El Cid Vacations Club Deception

[Jack b]

I am an retired American citizen that went on Princess Cruises down to Mazatlan,Mexico in October of 2008 with my wife. When our ship docked in Mazatlan, we were approached by two young Mexican men representing El Cid Vacations Club. They convinced us to go to El Cid Marina Hotel so that they could talk to us about the product they were offering. Little did we know that we were PREY to these VULTURES that prey on innocent travelers when they are most VULNERABLE. They showed us the hotel and convinced us to consider buying into their timeshare. We told them that we were skeptical and that we needed more time to think. That's when the DECEPTION took place. They LIED to us and assured us that we had up to 3 weeks to cancel once we were back in the states. They kept telling us that we had a while to think it over and cancel when we could. When we asked them for a copy of the contract, so that we could review them closely, they held on to them and told us that they would send them to us after we came home. When we received the contracts we were HORRIFIED to find out that they had LIED to us in telling us that we had 3 weeks when in actuality we only had 5 days after signing. TRAVELERS BEWARE!!! WHEN TRAVELING DOWN TO MEXICO HAVE YOUR GUARDS UP. AVOID THESE BLOOD SUCKING PARASITES THAT APPROACH INNOCENT VICTIMS COMING OFF THE CRUISE SHIPS. THEY ARE ON COMMISSION AND WANT NOTHING BUT THEIR PAYCHECK! I have great financial hardship to deal with now. I will do my very best to gain recognition of this matter. I will post my complaints where they will be seen and I will contact the American news media for more attention!

[jgonzalez]

It is very important not to purchase anything in the spur of the moment no matter how good the offer is.

Remember, if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Be very careful if you are trying to cancel your timeshare since there are timeshare cancellation companies that are asking for upfront retainers to provide the service just to scam you again.

NEVER PAY UPFRONT FOR A SERVICE IN THE TIMESHARE INDUSTRY. IF YOU DO, SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR MONEY.

Jose Gonzalez.

[jgonzalez]

This is the link to the BBB. Hopefully this will help.


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BBB Rating for The Owners' Advocate

Based on BBB files, The Owners' Advocate has a BBB Rating of F on a scale from A+ to F.

Reasons for this rating include:
Length of time business has been operating.
47 complaints filed against business
Failure to respond to 8 complaints filed against business.
3 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
Click here for an explanation of BBB Ratings

This company has a pattern of complaint. Specifically, complaints allege consumers paid approximately $1000 for contract services with the The Owner's Advocate with expectations of being released from their timeshare obligations; however, the company failed to honor the contract as they did not follow through with contacting the vacation properties (consumer's report many vacation properties indicated they had not received any contact from The Owner's Advocate), failed to return customer phone calls regarding concerns, and informed customers there were not eligible for the 100% money back guarantee.


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Business Contact and Profile for The Owners' Advocate

Name: The Owners' Advocate
Phone: (877) 762-5941
Address: 7984 Coley Davis Rd, Ste 101
Nashville, TN 37218
Website:
Original Business Start Date: January 2006
Principal: Mr. David Humphrey, President/Founder
Customer Contact: Mr. David Humphrey, President/Founder - (866) 644-7776
Entity: Limited Liability Company
Incorporated: August 2008, CA
Type of Business: Timeshare Contract Advocates
BBB Accreditation: The Owners' Advocate is not a BBB Accredited business.
Additional DBA Names: TOA, LLC

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Products and Services of The Owners' Advocate

This company offers help with the development of the documents required to assist in the cancellation of a timeshare contract.


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Business Management

Additional company management personnel include:

Mr. Scott Davidson - aka David Humphrey
Mr. Kurt Bartlett - Legal Affairs Manager
Ms. Kay Metko - Agent

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Additional Locations and Phone Numbers

Additional Addresses
3905 State St. Ste 341
Santa Barbara, 93105

16192 Coastal Hwy
Lewes, DE 19958

Additional Phone Numbers
Tel: (866) 644-7776
Tel: (888) 349-1119


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Customer Complaint History for The Owners' Advocate

When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

BBB processed a total of 47 complaints about The Owners' Advocate in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 47 complaints closed in 36 months, 46 were closed in the last year.