Which is the best way to order vouchers?

[frannn]

Which is the most reputable/reliable/quickest way to order vouchers? Connections, Lillian Vernon, or Hotwire? I like the idea of a monthly membership, in case I want to keep the membership to return vouchers if I don't use them (right, like that's gonna happen!). I want to be sure that I don't fall into a bigger problem than just the Connections double billing by adding a third party into the mix (Hotwire). How long does it take to get membership stuff & vouchers from Hotwire? How are their cust svc people & is there a phone # they can be reached at in case of any problems? Is there any additional benefit of joining one as opposed to the others? Need to decide pretty soon....Thanks!

 

[JodyTG]

I'd be curious to know the answer to this, also...

 

[crazymomof4]

From what I've read here on the boards: Connections123, Hotwire Savings Club, Dealpass, and Simple Escapes are all operated by a company called "MWI Connections". They each offer different types of membership (annual or month to month, usually w/ free 30 day trial) and different incentives (amazon gift cert., K-Mart cert., $10 rebate, etc.). Because of these differences many people seem to think they are joining different programs but according to posters on these boards, the name "MWI Connections" appears on the credit card statement for billing from all of these memberships.
Just to make things more confusing, Lillian Vernon (a mail order company) offers to enroll you in Connections. Lillian Vernon DOES NOT sell the vouchers or any other Connections discounts, they only offer to communicate your enrollment to the Connections company. They will tell you that they really have nothing to do with Connections and will not be able to help you out if there is a problem. After enrolling you, they are done.

My experience trying to join through LV was not a good one. I made 2 attempts, Aug. 11th and 22nd, and neither of my enrollments ever showed up on Connection's records. Neither LV or Connections could resolve the problem. I have to say that my experience seems to be, by far, the exception. Most, if not all, of posts that I've read say that they join through LV, wait 3 business days, call Connections and get their member ID, then immediately go online and order vouchers, etc. No problem. They don't even have to wait to get the membership packet through the mail. The whole time I was having the problems I kept asking myself, "Why me??!?"
While on the phone to Connections they offered to join me up directly but said they could ONLY offer the annual membership w/ free 30 day trial. I'd read TOO MANY bad experiences regarding the annual memberships, so I declined. Just a two days ago I read about Hotwire.com offering Monthly memberships. I jumped right on it. Joined online, got my membership info via e-mail and few minutes later, then immediately went to the website and ordered vouchers. I haven't gotten them yet so I cannot give you the "end of the story", but it's only been 2 days. I like the fact that I did everything online.....no humans to deal with. After about 15 phone calls to try to clear up the LV-Connections thing, I've quite HAD IT with CSR's (customer service reps)! They do supply a toll free phone # for cust. serv., but like I said, I've not had to use it.......yet

 

[FonFon]

Is there a difference in shipping charges for the vouchers between the different services??

 

[HookdonWDW]

There isn't a shipping charge added to the vouchers (unless you're talking E-Bay, and then it could be $50.00/voucher ). S&H is rolled into the price of the vouchers.

 

[MaMudduck]

No- FonFon.
CrazyMom- Hotwire is not part of MWI,(I think?) they're a travel company like Expedia or Priceline without the bidding part. But I do think Hotwire has the vouchers drop shipped from them (thus the charges on CC as MWI).I know, we had this conversation on another thread

My cc hasn't been billed yet so I'm still in the process too!
But my dealings with Hotwire have been great so far. The rep gives you their ID # and name at least 3 times while talking to them. Very helpful etc. I hope they don't prove me wrong , oh well let's "leap in the fire" LOL

 

[FonFon]

Okay, then I am forced to ask a "dumb" question...

Why do vouchers go for upwards of $20 each on ebay - PLUS shipping - if they are readily available at this (lower) price?? Especially since there are only a handful of places that you could eat where you would recoup this cost?

 

[DMRick]

Why do vouchers go for upwards of $20 each on ebay

I don't know..why did someone buy a moldy, broken down old toy, that I was on my way to the trash with, and decided to put on eBay.? Some people just don't research.

 

[pbestford]

I bought several vouchers off E-Bay for a number of reasons.

Mainly:

1) I wanted to know that I'd pre-paid a few meals before we travelled and

2) I'm in the UK and can't join Connections or any of the other voucher sales companies.

Alright, we paid slightly over the odds for each one - about $15 each and approx $5 S&H for 4 vouchers-but we knew that we had 4 great meals to look forward to where we could order anything we liked without worrying about the cost.

I'd certainly buy through E-Bay again - unless, of course, I could legitimately join connections or something similar.

Alison

 

[tinaluis]

Hotwire is not affiliated with Connections and is simply passing the information along just as Lillian Vernon does. They just have a more high-tech way of doing it through the internet instead of having to enroll through a CSR but it is still MWI Connections. Same company, perhaps the same problems (I hope not) but just a different way of getting to them.

 

[crazymomof4]

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Hotwire is not affiliated with Connections and is simply passing the information along just as Lillian Vernon does. They just have a more high-tech way of doing it through the internet instead of having to enroll through a CSR but it is still MWI Connections. Same company, perhaps the same problems (I hope not) but just a different way of getting to them.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr........just when I thought I had it all straight! I know I read in one of the first hotwire threads that "Hotwire Savings Club" (not hotwire.com in it's entirety) "IS" Connections. I guess what that poster meant was what you are joining IS Connections. So Hotwire is equavalent to Lillian Vernon in this whole scheme of things. Gottcha. Thanks and sorry for inadvertantly passing on inaccurate info.

 

[ceecee]

I too, have purchased a few on ebay....had really bad problems with Connections a few years ago. Double charges, never received order, I could go on...............so I ebayed! I didn't pay a lot more that the regular price and didn't have the hassle. I did join this year for vouchers, movie ticket and gift cards. No problems so far except the $8.50 a month was billed on 8-10 and 8-25! Plus the three week wait after joining! I then called and got two cards the same week, now I suspect I have two memberships. I have called two times, it is very hard to get a CS who speaks good English.

 

[crazymomof4]

I may be beating a dead horse here but..................

When I was billed for my vouchers the statement read "MWI*Hotwire Savings Club". Then when they were delivered I noticed that the return address was "Omaha, NB" the same as Memberworks, Inc. (MWI). I sensed that Hotwire Savings was more closely related to MWI than just a Lillian Vernon, "pass the information along" type thing. So I called and asked. Here is what I was told by a Hotwire Savings rep:
"Hotwire Savings Club is run by the same company that runs Connections, Simple Escapes and Dealpass. That company is called Memberworks Inc. (MWI)""

So, it turns out, I was correct in my first post on this thread. After taking a few twists and turns, I FINALLY do have it straight now!
I do believe that MWI sells their products through all of these differently named companys to side-step the bad press they receive. I don't mind taking a chance and dealing with this company but I like to do it with my eyes open. That is why I had to know if and how Connections, MWI, Hotwire, etc. were related.

PS- I don't mean to say that Hotwire.com (in it's entirety) is run by MWI but the Savings Club is.

 

[frannn]

which is the lessor of all these evils? I would think it would be best to join on a monthly basis, so maybe they will only mess up one month's membership fee. Which one of these are easiest to sign up for, have the best customer service, and are quickest to send the vouchers out? I realize they are all affilliated with the same bad company, but which would be the best to go with?

 

[crazymomof4]

Month to month is definitely the way to go for the reasons you mentioned. You can get month to month by signing up for Connections through Lillian Vernon (NOT associated w/ MWI) or Hotwire.com. There may be other ways, but these are the 2 I know about.

Like I posted earlier, I had problems getting my enrollment through LV to show up on Connections records. Wasted a month trying then eventually gave up. My case is rare I'm sure.

Here was my experience joining Hotwire Savings Club-
Went online, filled out the enrollment. A few minutes later I get my member ID via e-mail. Went back on the website and ordered my vouchers. That all took about 30 mins on 9/3. Kept checking my cc statement online and they billed me the correct amount for the vouchers on 9/5. No amount billed yet for my membership. (I thought I was supposed to be charged $1 ???) My vouchers came yesterday (9/10) exactly as ordered. End of story. A happy ending for me anyway.

 

[deedle3]

Can someone please tell me about these vouchers?

 

[MaMudduck]

Look here Everthing you wanted to know about vouchers