Krystal Grand Cancun, Global Connections Resort, Rafael Septien Reviews
Apr 10, 2015
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Zona Hotellera and were looking for a day's trip to Chichenitza. From one of the stalls that sell these packages, we bought this package. He told us he would give us a great discount if we were ready to attend a one-hour presentation where lunch would also be served while there was no need to worry since we would get the discount even if we said No. We agreed.
Next day, we went in for the presentation. First came a guy who was gonna show us around the property. We were told that the Krystal group had also bought the Hyatt Regency and they were in for a major remodelling. Then we were taken into the presentation office on the second floor. In came Rafael Septien. We were told he once played for Dallas Cowboys. Even though neither me nor my wife are avid football fans, him being a former athelete made it seem not-so-shady.
He started with the plans for the timeshares. When we expressed that we were not interested/could not affford it, he said we were lucky as only for this day, we were gonna get the membership at a major discounted rate. Upon our questioning of this generosity, he told us that some old couple had decided they could not travel anymore and were selling their membership back or rescinding it.
We told him we were not interested in coming to Cancun every year. He told us not to worry and to look at it from an investment perspective rather than just savings on vacations. He told us if we bought the timeshare and did not use those weeks ourselves, we could rent them on the market (through a broker - Global Connections Resorts) and make ~7500$ every year. Hence, a ~35000$ return on an investment of ~11000. We asked if there were any guarantees, when he told us that they have a great rental history and these brokers are very good at dealing with the market. When we were still not convinced, he said THE RETURNS ARE GUARANTEED. We were also given complimentary weeks to sweeten the deal along with some cruise certificates.
When we told him we could not even afford this discounted membership, he told us he could approve us of barclays credit for 4000$ and the rest of the payments would be on installment basis, starting in 2015. He got us immediately approved. We were told, all that we had to do was pay the broker fee (~800$) upfront so that they could rent out our weeks immediately. We were still not convinced when we were told since we would receive our first payment by December'2014 already, the membership fee would get covered by 2015 itself and all we were looking at were, PROFITS!!
The whole time were being told that we had to - MAKE A DECISION RIGHT NOW!
With a lot of skepticism, we agreed since we though such a return by December would be great to manage our finances.
We came back and were contacted by Global resorts who took the ~800$ fee to rent out my units and told me that by December we will receive our ~7500$ payment.
Story of 2015 -
I contaced Global Connections Resorts in February to enquire about my money and they told me they were running slow and we should be looking at latest by end-April for our 2014 returns. I contacted them again in March to know the status and was now told end-June. My question was how would I ever know if my unit was indeed on the market for renting and if it was rented already but no proceedings were forwarded to me. I have contacted global multiple times but have never received an answer other than - we understand your concerns/frustration Sir, but this is how the market is currently. I contacted Krystal to see how they were doing and they told me they were indeed doing pretty good since this is peak-season.
I was also told by Global that I would have to every year pay a 40$ renewal fee to tell them to put my new weeks on the market.
So far I have paid 2000$ towards the RCI-Barclays credit card, the broker fee of 800$ and some other fees on top without having seen a penny or any guarantee of ever receiving one.
This is all so sad for me and my wife that we were conned like this on our vacation, in a country we really liked and a vacation we really hoped to enjoy but have only been left with the worst conning experience and the feeling of never trusting a fellow human being again.
Krystal Grand Cancun, Global Connections Resort, Rafael Septien Reviews
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Zona Hotellera and were looking for a day's trip to Chichenitza. From one of the stalls that sell these packages, we bought this package. He told us he would give us a great discount if we were ready to attend a one-hour presentation where lunch would also be served while there was no need to worry since we would get the discount even if we said No. We agreed.
Next day, we went in for the presentation. First came a guy who was gonna show us around the property. We were told that the Krystal group had also bought the Hyatt Regency and they were in for a major remodelling. Then we were taken into the presentation office on the second floor. In came Rafael Septien. We were told he once played for Dallas Cowboys. Even though neither me nor my wife are avid football fans, him being a former athelete made it seem not-so-shady.
He started with the plans for the timeshares. When we expressed that we were not interested/could not affford it, he said we were lucky as only for this day, we were gonna get the membership at a major discounted rate. Upon our questioning of this generosity, he told us that some old couple had decided they could not travel anymore and were selling their membership back or rescinding it.
We told him we were not interested in coming to Cancun every year. He told us not to worry and to look at it from an investment perspective rather than just savings on vacations. He told us if we bought the timeshare and did not use those weeks ourselves, we could rent them on the market (through a broker - Global Connections Resorts) and make ~7500$ every year. Hence, a ~35000$ return on an investment of ~11000. We asked if there were any guarantees, when he told us that they have a great rental history and these brokers are very good at dealing with the market. When we were still not convinced, he said THE RETURNS ARE GUARANTEED. We were also given complimentary weeks to sweeten the deal along with some cruise certificates.
When we told him we could not even afford this discounted membership, he told us he could approve us of barclays credit for 4000$ and the rest of the payments would be on installment basis, starting in 2015. He got us immediately approved. We were told, all that we had to do was pay the broker fee (~800$) upfront so that they could rent out our weeks immediately. We were still not convinced when we were told since we would receive our first payment by December'2014 already, the membership fee would get covered by 2015 itself and all we were looking at were, PROFITS!!
The whole time were being told that we had to - MAKE A DECISION RIGHT NOW!
With a lot of skepticism, we agreed since we though such a return by December would be great to manage our finances.
We came back and were contacted by Global resorts who took the ~800$ fee to rent out my units and told me that by December we will receive our ~7500$ payment.
Story of 2015 -
I contaced Global Connections Resorts in February to enquire about my money and they told me they were running slow and we should be looking at latest by end-April for our 2014 returns. I contacted them again in March to know the status and was now told end-June. My question was how would I ever know if my unit was indeed on the market for renting and if it was rented already but no proceedings were forwarded to me. I have contacted global multiple times but have never received an answer other than - we understand your concerns/frustration Sir, but this is how the market is currently. I contacted Krystal to see how they were doing and they told me they were indeed doing pretty good since this is peak-season.
I was also told by Global that I would have to every year pay a 40$ renewal fee to tell them to put my new weeks on the market.
So far I have paid 2000$ towards the RCI-Barclays credit card, the broker fee of 800$ and some other fees on top without having seen a penny or any guarantee of ever receiving one.
This is all so sad for me and my wife that we were conned like this on our vacation, in a country we really liked and a vacation we really hoped to enjoy but have only been left with the worst conning experience and the feeling of never trusting a fellow human being again.
Please recommend how I could get my money back.
Regards.