I was accosted by a local in Playa Del Carmen, as we were on vacation in Cancun, and convinced that we should go to a timeshare presentation at Sunset Fisherman. After all, free lunch, no obligation, and a free dinner at a local fancy restaurant. Four hours later of high pressure sales technique by at least four sales people, and the promise that the timeshare pays itself back within a year, pure profit after that. I ended up paying a deposit of approx $2800, monthly payment of $153.91, and a bi-annuall maintanance fee of $338.
After going through all the suggested hoops to rent the timeshare through Vacationweeks.com, it became clear that not only was the timeshare never going to be rented, but I was throwing good money after bad. I stopped paying the protection money, but a good 2 years after the purchase, I started receiving calls from a collection agency in Alabama, called Resort Management International.
They claimed that I owed $10K plus dollars, and unless I paid the timeshare in full, they would send a notice the credit reporting agencies. However they would be willing to accept $6k to get the account up to date, I would still own the timeshare, and would still have to pay the bi-annual fees. They had even pulled a credit report so they could tell me which of my credit cards I could put it on. I told them thank you, but NO thank you.
Six months later, they reported a $14K debt to the credit reporting agencies. Outraged, having to pay for something that was so fraudulently represented, I filed a claim with Profeco with the local Mexican embassy. So here I am with a useless timeshare in Cancun, a $6K debt that has ballooned to $14K and growing, and a credit score of 800 plus shot to hell.
Vacationers beware, unscrupulous sales staff will promise you the earth, sun and the moon, to extract as much money as they can, before you leave their premises. Forego the freebies, a $100 plus dinner or lunch is much less expensive than the thousands of dollars that the sunset group will steal from you.
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