Like so many others, we received information on Ramada Plaza Resorts and promises of a great deal and a luxury vacation.
I allowed them to pressure me into charging my mastercard $498 US with the rest of the money ($398) to be charged at the time of booking our vacation. It sounded too good to be true and I'm kicking myself for having fallen for this. They even changed the itinerary when I mentioned that we really weren't interested in a cruise, and the more I sounded skeptical, the more "bonus" things they added - including three free vacations.
Immediately after getting off the phone, I decided to look them up on the internet, which I should have done before and couldn't do while on the phone and, of course, you have to make that decision right away. They don't give you an opportunity to call back and accept the deal.
I came across multiple consumer complaintss on this business and realized I had made an awful mistake.
I called my credit card company within 15 minutes of talking to Ramada and my company said the $498 US had already been charged. We decided the cancel the card immediately to prevent further charges.
I phoned Ramada Plaza Resorts back, the same morning I had authorized the charges, and demanded my money back. We argued for 25 minutes, and I was put on hold a number of times so "Delroy" could speak to upper level management.
He was very persuasive and even offensive as he said I was not wise to make my decision based on the reports I read online. He offered to refund half and give me more time to make my decision.in frustration, I offered him a deal. I said, "You refund me $473 and keep the other $25. I'm willing to pay $25 to get back the rest of my money!"
Again, put on hold, waited a long time. He came back with another offer, that he would refund all but $90, giving me time to rethink my decision. The $90 would "hold" our vacation package. He also offered to extend the vacation, blah blah blah.
I declined and said I only wanted my money back. Finally, he agreed to refund the full amount and said we should see the refund on our mastercard statement in the next 7-10 days.
In the end, I think the reason he gave in is that I mentioned (thanks to another Rip-0ff reporter) that under Florida state law, I have 30 days to get a refund. I also told him that I would go to my mastercard company and complain, and they could then revoke RPR's mastercard privileges unless they gave me the refund. He did not give in right away when I said those things, but I think he knew I was not about to give up.
Thanks to others for reporting. I wish I'd read these first. I won't make that stupid mistake again! Don't give up. Be very very firm. And get a confirmation number on the refund. Hopefully they really did reverse the charges on our card. We'll have to wait and see.
Andrea
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada
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