Complaint / Review
Inn Season Concierge Club
The Falls at Ogunquit Free is not Free - Don't get duped

They make it sound so good..."Congratulations! You have been selected to receive 2 Round Trip airfares to anywhere US Air flies in the continental US and we're throwing in a 3 day 2 night hotel stay" plus an extra surprise gift.

Then you call the number and the marketing rep says there is really no obligation, just attend a 90 minute presentation about our travel club and you'll get 2 free tickets to anywhere in the US.

What she doesn't tell you is that you don't get the tickets or even a voucher at the end of the presentation. You get a form that you're required to send in via certified mail along with a "refundable deposit" of $100. The form has a ton of restrictions including the need for there to be more than 7 days between arrival and departure days when using the tickets.

Why offer a 3 day getaway along with airfare that is only good if you'll be gone more than 7 days???

Well you must at least get the "surprise gift" at the end right??? Not exactly. You are pointed to a website, www.mallsystem.com to order your gift and pay $9.95 shipping and handling. The gift, called Dining Dough, claims to be a $50 dining certificate. It is not.

If you're familiar with Restaurant.com, it is a gift certificate program that Restaurant.com negotiates with restaurants to offer gift certificates at reduced rates in order to generate business. I have no problem with Restaurant.com, I use their services often. The problem is that I could order these same certificates directly from Restaurant.com for $10 or even find promotion codes that drop it as low as 70% off ($3!!).

Finally, the Inn Season Concierge Club. Cost: $8,995 plus $399 to sign up and $199/year membership. Their claim: they cut out the middle man and leverage large membership buying power, considerably cutting down on the cost for vacations. At the end of the presentation, I asked my rep to quote me the cost of a specific Royal Carribean cruise that I had already quoted out on line, to see the "incredible savings". The rep said it couldn't be done and quickly wrapped up our meeting.