If you were defrauded at a timeshare or vacation package presentation in Mexico,              
you can fight back and get a full refund.

MESCAM News Flashes

We have received many requests for help from American, Canadian and other tourists who were victimized at timeshare and vacation package sales presentations while on vacation in Mexico.  Some of the biggest offers are: Mayan Palace (Grupo Mayan), The Great Vacation Club (formerly Discover the Dream), Sunset Group Resorts, Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach, Pueblo Bonita Monte Cristo, Hacienda Encantada, Krystal International, El Cid Vacation Club, and Playa Grande.  Visit our Common Complaints webpage to see some of the typical complaints that other tourists have.

--------NEW APPROACH TO FIGHTING MEXICAN TIMESHARE FRAUD ----------

In our continuing fight against Mexican Timeshare Fraud we have found a new friend and his name is RICO. 
No he is not a Mexican Lawyer, RICO is the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, 18 U.S.C. 1961.  Whether you have cancelled your contract and the resort is refusing to refund your money, or you are finding out that the representations and promising made at the sales presentation were lies, RICO may be able to help you.  Read About RICO in our exclusive News Story, "RICO may be your best Friend".

-------------  IMPORTANT NOTICE  ------------

If you cancel your timeshare contract and you do not follow my exact directions on the REFUNDS page, do not email me asking "What can I do, the resort is not refunding my money?".  If you do not follow directions there is little I can do to help you.  Also, if you are afraid of being mean, just pay the timeshare and forget it.  You are going to have to fight these crocks and if you do not have the stomach to stand up for yourself, no one else is going to do it.   Read the REFUNDS directions, use my form letter, read the NEWS story about the guy who beat his credit card company, and read Kurt's Story and Stopping Ryan story below.

IMPORTANT CHANGE TO MESCAM WEBSITE

We are adding an advice column to our website.  In the past I have been repeating myself numerous time to everyone who writes me with their problems.  I am now going to post the emails I receive along with the advice I give people.  Hopefully if you have a problem, you will find it answered in our advice column.

April 12, 2012.  MESCAM Success Story. 
I just wanted to write to say that I cannot thank you enough. My sister and I went to Cabo in February 2013, and I was naive to the whole timeshare scam situation down there. I was scammed to the tune of $5000 by Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach into buying their Passport package,
(read the full details)

MESCAM as
Preventive Medicine
Oct. 2012 -  Finally for the first time we have received notification from a reader that he has read our website before vacationing in Mexico and he will not become a victim of Mexican Timeshare Fraud.
(read the full details)

Mexican Government adds new Timeshare laws
March 17, 2010. -  The Mexican Government issued the Mexican Official Standard NOM-029-SCFI-2010 which establishes new business practice standards for timeshares.
(read the full details)

American tourist beats credit card company. 
April 2010 - Finally one of the many people who has emailed us for help has taken a stand against the credit card companies who make a profit from you getting screwed by these Mexican Timeshare resorts.  Mr. L filed a small claims lawsuit against BankAmericard based on the fact that he cancelled his contract within the 5 days allowed by Mexican law, and the resort's continued effort to charge his account amounted to fraud.  Since BAC did nothing to stop the fraud, Mr. L's argument was that BAC was in breach of their credit card contract.
(read the full details)

New Timeshare Scam
The timeshare companies have come up with a new scam to prevent you from exercising your legal rights to cancel within 5 days.  This scam is mostly reported in use at the Sunset Group Resorts.  The scam revolves around lying to you that your contract is cancelled when it IS NOT, and delaying until you are outside of the 5 day period and can not cancel. 
(read the full details)

Mayan Palace attempts to shutdown MESCAM Website
Mayan Palace has hired Lynn T. Galuppo of the law firm Cox, Castle & Nicholson in an attempt to shutdown the MESCAM website because of our efforts to help US tourists and warn them of the unscrupulous practices of Mexican timeshare resorts.
(read the full details)

Victims fight back against Mayan Palace and win substantial refund.
June, 2006.  ---  U.S. and Canadian citizens banded together and used the power of the internet to force Mayan Palace to the bargaining table and won refunds against contracts that were 6,12, and more months old.  This represents the first time that victims of Mayan Palace's aggressive timeshare sales presentation have teamed up as an organized group and won.
(read the full details)

------- IMPORTANT NOTICE --------

Visit Our "Refunds" webpage to learn how to cancel a contract or find information about getting a refund.

Visit our NEW Advice Column to read our advice to other people and learn what you can do to get your money back.

Quick Answers

1. You will not be able to rent your new timeshare for the price quoted you by the salesperson.  Most Mexican timeshares are renting for little more than the price of the resort's annual maintenance fee. 
2. Any "agency" which claims it can rent your timeshare, but wants an up-front fee; is just another scam and usually in league with the resort's sales staff.
3. You have the legal right to cancel your timeshare contract within 5 business days.  (see Five Day Rescinding)
4. No matter what you have signed, YOU CAN NOT give up your right to cancel within 5 business days. (see Your Legal Rights)
5. If you are outside of the first 5 business days, even a year from signing, you still have options. (see Advanced Cancellations).
6. The best way to cancel your timeshare contract is by email where you can easily document your cancellation and put government officials on distribution of your email as proof of cancellation. (You must have physical proof that you cancelled your contract.)
7. Timeshare resorts will threaten to damage your credit rating or turn you over to a collection agency, but this can be countered if you followed my suggestion of declaring the resort charges as fraudulent charges on your credit card account, you sued your credit card company for processing these fraudulent charges or got your credit card company to admit the charges were fraudulent and they reversed the charges.

ASK MESCAM

Poor Little Kurt Murat from Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resorts

This article is about how to respond to the timeshare company when they refuse to comply with your cancellation letter or they try to put conditions on your cancellation.  On August 26, 2015 MESCAM received an email from Miguel and Susana Daboub who were attempting to cancel their timeshare purchase at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort.  The Daboub's first contacted us when the resort tried to say that the couple had to return their "FREE" gifts if they wanted to cancel their contract.  MESCAM emailed the couple back and copied Pueblo Bonito's Sales Director Kurt Murat on our response.  Kurt  took offense to some of the advice we provided to the Daboubs, and made the mistake of deciding to pick a fight with MESCAM.  Following is the script of the various emails that were exchanged.  It is important to note the advice MESCAM gives to the Dabouds throughout the email exchanges on how to fight these timeshare companies through the US court system and how this advice infuriates Kurt.   Unfortunately "Little Kurt" does come up in the discussion (although Little Kurt is not a big subject), so if this subject matter offends you, please skip this article.

How to stop Ryan from Hacienda Encantada, Cabo San Lucas

This is a how to guide about what to do if you cancel your contract within the required 5 working days and the timeshare company refuses to refund your money.  We are using the example of William (not real name) who purchased a timeshare at Hacienda Encantada in Cabo San Lucas and is dealing with Ryan the sale manager.  We have actually been through the timeshare presentation at Hacienda Encantada a couple of years ago.  We of course did not buy and we were in and out in under two hours.  We could have been out earlier, but we were there with our neighbor and they took longer to "just say no".   I did screw up on this visit since we only got one fishing trip for the two of us.  If you go to any of these presentations, you should demand at least the equivalent of $300 USD in payment for your time.  Now read the story of what William needs to do to stop Ryan from Hacienda Encantada and learn the exact steps to take if the timeshare refuses to comply with Mexican law and refund your money after you legally cancelled the contract.

Past Success

I have been accused by Mayan Palace employees of having a vendetta against Mayan Palace.  Duh?  I wonder what their first clue was?  I started this effort because I was initially scammed at a Mayan Palace presentation by their Discover the Dream package, but what really fired me up was insulting remarks made by their sales people Trevor Barr and Brian Symington.  If you are a Mexican Timeshare employee and you are upset that I help people from being cheated by you, talk to Trevor and Brian.

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Last modified: 02/24/14