I just returned from my Special T Travel ripoff vacation. Like others I was solicited by phone, saying I won a cruise/vacation package, and all I had to pay was $598 for a 5 day Orlando/4 day Daytona Beach vacation including a Bahamas Cruise.
When I made my reservations via an email communication with the agent John McCoy, I was encouraged to upgrade to deluxe accommodations for an additional $99 a day. Since we had never been to Florida and wanted to have a good experience we opted for the hotel upgrades. We also upgraded the car as well. We paid the travel agency a total of $1448 for the trip. We opted not to take the cruise.in addition, we paid taxes of over $100 directly to the hotel and the car rental companies once we arrived in Florida.
I checked out the hotels we were booked at before hand on the internet and they looked and sounded very nice. However, when we arrived in Florida, the hotels were far from what was advertized or what we paid for. The hotels advertized as luxury, fully equiped, designer decorated, were in fact old, run down, poorly maintained, slum-like dumps. We paid for a one bedroom luxury condominium at Silver Beach Resort... We got an efficiency apartment with no bedroom, no bed, just a sofa sleeper that was so old it was falling apart, the mattress was paper thin, the door knobs fell off when we touched them, the towels were rationed 2 per room, the designer furnishings were falling apart, and the bathroom was barely big enough to turn around in.
We were appalled at the condition of the accommodations. Plus, we were overcharged for both the rooms and the rental car. I have asked the travel agency for a complete breakdown of the charges and I am trying to get refunds for the accommodations we didn't get and the overcharge for the car.
If anyone has any suggestions, or was able to get their money back through assistance from an outside agency, I would appreciate the info. Be sure to check out the website ads for both the Mainstay Suites in Orlando, and the Silver Beach Resort in Daytona, they sound great but be prepared for the surprise of your life.
This trip was a nightmare. It was the worst vacation I have ever had the misfortune to experience and the biggest ripoff ever. If you are contemplating using this agency's services, I strongly advise you to reconsider.
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