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report scam| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| City | Playa del Carmen, QROO |
| Address | Carretera Federal Cancun - Playa del Carmen Km. 48 |
| Phone | 52 984 206 4000 |
| Website | http://www.vidavacations.com |
Vida Vacations Reviews
Was selling the timeshare to Hotel Planner Corp and was told for the title, I had to send to [email protected] $2,600 for the title of my timeshare. If the deal did not go thru, I would be reimbursed. Can not get ahold of them by email or by phone.
SCAMMED & ROBBED!!!
We thought we were getting a nice vacation there, and it really is a beautiful property. That said, staff stole our credit card information while we were there, ringing up over $500 in tour tickets!
And the worst part, DON'T EVER ATTEND ANY OF THEIR SALES PITCH BREAKFASTS!!! YOU WILL BE ROBBED!!
I am in a very similar situation as many others, just paid $3900 for a supposedly lifetime membership at over 50,000 hotels/resorts around the world for $99-299/week. Once I was finally allowed access to the website, I see what a total scam this is as there are a grand total of 2 countries in the world I can visit currently, and only 7 locations! I called them, and they said their website is being updated, so everything isn't available to view right now, and to e-mail them with where I wanted to go. I recorded the conversation. There is still no reply, almost 2 weeks later. I am thinking a class action suit needs to happen against these thieves! They won't even let anyone view the website while there with them. I admit my ignorance in not doing a google search at that time, as there are so so many other people in this situation, but that is still no excuse for robbing people. Would there be any interest in anyone joining a lawsuit against Vidanta Private Reserve Travel Collection?
My sister and I went on what we were told was a property tour for first time guests to better navigate the property on 04/07 @ Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta. After the tour they brought us back to this area to relax and brought us beer and told us to relax. After several hours passed, we asked to return to our vacation.
Then individual after individual pounded us to purchase this membership. Finally agreed to purchase, but asked that I wanted to review w/my husband who wasn’t with on vacation. Said I could cancel if I came back before returning to US. I reviewed contract and reviews online & didn’t want to keep membership. Went back on 04/10 was told I couldn’t cancel, refused refund.
I mentioned Article 56 of Consumer protection law. Told me that applied only in US and to bad for me I was in Mexico, I originally pd $4500 & after over an hr of arguing they said they COULDNT refund full amount, but modify my membership down to $1999.00. I was kept in a dark room and after starting to fear for my safety I agreed to sign new contract.
My husband and I were scammed by Vidanta/Destnos Umlimited!! . We went to presentation on 7/30/17 for the timeshare resort in Nueve Vallarta. After the presentation they tried to sell us units startingin the $70,000 range for a two bedroom unit at the Grand Mayan. We told them no several times over a 2 hour period. We were there with 3 children range from 10 to 3 years old.They were supposed to take us downstairs to collect our “gifts” when another sales man, who reperesented him self as a develper continued to pressure us to buy.
The developer a told my husband and I that they he is developer and he knows how to do the business. Upstairs representatives are doing rip off, then slashed th price again saying if we paid it in full that day we could get it for $5,000. He said we would get exactly what was promised upstairs except instead of two weeks a year we would get one week a year. We had told him earlier on in the conversation that we wouldn’t come to mexico more than once a year.
He said our contract would be forever and that we could pass it onto our children if we wanted. He said they had a special promotion allowing our contract to be used in 5 year incriments where where we could stack up to 5 weeks at a time (stay 5 weeks at Vidanta resort in a year) but then we would have to wait 5 years before being able to stay there again, or we could just come one week a year if we wanted but we couldn’t accumulate the weeks for more than 5 years at a time.
We asked them to confirm that we were getting the same things and they confirmed and showed us pic of the floorplan again and the 5 weeks a year travel ( 1 week at Vidanta, 2 weeks Worl wide Travel/Diamond weeks and 2 advebture Weeks a year). When we went to sign, we noticed it said destino unlimited on he paperwork andwhen we asked we were told that destinos is the website used for booking all the stays our vacation weeks and not to worry, we were getting all same things promised to us before.
Our paperwork said 5 destinos week at the Vidanta Resorts (Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, Sea Gardens, The Bliss), 10 Diamond weeks and 10 Adventure weeks. They said one studi will cost $499 a week, one bedroom will cost $599 a week, and two bedroom will cost $799 a week at any vidanta resort
When we aksed why is said these numbers we were told that these weeks must be used in 5 years because the contract is for 5 year incriments. He again said that after 5 years, it starts all over where we had 5 weeks to use in a 5 year period that we could stack or use however we wanted and that the contract was forever. I asked whi the contract itself didn’t say it was forever and he pointed to me on the enrollment application where it says membership terms and awknowldegements there are boxes to check that says 2-year, 5-year, 10 year. He said she didn’t mark any of those boxes because is not a 2, 5 or 10 year membership, that its forever. He also said that they were giving us a Check for our purchase price that we could use if we decided to upgrade our membership into a higher tier ( like the Grand Luxxe, or if we wanted a plan with more weeks in the first 5 years of our membership before it re-starts for the next 5 years).
When i called to book it the price went up to $1500 for Grand Nayan and $1100 for Mayan palace two bedroom. They then informes us that we purhcased a 5 year contract with destinos which is a completely separate company and that we didn’t purchase with Vidnata at all. They never provided us with comtarct. They told us they will mail everuthing to us. All i got in the mail was a card with my membership number and short summary.
Heres the catch! It was a Vidanta employee that sold us the contract, he NEVER said that Destinos was a separate company and that we were NOT buyin with Vidanta! He NEVER said we were buying a trial/exit program. He said Destinos was the booking party for all of Vidanta. We thought they were the same company. When we received our Destinos travel card in the mail a few weeks after retuning home, there is a number on the card to call to activate the card and it’s the number for Vida, the Owners of Vidanta!! So again, we thought Destinos was the same company, just the booking part of Vidanta.
The sales team totally lied and scammed us. Im trying to call both Destinos and Vida/Vidanta several times to no avail. Destinos says I need to call the Vidanta Resort where I bought the contract and Vida/Vidanta tells me I bought a Dstinos Contract. Its so frustrating!! Vida/Vidanta (the number on the front of the Destinos travel card) keeps telling me that somene from the resort sales team where I bought my contract will call me. Im waiting
I looked up Vidanta Scams online afeter returning home from our vacation and found hundreds of comlaints about contract scams with them. Many stories are the same as mine where people offred to get it for cheap that were in 3 or 5 year incriments that were supposed to last forever only to find out later that it was just a “trial” contract and that they had only bought the right to stay there a few times for the usage fees ($800-$1400/week). The actual contracts DO NOT say they are TRIALS!! No one ever explained that they are trials or that Vidanta and Destinos are completely separate compaines!! There are also many stories that are the exact same as mine except instead of being sold a foreclosure they were sold a contract where someone else had upgraded (and they coun’t resell it for full price, so it was sold cheap) only to find out it was a trial.
I know this is a huge scam and that I was not the only one who was sold a bunch of lies.
I went to a presentation at Vidante Nuevo Vallarta. Every time I said no to their outrageously expensive offers, they kept passing me off to different sales agents to sell a timeshare. Finally, I thought i was done when they told me to go with somebody to sign out and claim my gift for attending the presentation. They took me downstairs and said i needed to talk to this guy (can't remember his name). He said he worked for the owner of the company and he was able to give me a reduced price on what was negotiated upstairs. He offered half of the lowest quote discussed with the previous sales agents. I told him I wanted to look at the polls because the tour only gave us a distant look. He arranged for someone to take me. Of course they were beautiful and I counter offered half of what he just quoted me. We agreed and I went to contracting. After leaving i looked over the papers and was infuriated that none of what we verbally agreed on was in the paperwork. I tried calling the Scottsdale Az office where i was transferred around to 3 different people and them they hung up. I called back and the same thing happened again. I called back again and begged the girl who answered the phone to stay on with me until someone answered. She did and I spoke with someone and they couldn't help me so they had to transfer me. They finally said i needed to call Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta or go back to them and that there was nothing they could do for me. I wasn't going to go back there so they could try to scam me again and waste another several hours of my vacation time. I called them and the gentleman was rude and was not helpful at all. He said no way could I get out of the contract after I signed it. Even after I referred to the state law of rescinsion that gave me 5 days, he said no. He finally admitted that i could possibly get the contract cancelled but no way could I have my money back. Rip off. This company and it's staff are liars and have no regard for customers.
Do not attend any timeshare presentations at any Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, or any resort assocaited with Vidanta/Vida Vacations.
I was in Cancun staying at The Westin Lagunamar. My daughter and I went acroos the street to the shopping mall there and made a big mistake. We were stopped by some women asking us if we were timeshare owners. They were very excited when we told them we were. They asked us to attend a presentation for Vidanta and they would give us very discounted tickets to Cirque du Soleil. They were going to provide transportation and we would get breakfast. So, fools that we were, we agreed and arranged for a pickup the following morning.
So, we get to the resort and had a great breakfast with a very charming and accomadating young man. Then he took up our entire day trying to talk us into letting him buy our timeshares to get out of any more maintenance fees and I would only have to pay $40,000 for him to do that and I would own at their resort. When I told him I rented my timeshare in the Bahamas and that the money I got from that pretty much covered all my maintenance fees, he told me I could still reserve that same week through Vidanta. He asked what week I had and several minutes later brought me a piece of paper showing that he was able to find the same week at my resort.
Well, I read the description, and there was no way that was a description of my property. I rent through red week and you have to have ownership of a week to rent on that site and I told him that, but he said I was wrong. No, I have checked again and I am right, I can not rent a week that I don't actually own. So, after many hours of talking and touring the property, I declined the invitation to make the biggest mistake I could have made. That incorrect property description was a big red flag. Well, then we wanted to get our tickets to Cirque du Soleil and leave, but they had otherplans for us. Now they wanted us to buy into something called Private Reserve Vacation Collection. We were told we could get these outrageously low prices on hotel rooms with a week going for $299.00. They also quoted me prices for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days and so on. By the way, they told us they were not related to any of the people trying to sell us Vidanta, and even said desparaging remarks about the sales team.
Well, $299.00 for a week sounded great to me so I took the bait and charged way too much money to the new credit card they were happy to help me apply for. I was very tired from a long day with the timeshare salesman and really wanted to be done. So, just in case I wasn't thinking straight, I asked if I had any time period to cancel my transaction. There reply was "NO". Well, I have learned since, that yes, there is even a bigger window than we have in the US 5 days instead of 3.
The next day we are leaving Lagunamar and a employee stops us as we are walking and tells us that he is there to warn us not to attend a Vida Vactions presentation. Too late! Where was he the day before? So, I am home now and I don't get the cuise certificates I was promised, but I do get a unsealed large envelope with a book of hotels and resorts. I am interested to see the places I can book for $299.00. So, I go to the Private Reserve Vacation Collections website, and boy am I shocked and dismayed. I only see availability for a weeks stay and none of them are for $299. I see a picture of Kierland Villas in Scottsdale, Arizona on the website and I search every month for an entire year and never find that resort having any availability. These weeks are for obscure hotels I have never heard of and their prices are more than I can get as a Get A Way in Interval. Example: I can get Desert Vacation Villas for $547/week through Interval or pay $840.00 with Private Reserve. Notice that the price with Private Reserve is no where near $299.00 which was certianly what they kept telling me I could rent for. I pay Interval less a year than the $99.00 I will have to pay yearly with Private Reserve. So, I feel I have been scamed into purchasing something that should only be $99.00 a year, if that.
I will never be able to recoup my initial investment as I can not afford mutiple weeks at $800 a pop. Look up Private Reserve Travel Collection on the internet and see if there are any reviews. Well, trust me, you will find no reviews but you will see lots of scam reports about Vida Vacations. I am a retired senior citizen and the man who sold me this useless vacation package was also a senior citizen. I wonder how he sleeps at night knowing he has ripped off another senior on a fixed budget. I want to travel in my old age but those $299.00 weekly hotel rates are only in my dreams and now I am saddled with a credit card bill for a vacation package that is virtually useless to me. DON'T BE SCAMMED. STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THESE RIPOFFS AS YOU CAN.
Vidanta Resorts (Vida Vacations) operates the following resort brands (in descending order): Grand Luxxe, Grand Bliss, the Bliss, Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, and Sea Garden. The company operates resorts in Acapulco, Los Cabos, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Penesco. The company has been operating for more than 40 years.
In 2007 I purchased a foreclosed timeshare at the Mayan Palace. I don't know why, but I assumed it was a 3 star resort and not in the best of repair. Thus, I never vacationed at the Mayan Palace, but used my membership for exchanges. I owned several other timeshares. In February 2010 I traveled to Nuevo Vallarta and stayed at Rancho Banderas. During that week I attended a timeshare presentation at Vida Vacations (which is the timeshare sales subsidiary of Vidanta). Carlos, my salesman was a delightful man, and his Son also works in the same office. I never told Carlos during that visit that I was already an owner at Mayan Palace, and apparently their computer system did not match my sales interest with my ownership. After several hours, I agreed to purchase a Grand Mayan foreclosed studio, increasing my timeshare portfolio. Six weeks later I vacationed at the Grand Mayan in Puerto Penasco, and was encouraged to attend a member update. I wondered what could be new in 6 weeks? Eventually, to depart from the presentation, I agreed to consolidate my Mayan Palace and the Grand Mayan membership to a Grand Bliss membership (Vidanta does not have a Grand Bliss in Puerto Penasco, but I remembered seeing the model in Nuevo Vallarta. I immediately had buyer's remorse. I departed the resort about 6:30 AM on the 5th day, so I could return to the United States to mail my letter to cancel the purchased Grand Bliss membership. I arrived in Needles California about 3:15 PM, and mailed the letter to Vidanta in Puerto Vallarta.
About 2 years later, I again attended an upgrade presentation and this time did consolidate the Grand Mayan and Mayan Palace into a Grand Bliss membership. During that visit I saw Carlos and told him about my consolidation and upgrade. He said maybe someday I could further consolidate my memberships.
About 3 years later, I returned to Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta and attended another timeshare upgrade presentation, this time to the Grand Luxxe. This purchase involved trading-in 3 timeshares: Condominio Solamar Inn (Mazatlan), Westgate Towers (Kissimmee), and Bel Air Collection (Mexico). Later, I bought-back the Solamar Inn, as it would have been too costly to transfer ownership.
Finally, just 10 months after the Grand Luxxe upgrade I was in Playa del Carmen and attended another upgrade presentation. Max sold me another Grand Luxxe membership, and I had remorse even during the sale. As soon as I returned home I prepared the letter to cancel the transaction. This occurred only 10 months after the first Grand Luxxe purchase. Then, believe it or not, I was back at Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta 3 weeks after the Playa del Carmen encounter, and the Concierge again wanted me to attend an upgrade presentation -- I declined. The Front Desk clerk first told me my unit was not yet cleaned. Then about 3 hours later he said they had over-booked, so I was upgraded to the Grand Luxxe from the Grand Bliss.
Vidanta has beautiful resorts, and I spend months planning each visit. The maintenance fees are too high in my opinion. I believe the maintenance fees should be slashed by about 1/3 AND Vidanta should impose a Resort Fee of about $175 per week per person over 14 and $75 per week per person under 14. I think this would be a more equitable solution. I also believe Vidanta Resorts should establish a Members Advisory Council and all resort policies should be reviewed by this group.
You get what you pay for. So don't expect Motel 6 prices at a 5 star resort. The food is delicious and reasonably priced. The drinks are the best I have ever had in Mexico. I just believe Blackberry Mojitos and other drinks should be available at all Vidanta Resorts. The entertainment is unmatched anywhere in Mexico. Each visit is truly a delight.
Owners should not always be asked to attend an upgrade presentation. Invitations should not occur more than once every 18 months. I also do not believe the Grand Bliss was not available during my January 2017 visit to Nuevo Vallarta. How can reservations confirm a reservation if no units are available? I think the non-availability was a lie, as the Desk Clerk and the Concierge wanted me to attend another upgrade presentation (which I declined).
We are Vida vacations timeshare owners and agreed to attend an ‘update ‘presentation. Of course, we knew this would be several hours but we held out for a 10% account discount, MEX 3,000 credit and a late check-out. The focus of the presentation was to convert our membership from the ‘timeshare’ side to the ‘real estate’ side. The main benefit was to eliminate the 5-yr and 25-yr anniversary payments in our current contract for a lower 10-yr payment and credits in the form of ‘Vidanta Lifestyle Dollars’. Our 2 Grand Mayan 2-bedroom ‘Registered’ weeks would be converted to one Registered week for a Grand Luxxe 1-bedroom loft unit for only 10 years, plus 2 “Residence’ weeks plus 4 weeks exchanged through San Francisco exchange. Other bits and pieces were tossed in as well.
This took Ruben, our sales rep 3 hours to explain with incredibly complicated notes, figures, etc. Final price: $17 K. We declined, Ruben became belligerent (“you were not paying attention”) then we were introduced to ‘Natalia’ who presented an alternate deal where we could ‘keep’ our Grand Mayan weeks and avoid the anniversary payments. The elimination of our ‘Registered’ weeks (except the 10-yr room) was still part of this which is important since we have ‘A Status’ which means we can book 12 months in advance (vs. the normal 6 months) but this only applies to Registered weeks. We confirmed with Natalia three times that our ‘A’ status would now apply to the new ‘Residence’ weeks and she replied “yes”. Final price: $10K. We agreed to the deal but waited and waited for contract corrections/omissions to be printed, signed ,etc. Finally, at 5.30 pm during the “verification” process with Paula we were told flat out that we would not have 12-month advance reservations except the one ‘Registered’ week for 10 years. A few other lesser details were also clarified such as Vidanta Dollars are capped at 2 weeks’ maintenance fees and can only be applied to as little as 20% of the value of your purchase - all these ‘clarifications’ contradicted and/or reduced the value of the deal for us.
We were very upset having spent EIGHT hours in the gauntlet (not counting breakfast). Over the next three days, Vidanta tried to sweeten the offer but could not deliver the 12-month reservation benefit we currently have. They promised us compensation for the wasted day/misrepresentation of the presentation but so far, nothing. Do not engage in discussions with this organization. See my article in Trip Advisor “Top 10 Timeshare Tips…” for more suggestions.