- Report: #600992
Complaint Review: Summer Bay Resorts - Clermont Florida
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Summer Bay Resorts
25 Town Centre Blvd. Clermont, Florida, United States of America
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Summer Bay Resorts Congratulations! Your are the One Millionth Visitor / You've Won $3,000 Travel / Orlando, Daytona & Bahamas Cruise Clermont, Florida
This morning (Friday, May 7, 2010 at 9:15 am CT),I was attempting to access a "Strange Cosmos" biweekly email when a small, flashing pop-up box appeared, telling me that I had 5 urgent (!) messages that I had not yet read. Upon clicking on the pop-up, I was met with a colorful, blinking, razzly-dazzly pop-up that completely filled my computer screen, congratulating me for being the millionth visitor to the "website", and advising me that I'd won $3,000 in travel. It urged me to call the toll-free 1-800 number within 4 minutes to respond with the confirmation number that was displayed in the pop-up.
I phoned the toll-free no. within 1 minute and was greeted by "Cathy Regimbal" of Summer Bay Resorts in Florida, who quickly pointed out that they were known to the Better Business Bureau (yeah, right)! I should have hung up the phone at that point. She told me that, because I'd responded so quickly, I had won $3,000 in travel through Summer Bay Resorts in Florida. She asked me if I was excited. I genuinely wasn't because I never entered anything and it appeared that I was, in fact, being solicited. She walked me through some tabs on their travel/resorts website that she asked me to click on as she described my "prize":
After wasting almost half an hour of my time describing 400 acres with a 60-acre lake, 4 outdoor pools, miniature golf, gambling (among other things), my prize also included a 7-day car rental, or I could opt for some passes to nearby attractions (she mentioned Disneyworld and Universal Studios). She then told me that she would patch me through to "Kevin" (apparently he's as famous as Cher and needs no last name), their Reservations Manager, who would assign me a customer number so as to facilitate my future travel booking.
6 days and 5 nights in Orlando, plus 3 or 4 nights in Daytona Beach (oceanfront, no less) AND a Bahamas cruise. She went on to say that my travel must be taken within 18 months from now (May 7, 2010 until October, 2011) and "would include a compulsory scheduled tour". I asked no questions and just let her talk. She was not pushy in any way and was, in fact, quite pleasant to me, though she did want to know WHEN I do most of my travelling and WHO I do most of my travelling with.
The level of detail on the "resorts", recreation, award-winning hotels, etc. was stunning, "to good to be true", in my opinion, and well over $3,000 in value (considering I was allowed to bring up to 4 people in my party), so I waited for the "catch". Of course, they were not covering any of my airfare and transfers to/from Manitoba and Florida, nor the $159 port/service fees for the Bahamas cruise. I suppose my response was a little underwhelming (I was becoming more leary of this scam by the minute). She asked me again if I was excited. All I could say was "That's great! We really love snorkelling."
After wasting almost half an hour of my time describing 400 acres with a 60-acre lake, 4 outdoor pools, miniature golf, gambling (among other things), my prize also included a 7-day car rental, or I could opt for some passes to nearby attractions (she mentioned Disneyworld and Universal Studios). She then told me that she would patch me through to "Kevin" (apparently he's as famous as Cher and needs no last name), their Reservations Manager, who would assign me a customer number so as to facilitate my future travel booking.
"Kevin" advised me that there was actually $858 that was not covered by my prize (because the total vacation prize package totalled $3,858), so he wanted to know what means I would use to PAY the rest. After all, he stipulated, "it was still a great value, an excellent deal for up to 4 people to travel". Still no hint of a customer number, as both he and Cathy suggested.
Because I told him that I didn't own any credit cards, Kevin insisted that I had a debit card. I explained, truthfully, that I had never used a debit card in my life.
He got very loud and sounded really pissed off, supremely annoyed with me (and Cathy perhaps?) He told me that I was lying to him because he "had my bank information in front of him" and told ME that, not only did I have a debit card, but it was active. I again told him that I've never used a debit card in my life, and he was becoming quite hostile at this point, called me a liar once again, and hung up the phone with a loud "click" in my ear. Just for the record, I've never done any online banking in my life either, so I don't know where he got this so-called "banking information". Sigh ... so much for my "dream trip" for four.
Just thought I'd help others who may become confronted with a similar situation and who might have trouble expressing themselves so eloquently. Feel free to copy any portion of this to the Better Business Bureau or legal counsel as necessary.
Jill, almost ripped off
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
