Be forewarned of the misleading and fraudelent practices going on at Mayan Palace/Grupo Maya.
We arrived in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico and went to the Thrifty Car Rental counter at the airport. When the rep instructed us to walk across the street to pick up our rental car, He stressed several times, please do not talk to any of the timeshare people outs, just ignore them and walk across the street to pick up your car. We then walked across the street to pick up our car. The person behind the Thrifty Car Rental counter handling our rental offered additional discounts. He later disclosed that he didn't work for Thrifty but was there to promote a local resort. He was obviously working in concert with the Thrifty Car Rental representative at the airport.
The following day we arrived at the Grand Mayan resort After a grueling 5 hour sales pitch, (you're told 90 minutes), which included instructions on reselling unused weeks by setting bait on the internet for high value weeks in order to sell at premium prices, we were worn down and signed for a package for $16,900. The amount was charged to a new Bank America Master Card account. It was later disclosed that we had purchased at their lower end Acapulco property.
Upon our return from Cabo, I looked into the details of our package. The 5-day cooling off period was NEVER mentioned. I read it seven days later on the back page. It was then that I remembered our salesman asked to confirm what hotel we were staying at, and our room number. He wanted to call us to follow up on the 10th. I thought that was a little odd at the time and now realize he was probably checking to make sure we weren't exercising the 5-day clause.
We were told the timeshare value of the Mayan properties have shown a 15%-20% increase in value after 5 years. This was based on the fact that Grupo Mayan was rated #3 behind Ritz Carlton and The Manhattan Club in terms of resale value. We were never shown anything to support that claim. Actual resale is less that 50% when we checked various websites. We were also mislead that renting on the Internet would bring $3,000 per week during peak weeks. Actual is $499-$599, barely at best, covering the mandatory maintenance fee.
We were told flipping unused weeks was as easy as calling the rental company and they would send a check for $1,500 for the unused week. After contacting Destinations International, one of the listed rental companies, I was told there is a $249 fee; our request would then be placed in a pool with all the other Mayan requests to rent. When/if a request comes in when it's your turn, you are given the name of the interested party to contact and secure the reservation through Grupo Mayan.in addition you would have a 10% commission deducted from the rental to be paid back to Destinations International. The request could take as long as a year or more. Most likely because there is no demand for the rooms.
I contacted Grupo Mayan on Thursday July 17th. I spoke to Alex Leehan. When I mentioned that I wanted to terminate the agreement and have my money refunded, he asked if he could have my number and call me right back to save me the toll charges. (I'm sure he wanted to record the conversation) He said he could not refund our money. I asked to speak with someone higher up and he said there was no there that could authorize refunding our money. He asked why I was not happy since I got and extremely good deal and he could probably offer more weeks if that would satisfy me. I mentioned the immediate reduced value of the package. He then commented, These should not be purchased as investment properties When I told him the salesperson and his manager promoted the timeshare property as a great investment opportunity, he replied, Sir, I was not there to hear that.
During the presentation, our salesperson, told us in detail that he and his brothers own a number of timeshare properties and rarely use them since they make more money renting them on the Internet He also added that his father first invested in a timeshare property in Canada in the 70's and the value has increased tremendously.
Alex Leehan eventually said he could terminate the contract but could not refund our money. This would be fraudulent allowing Grupo Mayan the ability to sell the same timeshare twice. Alex then said that they have been paid and my issue is with the credit card company.
I have put the charge in dispute with Bank of American and will continue to do what it takes to have the charges reversed.
Stay away from grupo mayan!!!
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