gone

Nothing

The foregoing post is !00% correct. I was an owner who abandoned my one week one bedroom unit ($10,000 US) because of gross misrepresentation, fraud, and an over-all "we got your money so screw you attitude" from the Owners/Operators. These people are fraud operators. You buy, and then they do what they please regardless of contracts. And legal competence in Mexico is a joke. I tried to hire legal help, and no one would represent me against a timeshare. The lesson is simple, "do not buy a timeshare or any of their derivatives in Mexico", if you want a timeshare buy it in the USA where you are reasonably protected, and have some recourse when things go sour. Also you OWN in the USA, and only LEASE in Mexico.

Did you try to sell? That is what I am trying to do and want to know what you ran into......Annette

I tried to sell it with no luck. Then the fraudulent increase in fees. After that I just wanted to dump it. The place is run by crooks. My surprise is that the Mexican Government doesn't just shut them down.

I am looking at dumping my Rancho Banderas, also. How do you get rid of it? Just walk away? What are the repurcussions of not payiny the annual fees anymore? I would appreciate any help on this. Thanks. Allan

I am "an owner" of 480 points and everything what was typed above is correct. I only want to add a few words. After 6-month-ordeal I recovered approx. one fifth of rebate I was supoused to get. There was Floride commisionar and BBB involved nad I can say only one thing: The rebate company, US administrative services, INC are croocks and thieves ! Their representatives will lie and type these lies on a paper without a second of a hesitation. The owners of the property, Fairmont, wants only their money and I would see them, for example, charging a retired couple $ 100 for damage of the surfboard which was old and used. Brand new board costs in market in Puerto Vallarta only $ 30. The way this company rips their customers off is absolutely incredible. Eating or drinking of anything not bought from bar/restaurant is not permited not only in restaurant, of course. It is not allowed anywhere on the pool deck or patio. Basicaly you can not bring your own chips and coke ouside of your rented condo. I would never think that customers can be treated this way in Western world.

Are the Assessments you're refering to the yearly maintanence fees , or special assessments?

yearly maintanence fees

The welcome.bbb.org website approves the Fairmont Resort Properties LTD. There were like 5 complaints and 4 resolved. Has anyone just disregarded the maintenance fees and not had any finacial reparcussions - other than the loss of purchase price? I want to get rid of this time consuming, money consuming issue. Or can I make reservations for next year and not be afraid? Tina

I have a law firm in Canada who wants to file suit against Rancho Banderas and their outrages assessment fees. They have found a consumer law that they say is an open and shut case against this company. In order to file this suit I need a Rancho Banderas owner from Quebec, Manitoba or Saskatchewan, because the other jurisdictions either do not cover all of Canada or cost could be awarded against the plaintiff, who will step up and be part of this claim. Once the claim is filed all owners past and present will be called on to join the suit. Please send me an email at tnisivaco@yahoo.com and I will fill you in on the details.

I am living in California. This year I didn't for the first time paid assesment fees and sent an email to Rancho Banderas "to shove the time share into their ..." Sincerely. Peter Deutsch

I also am not paying this years fees. I have not used my timeshare once in the past 5 years because they either don't answer my e-mail requests or they tell me wait to reserve and then say "oops...you missed the deadline...

We visited Rancho Banderas in 2001 when it was early in construction. (They did have a nice pool.) They offered a money back deal after some years. The odd thing was, the rebate would be invalidated if anyone reminded you of the time to claim! One almost felt we could not even write ourselves a memo! Did not buy. Whew. MD

I do live in BC, however if I can be of any assistance please contact me.

we were also duped i want to know about the ramifications anyone has had after not paying either the balance, the fees, etc. The promissory note is supposedly enforcible in NY which I doubt due to the company being a non us entity. Yet any legal actions must be taken up against them in Barbados as stated in the ownership contract and they're a Canadian company?. The Mexican or Belizian authorities(costa maya) don't have an adequate legal system. What steps can they take if we refuse to be held up by Bandit Banderas. We still owe on our balance and want our money back. We will not send them a dime

I have not sent them this years maintanance fees...we will see what happens.

we also own/owned at rb. we have never stayed there but transferred our points to iw and received some very nice trades, much better than what rb had to offer. as we were looking at the trend of increasing maint. fees, we thought we would be clever. we bought 4 weeks in 2007 at 2007 fees and rb was more than happy to sell us those weeks. in 2008 i got a nasty letter telling me i owed the difference between 2007 and '08 fees times 4. did i say nasty, no just damn out right rude. in 2009 another letter telling me to pay up for '08 and '09. we have used up our 4 weeks and happy we scammed them.

I live in Oregon and am very upset that I can't unload Rancho Bandidas! I also was wondering if I can just not pay the fees. For the past 2 years I banked my points with Interval International, so I hope I can at least use them. Did you hear anything from them after you told them to shove it? Thanks, Linnea

These guys are crooks, just like the Cashback America guys.

I didn't pay this year and I just received a letter stating that Purchase and Sale has been rescinded, without further notice. Vacation rights and users rights have been terminated and returned to the developer.

Sounds like you can count yourself lucky to be out of this resort, even at a sharp loss.

What I find interesting is the fact that folks in your situation quite naturally try to sell. And what does the buyer get? Think about this when you are urged to "only buy resale". If you do, be very sure that what you get is in a reputable company. Cheap can be very expensive. There may be a reason! MD