Mexico is an incredible place to take a vacation. With outstanding weather throughout much of the year, beautiful beaches to explore, and delicious cuisine to experience, the list of reasons to head toward Mexico on vacation goes on and on. In addition to traditional travel options like staying in a hotel or renting a vacation house, there are also plenty of timeshare properties offered in Mexico.
Of course, as is the case in the United States, many people who own timeshares in Mexico would like to get out of those timeshares as quickly as possible. The costs tend to add up for timeshare owners and many don’t feel that they are getting their money’s worth from the ownership experience. Unfortunately, for many who own timeshares in Mexico, getting out of the contract can be a tricky situation, especially given that there may be a language barrier in place and you might have to work with a foreign government to pursue the desired outcome.
On this page, we’d like to discuss what is offered by PROFECO, which is the Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer in Mexico. If you own a timeshare in Mexico and are struggling to find good options to get the help you need in getting away from the timeshare, PROFECO may be able to offer assistance.
A Quick Introduction
To those who live outside of Mexico, PROFECO might not be a familiar name. As mentioned above, this is the Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer in Mexico. Essentially, this is a government agency that is designed to protect consumers – both native and foreign – from unfair practices. If a business is acting in a way that violates the rights and protections of consumers within the country, those actions could be addressed by this agency.
It should be noted that PROFECO is not just focused on the timeshare industry, as it relates to all kinds of consumer-related issues and concerns. When a consumer has a complaint about how they have been treated by a Mexican company, they can file that matter with PROFECO for it to be explored further. The agency also manages other duties like monitoring prices throughout the country and improving consumer education.
Of course, given the frequent disputes that come up between developers and timeshare owners, it’s not surprising that PROFECO winds up dealing with a lot of matters involving timeshare properties. If you have purchased a timeshare in Mexico and you aren’t happy with the experience and what it has meant for your life, working with PROFECO on the matter might be worth your time and effort.
What Can PROFECO Do for You?
When you feel like you are stuck in a timeshare situation that you would like to get away from as soon as possible, having someone else on your side is a nice feeling. Later on this page, we’ll talk about timeshare exit companies, and how they can accomplish the same thing of putting an ally in your corner. For now, however, you might be able to achieve something similar by working with PROFECO on this matter.
There are a range of services that PROFECO is able to offer to timeshare buyers in Mexico who don’t feel like they have been treated fairly. For one thing, there are dispute resolution services available, where PROFECO will act as a mediator between the timeshare developer and the individual to seek an acceptable solution to the problem. This can address things like the misleading practices that are sometimes used by timeshare companies, the surprise fees and rising costs, and more.
If you’d like to get in touch with PROFECO for help with your case, do so by visiting the website for the agency. There, you can use the platform they provide to file a complaint and ask for assistance. Of course, this agency is sure to get many requests in a country as big and busy as Mexico, so you may have to be patient to get a response and move forward. Alternatively, you can also call the consumer hotline to speak with someone directly.
Knowing the Rules
Before you even take the step of reaching out to PROFECO or anyone else for help, you should know that you might have a chance to get out of your timeshare without any trouble if you act quickly. Specifically, there is a period of five business days after a timeshare purchase is signed that allows the buyer to back out of the deal with no questions asked. Of course, five business days isn’t very long, so you need to act immediately to take advantage of this law. Once those five days have passed, it is likely to get much more difficult to leave the timeshare.
If you are able to use this period to cancel your purchase, be sure to retain all documentation that proves you canceled the timeshare on time. It’s possible that a dispute will come up later, with the developer stating that you didn’t cancel, or you didn’t cancel on time. Having documentation to prove your side of the case will be critical and could help you to avoid a long, drawn-out process. Should the developer happen to refuse your request to cancel even though you are still within that cancellation period, contact PROFECO right away to explain the situation and file a complaint.
It’s Not Likely to be Easy
In this section, we’ll assume that you are not within the five business day cancellation period and you are going to have to use some other method to get out of your timeshare. It’s at this point that you can expect things to get much more difficult and you will need to be quite patient to work toward a resolution. The problem here is that PROFECO exists to help consumers who have been defrauded in some way – but that might not be the case with your timeshare purchase. You may simply regret purchasing the timeshare and want to get out, but that doesn’t mean that PROFECO is going to find that the timeshare company has done anything wrong.
With that said, it’s still worth taking the time to contact PROFECO if you are stuck in a timeshare just to see what they might be able to offer. With a lot of experience dealing with the timeshare companies and unhappy customers, they might have options or plans that you aren’t aware of on your own. Even if the ultimate resolution isn’t exactly what you had hoped for, it could be an improvement from the situation you are in now and may allow you to move on with your life.
Getting Other Forms of Help
PROFECO is certainly worth your time and attention if you have purchased a Mexican timeshare, but it’s possible that they won’t be able to help you in any meaningful way. When that’s the case, you might want to turn to a timeshare exit company for assistance. An experienced partner who has been through this situation many times before will be a valuable asset that might make all the difference between being stuck in a timeshare for years and finally getting out.
One of the key points when looking for a timeshare exit company to help you with this situation is to confirm that they will assist with timeshares in Mexico. Not all exit companies will take on such situations, so that’s an important question to have answered early on. Knowing that they will work with a Mexican timeshare, and have done so before with other clients, is going to get you off to a good start.
The other point that needs to be made about exit companies is that you should work with one that will agree to use escrow to hold your money while they work on getting you out of the contract. Paying an exit company upfront for services that you hope they will deliver is a risky move – they might not wind up getting results and you’ll have wasted money only to be right where you were at the start. Through escrow, you’ll have protection and can wait until the deal is done before the timeshare exit company gets their payment.
Time is Money, So Start Now
If you can take comfort in anything throughout this frustrating process with your timeshare experience, let it be this – you aren’t alone. Countless people wish they would have never gotten involved with the timeshare industry, and you can rest assured that many others are trying actively to get out, just as you are. If you’d like to get direct assistance in getting started and finding a path forward, you can contact us using our live chat tool, or give us a call at 833-416-8796. It might seem like you are facing an impossible future with regard to your timeshare, but you can climb this mountain one step at a time. Get in touch today to get started.