March
I purchased 2 travel vouchers over the phone from Your Get Away Solutions - one for 2ppl all-inclusive 5days/4nights ANYWHERE in Mexico and one to Orlando Florida for 4 ppl, hotel only. I paid just under $800 CDN for the vouchers. I was told that I had 18 months from date of purchase to redeem them. I received my vouchers in a timely fashion.
August
I contact the reservation company - Reservations Made Simple (RMS) to make arrangements to redeem my voucher to Mexico. My female cousin and I wanted to travel together to celebrate our 40th birthdays. My husband did not want to go so it was to be just us 2 gals. My cousin is not married. I am informed that I can NOT use the voucher for anywhere in Mexico - that it could only be used in Cancun. The 2 resorts I was initially told I could stay at were no longer available for us and we had to choose from some others. The replacement resorts did not look as nice and luxurious as the ones I was promised. I agreed to pay and additional $649USD for a resort upgrade. I sent the cheque by registered mail and Reservations Made Simple received it and cashed it. I started reservation proceedings but there was a 'glitch' based on the fact that the host resort disqualified us from redeeming the voucher. Why? Because one of us was married! I was NEVER informed of this important stipulation. I then also found out that another qualifier was that we had to make $50k US or more annually. The 'tour' of the resort I was told we'd have to take turns out to be a timeshare sales meeting! Sneaky! I had no problem taking a tour of a resort.in fact I think it would be a good idea - especially if it's huge and has lots to offer. Not once were the were TIMESHARE or SALES mentioned to me. I made alternate arrangements for a 2nd choice resort since we did not 'qualify' to stay at our first choice.
September
By now, I am one confirmation phone call away from booking our trip. After RMS cashed my cheque, all of a sudden I could never get through to them despite numerous phone calls and emails requesting contact. At this time, I get a sinking suspicion that I've been had and that RMS has gone out of business - taking my upgrade money with them and the chance to ever redeem my 2 vouchers gone. Fearing the worst and not wanting to miss our opportunity to travel together, we book our trip through a reputable local travel agency.
October
It's the 3rd week in October and just for kicks, I call their number. Someone answers! I tell them my dilemma and request a refund of my $649 USD. I would be happy just o get that money back, even if I lose my initial voucher purchase amount. Within 1week I was able to get through to them 2times, both reps telling me that they have submitted my request for refund to management and that they would get back to me within a few days. I NEVER heard from them again. Shortly after, the phone number is out of service and the website is gone.
January
On the 6th of January, I receive a phone call from a resort in Cancun calling to confirm our reservations? It would appear that the rep I was dealing with at RMS had sent in a reservation on our behalf but this was never confirmed with us. Thus I had gone and and booked it and paid more money. Had we known this, we would not have booked it through our local agency! Ugggh! How frustrating and a waste of money.
Long and short, Reservations Made Simple and Your Getaway Solution did not deliver what they promised and all I got for the $1400 paid was paper promises. They both seem to have vanished. My advice to ANYONE looking to travel, just go through your local travel agency. We booked through Sunwing Vacations/Sell Off Vacations and they were in fact THE BEST PRICED deals I found anywhere. I spent over a 100 hours researching websites and their prices from Travelocity, Apple, itravel Expedia, Tripadvisor, Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak, Hotwire - you name it, I looked at it. Sunwing was the cheapest. Beware of online travel agencies.
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