We received a mailing for 'two round trip airline tickets to any major international airport anywhere in the continental USA'. We just had to listen to a 90 minute presentation about a new travel agency opening up in Northbrook. I specifically asked if we would be forced to purchase anything and the girl said no. I inquired about the tickets. I asked if we would receive them at the completion of the presentation and if my daughter could be one of the people using the tickets. They said yes absolutely. I asked why they would want to give away free tickets. They said it's an incentive to have you come and learn about the Travel Network program and it's a thankyou for coming. We were told by Tony who presented that this was a no obligation presentation to tell us about this travel agency and that at the end of the presentation we would receive our FREE two round trip airline tickets to anywhere in the USA, good for one year with no blackout dates just for our time. The goal being we would be so impressed with the travel agency that we would refer them to our friends. The presentation offered a membership travel program for the low-low membership price of $14,900 but if you joined tonight it would be $11,900 and then it miraculously dropped down to $6,900 for lifetime travel at discounted rates through Global Services and even more because I was a professional nurse I could even save more money for the even lower rate of $5,800 over 5 years. When they let us out of the presentation room we were escorted to another room. Each couple was introduced to their very own travel consultant, seated at a very small table, in a room of 30 tables. There was loud music and our 90 minutes was now turning into 1 hour and 15 minutes. The brought over a manager to try and persuade us some more after we repeatedly told them we were not interested.in the meantime announcements and applauses were made after a couple signed on and their names and trips were posted on a big board at the front of the room. We declined the membership and asked for our free gift for attending, the airline tickets. The girl working with us stood up abruptly, went to the front desk, grabbed a certificate and signed it illegibly (as I found out later the signature must be printed clearly on the form... It was not). We were given a form to redeem our tickets that had to be completed in 30 days. The catch the form asks for a $50.00 deposit by cashiers check only to be sent to an address certified mail per ticket. The other catch is that you can only use the tickets on TUESDAYS! How rediculous! This was a total waste of our time! I hope by telling my story that someone will be saved the headache of this horrible experience.
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