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EPG Travel

EPG Travel review: Product is a Ripoff! 10

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6:13 am EST
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My name is Bradley L my wife and I are getting near the age of retirement and thought it would be nice to be able to start traveling a lot when we retired. We thought a travel club made perfect sense as it looked cheaper then hotels and offered a lot of benefits with it. We decided we would start to look for various vacation clubs and then we got an ad for this company called EPG travel. We looked it over and it liked like exactly what we needed so we went ahead and booked a tour. When we got to the tour we were given a long and drawn out presentation and pitched all the great things that we would be getting with this such as discount cruises, hotels, condos, etc. Despite the cost of this in the $1, 000's of dollars we decided that was exactly what we needed for our retirement. We decided to take advantage of the financing that was offered and made our first downpayment.
All seemed well and after a few weeks we decided to book our first travel, we followed the instructions that were given and called to book a 7 day cruise in the bahamas. This is when everything with Empowered Partners Group started to go bad, first off the rates we were getting were outrageous, a quick check on Expedia was 30% lower then the rates they quoted! We tried some other dates and locations and it was still the same high rates. Then we tried some hotel rates and condos and again were still getting 30% or higher rates then other online travel sites. Needless to say I was irate having invested $1, 000's into this club that was supposed to save us so much money.
The first thing I did was try and cancel and get our money back but we were told that we had entered into a contract and there were no refunds! I started to investigate Empowered Partners Group some more and found out that it was owned by Rich Faulk, Bo Wilson
and Rick Recaina. We tried to contact them directly but we were always told that they were out of the office and would return our call, which of course never happened. After several weeks of this we decied that there as nothing we could be but file a complaint with the FTC and Attorney General and try and get this scam of a travel club shutdown! Stay away from Empowered Travel Group at all costs as it's a scam and offers zero benefits!

10 comments
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K Chatterton
, US
Mar 15, 2016 11:47 am EDT

I am also in the same boat. The savings they offered on hotels was because they were complete dives. I paid $5000 for my lifetime mistake. I am so angry at this company I don't know how to express it. I recently tried to get booking for motel or hotel, I can't ever get through their reservation line and they don't call me back. You can bet that I won't be paying another $382. for a year of worthless membership. I have to add my warning to the others and chalk it up to "live and learn."

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John Piercing
, US
Jun 15, 2015 2:38 am EDT

HAHAHA the owner steps in with the most condescending tone ever. Your company is a joke. I found cheaper savings than anything your company offered by simply googling and researching the trips I wanted to take through places like exepedia and travelocity. Your sales people put people in high pressured sales pitches where my "lifetime membership" was dropped from $7, 000 to $3, 500 to $1, 500 then all the way down to $100 as I laughed and walked out. You don't stop until you make the sale and get the signature so that you can bill people annually. You give account info that doesn't work. You give numbers for people to call with help after signing up that don't work. Your staff is incompetent. Even the BBB and FTC now state that your company is a sham.

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RichF
Las Vegas, US
Feb 14, 2015 8:41 am EST

First I don't agree EPG is a great company and we stand by our products I am not sure who that other company is but our fulfillment center is called EDS, so you obviously have the wrong company furthermore we are here to fulfill all of your needs. EDS is an honorary member of the "Fulfillment Travel Bureau" and I am not sure if you think money grows on trees but a $400 savings per couple is great! You may have serious math issues but you only paid $3, 200 for your membership and there were 4 couples going on that trip with you that means you would have saved $1600 on that one trip alone thats half of your membership cost on your first booking! You would have recouped your entire membership cost in the first year, your not so bright because on top of that you have a great savings plus a concierge service which respectfully was dealing with your cranky behavior SMH what does it take to make people happy!

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virus42
Las Vegas, US
Jul 10, 2014 1:22 am EDT

We had a very similar experience to those described above. Just wish we had seen these complaints before we got involved with Rich Folk and Discover EPG. We signed up with EPG, they gave us over to IDS, the fulfillment travel bureau who was able to get us a $400 per couple discount on a Viking cruise that cost more than $11, 000 per couple, a 3.5% savings. The EPG seminar gave examples of savings on various trips and cruises ranging from 31%-65%. When we complained to Tess at IDS, she became indignant, suggested that I keep the discount for both couples for myself and not share the $400 with the other couple accompanying us and that she would send the total $800 discount in a check form in June 2015 after our trip. When we objected, she simply cancelled our membership, refused to deal with us, and we were simply out the money we paid. An absolute rip off by both EPG and IDS. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. We live in Las Vegas.

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Miamisaul
Woodland Hills, US
Jun 26, 2014 12:41 pm EDT
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My wife and I were also ripped off. Taking Rich Folk and EPG to small claims court to get our refund. For anyone else ripped off by Rich, you can call him on his cell at [protected]. No guarantee he'll answer, but you can start your research on him from there.

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SHPFP
Las Vegas, US
Jun 26, 2014 12:33 pm EDT

Also attended in Henderson on May 3. Thank God we did not join. Made contact with a person twice. A promise that free promotion was on way. Excuses on the second call. Today disconnected.

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Ronniejames65
, US
Jun 16, 2014 11:37 am EDT

Stay away from EPG! I spent over $7000 dollars and they wont even return my calls to get set up to use it. If anyone knows of an attorney willing to sue them, email me at ronniejames65@gmail.com. They are a big scam!

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Barry T
Henderson, US
Jun 04, 2014 11:23 am EDT

Also agree that is rip-off and scam. Attended workshop on May 3 in Henderson, NV. Received card for follow-up call to fulfillment office in Orlando to redeem 2 SWA tix and Hilton hotel stay. Left voicemail. After no return, called back after several days and reached VP marketing who said would take care of. Claimed was having office phone problems. Also told him that we have neighbors that might have interest in their cruise programs. He gave me his mobile number for follow-up.

Have tried 3 more times since the to get through both on the fulfillment line and the mobile line to no avail. The fulfillment line is now disconnected.

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B Ware Ofshams
Oak Park, US
Feb 15, 2014 5:54 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Just came back from the same scam group EPG and they refused to tell us what it stood for! Went to one in THousand Oaks and it felt wrong from the start. Fortunately we didn't buy in but saw them all over an elderly couple that appeared to have a timeshare that they gauranteed they would sell. I caught several lies during the questioning and one woman checked on her phone internet and found them to be a sham. I cannot find one legite thing about them or what they promised.

STAY AWAY as they are not even good at their sales presentations.
*They refuse credit cards and offer $500.00 discount if you write a check - credit cards can be canceled! The woman at the meeting expressed her concern about a Richard Faulk, they guy denied that there was one there and a new guy came in and I asked who that owner was he said, "Richard Faulk."
RED LIGHT!

Save yourself, travel with your own sources!

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Roger1197
Mesa, US
Dec 20, 2020 11:26 am EST

they own timeshare compliance now