Comments on: Florida Travel Vouchers – How they appear to work

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:45:55 +0000

I was contacted by a lady yesterday who claimed she worked for Florida Travel Enterprizes and she said I had won a trip to Florida Disneyworld. She mentioned I would pay 2 for 1 airfare and only hotel room services, gratuities, and transfer costs. I was very skeptical so I asked for her company website and how much this would cost me. After many attempts, I couldn’t log on to floridatravelenterprizes.com. Turned out I had to pay up front $498 on my credit card. Luckily, I never gave her my number. I almost went ahead with it but decided I wanted to consult with my husband. Apparently, they didn’t allow call backs so I had to make up my mind right then and there. After 15 minutes on the phone with her, I declined. Maybe it was out of desperation, but she finally let me call my husband and told me that she’d call me back in half an hour. I’m glad I didn’t get sucked in. After reflecting on the phone call and all the out of pocket costs I had to pay up front, it didn’t sound like a prize anymore, but a complete scam! She did call back and I declined her again. Think about it, if it was a prize, why would I have to pay so much money!

By: riz

riz — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:16:06 +0000

Hi Matt, You did a wonderful job. Riz, Vancouver, Canada.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:20:01 +0000

I just got called tonight.
I told the woman my name was “Jesus” and she had a great chuckle. My name is not Jesus, but I found her chuckling to be inappropriate and unprofessional. I told her that I regularily traveled with my dad, or, Him. She didn’t get the joke. Anyway, she asks which credit card I regularily use and I say that money is the root of all evil. She asks if I am still interested in the “vacation”. I say, “No”. She hangs up and I come over to the computer to make sure this really was a scam. Cheers.

- Matt B, Vancouver, Canada

By: RIZ

RIZ — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:32:56 +0000

Hi
Kamal,
I had exactly the same situation as yours. But fortunatly, I got all my money back after painful effort. I was fortunate enought to get all of my money refuned, It took me 7 days to get all my money back. Even after I got my money refunded, today I received a package through DHL, which I shall put in my garbage.

By: Paul Harding

Paul Harding — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:57:01 +0000

I’m getting a lot of automated calls for this scam (Hi, I’m Lisa, you’ve won a fabulous holiday in Cancoon, blah, blah, blah, just press 9, go on just press 9, just press 9 to claim your fabulous holiday).

I’ve found that by pressing 1 instead the call repeats and you can do this three times. That triples their phone bill!!! Let ‘em ‘ave it.

By: kamal

kamal — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 19:46:21 +0000

I’m from Canada and I received a id-blocked call – saying congraulaions
your phone has been randomly selected for a great vacation. and then transfered me to customer service rep. he explained about the trip.
Ex- 6 days 5 nights – orlando FL @ calypso cay resorts.
- pair of 2 VIP day passes to universal studio or universal island of adventure.
- 3 days 2 nights – Daytona beach @ holiday inn includes – hotal, resorts, two steling casino tickets.
-3 days & 2 night all inclusive cruise -Bhamas cruise

The caller did say they were currently promoting their holidays here. After being told I had won a holiday,I was asked for my age to confirm I was eligible- and he then informed me I sounded younger than 21!, then who I preferred to travel with, and which credit card I used – by which point I was convinced it was a scam. Then I told all about the holiday, and asked to guess the value.

-after i said i dont’ trust and after arguing for 5-10 mins he transferd me to his supervisor – god knows if she really was a supervisor.
~then she offered me 3 days& 2 nights in Miami -
ALL FOR $598 USD!!!! bullshitt***

~after transfering me to a person who took all my credit card info. she confirmed what iâ€™m getting and gave me a confirmation number and a customer service number – 1-800-824-1533. people who called was 3rd party solicter â€” Their website – http://www.bestvacationsworld.com. on there site its listed for $349 compare to what they ofered me $598.
I was told that i would get my vacation package in 14-21 days ( which i got within 10 days)
I then called the number she gave me, I was on hold over 20 mins and then i hung up.. i called them 2nd day same issue. I also work in a call center. I then called them from my work finally someone answered after 10 mins and i told her that i would like to cancle my package. She ased me the reason, I told her that iâ€™m not comfortable and i belive that its a fraud. she appolized for what i was thinking and she asked i have my package yet? which i didnâ€™t yet. she said that she can transfer me to her supervisor and see what they can do for me. i told her that i just want to cancle this. She asked me to wait until i get my package. i also asked her about the price difference – $349- $598 . she also went to that website and checked the prices.. she said since its a 3rd party who called me she can credit me the difference. i asked for best vacations wordsâ€™s phone number and she didtnâ€™ know even her supervisor didntâ€™ know. but she was able to bring up my info by putting in my confirmation number.

Iâ€™m still kinda undecided rather its a genuine or its fraud.
please lemme know if anyone have been through similar situation.

Thanks
Kamal

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:57:19 +0000

This happened to me too.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 01:57:55 +0000

I live in Australia and was scammed into this but I was somehow lucky enough to get my money back after cancelling my card and calling the company up for a refund. This was over a month ago. Now, the company won’t stop calling me to see if I have any questions about the holiday I supposedly have bought. I have not recieved a holiday package which they still think I have purchased. It’s so annoying! Is there a way to make them stop badgering me?

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 10:39:09 +0000

Hi Leon, the How To Cancel article should help.

By: Leon Jose

Leon Jose — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 06:26:57 +0000

Good day!

I am from the Philippines and unfortunately one of those duped by Amerivacation about their scam through the internet. I am sorry but I cannot reveal my real identity right now, maybe in due time. Since I stumbled upon your website may I therefore humbly request on how and where can I file a complaint regarding this scam. It was only upon hearing from my relatives in the U.S that I knew I was conned. Please forward your reply on the e-mail indicated. Your favorable response is highly appreciated. Thank you.

By: rachel

rachel — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:38:11 +0000

Do you think it’s possible to cancel although I ‘bought’ the holiday in in May? I don’t want to take up the holiday and they say I can transfer by filling in a form however I am wary about getting
anybody else involved.

Thanks

By: Regine

Regine — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:02:14 +0000

Exactly what happened to me as well (living in Germany). Inform your credit card company or bank, write an cancellation
letter (registered mail or courier service)and – when the amount is deducted from your account, let the credit card com-
pany return the debit, because you never bought something from the company X.

By: jan van laar

jan van laar — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 09:18:27 +0000

On our answering device an electric woman informed us about our price. We called a hopefully toll free nummer;001 407 837 0147 and got germaine Page on the line. My wife got interested, but when they wanted my credit card number I refused. Germaine was quite agressive on getting it, but was pissed off when I told him to call me back in 20 minutes and hung up. he never called back. My main concern is the `toll free number`.

Jan

By: C. Resch

C. Resch — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 15:23:40 +0000

We actually did this exact vacation plan sheme above. I decided that we we would do exactly what was required by thier contract, and see what exactly happened. We were guaranteed 3 vacations, one at the end to Jamaica with airfare included.

So we did the first two vacations is Florida, bought nothing from the time share people, due to the fact that a title to property, with nothing tangable is not a good idea here.

Motels they put us in suxed really REALLY bad, airfare and car rental cost us as much as we would have paid for an out of country vacation.

Now……it is time for the last nice vacation to Jamaica..guess what we cant seem to get these people to send us the vouchers for it as they promised us. I dont even see any place on thier web site that offers this trip!

I am turning them into the BBB if they dont get with it and I also will contact an Attorney, due to the fact that we did all required by their contract and they are now not honoring it.

Good luck, I advise dont do this sort of program.

By: Tania Briese

Tania Briese — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:21:12 +0000

We also live in Sweden, and were cold-called last night, exactly like Lisa (no.3). The caller did say they were currently promoting their holidays here. After being told I had won a holiday,I was asked for my age to confirm I was eligible- and he then informed me I sounded younger than 21!, then who I preferred to travel with, and which credit card I used – by which point I was convinced it was a scam. Then I told all about the holiday, and asked to guess the value. It pissed him off when I refused to guess. The amount we had to contribute was 898 Euros plus the cost of travel to Florida, which was carefully glossed over. He directed me to their website, and as I had the computer running, and was confident of our firewall and anti-virus program, had a look at it. I was a bit worried that if not properly protected, simply visiting the site could allow a virus in, but I guess a website makes a company look legitimate these days. I eventually told him that I had no desire to holiday in Florida, and hung up. My husband later commented that Florida was lower on his wish-to-visit list than China – with no disrespect to China intended!

By: Lisa Kjellberg

Lisa Kjellberg — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 10:19:02 +0000

Had a call on the answeringmachine last night(I live in Sweden), and I rang up, and had won vacation in Orlando, Daytona Beach and a cruise to “somewhere in the Carrabean”, I asked 5 times if I had won all this – and his said yes. A lttle later I had to pay 598 Euros !
He also asked if I had a Visa and I said yes, but he did not get my number! When he asked me to wait for the closer – I hang up !!! Lucky me !
Please try to inform more about this !!

By: Helen Tripp

Helen Tripp — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 23:49:16 +0000

My father is 84, is terminally ill and resides in Scotland. He has just fallen foul of a scam perpetrated by Sunshine Travel Escapes in Florida.

He (foolishly, he knows now!) gave his credit card number in response to an unsolicited phone call where the salesman asked the question, ‘how’ would my father pay for a holiday if he WAS going on one. He has just received a credit card statement for Â£517.13.

Trading Standards in Irvine, Ayrshire have been hugely co-operative, and I publicly would like to acknowledge their support and co-operation in liaising with the Office of Fair Trading and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

More power to everyone who is working to expose these fraudsters and more power still to the legislators and law enforcers who have the duty and the wherewithal to eliminate this problem.

From a fellow Tea Addict. (If my kettle is cold – I’m not at home)
Will certainly try out the ‘all-in-one’ teapot trick … Thank you!!

By: Chris Bristow

Chris Bristow — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 11:22:28 +0000

I feel some “unsolicited caller baiting” coming on ……

False name – check
False credit card details – check
Speakerphone – check
Method of recording call – check
Assortment of musical intruments, sound effects etc. – check

Awaiting the call ……