The Sunset Lagoon Resort- NEVER EVER EVER BUY FROM THIS COMPANY

We are in the middle of an onsite investigation that took place yesterday wherein we were reviewing your complaints against the Sunset Group Fractional Ownership Sales Program. The Audio, Video and facts will blow you away. The bottom line is that I would NEVER give this company one dime, and you will not believe how we were treated by the staff at the end of the tour. Enrique the manager was caught live on tape threatening to call the police.

Oh, Who Am I? I am glad that you asked... A Worldwide Expert on TimeShare and Fractional Ownership Products

This is one readers review:

Let me begin by saying that we are RCI Gold Crown time share owners and had to make a last minute change of plans from Nassau Bahamas to Cancun Mexico due to hurricane Francis in September of 2004.

The trip began very very well and it seemed as if we were going to have a great time. The all inclusive fees were different than what RCI quoted us and were very high priced for what was offered. The hotel staff was plesant and the accomidations were clean and comfortable. Having stayed in an all inclusive resort in the past we were not used to the staff begging for tips but in all it was a nice place.

What changed it all around was the level of customer service you got when you took the membership tour. After they changed your wristbands people pampered you a bit more and at first you kind of like the attention, but the real horor was to come. On our second day we met with a salesman named Ryan Hogue who took us to breakfast and got to know us personally. His 90 minute tour took five hours and was concluded with us signing a contract that we thought too good to be true. However as a shifty saleman can he talked our concerns away and quenched our thirst with tequilla. They offered to purchase our existing time share for 3 times what we paid for it, and then sell it back to us for $1USD. They wanted to write off the purchase for taxes and allowed us the opportunity to re-sell our timeshare when we got back to the US. It wasnt until we asked for an apprasial that they said they were wrong about the price, but still offered a good deal witht he rental opportunity. They offered 4 weeks of time share for ownership. One week was always ours and the other 3 weeks we could either use or rent for $1,700 a week. Ryan guarenteed that their rental company would always rent the other 3 weeks for a total of $5,100 USD. Selling the weeks as though they paid for themselves, and the tequilla only helped make the story more believable. After our five hour tour we left a little tipsy and thought we made a good decision leaving the $6,000 deposit on our American Express Gold Card.

The following day after taking a hard look at the contract and doing some math we realized that this offer was not for us. Partially because we had other financial obligatons we felt more important in the upcoming months, but mostly because IF SOMETHING IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT USUALLY IS. We went back to the sales room and talked with Ryan again who twisted things just enough to make us comfortable with our purchase and then sent us back to our vacation. He even gave us his personal e mail address for any problems or questions we may have. Day 2 into the contract we had concerns again, but planned a day away at an attraction. By day 3 we had enough and wanted out but were told Ryan was off and we needed to talk with him before we can cancel. Day four was our last day in Mexico and we already wrote a letter requesting Accelerated Termination of Contract persuent to paragraph 12 of their own contract. We demanded to talk with Ryans boss but were left in the sales room for nearly 30 minutes before anyone came to speak with us. The sales manager finally tried to talk us out of our decision and lost. He took our letter and signed it along with a witness. We had to ask for a copy of the letter with the signatures as proof of our cancelation, but they gave it too us and stated our deposit would be refunded within 15 calander days, as the contract stated. They also too our new wristbands that said we were members. They also provided free transportation to the airport from the hotel. Non-members have to get a taxi.

About 2 weeks after we got home we received a phone call from Ryan to see if he could change our mind, which we didnt and he became short and ended the call. We waited 18 calander days and when we still did not receive the refund of our deposit, we tried to contact Ryan about our canceled contract via e mail: only to find out that he blocked us from his account and our e mail was returned. We tried to contact the sales manager and got no response at all. Finally we reported the charge to American Express as fraud and after they investagated I did not have to pay the charges. We thought we were all done until the monthly mortgage payments began to appear on our AMEX card. Numerous e mails and phone call attempts to Royal Sunset got us nowhere. So we turned to American Express again. We tried to research the company and were unable to find an owner or ceo to communicate with. So we wrote certified letters to the offices in Miami and Cancun demanding they stop harasing us. We also told them they we intended to write the Mexican Government Dept of Tourism, the Mexican Councelate, local government officials of Cancun, local newspapers, any travel related media sources and RCI explaining the unprofessional practices of the Sunset Group. The only responce we got at this time was a threatening letter that said Sunset could not afford to let us out of the contract and if we didnt pay them they would ruin our credit until we paid.

American Express was a blessing and we had to contest 3 more charges only finally getting a response from a customer service rep of the hotel saying that they recognize the cancellation or the contract in Feburary of 2005.

The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth for Mexico in general. I can not beleive that a country so dependant on tourism would allow their tourists to be taken in such a manner.

I can tell you this..... IF I ever return to Mexico it will never be to The Royal Sunset or any of its affiliates. A will also tell as many people as I can to STAY AWAY from the Sunset Group. Pick another hotel or resort if you are traveling to Cancun. I would rather sleep on the street before I would stay there again.


ALSO:

We had exactly the same situation... After FIVE HOURS of high pressure sales we made the mistake of going for some special deal with the VIP travel membersip. We spent the next day regretting it and, according to our contract, had 5 days to terminate as long as it was in writing and delivered to the place of execution. We wrote our desire down, took it back to the Royal Sunset, were bumped up three levels of management when the final guy baldly stated that we had signed a waiver of that clause of the contract (but he could not produce this signed waiver), that he would not acknowledge our attempt to deliver our written statement, would not accept it, and would not sign it. He told us that we should seek out a lawyer, but sarcastically wished us luck doing this in Mexico. At this point my wife was in tears and I was almost speechless in amazement at this treatment. THIS IS THE WORST COMPANY IN THE WORLD and they pretty much ruined our Cancun vacation!!
Thanks very much for your support.
Thomas W. Brown

AND

This past summer I went to Cancun and was given a tour of Sunset Lagoon. To make a long story short, I was pressured into purchasing a timeshare with a lot of verbal promises that were not incorporated into the written contract.

I was shown a property that I was promised WOULD be rented out at $1700 per week and it would be paying for itself within 5 years. The salesman said it was a "win win" , ''no lose investment'', etc. When I said it was out of the question, they showed me a property of lesser value with the same promises of rental income to offset the purchase price.

They kept persisting with their sales ploy, giving me free drinks and offering me better deals, in spite of the fact that I insisted that I was not interested or financially able to purchase a membership. They pressured me relentlessly assuring me that this was a profitable investment. After being placed under duress, (3 hours and 5 drinks later) I finally agreed to sign a contract, however, they insisted that I must waive my right to rescind, which in of itself is illegal in any contract. None of the extra perks were delivered.(Free trips, weeks, etc.) Upon returning home and doing internet research, I have found out that these timeshares are not able to be sold at any price nor rented- both of which were promised to me at the time of purchase. I quickly called to cancel my contract well within the 14 day grace period. After the runaround of constant disconnections and being placed on hold, I personally spoke to Alberto Benray who said he would call me back, but never did. When I called back they claimed that they were not technically open due to hurricane Emily. I finally spoke to someone named Alicia and was told that I couldn’t cancel my contract for any reason. They promised me that they would make arrangments to downsize my timeshare or be flexible in order to accommodate my financial situation. They promised to send me additional information to review and they never sent it.

They have placed me in collections (through their own company of course)and told me that not only are they refusing to refund my $6,078.53 deposit but they want $16,000 more , totaling more than $22,000, or they will sue me. The original contract was only for $16,000, so now they are trying to scam me out of an additional $6,078. This company needs to be stopped in their tracks so that other people aren’t scammed in the same manner out of money for which they work very hard.

In the meantime, they have $6,000 of my money and I have absolutely NOTHING except headaches and threats. I am working to resolve this....get my contract cancelled and my $6,000 returned.

WATCH OUT FOR THIS COMPANY THEY ARE THEIVES!!!

Company

Sunset Lagoon- Sunset Group- Fisherman's Village- Resorts International

Address:

444 Brikell Ave. Suite 51

Miami Florida 33131

U.S.A. Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User






Regards,
Robert Paisola
CEO
The Western Capital Foundation