Timeshare Exchanges

Palace Elite

Oct 22, 2014

We have purchased a timeshare with Palace Elite for about $16000 in August 2013 for 75 weeks, and paid about $5000 deposit and now paying it off monthly. I just realized that this is a scam because if need to book using RCI we have too bank a week and then pay about $450 dollars extra for 1 week for a 1 bedroom unit. Why should we pay this extra cost after purchasing this timeshare at this high price. They have given us 1 week free at the moon palace at this price, but this is not worth the amount we paid to purchase this timeshare. Please advice us if there is anyway to cancel this and receive a refund on our payments.


Bawna H.
Oct 23, 2014

Timeshares and timeshare memberships like you bought have a rescission period when you can cancel and get all of your money back. It is right in the contract. Unfortunately the time period is 3-10 days after signing the contract.

Next thing to know is that RCI the exchange company charges $209 plus an$89 fee per year to facilitate exchanges regardless of what you own. If you can exchange unit that is basically a hotel sized unit (not a studio, 1 br, 2 br, etc) at a Mexican AI, which has an overabundance of units available, and get a 1 br somewhere for $450 you really aren't doing too bad. If I go to your resort through RCI I am getting a smaller room and having to pay at least $1200 per person per week in addition to the $209 I have to give RCI,

For me the real scam with a Palace membership isn't the RCI component it is that I could rent a unit from a member who paid much more than you did for then membership and probably pay less for the AI then you as a palace elite (old name palace premier) and get better perks.

So unfortunately the short answer is no, unless you can prove that you were lied to and deceived into signing the contract, or Palace resorts are not honoring the contract as it is written, there is no way to cancel and get your money back. In fact if you try to stop paying anymore, and don't fulfill your agreement to pay the entire $16000, they can come after your credit. If you feel that their was fraud and deception- not just that you are unhappy with what you bought then you should contact the official Mexican group Profecto and file a complaint. They may be able to help you.


Tracey S.
Oct 23, 2014

bawnah wrote:
We have purchased a timeshare with Palace Elite for about $16000 in August 2013 for 75 weeks, and paid about $5000 deposit and now paying it off monthly. I just realized that this is a scam because if need to book using RCI we have too bank a week and then pay about $450 dollars extra for 1 week for a 1 bedroom unit. Why should we pay this extra cost after purchasing this timeshare at this high price. They have given us 1 week free at the moon palace at this price, but this is not worth the amount we paid to purchase this timeshare. Please advice us if there is anyway to cancel this and receive a refund on our payments.

Unfortunately you did your internet research much too late to rescind. If you had performed your research in 2013 within your rescission period you would have read on many timeshare forum sites to not buy from a developer but to buy on the resale market for pennies on the dollar.


R P.
Apr 16, 2021

Palace Elite is still out here scamming people. Has anyone found a way to get out of this contract


Yolanda J.
Apr 24, 2021

We got suckered in the 2nd day of our vacation. After thinking about for a day, we realized it was a terrible decision for us. We returned to the business office Andy hey told us there is no way to cancel!! Seems crazy you can back out of a million dollar home or a fancy car, but you are stuck with a membership you don’t want!!


Amy J.
Apr 25, 2021

amyj383 wrote:
After thinking about for a day, we realized it was a terrible decision for us. We returned to the business office Andy hey told us there is no way to cancel!! Seems crazy you can back out of a million dollar home or a fancy car, but you are stuck with a membership you don’t want!!

Where and when did you sign the contract?


Lance C.
May 27, 2021

I am member i recently book a vac the rep book the wrong hotel and so i canceled the my trip i call then over 10 time to get a up date on my refund and every time they say i will email you your information never got almost 6000.00 on my credit card still waiting. I am currently look for a news channel to tell my story if they don't respond i am very disappointed with there service.


Kiss. G.
May 27, 2021

Contact your credit card company and dispute the charge .


Don P.
Nov 17, 2021

My brother and I was in jamaica moon palace. Got brained wash into this palace elite timeshare fraud. Purchase on 11/7 wrote an email on 11/10 wanting to cancele and the THERE giving us a hard time. I cant believe these ppl everything is thru email and no one his trying to help.HELP HELP PLEASE ...SOMEONE THIS IS A NIGHTMARE. I AM CURRENTLY REACHING OUT TO THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THIS MESS.. I am so tired of the run around with these people..at first they told us that its a great investment but its not.. My brother and I need help and a resolution in this matter. Ocho Rios sales ppl such liers you call and no one try to help. A 4day trip turn in to a big mess ,my experience was ruin because of this. Any one w any insite please help us.


Andrea W.
Dec 01, 2021

we just came back from a vacation from Cancun where we ran into this as well. Our problem was with their Service at the hotel in general and also with the lack of communication from the palace elite team but I did a quick research and found that this contract (in fact most/any contract) is covered under the Mexican consumer protection law which gives us 5 days to cancel the contract for any reason.

I had run into the same issue no proper communication from anyone when trying to cancel, giving us a run around from person to person so I finally decided to go the place where I signed the contract and asked them to cancel it. As someone mentioned above they kept saying it cannot be cancelled as it was a promotional offer and were being very rude. I asked them to send an email to me mentioning the same that "This contract is not covered under Mexican federal consumer protection law so they cannot cancel it". I started recording videos about my conversation and people started walking away and not talk to me at all because whatever they were saying was a lie. i was able to get some part of my conversation but not all.

They tried to give me various deals by decreasing the price and by giving more free weeks but I did not budge in. FINALLY after 3-4 discussion, they cancelled it. I wish someone big enough could file a lawsuit against them. They should at least start to include the right to cancel in their agreement like most of the mortgage loans do.


Jaya M.

Last edited by jayam3 on Dec 01, 2021 05:08 AM

Dec 20, 2021

jayam3 wrote:
we just came back from a vacation from Cancun where we ran into this as well. Our problem was with their Service at the hotel in general and also with the lack of communication from the palace elite team but I did a quick research and found that this contract (in fact most/any contract) is covered under the Mexican consumer protection law which gives us 5 days to cancel the contract for any reason.

I had run into the same issue no proper communication from anyone when trying to cancel, giving us a run around from person to person so I finally decided to go the place where I signed the contract and asked them to cancel it. As someone mentioned above they kept saying it cannot be cancelled as it was a promotional offer and were being very rude. I asked them to send an email to me mentioning the same that "This contract is not covered under Mexican federal consumer protection law so they cannot cancel it". I started recording videos about my conversation and people started walking away and not talk to me at all because whatever they were saying was a lie. i was able to get some part of my conversation but not all.

They tried to give me various deals by decreasing the price and by giving more free weeks but I did not budge in. FINALLY after 3-4 discussion, they cancelled it. I wish someone big enough could file a lawsuit against them. They should at least start to include the right to cancel in their agreement like most of the mortgage loans do.

Dear Jaya,

Thank you for sharing your experience. Were they able to cancel your contract in the resort while you waited or you were direct through other channels (i.e their member services)?


Gpal K.
Jan 05, 2022

jayam3 wrote:
They should at least start to include the right to cancel in their agreement like most of the mortgage loans do.

Start???

They are already required by law to provide written notice of cancellation rights at the time of contract execution. Failure to provide this notice is grounds to invalidate the contract, even after the 5 days rescission period (with Profeco assistance).

Asking a buyer to sign a "waiver" of these cancellation rights during contract execution is also illegal and also grounds to void the contract, even after the 5 days rescission period has ended (again, likely requiring Profeco intervention to actually make that happen).


KC

Last edited by ken1193 on Jan 05, 2022 01:13 PM

Mar 25, 2022

timeshare forum sites to not buy from a developer but to buy on the resale market for pennies on the dollar. Do you know a good web site to buy a time share from the owner? And pay pennies on a dollar? and not being scammed?


Janna D.
Mar 25, 2022

jannad12 wrote:
Do you know a good web site to buy a time share from the owner? And pay pennies on a dollar? and not being scammed?

Right here on RedWeek is a good start. Other reputable sites are E-Bay, Craigslist, My Resort Network, and Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG").


Lance C.
May 26, 2022

I am going the same thing them not wanting to cancel it do too not been able to book some where the dates gone sold out I feel Like I been scammed it wasn’t a good deal at all I had my share since last year in haven’t even touch it wishing they can just keep the whole share not asking for no money back at all I’m not happy with the contract at all


Chevon Q.
May 26, 2022

Your English is quite broken so I'll try to understand and help. So you're saying you bought a unit at Palace Elite last year but now do not want it because it's not everything the sales person told you it would be, correct?

If you're saying you want to end your ownership, fine. Many people do. Do you have all the maintenance fees and loans paid off an up to date? If not, you will have a hard time getting someone else to take it. If that is the case, your best option would be to stop paying any maintenance fees or loan payments and let it go into foreclosure. The downside to that is that you will face annoying collection calls and letters and probably a negative effect on your credit score or rating.

Important to know is to not look for any company or law firm that claims it can "cancel" or terminate your agreement.


Lance C.
Dec 29, 2022

My name is Claudia Georgina Carmona Marin on December 26, 2022 I signed a contact to upgrade to VIP for the amount of $20k+ U.S. Dollars in Palace Elite office in The Grand Moon Palace Cancun. After much regret on December 28 2022 I walked into their office in the Grand Moon Palace Cancun to physical and verbally cancel/void my upgraded contract when Candida Cab her job title being "Legal Verifier" said to me that I couldn't do that because under policy it wasn't possible, I told her that wasn't true and that mexican law gave me 5 legal days to cancel my contract, she then said that she couldn't do anything to help me and that I must arrange a meeting with the salesman Juan Carlos who sold the contract to me. On December 29 2022, I send an email to derechosarco@palaceresort.com and to memberservices@palaceelite.com.mx to officially requesting my contract be cancel/terminated/VOID.

Also on December 29 at 2:30pm, my husband and I meet with Juan Carlos as told by Candida Cab. When we start explaining we want to cancel our contract, he tells me he cannot help me and that I cannot cancel my contract regardless of my 5 days legal period, that I have no rights for 5 days grace period cancellation. I tell h that's not true and asked to speak with someone who has a higher power/position to help me, Juan Carlos replies no one in here can help you, everyone here will tell you the exact same thing. I said I don't care I want to speak with someone else. After I that I spoke to Raul Garcia for about 5 minutes, who also said he couldn't help. My husband and I wouldn't give up so we insist on speaking with someone so then we spoke to Tanya Gerente who basically said nothing just took us to a room and brought Mariano Gonzales, who again told me it was not possible for me to cancel the upgraded contract and that it was not possible for me to get a full refund of $3262.00 U.S. Dollars that was charged to my credit card as a downpayment, again I said to him you are lying I am protected by Article 56 which states that national citizens or foreigner have 5 legal days to rescind from a contract he or she signed, he then continue saying he could help by lowering the original amount of 20K+ U.S. Dollars to $8,000 U.S Dollars. Unfortunately after hours being told I couldn't cancel my contract, I was a victim of misleading information and lies, I believed that I couldn't cancel my contract and felt for his trap and Agree to the lower amount. But something inside of me told me it wasn't true and I started to search and found this page of complaints and people being scam and lies to. But I will be going again to their office on December 30, 2022 to null the new agreement and fight for my legal rights. And I will make sure to record from beginning to end. This is madness and people need to be aware of scammers who dress like lawyers and smile like they are your best friends but in reality see you as a money sign for their own benefits, not caring how they will deceive you into their corrupted contracts. I will be seeking a lawyer for further legal rights.


Claudia C.

Last edited by claudiac191 on Dec 29, 2022 10:29 PM

Dec 30, 2022

Never mind "seeking a lawyer", who will just rack up billable hours while likely never actually resolving your issue. And never mind fighting with Palace Elite alone; that's just a waste of your time and energy. You need much more horsepower in your corner.

Contact PROFECO immediately! If what you have stated above is true and accurate, then it seems likely that those parasites have openly and willfully violated the law in Mexico which allows you 5 days to rescind a contract. If so, rest assured that those bandits are a whole lot more afraid of PROFECO than they will ever be of you or any individual lawyer. Get PROFECO involved NOW!

That said, understand that the best you can possibly achieve is the rescission (cancellation) of the recent contract to "upgrade". You would still be bound to whatever contract terms were already in place before the "upgrade".


KC

Last edited by ken1193 on Dec 30, 2022 11:12 AM

Dec 30, 2022

I am on the same boat. I like to go to their office tomorrow. Did you get it cancelled today?

claudiac191 wrote:
My name is Claudia Georgina Carmona Marin on December 26, 2022 I signed a contact to upgrade to VIP for the amount of $20k+ U.S. Dollars in Palace Elite office in The Grand Moon Palace Cancun. After much regret on December 28 2022 I walked into their office in the Grand Moon Palace Cancun to physical and verbally cancel/void my upgraded contract when Candida Cab her job title being "Legal Verifier" said to me that I couldn't do that because under policy it wasn't possible, I told her that wasn't true and that mexican law gave me 5 legal days to cancel my contract, she then said that she couldn't do anything to help me and that I must arrange a meeting with the salesman Juan Carlos who sold the contract to me. On December 29 2022, I send an email to derechosarco@palaceresort.com and to memberservices@palaceelite.com.mx to officially requesting my contract be cancel/terminated/VOID.

Also on December 29 at 2:30pm, my husband and I meet with Juan Carlos as told by Candida Cab. When we start explaining we want to cancel our contract, he tells me he cannot help me and that I cannot cancel my contract regardless of my 5 days legal period, that I have no rights for 5 days grace period cancellation. I tell h that's not true and asked to speak with someone who has a higher power/position to help me, Juan Carlos replies no one in here can help you, everyone here will tell you the exact same thing. I said I don't care I want to speak with someone else. After I that I spoke to Raul Garcia for about 5 minutes, who also said he couldn't help. My husband and I wouldn't give up so we insist on speaking with someone so then we spoke to Tanya Gerente who basically said nothing just took us to a room and brought Mariano Gonzales, who again told me it was not possible for me to cancel the upgraded contract and that it was not possible for me to get a full refund of $3262.00 U.S. Dollars that was charged to my credit card as a downpayment, again I said to him you are lying I am protected by Article 56 which states that national citizens or foreigner have 5 legal days to rescind from a contract he or she signed, he then continue saying he could help by lowering the original amount of 20K+ U.S. Dollars to $8,000 U.S Dollars. Unfortunately after hours being told I couldn't cancel my contract, I was a victim of misleading information and lies, I believed that I couldn't cancel my contract and felt for his trap and Agree to the lower amount. But something inside of me told me it wasn't true and I started to search and found this page of complaints and people being scam and lies to. But I will be going again to their office on December 30, 2022 to null the new agreement and fight for my legal rights. And I will make sure to record from beginning to end. This is madness and people need to be aware of scammers who dress like lawyers and smile like they are your best friends but in reality see you as a money sign for their own benefits, not caring how they will deceive you into their corrupted contracts. I will be seeking a lawyer for further legal rights.


R L.
Apr 18, 2023

Did you cancel? Let me know because i am on the same boat


Evelyn A.

Note: Please do not post ads in the timeshare forums. If you want to add a timeshare posting, go here.