As similar people in similar situations have reported against Universal Fun Pass, I too was scammed by them. On Jan 12 I received the same similar call stating that I was eligible for their free vacation giveaway to Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure. Which included and 3 day and 2 night stay at one of their luxurious hotels and 2 theme park tickets good for 2 days admission.
As an added bonus I would also get another 4 days and 3 nights vacation at another one of their resorts right on the beach in Daytona Beach, Florida. She asked aren't you excited? Before I could even respond... Just wait I've got even more exciting news... You've also been approved for another 5days and 4nights to Cancun, Mexico! Have you ever been to Mexico? (Yes I have numerous times)
Well aren't you excited this is a great deal, all that we ask is that you pay a one time fee for any of the adults that will be traveling of $249.00 when you book with us. Does this still sound good? (I was a bit confused at this point and was starting to wonder-if it's free then what's with the $249.00? I didn't even answer her question!) I'll transfer you to our booking agent now.
As soon as I got the booking agent I questioned the $249.00 and asked what is it you want me to pay up front for? She said oh you don't pay anything upfront, I wanted more reassurance, I said but what if you're offering me a vacation that I won't really be able to take. She reassured me that I was getting a great deal that, everyone who has ever vacationed with them has been completely satisfied.
She repeated the whole package to me and then asked me to confirm my visa card which she could ramble off the last four digits of anyways. She explained that they just needed to confirm the account number that they had on file already, so that I would be able to make reservations at a later date without delay. I told the agent that I didn't feel comfortable giving out credit card info over the phone and she reassured me that they got my account number from Visa and that they work directly with Visa as a partner company.
I said so I'm not paying anything you just need to confirm that I have a visa account? She said "yes" and I have all night to wait, I get paid by the hour. Finally, I gave her the account number and expiration date. As soon as I did, she says... Okay we've charged $498.00 to your account and you'll be issued a confirmation number via your email address. Immediately I flipped out.
I asked to talked to her supervisor. After much deliberation back and forth with the manager. I was basically told I was a Liar, I knew that I wasn't getting a free vacation, that I was well aware that I had to pay for the adults, that they weren't just going to confirm my card number that I knew that I had to pay over the phone immediately.
I told the lady that I was going to report them and she said "We're a very reputable company that has been in the vacation business for many years now, we deal directly with Visa and you'll have a very hard time convincing them that this is a scam, plus we have you on tape basically lying that you weren't aware of the charges and more than one of our representatives explained full well what you were liable to pay.
She started claiming that I was the one who contacted them online that that's how they had my info in the first place and that I can't get mad at them now for calling me back, that they never claimed to be giving away free vacations etc. At this point, I have contacted Visa and they are doing an investigation and they told me that I'm not the only one, that there are numerous others going through the same thing. She didn't reassure me that Visa would be able to get any or part of my money back since these companies are so hard to track down etc.
What did happen though is they were able to cancel my account and issue me a new card and they reassured me that this company would not be able to charge my card any further. If you haven't done so yet, cancel your card and get sent a new one, it will stop Universal Fun Pass from being able to charge your card further, I mean remember they already have it on file. I hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else but I'm not really that optimistic about it not.
Parkapoo
Belle River, ON, Ontario
Canada
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