We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise last summer. One of our stops during the cruise was in Cozumel, Mexico. When we got off of the ship, we were approached by an El Cid Vacation Club sales person asking us if we would like to use their resort for the day at no charge if we were willing to listen to a presentation for their resort. We agreed.
During our presentation, one of the points I brought up was that I had never heard of El Cid Vacations, and how did I know they were a legitimate organization. The sales person told us that they were owned by Royal Caribbean. This was a major consideration in our decision making process in agreeing to sign a contract with them. I figured if they were owned by our cruise line, we were dealing with a reputable company. I have since found out by letter from Royal Caribbean that they are not affiliated with them at all. Apparently in Mexico, it is OK to give fraudulent information to clients verbally, and miss lead them verbally, as long as you are able to con them in to signing a contract.in the United States, this is called Fraud, and Misrepresentation.
There were some other misrepresentations given to us verbally during our presentation. Please keep in mind that we were on shore in Mexico for a short period of time, and we needed to get back on our ship, so we were depending heavily on the verbal information they were giving us. We believed at that time that what they were explaining to us was true and accurate information. We later found that there were many inconsistencies and false information that was presented to us during the presentation.
We were told during our presentation that we could go on cruises using only the points we were buying in to. I asked specifically if there were any other costs, and we were told verbally that our only cost would be of our yearly maintenance agreement, and our accommodations on a cruise would be upgraded quarters equivalent to the two bedroom timeshare we were purchasing. This was also a major consideration in decision making process that day, as we really like taking cruises, and we told them that. This did make sense to us as a good deal, and we could see over time it being able to save a considerable amount of money on future cruises.
I have since found this not to be true. There is an additional cost per person of $250.00 per cruise. You always have to pay this, and you can not take a cruise with out the additional cost, and the quarters on the cruise are not upgraded. Again we were given fraudulent information in order to get us to sign a contract.
Also please keep in mind that I had been making payments to El Cid since we got back from our cruise. It was not as if we just decided we wanted to stop making payments for no reason. We have paid our maintenance fee of $674.64, as well as making two payments by check in the amount of $916.25 each to El Cid Vacation club. We were willing to proceed with this vacation plan until I had called in to El Cid to make reservations for this coming summer to go to the resort. It was at that time that I realized that there were inconsistencies. Let me explain.
When I called El Cid in late October, early November, I wanted to make reservations for the summer of 2006 to come down to Cozumel. We were given several free weeks to use both in Cozumel, and also in the RCI network. We were going to bring my Mom and Dad, as well as my sister's family along for the free weeks. When I was talking to El Cid about reservations, I told them we would be using the free weeks, (which also ended up being an additional cost), and would also be taking them up on the $25.00 per person all inclusive for this trip. (During our initial presentation we were told that we could do an all inclusive deal while staying at any El Cid resorts. You pay $25.00 per person per day, and you get anything you want to eat or drink that day.) This is basically when I first discovered that what we were told verbally during our presentation was not true information, because I was told while trying to make these reservations that the all inclusive was $65.00 per day per person, not $25.00 per person.
It was at this point in late October / early November that I tried to get in touch with someone in El Cid management to discuss these discrepancies. I have been trying since late October early November to get El Cid Vacation Club to respond to my emails and calls.in fact I just called several weeks ago. I asked that someone from Customer Service call me. They say someone will call you back, and no one returns my call. The only time I have heard from them is from their collection department in California demanding me to pay the balance on my vacation plan.
Does this sound like a legitimate way to do business? Would you continue to send them money when you can't even get them to call you back for 3-4 months? El Cid has taken advantage of me and my family. We have nothing but a worthless contract that entitles us to nothing but non returned phone calls and emails. They already have my two payments, as well as our initial down payment of 10,995.00. I have disputed my maintenance agreement charge with Visa. I was unsuccessful in my dispute with Discover for the $10,995.00 deposit. I believe El Cid will tell potential customers whatever they want to hear in order to get them to sign a contract whether it is true or not. Common sense shows how we have been taken advantage of.
When I signed a contract with El Cid Vacation Club, I signed it in good faith that THEY would provide ME with a service. I also signed it in good faith that the information they provided my wife and me verbally during our sales presentation was true and accurate. It was not.
I have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, The Attorney General in both Pennsylvania, and California. I have also contacted my State Representative, and Congressman. I am determined to expose this type of fraudulent mis-representation (on a national level if I can). I have also been in contact with a family from Chicago that had a similar experience with El Cid Vacation Clubs.
I can included documentation showing my many unsuccessful attempts to have El Cid contact me.
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