W3WN
12-04-2015, 09:25 AM
Got a text from Little Miss Field Day this morning. She got a phone call telling her that she needed to call an 800 number regarding the cruise that she just won... and she called, and they wanted $$$ for taxes and fees on the "free" cruise. Was it a scam?
As soon as I saw that the 800 number belonged to Sundance Vacations, I smelled a rat. They don't exactly have a good reputation.
I've dealt with them twice over the years. The first time was when the Boss filled out a "win a free vacation" coupon at a ball game; at the time, when they called the house, they wanted $650 (each) to cover "taxes, fees, and paperwork charges" for the "free" vacation. I refused. Found out a few days later (I was doing some programming for the owner of a travel agency) that he could have booked us a better trip than the "free" cruise for less.
The second time, the Boss wanted to go hear their presentation. The "hour" ended up being almost three, most of which was spent in high-pressure sales tactics for us to buy into their time-share scheme. Verbal 'guarantees' of vacation condos all over North America, but nothing in writing... and, of course, you have to decide RIGHT NOW, no chance to think about it or verify anything. We finally escaped with our "gift vouchers" that turned out to only be good on a web site the company was associated with, and all for trinkets and junk.
So I don't have a high reputation of these people. (And I don't fill out "win a free trip" coupons at events... sadly, the Boss still thinks about it, and I suspect LMFD got suckered at the WWE event she went to the other night)
But trying to con a college freshman? That's a new low, even for this kind of outfit.
Anyone else ever deal with this outfit, good bad or indifferent?
http://articles.philly.com/2014-10-06/news/54657590_1_customers-high-pressure-sales-tactics-sundance-vacations
As soon as I saw that the 800 number belonged to Sundance Vacations, I smelled a rat. They don't exactly have a good reputation.
I've dealt with them twice over the years. The first time was when the Boss filled out a "win a free vacation" coupon at a ball game; at the time, when they called the house, they wanted $650 (each) to cover "taxes, fees, and paperwork charges" for the "free" vacation. I refused. Found out a few days later (I was doing some programming for the owner of a travel agency) that he could have booked us a better trip than the "free" cruise for less.
The second time, the Boss wanted to go hear their presentation. The "hour" ended up being almost three, most of which was spent in high-pressure sales tactics for us to buy into their time-share scheme. Verbal 'guarantees' of vacation condos all over North America, but nothing in writing... and, of course, you have to decide RIGHT NOW, no chance to think about it or verify anything. We finally escaped with our "gift vouchers" that turned out to only be good on a web site the company was associated with, and all for trinkets and junk.
So I don't have a high reputation of these people. (And I don't fill out "win a free trip" coupons at events... sadly, the Boss still thinks about it, and I suspect LMFD got suckered at the WWE event she went to the other night)
But trying to con a college freshman? That's a new low, even for this kind of outfit.
Anyone else ever deal with this outfit, good bad or indifferent?
http://articles.philly.com/2014-10-06/news/54657590_1_customers-high-pressure-sales-tactics-sundance-vacations