Vacation Marketing Scams: Beware of them

I am sure that all of us have received calls from telemarketers who tell us that our names have been selected for the purpose of attending a regular promotional seminar on vacations and that whether or not we sign up for the vacation plan, we will receive a gift. When you ask what the gift is, it is either a free trip to a vacation spot with air fare included or some other gift that would make it worth our while to attend the promotional seminar. Sometimes, it is worth our time to attend.

For example, we attended a seminar in which our gift was a four-hour boat trip through Pearl Harbour which was very interesting as the bombing of Pearl Harbour during World War Two was described in great detail as we sailed through the harbour and around the sunken ships. There was one small catch of course. You had to buy a hamburger for four dollars. That was OK. The boat tour was great. Another seminar got us a four-hour dinner cruise in the evening as the sun was setting on the city on Honolulu on the island of Oahu for attending a promotional seminar. As an added bonus, the owner of the boat took my wife and I to lunch in a very fine restaurant.

Years later when I attended a seminar on timesharing, the prize was a cell phone. From then on, I have always had a cell phone. This was well worth spending an hour listening to a promotion on a timeshare that I had no intention whatsoever of wishing to purchase.

About five years ago, the gift was two nights in a cottage in Wasaga Beach, Ontario. That place is great for swimming so we agreed to go there and listen to an hour-long seminar in which we were to learn of a vacation plan that really was enticing. The plan was as follows; We would pay anywhere from twenty to forty thousand dollars for a fifty-year plan in which during those years, we would pay only $150 for a two bedroom condo in a vacation location for each week anywhere in the world we were there and that if we wanted to spend a month or more in the condo, all we had to pay was still only $150 a week. Most condos then were actually being rented out at a thousand a week then so it really was a saving.

You have heard the expression, “If it sounds as if it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.” There is truth in that adage. We signed up but I was a better salesman than the salesman sitting at our small table. I got him to sign my wife and I up for only $2,000 for a five-year deal and we could renew for another five years if we were satisfied. My oldest daughter was able to get a two-bedroom condo in Collingwood for one week at $150.

Then the plan collapsed. The company folded in six weeks. The owner absconded with all the money; more than a million dollars. Some of the victims lost twenty to forty thousand dollars. My wife and I only lost the $2,000 we invested into the scheme.

I contacted the Travel Industry Council of Ontario to get our money back. If the people running the vacation plan were members of TICO, like they said that they were, everyone who signed up and invested their money into the scheme; would get their money back. Unfortunate, the salesman sitting at our table lied to me. The people who ran the organization that signed us up were not members of TICO and subsequently, we all lost our investments.

I filed a formal complaint with TICO and the owner of the vacation plan was subsequently charged with theft over $5,000.

After that, at least for a year or so, we didn’t attend too many of these similar seminars until we were on the Indonesian Island of Bali in 2005. When we arrived in one of the touristy towns, we no sooner got out of our taxi when a young man approached us and asked us if we would like to enter a contest. The prize was a T Shirt. After my wife won the prize within seconds, he said that we could get a free all-day tour of the island if we would listen to a seminar for an hour. We went into the building he was standing next to and listen to a seminar on how we could purchase a condo on the island on a time sharing basis. The firm making the offer was from Australia. Needless to say, we didn’t sign anything but we did get the gift. The next morning, my wife and I were picked up by a taxi in which there was a driver and relief driver inside. They gave us a magnificent tour that took us within two miles of one of the volcanoes which we could see from the balcony of a very fine restaurant on the top of a hill overlooking the valley heading towards the volcano. We had a truly great time that day. We got to our hotel about six in the evening. That was a gift we would never forget. It only cost us a meal for the drivers and a tip for each of them.

In June of this year, we got a telephone call from a telemarketer advising us that if we attended a promotional seminar in Etobicoke (a suburb of Toronto) we would get a gift for attending the seminar, the gift being either a free trip to Orlando or Las Vegas. We agreed to attend the seminar. It was to be held on June 1st at one in the afternoon. We attended it. It was held at 51 International Blvd in Etobicoke.

The promotion was on behalf of GeoHoliday, and it was conducted by salespeople who work for GH Marketing Inc. I will tell you about them later. Now I will tell you about GeoHoliday and Geo Holidays, just two of many firms with similar names under the umbrella of the Geo Group of Companies.

Here is what GeoHoliday and GeoHolidays says about itself on the Internet.

“You will discover that Geo Holiday gives you the means by which you can secure a lifetime of vacation accommodations for the very low price you pay today by comparison.”

“View a Geo Holiday presentation today in order to find out what Geo Holiday services Toronto can mean for your vacations. You will find that in addition to the presentations that explain your benefits as a Geo Holiday resort club member you will also have access to Geo Holiday tutorials that explain how to take advantage of your membership. Well known for quality resort accommodations, GeoHolidays aka Fairfield Resorts will give you the very best in luxury and economy.”

“At the Geo Holidays Services Toronto office you can enjoy a Geo Holiday presentation to explain what you get with your membership as well as GeoHoliday tutorials that are designed to help you learn how best to use your membership privileges. If the Toronto location isn’t to your liking you can also enjoy many of the same services at the GeoHolidays Richmond Hill location. The number of offices is just one more way in which the Geo Group of companies attempts to meet your needs and provide the very best in customer care and services to its members.”

“Are you ready to put GeoHolidays services to work for you and your vacation? Make a point of reading through the Geo Holiday testimonials before being sidetracked or put off by those claiming that there is a massive Geo Holidays scam. Join with comfort and peace of mind that there is no Geo Holiday fraud. GeoHolidays fraud accusations are not very widespread so you should feel confident that they are not true. The rumors of a Geo Holiday scam are completely false.”

“Unfounded reports of a GeoHoliday scam have been the deciding factor against GeoHolidays for more than a few prospective Geo Holiday members. There is no Geo Holidays fraud, you can read the many GeoHolidays testimonials from very satisfied customers if you are concerned about these negative claims. One thing to keep in mind is that there are plenty more positive things being said about Geo Holiday Canada than negative and this should have no small impact on your decision.”

Strangely enough, I couldn’t find one testimonial given on their behalf in the Internet.

What is interesting is that the people whom we saw were not from GeoHoliday even though the office had all kinds of posters with GeoHilioday written on it. We were actually dealing with a firm called GH Marketing Inc who was the shill for GeoHoliday. Here is what I found in the Internet about GH Marketing Inc.

“In fact, the great people at GH Marking Inc. are committed to providing luxury accommodations all over the world for your vacation enjoyment. By joining Geo Holiday aka Fairfield you can see why so many people are not only joining but remaining year after year with this industry leader. The continued efforts of GHF Marketing Inc. to constantly bring in new business and new resorts to the folds mean even more options for members in the future.”

This following complaint by a dissatisfied customer was sent to GH Marketing Inc. at 2225 Sheppard Ave. E. in Toronto on December 16, 2004. I have excerpted the highlights.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please accept this letter as a cancellation of the Purchase Agreement Contract for vacation club membership with GH Marketing Inc. signed by us, Hossein Najmi and Parisa Tahvildarian, on Dec 12th 2004. We, by canceling the vacation club membership purchase agreement contract consider no obligations under the contract and all authorized money withdrawal are assumed void effective now. This cancellation is done within the five days grace period provided in the contract and is based on the following reasons:

The contract was signed under undue influence by the sales people gathering around us at the time of presentation and no time was provided for consulting, studying the terms of the contract, looking at the vacation package materials, calculating the worthiness of the deal.

We were solicited by phone and offered a free vacation package with no obligation for attending a promotional presentation for a maximum of 90 minutes starting at 12:30 Sunday Dec 12th 2004. The most important materials of the vacation package were not presented to us before signing the contract which would definitely affect our decision for contract consideration. This includes, but is not limited to, vacation credit charts showing the worthiness of the credits for vacation resorts, the time and size limitations of the vacation places and hidden costs of reserving the vacations.

There were several numbers of misrepresentations during the presentations including, but not limited to, showing the lowest credit needed for a resort like the one in Mexico for 4500 credits which would only happen under specific conditions not mentioned in the presentation. Certainly this led us to a misjudgment about the worthiness of the credits we get.

The financing options and the total money due were not clearly communicated and there were confusing dollar numbers in US and Canadian currencies. We were not allowed (by frequent interruptions by salespersons) to discuss and consult with each other.

Most of the presentation time (about 2 hours) was spent on showing the beautiful resorts and flexibility and freedom of owning such vacation memberships and we were frequently told that we could have our dream vacations every year anytime anywhere which is a total misrepresentation and might only happen with very high credits and continuous hassling of checking the last minutes deals and spending most likely some extra money on them. On the other hand, there was only few minutes (about 15 minutes) allotted for talking about our obligations and expenditure.

The vacation club obligations were not presented to us in the so called presentation meeting. All the important material which would affect our decision were in a closed binder delivered to us only after signing the contract and up on leaving. Of course we were not aware of such things to ask for them and it is a hiding of material which misled us in signing the contract. Even after reading the fine prints about the club’s obligations we are still wondering if there exists any obligation by the club and concluded the contract as a one way contract for the benefit of the club and no contract consideration for us. The contract and material presented to us do not show at all what would happen if the club ceased to offer their services to us.

By canceling this contract, which by any measure of law, fairness and human conscience is our absolute and non disputable right, GH Marketing Inc. or GEOHoliday or whoever responsible for that is obligated to reimburse us all the money withdrawn from our accounts and consider all of our obligations void effective now.

Yours truly

Now back to another complaint against GeoHoliday found in the Internet.

“I thought that everyone out there that has been LIED to and RIPPED OFF by this company would like to know that I just got off the phone with their 'president, co-founder' Michael J. Muldoon. He phoned me personally after I called Starpoint and told Kim (Accounting) to relay a message for me, which went something like this; 'Tell him that I just came across this website, RipOffReport.com, that is full of complaints/accusations that are similar to the ones me and my husband have and that he needs to call me back.' She said that 'He is in the air.' (It's funny how I have asked to speak with him several times before and he always seems to be 'in the air') But, strangely enough, after this particular message he returned my call in 5 minutes.”

Another complaint.

“I told him that all we wanted was to be let out of the entire 'deal'. He proceeded to babble legal jargon that had nothing to do with the situation at hand he even even mentioned Stephanies name. He insinuted that I was a liar. I tried to explain to him (like I did to everyone else at Starpoint for the upteenth time!!!)that the *DISGUSTING SALESMEN STEVIE MONTGOMERY, WHOS CELL PHONE NUMBER IS (702) 883 - 1080*, in Mesquite, NV (that is where we were scammed into there horrible timeshare scheme)LIED to me and my husband telling us over and over 'That this purchase is in-house financing and would never show up on our credit reports.' We told him it can not show up on our credit reports because we would be refinancing our home in less then a year and we do not need more bills to show up. Again, this idiot reassured us that it would never show up - well it did!"

Another complaint.

"The only reason we found out is because on 03/27/06 we received a letter from MBNA telling us that our credit card appears to be having FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY and 'they have been unable to reach us' to discuss the matter. We were shocked and thought it was a mistake because we NEVER SIGNED UP FOR A CREDIT CARD WITH THIS COMPANY! My husband called them and they said we did sign up (we are currently waiting for the copies of these papers that they say they have on file that we filled out)and we bought a timeshare!"

And another.

"This was just the beginning of a string of lies. That stupid salesmen said 'for only 5,000points me and my husband could go on a 7day cruise. Come to find out it takes 35,000points and thats for a cabin with no window! (we bought 20,000points every 'biennial-even years only' for $7,000.00 for 'master-45year right to use') Here is another lie he told us, we could 'roll over all unused points year after year'. Me and my husband just found out that you can not do this - they expire! Here is another lie that the idiotic salesmen told us, 'we could book a GEO resort for only 4,995points - in a 3room condo (we have 4kids). That was a lie as well, this deal is not possible with the GEO resort only RCI He did not state that, which means you pay their exchange fee, MORE MONEY!, which STARTS at $149.00 and up and that’s for a tiny studio/1bedroom!"

And another.

"My husband got a packet of signed copies from the 'deal' at Starpoint a few weeks ago. In this packet are all the copies we got from the salesmen EXCEPT for 3 pages - the first one being a copy of an application for a RCI Elite Rewards MasterCard Credit Card, the second copy was info on the Credit Card 'Details of Rate, Fee and Other Cost Information' **THAT WE NEVER SAW!!!** & the last copy we got was titled App Status - Acct Number RCI - MBNA and it was about annual rates and a credit limit etc... BUT what was REALLY INTERESTING WAS THE FACT THAT OUR ADDRESS WAS WRONG! That is why we NEVER got ANYTHING IN THE MAIL FROM THEM IN TIME TO CANCEL!!!"

And again, another.

"I have already filed a complaint on 04/04/06 with the Better Business Bureau on line. I hope everyone else has as well. I am also talking with several local news stations about a possible story on this corrupt so-called business. I have also been in contact with the Compliance Department at the NV Real Estate Division (702) 486-4033 as well. There are official documents you can fill out and file about SALESMEN THAT MISLEAD YOU. Please call them and have them mail you the forms. When I called the Attorney Generals Office at (800) 266 - 8688, they said to call Consumer Affairs at (702) 486 - 7355. I have not called yet, but I will!"

And yet another.

"Yes, I too received a call from them tonight. I provided my phone number on a St. Marten travel site and now regret it. (it seems like most of the island hotels are owned by the Maho group which is big into selling time shares) I knew Geoholiday was for a timeshare but the man denied it. He sounded great, confident, but could not say the country Costa Rica properly. That was a clue that he had no idea what he was promoting. I knew a 90 minute seminar would provide nothing for free. Three days in Orlando for what? To stay in a dumpy area, be over-charged in service fees. There are many ways to have affordable vacations. Costa Rica is not that expensive. I travelled there and stayed in nice hotels that cost $25.00 a night. There are charter companies that fly South for reasonable prices. There have been flights this winter for $100 to Orlando, $200 to the Caribbean, and $300 to Costa Rica. You don't need Geo holiday to have an inexpensive vacation. Check out Sky Service or Air Transat and watch the prices...they fluctuate and you can get good deals, sometimes they are last-minute. And how to get rid of Geo holiday calls, tell them to remove your phone number from their list and that you will call the CRTC to file a complaint against them if they do not."

And again, another.

"I got a call from these guys, "Geo Holidays", a few minutes ago. They have got a new name, "Canadian Choice". Phone numbers are 416-293-5735 and 416-297-6168. Their new scam scheme includes offering a free car, Hummer H2."

More.

"These guys are still going at it, thank God for this thread, I was about to leave the house for their meeting when I decided to do some research on the net first, the prize they offered me was either a big screen TV, $ 2,500.00 cash, or a free holiday. If you get one if these calls please add your comment in this website, we must keep this thread alive so that no one else gets scammed again, we live in Mississauga and the Geo Holiday office is located on International Blvd in Etobicoke."


Another complaint.

"Like many I received a call from GEO Holiday Service. Was told that I have a shot at winning a Mercedes ML 350. She could not give me detail where I filled out the ballot. Anyway I got curious and asked her the chance of winning the car. She told me one in 15,000."

You will like this one. Talk about outsourcing.

"I received a call, 2 evenings in a row from a California number (949-540-0781). The first night there was nobody there. The second night I had a women with a Spanish accent, with others in the background. She informed me I had won a holiday, had one year to use it and then confirmed some basic info on me they had. She then put on her supervisor, who clarified the same things. I asked questions like where did you get my name (you've been to one of our resorts), how much will this cost me (no obligation on your part), etc. She then proceeded to give me their address (60 Wilmot Street, in west Richmond Hill.....she kept pushing west Richmond Hill, Ontario."

This following telephone pitch is similar with the one my wife and I received in June 2008.

“We wish to confirm your appointment on Sunday February 3rd, 2008 at 1:00pm at 51 International Boulevard in Etobicoke as part of our Two Escape To Promotion. Please present this confirmation document to the host at the showroom. As our representative mentioned, in order to be eligible for this promotional offer, you must be between 27 to 68 years of age, currently employed or retired, with a combined household income above $50,000CDN per year. If married or in a common-law relationship, both partners must attend and complete together a 90 minute orientation at the vacation gallery. This offer is valid only on Sunday February 3rd, 2008 at 1:00pm after which it expires. You will be served refreshments, view a video about a new way to travel, followed by a meeting with one of our club membership consultants. We hope that you will consider us, become a new member, and tell your friends about your great experience. Remember that you are under no obligation to buy or join to receive the gift. Following the presentation all guests will receive a package of their choice."

Obviously my wife and I chose not to join GeoHoliday or whatever their name is.

I had previously checked with the Better Business Bureau of Mid-western and Central Ontario about complaints with the Geo Group of Companies GHME Marketing GeoHoliday Vacation Club. The BBB processed a total of 19 complaints about these companies in the last 36 months, its standard reporting period. Of the total of 19 complaints closed in 36 months, 8 were closed in the last year.

Nevertheless, we did receive our gift for attending GH Marketing Inc's Promotional seminar on behalf of GeoHoliday.

The gift, according to the salesman at GeoHoliday's location, is a trip, all expenses paid to a place of our choice (which was Las Vegas) but you know the old saying, never look a gift horse in the mouth. If you do, you will discover that the horse has no teeth which is an indication that it is very old and you are not getting what you expected. It turned out that GeoHoliday’s gift horse is operated by a firm called Spirit Incentives. Trust me, this is one gift horse you never want to accept, let alone ride it.

Here is what some of the complainants had to say about that gift horse that GH Marketing Inc offered us for showing up at the promotional seminar.

“My husband and I attended a vacation presentation given by Spirit Incentives and we chose not to participate in their program. They advised us that just for spending our time with them they were giving us a 2 night vacation in Wisconsin Dells, Reno or Vegas.

We chose Vegas, and submitted the 3 date choices as requested on the certificate. We paid the 50.00 deposit and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally I called and it took me over an hour to finally get a person on the phone who put me on hold several times only to tell me that my dates were not secured. I advised her I had a confirmation email for my choice of dates. Again on hold. She later came back to say she took care of it and someone would call me back to actually book the vacation.

About 3 weeks later I received a call from a reservation rep and at first she told me that since my 1st date choice had passed should would try to find me something for my 2nd choice. She put me on hold, came back and advised me that she could not find any flights during non-peak hours would I like to upgrade for an additional fee. No, thank you, I said.

She said she would try to find something for our 3rd date choice and put me on hold again. When she came back she stated her computer was acting up and she would call me back. When she did call me back she said she found a flight for us for the 2nd date choice. She gave me the dates and times, which were very undesirable but for free what do you want right.

So we went to Vegas and the hotel is in old downtown---Freemont St area. Well, the taxi driver could not find the place for a while, when he did he could not find the entrance and ended up dropping us off in the rear parking lot of the place. It was so scary. There were very shady people every where but it was almost midnight (thanks to our off peak flight) and we were tired. We checked in but my husband did not sleep as he was afraid someone would try to break in.

The next morning when I tried to explain to the desk clerk that I should not have to pay for the hotel (they wanted my credit card the night before and I was too tired to fight it) he had to get the manager. She was baffled by who Spirit Incentives was and had no idea why I thought I shouldn't pay for the hotel. Well, we cut our loses there, we checked out and got a room at real hotel.”

Here is another complaint about Spirit Incentives I found in the Internet.

“I signed up for one of those "free trip" raffles at a boat show in Puerto Rico (Similar to something you'd see at the mall). I won (well, whaddaya know!) I won a 3 day, 2 night stay at the Holiday Inn of my choice for 2 adults, a voucher for $30.00 worth of gas, another voucher for $30.00 at Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze or Outback (Not bad, huh?).

All I had to do was attend to a Celebrity Travel Plus meeting on March 30, 07, which if you paid $7,000 you'd have access to their website & get discounts of up to X percent. I asked to see the site, but of course they won't let you unless you pay (They only show you their salesperson demo) *Beware of insurance salespeople, their software is rigged too, but that's another story.

Bottom line about Celebrity, their contract says that its valid as long as they're in business. So I said to the guy, you could make $100K tonight & close up shop. I told them I wasn't interested, but I sure as hell wanted my free tickets they had promised. I paid Celebrity a non refundable processing fee of $35.00 (which had to be in cash), to then get the Spirit Incentives Certificate, to THEN begin the nightmare with Spirit...

We had to mail Spirit Incentives a refundable good faith check for $50.00, for them to send a travel date request form. I sent a company check. Then they sent the form to select our travel dates, which we eagerly did. We eventually got a letter stating that our first travel date had been denied because it wasn't available, & asking if we would like them to proceed with the next date. I called them, & the very first thing you hear on the phone is: for refunds, dial 1. For customer service, dial 2.

Naturally, they couldn't tell you over the phone what dates were available. You had to send them the request. I agreed, & wrote IF SECOND DATE NOT AVAILABLE PLEASE PROCEED WITH THIRD DATE. At this point I figured, if we get the tickets, great, if not, it was a $100.00 lesson (I felt bad for the people that actually paid the $7K)
Next thing we get is a letter stating that "To finalize the travel arrangements, we are required to pay in full all taxes & fees due before travel arrangements can be confirmed." So we sent in another company check for $32.16. Then my wife called again to follow up & they told her the check had been returned because it was a third party check (They had accepted it for the $50.00 deposit). Once we received the returned check, we sent a money order.

Today we called to follow up, & they said once they receive the money order it takes them 2-3 weeks to enter it in the system. Keep in mind we have followed the instructions exactly as they request.

My wife called the Florida Better Business Bureau and they said these people have almost 400 complaints in file and have given Spirit Incentives an F rating.”
Regards

I should add that when my wife and I read Spirit Incentives’ fine print, we learned to our horror that if we were to accept the Las Vegas free gift, we couldn’t fly there from Toronto. We would have to fly to Las Vegas from an American Airport. Why? Who knows. I wasn’t about to call them long distance and be put on hold for half an hour to find out what airport in the United States we would have to fly to Las Vegas from.

In conclusion, let me say that in my opinion, signing up for these so-called vacation deals is extremely risky and if the gift is an offer from them to go somewhere out of your immediate area, don’t accept it. On the other hand, sometimes the gift can be worth your while to attend these promotional seminars. For example, when we attended the seminar in Wasaga Beach, Ontario, we got the gift ahead of time when we got two days accommodation in a cottage free of charge. The same applied when we attended a promotional seminar sponsored by Heritage Resort just north of Toronto. We got two nights in one of their magnificent chalets. It gave us an opportunity to visit the area. The same applied by another resort in Collingwood, Ontario. We got two free nights in their hotel.

You may wonder why it is that companies such as what I have described continue to stay in business. You can ask the same question as why the Nigerian scam letters keep coming when so many people know that they are part of a large international scam. The reason is obvious. There are still fools who fall for the scams.

If you nevertheless choose to sign up with GeoHoliday or other similar vacation schemes like them, please contact me for I have a real deal for you. I have a bridge I can sell you. It is in a great location. It is the bridge that connects New Your City with Brooklyn. Let me give you the advantages you will get if you buy this bridge from me. First, you can make it a toll bridge, and further, you can also……