I received a call from this company a couple of years ago with a free cruise and an offer of a cheap vacation package. My husband and I considered it, and after they knocked $100 off the price, we agreed to it. There was no mention of a sales tour in that phone call. We then began paying on a payment plan for the vacation, and recieved paperwork that we would need for when we actually set up the vacation. No mention of a sales tour.
We set up the vacation almost a year later, and of course they tried to sell us some upgrade, but we turned it down and set up the vacation as it was. Then we received an itinerary that included a sales tour. This was the first time we had been told anything about a sales tour being involved - I am not making this up. It made a bit of a stir for us, because the timing of the tour interfered with our time in Universal Studios. We tried to ask them if we could reschedule the tour, but no, they wouldn't let us. There was no sympathy for the fact that no one had told us about this tour, and we would have scheduled our vacation differently if we had known.
During the course of all that, I was constantly being told one thing by one person, and then they would send me to someone else who would tell me something different. For instance, at one point I asked about changing the day of our tour, and I was told that it was possible. I was then sent to someone else who 'would help me with that', and that person told me that it was impossible and didn't care that someone had already told me it was possible.
Regardless, we took the vacation (as we had already paid for it!) and did, in general, have a good time. The tour was annoyingly long, but we endured and enjoyed the rest of the vacation in general.
Yesterday, I got a 'voucher package' in the mail. It talked about a free cruise and a vacation package very similar to what we'd had before (3 nights in Ft. Lauderdale, 2 nights in Orlando, and 7 day rental car). It came with a $1,300 'travel voucher', and stated (I quote): "The (last name) family's FREE cruise and extended stay package includes..." (This is, I guarantee, a direct quote from the materials I received.)
So we figured that, since we had gone through this all before, now the company was going to give us a free vacation, too. This time, at least, the tour was mentioned, and we were glad to see that had been changed so that people have fair warning. My husband and I discussed it, and since we did enjoy the cruise and other elements of the vacation, we decided to give it a go, figuring that we knew all their tricks by now.
Boy, were we wrong.
First off, I talked to a lady named Barbara (ID number #1612). I explained that the last time we did this, we were offered a choice between the rental car and tickets to Universal Studios. She immediately replied that, since they were near the end of their quarter (or something to that effect), she would give me both the rental car and the tickets for free. She also offered to give me a free upgrade to an outside cabin rather than an inside one on the cruise.
Then Barbara placed me on hold to pull up my information. When she returned, she kept talking about a '$698 package', which I really didn't understand. Then, as she was talking about the tour, she mentioned that we could take the tour a second time in Orlando and fill out a survey to get free tickets to Universal Studios. I pointed out that she had told me we were getting free Universal tickets anyway.
"No, " she said. "You get those by filling out the survey." I tried again to let her know that she herself had told me that we would get free Universal tickets, but she continued insisting that yes, we were getting free Universal tickets, and the way to get them was by sitting through the sales tour a second time and filling out a survey.
After going back and forth on that for a bit, she handed me over to a manager (Keith, #EN2378). I explained to him that my husband and I would rather have free Universal tickets than a rental car, if possible, since my husband works for a rental car company and therefore gets free rentals anyway. He did not really respond, but asked if I had any other questions.
So I asked him what Barbara had been talking about when she mentioned a $698 package. He didn't understand my question, so I explained that I had a voucher for a free cruise, and a $1,300 travel voucher, and I was wondering what the $698 was about.
That's the cost of the vacation, as it turns out. When it says, "Free cruise and extended stay package", what it means is, "Free cruise, and an extended stay package that you have to pay money to get." Of course, it doesn't say so anywhere in the paperwork.
I informed Keith of this fact, that there was nothing in the paperwork - not even the fine print - to indicate that the vacation package cost any money on our part. HE OPENLY ADMITTED TO THIS FACT and informed me that they do this so that people will call them to get the full details. If that isn't shady business dealing, I don't know what is. I immediately terminated the conversation.
Thankfully, my husband and I didn't lose any money overall. To those of you who have lost money, I urge you to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. This company has a rating of 'F' with the BBB - no surprise there - and the BBB may be able to help you get at least some of your money back. Good luck!
Aggeloi
Edmonds, Washington
U.S.A.
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