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  • Report:  #688098

Complaint Review: All Seasons Holidays Florida

All Seasons Holidays Florida ASTAR Travel Florida Holiday of a lifetime..discounted holiday package is this a scam? Tampa, Florida

  • Reported By:
    Tracey — Internet Australia
  • Submitted:
    Fri, January 28, 2011
  • Updated:
    Wed, November 16, 2011

I got a phone call yesterday morning from an American lady telling me I had been the 1000th entry into a competion to receive a highly discounted holiday package to Florida and the Bahamas for up to 4 people. I vaguely remember filling in a competion with something to do with the Bahamas. This lady went through all the details of the package deal, what i would receive, how much it would cost, etc. All very upfront. She then put me through to a second person, a man, who would confirm all my details and arrange the package to be sent. He was very nice, confirmed everything the lady had said, especially about the fact that I had NOT won a prize but the opportunity to have a highly discounted holiday. He told me all extra costs that would be involved...port taxes for the Bahama Cruise, transfer taxes, etc. He then said I would need to pay the $998US(which I was informed of by the first caller), upfront on my credit card. While I was on the phone my sister was looking this company up on the internet...long story short, everything looked legit and i handed over my credit card very excited that I was being given the chance to have an overseas holiday I could not otherwise afford. I told theman I did not have the funds available on my credit card and he said he would do a check with mastercard, if it was declined I then had 90 days to find the funds and call them back to pay for the trip. He told me that the transaction hadbeen approved. I was shocked as I know the funds were not there.I was then put through to a third man who, I was told, was the security department. He once again verified all my contact details assuring me that I would be receiving email verification and tickets within 48hrs, and also a regular mail package. I have actually received the emails. After doing more research on the internet, I started to hear talk of scams associated with these people and have become very worried. I called my bank to try to cancel or stop the transaction but was told it was already approved...abused the bank for approving it when funds not available! The bank is now filing a dispute for return of the money. I have called All Seasons Holidays this morning and spoke to yet another man. I told him I was under the impression this deal was a scam and I wanted a refund. He refused to refund as it was not their policy, but as I was so upset he extended my time of travel from 18mths to 31/2 years. After more arguing on my part (the man never got abusive or angry, he was always very polite), the man did agree to refund $500. I really just don't know what to think. Have i really been scammed or is this a real deal? I was made aware of the timeshare thing, but thought it would be worth it for a really good holiday. Has anyone actually taken this deal and had the holiday??

1 Updates & Rebuttals


mkw

Other,
Australia

ASTAR Travel

#2Consumer Comment

Wed, November 16, 2011

Hi,
I guess I would say that I had fallen victim for this one.
They asked me to pay about $450 something for this...the sold me this great package...same as yours...
6 days 5 nights in Orlando,
4 days 3 nights Bahamas Cruise,
3 days 2 nights in Fort Lauderdale...

I was pretty ignorant at the time I gave them the details...but as I couldn't get the money back, I went on the holiday...
So while booking the holidays with them, they offered me the option to have a better room for our Orlando stay for another $200 and told me that I'll have to pay for the port taxes of about $830 for the cruise...So I paid them...(didn't know what I was thinking and didn't do any research at that time).

I've just been on the holiday...It was good fun and the cruise itself was wonderful...However, the downside and I've just found this out is the cost of the cruise itself is about that much ($830) for what they have given us.  We are pretty much disappointed with that.  I've never been on a cruise before.  I thought the cruise was more expensive than this but it wasn't.

Another downside is we've had to pay the taxes ourselves everywhere we've been (Orlando, Cruise and Ft Lauderdale).
If you decide to go on the holiday, be prepared to loose 1 day each in Orlando and Ft Lauderdale for the presentation that you have to attend.  They are going to get you to purchase Time-share.  They will fight hard and make the offer irresistible to you.  Just be careful.

A little tip, just go through the presentation and make as if you are happy with it (it should last about 90 mins) and at the end, just tell them, thank you, take what they should give your for free and walk out on them.  Unless you are really interested in buying Time-share, then I would strongly suggest that you leave your main Credit card at home.  Bring in another card that you know will be declined so they can't do anything and you won't have to buy time-share from them.  But if you are interested, then it is up to you.

If you are booking your holiday, don't give them any more money. Just do the booking and if they ask you to pay for the cruise, ask them which cruise it is on, then go on their website and check their prices.  It should tell you how much the cruise will cost...

Good luck with them...

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