My husband and I got a package in the mail saying we had $1600.00 off on a cruise. It was from Ramada Plaza Resorts. My husband called the number they said we had big savings on a cruise and other trips. We was planning to take a cruise in October. Then all a sudden this showed up in the mail.
So we took the offer had to pay $698.00 deposit. But nothing was ever mentioned about this being a timeshare. We did not want to go to Orlando. So my husband asked if we could take a 3 day cruise instead and the saleman said sure at no extra cost. When I went to confirm and to pay the other $698.00. The saleman said the cruise would be a upgrade.
So I decided to check out the web and I came upon the ripoff page. On the page I read and found out what some people was sending. So I sent a letter and fax the letter to Daniel Lambert. I sent off the certified letter on 7/26. As of 7/30 my credit card was credited back the $698.00. So please do not give up. I got my money back and so can you. Thank All Of You for helping.
This is the letter I sent:
Date
Your Name
Address
Ramada Plaza Resorts
Attention: Daniel Lambert, Gina Johns and Legal Department
2419 E. Commercial Blvd., Suite 100
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308
Tel: (954) 630-9449
Fax: (954) 567-9399
RE: FULL REFUND REQUESTED DUE TO VIOLATION OF LAWS
Bait and Switch Scam
Unlawful misrepresentation of Advertising
Mail fraud, using the U.S. Postal Service to send out fraudulent advertisement
Reservation:
Issue Date
Purchaser:
Dear Mr. Lambert,
This letter is a formal Demand Letter, for relief relating to Ramada Plaza Resorts' ("RPR") willful, unfair and deceptive marketing of their Orlando/Ft. Lauderdale vacation package. You are in violation of the Fair Business Practice Act
[Section: 10-1-393. Unfair or deceptive practices in consumer transactions unlawful; examples. (a) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of consumer transactions and consumer acts or practices in trade or commerce are declared unlawful. ]
You are also in violation of the U.S. Postal Services mail fraud laws, as you have used the U. S Postal Services to further your scheme:
"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement branch of the U.S. Postal Service, empowered by federal laws and regulations to investigate and enforce over 200 federal statutes related to crimes against the U.S. Mail, the Postal Service and its employees. Postal Inspectors investigate any crime in which the U.S. Mail is used to further a scheme, whether it originated in the mail, by telephone or on the Internet. The use of the U.S. Mail is what makes it a mail fraud issue."
If I do not receive a full refund within 10 days of the date this letter was signed for, then I plan to contact the following authorities to inform them about RPR's illegal and misleading business practices:
Charles Bronson, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The Better Business Bureau
The Florida Attorney General
The Federal Trade Commission
New Mexico Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division,
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
And the FBI (they take Bait and Switch seriously).
The package you sold me is a crime, and I will not hesitate to prosecute you.
I have outlined the details of the crime, as well as references to other victims of the same scam. If you fail to respond to my request for a full refund, not only will I prosecute you, but I will also file a class action lawsuit, and invite all parties mentioned on the Web site: http://usacomplaints.com to join the lawsuit. It is apparent you are not popular with a lot of consumers and a class action suit is probably a welcomed event. If you force me this into litigation, I will sue for damages over and above the amount you owe me for the refund, as there will be costs involved for attorney fees and other expenses.
The mailed package you sent me through the United States Postal Services, as well as my phone conversation logs, and consumer testimonies (who have also experienced fraud through your company) will serve as evidence.
Below I describe how RMR misled me by misrepresenting its offer. I have also enclosed documentation of multiple lawsuits against RPR for its fraudulent activities. These cases show that the company routinely lies to customers and misleads them. RPR operates under several company names in order to mislead customers and protect itself from the consequences of its illegal behavior.
After researching RMR's reputation, I discovered your notorious mistreatment of customers and your blatant misrepresentation of the package for which I paid. I have no desire to lose any more money to you for a sub-par vacation. Ramada misleads customers and attempts to get even more money by failing to abide by the terms of the vacation that it sells.
Part I: This section describes the process by which RPR fraudulently offered me the vacation package by misleading me in order to make the package appear much more attractive than it was.
In April of I received a solicitation in the mail from RPR. The solicitation offered a vacation package, to which I responded by calling RPR's toll free number. A representative told me that the vacation package was a one time only offer that could not be purchased anytime after my phone conversation with him. After taking careful documentation after the phone conversation, I allowed the sum of $698.00 to purchase a secure deposit for a vacation in my name was taken off my credit card. However, I later learned that this description of the offer as an exclusive, one-time opportunity was fraudulent.indeed, one can purchase this same package at any time at other travel websites and just a week before my vacation, I received another call from RPR offering me the same package, which it claimed again was available only on this one time basis. Thus RPR fraudulently misrepresented the nature of its offer and its availability, which is a direct violation of Florida law.
RPR indicated in the solicitation that the vacation offered were valued at over $2,600, but for a limited time, RMR was selling it at a highly discounted price of $698/person. This is deceptive and misleading because the actual retail value of the vacation is significantly less. The vacation included:
Two nights of first class accommodations at the Ramada Plaza Resort Hotel
Carnival Cruise Line or Imperial majesty Cruise Line
Three nights of first class accommodations in south Florida
Transportation for seven days provided by Alamo Rent-A-Car.
I have determined the actual retail value of the trip as follows:
Three nights at the Ramada Ft. Lauderdale on Commercial Blvd. ($50/night):$150.00
3-night cruise on Carnival's Fascination Cruise Ship (2 people @ $400.00): $400.00
7-day Alamo car rental: $130.00 Estimated total retail value of my RPR package: $680.00
Thus the trip value is nowhere near the $1396.00 that RPR claimed was a discounted rate, much less the $2,600.00 price indicated in the solicitation.
In the solicitation I received in the mail, RPR claimed the package was being offered to me was part of a prestigious nationwide marketing study and promotion. Only after I purchased the package did RPR inform me that the vacation package was actually a timeshare program, in which I was obligated attend to a timeshare presentation. If I had known that the market study was really a timeshare presentation, then I would never have signed up for the vacation. RPR fraudulently solicited the package as a discounted vacation in exchange for quality feedback.
Additionally, the solicitation sent to me indicated that the trip offered a choice of the carriers. Carnival Cruise or Imperial Majesty Cruise. The solicitation made no mention of additional cost to choose a carrier, which implied that each service was available and that all were all of equal value. However, this was not the case, as RPR again misled me. Only after calling to confirm my vacation that the Carnival Cruise was an upgrade after been told it was no extra cost since I did not want to go to Orlando.
Part II: It has been brought to my attention that I am a victim of a bait and switch scam presented to me by your company, RPR, located in Florida.
Summary of CRIME COMMITTED:
Bait and Switch
Quote from the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division Web site:
"In general, the Bureau is only authorized to file formal legal action where it has reason to believe that a business is engaged in illegal practices and it is in the public interest to do so. The public interest" may include a pattern or practice of fraud, an important question of law, a significant number of consumer victims, a significant amount of money at risk or a variety of other things."
THE BAIT:
Vacation package including a trip on the Carnival Cruise, My wife and I did not want to go to Orlando. I asked the salesman if we could take a 3 day and 3 night cruise instead of going to Orlando. The salesman said sure at no extra price. But when I went to confirm my vacation your RPR salesman told me I would have to pay for a upgrade to go on the Carnival Cruise that if I did not won't to pay for the upgrade I would have to go on the Imperial Majesty instead. It was not presented to me as an upgrade. I was promised a vacation in Las Vegas, Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and other locations. The sales pitch from RPR sounded like a nice vacation, at a reduced rate and for a limited time. I agreed to pay a deposit, and my credit card was billed for it.
THE SWITCH:
RPR has a 3-day refund policy from the time the vacation package arrives, however; the package details are not revealed to the consumer until well after the 3-day refund policy has expired. Only then does the consumer learn this is not a real vacation, but instead, it is a timeshare sales pitch, which requires the consumer to be subjected to unfair business practices instead of a vacation.
Even the pamphlet sent in the package, containing the reservation tickets, shows the appearance of a true vacation. The promotion package mailed to me also included a Frequently Asked Questions page. That did not mention anything about a timeshare package either, and it only added to the excitement of a vacation. Never once was a timeshare package revealed to me throughout the entire sales process. It is only through my own research and warnings through other consumers did I learn that this was not the package I thought it was.
I called RPR when I found out it may be a timeshare, and I asked if it was true. The representative said it is true. I asked for a refund, but was refused. I was told I had 3 days to get a refund and I was past my 3 days.
RPR makes sure the consumers do not know about the timeshare-hidden agenda before the refund policy expires.
OTHER VIOLATIONS:
Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law
Mail fraud
I have now been able to establish the grounds for an investigation as shown above in the subject: CRIME COMMITTED. As, there is a pattern or practice of fraud, an important question of law, a significant number of consumer victims, a significant amount of money at risk or a variety of other things.in fact, there is a public record of numerous victims!
Part III: This section provides a day-by-day account of RPR's mistakes, fraudulent claims and failure to address its errors for a typical customer of RPR's. There are hundreds of similar accounts that can be used as evidence of this kind of repeated treatment.
The problems began on my first day in Florida. My wife and I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on Dec. 19, looking forward to spending several days at the upgraded, luxury, beach-front hotel for which we paid. I chose the upgraded hotel because Ramada described it as a luxury resort with excellent dining facilities, a deluxe exercise area and other amenities. However, the hotel where we stayed (the Ramada Fort Lauderdale on Commercial Blvd.) was a low-class hotel in an unattractive, commercial area that was a 20-minute drive from the beach. The hotel smelled like an athletic locker room, the room was dirty and dank, the room had no refrigerator, the tap water was yellow, the restaurant in the hotel was unattractive and grungy, etc. Etc. These accommodations were anything but deluxe. Because room we checked into was dirty, we had to change rooms later that evening, which was another hassle. I called the hotel from my cell phone and was told that a room for the evening would cost a mere $50 for someone off the street. This was an early of many indications of RPR's failure to give me the vacation for which I paid.
On the night of Dec. 19, I called the Fort Lauderdale Welcome Center to complain, but the person who answered the phone told me that the manager had left for the day. Therefore, he claimed, we could not change hotels until the next day. We were forced to remain in this dump when we should have been a luxury, beach-front resort. I told him to have the Manager of the Welcome Center call me the next day. I never received a call from the Manager. I met others in the hotel that was on Ramada vacations, and they too were furious about the poor accommodations. They had already gone on their resort tour, and their tour guide informed them that Ramada and the hotel where we were staying had received several hundred complaints from customers who had been misled in similar ways to my experience.
In conducting research since taking my trip, I have found countless cases of fraud committed by RPR. On Dec. 20, my wife and I drove over an hour each way to get to our resort tour. Ramada had informed me over the phone that after completing the 90-minute tour, we would receive free passes to Disney World. However, after completing our tour of the Radisson West Palm Beach, which took over two hours, David at that Welcome Center told me that we would receive the vouchers in Orlando. This was not part of a nationwide marketing survey as RPR claimed in its solicitation; it was a scheme to sell timeshares.
My wife and I were unable to change hotels until 6:00 pm on Dec. 20. We had lost nearly two days in the run-down hotel on Commercial Blvd. This package was a horrendous way to begin what was described to us as a luxury vacation. Ramada's problems continued.
We moved to the Quality Inn Hotel at 1208 N. Ocean Blvd, which is also not a luxury resort. It was a low-end Quality Inn Hotel. The exercise room was very small and had old equipment. The hotel restaurant was grungy and had a foul odor of tobacco smoke. When I checked into the Quality Inn, I again called the Ft. Lauderdale Welcome Center to find out why we were not in a luxury hotel. I was told that the Ramada Resort on the beach, which was several blocks from us and was the hotel where we should have stayed, had no vacancies. Again my wife and I suffered because RPR fraudulently misled us in describing the vacation as much more valuable than it was. Our vacation failed to meet the description of what we purchased from RPR.
In falsely describing the quality of this hotel and other locations where we stayed, RPR again violated Florida's applicable laws. I again asked for the Manager of the Welcome Center to call me on my cell phone in order to discuss these problems. I received no such call, despite leaving multiple messages for her at the Fort Lauderdale Welcome Center. Not only was I extremely angered by the poor quality of our vacation, but I resent having to take time from my vacation to address Ramada's myriad errors.
On 12/22/02 we departed on the Ocean Breeze ship. This portion of the vacation also failed to meet the description of the trip that we were given and which led us to purchase the package. First, the boat was over 40 years old, small, poorly equipped and unattractive. The rooms were tiny, the beds uncomfortable; the boat was not a floating luxury resort as RPR described it to me in its solicitation. Second, RPR told us that once we were on the boat, all expenses would be covered except for alcohol and gambling. This was not the case. Small bottles of water cost upwards of $5 and cans of soda were similarly overpriced. The ship automatically billed us $39
in gratuities. Other similar charges appeared despite the fact that we were told that the cruise was all-inclusive.
Again I tried to contact the Manager at the Fort Lauderdale Welcome Center in order to rectify these numerous errors. I left multiple messages with Christina in which I stated firmly that I needed to speak with the Manager. I never received a return call from the Manager, even though I waited on hold over 20 minutes and left my cell phone number for her.
On 12/24 we arrived at the Orlando Welcome Center (OWC). RPR had told us that we could pick up our Disney World tickets at the OWC. However, a Senior Employee with a British or Australian accent at the OWC told us that we had been misled by Ramada and the Fort Lauderdale Welcome Center. If we wanted the vouchers for the Disney tickets, he told us, and then we would have to take another resort tour. I explained that that was incorrect, as Ramada had told us that we would receive the vouchers after taking one tour. The OWC double-checked and confirmed that we had been misled. Yet again RPR lied to me in order to make its package sound more luxurious than it was. We would have to take another tour to receive the tickets. Yet again Ramada misrepresented the terms of the vacation package. Yet again we lost vacation time because of Ramada's failure to provide the vacation features that we purchased.
I decided to purchase the vouchers outright from the OWC and then be reimbursed for them after taking my second tour (recall that Ramada had informed me that I would only have to take one tour in order to receive the tickets). However, when I went to claim my refund, the representative at the tour facility (2901 Parkway Blvd / Kissimmee, FL 34747) claimed that I was only entitled to a 50% refund of the price I paid for the Disney tickets. I had to argue with her for several minutes to convince her that I was entitled to a full refund, despite the fact that I had in my hand the OWC's written guarantee of the full refund. This sort of unpleasant and dishonest experience was typical of my vacation, as I found myself having to fight for things for which I had paid or been promised based on my purchase of the vacation package.
In sum, after discovering your fraudulent reputation, I demand a full refund of the $698.00 I paid for a deposit. I refuse to have my vacation ruined by Ramada's fraudulent sales practices, misleading information and failures to provide me with what I purchased. As documented, these errors are deceptive and criminal. They violate applicable laws of Florida and New Mexico. I look forward to receiving from Ramada a full refund for my vacation package within 10 days. I expect your prompt attention. You may send my refund to the above address.
You may call me at %Or email me at % if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Nita
Hobbs, New Mexico
U.S.A.
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