Me and my wife 6 months back was invited to attend a time share event by a sales rep. We were told that if at the end of the presentation we did not like it or want to buy into it that a free complimentary vacation package would be given to us. So, we attended the seminar and found that their prices were way above our pay grade. So, at the end of the service they gave us a certificate card and a booklet of all the places we could go to redeem our free 10 day stay. Two months later, we decided to book a all inclusive resort in Playa De Carman Mexico at one of their resorts. Online, which they tell you has to be booked on, it asked for our certificate number. I entered it in. Then the next page it had us pick out a resort. We did. Then the following page it explained to us that we needed to pay taxes on the resort in order to proceed to the confirmation page. I paid it! The next page was the confirmation page which told us we were confirmed and ready to go!
We decided to then book and pay for our flight, rental car. And book other places we would stay at on our own expense in another state of Mexico. All costing upfront fees which we paid for. Fast forwarding to today, and 2 days before we leave, I recieved a phone call from a guy at the resort. He told me that the reason he was calling me was because he wanted to make himself clear that their would be a food & beverage fee of $2,363.00 U.S. currancy. I about choked when he told me this. I had told him that I paid fees already and he said that he has not yet recieved any fees. And this was done back in March. I told him what if me and my wife wanted to go out and eat instead, he said that we could but that we would need to pay the non refundable fees first of $2,363.00.
Needless to say this pissed me off and broke my heart as we really did need this vacation time to ourselves and worked very hard to get to it. He said that his job was to contact all the people who had redeemed DREAM VACATIONS with his resort to inform them of the expense waiting for them when they arrive. This way it would make people aware before proceeding to showing up. I hung up and called DREAM VACATIONS and gave them my confirmation number. The guy was very rude and almost knew what I was talking about before I actually spoke. I told him that I felt that I was scammed out of my vacation. He started ranting off that I had to have checked all the boxes about additional fees etc, in order to get the confirmation and that I actually didn't pay for the taxes, I paid to book the resort through their web site! NOW I AM AT DEF CON 5!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I could have used Booking.com or Homeaway and paid far less then just using a stupid site. It was clear to me that this was not a case of free service, but a paid out of pocket one with deceptive practices!
I had to go to my bank and submit a complaint and dispute letter to even dispute what I had been charged!! Next step will be to take these guys to court. small claims court because now I certainly can not afford a full investigation into their shady practices with a lawyer! I researched this company and pulled up some very interesting facts about them. First, this is nothing new! They have been sued for this very thing by others in the past. The California attorney generals office has sued them as well! Folks, Do not buy into their freebe crap. You will end up paying thousands while loosing your chance to decompress on your vacation. Ours is almost a total loss. We have to go now regardless because if we don't, we will loose our flight tickets and other hotel stays as well as the money it costed us to rent a car!
Wanting freebies is not always good. Never ever get into this trap. We made the mistake and still tasting the sourness. Better buy an all inclusive package with other legit travels.
DreamVacationWeek Reviews
Me and my wife 6 months back was invited to attend a time share event by a sales rep. We were told that if at the end of the presentation we did not like it or want to buy into it that a free complimentary vacation package would be given to us. So, we attended the seminar and found that their prices were way above our pay grade. So, at the end of the service they gave us a certificate card and a booklet of all the places we could go to redeem our free 10 day stay. Two months later, we decided to book a all inclusive resort in Playa De Carman Mexico at one of their resorts. Online, which they tell you has to be booked on, it asked for our certificate number. I entered it in. Then the next page it had us pick out a resort. We did. Then the following page it explained to us that we needed to pay taxes on the resort in order to proceed to the confirmation page. I paid it! The next page was the confirmation page which told us we were confirmed and ready to go!
We decided to then book and pay for our flight, rental car. And book other places we would stay at on our own expense in another state of Mexico. All costing upfront fees which we paid for. Fast forwarding to today, and 2 days before we leave, I recieved a phone call from a guy at the resort. He told me that the reason he was calling me was because he wanted to make himself clear that their would be a food & beverage fee of $2,363.00 U.S. currancy. I about choked when he told me this. I had told him that I paid fees already and he said that he has not yet recieved any fees. And this was done back in March. I told him what if me and my wife wanted to go out and eat instead, he said that we could but that we would need to pay the non refundable fees first of $2,363.00.
Needless to say this pissed me off and broke my heart as we really did need this vacation time to ourselves and worked very hard to get to it. He said that his job was to contact all the people who had redeemed DREAM VACATIONS with his resort to inform them of the expense waiting for them when they arrive. This way it would make people aware before proceeding to showing up. I hung up and called DREAM VACATIONS and gave them my confirmation number. The guy was very rude and almost knew what I was talking about before I actually spoke. I told him that I felt that I was scammed out of my vacation. He started ranting off that I had to have checked all the boxes about additional fees etc, in order to get the confirmation and that I actually didn't pay for the taxes, I paid to book the resort through their web site! NOW I AM AT DEF CON 5!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I could have used Booking.com or Homeaway and paid far less then just using a stupid site. It was clear to me that this was not a case of free service, but a paid out of pocket one with deceptive practices!
I had to go to my bank and submit a complaint and dispute letter to even dispute what I had been charged!! Next step will be to take these guys to court. small claims court because now I certainly can not afford a full investigation into their shady practices with a lawyer! I researched this company and pulled up some very interesting facts about them. First, this is nothing new! They have been sued for this very thing by others in the past. The California attorney generals office has sued them as well! Folks, Do not buy into their freebe crap. You will end up paying thousands while loosing your chance to decompress on your vacation. Ours is almost a total loss. We have to go now regardless because if we don't, we will loose our flight tickets and other hotel stays as well as the money it costed us to rent a car!
It's a trap
Wanting freebies is not always good. Never ever get into this trap. We made the mistake and still tasting the sourness. Better buy an all inclusive package with other legit travels.