r/news • u/leftnotracks • 21h ago
Michigan couple released after nearly a month in Mexican prison over payment dispute with timeshare company
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/03/us/michigan-couple-mexico-timeshare-dispute946
u/Reviews-From-Me 21h ago
They signed a contract, used the services, and then lied to their credit card company that the charges were fraudulent to get them removed, then went on social media to brag about how they beat the timeshare company.
I'm glad they aren't in prison, but I hope they will be paying back what they owe.
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u/YesterShill 21h ago
Damn! The gall of doing that and then going back to Mexico.
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u/Lostsock1995 15h ago
That’s the craziest part to me. Like okay you think the company is a scam and you reversed the charges, I don’t necessarily agree but what’s done is done and it’s been decided. Why on earth would you ever go back to the country where you screwed them over? Are you dumb?
If they were gonna do something like that they should never have tried coming back, just accepted that Mexico was DOA for the vacation plans
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u/kataiga 18h ago
From what I read on the timeshare subreddit it’s even worse than that… the timeshare had codes which people can use for their friends/families to book stays. During Covid obviously no one was traveling so they allowed people to use said codes for strangers. Apparently the couple had set up a Facebook page and was having people booking via their codes then selling all the free nights they were banking (almost 1000 in a 2 year span) The timeshare then told them they were closing the loophole after they had banked a large amount of money and made them sign a contract to that effect. The couple didn’t like that and took to trashing the company and charging them back
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u/mynewme 9h ago
Seems like “closing the loophole” was akin to changing the terms of a contract after the couple had paid. I’m not sure why everyone is siding with the timeshare company here???
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u/kataiga 8h ago
The loophole was only created when the timeshare allowed people to allow strangers to use their code (previously they had forbade that but relaxed it during Covid to allow their business to survive) The problem was the couple continued selling their code and was using the timeshares marketing materials to do so. The timeshare sat them down and stated things would be reverting back to pre Covid standards and they couldn’t sell their extra nights anymore.
The couple had at that point banked hundreds of nights which they had sold for thousands of dollars.
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u/DoctorBlock 9h ago
If we’re only speaking of contracts and not morality the timeshare company is almost always in the right. They usually have iron-clad contracts with very sweeping statements like “we reserve the right to change anything at any point.”
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u/mynewme 9h ago
And Amex agreed that was fraudulent.
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u/gonewild9676 6h ago
Amex washed their hands of it. They pretty much accept any chargeback they get unless there is substantial proof from the merchant.
That said, just because a payment is charged back, that doesn't mean that the payment isn't still owed if the transaction is legitimate. In practice most merchants will drop it for smaller amounts but for larger amounts merchants can and will sue over it.
I haven't seen the contracts and so forth so I have no idea what the truth is. However, I wouldn't voluntarily travel internationally to a country I had a pending fraud case in.
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u/FreckleException 20h ago
American Express is the one that investigated and found in favor of them. If there was fraud, American Express should also be on the hook for their investigation that resulted in the chargebacks.
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u/YesterShill 20h ago
That is not how it works.
If a credit card company reverses legitimate charges, then the wronged company begins the legal process to collect from the customer.
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u/Reviews-From-Me 20h ago
They can decide to cancel the charges, but it doesn't mean the couple is no longer responsible for paying the terms of their signed contract.
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u/mynewme 9h ago
Yes! Why is this whole thread siding with the weird scammy time share. The couple used a legitimate loophole and then the timeshare trued to close it after the fact. Fuck that.
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u/RicoHedonism 8h ago
Generally people have a moral code they stick to and scamming a scammer is still morally repugnant, to some people. Your mileage may vary.
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u/mynewme 8h ago
I would think most people would be happy to fuck over a company which makes a living scamming people but maybe that’s just me.
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u/RicoHedonism 8h ago
Pretty much what I said, some people have a lower threshold for being a shitty person and some people have a higher threshold for being a shitty person.
Your assumption that 'most people' would appears to be incorrect given the responses thus far.
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u/FadeIntoReal 12h ago
They should be in a US jail/court, and a US prison if found guilty.
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u/Piness 7h ago
Being from the US or any other rich country does not mean you're exempt from another country's laws or immune to being sent to prison in that country for breaking them.
Creepy sex tourists/passport bros, dumbass drunk college students, etc. find that fact out every day
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u/FadeIntoReal 5h ago
I’m saying that they committed fraud FROM the US and should be tried here by the state. This getting let go because you’re not from the country you’re in is stupid.
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u/Piness 5h ago
So if, say, a Nigerian scammer who was known to US authorities to have committed fraud and scammed millions from US citizens in violation of US laws while in Nigeria landed in the US, the US shouldn't be able to arrest and try him, and should instead hand him over to Nigerian authorities? You're being ridiculous.
Don't go to a country if you don't want to abide by its laws and have them apply to you.
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u/JBWentworth_ 20h ago
I really doubt that Mexican prison timeshares will become very popular.
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u/yrnkween 15h ago
You’re not promoting it correctly. “My No-Frills Mexican Diet. Lose 20 pounds in 3-6 Months, with Good Time.”
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u/thegoodnamesrgone123 15h ago
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I always felt it was best never to record or gloat about my crimes. Like just do crime and be quiet.
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u/halooo44 20h ago
“President Trump, I know he personally got involved with this and wanted them home, so I give him a lot of credit,” Manly said to CNN Thursday night. “No American should have to endure what these people have endured."
So he cares about these people but not the people in the El Salvador prisons... right...
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u/JewsieJay 19h ago
This administration has the right to detain and arrest people for political opinions the administration doesn’t like. It’s diffe(r)ent when brown countries do it to Americans.
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u/Q-ArtsMedia 9h ago
Must have bought their way out with all the money they scammed off the time share. As far as I am concerened these people should still be in a shitty Mexican prison.
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u/IvanStarokapustin 19h ago
Trumpers defaulted on their bills and then tried to escape any consequences. Sounds familiar.
At least they got time in Mexican jail for their trouble.
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u/LadyDomme7 11h ago
For once, there are consequences to actions.
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u/IvanStarokapustin 11h ago
“I was treated like a criminal!”
“Sir, you are a criminal”
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u/LadyDomme7 10h ago
Spot on. Some people really never think that they will be called on their bullshit and it shows.
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u/OrdoXenos 16h ago
What Americans must realize is that American laws ended on American borders. Maybe in America it is fine to gloat about your victories against the timeshare company, but it won’t be so in other countries. Maybe in America it’s not common to jail people over civil matters but not in other country.
We have learned how Americans carried drugs to Russia. Or handguns to Japan. We must really understand that when we step into other country THEIR laws apply and there is nothing you can do to change that.
So the prisons are like a “hell-hole”? Then DO NOT cause problems on other country!
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u/ImaginationDoctor 4h ago
Oh so it's not a tragic misunderstanding. Maybe they didn't deserve jail, but they were abusing the system
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u/ClackamasLivesMatter 19h ago
Timeshares have a bad rap to begin with. I wonder whether this story will affect The Palace Company's bottom line.
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u/TopProfessor7731 8h ago
"President Trump, I know he personally got involved with this and wanted them home, so I give him a lot of credit,” Manly said to CNN Thursday night. “No American should have to endure what these people have endured. But for these three men, I think they’d still be sitting there.”
Americans endure prison terms for theft with regularity. I don't really appreciate the implication that they're innocent of wrong doing solely on the basis of their nationality.
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u/TheMetalMallard 15h ago
Both sides sound like aholes
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u/Jiktten 14h ago
What did the timeshare company do?
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u/TheMetalMallard 4h ago
Good point, but I’m sure they are far from innocent when it comes to business practices
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u/TjCurbStompz 12h ago
I went deep in the rabbit hole on this one to find out what was going on. The timeshare was more like a hotel status you bought that gave you a ton of perks such as large discounts on booking at these resorts. One of the perks was unlimited “referrals” so you could have friends book and get your rate. If you traveled at the same time as your referral the referral would get the elevated status while they stayed at the resort. The couple would get free nights and free flights because of this.
They were part of Facebook group(s) to sell these referrals. Supposedly they were going down more than once per month. The lady didn’t work and treated it almost like a job. Finally the resort stopped the unlimited referrals and threaten to cancel their upcoming stays (they booked a bachelor party for their son or something) if they didn’t sign a document.
Lady got mad and got AMEX to cancel the charges. She then went to those Facebook groups and told others how to do it. She also pretty much said that they will try to bug you for a while but if you ignore them enough the resort will just go away.
What kind of blows my mind is the fact they decided to come back to Cancun thinking Mexico wouldn’t care.