Sounds like a scam?

[manitoba girl]

Probably is...I got this thing in the mail today from Ramada Plaza resorts and it says I got 1600 dollars towards a Carnival cruise among other little trinkettes.Is this a scam??what do you think?

[KruznKel]

Probably is...I got this thing in the mail today from Ramada Plaza resorts and it says I got 1600 dollars towards a Carnival cruise among other little trinkettes.Is this a scam??what do you think?

 

Have you called the 1800 # I am sure they have provided and inquired???:confused: Maybe could be Maybe couldn't be:D

[oldvato]

Probably is...I got this thing in the mail today from Ramada Plaza resorts and it says I got 1600 dollars towards a Carnival cruise among other little trinkettes.Is this a scam??what do you think?

 

 

Read the fine print.

[momofzeke]

Probably is...I got this thing in the mail today from Ramada Plaza resorts and it says I got 1600 dollars towards a Carnival cruise among other little trinkettes.Is this a scam??what do you think?

 

It's probably a time-share thing. I get those every now and again, never have called for more info. My brother did use it several years ago. It was a 3 night cruise, 2 nights in Florida at Disney World, plus a teeny tiny rental car. They had to attend a 2 hour presentation for the time share.

[Cotton]

Sitting through some of those presentations are worth it.:eek:

 

I've taken up a coupla these offers, and saved a ton of money. Once at a timeshare condo we stayed at in Orlando (free lodging, free D'world tickets for 3 days for 4 ppl.). The other was in Freeport at Bahamas Princess (hotel room & 2 meals a day w/cocktails for 3 nights).

 

Both times, we sat through a one hour super-boring presentation. We said no, but thx for the freebies, and had great mini-vactations. Pretty much all we had to do was provide our transportation. WELL worth it!

 

Check into it. What do you have to lose?:)

[newmexicoNita]

I am sure or 90% anyway it is a time share presentation. They usually take about 90 minutes to 2 hours; the length depends on how insistant you are with them from the very beginning. If you have no intentions of purchasing you need to hold your grounds politely but very firmly. we have done them and yes, gotten some great benefits. BTW we do own 1 time share and have never been sorry we purchased, but that isn't what you are asking. Prior to and since we purchased we have listened to the sales pitch. Some have been very polite, of course they are hard sell; they have to make a living: some are rude!!!! The better company offering the unit, the more professional they are: I think the best are Marriott and Hilton. Just my humbel opinion. NMNita

[tinna2000]

it's a ripoff, go to http://www.ripoffreport.com and see how many complaints there is on this. it is a timeshare and the amount of money you spend, you could do it for yourself much cheaper.

[fresnel468]

I wouldn't say it qualifies as a true scam...just a classic "you don't get something for nothing" deal. These things are usually handed out for attending timeshare, resort or real estate sales pitches. We endured an hour long real estate presentation to get the "free" 3-4 day cruise from Galveston, New Orleans or Miami. After getting it home and reading the fine print, I just tossed it in the trash. Up front fees, processing charges, extra charges for on season cruises and no firm choice in when or where you can go. At least we got a $50 Visa gift card for our trouble.

[KruznKel]

Sitting through some of those presentations are worth it.:eek:

 

I've taken up a coupla these offers, and saved a ton of money. Once at a timeshare condo we stayed at in Orlando (free lodging, free D'world tickets for 3 days for 4 ppl.). The other was in Freeport at Bahamas Princess (hotel room & 2 meals a day w/cocktails for 3 nights).

 

Both times, we sat through a one hour super-boring presentation. We said no, but thx for the freebies, and had great mini-vactations. Pretty much all we had to do was provide our transportation. WELL worth it!

 

Check into it. What do you have to lose?:)

 

We won a free trip to somewhere with our timeshare presentation... maybe I should look for the piece of paper that they gave all of US who picked different letters who won the same trip:rolleyes: They can be a godsend but really hey I enjoyed the free trip of the island from the cab driver:D

[walkswife]

Don't bother I called it......... by the time they added this and that and the other thing it was ridiculous... and they want you to make the decision now... no calling back, no discussing it with your spouse if they aren't there ... one shot

[salty dingo]

Ramada is a pretty questionable name these days. I think they used to be a good brand, but they are very low-end nowadays.

 

I did a Mariott timeshare presentation in exchange for a nice weekend in a beach resort. First class room, new hotel. Willie Nelson was staying there, and I am sure he has a choice where to stay.

 

Anyway, it was a low-key presentation. Their properties are so nice, they sell themselves. I had no intention of buying, but did not even have to be firm - it was a very soft sell.

 

But -- I have heard of a lot of high-pressure tactics out there, and no amount of Disney World tickets and cheap vacations would be worth sitting through a couple hours of garbage to me!

[manitoba girl]

I called the 1-800 # and like many of you had suggested..it was a time share promotion that included a 2 days cruise on the Imperial Majesty's Ocean Breeze( over sized barge) 3 days and 2 nites at the resort in Orlando and a 7 day car rental but because I called them in a alloted time frame I also got some other song and dance about mexico too. Anyway after I let her run off at the mouth about what I would get she told me I ahd to pay 698pp US for the first person the with in 60 days I would have to come up with the 698 for DH and 199 US for first son and 99 US for second son but the she said that i would have to get them their own rooms at 500 for the second room and so on ans so on. When she asked for the Credit card info I told her that I do not give that information out over the phone that she would have to send me the information and application and I would fill it out and send it back.Well she really got huffy after that.Man! I hate pushy people.

I got of the phone with her in a hurry and went on the a review website and found the ship I would have gone on if I had taken the package. Boy am I glad I didn't, what a scary looking boat!!!I'm staying with boats that are less then 48 years old thanks!!!

Yikes!!!

[lyttleone1977]

I got one of those cards in the mail about a month ago and called. I ended up "signing up", but then regretted the decision. I thought it would be a good investment - $600 for cruise, trip to Orlando area, free trip to Vegas and to Puerto Vallerta (sorry if spelled wrong). After getting off the phone I looked up the cruise line - Imperial something, is here on Cruise Critic. The ship is extremely small, very old, and I was scared to death of putting my children on it. The hotel in Orlando is miles from a beach. The hotel in PV did not have good reviews on it from several websites, and the hotels in Vegas I would not choose to stay in, regardless of price. I ended up calling an canceling the same night I booked - was too much for me, especially since I was still trying to finish paying off my cruise. You need to make the decision for yourself, it wasnt right for me.

[yoray]

At least the free cruise wasn't on the USS Oriskany ...

 

click this ..... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12836731/from/RSS/

 

 

.

I've done several of the timeshare offers and found that the freebies are always the cheapest hotels,

the worst red-eye flights, and nearly impossible to fit into your working schedule. However, they usually

offer fairly reasonable "upgrades", and become more manageable and viable. And there are usually cash

gifts at the presentations. $50 to $100. Every hotel in Vegas will offer you cash to attend one.

If you can say "no" longer than they can say "yes", ... try one sometime.

 

 

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[StacyandTim]

Probably is...I got this thing in the mail today from Ramada Plaza resorts and it says I got 1600 dollars towards a Carnival cruise among other little trinkettes.Is this a scam??what do you think?

 

OMG I got the same thing and called just for kicks and giggles.

 

They want you to pay $698 per person for the whole package.

 

It's NOT a scam, but they give you 3 years to use your "package"....okay..yeah right!!!!

[rustytdog]

I suggest that you contact Ramada Corporation directly. I used to work in corporate security and we would get calls regarding offers like these. Ramada had no knowlwege that they were being done - usually by a third party. Once we got copies of the offer, the company attorney's would get an injuntion to stop them. Hope this helps.

[imn2trvl]

Here's my experience with clients that call (weekly) about receiving these offers. Usually it's because you have signed up for a free giveaway at an event like a car show, boat show, etc. The funny thing is.....EVERYONE that fills out an entry WINS!!

 

Nothing is free. Remember, they are not giving you this to do you a favor. I can't tell you how many people fall for these and end up more than sorry. The ones that call me tell me that as soon as they get the first call, the company wants their credit card to charge a "holding" fee, or sometimes they'll call it something else. They'll tell you that you have XXX amount of time to use it..........but when you call with your dates......amazingly they are full, so you pick another set of dates, same thing. So, you end up finally getting some dates, you pay the port charges and whatever else they want.

 

By the time it's all said and done, you could have gone to your TA or cruise line or whoever you use for travel and bought the dates you wanted to begin with, a cruise ship and not a banana boat to hell, and

known what you were getting for around the same money.

 

Anyone who goes on one of these and gets a great deal in the end is extremely lucky. I know a very very few that have.

 

Also, air is not included. So add that to the bottom line and you might just get a very EXPENSIVE FREE TRIP.

 

Not to mention the ones that get your money and bump your dates out just far enough that they've made a ton of money and closed up shop........gone down the road and reopened under a new name only to do this all over again. Most of these are out of Florida.

 

BE CAREFUL

[cruise_pirate]

I got one of those too a few weeks ago I called figuring I could stand the hard sell and give them the Hard NO right back and get on a long weekend cruise. After talking to the person there about the cruise they start the fine print part of their pitch. They wanted us to pay 900 for the weekend to stay at the resort, On the cruise you have to pay all of the taxes and port charges and to take a third guest (child was about $390 extra) They told me this was a 1500.00 three day cruise and I told them I only paid 600 for our last one and it was 5 days. Well then they put the Manager on the phone and he goes on his pitch and tells me that the resort is a 700 a night deal and we are getting this incredible deal by only paying the $900 for the DVD and three nights and also add the additional prices for the ship costs. Told him I would not spend 700 a night to stay anywhere and thanks but no thanks.:rolleyes:

[jbmanuel]

Don't bother I called it......... by the time they added this and that and the other thing it was ridiculous... and they want you to make the decision now... no calling back, no discussing it with your spouse if they aren't there ... one shot

I'd rather spend my time reading the boards here ...hehe But seriously, thanks for everyones replies

[jbmanuel]

Here's my experience with clients that call (weekly) about receiving these offers. Usually it's because you have signed up for a free giveaway at an event like a car show, boat show, etc. The funny thing is.....EVERYONE that fills out an entry WINS!!

 

Nothing is free. Remember, they are not giving you this to do you a favor. I can't tell you how many people fall for these and end up more than sorry. The ones that call me tell me that as soon as they get the first call, the company wants their credit card to charge a "holding" fee, or sometimes they'll call it something else. They'll tell you that you have XXX amount of time to use it..........but when you call with your dates......amazingly they are full, so you pick another set of dates, same thing. So, you end up finally getting some dates, you pay the port charges and whatever else they want.

 

By the time it's all said and done, you could have gone to your TA or cruise line or whoever you use for travel and bought the dates you wanted to begin with, a cruise ship and not a banana boat to hell, and

known what you were getting for around the same money.

 

Anyone who goes on one of these and gets a great deal in the end is extremely lucky. I know a very very few that have.

 

Also, air is not included. So add that to the bottom line and you might just get a very EXPENSIVE FREE TRIP.

 

Not to mention the ones that get your money and bump your dates out just far enough that they've made a ton of money and closed up shop........gone down the road and reopened under a new name only to do this all over again. Most of these are out of Florida.

 

BE CAREFUL

Thanks for the advice...I can be talked into anything so easily...well not anything lol