These companies are all related to each other and sell a variety of services. They sold us phone card for calling overseas. Then in April, a company rep of Westwood International calls us to say that we were the lucky customers who "won" a discounted "Holiday Adventure Package".
For $499, we get free airfare, cruises & hotel accommodations to a variety of destinations (12 I think). But they did not mention important items.
Things that they did NOT tell us were: 1) that Holiday Adventure Package will be handled by Holiday Travel of America, who has numerous complaints against it in the internet for non-delivery of services, 2) that we had to buy something (like 1-week hotel stays) to be able to get any of the free items that they were offering us, and most importantly 3) that they will take your money once you agree BUT there is a $150 cancellation fee if you don't avail of the package. Because they were reliable in providing phone cards to us, we trusted them. They also led us to believe that they were the ones who will handle our travel arrangements.
They took our money on 4/17/08 without telling us any of these things. Then it took them 1 month to send a confirmation letter. This letter has the $150 cancellation fee in fine print at the bottom. But it was sort of a no-choice situation because they made the package sound like such a great deal, did not disclose the above details, plus they already have our money.
When the package arrived 1 1/2 months after taking our money, it was only here that it is actually disclosed that Holiday Travel of America will be handling the travel arrangements. When you google "Holiday Travel of America", numerous complaints against them are posted in the internet for taking money without delivering products.
When I asked Westwood / DLP USA / Pioneer to refund our money in full because they misrepresented their product, they refused. We are made liable for the cancellation fee and are eligible only for a partial refund because we already received the product.
They claimed to have disclosed all those things but we took notes and kept the confirmation letter. Never was Holiday Travel of America mentioned. Furthermore, they offered us other items to compensate like free tickets that can only be claimed in Mexico, computers that will not be shipped to us but to anyone of our choice in the Philippines, and other pretty much useless items just so they will not refund anything to us.
My only warning is to not patronize them. They will take your money by making their product seem like a good deal.
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