Howie

any solutions

Howie

A lot of complaints

Anyone have a SOLUTION? 

DG&CG

This is the biggest scam in the world and no one knows how we can get out of it, surely there is SOME WAY to break the contract.  We were lied to, misrepresented, kept uninformed about changes being made, charged special assessments we should not have been, the company was either apparently sold  or inherited another company because now there are all kinds of hotels together with different names.  The phone numbers for help have been wrong and when they are the right number the customer service is rude and unhelpful.  All of the things we are complaining about go way beyond just having to book a year earlier.  They are about bad service, rude workers, noise, smelly rooms, no air conditioning, bad food, language barriers, you name it, we've experienced it, all in a BAD way!  We haven't been able to sell, rent, share or even enjoy the mistake we were dumb enough to get conned into by a fast talking mexican salesman, under a lot of pressure and lies about all the money we would make by buying our timeshare.  Still waiting to see how we can get out of this debacle and still wondering why and how they continue to be in business and there is no out!

B. Rodriguez

    We have stayed at Costa Sur in Puerta Valarta for several years and have  never had any problems. The new company Bel Air has made many improvements - new furniture, TV's, maintenance is good.The food is better than it ever was, night buffets, hamburger cart and taco cart for lunches. New activity director. Go down there, use your timeshare and enjoy yourself. 

D&L

We are in the same position.    Have had 5-7 conpanies contact us asking us to sell.  They offer a guaranteed sale, all monies paid to our bank acct, then we pay 8% commission plus money owing on condo.  Can't help but think something isn't right.  Would like to know more about just walking away from whole situation, interested in people from Alberta and how they did it.....we are in BC 

Leona

I also would like to mention while at the meeting at Bel Air we were told that somehow an insider with Playa del Sol got access to all members information and has possibly been selling the info to different companies.  almost everyone at the meeting including myself have been contacted by people wanting to buy or rent our timeshares.  IN NO WAY SHOULD YOU FALL FOR THEIR SCAMS especially if they are asking for money up front.  NEVER PAY MONEY UPFRONT!

Leona

I purchased my timeshare in 2005 in the Romantic zone and was never able to use it as it was always booked.  I stayed at Costa Sur once and at Bel Air this year Nov. 2011.  I have found out while I was there that Bel Air is the home timeshare now and to use Costa Sur you have to use the exchange and pay a fee.  The original Play del Sol cannot be used.  I also found out from members at Plays del Sol that the company over sold and they no longer exist.  I think this is fraud and we should somehow be able to take legal action.  can anyone help with this as I have no idea what to do but am very disappointed.  Bel Air is now an all inclusive but timeshare members do not have all inclusive privalges.  There was a meeting at Bel Air for timeshare owners and they were very upset in regards to what has happened.  One man said he lost $10,000.  they were also upset because they were being charged $17 a day for the internet and it clearly says in their advertising internet is free.

David Ross

We have owned PDS in Cabos now for over 6 years and have not had the problems I am reading about. The need to book a year in advance for prime time weeks is natural. yes the extra fee they charged for upgrades was a shock but that was about all we have experienced negatively so far. The rssort is right on the most fabulous beach, close to cabos yet quiet . Awesom holiday every year. The maintencace fess are some of the lowest in the industry unless they get jacked up for 2012. 

Jean

We need help in getting out of this timeshare rip-off. The promises and guarantees have not been fulfilled and we can not afford this contract. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Isaac

Since I was born and raised in Latin America and have worked in honest sales, I immediately realized Canto del Sol sales people were saying just lies.  Luckyly for my wife and I, we said NO from the beginning.  We went to "Canto del Sol" and were offered "50 bonus dollars and a massage or 100 bonus dollars" if we joined a 90 minute presentation".  I quickly realized that wast just the bait to try to sell you sometihing bigger related to owning property in Mexico.  My wife and I said "NO, we are not interested" all the time, not even to attend the presentation - however they would not take NO as an answer.  The sales lady, Lucila (beware of her) got rude and implied we were calling her a liar.  I said: "we're not calling you anything, we are simply NOT interested and WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING - WE CAME HERE JUST TO REST".  After 20 minutes Lucila gave up.  We didn't attend the presentation nor listened to them further.  Curiously, they called us later to our room ro remind us to pick up our cuppons.  I said: "you can keep them, we are NOT INTERESTED".   My only advise to anyone is NEVER to listen to them, NEVER accept going to their presentation, and DO NOT give them any PERSONAL information.  Oh yes, Lucila did ask us whay our jobs or occupations were, implicitly taking our financial snapshot. Do not show your credit cart to anyone, do not even listen to them, and always keep a low profile such as you would not have the means to buy anything (e.g, saying "we don't have a credit card".

Here are some quotes from Lucila:

- "We know you come with money"

 - "I see you misstrust us"

 - "There no risk or obligation"

- "Many people are happy about this"

Miranda

I just returned from a 10 day vacation spent at Playa del sol where I attended a timeshare presentation. Against my better judgement, I gave them a down payment for a unit in the amount of $4000.00  I was told it was a resale and as such, I had no right to cancel within the 5 day grace period they normally allow. They asked me to sign a waiver form in which I did foolishly. They didn't give me a copy of the waiver form with the contract they gave me. my biggest concern in this matter is my credit, please help!!!

K & A

My husband and I purchased a 1 BDRM unit in December 2008 with Playa Del Sol Grand and have never used it.

We were recently contacted by Alan Pearson at Holiday Property Management in Ohio who offered us $26, 900 for our 1 + 1 week of timeshare.  We have never given our contact info out to re-sale agents, etc, as we have never tried to rent or sell this unit. We have just sat on it and continued to make our monthly payments.  When I contacted Playa del Sol Grand they said they never gave out our info to anybody, but HPM seems to know quite a bit about what we owned and when we bought it.  We did not give them any money and thankfully they have stopped calling.

We live outside of Calgary, AB Canada and intend on stopping all payments on the balance owing for this timeshare.  I have contacted my bank and the credit bureau to see if there will be any negative reprocution to my credit.  And there isn't!  Yippee, this is great news for Canadians who want out of there timeshare contract.  US credit does not carry forward to Canada (good or bad)!

What goes around really does come around thankfully.

Ana Rosa

los mantenimientos siguen subiendo y no puedo pagarlos, mis planes eran pagar  con el dinero que generaran las rentas de mis semanas, como muchos platican aquí, nunca llega ese dinero. Estoy muy frustrada y desesperada, si alguien pretende ir a una presentacion con raintree. no compren ni por error.

Monique

We purchased a timeshare at Playa Del Sol Grand. We purchased this with the expectations of renting the weeks.  We gave them 5 weeks of our rental in exchange for $7000, to arrive on December 15, 2010 and we have not received. this is for sure a SCAM.

Rosa Tirado

Nos emborracharon y nos dijeorn puras mentiras. Además nos dieron precios diferentes a los reales. cunado quisimos comprar los boletos de avion con la promocion que nos ofrecieron, salia más caro, y cuando hablamos para hacer la reservacion resulta que tien que ser todo incluido y el precio que nos dieron no era en su totalidad si no por persona, estamso pagando un dineral y ni le hemos sacado provecho, puro fraude!

Lynda

We are also dissatisfied owners with the same story as above, bought in 2008, oversold, had the Robert Jones experience, an extra $500 for nothing.  "Upgraded" in 2010 to get rental lower.  We were also contacted recently on a resale scam so I made the BBB and the Attorney General in Illinois aware (of course company doesn't exist along with the escrow company - 2 bogus websites).  We are very interested in joining a class action suit only and have individuals who can assist with a website.  Please contact.

Gregorio Montalvo

Mi padre que es una persona ya mayor de edad, fue engañado por los vendedores de Playa del Sol le dijeron que despues de terminar la membresía se le iba a devolver el dinero, como él ya es una persona mayor le dijeorn que el dinero se nos regresaria a nostros como parte de una herencia y que no tenía que pagar ningun mantenimiento ni él ni nosotros. Después de leer a detalle todo el contrato de tiempo compartido ya vimos que nada de eso es verdad y mi padre ahora esta metido en una gran deuda, me parece muy abusivo por parte de Playa del Sol y de los vendedores que se aprovechen de situaciones como esta.

Ryan Kirlo

I am a time share owner at the Playa Del Sol Grand in Puerto Vallarta. I have enjoyed my membership since 2004 and used the resort several times. Lately they have undertaken to change the contract under which I became a member. They have sold their interests to Howard Johnson and now Belair. Both are hotel chains. I am increasingly being asked to spend more on extraordinary fees for upgrading the facility while having less opportunity to access its benefits

George

I purchased 4 week contract at Playa del Sol San Jose del Cabo in 2008, with rental agreement and that never happened. cannot get in there. I have to book at grande and upgrade to 1bdrm to ge in at Grande. I am interested in getting rid of this and not ever having to worry about it again.

Marion

I am another member of the unhappy, betrayed, lied, taken advantage of  Playa Del Sol members.

While on vacation in Dec 2007, I purchased a time share after a 4 hours of pull and drag experience, returned to Canada, and cancelled my membership. In the first e-mail, membership was cancelled; however, I received more e-mails saying that membership was not cancelled. To make the long story short, after almost 4 years, I am recently contacted by Resort Recovery Solutions collection agency, which wants me to pay "debt." It is more than a month of their first contact without any written material sent to me.

Could anyone advise me what is the best thing to do?

Thank you.

Marion

Darell

I purchased in december 2010 with my fiance.We have been taken by Playa del Sol. as well.We were lied to about most aspects of out timeshare to get us to buy it, now we really can't use it without significant more charges. They transfer our original Whydom time share when we signed up the contract as well.  can you still help us?

S&F

I purchased and paid in full for a 2 bdr in Playa del Sol, 4 yrs ago. As well you know, the annual fees have been going up, although we were assured they never would at the time we purchased our timeshare. It has been announced they will go up again this year. Additionally, now we are expected to pay an assesment fee. The thought of returning our timeshare to Playa del Sol makes me ill-as the last thing that i want is to give them more money I know they will turn around and sell it to another unsuspecting victim.

mg27

Purchased a fraction four years ago in Playa Del Sol Puerto Vallarta Mex. I felt that we were pressure to get into a deal that was presented as promising. Our maintenance fee are due in March and almost double in four years and this yeas we got an additional assessment fee.

Judy

I own a fixed week at what is now called  Playa del Sol. I bought in 1999.  I think you are aware of the extraordinary fees that they are charging owners this year. I have read my contract over and over and it is not stated anywhere about any fees other than the maintenance fees and that they have the right to raise them by 10% per year. I complained to Playa del Sol, many times without any responses, until I sent my email daily to all the address I could find. This was there reply. Can they legally just change the members agreement and add fees that aren't in my agreement. I have had no notice of any kind of changes to the members agreement until I received an email yesterday.

Charlie

I am a victum of timeshare fraud - we were given a credit card application not knowing it was a CC application and the CC company won't help us bc we signed it. The salesperson also told us that his broker would rent our timeshare out for us - promised us 6 rentals in our first year and it was never rented. We later found out that this "broker" isn't even a broker, just a scammer working w/ the salesperson and doesn't even have a license and has multiple complaints with the BBB. We now have a huge Credit card bill and no rentals.

Edx56

In 2008 we purchased at Playa del Sol Grand for their PDS Cabo location. We paid the contract in full and have had nothing but lies and disappointments. We have attempted multiple times to resolve the problem without success.

Norma Puuk

mi esposo y yo cancelamos untiempo compartido en puerto vallarta con Playa del Sol s a de c v pero no se nos regreso nada del dinero que habiamos dado esto fue en el 2007, pusimos una demanda en la profeco pero nada mas nos trajeron con vueltas y nunca nos resolvieron nada. A estas alturas todavia no nos interesa recuperar dinero, solo queremos que cesen las llamadas de su agencia de cobros pidiendonos que liquidemos la deuda.

Gracias.

Jay

I paid my extraordinary fee because I want to keep my credit clean. I'm trying to find them online to actually try and stay there next year, but can't even find refererence to the actual resort name anymore Playa Del Sol Grand. So very confused. My maintenance fees has gone up exhorbitantly over the past several years. I purchased odd years in 2005 and I think my maintenance fee was 350. Now it's up over 795.

California2886

My husband and I purchased a timeshare from Playa Del Sol in Puerto Vallarta in November 2008. After trying to set up reservations, we started to find out these "extra" fees. These fees were not mentioned during the presentation and all they have to say is that I signed. I have put in a few thousands of dollars and only to find out that if I want to use my week I have to pay an additional grand.

Michael Chismouks

I payed in full for timeshare and have no way of booking time to use or banking weeks. I stopped paying the matinence fees a couple of years ago. I paid over $25,000 for it.

Sara Torman

We were lied to by the Playa del sol salesmen and want to get out of our contract. Purchase was signed on October 17, 2010. We loved Mexico, but feel abused by the dishonest salesmen.

Sue

My story is the same as I'm sure you've heard a dozen times, my husband and I were presured into this timeshare and we have felt helpless erver since. They convinced us to open a credit card account to pay for the contract,and needless to say we have never been able to pay the c.c acount off and know they are referring the maintenace fee to a creditor to further and insult to injury.

Anne

Purchased a fraction six years ago in Playa Del Sol Puerto Vallarta Mex. I felt that we were pressure to get into a deal that was presented as promising. Our maintenance fee almost double in six years and this year we got an additional assessment fee.

Larry

I bought an upgrade through Playa del sol in PV. After refusing to upgrade I was promised that they would sell 15 Grand Weeks for $1,000 each and all I would have to do is sit back and recieve a check in 7 months and use this to pay off my commitment. The company that would sell the weeks was called Grand Xcapes, I paid $800.00 for this service and never heard word one from them.

Mayra

My husband and I purchased a "fractional" property at Playa Del Sol Grand. During the sales presentation we were adamant that we did not travel that much and were sold the "renting to golfers as an income" story. The purchase was October 25 and even though we paid 3 different brokers to list it, no sales to golfers or anyone else. Fortunately during the sales presentation I confiscated some of the papers they wrote this information on and have that as proof. I made a complaint with Playa Del Sol and am presently offered an option to re-write my contract for less weeks and they will forgive over 18,000 I still owe them. We have been taken and have spent over $8,000 in interest alone. We won't be able to travel enough to make it worth keeping and still owe money we put on loan back home with our house as collateral.

madone_99301

So has anyone ever just quit paying their maintenance fees and walked away from PDS?  Do they take legal action against members who just abandon their contracts?   We purchased in 2006 and have gone down most years; however we've found that we can get great deals on Mexican vacations with just a little DYI searching on the Internet.   I'd love to sell our membership for $1 just to write down the loss.

David

I have a time share in Puerto Vallarta at Playa del Sol and I have all the horror stories about them and Holiday International, can you help and what is the cost? I'm paid in full.

Thomas

A representative from Playa del Sol told me a lot of false promises. I don’t have proof of that because all of the promises were verbal. I thought that all those promises were in the contract because the seller told me that all of them were written, but at the time they pressured me to sign the contract and I didn´t have enough time to read it cover to cover.

Wanda

We purchased a timeshare from Playa del sol at Vallarta and have found nothing they said to be true, an extra fee was added on to our monthly payment  and our extra weeks cannot be traded how they told us. The yearly maintenance fee ends up more than you would spend for one week at the hotel. We have tried to book for next year, but were cheaper on expedia  than through Playa del sol.

Robert

Please HELP us!! We purchased a timeshare with Playa del Sol, 2 months ago and we feel so stupid my wife and I paid thousands of dollars for a worthless piece of papers called contract, a timeshare that has no real value and lies and misrepresentations.

Karen

I purchased a timeshare at Playa del Sol and I have some problems to book my next vacations. when I was on vacations another seller invited me to another timeshare presentation, I went and I told them all the problems that I had, they suggested me that I should upgrade my timeshare in order to receive a better service. I paid the difference and I signed a new contract. But the next year I had the exact the same problems, the services and the room didn´t improve and I spent more money.

Karen

I purchased a timeshare at Playa del Sol and I have some problems to book  my next vacations. when I was on vacations another seller invited me to another timeshare presentation, I went and I told them all the problems that I had, they suggested me that I should upgrade my timeshare  in order to receive a better service. I paid the difference and I signed a new contract. But the next year I had the exact the same problems, the services and the room didn´t improve and I spent more money.

Jazmin

A nosotros nos  hicieron firmar un contrato creyendo que estábamos comprado otra cosa. Nos vendieron un paquete vacacional el cual nosotros creíamos que era el total de todas las personas y cuando llamamos para reservar nos dijeron que el precio era por persona, lo cual es muy caro y obvio no podemos costear. Desde el principio que nosotros vimos que era muy barato, le repetidas infinidad de veces al vendedor que si los precios que nos estaba dando eran  en total y el nos aseguro cada vez que le preguntamos, claro que el sabia que los precios eran por persona y todo lo hizo por vendernos a fuerzas la membresia.

Elvira

We purchased a membership with playa del sol in April 2010.  We tried to use it when we returned home and discovered the membership fees were more expensive then with a travel agent. The membership was falsely represented. Can you help me cancel the membership and refund my down payment?

Alicia

When I purchased my timeshare they never told me that I have to make the reservations several months before. I have all my vacations planned, in fact I even invited my family. the seller  told me that I can use my property easily, but now that I found out it is a lie.This membership was the worst deal I have ever purchased.

Cameron

We had the bad luck of falling for the scams at Playa del sol. Of course they told us all the lies about selling our other timeshare for us, so we signed the contract thinking that all of what they told us was true. Now we are in home and we realized that they lied to us. If someone can suggest something to us to can  cancel this contract, We would be very grateful.

Ernesto Sanchez

Mi esposa y yo compramos un tiempo compartido en  julio de este año.las tácticas de venta que utilizaron fueron muy agresivas  y molestas.  Queremos cancelar el contrato y recuperar lo más posible del pago que dimos.  Soy desempleado  y no puedo seguir pagando las mensualidades que están en el contrato sin tener una ganancia de por medio como ellos me habían mencionado y que ahora sé que no es verdad.

Ernesto Sanchez

Mi esposa y yo compramos un tiempo compartido en  julio de este año.las tácticas de venta que utilizaron fueron muy agresivas  y molestas.  Queremos cancelar el contrato y recuperar lo más posible del pago que dimos.  Soy desempleado  y no puedo seguir pagando las mensualidades que están en el contrato sin tener una ganancia de por medio como ellos me habían mencionado y que ahora sé que no es verdad.

Paul

I own a membership at playa del sol but the maintenance fees keep increasing, they want special assessments. I have tried to get help with selling the property  but I wasn´t able.  We have the same stories an experience as the other sin this forum. Is there any way to get out of this  timeshare scam contract?

James

I found several complaints online for Playa del sol . I called  them to book room for November 2010 but is not available . I worried about availability. Then we called them to sell it back our membership but they told us that we have to paid in full before we can sell it.

Diana

We were cheated by a representative from Playa del sol, they made us believe that we were purchasing something that it wasn´t. we try  contacting him but it was impossible. The information that he provided us was fake and no one at Playa del sol want to be responsible for the promised he made to us.  

Cathy

My husband and I also bought a membership at playa del sol, with a total purchase price of $25,000. We made a down payment for $7,000 and our monthly payments are for $450. It has been very difficult for us to make the payments and we think that it is better if we cancel the membership.  We have sent some emails to the resort but they have not answered us.

Alejandro

Compré una membresia en Abril del 2010 en playa del sol,  y quisiera disolver mi contrato por que encontramos una serie de irregularidades respecto a lo que nos dijeron los vendedores y lo que viene en nuestro contrato. Nosotros pensamos en pagar para que nuestras semanas fueran rentadas pero gracias a Dios no lo hicimos, hemos encontrado muchos casos como el nuestro y queremos cancelar nuestro contrato.

Andy

Tenemos 3 años con nuestro tiempo compartido en playa del sol y día con día  están subiendo las mensualidades y cuotas, nosotros pagamos en dólares, pero ganamos en pesos y  estar al corriente con las mensualidades cada vez se nos hace más pesado. Estamos buscando cancelar nuestro contrato , pero aun no  le informamos a playa del sol porque sabemos que nos pondrán muchas trabas para no cancelar.

Adams

Another sucked in! Playa del sol. We bought on April 2010, we also signed  a waiver to cancel in 5 days. We paid $30k. They don`t want to buy it back as they told us before. Any chance to recover any of the money and cancel the membership

Greg

I bought a timeshare at Playa del Sol because the seller told me that it was a good business and I could rent my weeks for $2,500. I paid a broker company to rent my weeks, but now that I am looking for information I realized that the timeshare weeks rentals its not a good business. This is a scam and I´m wasting my money with them.

Kelly

The salesperson stated that he would sell my current timeshare in Bahamas, this wouldn´t take more than 90 days. As a matter of fact he provided me with a document which the resale was guaranteed. A have tried to contact him but phone ;but he just don´t answer my calls. At this point I’m thinking that I was lied to by the salesman, it seems to me that he has no intentions of reselling my timeshare.  

Kenneth

We just bought a membership with Playa del Sol and now we are freaking out because we have read so many scam reports about them. I think we have made a big mistake, but we don’t know how to get out of it. Is Playa del Sol really a scam? We were told they would resell our old timeshare, do you think this will actually happen? We don’t want to get stuck with two timeshares. If we can get out of this easily now, we prefer to act now instead of regretting it later. Please let us know if you can help.

Luis Hernández

Perdí mi interés en mi membresia con playa del sol desde que ellos faltaron con su parte del trato, si yo hubiera sabido desde l principio que ellos jamás iban a vender my otra propiedad como me había dicho, jamás hubiera aceptado en trato y no hubiera comprado una membresia con ellos. 

Gail Davis

Playa del Sol has denied my rights to my time share contract for time-share ownership at Costs Vida (Costa Sur) in P.V. for end of October 2010.  I paid my 'contractual obligation' for maintenance fees, now they have attached an "ountstanding fees due' to my account, therefore, I cannot use my units.  Can anyone approach the Mexican govenment to let them know that we cannot bring our dollars to the PV area?  This smeers all trust of contracutual agreements within their country.

Julie

We too were conned by Playa Del Sol.  First of all we were told that we were purchasing a Mexican mortgage that would not appear on our US credit report - when in fact they gave us and we signed a US credit card application for the entire purchase.

Lie

Second, 

Our salesguy (grant) told us that they were changing their marketing strategy to rent our their members weeks to get new people into the resort.  He told us that they would rent out 6 of our 15 grandweeks at $1,500 in the next 6 months to pay for the timeshare before any interest accrued on the loan.

Lie - The "Broker" that we signed with (another $500) was not evena broker, did not have a license, had a F rating with the BBB for fraudluent practices.  (Bob Ruddy of My Vacation Brokers beware) Nothing was rented. 

When we contacted PDS the manager was out of town due to a "death in the family" and couldn't get back to us for weeks..... Wouldn't return phone calls, then the salesguy didn't work there anymore.... they couldnt help us blah blah blah.

I am VERY interested in joining a class action lawsuit with other victims. I feel very bad for anyone who is at PDS right now getting thousands of their hard earned dollars stolen.  

Lisa

We have been owners for 3 years and fortunately for us we have dealt with PDS on many occasions and have not had any complaints.  I have yet to be told there is no availability for the week I am requesting.  Accomodations have been fabulous at the Grand and also Los Cabos.  Everyone who has made claims that PDS is a scam may be exaggerating the truth. I find it hard to believe parts of the accusations.  I was surprised with the additional fee they were asking for this year, but mostly because when I got the email, it stated it was due in a week to pay the fee without extra charges.  I called them and they gave me an extra 30 days to pay it.  I feel sorry for the people who have been duped, lied to, are really unhappy with their purchase.  While PDS is a small resort, I feel that for the money that I am charged for my week is great.  I live in the Bay Area of CA and the price of my 1 bedroom for the week is practically cheaper than one day for a beachfront room down in Monterey.  Not everyone feels that PDS is a scam.  I am one of these people.

Marg Palfy

Purchased 4 primary + 4 secondary weeks of floating fractional ownership in 2005, a 2 BR lockout - was told I could easily pay for it by renting it out - maintenance fees have nearly doubled, we have received a 'special assessment' fee as well this year, when we want to book we are told there is nothing available. This has been a disaterous experience.

Nancy

I just received a letter from pds requesting payment for a special assessment. I haven´t received my original contract yet (Seems like I never will). Also, pds has not paid the association dues for over 2 years and are in arrears. Can they charge me for this fee?

Susanne

We are having problems with Playa del Sol. We purchased a fractional ownership last august based on them giving us 50 grand weeks that their "sister company" was going to buy from us at 700 USD each, to offset the cost of the membership. When we realized the contract we signed didn't reflect this, we went back to cancel before 5 days of the purchase. The salesperson then threatened to sue us for 18,000 USD, they guaranteed the purchase of the 50 weeks with a written contract from Grand Xcapes, which they said it was their sister company, and everything was a lie. We have contacted Playa del Sol and they deny the salesperson allegations to be true.

Frank

I purchased a timeshare back in 2002 with Playa Del Sol Grand and was told all sorts of half truths and false claims. My original maintenance fees were 650 per week and now they have gone up to close to $1300 in just 6 years. I am not sure how that is possible if they can only raise the fees by 10%.

Billy

All I can say is that Playa Del Sol Group is the bigest scamers in Mexico . BEWARE    DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THEM

L.

I just received an email from Playa del Sol stating they are charging extraordinary fees for 2010 for upgrades they have done.  the amount for my 1 bedroom is $348.

I bought this timeshare in 1997 and i have my agreement but it does not state anywhere that they have the right to charge this. They are only allowed to raise the maintenance fee 10% per year.

Also I have week 20 every year. When I paid my maintenance fees i asked that the week be deposited with RCi which has not been done.

I was told that they were not allowed to deposit with RCi at this time, but as soon as they were they would deposist a week in the future for me.

When I asked why they were not allowed they said the manager was looking into this and would have an answer for me in 72 hours.  that was on May 17th and still nothing.

I am so frustrated with this company and feel they are not doing things legally.

Benjamin, I am interested in joining forces, how do i do this?

thanks

Jill

I just purchased a timeshare at Playa Del Sol with the promise they would sell 10 of my bonus weeks, thus basically paying for the cost of the timeshare. I came back to my hotel and researched on the internet to find this is a scam! Help!

Jay

We feel the need to cancel the timeshare contract we signed. We have already paid them $6,000usd. We were informed that we had no opportunity to cancel this contract once the money was posted by American Express. We do not beleive this to be true. Can you assist us?

Peggy

I was totally dupped by the PDS salesman that told half truths about what they would be able to do to make my timeshare more affordable...buy back my weeks, etc....never happened..sell my weeks...its a complicated arrangement and very difficult to deal with.  I hate the ownership of this timeshare, what was i thinking!  It is definitely a con game for unaware folks like myself.  I have 10,000 left to pay on my timeshae and wish I could get back some of the money I've thrown to the cons.  Where is the saving when anyone can get rooms cheaper just about anywehre in the world.

Donald

I am a timeshare owner at 3 different resorts and have been happy with most of my experiences. I am having a problem with a timeshare rental company called Airtouch Real Estate (Raul Mendez) in Mexico. I have a written contract with them for the rental of my Canto del Sol property in PV. The contract guarantees the rental of my week. Airtouch didn’t rent it and won’t refund the US$699 fee nor pay me the week’s rent of US$1750. I have contacted Airtouch and the resort, without getting any satisfaction.

Deanne

I have a fractional timeshare with Playa Del Sol.  I purchased 1 primary week and one award week Biennially in perpetuity Oct 7, 2007.  The maintainance fee on my contract is $395.  Under \"Maintenance Fees\", in the contract, it states \"The period of use shall be deemed as used by the member and the maintenance fee shall become due and payable only when the member makes the corresponding reservation under the club regultions.\"  I was told when I purchased that I would only pay the maintenance fee when I used the week.  Now they are saying that the maintenance fee for $2008 was $434 and for 2009 $559.26 and for 2010 $587.34.  In my contract it also states \"The Club agrees to limit any increase of maintenance fees to a maximum of 10% per year with the exception of extraordinary circumstances such as an increase in the Mexican Consumer Price Index.

I booked a reservation for Los Cabos (where I purchased my timeshare)last November for October 31 2009.  I was charged my $395 maintenance fee plus $120 because I was using my award week. When I booked it they took my money at that time and have had it since.  I just recieved a call from a Carolina Ridriquez Gomez stating that the resort in Los Cabos has been closed and they don\'t know when it will reopen.  She then said if I came to Puerto Vallarta they would pay for my airline change fee.  The only resort availabe, out of 3 in PV, was a run down old resort of theirs.  The rest were booked up.  I did not want to go to PV so we looked in Cabo.  There was nothing available on their end so I checked with HSI and they had one available in Cabo but Playa Del Sol would not pay for it.  I then checked to see about a flight to PV since nothing was working out and this is my annual vaction that has been booked for a year.  There were no seats available on the entire weekend.  The flights were booked.  I demanded that they refund my money and pay me for my flights that I have to cancel along with the cancellation fee of $100/person (which there are 2 of us).  They refused and said that I was being complicated and that no other member was this complicated.  I was stunned.  She told me there was nothing else they could do for me.  Knowing she was about to hang up I said lets just work this out.  After a lengthy discussion she agreed to forward my week to next year (which is booked up until April) and upgrade me to a 2 bedroom.  She would agree to pay the $200 airline cancellation fee.  She is now in the process of getting the OK from who knows who!  She then informed me that the Maintenance fee for 2008 was $434 and 2009 $559.26 and 2010 will be $587.34.  Is this legal?  I feel like I\'m between a rock here.  She said they are legally covered when I asked if I should consult an attorney but there is nothing in my Member Purchase agreement that backs up anything that she is saying.  Now I\'m concerned that $16,210 I have invested in this is at jepardy.  The resort is closed and no one will tell me when it will reopen or if.  My membership fees are increasing excessivly and they just dropped the news that my vacation is cancelled. 

Gregory

Bought a timeshare from Playa Del Sol/Costa Sur. Showed us a beautiful unit but did not mention that other units at Costa Sur may take more than 3 years to remodel. Asked about getting a deed, told that we would receive a \"certificate of ownership\" to a unit...never received and now we are stuck with a \"floating\" week with Playa Del Sol instead of a remodeled one bedroom unit at Costa Sur.

Bruce

We were conned by the slick fraudsters at Playa del Sol, Puerto Vallarta and paid them over $27,000 in Feb. and March of 2006 on their repeated promises that we could access and book time freely at any of their venues of our choice.  We have never been able to make a booking and now we have received a notification from them that our entire contract has been nullified because we refused to pay the yearly \"maintenance fees\" .  We have no wish to use their facilities under any circumstances, having now learned of the immense depth and breadth of their false representations and lies.

Benjamin

I welcome this opportunity to address what has been a horrendous experience in connection with the unrestrained use of false and deceptive sales practices on the part of GRUPO PLAYA DEL SOL (PDSG). On January 2009, I purchased a timeshare at PDSG for $25900 USD, only after lengthy negotiations with PDSG Sales Representatives affirmed that the total purchase price would covered by the sale of my current Timeshares and additional bonus weeks.

At the time of purchase, I made it very clear that I was DEBT-FREE, only a few years from retirement and could not afford nearly $26000 USD in debt. However, I was assured by the PDSG sales representative that, Robert Jones; Director of Royal Vacations would arrange the sale of my timeshares from Velas Vallarta and Westin Regina, as well as the rental of 8 “Playa Del Sol Grand” weeks for a total of $12000 USD ($1500 each).

Before March 2009, I paid off the account balance in full by transferring the debt to my own credit card (When I figured out that I would pay an extra $16796 – or more than 66% in finance charges – for 84 equal monthly installments of $499.13 on a balance of $25130).

To make matters worse, PDSG has achieved this trough an insidious use of deceit, outright lies and other forms of dishonesty. Since August 2009, nobody from Playa del Sol has ever responded to me, my e-mails, and my phone calls. I will not debate the specifics of my case in this public complaint, several points are being reviewed, even now it is difficult to realize how completely I was mislead by PDSG on practically all levels.

The PDSG has refused to my request of the full refund;

I advise to anyone who reads this letter, to take maximum precautions when traveling international the following:

1.      Avoid as much as possible to go to Puerto Vallarta and mostly attend a Timeshare presentation.

2.      Avoid going to Mexico since now I know that PROFECO cannot defend us, American citizens, of the deceitful sales practices that companies such as Playa del sol. This is, because of the “administrative nature” of this office.

I went online and was amazed at the volume of complaints against PDSG on so many websites, including requests to join class action suits. These claims alone, say a lot of this company.

If you have been victim of a timeshare fraud in Mexico and would like to join forces or are and expert on web design and would be interested in creating a discussion forum, please contact me immediately.

Robin

Mi nombre es Elizabeth, les envio este correo para pedir información; el 29 de agosto del 2009 compre una membresía con royal holiday una empresa que vende tiempos compartidos, hace una semana quise utilizarla y me di cuenta que es un fraude pues me piden más dinero, ya que me dicen que tengo que pagar el enganche completamente ya que el enganche lo pague por medio de la tarjeta de credito a 12 meses, además tengo que comprar algo que ellos llaman creditos pues lo que tengo es muy poco y practicamente no me sirve para viajar, la verdad quiero cancelar el contrato y quisiera saber cual es la posibilidad de hacer que ya no se hagan cargos a mi tarjeta a penas tengo que pagar la primer mensualidad a finales de este mes.