While attending The New York Times Travel Show on Saturday, March 3, I was approach by a young woman who shall remain nameless. She asked me if I would be interested in a "Show Special" which was a discounted stay at The Estates at King's Creek in Williamsburg, Virginia. After listening to her discribe the resort and how close it is to Colonial Williamsburg - a place I really enjoyed visiting about 15 years ago - I decided to take her up on the offer. After all, she was offering a stay for up to 6 of my girlfriends, 4 free passes to Colonial Williamsburg, all at a total cost of $289 tax. Not a bad deal!
UNFORTUNATELY, when I arrived home later the same day and read the fine print I was shocked to learn that I had signed myself up to a mandatory 90-120 minute resort preview/sales pitch for a vacation ownership plan (timeshare by any other name). Plus, if I made a reservation which included a Friday or Saturday night stay during Prime Season there would be an additional cost of $149 plus more taxes!
Believe me, I have sat through resort sales presentations before and really do not have a problem with them. As a matter of fact, I am considering such a purchase elsewhere. What I did not appreciate about this offer was the lack of disclosure. Honesty is always the best policy with me. Had Noreen told me upfront what was expected, I probably would still have signed up.instead of she felt it necessary to omit the full truth behind the "Show Special" discounted vacation offer. Too bad.
I left the New York Times Travel show feeling as though I had met a very enthusiastic, professional young woman, trying to be a success in her professional life, who had probably made a very modest commission on my sale.instead, I met a young scam artist who will probably end up having to learn the hard way that deceit never pays in the long run.
The End Result: After finding that there were 11 other complaints concerning King's Creek filed with usacomplaints.com, not to mention other sites on the internet, I (1) canceled my credit card prior to the charge being placed on it, (2) filed a phone complaint with the NYS Attorney General's Office and will follow up on Monday (3) will be contacting the BBB as well as The New York Times Travel Show event planners to make them aware of what occured.
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