I received a phone call from a representative of Ramada Plaza Resorts in December offering my wife and me a luxury vacation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas, as well as what they referred to as two "bonus" vacations after the Florida portion of the trip was completed, all at a very low reduced price ($798 per person).
We signed up immediately and paid for half of the vacation with a Visa card, and were told we could use the vacation anytime in the next 18 months and make our reservations within 12 months, paying the remainder of the vacation at the time of reservation. When the twelve months were almost up, we received a call from Ramada Plaza Resorts stating our 12 months were almost up but that if we paid for the remainder of the vacation, we could extend our reservation period for another 12 months.
We agreed and paid for the remainder on a different Visa card than we had the first time, as the first account had been paid off and closed.
Eight months after that, we finally sent in our reservation form to reserve our trip for January (eleven days from today's date). We received a call a few weeks later stating we would have to upgrade our rental car and hotel room since we were travelling with four people total, and that it would be an additional $205. I went ahead and upgraded with a Visa, again, a different one than the first two times I paid. We were then told, 18 months after we had originally agreed to take the trip, that we would need to sit through a "time share" presentation.
We are taking our two children with us and are NOT going to make them sit through such a thing! We didn't hear back from Ramada Plaza Resorts three months later, so we called them, and were told they had sent out our reservation packet a month before. We had not received it. They sent it again. When we finally got it, the reservation confirmation stated we had to make several trips to different "Welcome Center" locations to pick up vouchers for the hotel, rental car, and Disneyworld portion of the vacation.
We were flabbergasted that rather than just sending the vouchers to us, we had to run around different parts of a city in Florida when we are obviously not familiar with that area. My wife called Ramada Plaza Resorts and attempted to cancel our vacation completely, and was told that not only could she not cancel the trip, but that in order to postpone it, there would be a $100 per traveler charge for cancellation.
I then decided to get on the internet and do some research on the Ramada Plaza Resorts. I can't believe how many people have been having problems with this company, and furthermore, how many people complained about the quality of the trip. I just want to cancel the trip entirely, but apparently there is no compensation for someone who cancels their trip before the travel date.
I don't want to travel with my wife and two small children all the way across the country just to have a vacation from hell, and end up spending more money to make the vacation the way we expect it to be. I don't know what can be done to get at least a portion of the money back from this company. I have spent hours on the phone as it is with Ramada Plaza Resorts trying to confirm reservations and get forms sent to me, etc. As well as trying to speak with a supervisor about my wanting to cancel the trip.
I am never successful in my efforts and have become extremely frustrated at this point with the entire situation. I don't know what I can do to get a refund, but if this company is refusing to give me a refund, they must not be a very reputable company (apparently Ramada Plaza Resorts, a.K.A. National Travel Service, is not the same company as Ramada Hotels that we see all over the U.S.)
Aaron
Elk Grove, California
U.S.A.
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