I traveled to Grand Discovery inNorth Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Thistrip was made in response to a call received at our home approximately two weeks earlier. The call was made by a representative ofGrand Discovery and informed us of an opportunity to purchase discountvacations. The caller also advertised thatwe would receive various gifts in return for traveling to South Carolina andmeeting with the Grand Discovery representative. These gifts included two (2) free roundtripflights to any major airport in the continental United States, hotelaccommodations for three (3) days and two (2) nights at over 1,000 locations in the Marriott, Ramada or RadissonFamily of Hotels, and a three hundred dollar ($300) gift card to Wal-Mart.
Inconsideration of these gifts, my husband and I traveled to South Carolina tomeet with the Grand Discovery representative. During our visit, we were informed that Grand Discovery offered aLifetime Membership in Grand Resort Travel. This Lifetime Membership enabled members to travel to various resortsthroughout the world at a discount of up to 65% off the published resort rentalrates. During the sales presentation, wewere shown a book of resorts and cruises which members could access throughoutthe world at this discounted rate. Wewere assured that these resorts were not limited and booking was guaranteed atany location desired so long as three to four week notice was provided to thecompany. Further, the Grand Discoveryrepresentative assured us that Grand Discovery would price match offers made byany other travel agency including discount providers such as Expedia or Carnival Cruises.
In order to provide credibility tothis sales opportunity, the Grand Discovery representative showed us copies ofvarious customer letters illustrating a high level of satisfaction with thecompany. The first indication of a problem appeared inreference to the Wal-Mart gift card.insteadof giving us with a $300 gift card to Wal-Mart as promised, Grand Discoveryprovided us with a brochure for $300 in retail merchandise rebates. The brochure advertised that a $25 gift cardwould be provided each month the customer purchased $100 of merchandise fromWal-Mart. This offer was available for atotal of twelve (12) months and required the customer to mail in their receiptseach month. The offer also required thecustomer to mail in a check for $9.95 the first month. This $9.95 was to be refunded to the customeron the gift card for the first months purchases. After making our purchases, we immediatelybegan trying to use our Wal-Mart gift card. As required, we provided proof of at least $100 worth of purchases throughreceipts for the months of September, October and November.
Whenthe Wal-Mart rebates did not function as advertised, we contacted GrandDiscovery Travel to inquire into a possible problem. Multiple messages were l
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