Platinum Travel Network has an office in Plano, TX, but it is does not provide any travel agency or other services, rather it is what we would describe as a "front" for Vacation Network Inc. They deceive you from the start; to get you to attend their presentation, they send you an Award Notification that says it can be redeemed for a certificate for 2 round trip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental US (that is also deceptive as what you get, a month later, is almost impossible to use). This award notice is really a solicitation to get you to attend their sales presentation.in the Award Notice they do not disclose the
Name of either Platinum Travel or VNI. You call in and if you agree to attend the presentation and get your free gift, they tell you that 48 hours before your scheduled time to attend, you will receive an email telling you the location. On the call, they also do not disclose the identity of the service provider or Platinum Travel. If on the call you schedule an appointment, you later (just before the appointment date) receive an email from rapidtravelawards.com. The email gives you the address for your appointment but again does disclose that the company making this pitch is Platinum Travel or that they are marketing for VNI. Through all this — the award notice, call and email — they never disclosed the names of Platinum Travel or VNI. We think that was intentional — so we could not research them in advance and learn their reputation and the complaints against them. Whether intentional or not, the way they design the process, it was impossible to check them out in advance.
Next, they duped us at the presentation we attended on 11/27 and in our "one on one" with their representative after the presentation, through deceptive and what we believe to have been fraudulent misrepresentations and material omissions, into signing a contract. They misrepresented that they are a full service travel agency featuring luxury properties. We specifically asked about complaints against them and they did not disclose the serious complaints that have been made and they misrepresented the BBB rating of VNI. The reservation process is not as represented to us — specifically, how it works, available properties, and how long it takes to get a confirmation. When we discovered the deception, misrepresentations and material missing information in our research the next day, as well as saw the many other complaints and warnings on the Internet about Vacation Network Inc., we rescinded our contract within 3 days and protested our credit card charge.
They made a partial refund but so far have kept $4,147 of our funds, now forcing us to take legal action to recover those funds. We are adding our complaint to those already on file with the Texas Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau's in Atlanta (home base of VNI) and Texas. We wish what they represented had been true. Beware of these companies!
Read more complaints and allegations of fraud and deception at:
Http://usacomplaints.com/directory/united-vacation-network. Aspx
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