| Residence Club LaJolla |
| Residence Club LaJolla, Compania Hotelera Nadia, Mazatlan Compania Hotelera Nadia Beware!! Do Not Visit Residence Club LaJolla in Mazatlan !!! SCAM |
| 5th of Jun, 2011 by User971653 |
When you are in Mazatlan, beware of any offers to attend a presenation at Residence Club LaJolla. It is a total scam! No mater what they offer - don't go to a presentation. Unfortunately - we did attend their presentation in Feb. 2011 and signed a contract for $8000 USD which also guaranteed us to sell another timeshare we owned for a larger price that would more than pay for the contract. They are very good at selling and making promises. After the presenation - we looked up Residence Club LaJolla on-line and found multitudes of other very unhappy people who also signed contracts. Club LaJolla did not honor the contracts and did not sell the other timeshares for the prices they promised. Even though contacts were cancelled - LaJolla would not return their money. We did some research and found that we could cancel the contract within 5 business days and get help to do this through Profeco. (Mexico's consumer protection agency) We went to Profeco in Mazatlan the very next day and they helped us with a letter. This must happen often in Mazatlan - because they have a form letter they use to file complaints against timeshare companies. We sent the letter by Registered Mail that day (one day after we attended the presentation) to Residence Club LaJolla as well as the Profeco office in Mexico City. We also called our credit card company to try to stop the charge, but they said they could not stop the payment - that we would have to file a dispute after it showed up on our billing. After it showed up on our bill, we did file a dispute of the charge and mailed all the documents indicating we cancelled the contract within the 5 days. The credit card company (Citicard) gave us a credit. However, we got a letter from the credit card company (Citicard) about 30 days later indicating that they could get no response from LaJolla, so they charged back our card. We received one phone call from a customer service rep from LaJolla and he said we would have to wait for Profeco hearings. Profeco sent us an email indicating there would be a hearing in June. We do not have to attend. From our understanding Profeco is only a mediator and cannot force LaJolla to pay. The hearings are spread out over 1-2 years. Out of the many, many complaints about LaJolla that we found on-line, we have only been able to find 1 success story where people have received their money back from LaJolla. We have written about our bad experience on other websites warning other travelers to Mazatlan about LaJolla. We also filed a report with the BBB in Texas. LaJolla's customer service office is in Laredo, TX. We are very disappointed in ourselves for falling for the scam in the first place - never again!! We are also disappointed in our credit card company for not stopping the charge when we called, making us wait until it appeared. Then after filing a dispute and sending all the documents - charged us back again because they got no response from LaJolla. Our only option now is to wait for information from Profeco for the outcome of the hearings. If that doesn't work out - we will have to hire an attorney in Mexico to file a lawsuit. Again - Beware - of Residence Club LaJolla, Mazatlan, Mexico
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I made this report regarding Residence Club LaJolla on June 5, 2011, but would now like to remove the report and all the negative comments.
We were contacted by Residence Club LaJolla and have reached a satisfactory agreement. |
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La Jolla Mexico/ Fraud time share robbery.
This year for my annual vacation, my boyfriend and I went to Mazatlan, Mexico. While there, time share people allured us to free breakfasts, drinks, and $300 gift to attend a presentation.
Although we are cautious with our money (since we have very little) La Jolla Mazatlan Resort managed to get $26, 000 from us with promises that they would buy the current time share we had + buy from us any unused times at their resort for 3, 500/week. Since the promises were too good, I asked lots of questions for which they had – what I thought at the time -- good answers.
I was not drunk or stoned, not suffering from heat stroke; influenced by the beauty of the surroundings and day dreaming on the possibility of being able to afford a first class vacation five times a year, I believe now, I must have been high on the thought of “the good life.”
I am embarrassed to admit that I allowed them to take the little money I had. I know there is not much I can do to recover the money. The reason I am writing this is in hopes that someone reads this and remembers not to trust blindly at people while on vacation, especially in Mexico, and particularly La Jolla Mazatlan, as I have read there are thousands of American citizens who have been swindled out of their savings by this particular “timeshare”, La Jolla, and I feel the need to forewarn them of the dangers of the Mexican time shares.
The La Jolla people, (their VP of Sales, Alfredo Marq; Sales Manager, Efrain Morales; their counterpart in the USA representing SWAP Global Vacation, Cameron Moretti, and their customer service representative, ) were all fluent in English, two of them were American Citizens familiar with contract law, the banking system, property deeds, and taxes on capital gains – they offer to buy a time share we already had and were so astute in describing the deal, I eat it all up.
After six months of trying to get a hold of them through e-mails and phone calls that have gone unanswered, I have given up on the money, the vacation, everything. I still get mad at times (at me mostly). I am 50 years old, I have an MBA, I am a Business Consultant, I tell my clients “if it is too good to be truth, is because it is…” and yet, they took everything I had; while it wasn’t much, it was to me.
I am posting this for the first time, when I first came aware of what was happening I did not want to believe it; after it settled in, I went from deeply depressed and mad, to feeling embarrassed and powerless.
I am getting over all these feelings; I know there is nothing I can do to recover the money we lost, but I have the power, and obligation, to alert others of what happened to me, in hopes that they avoid giving their savings to a bunch of La Jolla crooks.
I will keep posting, with more details of what happened and how it happened in hopes that if any of your Mexican Adventures resemble any of my experience for the brief two days it took for these La Jolla bandits to take my money, you can recognize the signs and run the other way.
In solidarity with all those who have been robbed by an armed person; a suit guy with a sales folder in hand; a pirate; or a bully at school, remember, anyone can learn from your experience if you are willing to share it.
Mariana. |
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I made this report regarding Residence Club LaJolla on November of 2011, but would now like to remove the report and all the negative comments.
We were contacted by Residence Club LaJolla and have reached a satisfactory agreement. |
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