I am writing this report after reading a similar report and seeing Custom Vacations Mexico's response stating that they are not a ripoff when I also know this to be true and have experienced the same scam. I request if Custom Vacations is a true company, I request them to rebute my report and contact me to resolve as I am a true client and below is my story.
My family and I purchased a timeshare from The Grand Mayan in Cabo San Lucas (a.k.a. VIDA Vacations/ The Bliss Resorts) by Stephanie Miller on 7/14/2013. Please keep in mind that the property of Grand Mayan and the timeshare is legit and is a beautiful property, please just make sure you know what you are purchasing and sleep on it first.
Our story is to explain the process and warn you in regards to The Timeshare/Vacation Ownership Rental process and of Custom Vacations Mexico:
We purchased the timeshare for the main purpose of selling our first timeshare to them and in turn the new timeshare was a a beautiful property and less expensive per month for a higher amount of weeks per year. Also we purchased the timeshare due to the incredible deal we looked like we would recieve, through the value of renting out our 3 weeks for $800/week and a refund of the maintenance fee every year. Stephanie was insistent on the fact that we could recieve about $800/week on our 3 weeks, and then her Manager met with us and drew a diagram (you know, backwards on a yellow notebook paper) explaining everything as well. Then, they even gave us a list of Vacation Ownership Rental & Resale Companies that we could choose between to use as soon as we return. However, they do say in a hushed voice afterwards that they can not recommend us purchasing the vacation ownership for a purpose of renting them our or an investment purpose.
But the key purpose that I purchased the timeshare, as I explained to them was to rent out the weeks I was not going to use and Stephanie and her manager said that was a good idea and she even pointed out the one she would recommend we use which was Golf Network by CVM (Custom Vacations Mexico).
When we got home excited about using our new timeshare, and the fantastic properties... that is when reality hit:
First, it turned out that they did not purchase our previous timeshare from us as they told us they did, nor did they use our equity from the previous timeshare. They only used it as a sales tactic, and somehow used it internally. We now are the proud owners of TWO timeshares...great.
Second, and the most important fact I recently came to realize is that the Timeshare Rental process is a rip-off. Within about 2 weeks after we returned home, I called two rental companies to both try and verify the company and to see the options on price and the rental price I could expect to receive. We chose Golf Network by CVM as they sounded easy to work with and they said they would rent out both properties for us and should expect them rented by May or June 2014. The membership fees were $442 for one property and $222 for the second= $664 total for Lifetime Membership (Keep in mind, at the time I could not find any reports or scam incidents online to make me suspect anything and I did my due diligence). I called on April 3rd and scheduled a call with Emma Kutash, our representative to let us know our status, but Emma never called back. Then, I emailed Emma at [email protected] and [email protected] , but no response or notification. I then called back in May and was told by the receptionist that Emma is simply a sales representative and that my weeks have not been rented and will receive a call or email notifying me when they have been rented.
It is now September 26, 2014 and after not recieving a call back or email, I attempted calling again but the number is disconnected, the website is down and there are 12 reports explaining how other people have also been scammed/ripped off. I am so frustrated and disappointed as we thought this would be a fantastic way to rent out unused weeks.
I hope that you read this before it happens to you as well. Please keep in mind, that I am happy with my Timeshares and our family have traveled to some wonderful countries through RCI and Interval International Exchanges, so I do not believe that a timeshare is a scam, but you must be careful with your purchase and know exactly what you are recieving before you make your purchase.
As I stated, I would encourage Custom Vacations Mexico (if they truly exist and are a true company) to refute my story and refund my $664 or prove me wrong.
We too were duped at the Grand Mayan, Bliss resorts in Riveria Maya, Mexico. I have sent several emails to Robert Martinez and the CVM group but have not received any answers. We are going to contact the Vida Vacation people directly to see if we can get any answers.
Hello and thanks for the previous person that commented on their scam issue.
I too dealt with Emma Kutas, I must've spelled it wrong still, same S@&T, back in November of 2011 saying that the year of 2012 will be ghetto rented year and the funds or profits would be mailed or deposited on or by Mar of 2013.
Well we are closing 2014 now and there is now response, and most likely won't be either. Sucks how things seem real and they just end up being a damn scam and hurt people.
Ir also happen yo me when i pay this suppose company forma a ten year contract ti rent muy unused weeks can de mayor this a complain and do somthing about ir??? Hace you found out if we can do something about this and sue them???
In March of 2013, I had almost the same thing as above, happen to us but we still have our original time share and now 6 weeks at the Grand Mayan. That resort is gorgeous but we don't need 6 weeks. We were told CVM would rent them for us for a very good amount. I won't go into detail as we are the same as above but even more weeks. Now, not only do we not have that money for renting some of our weeks that we were planning to help pay for the purchase, we now have weeks we can't use. My husband only gets 4 weeks holidays, not the 6 we purchased, I had a feeling it would end up like this but the sales woman from the Grand Mayan said there would be no problem renting our weeks. I feel we were scammed. We are going there for two weeks the end of October and I plan on talking to someone about this. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Vida didn't own CVMex.
I have just discovered that the $399.00 I paid to this network in Feb 2014 must be gone! I can't find a phone # that answers in English and no one to help online. WHAT IS GOING ON??
I concur with all the reviews that I have read here, all points mentioned and all of the frustration expressed. We also worked with Juan Carlos Lozada...to no avail. We too paid $399 for a life time membership. I hold Vida Sales partially responsible for mis-representing the fact that this investment can be income bearing. It was, without a doubt, an emphasized selling feature and one of the primary reasons we bought in. The fact there are so many subcontractors involved, all having their own rules and requirements, makes it very difficult to manage the issues. And, of course, everyone has their disclaimer. We have always had positive experiences with our timeshares, until now. We feel duped.
Shame on you Vida Sales for allowing shady and high pressure sales techniques/tactics. Shame on you Vida Sales for not informing your owners that The Golf Network is defunct....after all it was Vida Sales that supplied us with "Vacation Ownership Rental & Resale Companies" paperwork, stating that Golf Network was the best...even putting a star by their name. Of the five companies, they were one of the most expensive. Might Vida Sales have received a commission on the $399 we paid?
We are seriously thinking about paying a visit to our resort (Bliss) to discuss this issue with upper management.
Custom Vacations Mexico is a scam that was sadly promoted by some of the timeshare people involved with the Bliss/Grand Mayan resorts. The timeshare sales people represented this as a "must have" to save on golf fees and gain promotional benefits. This is just another way that timeshare companies get bad reviews among other misrepresentations. The Grand Mayan and Bliss resorts should distance themselves from this type of Ripoff and immediately remove any of the timeshare persons knowingly promoting this type of deception. They should pursue legal action against this type of company and their sales staff for using their property name and association when selling this Scam!
Cvmex.net Reviews
To it may concern,
I am writing this report after reading a similar report and seeing Custom Vacations Mexico's response stating that they are not a ripoff when I also know this to be true and have experienced the same scam. I request if Custom Vacations is a true company, I request them to rebute my report and contact me to resolve as I am a true client and below is my story.
My family and I purchased a timeshare from The Grand Mayan in Cabo San Lucas (a.k.a. VIDA Vacations/ The Bliss Resorts) by Stephanie Miller on 7/14/2013. Please keep in mind that the property of Grand Mayan and the timeshare is legit and is a beautiful property, please just make sure you know what you are purchasing and sleep on it first.
Our story is to explain the process and warn you in regards to The Timeshare/Vacation Ownership Rental process and of Custom Vacations Mexico:
We purchased the timeshare for the main purpose of selling our first timeshare to them and in turn the new timeshare was a a beautiful property and less expensive per month for a higher amount of weeks per year. Also we purchased the timeshare due to the incredible deal we looked like we would recieve, through the value of renting out our 3 weeks for $800/week and a refund of the maintenance fee every year. Stephanie was insistent on the fact that we could recieve about $800/week on our 3 weeks, and then her Manager met with us and drew a diagram (you know, backwards on a yellow notebook paper) explaining everything as well. Then, they even gave us a list of Vacation Ownership Rental & Resale Companies that we could choose between to use as soon as we return. However, they do say in a hushed voice afterwards that they can not recommend us purchasing the vacation ownership for a purpose of renting them our or an investment purpose.
But the key purpose that I purchased the timeshare, as I explained to them was to rent out the weeks I was not going to use and Stephanie and her manager said that was a good idea and she even pointed out the one she would recommend we use which was Golf Network by CVM (Custom Vacations Mexico).
When we got home excited about using our new timeshare, and the fantastic properties... that is when reality hit:
First, it turned out that they did not purchase our previous timeshare from us as they told us they did, nor did they use our equity from the previous timeshare. They only used it as a sales tactic, and somehow used it internally. We now are the proud owners of TWO timeshares...great.
Second, and the most important fact I recently came to realize is that the Timeshare Rental process is a rip-off. Within about 2 weeks after we returned home, I called two rental companies to both try and verify the company and to see the options on price and the rental price I could expect to receive. We chose Golf Network by CVM as they sounded easy to work with and they said they would rent out both properties for us and should expect them rented by May or June 2014. The membership fees were $442 for one property and $222 for the second= $664 total for Lifetime Membership (Keep in mind, at the time I could not find any reports or scam incidents online to make me suspect anything and I did my due diligence). I called on April 3rd and scheduled a call with Emma Kutash, our representative to let us know our status, but Emma never called back. Then, I emailed Emma at [email protected] and [email protected] , but no response or notification. I then called back in May and was told by the receptionist that Emma is simply a sales representative and that my weeks have not been rented and will receive a call or email notifying me when they have been rented.
It is now September 26, 2014 and after not recieving a call back or email, I attempted calling again but the number is disconnected, the website is down and there are 12 reports explaining how other people have also been scammed/ripped off. I am so frustrated and disappointed as we thought this would be a fantastic way to rent out unused weeks.
I hope that you read this before it happens to you as well. Please keep in mind, that I am happy with my Timeshares and our family have traveled to some wonderful countries through RCI and Interval International Exchanges, so I do not believe that a timeshare is a scam, but you must be careful with your purchase and know exactly what you are recieving before you make your purchase.
As I stated, I would encourage Custom Vacations Mexico (if they truly exist and are a true company) to refute my story and refund my $664 or prove me wrong.
Thank you for listening.
Similar experience
We too were duped at the Grand Mayan, Bliss resorts in Riveria Maya, Mexico. I have sent several emails to Robert Martinez and the CVM group but have not received any answers. We are going to contact the Vida Vacation people directly to see if we can get any answers.
Cvmex must be a scam !!
Hello and thanks for the previous person that commented on their scam issue.
I too dealt with Emma Kutas, I must've spelled it wrong still, same S@&T, back in November of 2011 saying that the year of 2012 will be ghetto rented year and the funds or profits would be mailed or deposited on or by Mar of 2013.
Well we are closing 2014 now and there is now response, and most likely won't be either. Sucks how things seem real and they just end up being a damn scam and hurt people.
Shame on you.....
big ripoff
Ir also happen yo me when i pay this suppose company forma a ten year contract ti rent muy unused weeks can de mayor this a complain and do somthing about ir??? Hace you found out if we can do something about this and sue them???
CVM is fake
In March of 2013, I had almost the same thing as above, happen to us but we still have our original time share and now 6 weeks at the Grand Mayan. That resort is gorgeous but we don't need 6 weeks. We were told CVM would rent them for us for a very good amount. I won't go into detail as we are the same as above but even more weeks. Now, not only do we not have that money for renting some of our weeks that we were planning to help pay for the purchase, we now have weeks we can't use. My husband only gets 4 weeks holidays, not the 6 we purchased, I had a feeling it would end up like this but the sales woman from the Grand Mayan said there would be no problem renting our weeks. I feel we were scammed. We are going there for two weeks the end of October and I plan on talking to someone about this. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Vida didn't own CVMex.
There goes more money down the drain
I have just discovered that the $399.00 I paid to this network in Feb 2014 must be gone! I can't find a phone # that answers in English and no one to help online. WHAT IS GOING ON??
Juan Carlos Lozada PLEASE reply!
Confirmation of all reports listed above
I concur with all the reviews that I have read here, all points mentioned and all of the frustration expressed. We also worked with Juan Carlos Lozada...to no avail. We too paid $399 for a life time membership. I hold Vida Sales partially responsible for mis-representing the fact that this investment can be income bearing. It was, without a doubt, an emphasized selling feature and one of the primary reasons we bought in. The fact there are so many subcontractors involved, all having their own rules and requirements, makes it very difficult to manage the issues. And, of course, everyone has their disclaimer. We have always had positive experiences with our timeshares, until now. We feel duped.
Shame on you Vida Sales for allowing shady and high pressure sales techniques/tactics. Shame on you Vida Sales for not informing your owners that The Golf Network is defunct....after all it was Vida Sales that supplied us with "Vacation Ownership Rental & Resale Companies" paperwork, stating that Golf Network was the best...even putting a star by their name. Of the five companies, they were one of the most expensive. Might Vida Sales have received a commission on the $399 we paid?
We are seriously thinking about paying a visit to our resort (Bliss) to discuss this issue with upper management.
Unite against
Who can I contact to unite against this? for this is a scam.
CVM / Custom Vacations Mexico is a Scam!!!!!
Custom Vacations Mexico is a scam that was sadly promoted by some of the timeshare people involved with the Bliss/Grand Mayan resorts. The timeshare sales people represented this as a "must have" to save on golf fees and gain promotional benefits. This is just another way that timeshare companies get bad reviews among other misrepresentations. The Grand Mayan and Bliss resorts should distance themselves from this type of Ripoff and immediately remove any of the timeshare persons knowingly promoting this type of deception. They should pursue legal action against this type of company and their sales staff for using their property name and association when selling this Scam!
esa empresa desapartecio
en este momento cvmex no existe, y perdi 399$ tratando de rentar mis semanas del Mayan Palace
que tal si no unieramos y trataramos de causar algun tipo de accion legal?