THE THEFT AND FRAUD CONTINUES...ON & ON
Hello all,
We just returned from MAZ; although we stayed at the Mayan Palace (one of our timeshare resorts) we visited our other resort Playa Maria.
We requested an owner's update since we were in Maz. We were shocked to learn that Playa Maria is no longer; the owners have declared bankrupt and another company purchased Playa Maria and renamed it Crown Marina Golf Resort within the last 2-3 weeks. We received no notice prior to traveling to Maz.
The new owners have declared all the contracts void unless you are willing to pay additional money to "renew" your contract with the new owners.
We had paid our maintenance fees for the life of the previous contract & paid off our loan with Playa Maria. The Salesman name Frank kept saying we are going to honor your contract; however in order to keep our ownership with Crown Marina Golf Resort and not lose the money that we had paid in, we had to pay extra money.
Per Frank, he stated letters will be sent to all the owners. Owners, you will be surprised to learn of the new changes.
Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone else is having difficulties sending emails to Carlos. I've tried all 3 email addresses and they've been returned. I'm hoping that the email is down.
The Playa Maria distribution list if for Playa Maria Owners (aka Torrenza). The Villas Coral are not a part of PM at this time. They were the former owners (Crown Bay, Grand Bay).
Actually, their appears to be a dispute over ownership but at this time it is the COVI group, not the Villas Corals (Jose Manuel). At least that is our understanding.
We are now at Playa Maria and the only email for Carlos we have is Carlos_galindo@hotmail.com. They are not confirming reservations for next year. Anyone with confirmed reseravation for this year (those made last year) are being accepted - I am not aware of anyone being turned away and we have been here a month.
If you are a PM owner and on the Distribution List you can contact members currently staying at PM.
Please add my name to the owners' list for PM, AKA Crown Bay, AKA Grand Bay, etc.
I was there for a week in February, 2009, surprized to find the name change when stopping by to check on things. Wanted to pay my 2009 maintenance fee, and that's when I got the update: new owners, increase in maintenance fees, and a one time assessment of $950. While researching my file with the manager, he could find no record of the past two years maintenance fees paid. He indicated that this was the case with many of the owners and that the prior owner had taken the funds, and was now in jail. If I paid the $950 fee, and booked my 2 weeks for 2010, he would give me two weeks credit each for 2007 &2008, plus 2 more bonus weeks for the 2010. I still have one week of 2009 left. This would give me a total of 9 weeks that I could use together in 2010, or split them up. Also my maintenance fees are frozen for the duration of my contract (25yrs) at $500/2weeks/yr.,plus 18%tax for the duration o9f the contract. I paid half of the fee; remaining due on April 15th,2009. I have all of this in writing, signed by Karla Nieto, Member Services Department.
We were able (we think) to confirm our reservations for the Villas in May. They did not have a record of us having paid our maintenance fee for those 2 weeks but we were able to prove it to them we paid because of a money order receipt.
The email we got through on is:
nietok2004@gmail.com - Karla Nieto
We will update this blog when we are there or when we get back.
Another interesting website if you have not been on it is:
http://mazatlanfraud.blogspot.com/
Hope this is helpful, will send more when we know,
Am interested to learn how to "walk away" from my maintenance fee contract. I'm willing to give up the money invested to purchase 2weeks of timeshare for my peace of mind. Have read the blog about the current owner, Jose Manuael Criserna Velacuez, and the possible illegal activities he's involved in.
I saw his "security men" at PM in February, and frankly they frightened me, a single woman.
Thank you for any direction you can give me.
So glad to find you!
We bought Januarys, unit #58, at Marina y Villas Coral at Isla Mazatlan in 2006. We have a 5-year contract in which we let them use the first 3 years to rent out. That means 2010 is the first year we could use it - but I've found out that the unit we bought isn't even owned by them! They supposedly had an option on it, but I believe #58 ws since bought by another company.
I can't get them to return my emils or letters to get more information and was beginning to assume they were out of business. The last letter we received from them was a message to start sending payments to a place in Laredo_Texas-Vacations.
Laredo Texas, not to B of A, and it was signed Crown Bay Residences.
My next letter was to be to Profeco in Mazatlan, but maybe someone has an email address that works. (I tried Payode1@islandresortsandvillas.com.mx but it never goes through).
Yes, please add me to your group mail with any informaatio about this company. It sounds like they're connected.
Re Island Villas and Resorts: I too have not been able to reach anyone (all e-mail addresses seem to be cancelled)
Noe of the individuals I have previously contacted have valid e-mail addresses.(i.e. Carlos, Jorge, Paty, Yuri, etc.)
If anyone knows what is happening at this particular entity, please let me know.
We are fractional owners of home #34 from Cannon Beach, OR. We purchased in Feb 2007. Supposedly the house was to be completed by Nov or Dec of 2007 as there was to be this BIG GRAND OPENING celebration that we were to be notified and invited to in December 2007. Never happened! When we went to Mazatlan in June 2007 to check why we were not getting any kind of response back from Manual Cristerna, or his "PR Man" Federico Medrano Barros, we showed up and chased them down. We had a meeting with Federico and he assured us that our home would be ready before we arrived in Feb 2008. Federico said that he would email us pictures to show us of the progress being made on our place. In Feb 2008, when we arrived, our house was not even close to being completed. They had to put us up in another house for our month. In the house that they put us in, it was tastefully furnished but there was still no satellite tv, phone or many of the things that were listed in the contract that we signed. We had to fix the pool ourselves because it did not work. Again, they promised by the next year Feb 2009 that our house would be completed and we would not have to worry about anything. While we were there in 2008, the construction on our home was making progress but when we showed up in Nov 2008, unannounced, no further progress had been made. Obviously, everything just stopped once we left. In Feb 2009 when we arrived, we were given the keys to yet a different house that had no pool, no yard, no dock access, many things in the house were not completed, furnishings had been taken from the Villas and were soiled and ripped. Again, no satellite tv and electricity was actually being wired from the house next door. Additionally, our house #34 was stuffed full of furniture from the Villas. When we asked Federico why our house was being used to store the stolen property, he got very nervous and just laughed, like he always does and said "no no not stolen". But all the furnishings that were being stored at our house were removed within two days. But no work resumed on our house. We were inconvenienced by running out of propane and it took two days for us to get our problem taken care of, when everyone knows that you get service usually within an hour. No one at the office had any cash to pay for it. When we complained about being ripped off, they threatened to have the police throw us out. Manuel trades vehicles with his relatives when he is at the isla because doesn't want anyone knowing when he is there for fear he will be arrested again. Have no idea what Feb 2010 will bring when we arrive for our scheduled visit. Anyone else who has been scammed, please feel free to contact us.
"ripped off 34"