ON Jan. 4, 2014, my husband and I arrived at the El Cid Mazatlan Resort. for a week’s stay due to one of the timeshares we owned at that time. We were expected to attend a timeshare presentation (which we had not previously been informed of) …..along with a breakfast. However, we were not allowed to eat until we purchased some tours. After the breakfast, a man named Jaime tried to sell us a timeshare unit….in which we were not interested. He told us that they would “buy” the two units we have with other timeshare companies for a $3000 - $4000 difference, and we still refused, even though we were wanting to get rid of the other timeshares.
Two days later we were approached by Fernando Alonso Gonzales (the sales manager) who was very personable and seemed to have a lot in common with us as he told us about his hunting experiences around the world (after noticing the Cabela’s cap my husband wore) and his experiences with motorcycles (my husband was wearing a Harley t-shirt). He told us to come see him in the morning, and he would trade in the two timeshares we have for one at El Cid, and the total resulting cost to us would be less than $1000.00
We met with him the following morning. He promised us he could sell the two timeshares we already owned for $48,000+ in 10 months – which he stated would be October.. And, the final cost for the El Cid timeshare would be less than $1000, which would be the interest on the contract. Plus, he said El Cid would stand behind our agreement in the event he would not be able to complete it. He set us up with a Barclays credit card to which was charged $12,500 (which we are still making payments on). We also authorized a debit from our checking account for $3635.00, and the remainder of $29965.00 would be financed through El Cid over a period of ten years.…..of course we would receive all these monies back in ten months – less the approximately $1000 we would be paying as interest. He then was in a hurry to leave as he had a cancer treatment scheduled, and was running late.....he had already told us all about his cancer, diabetes, psorias, etc. We were escorted to another room where a woman handled the paperwork to complete the agreement. It was all “rush rush” as Mr.Gonzales had to leave for his appointment. She did tell us that once we left the room we would not be able to cancel the agreement. We were not aware of the five days that is the actual time allowed by the government. Also, they did not give us a paper copy of any of the agreements…..only a CD. When we arrived home and downloaded the paperwork off the CD, we discovered an entirely different agreement than what we thought we were signing.
We wanted to believe that Mr. Gonzales was an honest man……not to mention that we wanted to be rid of our other two timeshares, so we decided to wait until October to see what would happen. October came and went without receiving the two checks we were promised for $24,000 each. So we contacted Mr. Gonzales via email – as he made it clear in our meeting that he never answers his phone…..and, I can now understand why. He called to tell us that he had not said October, and informed us that the “marketing credit form” we had signed said 12 months. I pointed out to him that the form does not guarantee that they would sell the units; thereby, we would discontinue making any more payments on the contract or maintenance fees until we received something in writing stating that our units would definitely be sold and we would be paid the agreed upon amount. He replied that he did not have to authority to put it into writing. He did all this by telephone instead of replying via email, as I guess the email would leave a paper trail.
Bottom line: The original contract was for $46,100.00 . We have paid $20,830.38 thus far – including maintenance fees. The balance on the contract is $28,217.03. According to research I have done on the internet, this company has been scamming people for many years. They are now calling and emailing us daily…..harassing us constantly. My husband is 76 years old, and I am 69. There is no way we would have willingly paid that amount of money and agreed to a 10 year contract for $600 per month additional expenditure for another timeshare without the promises made to us. We were blatantly lied to by Mr. Gonzales and the secretary.
We want the contract completely canceled, and a return of monies we have already paid to El Cid. The entire sale was completed fraudulently and deceptively. The El Cid Vacation Club should be forced to stop using these deceptive methods of selling their units.
El Cid Vacations Club, S.A. De C.V. Reviews
ON Jan. 4, 2014, my husband and I arrived at the El Cid Mazatlan Resort. for a week’s stay due to one of the timeshares we owned at that time. We were expected to attend a timeshare presentation (which we had not previously been informed of) …..along with a breakfast. However, we were not allowed to eat until we purchased some tours. After the breakfast, a man named Jaime tried to sell us a timeshare unit….in which we were not interested. He told us that they would “buy” the two units we have with other timeshare companies for a $3000 - $4000 difference, and we still refused, even though we were wanting to get rid of the other timeshares.
Two days later we were approached by Fernando Alonso Gonzales (the sales manager) who was very personable and seemed to have a lot in common with us as he told us about his hunting experiences around the world (after noticing the Cabela’s cap my husband wore) and his experiences with motorcycles (my husband was wearing a Harley t-shirt). He told us to come see him in the morning, and he would trade in the two timeshares we have for one at El Cid, and the total resulting cost to us would be less than $1000.00
We met with him the following morning. He promised us he could sell the two timeshares we already owned for $48,000+ in 10 months – which he stated would be October.. And, the final cost for the El Cid timeshare would be less than $1000, which would be the interest on the contract. Plus, he said El Cid would stand behind our agreement in the event he would not be able to complete it. He set us up with a Barclays credit card to which was charged $12,500 (which we are still making payments on). We also authorized a debit from our checking account for $3635.00, and the remainder of $29965.00 would be financed through El Cid over a period of ten years.…..of course we would receive all these monies back in ten months – less the approximately $1000 we would be paying as interest. He then was in a hurry to leave as he had a cancer treatment scheduled, and was running late.....he had already told us all about his cancer, diabetes, psorias, etc. We were escorted to another room where a woman handled the paperwork to complete the agreement. It was all “rush rush” as Mr.Gonzales had to leave for his appointment. She did tell us that once we left the room we would not be able to cancel the agreement. We were not aware of the five days that is the actual time allowed by the government. Also, they did not give us a paper copy of any of the agreements…..only a CD. When we arrived home and downloaded the paperwork off the CD, we discovered an entirely different agreement than what we thought we were signing.
We wanted to believe that Mr. Gonzales was an honest man……not to mention that we wanted to be rid of our other two timeshares, so we decided to wait until October to see what would happen. October came and went without receiving the two checks we were promised for $24,000 each. So we contacted Mr. Gonzales via email – as he made it clear in our meeting that he never answers his phone…..and, I can now understand why. He called to tell us that he had not said October, and informed us that the “marketing credit form” we had signed said 12 months. I pointed out to him that the form does not guarantee that they would sell the units; thereby, we would discontinue making any more payments on the contract or maintenance fees until we received something in writing stating that our units would definitely be sold and we would be paid the agreed upon amount. He replied that he did not have to authority to put it into writing. He did all this by telephone instead of replying via email, as I guess the email would leave a paper trail.
Bottom line: The original contract was for $46,100.00 . We have paid $20,830.38 thus far – including maintenance fees. The balance on the contract is $28,217.03. According to research I have done on the internet, this company has been scamming people for many years. They are now calling and emailing us daily…..harassing us constantly. My husband is 76 years old, and I am 69. There is no way we would have willingly paid that amount of money and agreed to a 10 year contract for $600 per month additional expenditure for another timeshare without the promises made to us. We were blatantly lied to by Mr. Gonzales and the secretary.
We want the contract completely canceled, and a return of monies we have already paid to El Cid. The entire sale was completed fraudulently and deceptively. The El Cid Vacation Club should be forced to stop using these deceptive methods of selling their units.