Vallarta Gardens Timeshare Scam

How can they keep scamming innocent people out of their money?!?!?

These guys are shameless liars and cheats. The product is nice but the service is worthless. If you have the chance, move on and never look back from Vallarta Gardens.

Been a member for 4 years. I have never received a penny of the "guaranteed income" for renting my unused units. Anyone posting that they are still pushing that scam needs to believe people like me who have the actual experience and not the people selling you empty promises.

Yeah it’s pretty mind blowing that they are STILL getting away with all their lies. I don’t think that they could get away with this in the US.

julieu27 wrote:

Yeah it’s pretty mind blowing that they are STILL getting away with all their lies. I don’t think that they could get away with this in the US.

Have you ever been to a timeshare sales presentation in the USA?

***** BUYER BEWARE ******

We "unfortunately" have a contract with Vallarta Gardens. We tried to get out of the contract within the 5 day grace period while we were still there and the sales manager "HENRY...aka... Hearold Williams email: synergyluxury@gmail.com" told us that we could NOT because he had "verbally stated" (which I did not recall him stating this at all) that the deal they were giving us was a one time deal offer and the 5 day cool off would not be available if we took their special deal of $28,000 for a 1 bedroom and of course those $1000+ yearly maintenance fees. So here we are stuck in a contract with them that "They" themselves are not honoring!!! We did NOT get into this for the purpose of vacationing...we were contemplating the potential for an extra $18,000 a year in our pocket that we could do more with.

We were there in August 2021 and our contract states that we could use our 6 weeks per year or sell them back each year for the amount of $3000 per week that we sell back.

So going forward...Henry said in order for us to afford the purchase price he could do the following for us in the contract so we did not have a financial hardship and could pay off our CC within 6 months! Our contract states that we sold back the first 2 years of 6 wks each year upfront to them and we would be payed out $36,000 by February 2022. We then received the following emails from Allianz Marketing Strategies (contact@allmarketingstrategies.com) who are the ones to disburse funds to you as part of your contract; after you deposit your weeks back to them and also pay your maintenance fees for the year.

Jan 10, 2022 sent from: contact@allmarketingstrategies.com Dear Mr. And Mrs. XXXXXXX, Accounting has calculated the closing date of your contract. The funds will be disbursed on February 27th, 2022. No further action from you is necessary at the moment.

- Feb 28,2022 We sent an email asking where our funds were. - Mar 1,2022 Response Dear Mr. And Mrs. XXXXXXX, Based on today's conversation with Juan Sanchez (Ext. 2839). Our records are missing the Certificate of full ownership issued by A Boutique Private Residence Club. We recommend you contact them and ask to receive your Certificate. Your payment will be standing by and processed after receipt of the Certificate.

- We retrieved the certificate and emailed immediately to Allianz Marketing Strategies - We then followed up with an email to Hearold because we got the below email in response to receiving our funds.

Dear Mr. And Mrs. XXXXXX, Be informed that your proceeds have generated a tax requirement of 41% (25% ISR & 16% IVA). Authorities condone this requirement when you maintain the property for a year, generating a CFDI for exemption. The local tax office certifies invoices after 60-90 days of complying with the previous requisite. Thank you for your kind attention. ALLIANZ Marketing Strategies

Mar 4 2022 To: synergyluxury@gmail.com Dear Hearold,

I understand my husband XXXXX called you this morning but after he spoke to you Allianz called us back and I wanted to follow up with you in an email so you knew what was going on.

First off, I want to say that we do understand that we ultimately made the decision to purchase, even though due to financial reasons we did try to cancel the contract the next day per the contract details within the allowable 5 days to cancel but we were not allowed to cancel so we were ultimately stuck in this contract.

We stated to you at that time that after careful consideration we wanted to cancel because it would put us in financial hardship at which point you stated to us that if you added in the contract that we could sell back the usable weeks for the first 2 years immediately then in 6 months we would get paid out the weeks sold for a total of $36,000 at which point that would pay off the total cost of the property purchase price of $28,000, which we would have had to put on credit cards to pay for the initial purchase. We said fine we could probably do that and be financially tight for 6 months paying the minimum payments on our credit cards as long as the payments went thru in February. At that point you had the contract redone to add and state the above.

As well, we also have in emails from Allianz Marketing Strategies that we would be paid out the amount of $36,000 on February 27th 2022. That day came and had past and we received nothing, so we called them on March 1st 2022 around 12pm PST and we were told that the funds had not been distributed because they had not received the certificate of ownership paid in full (although no one told us we needed to send this) so we immediately sent the document to Allianz Marketing Strategies. Allianz sent us back an email that they received the document and that our funds would be processed within 24 hours, that was on Monday, March 1st, 2022.

As of today Friday, March 4th 2022 we have still not received the funds so we called Allianz again this morning and asked about why we have not received the funds? Allianz stated that due to some tax (that we were never informed of verbally or in the contract) we will either have to wait 6 additional months until we have met the one year mark of ownership in August 2022 in order to avoid having to pay the 41% tax or if we wanted the funds now we will have to go to Mexico and pay the 41% tax in cash in person, which of course we would not do because we would loose almost half of the funds. Please see the email from Allianz below!

I feel like we have been mis-represented and have no confidence that we will see these funds in August or ever for that matter, this is beginning to feel like we are just being strung along like many scams out there! You stated to us that if we ever have any issues to reach out to you and you would do everything you could to make it right. I am extremely frustrated at this point! In the US I know what recourse action to take and we do have a family attorney in Mexico we can reach out too, but I’d rather not have to go down that road if it can be avoided. I will forward the other email trail we have from Allianz stating that we would receive the funds February 27, 2022.

Is there anything you can do on your end? Is it possible to get half now and half in August? Please let us know as soon as possible. Your prompt attention in this matter is greatly appreciated!!

Very Respectfully, S. XXXXXXXX

- Then we get an email from some random bank....wanting us to fill out some forms with all our banking information. We verified with Vallarta Gardens and Allianz Marketing Strategies and they knew nothing of this. Extremely Confused at this point now!!!!! WTH is going on???

Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXXX This is a confirmation that the account registration procedure has been successfully finished. Funds of $36,000.00 USD have been received, deposited and secured and will be paid out to you at the time of closing, once the settlement transaction has been satisfactorily filled out. Please find attached all the necessary documents to formalize the closing of your transaction (3 PDF documents): 1. ABAI ACCOUNT STATEMENT. 2. ABAI MARKETING AGREEMENT. Sign, scan, and return, please. 3. ABAI DEPOSIT INFORMATION. Complete transfer, sign, scan, and return, please. Based on the importance of the transaction and request by Mr. Robles, we are looking forward to completing your transaction in less than 30 days, giving you a tentative closing date May 20/2022, 10 AM CST, which will be confirmed and locked once that you have signed and returned to us via email the attached paperwork and the confirmation of the deposit for your financial obligation(s). <Scanned or clear photograph of the wire transfer receipt for tracking purposes.> Please feel free to contact us if you have any inquiries regarding this email. We are looking ahead to closing your transaction soon. Thanking you again. abai Horarios de atención al cliente de Lunes a Viernes de 8 A.M. a 6 P.M. y Sábados de 9 A.M. a 1 P.M. / Customer Service hours are from Monday to Friday from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. and Saturdays from 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. CST. Línea de atención telefónica: 558 526 1379. Call Us: 011 (52) 558 526 1379. www.abaimx.com P Antes de imprimir este mensaje o sus archivos, asegúrese de que sea necesario. Proteger el medio ambiente está a su alcance. / Before printing this message or attachments, make sure it is necessary. Protecting the environment is within your reach. AVISO DE CONFIDENCIALIDAD: Este correo electrónico y adjunto se dirige exclusivamente a su destinatario. Contiene información CONFIDENCIAL sometida a secreto profesional o cuya divulgación está prohibida por la ley. Si ha recibido este mensaje por error, debe saber que su lectura, copia y uso están prohibidos. Le rogamos que nos lo comunique inmediatamente por esta misma vía o por teléfono y proceda a su destrucción. Consulte nuestro Aviso de Privacidad a fin de que tenga pleno conocimiento sobre el tratamiento que se le dará a sus datos personales, así como los derechos que la Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares y su Reglamento le otorgan. PRIVACY NOTICE: Emails and attachments received from us may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, as attorney work-product or based on other privileges or provisions of law. If you are not an intended recipient of this email, do not read, copy, use, forward or disclose the email or any of its attachments to others. Instead, immediately notify the sender by replying to this email and then delete it from your system. We strictly prohibit any unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution or use of emails or attachments sent by us. Please review our Privacy Notice so that you have full knowledge about the treatment to be given to your personal data and the rights that the Federal Law of Personal Data Protection and its Regulations grant you. 2020 Derechos Reservados © AVALUO DE BIENES Y ASESORIA INTEGRAL ESPECIALIZADA S.C. / © Copyright AVALUO DE BIENES Y ASESORIA INTEGRAL ESPECIALIZADA S.C. --- Next we wait the year along with the additional 60-90 days they say is needed to process

- Nov 21 2022 From: contact@allmarketingstrategies.com Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXX, Authorities have confirmed issuing of certification on November 24th, 2022. Accounting will perform payment the following working day. - Nov 27 2022 My husband requests the the wire transaction number to follow up with our bank... - Nov 28 2022 Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXX, Accounting will process your payment today. - Nov 29 2022 Dear customer, A payment has been issued to your account last four numbers XXXX, in the amount of US 37,034.00. It shall be reflected in a period of 24 to 72 banking hours. The IMAD number for this transaction is 20221129 XXXXXXX. - Dec 5 2022 My husband sends them an email.... Customer Service, According to your email stating that the funds were transferred last Tuesday November 29th as of today December 5th no funds reflect on my account. I contacted my Financial institution and provided the IMAD # you provided me and they say that IMAD # are 16 digits in length and are alphanumeric, i have been trying to call your office and nobody answers, I will like someone to contact me with the right IMAD number. We have fulfill all the requirements per our contract with you. G. XXXXXXX - Their Response - Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXX Your payment’s status is: “In transit. It reflects in a period of 24 to 72 banking hours from the date of deposit. If it was after 2:00 P.M CST, it begins processing on the next business day. - Dec 15 2022 To: Allianz Customer Service, It has been more that two weeks and the funds are not in my account. Even if the funds were processed on November 30th still is more that 72 banking hours. Again i called my bank and they informed me that the IMAD # is missing letters and numbers at this point i want a supervisor to call me and explain to me what is the delayed on this, we have been more than patient on this matter.

- No phone calls returned...they wont answer their calls (866) 217-1658 - A few more emails back and forth with no real further correct information...all just more lies!!!

-Dec 26 2022 From my husband... Its been a month since your email said that the funds will deposited to my account and still no funds have been deposited to my account, you are now in breach of the contract we entered with your company. I demand a phone call from one of your supervisors and i am contacting XXXXXXXX in Mexico and i will report you and Vallarta Gardens for SCAMMING people. What kind of company does not call back their customers unless they are scammers.

-Their Response: 26 Dec 2022 Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXXX, The transaction failed. We’re wiring the money back to you today. The IMAD for this transaction is 20221226 XXXXXX. It will reflect in a period of 24 to 72 banking hours.

- - - At this point I am NOT holding my breath and am going to move forward in contacting legal action!!!!

I have included so much information here so people truly understand what they are getting into... If they just want a vacation with Vallarta Gardens then great use it that way but if you are wanting to sell weeks back...DONT!!!

-- While we were there on the free stay all inclusive, we took the opportunity to speak with other purchasers that had been coming for years, they love the place and use it as an extensive vacation but we had 1 couple tell us that they had also tried to get out of it within the first 5 days and were told the same thing we were told. they had also tried to sell weeks back as well and never had any success getting their money back which is also why we originally tried to cancel but were unable per what we were told!!

We had exactly the same results as you but we're a little further along the Scam process than you. Here are the next set of emails you will probably receive.

After waiting the 24-72 BANKING hours, we contacted Allianz Marketing Strategies and they sent: "The transaction failed. We’re wiring the money back to you today. The IMAD for this transaction is 20221027 XXXXXX. It will reflect in a period of 24 to 72 banking hours." Note: this is an incomplete IMAD number. It is missing the Source Identifier. Also, there are 5 Banking hours (9am-2pm) in a business day. So 72 Banking hours is about 15 business days.,

We then waited 72 more BANKING hours with no payment made, contacted them, and received the following:

"The Mexican tax offices have notified us that they require a tax payment of 35% for your proceeds obtained in Mexico due to a duplicate disbursement of profits on a single transaction. According to our financial advisors, we can get this tax requirement waived according to the USMCA agreement and shall not take over 30 days. Remember that AMS is dealing with a situation created by a third party. We apologize for this inconvenience. Be informed that we are doing the corresponding work on this tax issue to solve it as soon as possible. We will keep you updated on any notification coming from the tax office."

30 days have passed and Allianz Marketing Strategies does not respond to my emails now.

Someone wrote about filing a class action suit again Vallarta Gardens. If anyone knows any information about this please post it as we want to do whatever we can to get this place shut down! They are everyday scamming at least 20 people a day🧐

May I ask what you paid when you purchased?

adelev14 wrote:

May I ask what you paid when you purchased?

30K for a Penthouse bi-annual week

Before I delve into how pathetic, dishonest, untrustworthy and sinister these people are, DO NOT GO TO A PRESENTATION AT VALLARTA GARDENS unless you are an investigative reporter or a government official trying to expose this deceitful game of scamming innocent people and depleting their hard-earned money. Yes, it’s a beautiful resort, but we only found that out by being lured there at a kiosk outside Walmart in Nuevo Vallarta. Shame on us for doing that in the first place. Paco, our sales person, was very soft-spoken and presented himself professionally. He was never pushy, which impressed us. The allure for us was the fact they would sell our 2 timeshares in Costa Rica for more than we originally had paid for them. Hm, are you catching my drift? In 300 days a 3rd party company called PILA would pay us this hefty amount of money. Oh, and there’s a bonus! You pay us $5,700 now, and another 3rd party company called Cromwell & Berkley will guarantee that in 6 years you will be paid $75,000, or in 10 years (the cap of 10 years) you will be paid $200,000. When something seems too good to be true, it almost always is; however, Paco seemed so honest, so we bought into it. Now we have paid these scumbags $45,000 for a one-bedroom unit, a promise of our timeshare sales of $42,000 in 300 days and a promise of a large payout in the future. I might add that we are seniors, and a guarantee of the promised funds was really something to look forward to. The contract read that we needed to pay a maintenance fee for at least one week, but we would be paid (as part of a marketing program) $2,500 for the 4 weeks we didn’t use our timeshare. That was $10,000 a year. What a deal, except it was never going to happen. Well, 300 days went by. Oops, PILA was no longer the 3rd party, not a company anymore. A man named “Steven” called us and said he was an attorney who was now handling the sale of our timeshares, but there was a problem with the way the contracts with our timeshares were first set up. It’s too much work to explain all the double talk he threw at us, but it culminated in us sending him $5,700 so we could pay for taxes on the properties. He gave us an account number for the wiring of funds to a person, not a company. It gets worse. Then about 2 weeks later he said we owed him another $16,500, but we would get all the money we paid him back when the transfer went through. When we said to forget it, he threatened us that legal action would be his recourse, and we then owe some exorbitant amount of money. He continued to call many times leaving hateful and threatening messages. We finally blocked his number. We made a call to Vallarta Gardens to ask for the new company now handling the sale, and the lady at the desk hesitantly told me it was Arrow Marketing. She said she didn’t have the number, so we found it online. A very nice guy, seemingly honest, named Gustavo began handling the process of getting our money. Phone calls and emails went on for a year or more, and the reason was the same as what Steven had told us. The Arrow attorneys were working on it. Right! Then COVID hit, which gave Arrow, which by the way is a fake company, a chance to prolong this nightmare. In the meantime, we received so many phone calls from people saying they were now handling the sale of the timeshares. We dismissed them. The story that was most believable was when 2 guys named Jose and Alejandro said they worked for the Mexican attorney general’s office and were in the process of putting these scammers in prison. They wanted all our documentation on all our emails, timeshare contracts, basically just about every correspondence we’d ever had since we began this mess. We had already sent so many pages of documents to Arrow and Steven. A pattern was finally emerging. All our documents were being sold to others so they could have a different twist on a new scam. We hired a lawyer in Mexico who stated that Vallarta Gardens uses a third party to avoid being responsible for the money you never receive, but they are essentially the same company. Arrow Marketing is now Alliance, and Cromwell & Berkley is another name. The names are irrelevant because they are fake. By the way, we went to the site of the attorney general’s office, and these scammers used actual names of Jose and Alejandro who did work for that office. I consequently sent an email to the government letting them know that scammers were using official names of the government and gave them phone numbers and email addresses they were using. We never heard back from them. This has been a huge financial burden for us, and the fact we still have to pay a maintenance fee forever is a heartbreak as we will never go there. We have posted negative comments on as many sites as we have investigated so that people will stay away from this unbelievable corrupt place.

Yes, I have been to several timeshare presentations in the US. My parents owned one and made good use of it. They can get pushy in states, for sure, but make good on their promises. The presentation at Vallarta Gardens was not only full of empty promises (I know, because, shamefully, we fell for it), but they even had tactics like not allowing you anything to eat or drink the whole time!

Wow!! That was heartbreaking and also enlightening. Thank you for this info. I wondered what those Mexican “attorneys” were up to with their class action BS. Now I know.

First I have to say don’t send VR (or anyone connected to them) another penny! You do NOT have to pay those maintenance fees. We spoke to a lawyer in the US who told us that they have nothing to stand on. If it went to court, they would lose, and it would cost them a fortune because they would have to come to the US,, so he said he seriously doubted they would ever do that. Meanwhile they told a collection agency in Monterey CA that we owed them money. We tried writing letters to the credit agency with no response. The US lawyer told us to ignore them for 7 years. Don’t talk to them and it will go away. Not our style, but that’s what we did. Our credit showed showed a little ding but it’s still in the “excellent” range.

We are also seniors. I hope this helps. Blessings to you.

Welp, we signed a contract 3 days ago, and totally regret it. We did some research before going to Vallarta Gardens, but not enough. We recognized another couple at a presentation at the same time we were there. When we got back to our resort, we compared notes. They did NOT buy, and told us the red flags they saw, and ****, they were right. We made a huge mistake. But, I am, at this minute within the 5-day cancellation window. My question is, if anyone happens to read this quickly, where do I start? Do I reverse the charge on my credit card for the downpayment? As for ongoing payments, they have my credit card info. I can cancel that card and have a new one issued - probably the least of my worries. I just want to make sure I start the process of cancelling before the 5-day window is up. Any advice would be appreciated.

Your FIRST step is to IMMEDIATELY write, sign and arrange for prompt delivery of a letter of rescission (cancellation). Don't bother with sending useless emails or making phone calls; they are both legally meaningless actions in rescinding a contract. Suggested language for your rescission letter follows:

"Exercising my rescission rights as provided by law, I / We hereby cancel the contract (fill in the blanks here with descriptive details, such as the property, contract number if applicable, date contract was executed, etc."). No reason or sob story is required; you are exercising a right provided by law. Everyone who signed the contract must also sign the rescission letter.

Do NOT cancel your credit card BEFORE completing the above from start to finish. If you put your deposit on a credit card, then the refund should be applied as a credit back to that same card (which is why you need to keep the card active for now). AFTER the rescission is fully completed and refund of your deposit is issued, THEN you can (and should) cancel the credit card to preclude the possibility of any future unauthorized charges.

P.S. Understand clearly that merely disputing a charge and/or cancelling a credit card does NOT cancel or invalidate a contract. Only lawfully cancelling the contract in writing, under signature and within the allotted time period (5 days in Mexico) actually cancels the contract. Deal with the credit card charge AFTER fully and lawfully completing the cancellation of the contract. Save copies of your rescission correspondence with its' proof of date; it may be necessary to support a credit charge dispute later (or to enlist PROFECO involvement, if necessary). Get hopping; you are almost out of time already and a late submission of contract rescission does not need to be acknowledged or processed at all. Tick Tock!

In addition to what KC said above, make sure you follow the directions given to you in the owner's package you received. That would include where to send the rescission letter and the method of delivery. Make sure that all parties who signed for ownership also sign the rescission letter. So let's say for argument's sake that you and your wife signed as new "owners", make sure both you and your wife sign the rescission letter.

Once you do all that correctly, be patient. It could take up to 45 days for your refund to appear. Keep in mind that neither the resort, timeshare company, nor the sales people are required to update you about the rescission. They are only required to rescind and refund, so don't panic by going and calling any of the aforementioned parties inquiring about your rescission and refund.

Thank you!

Since I'm in the U.S., what is the best method of mailing the letter?

lorenzoh5 wrote:

Since I'm in the U.S., what is the best method of mailing the letter?

Follow the directions given in your owner's package very carefully. Rescission instructions should be included. Likely it will say to send it via certified mail. That way you have proof that you sent it within the proper time frame. The directions should also tell you the address where to send it.

lancec13 wrote:

It could take up to 45 days for your refund to appear. Keep in mind that neither the resort, timeshare company, nor the sales people are required to update you about the rescission. They are only required to rescind and refund, so don't panic by going and calling any of the aforementioned parties inquiring about your rescission and refund.

The maximum 45 days that you cite for refund issuance is accurate here in the U.S. (mandated by applicable Federal consumer laws). However, I am not sure whether or not Mexican "law" mandates that same (or any, for that matter) time frame for refund issuance. I hope so, but Mexican "law" is a foreign and unknown concept to me.