Vidanta is a Mexican corporation that owns hotels, resorts, cruises, a private international airport, and other vacation experiences for upscale travelers. Otherwise known as Grupo Vidanta, the company launched a luxury vacationing club called Vida Vacations in 2010. This club considers itself a vacation membership company that sells timeshares at 15 different resorts throughout Mexico.
Vidanta is one of the most popular Mexican timeshare and resort hotel chains. With locations in Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, and Puerto Penasco, the company offers luxurious amenities such as golf course access, beautiful beaches, high-end fitness centers, and even a show called Cirque du Soleil JOYÀ at their Mayan Palace Resort in Cancun.
Just like with many timeshare providers in the U.S., timeshares that sound too good to be true probably are. Vidanta’s heavy emphasis on luxury experiences and exclusivity is a mask for its tricky sales techniques. And because Vidanta works under Mexican timeshares laws, escaping a contract with them is even more unmanageable than trying to get out of a timeshare within the U.S. Learning about Vidanta’s deceptive way of getting people to invest in their timeshares can save you from a lifetime of wasted funds.
When you visit both Vidanta.com and the Vida Vacations website, there isn’t an option to purchase timeshares online. This is a practice that many established timeshare companies like Vacation Village Resorts and Marriott Vacation Club employ. Their websites focus on the beautiful timeshare destinations and membership perks they provide rather than the logistics and expenses of becoming a timeshare owner.
Since Vidanta capitalizes on the luxury sector of the timeshare market, their website focuses on the exclusivity offered by Vidanta resorts. When you explore the different room and suite options for each destination — for example, The Estates at Nuevo Vallarta or Grand Luxxe at Vidanta Riviera Maya — prices for non-members can range from $1,500 to $16,650 per night. This tactic may incentivize non-Vidanta timeshare owners to see how much they would save if they became an owner. But for people who want to take the next step and explore a timeshare purchase, Vidanta has developed a calculated and high-pressure strategy for pitching timeshare sales.
Rather than offering timeshare sales on their website, Vidanta prefers to pitch their properties in person. Having a face-to-face connection with potential customers and offering them hefty incentives for attending sales pitches is how they get people interested in buying.
An article detailing one consumer’s experience with Vidanta shares that their salespeople are known to target potential customers at high-tourist-traffic spots like boardwalks, airports, and tequila shops in Mexico. In fact, this particular consumer and her husband were approached by a salesman in Puerto Vallarta to get a preview of the new theme park that Vidanta was opening in the area. They were also offered free breakfast, free four-wheeler tours, and two free bottles of tequila in exchange for attending the sales pitch. They agreed, and the next morning, they were picked up under the guise that they’d get early access to the Vidanta theme park.
Instead of whisking them off to the aforementioned theme park, the couple was taken to a hotel lobby and told to pretend to be interested in buying a timeshare. Afterward they were to be transported to the theme park. The initial salesperson then departed, and they were taken to a second property for a complimentary breakfast. They were then met with a Vidanta saleswoman who showed them multiple units and features throughout the property.
Eventually the couple was taken to the resort sales floor where the saleswoman started inquiring about their vacationing budget in an attempt to come up with a suitable timeshare sales price for them. They went back and forth with her, rejecting multiple offers and dodging the saleswoman’s concerns about why they weren’t accepting her proposals. The saleswoman then called in a “closer” who repeatedly told the couple that if they walked away, they would never get the same low offer and that leaving the pitch wasn’t an option.
After upward of three hours trying to talk them down from $89,000 to $2,500, the couple still refused to purchase a timeshare. They were reluctantly sent to retrieve some of the free gifts they had been promised for attending the pitch and were finally released from the Vidanta resort. Contrary to what they had been promised, the couple never got to see the theme park and did not receive a free four-wheeler tour. But having escaped a tirelessly long and aggressive sales pitch was relief enough for them.
Unpleasant interactions like this are not an uncommon occurrence with Vidanta. Their deceptive sales pitch tactics have been used on many unassuming tourists looking for exciting vacation experiences like the ones Vidanta gives away for free. The company is also known for offering free stays at their resorts, generous hotel credits, and several rounds of complimentary drinks throughout their sales pitch process. But according to customer complaints on Vida Vacation’s Better Business Bureau, Vidanta often fails to live up to these offers.
Some customers stated that initial incentives, such as free airfare and room credits, were refuted, denied, or lessened by the end of their sales pitch. Additionally, many customers reported that Vidanta had requested access to their credit card before showing them the terms of their pending timeshare contract. Many then stated that before signing, they noticed their card had already been charged with an unagreed upon amount toward a timeshare they hadn’t even approved yet.
Clearly, Vidanta has upset many customers with their tricky way of conducting timeshare sales. This can be largely attributed to the fact that Vidanta timeshare purchases are supervised under Mexican law. Many regulations set forth to prevent fraud and deception within U.S. timeshare sales are therefore not applicable. This makes escaping an unwanted Vidanta timeshare purchase much harder for American consumers. So, what do you do when you’ve fallen into Vidanta’s trap and are desperately seeking release? Find support with Centerstone Group.
If you were trapped in a Vidanta sales pitch and found yourself signing a contract you now regret, Centerstone Group is one of the few companies in the timeshare exit industry that may be able to assist you. While most timeshare exit companies are unable to work on international timeshare issues, Centerstone Group has designed a release process specific to Mexican timeshares.
Centerstone Group has connections with many consumer protection agencies in Mexico, allowing us to find the right solutions and relief for your timeshare issues. We may be able to get your resort to buy you out of your contract or arrange for a timeshare transfer. Whatever it is that you need, Centerstone Group is here to take some of the stress from owning an unwanted timeshare off of you.
Vidanta may have some of the most beautiful beach resorts in Latin America, such as the Vidanta Los Cabos on the Caribbean and the Grand Mayan Mazatlán on the Pacific Coast. But don’t let that beauty trick you into buying a timeshare that you won’t be able to afford or a contract you can’t escape. Vidanta’s pattern of offering extravagant gifts in exchange for hours-long timeshare pitches is merely a guise for them to pressure you into an overpriced timeshare contract.
If you’ve fallen victim to a timeshare scam and need a solution, Centerstone Group may be able to help. Our innovative three-pronged process for negotiating release is one of the quickest and most affordable in the timeshare industry. Contact us today for a free consultation.
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