Complaint Review: MVI Marketing/ Mini Vacations

Mini Vacations contacted me in 2003 and said I won a vacation package. In order to receive it I had to come and listen to their presentation. In addition we would receive 3-days, 2-nights hotel and $40 gas rebate(4-$10 certificates).

My fiance and I listened to their presentation and received our certificate codes for our vacations. I sent in the first gas rebate for $10 and waited. After a few months I wrote to them and then receive the money and my second rebate. I sent the second $10 rebate in and never received anything.

We scheduled our 3-day, 2-night getaway in Daytona, FL. When we arrived at the hotel they suprised us and told us we would have to come to another presentation in the morning in order to get the hotel deposit of $50 back. This upset me because we already went through this once and were not told until we arrived. This was supposed to be our summer vacation. They sent us to another from where their office was located. The hotel/motel they send us to was old, filthy, and disgusting. It had 2 twin beds and the shower was mildewed. In addition the shower head literally drizzled with no pressure and make it impossible for us to bathe. During the night other people jumped balconies and had a little party on ours and kept us awake all night. In the morning we checked out and went and complained. They apologized and put us up in another hotel for the second night, however we still had to go to the breakfast tour. They sent out a blind man, no joke, to give us our tour and show us the packages they sold. That was a nightmare in itself. We had to drive the blind mand to another location and have breakfast. The breakfast was a buffet and I had to lead the blind man to it and put food on his plate for him. We thought this was a joke at first, but it wasn't. He lead us through their set up of what the timeshares that they owned looked like. Which by the way was top of the line, but they put us in the roach motel. Finally we got our deposit back plus another $25 and were able to spend only one day of the the vacation doing what we wanted because they took up our entire first day with "the tour".

Then in August of 2005 after being assured that I would not run into another situation like this, I booked our 7-night dream cruise with Mini Vacations on the Carnival Valor. Because we wanted peak season to use the cruise for our honeymoon, our certifcate could be used toward one of their packages not the free cruise. I gave the company a $500 deposit and never heard from them again. Their phone is disconnected and I have no way of getting my money back and consequentially have no honeymoon. I have filed a complaint with The Better Business Bureau, The Attorney General, Florida Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and no one can help me get my deposit back or persue this company. I do not have the money to get an attorney and go after them myself.

Maegan Saint Petersburg, Florida
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on MVI Marketing Mini Vacations