We received what looked like a free vacation voucher to Florida including a two night Bahama cruise from Ramada Plaza Resorts. We called the 1-800 number and were given a very hard sell for a package that actually costs $1400. We asked if we could think about it and call back the next day. We were told "no." We got them to cut the down payment in half to $349 and we agreed to accept the package.
The next day, I had the opportunity to do some on-line research on this company. I found this ripoff site and was amazed at the number of complaints on Ramada Plaza Resorts. At this point in time, I knew I had been taken. We decided right then and there to take action.
We were told during our initial call that a package would be sent to us within 2-3 days. We thought we would wait for the package and then call and cancel. Per Illinois law (and probably most states), we have the right to cancel for three days after notification. We waited and waited and after five days, no mail. We decided not to wait any further and we called Ramdada to cancel.
The first person we reached did her damned best to salvage the lost sale and would not listen to us or cancel the package for us. She also told us that our right to cancel was only 72-hours from the evening we called—not from the day of receiving their mailed package with our receipt. This was lie #1. After arguing with her and being put on hold several times, we finally got a supervisor. The supervisor was worse. She would not listen to us and only tried to salvage the lost sale. She asked why we wanted to cancel. We told her we researched the cruise line and found the ship to be very outdated. When I mentioned this as part of our complaint, she told us that we were informed the ship was an older vessel. This was lie #2—we were never told this. As a result of her saying this, we asked for a copy of our transcripts. She had no comment and apparently they are not sending them to us.
This lady was so argumentative that we decided to just hang up on her. Between the two individuals we talked to, I asked a minimum of ten times for a full refund. I was told several times that they could not and would not provide a refund (lie #3, #4, and #5). We also said that we would call our credit card company and file a complaint and we would write letters to appropriate Illinois and Florida state officials. This didn't seem to matter to them.
After we hung up on the rep, we filed a complaint with our credit card company. Then this morning (the following day), I decided to call Ramada Plaza Resorts back and complain some more. When I gave her my account info, she told me that my package was cancelled and a refund applied to my credit card. I found that very odd since we were told "no refund" and we actually hung up on the obnoxious snot the evening before.
The lesson to be learned—if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
The lesson for Ramada to learn (which it has yet to learn)—you will lose good customers as a result of your deceitful practices. We will never do business with Ramada based on this bait and switch scheme.
The lesson for readers of this site to learn—don't give up a good fight. You can win this.
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