Has anyone ever won a vacation online?

[abacobaby]

I don't know if this is the right board to post on or not, but here is my story...

I was online this morning and all of a sudden, I see a pop up on my computer saying I won $2100 towards a vacation, so I called the number and this is supposedly what I won:

6days/7nights at a Ramada/Quality Inn or Holiday Inn in Orlando (Westgate entrance area?)

Rental car to go along with the Orlando trip

4 Tickets to Watermania

4 days at Daytona beach

4 day Bahamas cruise

The total price came to $3000, so I'm supposed to pay a balance of $890. I gave them my CC#, but the card declined the amount, which I told the guy would happen. He says I don't have to pay the amount until I book the vacation. I have 18 months to use this vacation. It is for 4 adults.

Anyway, has anyone ever won anything like this? Was it worth it or did I just get scammed?

 

[spiceycat]

I am pretty sure this is the same company I deal with.

I definitely got scammed. Ending up paying them around $2,000 for a trip I could have booked for under $600.

If it is the same place be carefully - the hotels hated during business with them.

they guaranteed you a room - yea right - we got to the hotel at 9:00pm it took the hotel talking back and forth to them until 1:00am to get us a room.

this was just the start of one of my worst vacations ever.

oh they do get you what they promised - but expect EXTRA charges. Also that cruise was the worst trip. It was so bad I have not been on a cruise since.

the hotels want you to do the timeshare thing.

So expect to be hassled at each place and where you go to get the tickets, or room key, or etc.

most of the time when you a timeshare thing and you aren't staying with them for a discounted rate then you get money for your time. This place doesn't.

so be aware they are trying to sell you a timeshare on top of this trip.

 

[abacobaby]

Spiceycat - do you remember the company name? I am not worried about the timeshare thing - I can't afford it anyway I'm just worried about my CC being over charged. 90% of the time my CC is maxed out anyway, so there is only a small window for them to charge me. Anyway, we'll see what happens....

 

[jtdl]

I had a similar call but told the lady I wanted to check it out first and they gave me 15 minutes to do so. I did a search on Yahoo or Google and came up with some really bad comments from people who had taken the deal. I can't remember exactly the name but it was a Ramada _______ chain. When I did the search I got information that even though it had Ramada in the name it was not affliliated with the Ramada resorts as we know them. I remember one of the comments was similar to the other posters in that when they arrived at one of the motels there was no reservation for them and another was about the cruise ship and how awful it was, I believe that person called it a "tin can" that they were afraid to board!

 

[kidd_freeper]

Yes, I've won a vacation online.

Alamo car rental. 4 nites, 4 people, Animal Kingdom Lodge - savanna view, airfare, car rental and four 5-day base+hopper passes.

I took the trip last month. My experience was a no-strings attached vacation. There were some substitutions because of the change from Ultimate Park Hoppers to Magic-Your-Way passes, and I had to pay the $19 in taxes/fees on the car rental, but for the most part, the whole thing was a class-act.

It is not necessarily a scam, but I'd be skeptical because: (1) it sounds like it was an unsolicited win (you didn't enter the contest), (2) they are asking you to pay a significant amount of money in order to receive the rest of the prize.

Advice:
1. Read the terms and conditions CAREFULLY and with a pessimtic view. Do the terms allow them to scam you? Can they change the terms? Can they ask you for more money? Do you have future obligations to them (other than using your likeness in advertising - that is pretty common)? What kind of substitutions can they make? Do you have to make other plans, that are not part of the prize, through their travel agent?

2. Check out who is offering this trip. Stay away from travel agencies and foreign companies. Some mom&pop companies that have been in business for awhile might be ok, or they could be a disaster.

3. Price the trip out yourself. Can you do better by yourself? Also - does the trip include a lot of stuff that you really don't care to do? You will have to treat the approxiamte retail value (ARV) of the trip as added income. Think of it this way - you are paying for about 20% of the ARV (depending on your tax bracket).

 

[abacobaby]

Thank you for all of your replies. I really don't know what to think. I checked out the website (it is a travel agency) and they are offering a package deal for this month for the exact same thing "I won" for $2995. --.

Since I actually did not win the trip, but won $2100 towards the trip, that part makes sense to me that I would have to pay the balance, doesn't it? I called the number I got off of the travel agency website and asked if they were doing this "free trip" thing and she said yes, and then gave me a number to call, which is exactly the same number I called yesterday.

I figure since I already gave them my CC #, there is not much I can do now.

I have won something similar to this once (a cruise to the Bahamas) and I also had to pay a small fee then, but I never took the trip.

I don't know....
What does anyone else think?

 

[Grand2me]

If you have a name for the travel agency, why don't you get an address and call the BBB? Oh...the Better Buisness Bureau. I'm almost positive that if these folks aren't legit, they should be able to tell you something.

 

[DisneyObsessive]

if you have to pay something, it is NOT a win. Sometimes its for time share and sometimes its a scam. a GREAT board to ask around is www.online-sweepstakes.com/forums/

They are brilliant with this kind of stuff.

 

[DisOrBust]

This is a SCAM big time. I would call your CC and stop any transaction

 

[Trinity721]

Don't ever ever ever believe something that pops up on your screen. There is a reason why the pop-up blocker was invented. Always check to see if it is legitimate, but most likely if it is a pop up it's probably not legit.

I hope you find a solution soon. I'm sorry you had to experience this.

 

[abacobaby]

Thank you so much to all of you that answered my post. I really appreciate it. I still haven't been able to find any negative stuff online about this company, but since my gut feeling was telling me that this is a scam, I called my CC Company yesterday evening and had them stop my CC. So, now I will get a new CC and will have to pay $25 - a much smaller amount than what I would have had to pay! I guess it was a blessing in disguise that my CC is at it's limit and they couldn't charge me for anything!

 

[dpuck1998]

Why did you have to pay $25? To cancel your credit card and get a new one? If that is the case I would look for a new credit card company as well.

 

[abacobaby]

Yes, Royal Bank of Canada is charging me $25 to stop my CC and get a new one. We live in the Bahamas and EVERYTHING is more expensive here. I guess it's the price we pay to live in paradise. That's at least what my husband (who is from here) tells me all the time when I complain about something. (I'm not from here!)