Purchasing a timeshare in Puerto Vallarta comes with a certain risk if you are buying from a company that does not have a long history in the market or at least experience in the hotel leisure industry. There are various scams associated with timeshare in general, although nowadays, very few are related to the initial purchase from a timeshare developer and are more likely to occur related to the resale market or class action suits.
Puerto Vallarta does not have a bad reputation for timeshare scams and the local authorities have made it very difficult for fraudulent individuals or small groups to imitate genuine companies, which had been the case in the 80s and 90s. In order for promoters of timeshare to approach you on the street or in a public place they must have an official credential and permission from Puerto Vallarta’s City Hall. This is to protect tourists in Puerto Vallarta from being scammed by individuals who might try to sell you a timeshare that doesn’t exist or which they have no legal rights to sell. In effect, this has helped to clean up the timeshare industry’s reputation in Puerto Vallarta, allowing the legitimate companies to do their job in a less aggressive manner.
Many people are led under the false pretense that timeshare is in itself a scam, when in fact, the scams related to timeshare usually have very little to do with the genuine product and often occur during the resale process or sometimes by bogus timeshare legal advisors. Therefore, you would have to be unlucky to be met with a timeshare scam in Puerto Vallarta. However, if you feel that you have been approached by someone who does not have authorization to promote timeshare, let’s say on the beach or on the street, you should report them as soon as possible to help protect other tourists from falling foul to a timeshare scam.
The great thing about Puerto Vallarta is that it is a small enough city that by asking a few questions about the timeshare resort where you are thinking of buying, you will soon know if it is a genuine company. As a rule, the minute you step foot on the property and enter the sales room, you will have a pretty good idea if it is a scam or not.
