I too fell victim the the Ramada Plaza Resorts scam. I received a phone call a few weeks ago from a representative at this company and was offered the familiar "bargain" rate "discount" hotel/cruise rates that were available to those willing to "pre-book" in advance. I was told that for $498 per person, my wife and I could travel to Ft. Lauderdale for 3 nights, Orlando for 2 nights, and take a cruise to the Bahamas for 2 nights.
After asking many questions and discussing with my wife while the representative was on the phone, we agreed that this seemed like a pretty good deal and since Ramada was a reputable name, we decided to go ahead and put down the $498 deposit.
The next day I decided to go onto the internet to check out the resort we were told we'd be staying at as well as the cruise ship we were told we'd be taking. Well much like the rest of you, the first thing I found when I searched for "Ramada Plaza Resorts" was the numerous reports of scams and disastrous vacations.
I immediately called the Ramada customer service line and demanded a refund of my deposit. Like everyone else, I was told that the trip was non-refundable and that there was nothing they could do to help me. Well, after having read the many reports of this scam I was pretty fired up and convinced that I would not let that person put me on hold or talk me off the phone without giving me a refund.
I argued that I had not received any benefit from this package (i.E. I had not taken any trip or booked any trip), and therefore it was unreasonable from them to keep my money. To make a long story short, I listened to the representative (and then the representative's manager) tell me repeatedly that they could not refund my money, but everytime they tried to hang up I specifically told them DO NOT HANG UP ON ME. I figured if they really were recording my conversation, they wouldn't want a record of actually hanging up on a customer.
After almost EXACTLY 45 minutes of this (I was timing the call with a stopwatch), suddenly the manager got quiet and I could hear him typing on a computer keyboard. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was documenting our conversation. After about 30 seconds of typing he told me that he would refund my money to my credit card and that I should see the refund hit in 2-3 business days. That was it.
So after 45 minutes of sounding like a broken record and telling me there was nothing he could do, he suddenly switched gears and gave me the refund. I am therefore convinced that they probably have an internal policy that no refund is to be given unless the customer remains on the phone for at least 45 mins. They probably figure that very few people would be as persistent as I was and that if they can talk 90% of the people off of the phone before 45 mins. They will still make a lot of money on the scam.
I even would be willing to bet the that sales manager's calls are reviewed by top level execs and if a refund is given before 45 mins. The manager would get in trouble, which is why they aren't willing to do it. I find it hard to believe that EVERYONE working for that company could be so cold hearted. Most probably want to give your money back but feel they can't do it without getting in trouble and possibly getting THEIR pay deducted.
So the advice I offer to each of you, is call today and stay on the phone as long as it takes to get that refund! Don't give up and don't let them hang up on you. Oh, and since they seem to always want to tape their calls but never replay them for people who ask, I'd advice that you do what I did, place the call on speakerphone and then record the conversation yourself with a tape recorder! That's what I did, so I would have proof if they hung up on me without my permission. Also, it was somewhat comforting to know that I had the sales manager finally agreeing to refund my money on tape! Luckily I won't need it because 3 days later the refund did actually go through onto my card.
I was lucky but I believe everyone can beat this scam if they follow this procedure. I asked my wife (who used to work as a telemarketer a few years back) and she agreed that my ideas about the 45 minute rule, saying that she could see something like that going on as there is a high amount of pressure to make (and retain) sales in that business.
Good luck!
Brian
Annapolis, Maryland
U.S.A.
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