Something for nothing??????

[smeck]

In today's mail I received a postcard with a picture of a Carnival cruise ship announcing I've been selected to receive a free 8 day cruise on Carnival from NYC. A outside cabin and if I call within 48 hours I win 2 roundtrip airfares from any major airport. I'm tempted to call to find out what the scam is I'm betting they'll want a credit card number to hold the reservation. Remember nothing in life is free except for taxes and death.

[firefly333]

I got one of those. The FREE cruise I could choose between 4 days for $179 pp or 7 days for $299 pp .. ok I thought, so then I had to listen to a sales talk, ok, sent in the money. Now here it becomes sticky. My postcard promised a cruise from Galveston. The company who books you says they are a separate company, they are not responsible for any promises made in the postcard. Its now a year later.

 

I wound up going to BBB and I did get a 4 day for the price from New Orleans. I think to make me pay more, they gave me the furthest aft inside cabin on the bottom deck, they dont usually put anything but storage in, so noisy it was crazy. tv never worked either. .. but I did get my free cruise finally for $358 total for 4 days.

 

Its not free, there will be taxes and fees to pay. They also tried to bait and switch to Miami.

[cruisinthemed]

NOTHING!!!! Sorry...it sounds like a scam to me.

[golfadj]

Aint no free lunch either.

[mrpayroll]

To me FREE means paying $0.00. I am will to bet you will pay something for this so called FREE trip..

[Peg_S]

I got one of those. The FREE cruise I could choose between 4 days for $179 pp or 7 days for $299 pp .. ok I thought, so then I had to listen to a sales talk, ok, sent in the money. Now here it becomes sticky. My postcard promised a cruise from Galveston. The company who books you says they are a separate company, they are not responsible for any promises made in the postcard. Its now a year later.

 

I wound up going to BBB and I did get a 4 day for the price from New Orleans. I think to make me pay more, they gave me the furthest aft inside cabin on the bottom deck, they dont usually put anything but storage in, so noisy it was crazy. tv never worked either. .. but I did get my free cruise finally for $358 total for 4 days.

 

Its not free, there will be taxes and fees to pay. They also tried to bait and switch to Miami.

 

Thanks for letting us know what to expect for "Free".

 

Peg

[gogetter]

In today's mail I received a postcard with a picture of a Carnival cruise ship announcing I've been selected to receive a free 8 day cruise on Carnival from NYC. A outside cabin and if I call within 48 hours I win 2 roundtrip airfares from any major airport. I'm tempted to call to find out what the scam is I'm betting they'll want a credit card number to hold the reservation. Remember nothing in life is free except for taxes and death.

 

 

I only have one question.....how old are you?

[jagsfan]

These have been going on for years. Frequently you have to tour a timeshare or

visit a presentation by a travel club. You pay a fairly low amount for the right to

make your reservation, and give them a choice of 3 dates. If you're very lucky,

you might actually hit a date that works. We bit once several years ago, just to

see what happened. After a year of sending in dates, we requested our deposit

back, and got it.

If this were legit, the cruise ships would be full of postcard recipients.

[Bill_R]

Ok Yes I went. My curiosity got the best of me and I packed the misses and myself off to the 90 minute presentation in NJ. Here’s the scoop. Global is not a travel company. They are the marketing firm for I believe the guy said "RSI" travel services. Here’s the actual website of what you are buying. http://www.wholesaletravelconnection.com/ For $9999 you get lifetime membership in a travel club. If purchased, the day of presentation the 300 dollar initiation fee is waived. However there is a 29.99 dollar per month fee charged. They have a $4999 package for 5 years and then it ends. We were then offered the platinum package which sells for 20 grand at 12999 dollars. All include a unlimited or 3000/6000 point credit to be used on each vacation. So say you book a cruise and the actual cost is 1000 pp. Some of the credit but not all maybe applied to the cost reducing it. They had a lot of timeshare examples where the weekly rates when used with your points made the offer seem enticing. But they never gave time frames. They said you could stay in a 2 bedroom unit in Hawaii for say 400 per week but never said winter, summer spring fall. After the general presentation they bring you into a room where the salesman tries to close the deal.

So after his disappointment in a non sale we got our certificate for 2 free flights and a 7 day cruise. The salesmen told us that the cruise deal wasn’t that good but the flight deal is. Basically you sent in 25 bucks for the flight and they send you a coupon. The cruise is a 99 dollar fee along with many restrictions.

[golfadj]

Wow sounds like a bargain at twice the price.

[Frank12]

RUN!!!! Do not walk! :eek: :eek:

[hillbillycruisers]

Reminds me of the FREE cruise we were promised when we bought my wifes last car. They had a big sign in the showroom offering a FREE 4 day cruise...with a beautiful girl sunning on the beach in the background. Supposedly given away with any new vehicle purchase. Wow, we thought.. this is gonna be the best car purchase we ever made! I could just picture us on that beach with the pretty girl! Now, they did give us a really good deal on the car...and we did shop around too. But the FREE cruise was a different matter. Turns out, it could only be taken out of Florida...between certain dates..inside room only (no way with my claustrophobic wife)....and the HIDDEN charges made it almost as much as I could get with our TA. So, when I figured in airfare and all the rest, it was as cheap to drive to Galveston and take a five night cruise. We still have the car...and its been a good one...but the FREE cruise went in the trash! And I'm guessing the girl on the beach never missed us!

[Rena921]

I will never understand why people still fall for these scams. Nothing is ever truly free. Even those come listen to our speel for 3 hours and you get a free trip scams. My time is worth so much more than that. I volunteer serving lunch at a community kitchen... I can serve so many people in that amount of time. That's free and so much more fulfilling.

[Tapi]

In today's mail I received a postcard with a picture of a Carnival cruise ship announcing I've been selected to receive a free 8 day cruise on Carnival from NYC. A outside cabin and if I call within 48 hours I win 2 roundtrip airfares from any major airport. I'm tempted to call to find out what the scam is I'm betting they'll want a credit card number to hold the reservation. Remember nothing in life is free except for taxes and death.

 

Sounds legitimate!! CALL NOW!! CALL NOW!!

 

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Tapi]

...For $9999 you get lifetime membership in a travel club. If purchased, the day of presentation the 300 dollar initiation fee is waived. However there is a 29.99 dollar per month fee charged. They have a $4999 package for 5 years and then it ends. We were then offered the platinum package which sells for 20 grand at 12999 dollars.

 

You're kidding, right??

 

The sad thing is that there are people out there who are actually purchasing these memberships!

[Rena921]

You're kidding, right??

 

The sad thing is that there's somebody out there who are actually purchasing these memberships!

 

I know right? :rolleyes:

[golfadj]

Hey at least once a week some hotel that we have not stayed at for awhile will call and thank me for my past visit and invite to stay at their resort for a weekend at a great price to thank me for my business.

 

It will take about 6 more questions to find out they are really trying to sell me a time share.

 

They would not be making these calls if they do not find suckers willing to buy these things.

[mcwebber]

For $9999 you get lifetime membership in a travel club. If purchased, the day of presentation the 300 dollar initiation fee is waived. However there is a 29.99 dollar per month fee charged.

So let's see: $30 x 12 = $360. You already cover the cost for one person on the monthly fee alone. Now figure what $10,000 will earn you over 10 years and you just paid for an annual vacation.

[vacruizer]

This is a timeshare thing. Lots of scammy marketing involved and even if the cruise were free, they restrict things so much you'd probably never be able to use it and the fees will end up as much as booking yourself.

 

Just a side note - if you were to win a cruise in some legitimate sweepstakes, contest, game show, etc., what most people don't realize is that you still have to pay taxes on the value of the prize. The value of the prize is usually whatever 'book" value is on the cruise which is something like 4 times what most of us usually pay. Then you are taxed at the supplemental rate so that "free" cruise could end up costing you about as much as it would if you just booked it on your own.

[mckenna]

In today's mail I received a postcard with a picture of a Carnival cruise ship announcing I've been selected to receive a free 8 day cruise on Carnival from NYC. A outside cabin and if I call within 48 hours I win 2 roundtrip airfares from any major airport. I'm tempted to call to find out what the scam is I'm betting they'll want a credit card number to hold the reservation. Remember nothing in life is free except for taxes and death.

 

Hi,

I have received one of those for listening to a Time Share Sales Pitch! There was nothing free about this Cruise. I called the Agency to book it and it would have cost me $199.00 per Person and the said that it was for Taxes and Booking Fee. For a 4 day Cruise?? I think not!!!!

 

I wouldn't even bother calling them if I was you. It's not worth the time.

[Ken076]

I got one of those. The FREE cruise I could choose between 4 days for $179 pp or 7 days for $299 pp .. ok I thought, so then I had to listen to a sales talk, ok, sent in the money. Now here it becomes sticky. My postcard promised a cruise from Galveston. The company who books you says they are a separate company, they are not responsible for any promises made in the postcard. Its now a year later.

 

I wound up going to BBB and I did get a 4 day for the price from New Orleans. I think to make me pay more, they gave me the furthest aft inside cabin on the bottom deck, they dont usually put anything but storage in, so noisy it was crazy. tv never worked either. .. but I did get my free cruise finally for $358 total for 4 days.

 

Its not free, there will be taxes and fees to pay. They also tried to bait and switch to Miami.

 

 

Fire - We have a friend involved in one of these "deals", who got free cruise and free airfare for listening to a Vacation Club spiel (they actually agreed to buy the $10,000 package, then recanted the next day!).

 

For your 4-Day $179, what was the breakdown of the $179pp charge (has to be more than just Govt Fees & taxes? I'm guessing a "processing fee" also?). You mention $358 - was this for two cruisers or what you ended-up paying for one person?

 

Did you have any experience with a free airfare offer? I'm guessing there's a "processing fee" and that they use a consolidator, actually booking very late.

 

thanks, Ken

[EnTnSA]

I got a similar card in the mail and looked up the name of the company listed on the card in google.

 

Tons of info came back about scams and complaints to the BBB.

 

Needless to say, i tossed it.

[Ken076]

Basically you sent in 25 bucks for the flight (plus all the taxes? and ???) and they send you a coupon. The cruise is a 99 dollar fee (plus Govt Fees & Taxes? and ???) along with many restrictions.

 

thanks, Ken

[richstowe]

I only have one question.....how old are you?

Have no idea why some people get so nasty when responding ? Is it to prove how smart they are.

 

Thankyou OPer for sharing your experience and for the warning.

[golfadj]

Received the all time best one in a full page add in our newspaper this morning.

 

A company is giving you the opportunity of a lifetime to purchase sheets of uncirculated $ 2.00 bills at a premium of only double face value plus shipping and handling.

 

Only a limited number of these available and only for 2 days unless of course you need longer.