The Mayan Palace / Groupo Mayan Mexico Timeshare Scam, From Scam.com and Robert Paisola

To Our Worldwide Readers:

Today we had one of our valued VIP Clients at Western Capital bring this to our attention, and we feel that you need to see it for yourself, live from SCAM.COM

Regards,
Robert Paisola
www.WesternCapitalVIP.com

Beware the Mayan Palace Scam

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My family got ripped off with the Mayan Palace Resort timeshare company. We admit it we took the bait and failed to read the fine print that was zipped in 15 minutes of frantic paper signing at the tail end of our (90 minute tour)/ 5 1/2 hour ordeal. The company Mayan Palace resorts has it's Home offices in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. However, even if we had done so, it would have been too late to return and cancel our contract.

Beware the bait and switch tactics; The sales rep showed us the upgraded version of the timeshare, when we asked isf we could see the timeshare we would be buying we were given the excuse that the model we were buying was closed. Needless to say the model that we were shown was very nice and so we took the bait. We came back the following day and saw what we had really bought. It was nothing like the model we were shown.

We wrote a cancellation email within 3 days time but to no avail, the fine print had we read it more clearly stated we needed to mail everything back to the Home office Guadalajara, Mexico with confirmation receipt within five (5) days. Even had we read and understood this clause, it would not have made it. We're talking Mexico here!

Lessons learned: Never buy a timeshare from the timeshare people. They're alwaya cheaper after market. Never buy a foreign timeshare as they're laws are used to protect the timeshare company. At the end of 90 minute stand up and walk away, of course ask for your free gift!

Now, what we're left with is possibly our deposit is gone and the remaining contract balance due on August 20th. I sent a confirmation of cancellation by registered mail to both the corporate office and the resort legal representative I have not received a confirmation as yet.

Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Thanks for any replies.

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12 March 2007 marks the date we were scammed. You refer to the Mayan head office in Mexico. Do you have the complete address? I am having trouble getting the information from the company.
Thank you.


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Mayan Palace, Mayan Resorts, Grupo Mayan, Grand Mayan, Sea Garden all practice deceptive sales practices, high pressure, bait and switch techniques, and beyond all that tell outright lies. These Mexican timeshare presentations are brutal. They lure you into their sales productions from off the street with big bribes, 250 in free Tequila, 300 cash, etc. for a 90 minute presentation. Not a bad deal for 90 minutes out of your vacation, huh? Well first off, if you take the bait, you will give up more like 4,5,6 or 7 hours of your wonderful vacation.

If you somehow say no enough times, you will be released from the timeshare sharks, only to have them lead you to the ‘nice guys’. Their fantasy story is they don’t work for the sales company, they work for the developer, and want you to fill out a quick exit interview before you leave. During the end of the exit interview, they ask you if you would come back and be their guest for $199.00 for a week stay plus extras like spa treatments, golf, etc. Sound familiar? Well this ‘offer’ all of a sudden turns into another sales pitch for the Great Vacations Club membership. If you opted for the Great Vacations Club membership, you have been TAKEN BIG TIME. :eek:

You signed up for all sorts of good stuff, and handed them over $4,990.00 (more or less). All sounds good, but when you were signing, did you see the phrase ‘subject to availability’ all over the document? That’s right, you just paid $5k for weeks of ‘SORRY NOTHING IS AVAILABLE’. It’s a SCAM. The cruise certificates, and travel discounts are all basically worthless, just more embellished half-truths. I repeat, if you entered into the Great Vacations Club membership, you have been SCAMMED. :(

You have ONLY ONE WAY OUT: A Mexican law that allows 5 business day cooling off period – the Mexican consumer law of 5 day right of rescission. You MUST work fast, if after the 5 business days, you decide to try for a refund, sorry, you will be SOL. Yes, you can cancel, but you are not entitled a refund – ZERO. Great scam, don’t you think. Many people are getting burned every week.

There have been some very informative sites on the internet with step by step instructions on how to get your money back, but Mayan Palace and their lawyers shut them down faster than they can be put up. These guys are ruthless, they have no scruples, they are on this earth for one thing: TO REMOVE AS MUCH MONEY FROM TOURISTS AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THEY RETURN HOME.

Are you within the 5 business day window? Time to CANCEL NOW.
1. Send a registered letter to the address on the agreement. Request cancellation and a FULL REFUND.
2. File a complaint with Profeco – the Mexican Consumer Affairs Agency (instructions on the link below).
3. Contact your credit card company, get on record that you want to cancel, and you have requested cancellation within the 5 day right of rescission. I’ll tell you right now, if you wait over 5 business days, your credit card company can do nothing for you.
4. Call GVC customer service in Houston TX, at 1-866-482-7801. Request they start the cancellation process – they are trained to lie, so don’t believe anything they tell you. You do NOT have to be polite; these people are trying to steal your money!
5. Fax them all your cancellation information: Fax # 1-713-850-8734

More info at these sites – as I said before, they may or may not be there for you, as these con artists are out to rid the internet of ALL NEGATIVE FEEDBACK on their scam operation, and they have the money to do it.

Mexican Timeshare Law
More help for Mexican Vacation Scams
How one couple got a full refund
Step by Step help with the Profeco Site
More info on Mexican Time Share Fraud - R U getting the Picture Yet???

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Good information on the above post. My problem also occurred at a Mayan Palace. I was lucky enough to cancel the transaction and get my money back, only because the 5-day rescind rule fell on Holy Week, and this got me 2 extra days. Ususally by the time you get home from vacation, the 5-day rule has expired.

Keep in mind when you start this "tour" you supply a valid credit card. In my case, I also completed a new credit application to take advantage of the 6 month same as cash deal when I purchased the Great Vacation Club membership. This was through RCI/Bank of America. No problem there, but, 3 weeks after I get home, I get $2500 dollars charged on my credit card that I showed initially. My bank caught the fraud and put a stop to it. I tracked down the purchases and they were for airline tickets originating in Mexico. They had my home phone and address etc. It doesn't take a detective to figure out where this information was obtained.

My advice, other than saying NO!!! Do not supply any form of credit card unless you decide to purchase. But do the research before you buy

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This is great information. I have been working to get refunds for the Summer Bay Resort timeshare/vacations for almost 3 years. Occasionally I get direct emails from desperate people who are caught up in this Mexican mess. I never knew what to tell them and I couldn't find any info about this company. I can now direct them to your thread. Keep up the good work!!
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HOW TO GET OUT WITHIN THE 5 BIZ DAY PERIOD

If you are within your 5 day period from when you signed (5 Business Days just like it would be in the U.S.) you are lucky.

Backing out now is easy but you have to do it right. In early February of 2008 we got out of our contract by first calling the US consulate. They referred us to the Puerto Vallarta office of Profeco. Profeco is the Mexican consumer protection office and is the very best way to get yourself out. (Ask around where the office is. Many people don't know anything about it.)

If you follow the directions on your contract and return to Mayan with all your papers saying you wish to back out you will be immediately put into their 'plan B' and will be re-sold or "re-packaged" down to a less expensive deal. If that's what you want fine, but if you want to get out and don't want to subject yourself to any more of their psychologically tested and proven sales techniques (which we find immoral and just plain wrong -manipulating human beings like that with fatigue, hunger and just plain lies) then just go to a Profeco office.

The one we went to was out by the airport near Sam's Club in a little strip mall. The time-share people HATE when you do this. It takes away their ability to re-sell you. Profeco prepares and gives you the rescind letter for the contract you signed and the time share people must sign it without further games. If they don't they are in big trouble with Profeco. Mayan had to credit our credit card right there on the spot for the money they had debited as down payment.

In the future something may happen where these very powerful and wealthy landowners in Mexico may be able to neuter Profeco. If they do here's hoping your own country's consulate may be able to guide you how to get out of your deal.

The problem with all this is these TS people have to use these high pressure techniques to take whatever they can from you. There is no "set price" for anything. They will get what they can. For us it was simply seeing what these same units we'd paid many thousands of dollars for were going on eBay for about 1/4 to 1/5 of that price. We also found that renting, trading down and all the rest of the pretty picture they painted was not as easy or lucrative as they implied.

Best of luck to you and I hope this is of help to you. If you are beyond your 5 days I do not know the answer but would start with your consulate for guidance.
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That is excellent information, particularly about the local Profeco office. Yes, you will waste another day of your vacation, but I think it would be worth it to take a taxi to the Profeco office just to be sure to document your case.

But what if you are not within the 5-day cancellation period? Don't give up! You may still have some recourse with Grupo Mayan, Profeco, and your credit card company.

I bought into this scam because I was told that I could easily rent two suite units of Mayan Palace for $1,100 a week. The excess above my maintainance fees would pay the maintainance fees for the Mayan Sea Garden, which I had the the right to rent for the price of the maintainance fees. I was told that since this was a special exchange, I would lose the exchange and deposit if I tried to cancel. I understand from reading other forums that they used to have customers sign an illegal waiver of their 5-day right to rescind, but I don't think they do that any longer. They definitely want to get you past those crucial five days, however, and lying to you is an effective way to do it.

The list of rental agents is also an effective way to lull customers into believing their claims long enough to make cancellation impossible. These agents will tell you exactly what they and Mayan Palace think you want to hear--that they will have no problem renting your weeks for $1,100. They will say they do it all the time, and some of them won't even charge you a commission. All of them will demand an upfront fee, however.

If the salesman had been even close to accurate about renting these units I would still be very happy about the transaction, and I would not be writing this. It was not until I returned home and did some research that I began to see exactly how I had been scammed.

1) None of the rental agencies would provide satisfied customer referrencs. 2) None would entertain the idea of applying the upfront fee to the first week they rented, even though I told them I would give my business to the first agency that would grant that. 3)the market will bear nothing like $1,100 per week for these units. They are rented all over the internet at rates that only marginally cover the maintainance fee.

Even if the five day period has passed, you can--as I did--demand that Mayan Palace rescind the contract due to their deceptive sales practices. They will refuse, but may offer less costly alternatives to you. If that is what you want, fine. If you continue to insist on cancellatio0n of the contract they may agree to this but tell you they will keep your deposit.

If you have not paid your credit card, you may still have a chance to come out whole by disputing the charge. You may have joined RCI and opened a Bank of America charge card. The sales practices at Mayan PAlace will not be unknown to the dispute resolution teams at BoA.

If you haven't run through the time limit to file a credit card dispute, I would try that first, then work through Profeco. Good Luck
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Scammed and lied to by Mayan Palace (Grupo Mayan) Acapulco

As many other I have read about on here, my husband and another couple were recently scammed at the Mayan Palace Acapulco. We were staying there using a friend’s (parent of our friends) timeshare and signed up to attend the presentation on 2/27/08 in order to learn more about timeshares (we are newbies) and to take advantage of the freebies. Cecilia was our representative. She told us about the opportunity and originally showed us a price of over $49,000 for the 2BR Suite we were interested in. After that, she said she knew that was a lot to paying considering how young we were and would go talk with her manager. She came back and gave us a story that there was a couple getting divorced and that the husband was a friend of the owner. She said they would be willing to sell us their existing contract, as they weren’t planning to pay it off and you can’t resell it until you have had it for two years. The offer then came to be just over $21,400. She built up to this by telling us that we could sell our weeks for $2500 each. When asked where that number came from, she said that was what the brokers were currently asking. We proceeded with the purchase, thinking that we would just rent out the weeks for a couple years so that it didn’t take as much capital and so that we could recoup some of the investment. We did also plan on going to the other resorts, so we weren’t just in it as an investment. She told us a lot about another company called HSI which they had supposedly just started partnering with that day. She said we could sell our rent our weeks and buy them back cheaper through HSI. Once we started signing paperwork, Cecilia told us that since we were buying an existing unit (Fractional ownership not timeshare as they like to say), we waived our right to the 5 day Mexican cooling off period. We had to initial a paper saying this, but we magically did not get a copy of that paper.

As you read this, you can see all the lies and partial truths. It is fraud to tell someone they have to waive their right to the cooling off period. YOU CANNOT waive this right. They falsely represented the market for timeshares, as those $2500 numbers they were throwing out are really 750-1000 on average. They neglected to mention that once you own in Mayan Palace, you cannot sell your weeks to RCI and buy them back through RCI. They indicated that the timeshare would appreciate, which is absolutely false. I found similar units on the internet to what we bought, and they were going for less than $5,000. Please read www.mexicantimsharefraud.com and information on www.timesharechronicles.com and www.tug2.net and get out of this if at all possible.

While the Mayan resorts are nice, they practice unethically and are not the type of company anyone wants to be a part of. If you have any questions, please email me.
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I went to the sales pitch at Grupo Mayan/Mayan Palace near Playa del Carmen, and surprised myself by agreeing to purchase a "traded-in" timeshare for about $26,000US. The primary reason I agreed is that the salesman and his manager insisted it would pay for itself via rental income, and the manager said he himself made $10,000 a year in such rental income. I knew that I could cancel in 5 days, they were honest about that, so I figured that would give me time to come home and do some research on the internet.

Where I found: That their quoted rental price of $1,700 per week from one of their recommended agencies was completely unrealistic. I was more likely to have to rent it myself for half that amount, and still have to pay the maintenance fee. It is still not clear to me if the maintenance fee is paid once for each week, or twice, a big difference at $665 per fee.

So I have notified them of cancellation, and since I am within the five days, I don't anticipate a problem. Also since I can dispute the $9,000 deposit with my credit card company, if necessary.

They do lie. That is a fact. I was told that there was no chance of not getting $3,400 a year in rental fees, maintenance fee-free if I went through their agencies, which would more than cover the monthly payments. Come to find out those agencies change a big setup fee, and often do not provide rentals at all. I was told the truth about the cancellation period, however, and I am well within it.

Some people have posted about good vacation experiences at Mayan Palace. It certainly is lovely, the pool is gorgeous, and the facilities and food are very good. However, it is not for everyone. It is an expensive place to stay, and you should only buy into it if it is exactly what you want. In general, it seems to work best for big family groups traveling together. Do not fall for the sales pitch that says you can buy it as an investment, have it pay for itself and sell it at a profit. They do not appreciate in price. I too have seen the offers on Ebay for $6,500 for the same unit, and rental offers of $500/week. I have read that the company itself will offer rental weeks at less than what the salesman promised I would be paid. Very dishonest to undercut the owners.

I will keep you posted as to the settlement of my cancellation, although I am not worried, as I said, I can dispute the charge.

My advice is, if you do go to the presentation, make sure you go toward the end of your vacation so you can come home and do the research and still cancel within the 5 business days. Of course you can always do it via internet in Mexico, but it's so much less likely that you will, right?
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My story is similar to the rest that I have read on site. My daughter and I were stopped at the airport in Cabos in January 2008 with promises of a free dinner cruise, tequila, etc. to come an see the Mayan Palace. When I asked if it was timeshare presentation they said no that this was just a cheap form of adverstising in hopes we would book into their hotel on a future visit and for us to just come and spend the day lounging at their resort. He went as far as to lie (big surprise) and say they were a sister company to the hotel we were staying at the Riu Sante Fe which has a sister hotel the Riu Palace, referring to the similarity in the name Palace. I am sure the Riu do not want to be associated with this company in any way as our stay there was great. Anyways, we decided to go as we thought it wouldn't hurt to see another resort, boy what suckers we were. It was a 45 minute taxi ride and when we got there they told us it was in fact a timeshare presentation so we reluctantly went and similar to the other stories they tell you how you can rent out the units for $1700 per week and that you can make up to $3400 as year and not even have to use your weeks as you can just buy sell-off weeks through RCI for much cheaper than your maintenance fee so they convince you it is a good investment. I asked about resale if I didn't like the timeshare thing in a couple of years and they said resale wouldn't be a problem as they are building new resorts all the time and my timeshare would be worth more in time. I got sucked in. During the, as others have put it, frantic signing they have you intitial a form called New Member's Verfication Statement that they tell you covers all the points in the agreement but in a shorter form. Of course, one of the points that is missinig is the fact that you can cancel in 5 days. During the final signing with the sales manager or whatever they call themselves they mention to you that you know you can't cancel. It does say in the actual agreement that you can cancel within 5 days but you are on holidays and don't really take the time to research until of course the five days is up and you are home. Another tatic they used with me was to have the sales person bring a cell phone for me to use to call if I had any questions and when he brought the phone I told him I wanted to cancel and of course he said that wasn't possible. Then when I did call the sales office after I had time to research and find out that I had been scammed and wanted to cancel I was told by the sales department that I had their number and should have called them because they would have told me I could have cancelled in the 5 day period and they couldn't understand why I would take the word of a salemen on commision as he is not going to tell you you have the right to cancel and lose his commission. Actually anything I said that the salesmen said, they would say well, is that in writing. They forget that the saleman represent their company. Well of course it is not in writing and thats the way they want it. I had asked for the rough sheets the salesman had been writing on during the sales pitch and was told they would be given to me but of course they weren't included in the package. The whole point of bringing the cell phone was so you would call the sales person and not the sales office so that you would get past your 5 day period and then when you call the sales office they refute anything the salesman says because it is not in writing. I have filed a claim with Profeco and the Attorney General for Texas who have both responded that they are going to investigate on my behalf. I have also filed with the Canadian Consumer Protection Agency, RCI, SFX, Federal Trade Commisio, etc. I have had no response to my written request for cancellation and return of my deposit but have received e-mails from Grupo Mayan accountinig department requesting further payment and when I replied to them to let them know that Profeco had a meeting set up for the end of May and the Attorney General had written back letting me know that one of his investigators would look into my complaint, I got an e-mail back from the accounting department stating that my agreement was cancelled but I would not recieve a refund and to talk to their sales department as they handle all cancellations and refunds. I love the professionalism of this company, they cancel your agreement and don't even write to tell you. It is great that they cancelled the agreement and I no longer owe the remaining dollars but if they think I am going to sit back and let them take over $12,000.00 (deposit) of my hard earned money they can think again. I will make this my life's mission, have you heard the term dog with a bone. I think Dateline should do an episode on the Mayan Palace just like they did on Royal Holidays, they sound like they have similiar practices.

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Wow, I am sorry to hear that they never told you you could cancel. I must have had the more honest salesman, because it was made clear to me, but of course they tried to make me feel guilty for even thinking about it, because "it would make us both [salesman and manager] look bad" -- and they were such nice guys!

They had also told me I could hang out at the resort if I wanted to, but obviously, they would only let you do that *after* you buy something, not to check it out. After you buy, they will give you free drinks, etc., take you out for dinner, whatever you want, just to try to lull you through the five-day period.

My update is, I was contacted by the office about my cancellation (although another department also sent me a bill for the balance), and first they tried to talk me out of it, but I said I had made up my mind. Then they tried to sell me some other service, rental, travel service membership, they have a ton of things, and the woman also tried to make me feel guilty because "we spent a lot of money on you." Well, maybe you should change your marketing strategy. I insisted on my cancellation and refund, and she agreed. We'll see if/when it hits my credit card account. Anyway, it's already disputed.

Oh, and her explanation of why the rentals didn't work out as promised was that "those other owners didn't list their rentals in time, those were last minute listings and of course the agencies couldn't rent your unit if you wait that long." The problem with this explanation, is that once again, it can lull you through your five-day cancellation period, because by the time you can check that for yourself, it's months later.
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We are one of the newest victims of the Mayan Palace Scam. The following outlines the events that transpired to inform the public of their illegal business practices. My apologies for the lengthy email but it is important for the public to understand the details of their elaborate scheme.

On October 25, 2008, a representative from Thrifty Car Rentals in Cancun deceptively lured my family and I to attend a 90-minute, no obligation tour of the Mayan Palace resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. The Thrifty representative indicated that the resort was merely trying to attract travelers to view their resort for promotional purposes and offered us US$150 off our car rental charges. On October 26, 2008, we arrived at the Mayan Palace and quickly found out that the so-called resort tour was in fact a high pressure, vacation club sales presentation. After we informed the sales representative, Alex De Paz, that we were not interested in purchasing timeshare, he asked us to keep an open mind to their sales offer as they were promoting memberships to a vacation club rather than selling timeshares. We later learned that vacation club memberships are virtually the same as timeshares.


After the tour, Alex presented us the opportunity to purchase two weeks for the master suite unit at any Mayan Palace resort throughout Mexico for 100 years at a price of over US$40,000. We declined several other offers (price lowered with each offer) made over the course of six hours by Alex and at least three other more senior sales representatives. The last offer of $23,120 was made by a supervisor named Jonathan.


The sales representatives indicated that Mayan Palace facilitates a rental program for its members whereby the Mayan Palace would buyback weeks from members through an affiliated broker for US$1,700 per week. They stated that the US$1,700 per week would be our net income after maintenance fees were taken out. The sales representatives outlined in scratch paper the return you would make from selling your weeks back to the Mayan Palace and how quickly you would recover the capital cost of your investment, which was an outright lie. Alex indicated that their rental program was established by Mayan Palace to draw more visitors to experience their resorts giving them more opportunity to sell more memberships to their Mayan Palace vacation club. Alex also indicated that all sales representatives have to be members of the club and they personally receive US$1,700 per unused week sold back to the Mayan Palace.


The Mayan Palace’s entire sales presentation was based on the intentional misrepresentation that their rental program would provide an attractive annual net income of US$3,400 (two weeks at US$1,700 per week) based on our investment of US$23,120 if we decided to sell our weeks back to the Mayan Palace. The sales representatives stated that the Mayan Palace must buyback a specified number of rooms from members as they are contractually obligated to provide these rooms to the Wyndham Hotels and there is a shortage of rooms available to the Mayan Palace to repurchase.


After six hours of the high pressure sales presentation, we regrettably succumbed to their offer and purchased the two weeks for US$23,120 under duress. Based on the investment income presented by Alex and Jonathan, the offer appeared to make financial sense. However, we learned from our research after arriving back to Canada on November 2, 2008 that their rental program was a complete lie. In fact, the entire sales presentation is commonly known on the internet as the “Mayan Fraud or Mayan Scam”. There is no such broker affiliated or partnered with the Mayan Palace and there is no independent broker that is going to pay US$1,700 per week especially since existing club members are desperately trying to unload the same weeks on eBay and TUG for as low as US$500 per week. The sales tactics of the Mayan Palace were purposely deceitful. They made false representations just to make a sale and these false representations violated our right to receive sufficient and truthful information in accordance with Articles 32, 33 and 34 of the Mexican Federal Consumer Protection Law.


In addition, the Mayan Palace representatives clearly informed us that we would lose our down-payment if we cancel the agreement for any reason. They had us sign Section 12 of a waiver called the “New Member’s Verification Statement” that specifically states “If I cancel an active agreement for any reason I will not receive a refund of any monies paid.” It is illegal for the company to require a buyer to waive his/her rights to receive a refund of monies as Article 56 of the Mexican Federal Consumer Protection Law provides the buyer the right to rescind an agreement within five business days and obtain a full refund of monies and Article 1 indicates that consumer protection rights cannot be waived.


While reviewing the contract, I noted a contradiction in the waiver. Section 9 of the waiver states that “the company will not rent or resell my weeks, the company makes no representations regarding the market for vacation ownership rentals and does not recommend purchasing vacation ownership solely for any rental, resale or investment purpose.” When I questioned Alex and Jonathan about this clause as it was contrary to their representations, they indicated that the rentals are processed through “their brokers” to protect the Mayan Palace and this clause exists because the Mayan Palace does not want individuals to use their vacation club as a vehicle to create an investment business. At that time, this explanation sounded plausible. When we arrived back to Canada, we reviewed the contract again and realized that there was no documentation related to the so-called broker affiliated with the Mayan Palace. This was a significant detail that we missed in the mounds of paperwork that they put infront of us during the closing process in which they rushed us through as quickly as possible.


After signing the documents, we provided the Mayan Palace with a down-payment of US$7,842 using our credit card. On November 3, 2008, we submitted a request to cancel the agreement to the Grupo Mayan Customer Service Department. The Mayan Palace has thus far ignored our cancellation request.


We discovered a Mayan Palace training manual dated June 1, 2004 on a website devoted to stopping illegal business practices of timeshare companies in Mexico. The training manual promotes their illegal and deceitful business practices.
Please refer to the following link:


http://www.mexicantimesharefraud.com...eOfDeposit.pdf


Interestingly, the sales representatives even violated their own training manual as they intentionally misrepresented that the rental program was established by the Mayan Palace and the brokers are affiliates and partners of the Mayan Palace.


The Mayan Palace has been perpetrating these fraudulent schemes for many years now and they require the assistance of credit card companies to facilitate the payment of deposits. Hence, we are surprised that credit card companies continue to have a business relationship with the Mayan Palace.


On November 3, 2008, we submitted a request to cancel the agreement to the Grupo Mayan Customer Service Department. Mayan Palace has thus far ignored our request.


We have also filed a dispute with our credit card company. In addition, we will take the following measures to expose Mayan Palace and warn the public about the Mayan Palace scam:
Share our experience with the Mayan Palace scam in travel websites.
Contact local newspapers in major Canadian cities to publish an article on the Mayan Palace scam in their travel sections.
File a formal complaint to the Mexican Profeco.
Develop an information circular about the Mayan Palace scam and distribute to travel agents and businesses in Canada
File formal complaints to the corporate offices of those companies associated with Mayan Palace including HSI, RCI, Wyndam Hotels and Thrifty Car Rentals.
WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY SUGGESTIONS OR ADVICE TO HELP US GET OUR DOWN-PAYMENT REFUNDED.

LESSONS LEARNT

DO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY TO STAY AWAY FROM MAYAN PALACE -the only way to stop the Mayan Palace scams and similar is through public awareness.

DO NOT GO TO THEIR SALES PRESENTATIONS NO MATTER WHAT GIFTS THEY OFFER YOU - the incentives are usually worth about US$200 but the company will hold you hostage for a minimum of four hours in which they will torture you with their high pressure, unethical sales tactics (your vacation time is worth more than US$50 per hour).

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