On April 18 my family arrived in Cancun, Mexico for a family vacation. We were greeted as we left the airport by "Mexican Travel Government Representative" who told us that he could offer us significant savings on family oriented outdoor activities in Cancun as part of the Mexican revitalization. We would also be offered a free hospitality breakfast the next day. He helped us locate our hotel and told us how to secure travel, as well. I specifically asked if the "savings" was due in part to a timeshare presentation and he responded "no." We told him that we already own a timeshare and that we were not interested in purchasing another. He assured us that this was not for a timeshare purchase but to see a new hotel being built in case we wanted to return. We were also told that we were not to notifiy our hotel about the breakfast or the hotel in any way, even if they asked. We were told to lie. We gave our hotel and cellular contact info and headed to our hotel resort.
We were called the next day and were told to meet a driver at the base of the resort entrance, and again, not to let them know about the breakfast.By this time, we knew very well that this concerned a timeshare purchase or similar transaction. We notified our friends of our whereabouts and went with the driver to the NH Krystal Hotel. There we met a tour guide who told us about the timeshare adn aksed us to giver herthe 90 minutes to present the info, even if we chose not to buy. She then took us to a buffet mexican breakfast and then showed us some recently remodeled rooms in their old tower. We were informed that they were remodeling after the hurricane and of how their hotel was to be remodeled. We were then ushered upstairs to an open air room filled with loud music, where we were greeted by an Argentinian woman who identified herself as a sales agent. We listened to her discuss the merits of the timeshare which included additional weeks. We were told that the idea was to purchase the timeshare but NOT come back to the hotel.instead, we would rent our weeks well ahead of time and receive rental income to offset the costs of the purchase. I hesitated and declined the offer and she left and came back with Mr. Steve Levy (their closer). He then sat and explained to process to me, guaranteeing the sales of the weeks with no out of pocket costs. He also stated that NH Krystal would guarantee the sales, even though they are not involved in the sales of the weeks (they work with several rental offices). He repeated this on several occasions. He reiterated that we had nothing to lose and returned with a fax from the rental agency stating that we were "guaranteed listings, " which made us believe that we were guaranteed sales. Unwittingly, we agreed to purchase. They offered us the Bank of America deal with no interest, but I declined. They charged my credit card and then we went to sign documents with Estela Medel. We asked Ms. Medel several questions regarding the guarantee of sales through the agency and she could not answer the questions. She brought in Mr. Levy, who proceeded to berate Ms. Medel ("she doesn't know anything, she's just a paper pusher") and told us the sales were guaranteed, again. Ms. Medel highlighted areas for us to sign and never told us of the 5 day opt out clause. We left and continued with our trip, all the while being very suspicious of the transaction.
On Friday, the 5th day, I decided to cancel the transaction (I was still unaware of the 5 day clause). I contacted Mr. Ray Rubio, the Quality Assurance Supervisor, and informed him of my desire to cancel the contract. I then went with my wife to the hotel and spoke with Ms. Medel and Mr. Levy, who tried to reassure us (stalling). I told him about my reservations regarding the actual sales of the weeks and he then called someone on the phone at Vacation Strategies, LLC. Located in Florida. He left a message and told me that this company would give us a letter GUARANTEEING SALES and told us that we could receive the letter by 5 PM (another stall tactic). We told him of our intentio to cancel the contract because he could not deliver a written guarantee. Nonetheless we left and returned the next day to cancel only to find that no one was there who could help us. We called our credit card company to dispute the charges before we left. I later found this site and found out that the rental agencies charge you to post the listings, that your listing is added to a list of hundreds, and that they are rarely likely to be rented by businesses, despite the fact that the hotel is located in a great area, because most business do not rent from Timeshare Resorts. Imagine the look on my face...
I sent Mr. Ray Rubio a certified letter of my intent to cancel the purchase immediately upon my return and it was signed by Ileana Duarte. I also sent several emails to his email address and although I never received a response, he contacted me and let me know he received the email letters. He explained that they would be processing my cancellation, that I would be receiving a cancellation agreement in the mail and that there was a delay due to the swine flu epidemic. I spoke to Mr. Rubio on 2 occasions and sent him emails documenting a summary of our discussions immediately after each phone call. I notified Mr. Rubio that I would be sending him email correspoondence to document the conversations and he acknowledged me.
I have yet to receive cancellation paperwork or be refunded my purchase price. I have begun filing an investion through PROFECO (Mexican BBB) and I contacted MSNBC and NBC Investigative teams to initiate an investigation into this scam. I don't suppose many people will read my story BEFORE they purchase, but I intend to do whatever I have to do to notify people of the truth about Krystal International Vacation Club.
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