My husband and I were similiarly duped at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach after a talented and gifted sales manager, Dirk Meyer, convinced us this was a great financial decision while we were on vacation in June. It turns out that he told us many lies. 1) We were told that a "real estate agency" that he worked with could sell our existing RCI timeshare for 13K thus offsetting our purchase price to a simple 5K deposit. He said this could happen in as little as 10 days to 3 months (conveniently when the first payment would be due!) but never more than that unless we mishandled the sale as in "pilot error." 2) We were told there were no maintenance fees. Ever. Turns out when we questioned him on that he said that he was accounting for the rental of additional units/weeks were figured into that so that this rental income would more than cover our maintenance fees.
These are the major ones... We did list our previous RCI property with his suggested "real estate" company and of course, over a year later there has not been one bite. We've found he completely fabricated the resale value of our exiting RCI timeshare—we could maybe sell it for $3000 if lucky. Their excuse is that this is due to the downturn in the US economy. But in an email the sales manager promised us that Mexico isn't affected by what happens in the US (right!) A little research shows that well before timeshares sold for near to nothing compared to purchase price. They knew that then—they know that now. Economic downturn or not. We were fools to believe this witty, delightful, and as I stated earlier, talented salesman.
Also, we have since found that rentals of these weeks come at a loss for the owners, not a gain. People are trying hard to just get $500 for their weeks at Sunset Beach on e-bay.
Disappointment abounds. We have been contesting this with Concord Services, their financial arm. We have refused to pay further and have placed it under dispute, first with our credit card company and now with Concord. We are working with an agency, but are also finding we have to be the ones doing most of the work. They have broken federal law twice so far by defacing our credit with reports to two of the three big credit reporting agencies. It's illegal to do this for an item "under dispute" and they know this but are using scum techniques to intimidate.
There's always MESCAM and Profeco, as well: Mexican based advocates of fair trade practices. That's a step. We'd love to join with others who have similiar complaints. Possibly create a website, or expand this blog. This misrepresentation and fraud must stop.
Potential buyers at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach BEWARE. It is NOT an investment. Their "associate" in the real estate industry will NOT be able to sell your existing timeshare so you can apply that money toward a Pueblo Bonito purchase. You will NOT necessarily be able to secure the week or weeks you are looking to travel. You will NOT easily be able to rent your bonus week/s out, and even then certainly NOT for a profit, as the salesfolk will promise. The maintenance fees DO exist and can go up at any time that Mexico wants them to.
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