I Was Scammed of $6175.00 By Boutique Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan Mexico!

On December 17, 2007 we signed a contract with Boutique Resort La
Jolla, Mazatalan for 27,500 fractional ownership points. We had an
addendum to the contract which made the purchase of the fractional
ownership points, contingent upon the sale of our previously owned
timeshare in Virginia Beach, VA. The merchant had to sell our VA beach timeshare in six months,or no later than June 17, 2008.

We signed a waiver for the 5-day cooling off period, which we found
out later was illegal by Mexican law. The merchant required us to make
an earnest money down payment of 50% of the purchase price, with a new
application for a Bank of America credit card.

The merchant's bank, Santander Serfin, processed the credit card
purchase. Bank of America purchased 24.9% of Grupo Santander Serfin in
March, 2003. Making the merchant's bank and Bank of America partners.
The merchant sent me an email on December 27, 2007 stating, "that the
state law in Virginia Beach complicates things for us a little." I knew
then that we were scammed. I notified Bank of America, and they said
that I had to make the 1% interest payments on the credit card pending
the expiration of the contract on June 17, 2008.However, on March 31,
2008 I received a letter from Bank of America, crediting my payments
and the entire credit card purchase. One June 10, 2008, I received
another letter from Bank of America stating that they had received a
letter from the merchant, and they were re-issuing the charges. The
merchant failed to sell the VA timeshare, and we canceled the contract
as per our option, that was written and signed by the merchant. We
submitted the contract cancelation both by US certified mail and email
to Boutique Resort La Jolla on June, 17, 2008. Bank of America refused
to credit my credit card, and Boutique Resort La Jolla refused to honor
the contract. Boutique Resort La Jolla sent us an email on July 21,2008
admitting,"first of all, you are obviously right, in not being
delivered what was promised."

So, even with a signed confession, Bank of America

continued to refused to credit my credit card for the earnest money
deposit.Bank of America states that Boutique Resort La Jolla will no
longer respond to their inquiries. My Bank of America credit card is a
Mastercard. I visited the MasterCard wordlwide network website, and
found that Bank of America has arbitration chargeback and other options
at their disposal to seek a refund from their partner bank Santander
Serfin. Boutique Resort La Jolla requested to be paid the remaining
balance due on the fractional ownership points in the July 21, 2008
email. We had to hire an attorney to reinforce our contract
cancellation with the merchant. We had to pay the Bank of America
credit card charges, or risk being reported to the credit bureaus. We
thought that having a written contract would protect our rights. I have
submitted PROFECO complaints both directly to the PROFECO office in Mexico City,
as well as through the US embassy in Mexico. I have reported Bank of
America to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Better
Business Bureau of Maryland and Delaware.
I have written my Congressman, the Better Business Bureau of Delaware,
the Attorney General Offices of Maryland and Delaware. I have been
doing my research on the issue of timeshare scams in Mexico, and have
found that tens of millions of America dollars are being exploited each
year. I plan to exhaust every option at my disposal to obtain a refund
of my earnest money down payment. So, just a reminder, to all
vacationers, it's not just the timeshare salesmen to be wary of, also
be wary of the banks that are in league with them. I believe that Bank
of America is equally as guilty of timeshare fraud as is Boutique
Resort La Jolla, Mazatlan, Mexico.