Krystal International Vacation Club

Krystal International Vacation Club would like to invite all resorts in the locality of Cancun, Ixtapa and Peurto Vallarta to support and contribute to our campaign to raise standards of business practice within the Timeshare Industry

Our Vacation Club is one of the longest established of its kind, and has been patronised by the rich and famous since the 1960s. We are proud of our reputation as the most trustworthy timeshare company in Mexico, and we are delighted that we have so many thousands of satisfied members.

We are presently alarmed by the rising trend of complaints being made by vacationers from the US and Canada. The phrases they use in describing what is happening include scam, fraud, con, rip-off and swindle. They report incidents of misleading and disreputable sales tactics and techniques, and of being lied to by greedy salespeople and cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In these hard economic times, all Mexican businesses suffer when such horror-stories are advertised within the public domain. People are being warned to beware of Mexico altogether, simply a result of a few rogue companies taking advantage of innocent vacationers.

Consumer action can be powerful and we are sure that all our fellow Vacation Membership Clubs will wish to ensure that our reputations are not become tarnished by these allegations, that all timeshare salesmen are liars and thieves. The very terms Timeshare Scam or Timeshare Fraud appearing on the internet can deter people from coming on to a sales presentation at all, no matter how reputable the company. No amount of free gifts, free breakfasts, free trips or rewards will persuade them to come along. That way, everybody loses.

Here at KIVC, we feel we must listen to and learn from the concerns being expressed by visitors to Mexico. Krystal International Vacation Club takes any complaints concerning our sales team very seriously. We do not know how many of the complaints about other resorts are true, and if they are truthful they may not be the whole story. However if people complain to us of sales malpractice and say they want their money back, we conduct a thorough investigation, and we dismiss any person subject of a substantiated complaint. We would urge all our fellow companies to adopt the same robust approach, for the sake of our industry as well as our customers.

We may all invite vacationers on sales tours, but we must not practice any deceptions or, for example, allow them to believe that there are no maintenance fees or no entitlement to cancel the deal. Our own contracts are fully explained to each prospective new member, and we urge other Timeshare Companies to adopt the same fair practices when dealing with clients. We must not make false claims, or refuse to refund when it is justified. This is only in this way that we can regain trust. I repeat, Americans and Canadians are being warned never to trust timeshare salespeople or to believe a word they say. They are being told that all our promises are fake and that they will be conned if they set foot on any club premises. We must not allow innocent people to be duped. We must all unite to clean up our industry and put pressure on the disreputable companies which allow illegal practices to continue in their salesrooms.

KIVC sells membership for a vacation ownership program, using a perfectly legal and reputable approach. We enjoy the solid backing of the Bank of America for all credit card transactions. Our own contracts are clearly written and unambiguous. Our sales team help and support people on sales tours in making the decision which is right for them. We are not guilty of miss-selling. In our view, there is no need for the unethical, shady business practices which being followed elsewhere. There is no need to tell lies. We are doing our best to fight these tricks, and yet they continue, and the result for us all can be a nightmare, resulting in consumers losing huge amounts of money and our businesses suffering.

A common story is that untruthful sales people falsely claim that a timeshare is an investment opportunity for buyers because of the potential for rentals and resales. Renting and reselling your weeks is not guaranteed and not a guarantee of income, but some unscrupulous salespeople will claim to innocent Americans and Canadians that it is a great scheme from which to make money. Innocent people are misinformed and persuaded to hand over their money and, accoring to the consumer reports, the only receipt they get is a complicated contract and little chance of cancellation.