would be nice if Mexico would stop these scam artist from preying on American and Canadian tourist. BEWARE OF THE VELAS!!!

Duke Phillips
VelasResortsScam@gmail.com
 

PV Ernie

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please tell me more

Hey folks,

I just took a job with Velas selling their Vacation Club memberships. It is very disturbing to read this information. If my employer is less than 100% honest I don't want to work for them. Is this really true? Are Velas resorts running a scam? Am I working for dishonest and untrustworthy people? If so I will quit today. I haven't been able to sell anything anyway.
 
S

stevemx

Erniepv

If you are familiar with this site you will find complaints of all resorts, and good things too! With many people purchasing time shares or anything else for that matter there will always be a few who complain. The above complaints are extremely outdated. As per your inability to sell that has nothing to do with this site. This site is not for disgruntled employees:bawl: it is for time share owners!:whoopie: You may want to check this thread http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121420&highlight=velas orhttp://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124249&highlight=velasorhttp://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110893&highlight=velasand http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110893&highlight=velasand don't misshttp://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113268&highlight=velas
 
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DeniseM

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If you are familiar with this site you will find complaints of all resorts, and good things too! With many people purchasing time shares or anything else for that matter there will always be a few who complain. The above complaints are extremely outdated. As per your inability to sell that has nothing to do with this site. This site is not for disgruntled employees:bawl: it is for time share owners!:whoopie:

stevemx - since this is your first post here as well, I don't think you are in any position to tell someone else what they can or cannot post here.

What's your relationship to this company?

----------------------------

Update - Too funny!

stevemx and PV Ernie are posting from the same IPS in Mexico, so either they work for the same company selling timeshares, or they are actually the same person. :rofl:

Either way, stevemx is a shill for this company.

Bye Steve..... :wave:
 
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Duke Phillips

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Thanks Denise

Thanks for catching that. I'm expecting the Velas to do damage control to try and salvage their reputation. It's sad how a few businesses can really tarnish a whole industry......an industry that should be beneficial to both seller and buyer. What can you say when a fun industry has to resort to lying to make sales and maybe hoping people get so pissed off enough they walk away from their asset so they can resell a 'previously owned' contract. There is NO defense for a business like that.
 

DeniseM

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It was my pleasure! After you look at a few thousand posts, these shills stick out like a sore thumb! However, most of them are not too sharp.
 

Ty1on

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Has anyone experienced the sales pitch at VV lately? My wife will be there alone in June. She is fantastic at saying "NO," but I want to prepare her for the lies du jour she will experience.
 
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