Yeah, it sounded great... 2 nights in Ft. Lauterdale... 4 nights in Orlando... Only $199. Well, that was what the ad in the paper said anyway. So I called, did exactly as I should, asked every question imaginable about extra fees, taxes, tour requirements, contracts, money back guarantees, etc. They insist that there is nothing required other than a one time "transfer fee" of $40... Okay, no biggie, still well less than any other 6 night hotel stay right, especially at a "luxurious 5-star hotel".
Then, they tell me there will be a $39 reservation fee. Okay, I can deal with that, $279 is still not too bad. And I was assured there were no other obligations. I was also told there would be no problems getting my hotel booked for the end of October, which is when I got married.
After several hours on the phone with several people, it finally did get booked. We get to Florida, only to be run around town for about 3 hours or so being told "Oh no, you don't want to go here, you want to go to this hotel over there, they'll help you." We finally get to where we're supposed to stay, which is NOT on the beach as promised, only to be told that in order to get our hotel on the beach, there would be a $50 deposit and we would have to go on a "90 minute tour" the next morning. So, not anticipating this, we had no cash on us, and had to scrape together every little bit of cash we had to only come up with about 20 bucks, but of course, this was cash in their pocket, so they accepted. We get to the hotel, ready to check in to our "luxury suite", when I am asked for my credit card for taxes of $15 a night. Okay, at this point, I'm ready to go to bed and try to forget about this already horrible experience, so I give in. So yes, including the taxes on both hotels in Ft. Lauterdale and Orlando, and the damned deposit on the tour, we're up to $389. T
He hotels were anything but luxurious. So, we drive 45 minutes to where our "90 minute tour" is supposed to be. When we go for the tour the next morning, we calmly explain our troubles. From there we are magically whisked away to a supposed "manager" with Ramada Resorts who can help us out with this. This "manager" tells us they have no record of our reservation. So, we must have bought it with another company that they had bought out, thus, since it wasn't he, himself, who lied to us, he couldn't help us. Fine!
Then on to our "90 minute tour" with a guy who doesn't even mention anything about the actual resorts for about 4 hours much less the first 90 minutes. Seven and a half hours later, yes, I said 7 and a half hours later we finally tell them where to stick their time share. But wait, what about our promised free gift for taking the tour? Our "gift" is a $150 voucher for another vacation with them. Never in my life have I been so incensed at anything in my entire life. The only thing that kept me sane through this ordeal is my wonderful wife who kept a smile on her face through the entire experience. Not once did she blame me for being so dense as to have gone for something like this.interestingly enough, this entire ordeal has the distinction of being simultaneously the best and worst vacation of my life.
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