Legendary Preferred Destinations – Membership Review
In this article from IBuyIReview, I’m stepping out of my normal routine and giving Legendary Preferred Destinations a review for their Hard Rock Hotel travel package. Because of this experience, I’m officially cutting my ties to any sort of travel packaging like this, and I only book my vacations through independent booking platforms.
Normally, I talk about courses, MLM companies, and a slew of other online affiliate products for my viewers, but I HAD to share this story. It was a horrible experience, and if you had an experience like mine, then you’re probably looking into how to void your agreement right about now.
Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana - $1,500 Resort Credit of Crap?
Alright, so let’s just get straight to the story. No fluff, no excess information needed. You know what you’re getting into here if you’ve done your research about timeshares (1) (and if not, that’s fine, you’ll find out.)
I'm chilling by the beach for a few days when I starting getting promotions thrown at me by the workers at Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic. Basically I was being offered the opportunity to use all my resort credits ($1,500 ) for whatever I wanted...instead of having to only use $300 for the spa, $150 for 1 golfer etc...
They suck you in with the resort credits, however it is impossible to use as a family. I had a family of 5 including me and to enjoy the vacation and use the resort credits, we could end up spending hundreds of dollars for the other people to join because we were “capped” with the amount of resort credits we could use per excursion.
Gets worse….
If you have been to the Hard Rock in Punta Cana you understand the frustration of not being able to use your resort credits for whatever you want and as much as you want.
They really get you with the credits. Everything they do is a funnel to get you to indulge more and spend more money at their resorts for more credits.
But, that’s not where it gets interesting.
Keep reading…
Table of Contents
| Package Title : | Legendary Preferred Destinations |
| Rank : | #100 out of 100 |
| Content : | Definitely not an experience I would want to repeat. There’s a lot in the fine print of this one. |
| Rating : |  1 out of 5 |
| Price : | $18,900 for the package I purchased |
Preferred Destinations - Selling Ice to an Eskimo
Soo…..I end up going to the RCI receptionist to help me out on how I could use these resort credits as I wish.
And the selling begins…
I was told if you just sit in a 90 minute presentation about becoming a legendary member of the Hard rock Hotel, we could use the resort credits where ever we wanted up to the $1,500 they gave us…
I thought cool….I’m a man of steel, I will just walk out at the end of the 90 minutes… 🙂
Well…..not so fast…literally the best salesman I have ever come across sits down trying to close me.
Throughout the presentation he dragged me in, showed me the numbers, compared to real time prices, showed me the deluxe room, brought me to the private pool, then to the private beach and on and on and on….
I was so brainwashed I truly couldn’t pass up the offer….
More on that in a minute…
As I sat there, he saw my eyes started to glaze over and right at that tipping point moment where I could have gone either way, he threw an extra 15 weeks into the World Travel RCI for no extra cost…
I’ll explain the deal I got later on…
I thought, WOW, (so stupid) I’m getting the best deal in the world…I got to have it…
However, I was smart enough to say, “Elliot…leave, go think about it…”
So, that is what I did, I told the man I had to discuss this transaction with my family…
….he proceeded to tell me he couldn’t let me leave unless I put down a $200 deposit to “hold” the offer for 60 minutes..
I have to say that gave me a chuckle, but as I was sweating in that room I knew losing $200 was a lot better than $18,900. God, it makes me sick thinking about it now.
I dropped the card on the table, and told the man, “Be right back, sir, please hold the offer!” Like a little puppy dog…
Somebody should have punched me in the face when I walked outside!!! Loser! lol
Preferred Destinations - Becoming the Salesman
As I walked over to my family and began talking about the “greatest deal I have ever seen” I could see my mother in law wanted to smack me in my face, like a parent wants to smack their kids when they are 15 and think they are in love. They were near livid when I told them I actually caved.
I didn’t care, I wanted to purchase this damn thing but only have 60 minutes to do so…
I knew I didn’t want to spend this kind of money on my own, so I ended up calling a buddy of mine and started selling….I was actually pretty pumped as how good I was….you know the feeling, everything is coming out right and before I could say anything else….YES!!! I got him to say yes…
As I mathematically started calculated $18,900/2 is $9,450..I started to realize…holla! I am going to buy this shit! I am actually going to be a member of the Hard Rock.
As I walked back to the “Slaughter House”, I could feel my body started to stand up straighter, I had a little extra pep in my step. I even walked past a group of other members and said, save me spot, I’ll be there in a little….lmao, they looked at me and was like…LOSER!
DUN DUN... the DEAL
So…I sat there with my wife and went through the following deal with the Salesman: (18,900 usd)
15 world use weeks (RCI basically) will not receive any celebrity week
18 match play weeks (each match play week paid will grant you one celebrity week….18 celebrity weeks)
He also threw in like 3 FREE weeks to be used after the entire travel package was paid. Casino punta here I come!
I also get $2,000 resort credits every time I go in addition to my down payment will be transferred into travel resort credits.
In this example, I put down $2,800 so they gave me that in resort credits to be used for almost anything..
Not bad right?….
Wrong…
I am Regretfully a Preferred Member...
Ok, so this is where it all went wrong… I started to realize the following:
- Hard Rock Hotel food sucked in Punta Cana. Tripadvisor will probably back that up too
- The service is so slow and they get annoyed if you want them to hurry up with serving
- The never ending selling is ridiculous and it ruined my vacation (buyers remorse)
- When leaving early, before anyone else, you are responsible to check out and pay for all the room charges
- If you don’t check out, they don’t care and will hold your luggage hostage and raise a fist at you if you try and get to your luggage.
- The resort is enormous and walking miles a day is not my cup a tea on vacation. (sure you can take the trolly if you want to inhale carbon monoxide from the fumes)
- The cleaning services are terrible, slow and dumb. They never filled the fridge and the rooms smell like soot.
- Did I say the food was terrible…. Two words: Stomach Bug. Not something you want when you travel.
As I sat on the plane home, I realized I did something bad. When I joined, I locked my family in the same vacation over 4 resorts for the rest of our lives. Since I hated the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, I know basically only have 3 resorts to choose from forever…
I mean, imagine my reaction when I realized that we can only travel to these three places. How many vacations can one take to the same resort year in and year out? Variety Elliot!!
How to Cancel Legendary Membership
Here’s where they really get you. If you’ve been sucked into the same deal, at this point, you’re wondering how to cancel legendary membership perks. There’s got to be a way out of the deal, right? Some way to get out of the horrible experience.
I really wish I had the chance to go on vacation before I ever signed any of the stupid travel agreement, because you know what?
YOU CAN’T CANCEL!
It’s legitimately listed in the agreement that you cannot refund your subscription for any reason, no matter if it’s your fault or theirs.
Okay, well, you can back out because they can’t lock you in like that, but they only give you 5 days to do so.
By signing in that 5 days of leeway, they can legally say they give you a grace period and if you’re outside of that timeframe, they can refuse a refund.
Yikes.
That’s how it works though, and I’d bet my bottom dollar that they’ve got the legalese to deal with the situation perfected, so no one’s going to tell them otherwise.
….Believe me, I tried…. I had an awful time, couldn’t get out of the package, and even my bank refused any action because I had willingly agreed to purchase the package. Beyond that, it had been past the time I was able to file a chargeback. That’s when I realized: this is how they get you.
However, there is one saving grace here: I was able to downgrade to the following package: ($4,610.00)
- 5 World weeks compared to the 15 in current agreement
- 4 Match/Play weeks compared to the 18 in current agreement
- 1 free week (once entire cost is paid) except dec 3rd—>January 4th)
- 2600 usd in resort credit collection exp 2033
- 1500 resort credit promotion exp 2018 each time I go.
I was able to downgrade my travel package from an $18,900 to $4,610 package…. I don’t know if I should be happy, or still feel like I lost several thousand dollars, but at least I don’t have to go to the same resort for several seasons in a row. Now, I’ve managed to sell my resort credits to someone else, but for a while there, boy, my family wasn’t necessarily happy with my decision to purchase the travel package.
Looks like I’ll be sticking with a different company after all, like Tripadvisor or something. At least Tripadvisor tries to get me a good deal. Maybe I’ll go somewhere in Africa for the next vacation.
Want Something BETTER?
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References:
- Amy Fontinelle, What Is a Timeshare?, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/what-is-a-timeshare/
I buy and review courses so you don’t have to. Sometimes, I even find courses that are legitimate and worthwhile; and that’s how I accidentally came across one that led me to building a 6-figure business in a little under 5 years. Now, I still review courses because it’s my favorite hobby. 🙂 Learn more about me here.
Hello!
I have weeks available in the HRs of Punta Cana, Cancun, Riviera Maya and Puerto Vallarta. If anyone is interested write me… ing_diegolrc@hotmail.com
Hello everyone,
If any of you are interested in purchasing week(s), feel free to contact me via email.
What weeks are you selling?
Hi Elliot,
I am interested in buying a membership when I go in early august . Please give me tips on how not to get ripped off. We go to Hard rock punta Cana almost every other year and I get two rooms for me and my adult children so for us it would be worth it.
I just want to know what I should ask for if I am only looking to spend between 5-7 thousand and also how do I make sure there are no hidden costs.
Thanks for your time
Would you consider buying someone membership off them? My family doesn’t feel comfortable flying none the less going to a resort! And we have 2 weeks at hard rock Punta Cana that expire 6/23 and then two more that expire a few years later .
I will!
Hi Eve
I have the membership and my family and I are extremely happy with it because we take several trips through out the year. I got the membership when the pandemic started and I think my family and I got extremely lucky. I got a good deal regarding the benefits not price wise. Unfortunately I have seen lots of negative comments about this program but I highly suggest that you analyze it before making a decision. The only downside about my membership is that we won’t have access to the hard rock in Jamaica next year.
Hello,
Ho do you make a reservation? Through the legendary website. Been try but it says that nothing is available. My email is Docbueno@gmail.com
Hi!!
So I am in the process of cancellation and I also got a downgraded pay but I refuse to pay for something we aren’t using and it’s a scam tbh! They told me it was going to be 90min of our time and we were there for 4-5 hours. The worse part there were many signs not to sign but we felt so pressured by Florencia Moya and Adrian. They kept doing everything and I get it it’s their job but they wouldn’t take no.
Regardless I’m in the process of cancelling because they have no cancellation policy. Wish us luck lol
Hi Guisselle,
I have a legendary membership and would love to cancel/downgrade. How were you able to cancel? Do I need to get a lawyer? Is there a number I can call to cancel it?
Thank you,
Were you able to cancel it?
Hi Guiselle! Were you able to cancel the membership?
My wife and I got out of ours today. We got it yesterday in Hard Rock Cancun. We transferred over to HR Playa del Carmen. Right after the presentation. Slept on it and changed our minds. This be morning we searched and found the Legendary Vacations offices and told them flat out that I wanted to cancel. Two hours later we got our cancellation and credit voucher. What a battle!! But we are relieved.
Great to hear it!
How did you get out of it? We are dealing with them right now. We already left the resort but told them, in writing, two days after signing that we wanted to cancel. Of course, they are refusing.
Hi Elliot,
I regretfully signed up for Legendary membership at Hard Rock in Cancun on 12-12-21. I still have until the 17th to cancel. Is it sufficient to send an email notification to their member services email address (memberservices@legendary-club.com)?
I don’t really want to deal with the same sales person that sold me the membership (might just try to talk me to downgrade). I just want to cancel completely and get a refund of my deposit and future charges.
Can you give me some advise please?
Thanks so much,
Jane
The contract states:
The notification shall be written and directed to the address Parts have established herein, by personal notification, or by certified mail, with acknowledgment of receipt, or with any other demonstrable means that are legally authorized by the United Mexican States Legislation. Once the Club has been notified, it will repay the amounts paid, in no longer than 15 business days.
were you able to cancel the membership? I requested the cancellation within the deadline and they refuse to accept it because the date on the contract is March 28, but I signed it on April 3.
Hi I have a week (for two persons) to sell. if anyone is interested, please email me at herohuang@gmail.com
Thanks,
Jason
They just stole me 4K I wish ready this before. But when I was on the resort I was looking for bad reviews and can’t find anything bad. Now they Offer the economy room 2k valued when they took 4k from my account. 😭😭
Hey James have you ever bought legendary…I’m a new “stupid” who just bought one…cancelled within the 5 days…but found out they back dated the document. April 19 we said yes, run our credit, they had internet proble…did not sign yet…April 24 we signed…April 26 we cancelled.and now “Maria ” from legendary said we cannot cancel. We dont plan to pay and disputed the amount from our credit card….did you continuously pay ? Anyone can answer if you had the same experience…
Good luck getting this sorted! Sorry to hear this happened to you.
Hi Fatima,
I just signed up on 4/25 and tried to cancel on 4/26. I only had an email address and i’m still waiting for a response. You mentioned a 5 day cancelation can you tell me where this is posted?
Was your money refunded? We cancelled in 5 days as well. Waiting for the response from them.
Hi Rajesh,
Any update on what happened?
I’ve been trying to cancel but there is no place to mail anything.
I’ve emailed them requesting cancellation within 5 days as well.
Did you get your refund?
Hi, were you able to successfully cancel your contract?
can you please tell me how you sent your notification to cancel? I am still within the 5 day leeway period. I only have the member services email address and phone number.
I am fighting them right now to cancel using a lawyer they are scammers
Hi Fanny ,
my name is Yocasta , same thing happen to me . they told me i can not cancel . and they charge my credit card your Lawyer successly canceled you membership Please if you can let me know.
my email yocastaramirez@gmail.com
thank you any information helps. thanks again
Hi Yocasta! I am in the same situation! Did you get any response? Were you able to cancel and get a refund?
Hi Fanny, I’m in this worst situation, They refused to cancel the contract. The seller was a liar. if you have time could you please help
I went to Punta Cana for my honeymoon i was staying at the RUI resort then a woman at the airport was trying to get me to go to the Hard Rock and spend 2 hour’s checking out , well that was the biggest mistake of my life ,i was under intense pressure to buy a membership the guy would not take no for an answer he was standing over me asking me to give him my credit card my wife got so nervous she gave him our.cards . After 2 day i tried to cancel and he would not accept then he lie right to my face about not using RCI card . 2 week’s later i received a $2000 bill for RCI my life is a mess my honeymoon was the most stressful vacation i ever had and soon I’ll be getting open heart surgery and i told them that but they don’t care and they know that the sales rep lie to me so after a couple of emails my activation is on hold until further notice God help me
Hi can u told me what email u used to cancel or what address pls
Hi! we had the same experience!!! we signed on April 3rd and the document shows March 28th and they don’t want to acknowledge the retraction request. were you finally able to cancel? I would appreciate it if you could tell me about your experience
Hi! I’m interested to buy a week at hard rock punta cana from 2 March
I can sell you a week
Can you sell me a week at Los Cabo’s? I almost bought their last offer, 400 down and then 2000 when I decide to book the week, but was Leary of any swindling and or fine print. Would love to go though!
James,
We agree food is not 5 star but staff are very friendly and our room is great. Rivera Maya has much better food and more stuff to do. Never had issue with resort credits with wife and myself. We did a 3 week deal with 3 promo weeks and 6 RCI weeks for $3,900. We have been to 3 hard rock doing the leading destination for only 5 days/4 nights for 1350. Ours are 1750.00 per week so better bonus. They have 2 more opening this year for us try next. Try other locations before you make a final decision to get rid of your weeks.
Happy to hear you had a good experience!
Hi, can someone explain how these legendary works? Do you still have to paid additional cost when booking?
I have been a Legendary member lot of years. Well the answer you are looking for is. Usually what you can have on a week of your plan is just 7 nights at the hotel you selected. It includes usually room, transportation airport-hotel-airport in a bus or something similar. It includes too all the meals, food service at your room 24 hours a day. All regular drinks with or without alcohol. It includes all gratuities at the personnell, so you do not have to tip anybody, but you can do it if you feel so.
The price that you pay for your weeek when making the reservation is for two people. If you want three or four people total in your room you will pay around $700.00 extra per person. This amount changes depending on everything, time of year and hotel you selected.
They will answer you all your questions when you call to make your reservation. Hope it be of any help to you.
i want to know he same
I’m having the same issue canceling. I sent them an email two days after signing up. They never got back to me so I called my cc company and bam they contact me immediately. I have proof of the email I sent within the 5 day period. It’s now been about a month and am still working on canceling, no luck as of now but they have offered to downgrade my membership. Thoughts?
I’m sorry this is happening. I hope it works out for you in the best!
I am having the same situation! What was the outcome of your case?
I just signed 6000 22 Wkd of one and 22 weeks of the other. We paid in full to get the free week at Unico this sept. We were told there is a 750 service fee for 2021 to pay so they lied. I was chased in order to be convinced to sign the guy Davila told me 3 times there were No hidden. Fees for the free week at Unico. I should have recorded him. Actually I should have never gone back in. I am speaking with my card company as this is fraud. I didn’t sign anything or initialed anything that stated the service fee we’ll see. I figure If anything I’ll use the hell out of it
I hope it works out, Millie!
Called HardRock Legendary membership directly to book spending New Years at one of their resorts. Was given Riviera Maya as available and quoted special pricing of $2168 by Andrea Martinez at ext 1545. When trying to book less than 10minutes later after securing flight availability and pricing we were told by two separate representatives that she was not available and that pricing never existing trying to charge up in price more than $1k for the exact same stay. Honestly I don’t care how beautiful a place is if you rip off members and consumers you won’t last and the internet is a platform to warn others.
#HardRockLegendaryRipOff #HardRockLegendaryBadService #DontBuyHardRockLegendary
Crazy story! Awful
How were you able to down grade your Legendary package?
I called and asked
Im a Palace and Legendary member, so I have access to 13 resorts with membership rates, and zero complaints.
We had an issue once where we went to the concierge with the problem, and the hotel manager came to meet us. They made up for it by upgrading the room on the spot, and set up a special dinner on a terrace garden where a chef hand brazed meats and lobster on a hibachi to order with moet champagne.
The Spa Palace was THE best in class resort in all the Yucatan. Now its been a hard rock for 5 years, not the best any more, but still a good time.
But – the roof top rooms (which are and extra $1000) are well worth it. Room service to the roof, breakfast on the veranda overlooking the sea, hot tub up there too.
Puerto Vallarta hard rock is a fantastic beach hotel. Cancun Hard Rock is for partiers. Legendary is also building in Cabo, and Palace has a newer Jamaican hotel. The playa del carmen hotel is run down, but right on 5th where the action is. Isla Mujeres is ideal for a relaxing out of the way vacation – great for reading on the beach and snorkling. been to all those and enjoyed every one.
Happy to hear this worked out for you!
Hello, Do you still have any weeks available for rent?
Thank you!
Is this site still up and running with current responses in 2018?
Yes absolutely!
Hi,
Is any membership owner from Mexico around here? I have an issue about a change in Legendary Preferred destinatios banks and accounts that i would like to discuss.
I’m interested how do I contact you?
Sorry you and others had bad experiences. I have been to Cancun Palace for the first time around 2011 and then bought into both Palace as well as legendary memberships. Initially started with Palace Premier and went up to Diamond and Same with Legendary. All the way to Hall of Fame. Combined paid almost 200k for borh memberships. Me and family absolutely love these places. We come here only to relax as we always have other trips we plan during summer. Never encountered any issues and people go out of their way to help. Granted HR PC is the bottom of the list in terms of service as well as food. But the beaches are gorgeous and having these memberships enhances the experience. The worst timeshares I bought are in the US. One in Orlando and another in Masnuttee. Absolute crap. Guess I have to fake a sale to a fake person the get out of those to stop yearly maintenance.
Hello Patrick. Are you selling any of your weeks for 2019. Please email me at. Ccann15@hotmail.com
Hi James,
A big thank you for sharing your experience with others who have also fallen for the marketing gimmick. It seemed like a great idea when we signed up. “You’re just paying for your future vacations” is what caught us. But a few months in, we realized our mistake of how we were limited to 3 resorts. Very glad to have come across your blog and found out about the downgrade option.
In your experience what’s the best offer we could get for our package?
$16,000
3 free weeks
20 world use weeks
7 preferred weeks
2 RCI weeks @ $199
Amount paid:
$4,800 + $1,050(administration fee)=~$6,000
Once again thanks for sharing your experience!!
Could you cancel or get a better deal?
We bought it last week and we regret it! Help
Call them and ask for a downgrade. Sucks but better than nothing
Anyone have a presidential week at aventura?
Dude this is a big fat scamm, they build their New hotels whit the money of the people, moré than 1700 rooms weekly, they sell at least 2000 packages (month)at moré than 5000 down payment, thats moré than 100.000.000 $ a year payed in advanced and if You inform yourself You can get a similar price as You Pay been ” legendary” scammed. Also the food is very regular as James said and this sales is always made in places where the law is so poor that its very dificult for You ro win a trial. Also they have very very good sellers but they will go down, dirty Way of get money always goes down.
BEWARE!! NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! Terrible experience of membership. Try to solve a problem and there is NO ONE willing to help – no integrity.
Hi, i was just at Heaven in Riviera Maya. It was OK, not the best resort i have ever been to, but not bad either.
I went through the presentation and was tempted on buying the membership, but ended up declining it.
I am interested in purchasing one of your weeks in case you are selling. How can we speak about it? My email is michelcaspary@gmail.com
I disagree it is a scam.
After going to Hard Rock Puerto Vallarta twice, and realizing we wanted to come back many time…we looked into the vacation club. I think I got an okay deal so we were pleased. We will now get to check out all the other Legendary resorts available for a great discount, maybe even free if we use the earned free weeks.
IF YOU DO listen to the spill…I have some suggestions.
Be very up front with them.
Give them some of YOUR DEMANDS on your time. For example, go in the vacation club place early in your vacation. They often tell you NOT to schedule anything so they don’t have to rush. Be polite. When setting up the scheduled presentation, ask them how long the presentation is going to take. Then tell them you ARE going to make a plan for something exactly at the time they say it will take. Tell them you are doing this for the exact reason they don’t want you to do this…because you want them to be honest about the time. If they argue, be polite and ask again..”how long will it take?” Make it clear that you WILL BE LEAVING at the time that THEY PICKED – even if it is mid sentence.
Also tell them that you – with a guaranteed 100% – will not be purchasing on that day that you listen to the presentation. (I told them only a fool would spend that much money on a whim in 90 minutes…they didn’t like that). Tell them they need to give you the absolute best deal they can, and you will sit on that deal for the rest of your vacation so you can ponder and study.
Tell them that if they try and contact you or do anything like that for you the rest of YOUR vacation, you ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT purchase, and you will do all in your power to spread how they can not keep their word, etc. Then tell them on the day before your vacation ends, you will come in with a decision. Tell them you do not want to haggle, or discuss. Again, if they proceed to haggle, you will absolutely NOT do it, and you will do all in your power to spread the word about how they cannot be trusted.
I think if you do this…and you work with one good salesman, you will get a good, short presentation. You will get a good deal offered, and you won’t be stressed and pressured. This is almost exactly what we did, and we ended up buying it. I’m happy with it so far.
AND it turns out, the Avett Bros are going to play a concert at HR Punta Cana in Feb 2017. We are there for sure!
Hi, I am looking to RENT a week (or two) at HR Riviera Maya (on the family side). Anyone interested in renting out a couple of weeks?
Thanks,
Sandra
yes , i have weeks for rent
All I can say… We LOVE the hard rock and Punta Cana!!! The food is what it is… Not bad, but not 5 star. The service is phenomenal!!! They trip over themselves to help us, and our rooms are immaculate everyday! Yes, we are Hall of Fame rock star legendary members, I don’t know if that makes a difference… We upgraded last year. We absolutely look forward to every minute we spend their. We have been members for about 5 years and just upgraded to Hall of Fame last year… Complete with Butler Service! The resort itself is kept very clean and everybody walks around with a smile. I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but our experience is completely different. Just wanted to mention it…
So, what is the cost to upgrade to HOF Rock Star level? We have been Legendary members for 5 years and are thinking about possibly upgrading next time, but have no idea $$$$ we are facing.
Thank you for sharing your positive review. We have just made a conscious decision to join and we are very excited about it!
Blessings
So now you are e salesman trying to sell your weeks at a profit. Wow. You learned a lot for them lol. Why not sell them at $50o for the one week only ??
Hi Waley. Thanks for the comment. Never actually did even though people would love to buy them rather than spend the actual price. However, I chose against it…maybe I’ll remove that part.
Hey James have you ever bought legendary…I’m a new “stupid” who just bought one…cancelled within the 5 days…but found out they back dated the document. April 19 we said yes, run our credit, they had internet proble…did not sign yet…April 24 we signed…April 26 we cancelled.and now “Maria ” from legendary said we cannot cancel. We dont plan to pay and disputed the amount from our credit card….did you continuously pay ? Anyone can answer if you had the same experience…
hi! How did you get a lower offer? I REALLY need this information, just bought it last week and we regret it
Just reach out and ask for the downgrade!
My husband and I visited HR PC in July 2012. We attended the presentation because we were having a fabulous time at the resort, but we wanted access to the members pool and beach area. I kept complaining to the sales person that they were taking away my vacation time during the entire presentation. Originally, they started out with the package at $70,000 and then it went down to $20,000 and after we had been there for about an hour my husband finally said what does $2,000 get you and they said nothing! And at that point they realized that they better start talking realistically to us or we were going to bolt. We got a package for $5,000 and I think we got the best deal. We got 16 RCI world use weeks, 8 legendary weeks and 8 match-play weeks. Plus, we got an additional 16 days at any of the resorts because we like to take 3 or 4 day long weekends as opposed to 7 day trips. We also banked 3000 resort credits for when we use our free weeks. So far, we have gone back to HR PC once and we just used our free week at HR Vallarta last month. We always get treated well. Bottom line, be realistic about what you can afford and how much vacations actually mean to you. Do the math! We work hard for our money like everyone else and we weren’t going to invest in any more than we thought the vacations were actually worth. We don’t feel like we got scammed. I read contracts for a living and everything they offered was exactly what our contract stated and what we’ve experienced using the membership. We left the sales office in under 2 hours and immediately had our wristbands changed to members and we were having drinks by the members pool by lunch time. Just know that the RCI world use weeks are useless because you have to bank a week and then also pay an additional pricey conversion fee. However, having access to all of the RCI properties as a member is great! We have used our RCI membership to stay at the Wyndham Grand Desert in Las Vegas twice for $359 for seven nights in a one-bedroom condo and we plan to use RCI for future trips as well. I’m sorry everyone feels like Legendary is a scam. Our experience has been nothing but favorable.
What do you mean by RCI points conversion cost? How does it work to covert WW weeks to be used tbrough RCI?
Thank you for your positive review
James,I already paid Legendary Preferred for Hard Rock Cancun, acquired 45 world weeks and 10 Match Plays by paying the legendary all inclusive collection And 8900 resorts credits.. does this mean when I use any of the resorts I also have to pay the all inclusive collection rates? Must one deposit the week with RCI? Purchased in 9/2012, but have not used membership..wish I had read your comments sooner
My wife and I are in day 2 of 5 at HRPC. We got a great deal through afvclub.com, which is primarily for active duty, retired service members and their friends. Last night when we met with our “personal resort representative” she saw what we paid for our 5 nights and immediately shifted from pushing the Legendary presentation to just answering a few basic questions and moving on to other folks with greater purchase potential. My take on the resort credits is they are a bit of a rip off. We could use $30 each of our $400 credits to pay $6 each for a round of miniature golf. BFD. Resort credits should never justify your enduring a presentation of buying weeks. Any way I felt your blog is right on James. Thank you. The food here is average. The rooms are nice but not exceptional. And although the ocean setting is wonderful, why would anyone sign a Legendary contract costing tens of thousands of dollars when there are plenty of good deals available online and using weeks from disgruntled Legendary members. Hopefully more folks will read your blog before rather than after they sign Legendary contracts. I’m afraid my wife and I may never know the joy of being able to use the VIP Legendary pool and beach areas )-:.
Hi James I want to buy a week to Can cun / Riviera Maya please contact me rpareja78@hotmail.com thank you
Hi I have a week (for two persons) to sell. if anyone is interested, please email me at
My husband and I got suckered in too at the Riviera Maya resort. Came home a few days later, tried to get ahold of them to cancel and of course could never get ahold of them. I’m sure they know they 5 day law so they wait to get back to you until then. I paid 3500 for down payment. They offered me a downgrade of 6K for 5 weeks. I refused it. Just a month ago they offered me one legendary week for the money i had already put down, but I also need to pay a $300 “downgrade” fee. Should I just suck it up and do that so my $3500 isnt a complete loss??
Thanks!!
Yea, that is what I would do…
i am interested into buying one week at Hard Rock Riviera Maya. 2 Adults + 2 Children (7&3yrs) for January 2015….
How much money did you get to write this bad review James???? hahahaha…… I can definetly see that you put in too much effort to discredit this company. Anyone that reads all the good and bad comments can see it, since you just focus on the negative comments even thou there are some real good ones. Good luck but educate yourself a Little bit more and have a Little more ethics.
ya, robert, I got paid nothing…
You are correct, people should educate themselves and read other reviews…
This is just 1 person who had a bad experience but it’s fair to say that I have the freedom to share it…
I too went to the HR Cancun presentation and they had me there for 5+hrs. We eventually gave in and realized most of the items they had promised were not at all true. They lied lied lied. I got home and immediately realized that they scammed me so I emailed them of the cancellation. I went to the profeco website and saw the 5 day rescission period. After contacting via email I did not get a response from them but I did get a phone call even though I specifically asked for just email communication since my phone calls were going to VM(out of the country, they knew that). They ignored all future emails so I went down to cancel in person since I knew that they were trying to buy time for the 5 day period. when I went down to the HR they acted like they had tried to contact us and said our hotel said we checked out,lies lies. Again they tried to sell another package and I said NO. They at first said there was no cancellations and there wasn’t any in the paperwork I signed. They finally agreed to the cancellation but said there was a 20% tax and cancellation fee. I called BS. I demanded a full refund and was ready to walk away (you can also cancel with sending a certified letter from the post office to the names and addresses on the contract, read the profeco flyer). At this point they stated that I would get a refund for the full amount(it took another 2 hours of heated exchanges) and I just received it.
They are scam artist. They are hot and cold. Chameleons. They are your best friends then your worst enemies. ALL of them laimed they had no idea what PROFECO was. They also said I could not cancel because there were no cancellation clauses in the contract. BS. The 5 days are critical.
Mark,
Thanks for sharing and so sorry you went through this..glad it worked out!
James
What is profeco? I sent an email today. 8/17/21. Contact says I have 5 business days from when contract was signed which was on 8/11/21.
5 business days would be 8/20/21. I also paid with my debit card so what I did when I got home was cancelled my debit card and reported it lost so I will get a new one with a new number. I don’t plan on paying on this fraudulent contract that consists of hidden costs and I from what I can see when trying to book that there are a lot blackout dates.
These guys are so agressive and they go from being very kind and sweet to downright ruthless. I was promised 90 minutes of my time but it kept going and I told them I would be stupid if I agreed to pay $32k in that short amount of time. I told them that was one year of my child’s college tuition. I told them I didn’t want to feel pressured and the one guy actually told me that if I didn’t want to be pressured why did I come to this presentation? I was shocked. I ended getting them down to $7k for 10 legendary weeks with some free weeks and some credits. I put down $1185 and have to pay a $750 (I forget what it is for) and another payment of $1185 which will cover my down payment. The plan was to pay $115 a month for 48 months but I don’t plan on doing that. I didn’t give them my social security number. I don’t know how I ended up buying when I promised myself I wouldn’t! I just wanted the free Xcaret tickets for my family for sitting through the presentation.
Hi Gina
Did you get it solved ?
What happened? Did you still pay them? What’s gonna happen if you don’t pay them?
I am wondering the same thing, what happens if we simply cancel the card and stop paying. The day we went to the Hard Rock in Punta Cana, my husband and I went to the breakfast and sat through the whole presentation. The day the contract had to be “signed”, I was not interested, but husband went. in the contract they put his name and mine because we were legally married as a joint member. Since I was not there he basically signed for me, he didnt know until then that I was going to be added in the contract. Will that invalidate the document since its not my signature?
We got out of our contract but it can only be done in the first 5 DAYS.
The law in Mexico is that they have to provide a cooling off period for timeshares and vacation clubs that are like timeshares (which this is).
I am glad people are happy with their memberships but immediately after we signed we knew we made a mistake because we are not the type to go to the same place over and over again and with the cost of the extra child–it was not economical. There is no cancelation term in the contract–so if it doesn’t say you can’t cancel, then chances are you can. If you (or I) ever sign a contract like this again I would ask what the cancelation terms are and have them written in if none.
This is what you must do:
1. Call the company and express that you would like to cancel. Be polite and professional. Get the person’s name and title and note the date so you can give to your credit card company and put it in your cancellation letter.
2. Write a letter to them canceling your membership and send it via email within 5 DAYS and email them again to confirm they received it AND certified mail –just to be sure.
3. Call your credit card company immediately and dispute the charge.
4. File a complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency in Mexico who were really great and helpful (here is a good site with info http://www.profeco.gob.mx/revista/publicaciones/otas_pub_06/timeshares_abr06.pdf ). You will have to submit a complain in writing with copies of the contact etc. Make sure you do all of this in the time they tell you. You will also have to write it in Spanish and English (I just used google translate).
This whole process to about 6 months to resolve but in the meantime my credit card company froze the downpayment charge until the dispute was complete (Legendary just didn’t respond to them). If you do all these things then you should get a refund because the law (put in place to protect Mexico’s reputation to international consumers) is in your favor.
I don’t have anything against Hard Rock and like the hotels but Legendary should have a cancelation clause and not make people panic and up all night looking for information on the internet. I would consider a vacation club membership in the future but after much thought and research.
Good Luck.
Annie,
Amazing…thank you for such great information! This will help a lot of people!!
James
Hi Annie,
What is it the address you sent the cancelation letter to?
We just sent our cancellation emails (we are in US now but it is 4 day after we signed with them) and we called our credit card companies to let them now that we want the refund as well..,please all the help tips we can get will be much appreciated!
Did they actually told you that it was cancelled ?
Hi do you know if this applies at Dominican Republic?
James,
Thanks for your blog!
My husband and I also signed for the contract back in mar 2013 and agreed to pay almost 16k for 30 WW, 12 match week and 12 celebrity week along with 3 free weeks. And get $4470 resort credits. We put down a $5400 deposit and have been making payments of $220 since May 2013 until I saw your blog two weeks ago. We regret buying it because like someone who posted before had said that during the presentation they didn’t mention in order to deposit weeks into RCI actually cost $550 a week or $1050 for two weeks and on top of that RCI still needs to charge you weekly fee for the hotel which we knew from the get go. ( shame on us for not reading the contract thoroughly) Anyways, I called the 1800 number and requested of a downgrade of my plan, the lady was very helpful and offer a new plan which is 20 WW 10 match week and 10 celerity weeks with one free week anytime and resort credit of $8900 for 20 years. But the catch is that we have to pay $300 of what they call a “unique” fee. ( I asked if that could be lower and she said no) So I will say we have paid $5400 + 3500( for the past 16 months that we have made payments of) and now we owe them another $950 then we don’t have to pay anymore. So we are able to save around $6000 thank god to your post. But I have got to say, where we went was the hard rock at DR where we signed the contract wasn’t too bad ( we were there for one day only) at least places we ate weren’t too bad and service were good and people were friendly. I agree that legendary club might work for some people and , might not for others. I also think that based on the price they gave me at the sales presentation wasn’t the best deal ever now that I’m seeing what others get on with their plan on this blog ( I guess We should have negotiated a little bit) but i surly am glad that we are able to downgrade and hopefully this can educate others who want to downgrade their plans as well.
Thanks again James!
Good luck!
Tin
I finish reading all the comments, my question to the last comment for tin if he reads this, did he still get the 3 free weeks for the 8900, why do I ask, because I saw both deals 17k and the 8900 but with 1 week free and the 17k with 3 free weeks with like said a lot more product. For us it was an easy decision since we wanted the free weeks and the celebritites were practically 12 more free weeks everytime we come in August.
I really have to write my experience here because the CLUB LEGENDARY has done an amazing job with my membership apart from the beautiful places we have all inclusive and the hotels around the world through RCI. I can tell you by experience that I stayed in orlando, cancun, london, miami and other places having good satisfaction. The only thing I suggest is that you use the RCI through the web it works better than with the phone. In legenday I have never had a problem with the reservations, even though they ask 90 days sometimes they have done it sooner ina short notice.
If you like to travel, buy LEGENDARY, if you don’t travel dont. The quality, the membership and the services are just the best thing I have seen, again if you will travel at least once more in your life and you dont burn your bags.
In my next visit I would like to get the presidential, the suites are just out of the charts.
Good luck to all, hope this helps to anyone…
Jd, I also bought a 29000 memberhsip, i am using my free weeks and been pampered at riviera maya right now. I got 35 in The world and 15 mp… They are not perfect but I can tell you I am very satisfied, that I would recommend legendary to anyone outthere, I heard they are expanding to Cabo and cant wait to know an all inclusive so close to california… Many are going to be vacationing there specially americans from the west coast.
Spend quality time with the people you love, legendary helps to the that, I am glad someone else and others have the same experience. Sorry about those who have a bad experience the only thing i can say is that they probably didnt use it and at the end they will be paying the same amount or a lot more money for less quality…best wishes
You ever ask what the $29,000 actually bought you?
I did not ask you with all due respect James. Trust I know what I bought.. Gl selling your weeks I can see you will sell them quick 🙂
Lol, you asked Google who brought you here…so in essence, you did ask. Enjoy my opinion buddy
All I can tell anyone who reads this website is please check trip advisor it has comments on legendary and the hotels… to be honest they are incredibly positive… and trip advisor is a lot more credible than this James Bornadiess…
John,
Go ahead, you will see both good reviews and bad reviews from people just like my site. Oh, and Trip Advisor is not a person to be credible, it is a platform, just like this blog post. Guess how people post on Trip Advisor? Someone posts their “experiences” just like I did and other people comment on those experiences. Just like my site.
Did they actually told you that it was cancelled ?
Yes they did!
I just want to say I have been a member since 2011. I went to england and south america through RCI…. before I use to think it didnt work RCI with another TS I had, I took a risk in doing a trade in with legendary and results were just fabulous since the other one i bought in Tennesse didnt work so well to go to the high demanded places like orlando and hawaii.
About the all inclusive… Its just plain fantastic… Gorgeous places and the best service I have received in my life…:)
Sorry it did not work for you… We ve been legendary member since 2011 and are very pleased with the hotels and service
James,
I come from using my membership from legendary. I have to say that this people do everything they say. Using my match ande celebrity I saved a ton of money since the celebrity was basically free… But I used it with a free week also that they honored.
I sorry for your experience, mine was amazing because the quality and service from the people is outstanding. I saw that you are selling some of your weeks. I strongly suggest give them a second chance and try it out use the match and celebrity since I read you have not used it. Just a recommendation. Also the suite I got in brasil duringthe world cup was at the Beach park aqua which was unbelievable.
Thanks for having this site, it was really helpful .. and gl to everyone
Ronnie, nice I just bought legendary, was hesitant about how good of a deal we got but now I feel a lot more comfortable after reading you used it around the world and with the 4 hard rocks. I have just been to Hard Rock hotel punta cana and have to say the attention plus the food as the beaches of the place are ridiculous… For me it was like dream since I live close to the snow.
I can wait to use it me and my whole family are so excited to come back soon, the problem we have is to decide where since the 4 destinations have good weather with beach and music hahaha….
ARound the world? How?
Yes I did, so far It worked great in a trip to brazil… I will let you know later this month for The hard rocks. Thanks
Hi! I just got back from a vacation at Hard Rock Cancun and went though the same thing. My husband and I fell into signing a contract for $6,000 with a $2,400 down payment. Right after we finished the presentation (4 hrs later) and signing the contract, we went up to the room and realized what we had done. I google for info and read that this membership was a scam. I contacted legendary immediately and spoke to they “lawyer” who advised me that I could not cancelled. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that I had being scammed, I didn’t sleep that night thinking about it. However, I did came across an article stating that we have 5 business day to cancel. The next morning I typed a letter letting them know that we changed our mind and that we wanted to cancel but nobody at the hotel wanted to take that letter. The very next day I went and talk to them and they kept telling me I could not cancel, they even try to offer me something else. I just kept saying no and I let them know about the profeco and the 5 business days. Thank God they let me cancel and even issued me a refund. So just remember, you CAN cancel within the 5 business days.
WOW Roxana!!
Sorry this happened to you as I know the feeling of an almost ruined vacation. I am so happy you were able to get out of it. I am now 100% positive the 5 day rule applies to Mexico, I am still working with a lawyer to figure out about Dominican Republic.
Glad it worked out though!
James Bonadies
http://www.profeco.gob.mx/revista/publicaciones/otas_pub_06/timeshares_abr06.pdf
That’s all I can do for you, sorry I can tell my identity, it could be dangerous for me and my job
Have You notice that your main issue is that You have is not that you get a bad deal? Is just that you have buying remorse? Have you notice that just beause you think is a bad place you are against million people who love it, can we trust in a guy who take all this effort just to expose that himself have no honor or word and talk bad without even try to see if it works? Bad deal? In my oppinion get 4 free weeks + a membership in a place that cost 4-7 us dlls to go it is noy a bad deal at all. This web site is just bullshit from some looser that just like to complain and dedicates his life to confuse and desinform the people, you have the right to like or not a place, but keep it for you, I have own in legendary for over 10 yrs, even before turns in to hard rock, and sombody have to believe to a guy like you that because he have no word cancel an agreement without try? Did you have any problem with the reservations? Did they misinform youin something? Nooooo you just talk about a dick head without honor who work in destroy reputations as a way to live.
Gabriel
I have approved your comment strictly so I can rip into you and completely make you look like an idiot. First of all, I have a right to speak my mind, and just because your not from this country, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t understand “freedom of speech”. Blogs, websites are for this reason. To INFORM people of our experiences, and make sure people walk on egg shells when it comes to plopping down $10,000-20,000. First, I’d like to call you out, and bet that you are an employee of legendary preferred membership. That I can almost guarantee since your company calls me and my wife everyday about this website. Call Trip Adviser too while your at it, because they have a ton of bad reviews about this “membership”. Oh wait, you won’t because it’s Trip Adviser and you don’t want to piss them off.
Let me say this to you “Ghost240579@hotmail.com”, First I was lied to about this membership. They told me I could cancel it. Then they told me they would send lawyers after me if I did. (For what, I didn’t even use any weeks, so what if I cancel it?) SCAM! Second, when trying to book a vacation for my friend, they put him into a tiny, old mold infested room in the Hard Rock Rivera Maya. In addition, it was a construction zone there and over 200 people complained and moved hotels. I still didn’t get his money back from that trip because THEY TOLD ME IF I CANCEL I HAVE TO WAIT 6 MONTHS FOR A REFUND. Really, since when? I’ll tell you why, because all they care about is keeping capital to build more hotels. You see, it’s public knowledge that the owner doesn’t like to spend his own money, he likes to spend the money of the legendary members investment for this membership. Wow, interesting. So take working class individuals hard eared money to make you even more rich.
Third, my room that I was promised, isn’t exactly what I get. When they sold me this garbage, they promised me 1 style room and even showed me exactly what that room would look like. Then I go on their site, the name of the room in my contract doesn’t even exist. Again, I was lied too.
Fourth, I’m not wasting anymore time on you. Read my review, it is all there. Oh and my main issue isn’t buyers remorse. My main issue this is garbage and if I wasn’t held hostage in that room, I would have been able to do my due diligence and found on Trip Adviser how big of a SCAM this really is. However, nobody held a gun to my head, so yes I got myself into this, now I let the public know to at least research it and not listen to every word the salesman says.
Lastly, I make this world a better place by helping people think twice. If after they decide to buy, no problem, it may be a good deal for them. It wasn’t for me, and that my friend is called telling my experience.
Haha, go to his page now—he works for Legendary! In fact, I’m pretty sure he was the closer that I sat down with when I went.
This guy works for Palace Resorts. Here is proof:
https://www.facebook.com/ghost711
Just type his email into Facebook search and it takes you straight to his profile:
Ghost240579@hotmail.com
Hi james, just have a couple questions? Do I have all the Hard rocks all inclusive? I just have used the RCI and was great but afraid of going to Miami or Vegas Hr and not Being all inclusive since I see is a different fee. Thanks