My wife and I received a postcard in the mail offering a free cruise on Royal Caribbean. We called the number on the card and thought we were talking with a representative of Royal Caribbean (that is wait the contact on the other line stated to us). The apparent Royal Caribbean representative forwarded our call on to another representative who scheduled us for a 1-hour presentation at the Springhill Suites (Marriott) in Roundrock, Texas. We were told that we were not going to be forced to buy anything to get our cruise, but only asked to listen to their travel agencies sale pitch.
Well, we went to the presentation and almost lost thousands of dollars! They offer a lifetime membership that costs $7,500 for membership, along with annual membership fees and a one-time processing fee. What do you get in return. The opportunity to get 4 vacations weeks a year at 5 star resorts for $499 (1-bedroom), $599 (2-bedroom), and $699 (3-bedroom) a week. Those prices are apparently set for life, and the membership can get passed on to family members for free. If the company was legit, and you can actually get the hotels listed in their resort catalog, this would be a good long-term deal. Especially since they give you 4 additional weeks free, and apparent savings on hotels, airline flights, and cruises.
So, why didn't my wife and I join? We were very close to singing, but too many red flags came out as we read through their contract and asked questions.
1) We asked them how customers schedule their reservations, and they told us about their great website that we would use. When we asked to see the website, they said they couldn't show us, even though they all had computers and internet access.
2) They told us we could select the specific hotel/resort, but the fine print in their contract states you can only select the location, not the specific property. When we mentioned the the contract's wording, they said it was lawyer junk and that we would be able to select the specific property.
Overall, their sales pitch had little information, other than the apparent savings you get when using their travel agency. We felt something was wrong, and decided to not take the risk. We got lucky! All you have to do is read all the other sad stories of people that did join their club. It is apparently a rip-off and I hope others read these reports before they loose their money to these creeps.
PS - If you work for Marriott, you should know that you are doing business with thieves. They have been in your round Rock hotel for a month now; stealing money from honest people. You should immediately tell them to leave your property.
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