Royal Holiday Reviews

Now I'm looking for our summer vacation destination. NOT happening. ALL dates once again are NOT available! When we do book with them you will have to pay yes another $1000 for the ALL inclusive to them AFTER you already paid them 10's of thousands of dollars for your membership already. WE will be canceling our membership and we HIGHLY recommend getting a membership through IBEROSTAR!!! They honor and welcome their members with open arms!!!

So sad Royal Holiday treats their members this way. Oh and if you do get in for a vacation ALL specialty restaurants are always booked even if you book on the first day you arrive. We have seen over and over again the SPECIALTY restaurants be empty and ONLY a half a dozen tables filled!!! SAD. They take your money and run but when they need YOU for hurricane relief they know who to LEAN and CALL on!!!

Another way of accumulating points is to use what is called an accelerated provision, which allows you to use your points from your 30th year in the plan (this is an obligation, once you sign up, you're stuck for 30 years, it is by no means voluntary). So, if you have 5000 points in your 30th year and you use those points during your first year of membership, your term has been reduced by two years after your first year in the plan (the first year plus the 30th year of which you have used your entitled points for that year). Sound reasonable? Not really. The reason is this: In order to use your entitled points in your 30th year, you must also pay the $415 yearly maintenance fee for that year, in addition to the $415 yearly maintenance fee for the current year. Also, you must use this feature at least 15 times over the life of your membership in order for it to benefit you.

In other words, if you take advantage of this feature (accelerated provision) only 14 times, you are obligated for the full term of 30 years! It should also be noted that over the life of your membership, you are entitled to the carry over provision (remember earlier-5000 points earned the prior year entitles you to carry over those 5000 point plus 1000 points earned the following year) only 10 times over the course of your 30 year obligation.

This data isn't in the contract when you sign up, however there is a provision in the contract that tells you that this information is on the company’s website and that you understand this before you sign the contract. My recommendation is that if you are considering signing up with this company (normally high pressure sales at one of their resorts), that you review the destinations that you will be travelling to and see if you will have sufficient points for that destination for the amount of time that you plan on staying there (6000 points sounds like a lot unless it requires 10000 points or more to stay at the resort of your choosing).

The seasonal offers are one of my favorite features since I am more of an opportunistic traveler -- I'm quick to travel if there is a deal in front of me right then and there. I recently was able to visit Grand Park Royal Cozumel. It's a kid friendly resort located on the beautiful island of Cozumel. One of the best things about it is that it is an all-inclusive resort that is located on a foundation of coral reefs. This means that I was able to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes -- scuba diving at any given moment.

Using our vacation points was pretty straightforward. Even though we used the bulk of our points, we're glad to know that it carries over to next year. Who knows - we may book another cruise next year or the year after that if we want to upgrade our vacation package! I am a bit of a culture connoisseur -- I tend to get myself into different cultures and custom ways of life. The slight discomfort when I find myself in a new land is exhilarating, addicting, and reminds myself there's life beyond my city blocks.

One of the places that I love to visit is Mexico. It is simply one of the more friendlier places that I've been, with friendly locals that are accommodating, offer a sense of culture, and are willing to share a drink with me, a foreigner from the United States. During college, my friends and I visited Cancun on a yearly basis. In my adult years, I find myself wanting to experience the hospitality of the country in the form of resorts and all inclusive vacation packages. I already know that different parts of Mexico can cater to my young and wild spirit -- but now as an adult, I find refuge in relaxation.

Eventually, I discovered Royal Holiday Vacation Club. The club works as something akin to a membership to an inclusive organization, utilizing a point system that doesn't expire. Not only that, but these points actually accumulate over the years. This means that if I decide not to use my points for this year, I can then use it next year.

I was happy to see that Royal Holiday Vacation Club doesn't only cater to the party zones of Mexico. I have access to the Pacific coastline of the country, Mexican South, and Central Mexico. This type of diversity is satisfying, since I will be able to visit one region of Mexico this year, and a whole different part of the country the following year.

I am a stay-at-home mom who doesn't have the free time or money to go on frequent vacations. Most vacations have to be properly timed, prepared, and researched. Not only that, but I am an avid fan of cruises. My childhood was anointed with several cruise excursions with my family and I. Now that my children are older and are going off to college, I have been on the hunt for vacation packages that allow me to mix and match different aspects to create the perfect vacation. Not only did I want to go on a cruise, but I also wanted to perhaps visit a resort as part of our vacation.

I've heard mumblings of Royal Holiday Vacations Club in the past, with research finally landing me on the official website. Royal Holiday Club is just that -- a club that specializes in resorts based in and around Mexico. It uses a points-based vacation package, making it flexible and affordable since you can accumulate vacation points throughout the year. It's a rather ingenious way of doing vacation packages, especially since it was apparently founded in the 1980s. Even though Royal Holiday Vacations Club specializes in land-based resorts, Royal Holiday credits can be exchanged for different forms of lodgings and accommodations -- including a cruise.

One of the benefits that I like about the points system is that it offers a bit more flexibility and freedom -- something that I need for a busy business mom. I can buy additional holiday credits or get an upgrade to my membership account. Not only that, but I can use my points and swap them to book a vacation package for my husband or one of my older children. Becoming a club member means that I have ultimate convenience and freedom to choose a cruise or resort at any point of my vacation, with a credit system that grows with me.

Royal Holiday Vacation Clubs have several vacation packages for different parts of Mexico. This includes the Mexican Caribbean area, the Pacific coast, Mexican South, and central Mexico. I decided to visit Acapulco, Mexico. My friends and I wanted a close vicinity to the beaches, access to water sports and the opportunity to disconnect and relax.

I was given the task of researching accommodations that will gladly support myself and three of my friends. We wanted a place that was in Acapulco was relatively close to the beach, and was also very affordable. I decided to go and complete my research via Royal Holiday Vacation Clubs. It's a website that I was familiar with since my family members have used the service before. Not only that, but Royal Holiday Vacation Clubs is a one-stop shop for all of my vacation needs, allowing me to research different prices for different dates, as well as even look up information if I wanted to enjoy excursions or even a cruise trip.

My friends and I stayed at the Park Royal Acapulco. Nestled in one of the more tourist friendly areas of the region, the Park Royal Acapulco was fun, accommodated all four of us, and gave us the opportunity to be comfortable and enjoy our vacation. It houses two swimming pools, with one that is exclusive for adults. This is particularly perfect for us since we didn't feel comfortable sharing a swimming pool with younger folks. There is also a spa and fitness center, for my friends who were inclined to body training even during a vacation. Massage and facial treatments were more of my thing, coupled with a few sessions of reflexology and aromatherapy.

In some cases, I have booked week long stays at low prices and the travel consultant clearly explained conditions attached to the deal. This allows me to plan accordingly and fully understand what to expect. Ambiguity often ruins holidays by causing heat exchanges with the staff at the hotel, resort property or the cruise ship. Royal Holiday Vacation Club's award-winning service offers travel options that are well suited to both family adventures and quiet, romantic getaways. For a while now, my fiancé and I having been taking advantage of the packages to enjoy romantic getaways. The worry-free travels have helped us strengthen our bond and I foresee us booking our honeymoon with the Royal Holiday.

Our stay at the Lake Placid Club Lodges: Less than a year ago, I took my fiancé to the Lake Placid Club Lodges for a weekend getaway. We had read a number of Royal Holiday Vacation Club reviews about the facility before deciding to travel all the way from Los Angeles. We wanted to combine some action adventure and a bit of romance. As it turned out, the reviews and recommendations from the Royal Holiday staff were spot on. The vacation gave us an opportunity to enjoy each other's company outdoors. It was a welcome break from our busy lives back in LA. We spent the weekend skiing and enjoying fine cuisine. We found the amenities exactly the way Royal Holiday catalogs described them. The rooms are spacious and come with HDTV with cable. We had access to high-speed internet.

The vacation enabled us to enjoy scenic views of the stunning landscape surrounding the resort. The spot features a golf course and a beach on Mirror Lake. Memories of hiking in the trails will undoubtedly last for a lifetime. I can recommend both Lake Placid Club Lodges and Royal Holiday Vacation Club to anyone. The resort is ideal for families and couples looking for some outdoor activities. It is a multi-season vacation spot.

Cost is another key factor that determines a great service. We expect reasonable pricing for premium quality travel offers. Additionally, we want vacation clubs to provide significant cost savings and other benefits. Royal Holiday Vacations Club benefits: With every new booking, I started discovering some of the key membership benefits that matched my family's travel needs. The convenience of having professional travel consultants help plan itinerary is also a vital aspect that ensures worry-free holidays. In addition, we gain access to more than 180 travel products, including cruise ships, hotels and resort properties.

Whenever I place a booking, Royal Holiday gives me an opportunity to redeem discount points. This saves me a significant amount of money on transport, accommodation or entertainment. On the other hand, the company also provides access to online resources filled with helpful tips and travel information. This helped me become a savvy traveler and discover new destinations and activities that excites and reinvigorate my entire family. For many years, I struggled to find a vacation club that offers maximum flexibility and control. All that changed when I joined Royal Holiday. A travel consultant with the firm informed me that I can make reservations, roll over or rent accumulated holiday credits. This means I can use the points when I want, thus giving me control of how to leverage discounts.

The majority of reservations I have made up to this stage were via the internet. I was pleasantly surprised that online bookings give me an opportunity to earn 500 points. This truly sweetens the experience and the deals. Royal Holiday Vacation Club Reviews: The trip to Rio - On one of the trips I booked with Royal Holiday, I took my family to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We stayed at the Rio Othon Palace located on the famous Copacabana beach. The adventure went smoothly thanks to helpful and friendly staff at Royal Holiday. They helped us plan our itinerary. We were given useful tips that helped turn the vacation into an overwhelming success. The accommodation at the Rio Othon Palace was excellent. It matched the description given to us and we checked in to a room listed on our booking papers. To me, that was a sign of great customer service on the part of Royal Holiday Vacation Club.

Flexibility: I am the first person to run for the hills when a service provider fails to demonstrate attention to detail or great customer care. Fortunately, a couple of years ago my in-laws introduced me to the Royal Holiday Vacation Club. I tried the service by booking a trip to Cancun, Mexico. We stayed for the weekend at the Park Royal Cancún. From the personalized service and the flexibility to awesome discounts, my first impression was positive. I was relieved to know that I could count on my Royal Holiday membership to take advantage of real value for money. A combination of flexibility, freedom and convenience does the trick for me.

In addition, the club membership allows members to handle holiday credits. It is easy to accumulate, accelerate, rent, save or rollover the credits depending on preferences or vacations needs. My wife and I love this level of control. The holiday packages also enable us to invite friends or family to join on a cruise, resort stay or other adventures. This is coupled with a wide variety of travel options, which are available at any time of the year.

Royal Holiday Vacation Club Reviews: Mexican holiday experience. The trip to Mexico truly opened my eyes to a refreshing side of Cancun, the area is home to one of the most spectacular beaches in the world. The adventure also gave me the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of timeshare club membership. It became easier to feel like royalty. It comes as no surprise that many members are regular visitors to this destination.

The Park Royal Cancun is undoubtedly a landmark that complements the beauty surrounding it. My wife and kids loved the panoramic views of the Caribbean and the cuisine. The facility offers three full service lounges, a huge buffet-style restaurant and other eateries. The Italian cuisine on offer is just out of this world. Sunsets in this part of Mexico are magical. The Park Royal features a steam room, a spa and fitness center in addition to the Shiatsu and Swedish massage center. The place is invigorating; I liked the staff's friendly service and attention to detail. They were professional and knowledgeable.

The Royal Holiday Vacation Club rules: Although I was worried that some membership rules hidden in the fine print could spoil our fun, it turned out that Royal Holiday Vacation Club keeps the rules to a minimum. The club also ensures that key information is explained to members before signing up or departure. For this reason, I became convinced that my decision to switch from my previous service provider was a good move. The help desk staff told me that room assignments are determined at check-in. This means that the room listed in the booking papers may differ with the one assigned by hotel or resort. Transparency ensures that there are no nasty surprises when checking in and I like that. Some vacation firms do not provide such information beforehand.

The hotel we stayed in at our last holiday in Tijuana was five star. It was clean and neat and contained the basic necessities to be comfortable such as a bar fridge and small appliances. We also had a few fancy benefits such as the free WiFi in our room and cable TV. So while you could call those standard features in most hotels, I was quite impressed by them and it made relaxing in the evenings easier.

I have actually seen a few bad reviews about the company, but also noticed that these people are actually not paying the membership fees and any company would not be too impressed by that. As for communication problems that many people complain about, try communicating out of Thailand. When dealing with foreign countries these things are bound to happen. I do believe that some people have gotten bad service, but there are bound to be a few bad apples in any company, which is rather unfortunate and I am thankful that I didn't receive service from them! I am also thankful that I have a signed copy of my contract so that if things ever didn't go according to plan, I have my documentation to refer back to.

There are a few things that are included in the fine print. We had to find this out the hard way, but it basically taught us to do this from the onset, so even that was a good thing. There are some things we could not use our credits on and you will have to refer to your contract to find out what they are. For us personally, we just stick to the available options provided by the Royal Holiday Vacation Club. It less complicated this way.

As far as service goes, we have always been happy with our service from the Royal Holiday Vacation Club and also the hotels that we have stayed at. The food has been great as well. We received good food, service and accommodation. I also worked out our cost for going on each trip and we would definitely have spent more if you booked these trips on our own. However, we would have gotten much less for the price we would have paid. So that said, no company is 100% perfect and there will always be things you are not 100% happy with, but just weigh the pros and cons and you will see the advantages you have with the Royal Holiday Vacation Club.

Other things that I really enjoyed were the catacombs. It was like being back in time and peeking into a dungeon where you can see old skeletons. Also the accommodations and deal we received was $150 less than the best deal our Chase Bank Credit card was offering. Food was outstanding. Some of the best fish I had ever had and the wine was so amazing. I don't think there was a meal we didn't drink. I can not wait to go back to France.

Finally they also said Puerto Vallarta and New Vallarta. I got the same answer. I finally requested my booking on Puerto Vallarta or Nuevo Vallarta, asserting that my wife, personally checked that had place in Vallarta and the agent said... "well it is truth, but it is not for Royal Holiday. It is for particular guests." Royal holiday uses this method of taking off customers. It means that we as club members don't have preference, so they don't respect the preference agreement, neither respect the previous payment done at the beginning of the year. So they have sold two time the same space. It means it's a fraud. Therefore it is not a club. Every time they are committing fraud.

They affected me and my family emotionally for two months, brought me in the uncertainty and deteriorating the expectation of taking vacations. The company has roughly violated the right of holidays - it is a human right - against me, my wife and daughter. I had to pay a hotel in Vallarta and to find the complement in Patzcuaro and to spend more money than I had scheduled. They might lose my holidays in addition to the psychological and emotional damage.

Now we are expats living in Thailand (for almost 2 years now), and Royal Holiday will come in handy for us to travel even more. We are almost done paying off our contract and are looking forward to only annual fees. We have done the math and we would have paid way more by purchasing the trips we took on our own. Most of the complaints I have seen are about people who are not paying their membership. Duh. Any company will harass you if you don't pay. Others have been about misrepresentation from Royal Holiday... which is definitely bad, but I do believe there are bad apples in every group. Just do your due diligence and make sure everything and all changes to your contract are signed, and you have a copy.

As for difficulty in communication, well just try living in Thailand for a while. LOL. Communication in foreign countries is always difficult. As a traveler, I would advise to roll with the punches. Not everything goes as planned. Any trip can be a disaster if you don't travel by this motto. The only downside for us was our inability to use our credits with RCI. Apparently, you have to completely change your account to RCI? Still not sure... but that's ok. We are just picking from the available options on Royal Holiday now. We have been happy with our accommodations, food, and staff. I would recommend.

Page 1 of 5 of the contract states that we are married. We never stated or implied that we were married and we are NOT married. The only wording on page 1 of 5 of the contract that is written in Spanish is marital status. Under marital status it says CASADO. We are Americans and we only speak English. It is misleading that the only thing written in Spanish is our marital status. We had no idea what casado meant until we got home and looked it up. Writing false information on a legal contract is illegal and the practice of giving misinformation in a foreign language is deceptive. Page 4/5 of the contract under item #17 it states that "In the event of deviation in language between the wording in foreign language and that in Spanish language, the Spanish language will prevail." Thus, the Spanish language of marital status "CASADO" prevails on the contract and we are NOT married, thus, making this contract null and void.

Page 3/5 of the contract is missing one signature by the purchaser. Jason ** did not sign this page of the contract, thus, making this page of the contract null and void. Page 5/5 of the contract is missing initials by both purchasers on all 11 items listed requiring initials, thus, making this contract null and void. Page 5/5 of the contract under item #7 states we cannot use our membership until the calendar year of 2018. We were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that we could use our benefits after 10 business days. This is one of the reasons we agreed to purchase the membership.

Addendum page of the contract under paragraph #2 states "Because purchasers are 50 years of age or older on the date of the purchase of this membership, you are entitled to accelerate the use of your holiday credits in accordance with the operating rules of the club." Neither purchaser was 50 years of age at the time of purchase, nor will either of us be 50 years old for many years! Yet, we were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that we were purchasing the accelerated program that would make our membership a 15 year term in lieu of a 30 year term and we would get 20,000 annual points per year. Thus, the addendum page makes the contract null and void as neither purchaser was 50 years old at the time of signing on 1/7/2017.

Holiday Credit Certificate(s) - We were given two 60,000 holiday credit certificates which we were told were a bonus for purchasing the membership package we chose. This was the main reason we accepted the terms of the membership. We would not have purchased the membership without these additional credits, as we did not feel like 20,000 credits a year was sufficient for our traveling desires.

(Terms & Conditions) #1 states that the credits of the certificate are non-transferable. We were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that the credits were transferable to anyone as long as our membership was in good standing. We were very clear with the sales staff that we wanted our parents and our children to be able to use these credits. We would not have purchased the membership had we been given the correct information from the sales staff about how restrictive the bonus credits truly are.

(Terms & Conditions) #6 does not apply for prime season or holidays or holiday weekends. We were told by the sales staff that the certificate points were good for any travel, anytime, anywhere, within the "RCI" book we received. The sales staff also explained that because we wanted to take a cruise to Alaska that we could use part of the 60,000 credits and still have credits left over for another vacation. However, this is also another misrepresentation of facts. The Holiday Credit Certificates don't even list the cruise lines as an option to redeem those points. Holiday Credit Certificate (Folio # **) was altered by Royal Holiday staff when "white out" was used under the terms and conditions paragraph for the activation fee section. Under #9 of terms and conditions it states that the certificate will be void by any alteration or erasure, thus, making this certificate void.

We were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that the Royal Holiday daily all inclusive fee for members was $30 for the regular season and $59 for the high and or prime season. "So you would want to schedule your vacation during the regular season." This of course, was another misrepresentation of the truth. After further review of the RCI resort guide, and our conversation with our rep "Diana," we now know that the fee is $59 no matter when you travel. We were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that their customer service was available 24/7, 365 days a year. However, once we tried to cancel our membership we realized that this was another misrepresentation. The customer service phone hours are limited. They are not 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We were told by the Royal Holiday sales staff that as members, we would have hotel transportation to and from the airport. "Can you imagine coming off the plane and there is a driver, with a sign and your name is on the sign, waiting for you, to take you to your hotel? We even know the kinds of drinks our members like and we will have those waiting for them too. That's the kind of service we give our members." This is completely untrue and a bold lie at best.

In closing, we were told numerous lies by the Royal Holiday sales staff, and they grossly misrepresented the contract we purchased to become a member of the "Royal Holiday family." If this is how you treat your members and or family, we do not want to be a part of it. Nor will we ever go back to another Royal Holiday resort. This has been nothing short of a nightmare and we have wasted more time than we need to in explaining our horrific experience with Royal Holiday. As a member of the U.S. Armed Forces I am appalled that my precious free time spent on vacation would be taken advantage of by a company who uses high pressure tactics in which sales representatives will make any and all promises to get the contract signed. I hope that Royal Holiday takes the ethically correct action and cancels our contract.

It was a huge relief that they didn't try and bully us or threaten to keep our money. We expect our $4000 deposit back within the 15 days they promised. This small office does a million in sales annually so there are a lot of members. Even though this wasn't for us there must be some happy Customers but they don't usually go online to say so. I just felt it fair to express our positive experience.

I would not recommend Royal Holiday or any Timeshare if you are computer savvy and have the time and energy to do all the searches and your financial resources are limited. Travel agents have limited horizons. There are "mini-lies" in their sales pitch. They claim that they can get cheaper travel flights. This is not the case when I first checked flights from Toronto-Mexico in 2011.

The sales process was high pressure and confusing. They misrepresented prices we would pay at the all-inclusives we would have access to as well the total price we would pay for the product we had purchased. There is a delay in getting customer access to the on-line website. For a reason as soon as you have access it is after the 5-day period in which you can cancel your contract (which they do not let you know about), you will figure out that the deal is not such a great deal. After getting home and logged into their customer website - the price misrepresentation became incredibly apparent. What was also misrepresented was the rooms we would be able to book under our package. In all, I have to say that the whole process was confusing, which I am sure is done on purpose. Had the pricing been exactly was they proposed to us, it would have been a good deal. However it was not.

This is my second formal PROFECO complaint about Royal Holiday. As you have seen from the email from Sandra **, Royal Holiday keeps harassing consumers even after I have elected to cancel the contract in accordance with the contract itself and Mexican federal law. I have cancelled my contract both pursuant to the contract itself and Mexican federal law, and Royal Holiday should honor this request.

Despite what Sandra ** states, there were numerous misrepresentations and fraudulent comments made during the hyper aggressive sales presentation. First, Gregorio **, a sales manager, said that once I pay the down payment, the interest rate will be 1% until the principal amount is paid off (USD 9,000 in total). However, the agreement says that it will be 4% for the first 6 months, and it sometimes goes down to 1%, which is clearly different from what he promised.

Gregorio ** also promised that if I paid the principal amount early, I will get a 10% discount on the principal amount. But the signed contract says that it will be reduced to only 8%. Despite these inconsistencies, into the fourth hour of this hyper aggressive sales presentation, Gregorio ** kept pushing me to sign the contract because the differences are not that much money while I was complaining that I have to sit down and eat some food because of my health conditions due to my pregnancy.

Gregorio ** assured me multiple times that I can cancel the contract within five business days for any reason. But when I went down to the sales desk one day after I signed the contract to cancel in writing (which is in accordance of Section 11.a) of the contract, first he said that the contract is canceled, and then he said that it cannot be canceled without a valid reason. Gregorio ** forced me to write down a reason for cancellation which I refused. After I refused, Gregorio ** kept pushing that I have to give a reason which the "board of directors" has to review and sign off. What kind of company has its board of directors review service cancellation requests? After refusing to write down a reason multiple times, I was forced to write down the reason which is that there are all these scam reports against Royal Holiday that I was not made aware before I signed the contract.

Further, Gregorio ** then threatened me by saying that if I try to cancel, there is a penalty which is 30% of the contract price. He accused me of signing a document that said that I would owe them the 30% in the event of cancellation. It was unbelievable. Of course there is no document that says so, and Gregorio ** made multiple promises during the negotiation phase how I can cancel anytime. When I brought up his promises, Gregorio ** then started yelling at me saying that it was only a verbal promise which is not binding, and it is all my fault that I did not read contracts closely before I signed the contract. I could not believe his behavior.

The contract says that I can cancel within 5 business days for any reason if I give proper notice. I have given them proper notice already twice via email and I plan on sending another one via certified mail tomorrow (all three notices attached for your review). Royal Holiday still acts like my cancellation request was improper. I hereby sincerely request that Royal Holiday acknowledge via email at ** that the contract has been canceled by the company and that the company will be refunding the deposit of USD 1,845 to my credit card on file.

Then two days later he calls and says he made the reservation and wanted to give me the confirmation number. I told him I could no longer use this and why did he not call me back as he promised. He said he did call back. Well, that's a lie because he did not leave a message and my caller log shows I had no missed calls that could have been any RH line.

I asked to talk to a supervisor to get this cancelled but there was none around - It was Friday afternoon. CS said they would call back on Monday. No one called so I called and CS told supervisor was in a meeting. Called back and talked to someone else and was told supervisor had a special event that day. I asked for a supervisor to call me back Tuesday. No calls. Tuesday I called and asked to talk to supervisor. No can do since a request was sent to listen to the phone call I had with CS initially. Now it is Friday, more than a week after my initial call on Wednesday last week. HOW do I get to talk to a supervisor or customer service manager at this horrible outfit?

Let me mention room smelled like sewage the whole time, had to beg to get room cleaned, not going to go into great detail but not what I envisioned. Not to mention the all-inclusive of 48.00 per person per day, and the food was garbage, I was sick the first day from the food that I ate out everyday, lived on apples for the week from the market. Needless to say very disappointed! Wish I would have read all the blogs and stayed away... I know this much. It is much cheaper to do Travelocity, Orbitz. We'll go through a travel agent than deal with these folks! This is the catch, they get you as soon as you get to the hotel... most people vacation for 4-5 days, by the time you get home, sit down... boom! Credit card gone through, can't get out! STUCK like chuck!! My 3 years in this godforsaken club or whatever you want to call it can't end fast enough!!!

I don't care how much money I will have to put into this, I am taking this ** company to court! IF ANY OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN FORCES WITH ME, please e-mail me at **. We have to do something! My contract is "only" a three years one, but there are other people who have way longer contracts. PLEASE GUYS, we cannot let them get rid of this this easily!

Now in April 2015 they flagged my credit with four years of unpaid annual fees total $3,440.00. I called the Meridian Financial Services (collections agency) and I was told to get rid of them to pay $1,700.23 to cancel the contract. What pisses me off the most was the collection agent who told me the contract is legal is USA and if I take them to Court I have to paid all the fees. This is ** and unethical way to do business. Royal Holiday is a terrible, horrible and worst timeshare in the whole world.

I agree with all the other reviews, it should be illegal to be on a contract that you signed based on lies and pushy sales people. There should be something we can do as American and our rights should be valid even if we signed in a different country. Please if there's any information on what I should do or how we can handle this situation please contact me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Over the years, we found very limited availability and when we went to inquire about our annuity, we were told we were not eligible as we did not abide by the terms of the "contract". Not only did we buy initially, we bought another amount of points to rent. After returning home, we were informed we were not able to rent more than 30K and we could not rent the remaining 30K. The annual fees continued to climb and availability became almost nonexistent with the loss of several of the "big name" resorts. The entire vacation package is full of scams and since they are located in Mexico, no recourse is available to us.

Salespersons promised that we could trial the membership in half year so as to close us (if we don't like the membership, we can stop paying and keep 30,000 initial points along with other incentives). After talking with their representatives, it is a completely lie. Based on contract law, the contract itself is illegal as it is short of fair dealing and good faith so there is no binding power. After sent a complaint to Royal Holiday for 15 days as required by Mexican regulation, we filed report of fraud to Profeco, the Mexican consumer protection agency and ask for full refund.

My recommendations to all victims of fraud from this company is don't worry about the contract as it is illegal. Stop paying your fees and tell collectors that you are in dispute with the company. Collectors cannot do anything hurting you but reporting to credit bureau. So check your credit report and let the bureau know the fraud and dispute if you do find bad reporting. Group lawsuit is a solution. Since the contract is signed out seas, we don't have enough power to hire lawyers to sue the company in its jurisdiction. I will create a Facebook group for us to unite and exchange information. Think bigger. Try your best to protect others, Canadians, Americans and etc. Communicate with your travel agents to put warning in their website, electronic itinerary, air plan seat back. The company's unethical, fraudulent and illegal business practices are unfair competition to other travel agents. They should see the value of doing the protection action.

Once Royal Holiday sign up 1 member, other travel agents will lose a potential customer for 30 years. Communicate with your parliament member and governments to more protection. If we are successful, the governments will step in to probe the fraud and take out legal actions. Keep your evidence and let's be united. Will let you know the Facebook group after I create it.

Now as we are not using this membership, we don't want to pay the annual fees. They are sending us letters with the annual fees plus interest fees and they are threatening a judgement action. We sacrificed more than 18000 US dollars but we don't want more blackmailing. If we stop paying this annual fee, would there be any problem. Please help, we are really upset and fed up with this scamming. Thank you.

When we signed up with Royal Holidays, we were told that we will be able to accumulate our points and use it anytime while being members and they will never expire. As we were a young newlywed couple, who just began our lives together, we believed this would be a great way to save money to go on vacations anytime we want. However we later discovered that we have to use our points within that year or the next following year.

When we were there at the orientation, they asked me what is my dream vacation and I said the Middle East. And, the sales agent opened the Royal Holiday book and said “You would need many points to go on this trip which you can accumulate over the years and go whenever you are ready.” Clearly we were mislead and given false information.

We were also told that Royal Holidays has a point card system with chain of hotels where these accumulated points can be used towards free nights at these chain hotels (e.g. Hampton Inn Chain and Holiday Inn). We were also told that we will be able to get discounted flight tickets online with our membership. However, later found out that these cards don’t even exist.

As my husband travels for work, we thought this would be a great way to use these points and receive the points card. However, we have not been able to use these points because we did not receive any hotel points cards or airlines points cards. Also there are no cheap flight ticket deals on the Royal Holiday website as we were told.

Next, we were told that we can use our 2 week certificate at the Bavaro Princess Punta Cana which will cover everything except flight expense. However later found out, that this only includes room accommodation and doesn’t include the all inclusive package at the Bavaro Princess. When we joined, we were told that there are only annual and monthly fees. However now, we received another letter with RCI membership requesting for a renewal fee.

This year, as we had accumulated all these points (90,000), we were thinking of making a family trip. Later discovered that, 60,000 points have expired and with the remaining points, I can’t even go to an all-inclusive resort and therefore would have to spend more money during our stay. I want to cancel our membership with Royal Holidays and get our hard-worked 27,000 dollars back. Does anyone have any suggestions in how we can do this?

3. In 2004 I was not made aware that the timeshare could be canceled within five days and this does not appear on my contract (Unaware if the law existed in 2004). 4. No possible solutions are offered to members in good standing (e.g. timeshare fully paid & maintenance fees always remitted) if you are experiencing an illness and/or financial difficulty that will impact your continued maintenance of your membership, as you are told if you default your account will be sent to a collections agency. Is there any restitution and/or protection for myself and others who now and in the future will be sucked dry by Royal Holiday? Also, be aware of the other sharks (e.g. companies, brokers, etc.) claiming that they can help you out of your contract with the company.

The review I read, which is so similar to our nightmare with these dishonest people, dates back to 2001. How can this still be going on in 2014? So many of the details are probably similar in each individual review that it baffles me to realize that nothing has been done really since 2001 with this company. They are still luring honest people. We have lost a small amount of money compared to others, but Royal Holiday continues to rob guests in hotels probably all over Mexico, who knows!!! In Canada, we don't treat guests this way. I know I don't and I believe this was my last visit to Mexico. Too much corruption and too little respect for tourists and guests. In the end, they loose.

Why IFG did it? Because they collected illegally my money in Europe (according to my bank) and they couldn’t correct that (after I contacted them about it). Wonder why if they did legal business. Instead they put me out of the system and kept my money. Tells me that they are not legal in this business for sure. It's been called money laundry. They did in my case no doubt about that, but why the risk? There’s a lot of details to tell in public, but one thing is for sure: a crime. What they did to me is a crime. I do also believe this former IFG Int. (FNG) does illegal business also in States.

Even though our resort was all inclusive, he assured us this resort was far superior. When we arrived, he was correct on that point. The hotel was exquisite. We were quickly shuttled to a desk for a Royal Holiday representative, who took both of our driver's licenses and a major credit card. This was not alarming, as most timeshare presentations do this same thing. We were then passed off to a guy named Emilio to begin our "endless" tour. He gave us a lot of information, drew some pictures, made some graphs, jumbled some numbers and basically made very little sense, but in the end asked the typical sales 101 drone question, "so which sounds better, your way or the Royal Holiday way?"

At this point we were shown the rest of the property, toured a beautiful presidential suite, and finally made our way to the video room to watch the 8 minute beautiful people promotional video. By this time the kids (10 and two 6 year olds) were cranky, hungry and getting bored. We were now met by another woman in an amazing room overlooking the ocean and an infinity pool. Music was blasting, they were feeding you drinks and now bringing food directly to us and the kids who were in the specially designed kid's play room. LET'S JUST SAY, they know what they are doing. The atmosphere was conducive to make you pretty much sign anything.

Once you meet with this woman, she tells you all about the packages and their prices and how that "TODAY ONLY" the prices are not the prices on this normal price sheet, but these "amazing offers" just too good to pass up. After 6 hours and yet another sales woman, this time Rosario (truly the most untrustworthy of them all and I will explain why shortly). In the end, we had agreed to this vacation club package at a Platinum+ level for over $30,000 and $1200 a year maintenance fee.

The saving grace for us was that it took them so long to negotiate, the bank was already closed. We transferred $16,000 to our personal account which they were to debit in the morning. (As we agreed to pay 50% down to get even more amazing deals including 3 years use of any of their resorts in Mexico and DR without using any points and being VIP status) Now you might be asking yourself why we did not google them first, well, here you go: First, we did not have international data on our phones so we could only use the internet if we had wifi. Second, the second salesgirls' iPad conveniently ran out of battery when she went to show me something I requested. Yes, I now realize that was likely a big lie as she did not want to take a chance I would google them.

Once we signed the papers, they put us up in a Jr. Suite for the remainder of our vacation. They told us to go eat dinner, enjoy the shows, go shopping the next day and enjoy complimentary massages, etc. They were definitely planning on keeping us busy. Once we moved everything to their hotel, my husband and daughter went to a show, however, I stayed up in the room with the other two kids since they were exhausted. I had asked for the wifi password upon check-in and he provided me with a free temporary password. Once I was settled, something told me to google the company and see what I could find. I cannot tell you the feeling of panic that came over me when I began to read complaint after complaint and it all began to make sense.

My husband returned to the room and I shared the information with him and after his moment of panic, so began our sleepless night believing that we, like so many countless others, had just lost our hard-earned money to these scam artists. We talked all night about what we would do. We woke the kids at 6am, packed up the room and returned to our old hotel. Luckily we had not checked out, since we were diving there. We did hours of research and here is what we found. Hopefully it will help you.

FIRST, hopefully your money has not been transferred yet and you can get on the phone with your bank first thing in the morning and transfer the money out of that account and cancel any cards related to it, which luckily was the case for us. Contact your bank immediately!! SECOND, no matter WHAT you signed, you CAN cancel the contract within five business days according to Mexican Law (Article 56 of the Federal Consumer Protection Law). They may have had you sign something, if they are letting you stay in a room or giving you some gift, stating that you waive your right to cancel. Don't let that scare you. It is totally ILLEGAL and they know it. You can contact Profeco directly in Cozumel if they try to give you a hard time. All you have to do is threaten them with going to Profeco. Trust me, they do not want that. You have 5 days no matter what!

THIRD, make sure you deliver your cancellation of contract letter in person and make them give you something signed in return. Expect this to take some time because and be a little difficult, believe it or not, they will continue to try to keep you and sell you on a lesser package claiming that you have buyer's remorse! Rosario is the worst at this. She will tell you story after story, trying to relate to you, then continue to push for you to reconsider. Even after you deliver this notice, I would still consider notifying Profeco and US government agencies of your interaction and if you have any difficulty with the return of your money. If you have already returned home when you realize all of this, and you are within your 5 business days of signing the contract, send the letter certified mail and email both to Royal Holiday at the address on your contract, as well as directly to the person who you signed with at Park Royal, and Profeco so that you have proof that you are within your 5 days. (Your email will be the best proof, but the certified mail follows the contract, so best to be safe.)

If it is a large enough amount of money, there is an attorney in Cozumel, Cristina ** who says on her website that she deals directly with timeshares, etc., I would contact her and see if she can provide assistance. REMEMBER, this is their job, and they are darn good at it. They are trained to make this sound amazing and make you want ... almost need it. They are also trained to make you second guess yourself when you try to cancel. They play on your emotions. But you have to also remember that the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is" is almost always the case, and definitely is the case in this situation.

All of the people in these reviews cannot be wrong. The stories are all the same. Are we at fault for falling for it? Absolutely. We thought we were doing something amazing for our family because there are some pretty great clubs out there. (They had me believing they were part of Marriott, by the way) But, what we are choosing to do from here is make sure no-one else falls for this unscrupulous group at Royal Holiday at the Park Royal Hotel in Cozumel, Mexico. Pass this message on to anyone you know heading to Cozumel!

Like 6 months ago I got contacted by Mr. **, a lawyer in a Mexican law firm. He told me he can cancel my timeshare and also get my money back. Anyways he sent me all his info via e-mail, I checked it and I wasn't sure in what to do. A Mexican Law firm named Miller and Markez scammed me with a couple thousands in the past and I was very skeptical about the whole situation.

My wife was sick in the time I needed my money back, and this ** guy only charged 599 USD which I paid. I checked ** and ** website and I noticed a couple of changes which got me a bit worried and shaken up. I was thinking it was "too good to be true" at that moment. That being said, they clarified all of my doubts and felt a bit more secure with the decision I was about to make in moving forward. My gut feeling was saying to trust and let faith decided. My god I was sweating bullets, anxious to find out if I was in for a surprise. They mentioned that my case was approved and that I should be expecting a compensation.

The next couple of days I was reviewing my account constantly and NOTHING!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I was thinking how foolish I could be of falling once!!! I called desperately and Mr. ** was nowhere to be found!!! His secretary told me that everything had turned out to be just fine and that in 24hrs funds should be reflected. I was so sure I had been fooled. Checked my account one last time.... and there it was......!!!! I was in for the surprise of my life!!! Halleluiah!!! Praise the lord!!! I highly recommend the service. They are very patient and you'll be receiving nothing but complete professionalism. Best of luck anyone out there that reads this. God bless.

When I called the associate never mentioned an amount and after taking my credit card info started to say goodbye. I asked her to hold on, how much was charged to my credit card and what name would it appear under on my card? Her response, "Ughmmmmm...hold please." I held for 5 minutes. When she came back she told me she had charged my card for double the amount it should have been, "I'm emailing a form to you, fill in your card number and sign, send back via email for credit to be issued."

One of the clauses states your won't dispute the amount with your credit card company, and I added an addendum that this would apply only if the credit was issued by 8/22/14 (7 days later), because my card closes and I'm not going to pay the extra $355 and wait for their credit. (A credit can be issued as fast as a charge can be made.) I called my credit card company and asked their advice, which was to wait until 8/22 and call for the dispute if the credit didn't show by then. I talked to the supervisor in this billing area today and told her I believe this is a scam they pull on many customers to hold their funds for 5-6 weeks until the customer gets their credit statement and realizes they've been grossly overcharged. I'm checking into having them audited.

Over the years I have been very unhappy and not at all pleased with Royal Holiday and basically don't go on vacation with them anymore. So I pay for a membership that I don't use. After being frustrated from 2010 to 2012 with not being able to use the membership for any vacations since I bought it, I went back to the Bahamas in June 2012 to specifically complain to Pedro ** the sales rep who sold me the membership. When I inquired about canceling the membership he told me that I could not, and that the consequences would be detrimental to my credit. So instead of trying to help me with the situation he suggested changing my membership to something that he called a more favorable membership "Privilege Member". This new membership was supposed to offer the nicer hotels and more nicer rooms and therefore better overall quality and service, but it was a lie and the "Privilege Member" really means nothing and is not better than a regular membership. So again he lied and I am still unhappy with the membership.

Initially, the supervisor that I complained to said that the sales reps are so busy trying to make a sale that they omit a lot of the details that they are supposed to explain to everyone and in fact, when you purchase the membership the representatives do not explain to you in detail the terms of the contract and the few days upon which you have the right to cancel.

When I purposely flew back to the Bahamas in June 2012 to go speak to Pedro **, the rep that sold me the membership, I explained to him all of the difficulties that I encountered with the membership and going on vacation and told him that I wanted the membership cancelled. He told me then that the membership could not be cancelled and the collections department would come after me. I have been obligated to paying over $18,000 and I would like help in taking steps to cancel my contract with Royal Holiday. The money I've wasted in payments is also a major concern and I would like some help in getting it back. I would also like to get further information on what I can do to help shut down this unethical business and spreading the word to more consumers that might end up getting scammed like me.

Finally 2 years after purchasing the membership, I finally managed to go on vacation but had the horrible experiences with the roach and lizard. Of course I complained about those experiences but Royal Holiday did nothing about it. Truly this is tragic and I really could use some help getting away from this unethical and fraudulent company. The stress that this membership is putting on me is enormous and is now affecting my health. And now I have been recently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. This is truly the stupidest thing that I have ever done in my life and trusting Royal Holiday was a huge mistake and I am shocked that the United States Government allow these types of practices to go on with american citizens. Please help me find a way to get away from Royal Holiday and please tell me if you know of any class action lawsuits that I can participate in against this company.

They are asking me 2448 (l Junior suite) and other company 2219 (2 Junior Suites]. They will not help with flight like they said. They said that you only have to make one phone call for the vacation and they will help with everything - flight, hotel, transportation that is another lie. If you flight to all inclusive hotel, you can get better Price and Package with other company plus you do not have to pay the money for point that are worthless. Also they want me to go to Caribbean Princess which is an old 2-star hotel not good. They want me to use my points, this is the only way they can get lower in price but only one room not the studio room that they show before you sign the contract. Now, I want to cancel, they said that I cannot but when I was signing the contract they said, if I am not satisfied, I can cancel any time, another lie. They are taking my money to pay customers services, not for hotels.

We walked across to the office to receive our tour and gifts but the tour man stated all the gifts and tour were now crossed off of the agreement paper and we would get nothing. I asked to speak with the manager who eventually showed up. I explained and he stated we did not give him the opportunity to present the info (meaning we did not sign up). I explained we had been there for 3 hours and gave him the chance. He then told us that as my husband is retired US military, we get flights, etc. free and so we're not eligible for the presentation. Wow!!! We exchanged words and he became very upset and refused to let me speak to his supervisor. He also stated this was his country and I did not have a right to speak to anyone. We left the resort with our tails between our legs. Total SCAM. Beware everyone of the Royal Holiday membership people.

Cathay and Oscar were very convincing and assured us that we would be happy with our investment. Again, more lies from the shady salespeople. Upon arriving home, we tried to cancel our membership after seeing all the disappointed people online. We were told that we could not cancel because it was not a business day and then the following Monday we were told it was too late to cancel and the five days had come and gone. Trying to escalate anything with this company pointless and will get you nowhere. Nobody is going to help you unless you have your wallet out.

Being stuck, we tried to keep an open mind and see how things stacked up to what we normally book and the pricing/availability. After sending our sales rep, Susanne (Shane) **, our vacation dates, it took her over two weeks to respond. When she did respond, it was some cryptic message just listing the available properties with no real assistance. As you can imagine what direction this is heading, the Bavaro Princess would cost us what we would normally pay with no membership. The other two dumps available were not even worth the effort. I hope this letter reaches others before they make the same mistake that we did. It is a scam! Just take the free stuff and run!

Their rates for South American hotels/condos are absurd, at least 300% above the cash price. We went to Huatulco and used 1 1/2 years worth of points for 4 nights at the Las Brisas (room only) - just to use up the points! I could have got the same suite WITH all inclusive for less if I paid cash. Their Mexican resorts are OK, 3 star at best, but none are worth the money you pay. Bottom line, RUN!

Now the new rule is that if you do not make a special phone call each year when you do not use your points you lose them. I should have 90,000 pts because I have not used them for about six years or more and they still get my $500.00 a year and I only have 15,000. I am sorry but this is B.S. If anyone knows how to get out of this please let me know and people who are thinking of purchasing this please BEWARE!!!!

Now I have to pay out of pocket for my vacations this year. Do Not buy as we are very disappointed and feel robbed. These people, they wouldn't spend their vacation in half these places so why should we. He also told us he would help us sell our membership. Well, who the hell gonna buy this plus he no longer responds to any of my e- mails. Beware!!! I am ALS contacting the attorney general office and the BBB and anyone else I can to let people know this is a SCAM, SCAM.

Where to: Cancun Mexico Park Royal Cancun

Problems incurred:

1) Prior to leaving on this first trip, I arranged for transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel back to the airport. Unbelievably, this was not carried out by the company as the family was told we were not on the list so we had to provide our own transportation.

2) I requested an ocean front room or room close to the beach or pool. Instead we were given a room at the back of the hotel. The Manager told me there were no more available left and no apologies were made. It was a case of "tough luck".

Problem with room: No toilet water. No running water to shower. I informed the Hotel Manager of these problems and was told repairs would be done. It took a day and a half to correct the problem. One would expect a room to be inspected before allowing guests to enter as it reflects upon their reputation.

Other problems: My girlfriend and her mother were visiting Mexico and took a 2 hour taxi ride to visit my family and I at the hotel and expressed interest in becoming members of Royal Holiday. When they arrived, they were told they were not allowed to be on the property and had to leave immediately. There was no mention ever made of this when we booked the trip and when we arrived at the hotel.

On the last day of trip we had an evening flight and went to buffet for dinner but were refused dinner without prior warning and told to leave the resort. To make things worse and embarrassing, our bracelets were cut off and we were told our stay was over. How embarrassing and lack of professionalism on behalf of the hotel.

Follow-up first trip: I wrote a handwritten letter to Royal Holiday on our return to Canada outlining my disappointments and mentioned cancelling membership. No acknowledgment nor response was ever received from Royal Holiday. I subsequently made several follow up phone calls to speak to a Manager but each time was told no Manager was available at that time and no further action was ever taken by Royal Holiday staff or any Manager although I was told a representative would get back to me.

Where to: Bavaro Princess location in Punta Cana Dominican Republic

Note: I decided that perhaps it was a bad experience and that a company such as Royal Holiday with such a supposedly good stature would have recorded and kept on file the unacceptable problems that occurred and would take the necessary steps to rectify the situation to ensure a forthcoming good experience on behalf of the customer.

Problems:

1) Booking the trip in April 2011 expecting Royal Holiday Club to respond within a reasonable time. Imagine it took 9 months for reservasdominicana@royal-holiday.com to arrange and confirm the trip. Is this a normal experience on the part of Royal Holiday? Keep in mind I continued to correspond with the company on a weekly basis and yet it took nine months to finally confirm my booking. I have kept all email correspondence.

2) I had requested second room. When I arrived at the hotel, I was told that the hotel did not have on hand that request. I therefore asked to speak to Hotel Manager and was told he was not available. I still have on hand all the correspondence to prove my point.

Follow-up second trip: I requested to speak to the Hotel Manager Kelvin ** daily and was told every time that he was not available. Finally, I got to express my concerns and disappointments but no solutions were offered, no apologies given for the unbelievable poor service and no corrective action taken. His interest apparently was to upgrade my membership status in order to bring more money into the company. I told him I wanted to cancel my membership.

Subsequent follow-ups:

a) In October 2013, I spoke to Romon ** and requested cancellation of my membership. Romon indicated he would speak to the Legal Department and get back to me. I never did receive a call back from Romon or any other representative from Royal Holiday concerning my request.

c) To follow up, in December 2013, I sent an email to Royal Holiday requesting again cancellation of the contract due to lack of professionalism on their part. Again, no response was provided on their part.

d) In January 2014, I received an email from Rick ** Collections Manager (Red Flag Collection Service) requesting a response or payment immediately. No mention was made of my letters referring to the extremely poor service on behalf of Royal Holiday.

e) In January 2014, I received a call from Norma ** in charge of account requesting payment. Although in the past I have spoken to other representatives and explained the situation in terms of complete disregard of professionalism the information provided was never carried forward to other members of the company, nor any reference made about my numerous cancellation requests. Norma requested a written letter outlining issues and disappointments. How many times does one have to repeat themselves about the same issues?

CONCLUSION

This is a very unfortunate experience. I picked Royal Holiday because I expected excellent service and even suggested your company to others. When there was a problem, I tried to contact you and solve the problems as a caring person would. On the other hand Royal Holiday never acknowledged the very poor service given, never acknowledged my request to cancel my membership and in most cases disregarded the correspondence sent to the company. One has to ask does the company care about their customers or is it all about money?

One has to read the comments and blogs about the company's reputation and lack of professionalism on Google, Trip Advisory and the Better Business Bureau. Since my experience, I find it not surprising the Better Business Bureau gave the company an "F" Rating. I am amazed that Concord Servicing Corporation can continue to call me daily and send me letters and yet when I mention Royal Holiday I am told I need to contact you directly which I have done in the past with no results.

Original Review: Jan. 27, 2014

I tried to cancel the membership as soon I got home from the Bahamas, but the time period that they give you is too short. By the time I arrived to the US, it was too late. So we decided to give it a try....the bonus credits/certificate that was given to us for joining had a $500 activation fee (which we were not told of). We were aware of the annual fee, but not that it would be $760 a year in 2013, $800 in 2014 and it will keep on increasing yearly. There are hidden fees in such small letters. When you do the math, it's cheaper to book the vacation your self for the next 30 years.

We also booked a vacation for Dominican Republic and we had to pay for this insurance; we had to cancel the reservation, but the insurance fee was non-refundable. The odd thing is that when I book a reservation for Cozumel this year, only my 88 year old grandfather was required to have the insurance and it was charged per day...totally different than before. So why do you pay when you to one place and not the other? It was the same 3 people traveling.....We do not want to keep on investing our money incorrectly. If anyone has been successful at cancelling the membership, please let me know how it's done.

Our home resort where we purchased was cancelled and we were NOT EVEN NOTIFIED, even though we were just sent our maintenance fee bill weeks earlier. Now, the only resorts we have access to in the Caribbean region are Mexico, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, none of which we had interest in visiting with our 3 young children and there only a few in the US, none on the beach. Also, the points required to use the resorts has gone up along with our maintenance fees so we can barely afford to go to any resorts with the points we used to be able to book a week at the Atlantis for. So... BEWARE! When you buy with Royal Holiday, be prepared to NOT have access to the resort where you purchase. You are buying a scam resort to get your money which may likely be cancelled once they have made enough money selling there! Very disappointed and highly DO NOT recommend Royal Holiday!

Also if we were to cancel our membership, we can. They didn't tell us about cancelling within few days. I haven't used any of my points or vacations with them because all the dates that we want are not available. With the money I'm paying for monthly plus the annual membership fee, my wife and I could go all inclusive (with airfare, meals and a cozy room) in the Caribbean. I want my money back and cancel my membership too.

We would like to get out of our timeshare. I don't care if I get my money back, I just want to stop paying the annual fee and cease any contact with Royal Holiday going forward. If I stop paying the annual fee and it goes to a collections agency, can it affect my credit here in Canada? I am willing to stop paying the fee and never visiting Mexico again. That would be a loss for Mexico as we use to visit twice a year to spend our tourism dollars. Since purchasing the timeshare 4 years ago, we have only been back once.

Original Review: May 29, 2013

I was scammed - deceived, defrauded and duped - at the Wyndham Hotel in New Providence, Nassau in March 2011. I want to express my extreme frustration with Royal Holiday Club's predatory sales practices. Since I was hoodwinked into signing a contract with this unethical company, I have been obliged to pay $220 per month and an annual fee in excess of $1,000. In exchange I have received NO net benefits - I would have saved thousands of dollars by making travel arrangements myself for the one resort trip I did manage to work out with Royal Holiday Club.

Over the past two years, I have been obliged to pay them some $7,300. I would like help in taking steps to cancel my contract with The company. The money I've wasted in payments is a secondary concern, but I would like to recover any of it I can. I would also like to do my part in closing down this scam operation once and for all. My wife and I were taken in by a deceptive high-pressure sale at the Wyndham in Nassau in March 2011. Having second thoughts soon thereafter, we attempted to cancel the contract prior to the closing of the five-day window in which cancellations were permitted by law, but a sales representative persuaded us to remain on the timeshare plan with the offer of extra points - which disappeared completely by the time we needed them.

Two years after signing, I finally managed to get a booking that coincided somewhat with my travel plans. This was after numerous phone calls to attempt to get bookings we could use, and after making costly payments to Royal Holiday and receiving evasive explanations from company representatives on the phone. Indeed, my wife and I have spent hours and hours on the phone listening to company representatives give long and convoluted "explanations" of policies. At our last call on May 17, 2013, we sought an explanation of the system by which we could know how many points we needed to transfer to affiliate RCI to get a desired accommodation, but no one could or would explain how. Agents sent our call and query to other departments, whose representatives subjected us to other long and complicated run-arounds.

And it turned out that the point transfer and combination of weeks, which I had to do blindly without knowing how many points were needed for my desired accommodation, would cost an additional $260, and the points I had transferred would expire if I didn't use them over the next three months. That, and the extremely long holds on which they put us while we waited on the phone to be served, made the whole process of getting the plan an excruciating ordeal. After we obtained our booking, RCI told us that other substantial charges will likely be added at the resort destination.

The ugly truth is this: The surcharges for transfers and combinations, the monthly deductions from my credit card, and the huge yearly fee are seriously damaging my future prospects for financial security. And the yearly fee is steadily going up, no matter what I say or do in protest. All told, the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life is to sign on with this predatory company. There have been no net benefits coming from Royal Holiday and affiliate RCI, to which I was told to send my "transfer powers." I would have saved thousands by making bookings on my own.

I'm sick and tired of this consumer fraud of global proportions, and I'm mortified to know that the governments of Arizona, Florida, Mexico and the United States are doing nothing to eliminate this blight on the vacation-travel industry - even after the airing of the 20/20 expos of Royal Holiday in 2005. Please help us find a way to escape the contract or tell us about any class action suit we can join so we can close down this rapacious and scurrilous "club," to which I sadly and contractually must continue to belong despite my desperate need to break away. Is there a way?

I am making a list of people who'd like to file a complaint against this company too. Please contact me if you or someone you know has been scammed by these guys. Don't worry guys. I am a real person who's been scammed. I believe if we work together, our voices will be heard better :). Please email me at: **. Also, please like and share my Facebook page and post your story there as well.

We were under the impression that our offer was free. In fact, we would end up paying more through this club than booking this ourselves. We've paid off to $18,000 to become a privileged member, yet we are not reaping any of the benefits. In addition, we have to pay a yearly membership of $615. We paid it through the first year membership on top of the $18,000. However, we refuse to give this company any more of our hard-earned money. Consequently, we have now just begun to receive threatening emails as well. We agree with one of the members that we should try to band together and confront this company and get our refund. It's a crime that this company has been able to still be in existence after so many consumers' complaints. As a side note, we could also add in all the other similarities such as dealing with Yasmin and Jose, never hearing from the sales reps even though they told us they they would be available, the points, etc. We could go on but there's only so much that we can say in limited space.

I hope Americans and Canadians realize what RHC is all about - the real story. Hopefully this kind of business will be shut down generally. In Europe, it's about tax avoidance as well - creating many companies around business but because (this case) RHC is used as a trademark in USA and Mexico and Caribbean generally and only exists as a company named Royal Holiday Club in Isle of Man under the former IFG. In Europe anyway, I'm sure they are the ones that should take full responsibility out of its business. If Nokia uses middle hands to sell its products, it's still their cup of tea; isn't it? In case the product doesn't work, they are the real ones in charge, also if the representatives use false, fraudulent methods with us.

And what former IFG Int. (First Names Group) did or did not in my case is something that proves me a lot anyway. Something you can't believe to be happening. Well, I hope people, at least, read these and start to realize what I'm trying to tell. It's not just about Mexico and other Caribbean countries - those middle hands. They are just little pieces of a bigger puzzle.

If someone finds any truthful information about Mexican Royal Holiday Club (as a company) I'd appreciate it. So far, my truth is that it's only used there as a trademark and therefore totally other people are in real charge of all those lies told to us and in my case also responsible for taking my money like this. It's illegal. It's stealing to take my money without giving me anything in return. And now I'm not even a member anymore because they banned me over two years ago. They never returned my money though. As a matter of fact it's even over 14,000,00. That's what former IFG is capable of.

I am appalled that we were not contacted about our points. When Royal Holiday was short of money, there was no hesitation in contacting us. Why not say, "I know you lost your points but we need $250 more." This is shameful! Because we are members, we should help out. When I had lost my job, I was making payments and more. I wasn't traveling because I did not have a job, funds were limited and we could not afford to travel. This is unprofessional behavior and the public should be aware of this club. You do not roll it over, like they told us, we have to call at the end of the year, and they have new rules by the minute.

We found ourselves in a orientation that took more than 4 hours. The free lunch and activities turn out to be high-pressure sales-pitch. We were told that we could go anywhere in the world wherever we wanted. We were told that membership was an investment that would increase in value. We were told that you could sell your membership and we can make money. We were told that you can rent your membership and make money without any effort. We were told that we had today and today only for this prize. We were told that we write the membership off on your taxes.

They offered discount on air tickets 50% or more. What they did not say was a contract for 30 years. They did not say about maintenance fees. They did not informed of the time period in which we can cancel our membership. When I had some doubts, they offered us coupons of airfare for 30 nights in Mexico (I found it hidden in $99 service fee if used).

I called many times, e-mail, and letter enclosed to cancel my membership. Yazmin **, Claudia **, and Jose **--all of them has the same answer that I cannot cancel my membership. Now, they are calling everyday, threatening us to report us to a collections agency and to Credit Bureau. We called, e-mailed, and enclosed a letter; they do not rescind our contract.

I owned a time share that was purchased in the late 1990's or early 2000 years. It was at a resort in Ixtapa, Mexico and I paid for the time share at the time in cash.

Fast forward 6 years and while I was on vacation in Mexico at the same hotel, I listened to a presentation by Royal Holiday. They had purchased the hotel that I had been using and were offering an "upgrade" package. For an additional $13,000 or so, I could upgrade to their plan which included the area where the presentation was held. They were 1 and 2 bedroom "apartment" style condos that could house a family as opposed to simply 2 people.

In addition to taking my current timeshare in trade, the person I was dealing with offered to buy my girlfriends timeshare in Cabo for $10,000. This made sense in that we could effectively get rid of 2 maintenance payments and have something that we could share and utilize not only together but with family. It also took the price from $13,000 plus to around $3,000 which would only take about 5 to 6 years to pay off with the now lessened maintenance fee. They gave me a letter in writing stating that they would purchase.

When I returned to Idaho and started planning to use the new apartment style units, not only could I not get a time to use them but they had been leasing the units from another hotel and they had dropped the apartments and I was back to the same hotel that I had been using in the first place. Only now, the hotel had become all-inclusive and I was going to be charged an additional $60 per day per person to stay there.

AND they refused to buy the timeshare in Cabo. It turned out that the person selling the timeshare had no authority to buy one. He gave me a letter in the packet with the documents that did not have a logo and simply made it up. I tried to call and work my way up through the chain of command to someone that may be able to help. Unfortunately, there is no way that I found to ever find anyone with any authority in the company in the US. I ended up going back to Ixtapa to talk to someone that I had bought the timeshare from in the first place. AND I had to stay at another hotel because they didn't have room for me at the one where I had the timeshare. UNBELIEVABLE!

They informed me that they had fired the person responsible but that they would forgive the $10,000 on the debt. This meant that I evidently still owed them $13,000 and they ended up reducing that by $10,000 but it left us with the two maintenance fees (still) and now I had paid additional money to stay in the same place that I had been staying before only now I had to pay $120 a day for the "all inclusive" addition.

So, I paid more for something I already had, and now have to pay more to stay there. There is no one to talk to and no one with any authority to make amends. In addition, now they are starting to ruin my credit as I refuse to pay the maintenance fee to them. They don't treat it as one debt; they treat it as a new debt each year. The collection agency that they use is a vertically integrated part of the company and so I am being absolutely railed on a transaction that in the US would constitute fraud.

How can I repair my credit and get rid of these people. They are crooks, liars and cheaters and they have figured out a way to blackmail me legally if you talk to them.

Dear customer advocates for the Better Business Bureau. My responses will be in brackets. Again, it is the same pattern of deception and failure to do the right thing by its customers. They still have not addressed the many key issues that clearly show a breach of contract in any country. They continue to threaten. I will attach the recent e-mail I received. Also, I will attach the exact sales process my wife and I was exposed to. If they shared their phone logs and records, it would show the facts and the conversations from the very beginning. It will also show how their deceptive sales practices are standard operating procedures, because they continually take us through the same process over and over again; attempting to keep us paying and in a relationship with their club, by offering points to use at various locations.

Please have them address the issues that they keep avoiding. The answer they gave me and will give you is that they were not at the sales presentation, and they cannot be held responsible for what was said and did by sales people who are no longer with the company. This is one of the reasons why they attempt to keep the customers in the program. They think they can wear them down with threats, threatening e-mails, threatening phone calls, and providing them free points to add value/validity to a corrupt sales transaction.

Ask them about their sales presentation and how customers are deceived and tricked into buying and keeping their membership. All they will refer you to, like they have done us, is the contract. But the sales presentation and sales contract are connected, just like the sales people who sold us the membership are connected to Royal Holiday. They cannot separate themselves because we are challenging the validity of the transaction. I will not go away and I will not settle.

Dear Better Business Bureau they are setting us up again. Because if you record and evaluate their responses, they are not addressing the issues I have presented. However, they are responding because of this process and they will keep responding like they are helping. So eventually, they will say we did everything we can for this customer and end the process without addressing my issues one by one. It is still with the same pre-intended outcome: we stay members, we pay.

Again, this is not an option for us! I gave the company my settlement options. They are non-negotiable at this point. I will not give Royal Holiday another penny of my hard earned money. And we are furious that they continue to treat us like this and take us through all of this turmoil to get out of the contract and to refund our money because of lack of service, a clear breach of contract, and clear deceptive practices. 60/ 20-20Minutes, and other investigative news outlets did a story on their deceptive practices and we experienced exactly the same process. I shared a copy with them two times. It is in their file, but they refuse to discuss or address this fact. I am sure the Better Business Bureau has seen these reports. If not, please view them, so you can see my point of view. Google: Royal Holiday Scams see the list of reports.

I will provide a response to their redundant, staged, and insincere response. Let the dance continue! Please help to reach a resolution! We have analyzed Mr. and Ms. **’s complaint against our club, and our findings are the following: Mr. and Ms. ** claim that Royal Holiday was supposed to sell their timeshare.

1. As we mentioned in our first response, Royal Holiday is based on the law and provide its members with a contract and operating rules. 1) My comments are in (Brackets) They (Royal Holiday) changed the initial contract and have deleted the initial promises during the sales presentation. They reprinted the middle of the contract twice, when they mailed it back to us after the three day clause to cancel had lapsed. And they promised over the phone and offered more free points to keep us paying. When they did not follow through on their promises, they started referring us to other reps and other outside companies to appease us and keep us paying. We ended up paying more money to have Century 21 to sell their timeshare and the other one we were promised they would sell. Year after year I have contacted them and complained about this issue. Then, the final straw was there was not one contact about our annuity. That is the main reason why I bought in the first place. This year we are not entitled to this annuity (breach of the original contract).

Mr. and Ms. ** claim that they have been having several problems with Granthix Capital. 2. We would like to inform you that Granthix Capital is a financial services provider which can be contacted at the number 33-144-2303. The Granthix coupon given to Mr. and Ms. ** is an additional incentive and not a part of the core of the Royal Holiday Membership. It is important to mention that the terms and conditions of the certificate are stipulated in the back.

2. (They have not returned on call in 6 years, nor responded to us in writing - we did receive our annuity certificate. That was it. This is a lie! I call them and write them. They may respond to a government entity. I can believe this is happening on American soil. The big breach is they convinced me to finally purchase the membership because I would get the planned annuity.

This year a sales representative/customer service representative told me that we are not entitled to an annuity, which invalidates the contract bait and switch tactic). You can do this in any country. Have them respond to this and they should settle our case with this fact alone. This is the real issue! See the reports from others. Get us out please)}}. Mr. and Ms. ** claim that we have ignored their complaints for years. {{{This is true. They continue to do the same thing to string us along and still get no resolution.}}} Mr. and Ms. ** claim that we have been unprofessional and rude.

3) We would like to inform you that we never used rude or unprofessional language with Mr. and Ms. **. Royal Holiday Club will never accept this type of treatments to our members. {{{This is a lie and they were very rude and unprofessional. This is the worst company to do business with in the world and the entire world should know this fact.}}}} Mr. and Ms. ** claim that they have been called several times by a collection agency.

4. It is important to mention that Mr. and Ms. ** are delinquent since January 15th, 2010. {{4) They called me over 50 times. I will not answer and I will not pay them another penny. Help us get out of this relationship! We want our money back and an apology for this terrible service and treatment!}}} Mr. and Ms. ** claim we are ignoring the facts and not being responsible for what they were promised.

5. As we mentioned in the first paragraph, Royal Holiday is based on the law and in the agreement that Mr. and Ms. ** signed, accepting all the terms, conditions, and benefits of the membership. The contract is invalid and has been severely breached by the company. The promise is for services that were promised that we would receive. As soon as this fact or this changes, the contract becomes null and void. No annuity - this is a breach of contract. Failure to sell my other time share as promised is breach of contract.

The data that you are sharing is just that you data share the other side of the equation. You have bad service, deceptive sales people and sales practices. And you are an unethical and not a trustworthy company. This is why you receive the grade of in the United States. It is too late now. But if I had checked the Better Business Bureau site and websites about traveling to Mexico and which scams to watch out for, we would not be spending countless time and money to fight to get our money back and justice! You guys are crooks and we want our money back and want to end this unhealthy relationship!

The number is small because your tactics do work with many: 1) Keep them in the contract no matter what. 2) Give them free points, so they believe they are getting value for their money. 3) Threaten them and harass the customers into submission. 4) Don’t let them out the contract. 5) If the customer complains, keep harassing them until they stop complaining.

We will not be held hostage by your company, and will not at anytime accept your unreasonable and inconsiderate offer. How disrespectful to keep this scam going! Again, we want our money back and an apology from the company. We want out of this contract. And we want to end all communications with this company and its affiliates. Better Business Bureau, please help us get out and get a refund for services not rendered as promised.}}}} Please help!

We are in our 50's and just started vacationing a few years ago. Now we cannot go enjoy ourselves because of this scam. For example, for 2 people through Royal Holiday, it would cost me $2,012.00 with a full size bed. Through a private booking, it would cost us $1,238.00 with a queen bed and ocean view, both at the same resort. Now you tell me, which you would choose? We will be waiting to hear from you.

When I asked if we could think it over, I was told, "No!" During this time, they had more than one person at the table working you. How could this be so bad? We could travel anywhere, anytime with our points... the Sheraton Hotel was involved... this had to be okay. When we first used our points, we went back to Nassau Bahamas with Dee and Eugene (father-in-law). After all, we had a suite & plenty of room! Well, our suite consisted of two double beds & a pull-out sofa. This was not what we were shown on the tour.

When I approached the lady at the front desk, you should have seen her face when I insisted we were given the wrong room. It seems that the suites shown to us were not even available to Royal Holiday. I then went after the guy who sold it to us and he said he would take care of it. He disappeared the rest of our trip. We returned home upset with Royal Holiday and Nassau Bahamas for allowing this to go on. So many times, we have picked our vacation destination and were told we needed to book one yr. in advance - something we were told we would not have to do.

We have made phone calls and written letters only to find out that we were locked into a 30 yr. contract!!!! That's when I approached some computer savvy friends to help me out and found out we were NOT ALONE! I also found out that we had 5 days to back out of the contract and were never told that. After all that, I was sent a letter telling me my maintenance fee is being increased again for the 3rd time in 6 yrs. The fee is now $1290 a yr! Our membership was paid in full, $20,000. Other people are making payments... We just want out! They can keep the money!

We have refused to pay the $1290 maintenance fee which as due on Jan. 15th. Now Concord Debt Collectors has started to call. Please help us!