I received a call from Resorts Plus International (RPI) offering a free vacation (3,4, 5, or 7 night cruise, or seven night hotel stay, or seven night 1 bedroom condo or Fly Away Vacation consisting of 2 airline tickets to Las Vegas, Washington DC, San Diego or Anaheim with 2 nights accommodation) for listening to a 90 minute presentation. Now, when I am on vacation, it isnt worth my time to get a freebee, but while I am at home, I didnt think I would mind, especially since I was told that all I would be responsible for was the taxes. Well, lets start with the freebees.
Come to find out, of course, after sitting through the presentation, that a cruise would cost $129 per person for 3 nights; $179 per person for 4 nights; $199 per person for 5 nights; and $299 per person for 7 nights, all double occupancy. And there is a $100 refundable deposit that has to be submitted before date selection is made. I am not sure yet what the stipulations are for actually booking the trip, but I can imagine that I would lose my $100 if I dont book, and I would also imagine that they wont offer many dates, thus increasing the possibility that I wouldnt be able to use the trip.
For the 7 night hotel package, we were offered $100 cash reward card and $100 cash rebates for gas, dining and entertainment (I am not sure what this means). The recipient is responsible for room taxes and $100 refundable reservation deposit. For the 7 night condo, the recipient is responsible for $199.00, and room taxes that might apply. And the Fly Away Vacation requires a $50 refundable deposit and the recipient is responsible for all airline and room taxes. Additional nights must be purchased through them.
Our representative (Mark) told us that we had to send is our election for the type of trip we wanted within 30 days and that he would be calling us the next day to remind us to send in the election. We have yet to receive that call, no surprise here.
At the presentation, we were shown exceptional rates, such as $399 for a week in Hawaii at a 5 star resort condominium. We were told that the annual dues were $159 if paid in advance and $199 if not. We were then told that the buy in (like buying a timeshare) was $8,200. Well, we werent interested. So the presenter, John Britt, gave us a deal (lowered the cost by $1,000) since he was from Virginia, where my husband had lived for 10 years. Somehow, he quickly got the price down to $6,200. And then, just as quickly, he got the price down to $3,269. Well, this peeked our interest, as we would get $4,000 reward points per year for life (if a property was retailed at $2,000 and your price was $600, the savings of $1,400 is deducted from your rewards total and the amount in your rewards account is all you can use to reduce your costs each year) and it was transferable by will at our death, or we could sell our interest. This sounded like a pretty good deal when considering that you are really buying into a timeshare, without choosing a particular week or home base. We asked him to show us more properties at various locations, which he did, but of course he drove, showing us what he wanted us to see. We came to the conclusion that, although we might only save about $800 per trip, the payback period would be about 4 years, and that the annual dues were actually lower than the amount one would pay to use a timeshare (usually $300-$400).
My husband and I, being professionals, never make a purchase like this without doing our homework, but it sounded pretty good for the price, knowing we had 3 days to cancel, and thinking it would force us to travel more (something I was interested in), we bought in.
Upon our return home, I immediately began investigating. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) was the first place I looked. They told us that they only had 9 complaints and that they had an A BBB rating. RPI (in Orlando) sells licensing to the software owned by RSI (Reservation Services International in Winter Park). According to the BBB, RPIs rating is B - with 11 complaints in 12 months, 3 of which the BBB didnt feel that the company made a good faith effort to resolve. RSI didnt have a rating, but was currently under BBB review (I am not quite sure what that means, but it didnt sound too good to me), and they had 9 complaints, all of which were satisfactorily resolved. Then I found several postings from people who said run away as fast as you can.
Feeling terrible about our decision, I put a stop payment on the check, and called the RPI manager (John) to cancel. I told him that I would pick-up my check the following day, and they wanted their binder back (which didnt really give any information at all). He told me they had voided my check. The next day, the manager placed my check on the table (and by the way, it wasnt voided), I picked it up and he snatched it out of my hand, I quickly snatched it back. I told him that the check was mine, and the binder was his. I explained that I didnt like what I saw on-line, for example at the BBB. He told me that Al Capone started the BBB (which is not true, http://tucson. BBB.org/article/ask-bbb-did-al-capone-start-bbb-17993) and that a companys rating is directly related to the amount of money they pay the BBB. I told him that I didnt buy this, as I had just investigated several companies in my area looking for lawn care. I found an A company that was not BBB accredited (which means that they do not pay the BBB at all). Their rating was based on the number of complaints and how they were resolved, among other things.
I also told the manager that I was very uncomfortable with paying for something that I couldnt test drive myself. I told him that if he was totally confident in his product, then he would be willing to extend the Florida protection from 3 days to 2 weeks, and allow me all of that time to look around the site (with a temporary password). (By the way, they dont issue your password until after your 3 days has expired). He was squirming and didnt know how to respond except to say that Florida only allows 3 days for cancellation, when the big boss, Scott, walked up. Scott asked what the problem was, and when the manager explained that I wanted to test drive the program, Scott said no problem, one of our managers will call you later today with a temporary password that you can use for a few weeks, and then you can pay us over the phone. Needless to say, that was Friday morning, and today (Sunday), I have yet to (and dont expect to) hear from them. I am now sure that my instincts to cancel were correct and that this is a scam. If I were you, I would run away from this company as fast as you can! I will post again, as I attempt to use my free vacation.
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