- Report: #439851
Complaint Review: Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations - Orlando Florida
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Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations
floridabahamascruisevacations.com Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
Phone:
718-530-9134
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Florida Bahamas Cruise Vacations 'Free' Dream Vacation is Not So Free Orlando Florida
I had a strange experience this morning, and thought some other readers might be interested to hear about it:
Last weekend I went an event where I signed up for a chance to win a free cruise at a table inside.
What a great surprise it was this morning to be called and informed that I had won an 8-night fantasy vacation. Although I had a hard time believing I had actually won, the odds of winning among a few hundred people didn't strike me as astronomical, and the employees stationed in the above mentioned event seemed to represent a perfectly legitimate cruise company.
The phone rep painstakingly went through the details of the vacation: 3 days in Orlando, 2 nights on the cruise, 3 more in Orlando. Orlando isn't my version of paradise, and a glorified gambling junk not my ideal form of transportation, but given my delightful entry-level job, even free bread baskets are enough to get me excited. Tack on all meals included, spa packages, car rentals, and a 2 for 1 airfare, and the phone rep was dealing with a very happy winner.
I almost missed the minor catch: The representative kept on quoting a two-ninety-nine' fee necessary to secure my reservations, which I interpreted as $2.99, but came to understand as $299. And oh, how concerned my friend was that I had sufficient funds to afford this fee! It got weirder by the minute:
Sales rep: I see that you wrote down you use a Visa on your entry form?
Me: What? No. I use a Mastercard. [Note: The entry form never asked for credit card info]
Sales rep: I see. What is the full name on the card?
Me: [I say my full name]
Sales rep: Great! What's the expiration date?
Me: Ummm..[I say the date]
Sales rep: Now, just for security purposes, what are the last four digits of your card number?
Whoa there, cowboy. I very sweetly said I would prefer to get a confirmation email first and be given more time to make my decision. I mentioned the word scam.' The rep informed me that our entire phone call had been recorded without my knowledge, and that I could access the recording at any time. I protested again, and he assured me that because I was paying by credit card I was completely protected from unwanted charges. What? He transferred me to his supervisor, who repeated the whole song and dance to me, even as I googled the words cruise ship scam.'
Here's what I found:(((Redacted))) which with minor variations closely matched the details of the Bahamas Celebrations cruise.
Further searching revealed that their site, www.floridabahamascruisevacations.com is under GoDaddy's Private Domain Registration. Since I work at a domain name registrar, I know enough to understand that keeping a domain name owner's identity secret is a great way to mask fraud.
Lesson of the day: Just because a company is listed as a legitimate sponsor in a legitimate event in a legitimate venue, with real-live legitimate human beings as representatives, does not make the company itself in any way legitimate. Go ahead, give them a call at 1-800-231-1298 or 718-530-9134 and ask what they have to say for themselves. Just make sure you've got your credit card in hand!
Allison
New York, New York
U.S.A.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Last weekend I went an event where I signed up for a chance to win a free cruise at a table inside.
What a great surprise it was this morning to be called and informed that I had won an 8-night fantasy vacation. Although I had a hard time believing I had actually won, the odds of winning among a few hundred people didn't strike me as astronomical, and the employees stationed in the above mentioned event seemed to represent a perfectly legitimate cruise company.
The phone rep painstakingly went through the details of the vacation: 3 days in Orlando, 2 nights on the cruise, 3 more in Orlando. Orlando isn't my version of paradise, and a glorified gambling junk not my ideal form of transportation, but given my delightful entry-level job, even free bread baskets are enough to get me excited. Tack on all meals included, spa packages, car rentals, and a 2 for 1 airfare, and the phone rep was dealing with a very happy winner.
I almost missed the minor catch: The representative kept on quoting a two-ninety-nine' fee necessary to secure my reservations, which I interpreted as $2.99, but came to understand as $299. And oh, how concerned my friend was that I had sufficient funds to afford this fee! It got weirder by the minute:
Sales rep: I see that you wrote down you use a Visa on your entry form?
Me: What? No. I use a Mastercard. [Note: The entry form never asked for credit card info]
Sales rep: I see. What is the full name on the card?
Me: [I say my full name]
Sales rep: Great! What's the expiration date?
Me: Ummm..[I say the date]
Sales rep: Now, just for security purposes, what are the last four digits of your card number?
Whoa there, cowboy. I very sweetly said I would prefer to get a confirmation email first and be given more time to make my decision. I mentioned the word scam.' The rep informed me that our entire phone call had been recorded without my knowledge, and that I could access the recording at any time. I protested again, and he assured me that because I was paying by credit card I was completely protected from unwanted charges. What? He transferred me to his supervisor, who repeated the whole song and dance to me, even as I googled the words cruise ship scam.'
Here's what I found:(((Redacted))) which with minor variations closely matched the details of the Bahamas Celebrations cruise.
Further searching revealed that their site, www.floridabahamascruisevacations.com is under GoDaddy's Private Domain Registration. Since I work at a domain name registrar, I know enough to understand that keeping a domain name owner's identity secret is a great way to mask fraud.
Lesson of the day: Just because a company is listed as a legitimate sponsor in a legitimate event in a legitimate venue, with real-live legitimate human beings as representatives, does not make the company itself in any way legitimate. Go ahead, give them a call at 1-800-231-1298 or 718-530-9134 and ask what they have to say for themselves. Just make sure you've got your credit card in hand!
Allison
New York, New York
U.S.A.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Eva Jones
New York,New York,
U.S.A.
Have You Ever Heard of A Promotion?
#2UPDATE Employee
Wed, July 15, 2009
I have been with this company for 6 months now. Other people in my office have been with this company for 1 -10 years. We offer a promotional package not a scam. I read alot about people being "ripped off" by fake travel agencies and I genuinely feel sorry for those people;but this is not one of them. It is unfortunate that dishonest people can ruin business for reputable companies.As explained in previous complaints we offer a discounted vacation package. All the fees are completely explained before purchase.We do not randomly call people . We offer discounted vaction packages to people who filled out a form to recieve this vaction at "state regulated " events. We explain that it is NOT FREE that you are recieving a promotional price of $299 per person way before we even explain the details of the package because we dont want to be mislead into thinking it is free or something you won. Before working with this company full time I did my reasearch as well. I find it appalling that people would take time out to complain about a vacation that they didn't purchase much less go on. We offer 3 nights in Orlando,2 nights on a Bahamas Cruise, 3 nights in South Beach with meals included, an economy rental car rental, and a $100 voucher to be used at the Disney/Orlando theme parks, not to mention two other bonus mini vacations. The Bahamas Celebration cruise ship was nominated #1 for Bahamas Cruises in " Porthole Magazine " whose sole purpose is to write about and critique various cruise lines. If you thought it was free then you were not listening to the sales rep which will repeat the total cost before asking for a credit card. We ask for a credit card because you are protected by your credit card company as oppsed to asking for cash or a check. If you thought you could go to Orlando,The Bahamas, South Beach, Las Vegas and Mexico for 2 dollars and 99 cents then I'm not sure what planet you are writing from. The time share pesentintaion requirement ia also explained BEFORE we ask you to secure your tickets. The entire vacation is recapped during verifaction and if you are having doubts you can cancel right then and there with the representative on the phone. We cant make you take this vacation. Most people want to go and they do and write their testimonials on our website. I just don't think it's fair to judge a vaction that you never went on. I personally love to travel and it's not always in my budget. I consider myself lucky when I am selected for timeshare promotions because depending on what is being offered, it's the cheapest way to travel. I have taken vacations associated with timeshare and in fact I still have a bonus vacation to California pending that I'm going to use for my boyfiend's birthday just for going to Orlando earlier this year. I will admit that timeshare presentaions can be boring but for me it's worth it. I don't have to purchase any timeshare and I enjoy my vactions. I am a bargain hunter and no matter what website I go on, that offers discounted vacations I have yet to find one cheaper than the total cost of this package even with the port and depature fees. I think it is an excellent package and when time permits I am going to take this vacation. I'm sorry that some people are afraid to take advantage of a promotion and would rather spend their time writing complaints. But for those of you who are serious about traveling, " I'll see you in the Bahamas!!!"
