Ameri-who?
I just got a wonderful telemarketing call …
| Me: | Hello. |
| Me: | Hello?. |
| Me: | Helllllo? |
| Me: | [pauses] |
| Me: | Hello?. |
| Me: | Sorry I’m not receiving any audio from your end, so if you can hear me, hang up, or if you’re an automated dialler I’m just going to keep on so you pay for the call. |
| After just enough time for a generic answer phone message to have completed, a recording began to playback at me: | |
| Recording: | Congratulations! You have just won the jackpot! Hi my name is Michael Smith from the Corporate Reward Centre in Las Vegas. You have just won the jackpot! Please call ring free 0800 091 0084 to claim your prize and matching your claim code: Jackpot. Again that number is ring free 0800 091 0084. Congratulations, and we look forward to speaking to you. |
So, noting that my star sign is Inquisitive (with Curious rising) and knowing that 0800 numbers are freephone; I called them:
| Kitty: | Amerisuites Vacations this is Kitty, how may I help? |
| Me: | Who? |
| Kitty: | Amerisuites Vacations this is Kitty. |
| Me: | Sorry, What Vacations? |
| Kitty: | Amerisuites, like America but without the ca and add Suites. |
| Me: | Oh, OK, I’d like to collect my jackp… |
| Kitty: | *click* *beeeeeeeeep* [Kitty ends the call] |
My telephone number is registered with the Telephone Preference Service a UK body that regulates commercial phone spam, so legally they’re not allowed to call me, but they’re trying to force a loophole where commercial calls are banned but, they theorize, by calling it a competition, they can avoid prosecution.
So, not only has this company cold-called my TPS registered number, but they’ve also hung up on me, that’s just plain rude, I wanted to know who and what they are:
So, I called them, again:
| Carla: | Welcome to Amerivacations this is Carla. |
Carla proceeded to take my first name and asked for the number from which I’d called to check what prize I’d won. I gave her a false number. Surprisingly this had no ill effect because Carla came back and told me that I’d won £1301 towards a holiday in Florida, and that it was part of a prize fund allocated to 100 people and there were only 10 claims left on the fund – [irony alert] what luck!
Being a happy soul about this I mentioned that I’m in the UK, and that Carla didn’t sound local; she told me she was in Orlando Florida, and reiterated that this was a free call for me (just to make me really feel like I was special).
She then went on to explain that to claim my prize I’d need to pay the balance on a holiday in Florida at a Ramada resort near near Disneyworld – the package balance £598 for 16 days holiday for 4 – effectively an 80% discount.
The is is not a competition or a lottery, this company is selling holidays; there is no way to claim a “prize” without actually purchasing something, at which point they’ll discount the value of that prize from the purchase cost.
From the TPS website: “Under Government legislation introduced on 1st May 1999 and replaced on 11th December 2003 by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful to make unsolicited direct marketing calls to individuals who have indicated that they do not want to receive such calls.”
Carla also explained that they are trying to rekindle interest in America as a vacation venue. She also explained that they are able to make these amazing offers because they keep their costs low, which they do in two ways:
- Direct Dialing.
- Word of Mouth.
Well, by direct-dialling me, unlawfully, they’ve certainly got a little word-of-mouth advertising.
The comments below add a lot of detail and you might also be interested in this followup article.
272 Comments
“You’ve won a holidayâ€
Now this saga has reached the National Press! Article in the Sunday Times Travel section on May 29th. Can be viewed online – until next Sunday I guess.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1631453,00.html
Hello Nick,
Apparently you have to pay to view the article. Could you summarize what it says?
Peter
Hello again,
I have now a subscription on the Times. The article has disappointed me somehow since it does not focus on the rights of the consumer. I have never received a confirmation of purchase nor the package.
http://www.classactionlitigation.com/library/TIMESHARING.htm
You should read the part about ‘timesharing’ . I have no time right now but I will look into it later.
see you all,
Amerivacation is a timeshare company so the following rules are applicable:
” A developer of a time-share program shall… Deposit with an escrow agent 100 percent of all funds which are received during the seven-day cancellation period.”
“Any purchase contract entered into by a purchaser of a time share interest…shall be voidable by the purchaser, without penalty, within 5 calendar days after the receipt of the public offering statement or the execution of the purchase contract, whichever is later…Upon such cancellation, the developer or resale agent shall refund…all payments made…less the amount of any benefits actually received…within 20 calendar days after receipt of the notice of cancellation…”[55] ].”
I know that most people as I have intented to cancel this ‘deal of a lifetime’ almost right away. All those who did send cancellation letters or emails within the 5 days following the cold call should therefore be able to get their money back.
I found the name of this american judge who seemed to be specialized in timesharing scams. I believe that mailing him might be a good idea. Maybe he can help us out.
JUDGE THOMAS A. DICKERSON
WESTCHESTER COUNTY COURT
NEW YORK STATE
E MAIL: judgetad@aol.com
The company everyone here has most likely been dealing with is not “amerivacation” but Discount Holiday LLC. Discount holiday are a licensed travel agent in Florida (ST-35765) so they are subject to the rules governing travel agents.
The fact that you may get someone push a timeshare on you as part of the “holiday”, if you go, is probably not relevant, so the timeshare rules won’t apply.
Incidentally I spoke twice with the DOACS today. License ST-35765 is currently in the process of renewal (and has been for two months now, due to insufficient information being filed). The DOACS representative mentioned that they had arbitrated in 87 previous disputes with Discount Holidays LLC that had resulted in a satisfactory outcome.
So please, file an official complaint using this form if you think you have been conned.
lawyer: http://pview.findlaw.com/view/2554859_1?noconfirm=0
I FOUND IT (!): The cancellation period of Florida and the EU timeshare directive is exactly the same: 10 days
http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0721/ch0721.htm
VACATION PLANS AND TIMESHARING
721.06 Contracts for purchase of timeshare interests.–
3. You may cancel this contract without any penalty or obligation within 10 calendar days after the date you sign this contract or the date on which you receive the last of all documents required to be given to you pursuant to section 721.07(6), Florida Statutes, whichever is later. If you decide to cancel this contract, you must notify the seller in writing of your intent to cancel. Your notice of cancellation shall be effective upon the date sent and shall be sent to (Name of Seller) at (Address of Seller) . Any attempt to obtain a waiver of your cancellation right is void and of no effect. While you may execute all closing documents in advance, the closing, as evidenced by delivery of the deed or other document, before expiration of your 10-day cancellation period, is prohibited.
So if they claim that those false contracts can not be cancelled they violate the law.
Hello Rich,
Thx for the update. By the way, would you happen to know if cancellation periods are applicable for travel agents as well? The whole situation is most unclear. My credit card was charged by ‘amerisuites vacation club’. When I looked it up on google it turned out to be indeed a timeshare company. That is why I assumed that the timeshare regulation was applicable. I mean if their real name is Discount Holiday LLC they shouldn’t be charging credit cards under a different name, should they? Is that not illegal too?
Peter
On the website of the Florida attorney general I have found another confirmation that we all have the right to cancel our ‘fabulous vacations’ within 30 days.
http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/4492d797dc0bd92f85256cb80055fb97/8140f2cf06fc01b785256cc900693171!OpenDocument
WE DIDNT ACCEPT THE PACKAGED THAT ARRIVED SO WE DIDNT SIGNED ANYTHING SO WHAT IS MY CANCELLATION DATE? IT HAPPENED LAST 12TH LAST MONTH.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION REPLIED ON MY COMPLAINT. THEY ARE SOUNDS MORE HELPFUL THAN THE DOACS. http://WWW.FTC.GOV.
CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL THEM ABOUT THIS WEBSITE SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND MORE OF OUR CONCERN.
to noonoo, i want know what happen to your complained to FBI, what did they said, tried to phone them and kept leaving messages.
to vickey, the better business bureau is a local site in america. How can you submit the complain if they are only asking the state there?
there is website called Fraud.org. we shouldfile a complain here.
Hello again,
Since so many of us have the same problems maybe we should consider contacting the attorney general of Florida.
Main office mailing address
Office of Attorney General Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Main office telephone numbers
Switchboard: 850-414-3300
SunCom: 994-3300
Citizens Services: 850-414-3990
Florida Relay/TDD: 800-955-8771
Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226
Fax: 850-410-1630
SunCom Fax: 210-1630
here is my latest call to them.
i too have been scammed! i tried to view the article but you have to pay, to see it can you paste it on the site? i live in australia so i dont have access to the paper. thanks
this site has been ever so uplifting, at least i am not the only one that has been taken advantage of but has any one taken the holiday yet? i havent received the package yet so i dont know what it is all about? i would really like to read the articles but cant access the site, can anyone post the articles here so i can see them? thanks again
Charles H. Bronson, Commissioner, Florida Dept of Agriculture and Consumer services. 407, South Calhoun Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800.
The original article by Matt Rudd is here. After feedback from many readers last week, Sunday Times Travel Editor, Brian Schofield (who I spoke with this week) filled in some of the investigative blanks with this article in yesterdays edition.
Claire,
On http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/4492d797dc0bd92f85256cb80055fb97/8140f2cf06fc01b785256cc900693171!
you can read the following:
“You have a right to cancel your purchase and receive a refund within 30 days of the date of purchase or receipt of the vacation certificate whichever comes first.”
Since your credit card was charged you did ‘purchase’ the vacation package. Within 30 days you should notify your credit card company that you wrote a cancellation letter to Amerivacation and include a copy of this cancellation letter.
Well, they have now reached Norway, and are going through our Phonebooks. I foolishly pressed 9, being very suspicious. I got through to a lady, who asked for my name and phone number. I gave my name, and then I asked what this was for. She said I had won a holiday. So I gave her my phone number… and she hung up on me. Ohwell, no “free” holiday for me! *lol*
Had 3 calls from these peole in the last week or so. I don’ care though as I’m going to call them 10 times for every time they call me.
One call was especially interesting – I pressed 9 as usual and then spoke to them using the soundboard.
After the woman hung up the line failed to disconnect properly. I left it connected just to cost them more money and afer 5 minuts or so Iheard a ringing sound and could hear them trying to scam someone a few streets away, then later on someone else etc. Seeing as it their responsibilty to disconnect the call I left i going for a couple of hours and accidently listend to maybe 10 calls or so. Each number they called was progressively larger, – so clearly the radmonly dialing numbers starting from the lowest.
The good news was that they didn’t sell anything in that time and even had a complaint. The guy who complanined was told in no uncertain terms that they never cold call people and that they were calling him becasue his credit card company had told them to!!!!
Love the phone call Noo Noo!
have had £703.18 taken from my credit card by these people. credit card company are aware of these scammers but tell me they havent actually committed a crime yet. i need to make the reservations first and if they dont follow through i can get my money back!!!! have tried numerous amounts of time to make reservations but they just hang up on me!!!!!!!!!!!!
who pays for the call once you press 9?
noo noo “Seeing as it their responsibilty to disconnect the call I left i going for a couple of hours”. By pressing 9, did you start a ‘new’ reverse-charge call from you to them?
Does anyone know who ends up paying the call costs if you press the requested number during an automated call?
I concur with asking to be added to a ‘do not call’ list, politely. They have stopped calling me every day. In fact I haven’t been cold called for nearly 2 weeks.
Well I can report a MAJOR development to my story (see above). After writing to Amerivacations on the day after my call (sent Airsure) and to my Credit Card company cancelling my “order” I sat back to wait.
About a week ago, while I was out, DHL tried to deliver a package. As nobody was in they left their usual form. I phoned the local depot and quoted the number and asked who it was from. When they confirmed it was Amerivactions (or whatever they were calling themselves at the time) I informed them that I was in dispute with the company and I was refusing to accept the package. This they accepted without demur.
This morning I received a letter from my credit card company confirming that they had credited my account with the FULL amount!! I think I must be the first person on this website to successfully get a full refund.
If anyone wants copies of the letters I sent drop me an e-mail at boakes at phoward dot co dot uk and I’ll be happy to help. I think the secret is to forget modern technology such as e-mail & telephone and rely on good old fashioned paper letters!
Just had a call from the same company, I’ve complained to the FCC, Ofcom, TPS, BT and Syntec about this company.
The company is called: yourvipholiday.com
Address: 7800 Southland Boulvard, Suite 112, Orlando, Florida
and 600 North Highway 17-92, Suite #120, Longwood, FL 32750
Tel: 0800 0914761 and 0800 091 0084.
Email: vip@yourvipholiday.com, cs@yourvipholiday.com
The telephone number is provided by Syntec.com who can be contacted on dc@syntec.co.uk, sales@syntec.co.uk, admin@syntec.co.uk, support@syntec.co.uk or by phone on 0800 091 8000.
Don’t know if you’re charged if you press 9, I refused to do it. Don’t give your phone number out and refuse to offer it for a simple ‘callback’!
Hope that helps someone!
Dug
I press nine (or whatever number they ask for) every single time. Has never cost me a penny and they usually inform you that they are paying for the call.
Thanks noo noo, I’ll keep this in mind in future. Just found another article and some more contact addresses.
Article: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?docId=39898&catId=2148
Jonathan Graham of Syntec UK Ltd. They deny that it passes through their system, which they would – because technically they are a ‘relay’. I’m not sure how legal this is but I’m sure Trading Standards are interested. Have a chat to Jonny-boy at
0845 092 2003 Direct Line
0845 092 2103 Fax
07881 826967 Mobile
0800 376 7370 24 hour fault repair service
or by email: jmg@syntec.co.uk
i have recieved my package and enclosed is the details that i was given over the phone, i can understand that there techiques are not very ethical but has anyone seen the resorts that they described, i did give my information freely and was passed to the appropriate department. I can understand everyones frustration but you did agree to the charges i know i did on a digital recording that they asked my permission to record? Well i a going to try and take the holiday and see what happens. thanks for all the advice
Hello. Have anybody try`d this trip? I got py package today, and it seems very nice!
Have fun with it!
i too have my package and the resorts do seem nice, i wonder if all the bad press may be a little bit over done.. as i stated earlier its not like some one forced me to give my details i was in control of what came out of my mouth, yes i am registred with the tps so the phone call was unexpected, however i was planning a trip to the states any way this year the cost of this was less than what i would have spent if i booked the hotels myself. when are you planning to go i heard florida is magnificant during the month of november when the weather isnt too hot!
Does anyone know their address in Florida? If it even is in Florida… If they are all home workers then i doubt there is an address but if there is a head office or something i would like to know where it is.
Thanks
Marie, I find your aquiesence curious
A) You certainly could have got a similar deal elsewhere, and what’s more you could have got something that you chose instead of something someone wanted to sell you.
B) If Amerivacation were a company in Britain it would be unlawful for them to call. It should therefore be unlawful for them to call wherever they are in the world. Today the press are reporting on a british cracker who broke into US Government computers, he broke laws in the USA so now the USA wants to extradite and try him. I don’t see much of a difference with Amervacation, just a reversal of direction. Law is law – no matter how big or small.
The initial article was about this exact point – everything since has grown because of:
a) the number of people who agree that this kind of selling is unethical and were annoyed or curious enough to go onto the internet after being called – or
b) the number of people who are are worried when they realise they’ve just given their credit card details to a cold caller who they don’t know from Adam.
Either way, you’ve got a package that you didn’t want before they called you, so hopefully, regardless of the fact that you were cold sold, it’ll be a wonderful vacation.
my comments are not only aquencious but true and correct.. You did give your information willingly…the fact that the company lie on american soil rather than on british irrelevent.. realize they got our numbers from our british based companies so who really is in the wrong the caller or the seller. i was curious about the companie so i did some reasearch and this web was the only site about this company.. unitl i had come across this site i thought i had a genuine offer and after getting the package the holiday seems to be valid offer. I have read each and every entry on this site more than once and i do agree that people that are elderly or handicapped should not purchase the offer, however you have control of the phone you could very easly have hung up, i knew i was giving my card details and i also know as a consumer that i have credit card protection. I hope that if anyone else has purchased the package with the hope of having a fun family holiday that you dont let the negatitive comments stop you from doing just that. well it is way past my bewitching hour cheers everyone…
Carl from Peterborough: your comment cannot appear here because you did not give a valid email address (I even checked if sdfgsddsgdf.com is a valid domain, just in case). Sorry. Rich.
Marie..although i agree that the actual holiday may seem good,i would disagree that the price seems to be a good deal. Don’t forget that YOU are responsible for air fare there and back,and travel between places once in America. My dad was conned by this unscrupulous company,and he won’t be going due to all of the extra bits HE would have to pay for. If these people are genuine then why say you’ve won a holiday if you end up paying around £700 which does NOT include flights etc?. Why do they expect you to pay BEFORE seeing any hard proof of what you are getting for your money?. Why take this HUGE payment,often within a few minutes from your account? Are they scared people will change their minds? Why?… As far as i’m concerned they are NOT genuine. If they were then they would NOT have to lie to their “victims” by bringing up 9/11!! HOW SICK CAN THEY GET!!!…By the way,i too had one of the calls but hung up straight away…lucky escape if you ask me..(.After reading all these posts i’ve noticed that NO-ONE has been on this holiday yet…only time will tell if it is all it seems!!.)
Hi Marie,
You’re in an interesting situation having booked, and (i think) having decided to go on the trip; so a few questions…
How much was your particular package and what holiday does it contain?
Did you book flights already and how much did they cost as a proportion of the whole trip?
Marie,
If you want to you can take the risk but keep in mind that other people who wanted to take this trip could simply not go because ‘yourvipholiday’ alias ‘Amerivacation’ declared itself bankrupt/insolvent. You can read all about it on:
http://badbusinessbureau.com/reports/ripoff122801.htm
Keep also in mind that Section 501.616(1),
Florida Statutes, states that it is unlawful for any commercial
telephone seller or salesperson to require that payment be by credit
card authorization or otherwise to announce a preference for that
method of payment.
Last but not least, according to the FLORIDA STATUS OF CANCELLATION people may cancel vacation packages without any penalty or obligation within 30 days of purchase or receipt of the vacation certificate, whichever occurs later. Claiming that high cancellation costs are applicable for people who want to cancel within this period is therefore a clear violation of the law.
Have a nice trip
thank you all for the input.. to start out i paid 698 pounds for my holiday..that include 3/2 daytona beach 5/4 orlando with 4 -1- day passes to disney 3/2 ft lauderdale and 3/2 to vegas i think because i held out on giving the details right off the bat, i also have 24 months to use the offer.. yes the fares are approx 300-400 pounds per person for the time of year that i chosen to go and that is for 3 adults, and by the way my husband has no idea i booked the holiday because he would have flipped his lid that i gave our cc details over the telephone to a complete stranger in the united states.. there is also the thirty day cancelation that i still have to decide upon. you have brought up a good point that will the resorts still be in business when i choose to go, that i had not thought about… when a company goes bankrupt they usually are protecting themselves from other creditors, and to claim loss at the end of the year on income taxes. in other words to reap the ben of not having to pay taxes on earned income.. the documents are from the amerisuites not from vip/amerivacations and amerisuites is a reputable resort as far as i can tell.. i work nights so when i am home they are closed and i have not been able to contact thier customer service number during the day because i am asleep then..so will i take the holiday? i hope so lord knows i have paid enought for it..
yes this situation has put me on edge… i read the last article where once the company went bankrupt the offer was no longer valid and that has changed my outlook on this package and this company, i have also contacted amerisuites directly and they have assured me that the offer will be vaild for the 24 month period that i recieved on the 7/6 orl 3/2 day 3/2 ft laud the disney tickets and the cruise and the bonus 3/2 to vegas that i have recieved, so the 30 are still in my rights and i may use that option, i work nights and with the time change i have a hard time contacting them about the offer..i also paid 698 pounds for the holiday and the air transportation is about 300 pounds per person for 3 people around the time of year that i have chosen to go. also i have no connection to vip other than being on thier call list.. unfortunate for me but know i am stuck so i may as well make the best of the situation and take the holiday.. i would rather take it than pay 300pounds for a cancelation fee.
i have tried to comment but it is not working?
Hi Marie, all comments are moderated before they are publically visible. This is necessary to keep the site free of spam. Around 99% of the comments that arrive are actually adervtising, and most of these are automatically binned. All comments that get through the filters are read by me before being approved. That keeps the site content useful.
Hi Marie,
Interesting that you’re in Australia, I am too! Though I’ve not had the pleasure of getting phone calls from these jokers yet..
Where abouts in this sunburnt country are you ?
cheers!
Chris
My girlfriend got the phone 5 days ago, we have tried to get our money back, but still nothing. 899 euros gone!
Amerivacation has been operating in Norway for month’s now, but my girlfriend only got the information 5 minutes too late. She called her bank…and yeah…money gone!
Since there is some Norwegian people posting their worries here, I might just help with some information! Take a look at this Norwegian officals site:
http://www.forbrukerombudet.no/index.gan?id=11002739&subid=0
There you find the correct way to handle the situasjon, and a description of what to do to get a full refund – with no refund fee according to Florida state law!
I’ve also confronted Amerivacation and “ken” about the 30 day regret when selling vacation in Florida state. To this he replied: “well, not if you have acepted the terms and conditions”
.
When he played the famous tape, they started it by saying “accept by saying YES or NO” – my girlfriend jused the word “OKAY” through the whole tape. I told “ken” that this is NOT the same as either yes og no. Then he replied “I’ve always understood the word OKAY the same as Yes”. I said that the word OKAY might be interpritated in different ways, and that the word by no means can be used as a substitute for the word YES in any court, not even in kina.
I also asked who was the manager, supervisor, director, boss – but he could not answer me. I asked how many employers they had, no answer. I asked who my lawyer could contact, no answer (not that I have a lawyer in Florida yet, but I just might get one!).
So tomorrow I’m going to call them again, and again, and again. I’ll maybe even record the conversation and put it out on my web page!
I’m sorry for the bad language – I am Norwegian – a true Viking!
We know how to fight, but not to write! lol
Ohaah,
Those jokers too do have to respect the law. I suggest that you stop calling them and start writing them. You should send them a cancellation letter immediately and send a copy of that letter to your credit card company and also to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 407 South Calhoun Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32399-0800.
It would also be a good idea to mention explicitly that the florida status of cancellation gives you the right to cancel vacation packages within 30 days. The whole process might cost you 10 or 15 euro and some of your valuable time but in the end you will get your money back.
Peter
just in case, contact address of Amerivacation:
AmeriVacation
7800 Southland Blvd. Suite #120
Orlando, Florida 32809