Just to start, I did not get ripped off, but I feel that this well worth the time to help educate on the so-called "Free Cruise".
Received a phone call asking for 'John' or whoever and whoever they were trying to reach was not at my end. "Sorry, there is no one by that name here, " I replied. The caller quickly said, "Darn, he just won a free cruise from a raffle he entered at a basketball game." I said, "Well, that's a shame, goodbye." "Wait! Do you want a free cruise? I have to give this out to someone..."
So at this point I am very curious and besides, who doesn't want a free vacation? I let the optimistic part of me takeover and wanted to know more. "All you need to do is come to a presentation and at the end of it you will get a voucher for a free cruise." Sounds sweet, right?"It's completely free?" "Well, you need to pay for taxes for each person going, which comes out to about $200.00 for each person."
Of course... Nothing is free in life. My accidental free prize was no longer free and I was beginning to think that I was not called by mistake. I still scheduled a time to go to the presentation. After talking it over with my husband the first thing he did was hop on the Internets and look up the company and read other accounts from people's experiences. There were some good, some bad reviews, but overall it did not sound like it was going to be a very cost effective vacation. Other accounts explained that the very aggressive sales pitches you receive offer vacation packages ranging from $12K-$15K and even after all the adamant turn downs you make they still come back with lower offers. Except. You have to pay for airfare each time. Anyway, I am rambling.
We did not end up going to the presentation and the next day received a bombardment of phone calls from different sales reps. Finally, I answered the phone and was initially met with a sweet voice. "We're sorry you missed the presentation, but we want you to know that the offer still stands. All you need to do is come in and pick up your voucher." I was very, very kind and said, "You know, we just aren't able to afford anything right now, but thanks anyway." "Why would you turn down a free vacation?" "My husband looked up some stuff on your company and just found that it did not seem worth it at this time." The sweet voice on the other end did a complete 180 and shot back, "Why would you waste our time? I can't believe you are turning down a free vacation." I said, "I appreciate the offer, but this just isn't the right time for us." She repeated, "Why would you waste our time? This is a great offer. This is a waste of our time." I said, "Well, thanks anyway." Click.
So, I hope this was worth it for you to read. Be very wary of the "free vacation"... Unless you are into going through the sales pitches and "wasting their time".:)
Rebuttal This
Anon, Illinois
U.S.A.
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