Premium Destinations review: ### Ripoff Artist 25

We bought into Global Discovery through Premium Destinations 2 years ago and love it! We have been on 2 week long trips to Tennessee and North Carolina. Everything is exactly as it was sold. Don't ever think that you are going to get something for nothing. You will be disappointed. Our package will be paid off in a few years and then we will only have our yearly fee plus the very small charge when we want to book a week. You can't beat $160 for a week in a nice 2 bedroom/2 bath condo or cottage. Completely satisfied!

Thank you so much for posting all of these stories. I was just contacted by an agent saying that she was at the bridal show and I won a prize. I filled out so many applications that I couldn't remember which place I had signed up for. She didn't even tell me what company she was from, but that I won 2 round trips to anywhere Premium Destinations went along with a $50 restaurant gift card and a weekend stay anywhere. All I had to do was go the presentation, so them my voucher, deal with them wanting to sell me a timeshare and I would get my prizes. I set up an appointment and got my confirmation email. NO WHERE in the email says the name of this company. I had to take the email that it was sent to me from and google that to get any info. The company is called J C Swain Enterprise LLC. The first thing that popped up for them, was SCAM. I found their website, and the people did looked legit, but when you clicked on their "promotions" it gives you the same thing I got in an email, "Congratulations! ..." So literally anyone could go on their site and get 4 round trip tickets anywhere. I will say, the woman was very nice on the phone, but after being put forth to her manager, I realized it was a total scam. Again, I had set an appointment because at first I thought we really won something, but now I know that what is too good to be true, is too good to be true. So I am happy that I found this, and we will not be attending this appointment, and I will be blocking all numbers and emails from them.

Premium Destinations based off of 800 south main street, mansfield, MA. Called me and said i could win 1 out of 3 of their prizes... 40" LCD, vacation, or a 2015 ford escape. I already know its a scam so i directly came here and saved myself a weekend

Thank you for the information.
I received a letter in the mail recently that had me pull a tab to reveal a number that needed to match a number under a scratch of circle to win 1 of these 4 prizes. A Toyota Prius, Samsung 51" 3D Plasma TV, New Apple IPad Air, or 7 Night Royal Caribbean cruise with air fair for 2. Surprise! they matched. Also stated is just for being a winner you are going to receive up tp a 100 Walmart Gift Card.
I figured what could I loose. Especially being out of work for over 2 years, at the min we could use a gift card. I called and talked to a women who then confirmed that I would indeed receive one of the 4 prizes all that was necessary is that my wife and I has a valid drivers license, we are us citizens, out total yearly combined income was at least $50K, and that we have a major credit card. ( that was the big sign). She booked us for a 90 min appointment. ( I asked if I could come alone as my wife works alot, she said no) Which I said that I would have to confer with my wife before I could guarantee attendance and may have to cancel. Oh and I was to arrive 15 min early so they could verify our qualifications. Well this all made me excited and nervous at the same time, so I got on line and VERY glad I learned a few things before I regretted it. Needless to say I or my Wife will be attending. Thank You

Our experience was with the Mansfield, MA office. I was offered a free 8 day 7 night cruise valued at $1900 plus round trip airfare for 2 adults. I was assured I didn't have to buy anything, just listen to their 90 minute presentation and walk away with the cruise and air fare. We had to drive 45 minutes each way but we figured it was worth it for a free cruise. We had an awful time finding the place. The building was not clearly marked and it was a dark rainy night. We arrived 10 minutes late for our presentation. We were told to look for a company called Discount Vacation Destinations, there was nothing like that listed on the directory but there was a Premium Destinations LLC. The office was unlocked but the lights were off. I walked in a called "Hello" and several people with their coats on came out of a back room. I explained we had a 5:30 appointment and had gotten lost and apologized for being 10 minutes late. They told me they had sent their staff home because no one had showed up for the 5:30 presentation even though 12 couples were booked. They told us we were welcome to come back for another presentation but couldn't give us our gifts because we hadn't actually attended the presentation. There were at least 5 staff there and we had driven 45 minutes, so there was no reason they couldn't give us the presentation except it was apparent that none of them wanted to stay. When we were leaving one of the staff came out in the hallway and pulled their sign off the wall and walked back toward the office. My boyfriend said "Oh your own of those companies, huh? We buy from you one day and come back looking for you the next and you've folded up shop." The guy gave us some lame excuse about having a problem with people stealing their signs, but seriously? They are in the basement of a locked office building. Who is going to come in and steal a cardboard sign that says Premium Destinations? I remarked to my boyfriend that the whole thing seemed seedy. After coming home and reading the reviews on this and several other sites, I think we dodged a bullet. All we lost was 45 minutes of our time and gas money. Could have been a lot worse! Remember if someone offers something to good to be true, it probably is!

If you go to Ormond Beach beware of Susan riding around on her Shiny Red Golf Cart, preying on any couple that looks like they might have some money, I own a timesshare and have to pay maintanance fee of course, but she claims you can get rid of that by joining there club, but she wont give any info about how it works. We signed up to go to presentation, but decided not too because we figured it was a high pressure deal, Of course Susan and the other cons tried to call us to see if we were coming, of course we didnt answer.

T-Vol

Yes I completely agreed they are crooked from the get go..making promises and not delivering..my father before he passed away ..was approached by these ### with a promi
se of a travel package over 7k my parents would be rid of thier timeshare obligation. so sad my father trusted the slimballs.. we are currently getting bills from the timeshare and the travel company. Like others my parents worked hard for every dime they earned but this time my father trusted the wrong people. I hope justice is served and they get all they deserve for thier deception

BUYER BEWARE - Instead of the normal hiring and training practices for a sales environment, they hire prison release inmates to sell their vacation packages. Some of these inmates are serving time for embezzlement, identity theft and child endangerment. So beware of the people selling their product. Those who have purchased should know that they make a copy of your credit card, ID and credit checks and these items are kept in an office that is not locked and is not protected from unwanted personnel. There are times when they forge signatures on credit check authorization forms so they do not " Loose the deal" ( Your membership) or admit that they ran a guests credit check with out their permission ( AGAINST THE LAW). The gifts that are promised to you not only " DO NOT WORK" but is absolutely their responsibility. They choose marketing company's based on their " premiums offered" and are well aware that they are scams. I am embarrassed to admit - I have worked for this company and am well aware of their poor business ethics and practices. I am not writing as a scorned employee, I am writing for concern to people who have a credit score to protect. When I worked for these people, they knew how bad I needed the job and used that against me. I wanted to quit every day but unfortunately bills had to be paid. After a little less than a year, I was offered a new opportunity and left that place with great relief. I have felt guilty for a long time for all the lies I had to tell to perform my job. Had I been a dishonest person, I had access to credit cards and personal information I should have never had access to. I would walk into the administrative office and see credit cards just lying on desk for anyone to pick up and walk away with. These credit cards belonged to families on vacation, older couples who were naive enough to believe this company was legitimate and hard working people looking to give their children the vacations they always wanted. If your interested in vacations - try Expedia or Travelocity. Your odds of having identity theft from these online sites are less likely than Premium Destinations and at least you will received what you were promised at the purchase.

wow, it sounds a lot like YOU are the scam artists! Going to their place of business NOT intending to buy ANYTHING yet expecting to walk away with free stuff! Classy. Ever consider these guys work on all commission? When you waste their day, they make no money. You are complaining about the "knock off" ipad you got, or that you had to mail in a rebate BUT you still got free stuff? These programs are not for everyone, if you don't travel frequently and wouldn't use it often enough to be worth the money then NO, it would be a scam for you to buy BUT it does save some of us a ton of money! Most of you know, full well, going in what the deal is. If you are not truly interested in the product, then stay home. Don't waste everyone's time and money, then come online to complain about not getting free stuff and ruining the reputation of that business and the careers of people working trying to feed families!

Several years ago we were in Cocoa Beach for a karate tournament. Upon entering the hotel of the tournament we were given a welcoming packet. In this packet was a free dinner that was being offered to go to the *** **** Caribe Resort. Since the wife and I were interested in the area we decided to go. As we were walking into the resort I saw some flyers that showed the daily, weekend and weekly prices of the resort for the non-dedicated time share units. The weekly price at the time was $1, 100.00. So yes it was a few years ago. When we got into the sales presentation they were bragging about their 300 unit complex, all the amenities and they services offered. In that briefing they also informed us that one half of all units were designated time share. They stated to all of us the cost for building the resort ($150, 000.000) and kept saying how everything will be when done. Once the presentation was over they escorted everyone to their individual tables and started their sales pitch. Several times in the first 10-15 minutes someone would say, we have another happy customer and they would all celebrate and welcome them to the Cape Canaveral family of the *** **** Caribe resort. After seeing five or six of these all seemingly well placed around the room I realized we were witnessing a true bait the sale scam. The initial cost was 15K and the lowest they would go to was 9K. The yearly maintenance fee (their term) was $495 plus costs per year. After refusing the first two salesmen, the hitter came over and started hitting us hard asking why we were not wanting to join the rest of the newly happy *** **** caribe resort families. I point out that the cost of the resort was $150M and with 1/2 of the 300 units being for time share. At the minumum asking price of 9K per week per unit at 52 weeks for each unit they were getting roughly $70.2 million in sales not counting the interest of their self financing and the annual fee $495 per unit per week. The $495 maintenance fee was basically 50% of the weekly rate which I explained to them was getting half the rooms rate for the year. When I told them that they were making up for almost half of their total cost of the resort as well as having equal to a 50% unit fill ratio with each sale, they realized I knew the numbers they got extremely beligerent and asked us to go to another area away from the other prospective customers. The wife and I left without even getting the free dinner. As we were leaving one of the corporate hounds heard my comment on the figures and asked if I wanted to work for them. I was about ready to tell him what I thought when I noticed the huge, and I mean huge security guards that were all around the corporate area of the resort and figured best to say good night and move on.

From what I am seeing there is alot of complaints about marketing within this topic. You need to understand that the marketing is a completely different company and provides these vacations through there own venues. If you have had an issue with the marketing packages that are not Global or Premium Destinations please contact our office and we will do what we can to fix the problem. We find that most people complain before they ask for help. We at Premium do not know the downfalls of the giveaway vacations and need to know because if a marketing company we are utilizing is using these bad products, we need to fix it. Our motto is come in as a friend leave as a friend.
So, Please if have any issues contact our office and we will see what we can do as the broker not the marketer..

Thank You
Premium Management

I have been a Global Owner for over 3 years and have not one bad experience.. Its understanding how to use the program is usually the issue. I see complaints about marketing, um.. do't you realize if you have been involved in the travel industry or any kind of sales facility that the marketing companies are seperate from the company itself. The marketing is an another company all together. What I am reading here in all reality is a bunch of individuals that bought the program and had regrets and because they waited to long to cancel are now trying there best to vent through a complaint organization. Use the program and quit acting like children, you made a choice for yourself and your family. Use it and quit compalining.
I have been on numerous vacations through Global and have many wonderful experiences. We even had a situation where we did have to call to get help because the resort we went to was under construction, they moved us to a different location without a question.

Sincerely
Extremely happy Global Owner

Just got a call that said I am a big prize winner but have to be there tomorrow at 11:00 am or 1:00 pm to claim the prize. So glad I checked all this out befor waisting my time!
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

I went to a presentation in Ormond Beach a few weeks ago and will buy into their vacation club when I'm more financially stable. I was in the travel business for 10 years and I UNDERSTAND what Premium Destinations is offering and it is an AMAZING deal! I don't understand what everyone is complaining about?!? I was promised a 3day/2 night getaway, $50 cash, and a $50 dining voucher. Guess what?... When I left I had a $50 check which I cashed 2 days later with NO problems, a $50 'Dining Dough' card which is easy to use and has a wide variety of restaurants available and I left with my 2 night vacation voucher. Yes. You have to send $29.95 and $12.40 per night for taxes but my room is paid for... as promised. I think that most people who go to these seminars are already jaded when they arrive and have no intention of buying anything and get pissed off when the freebies don't meet their expectations. It's sad. I found the offers to be a great deal for anyone who likes to travel frequently. If you don't travel alot then it's not for you... but if you do then you should look a little deeper and find out for yourself what an amazing money-saving product their vacation club really is.

My fiancee and I had a similar situation. We recently had gone to a bridal show in South Florida, and recieved "2 free nights" at the Best Western in Daytona. When I called their marketing dept and booked it, they booked the Best Western in Ormond Beach instead, and failed to call and tell us. Luckily I had called to confirm, and that is when they told us we had a "Travel Club Tour" scheduled that Sunday. I had no idea what this was, and of course it stated nothing about this "tour" on the Travel Voucher. I feel like these things are such a trap to reel people in. Premium Destinations tell you to drop off the Voucher to validate it at their "Welcome Center". Everyone is super nice when you get there, and the presentation is informative. The packages range from $9000-$12000. There also is a $389 yearly fee, and your discounted traveling expenses as well. These prices are not ideal for my fiancee and I, and our financial situation. We also had no intentions of purchasing anything once we arrived. After the presentation you are set up with a sales rep that tries to talk you into purchasing their travel package. If you ever go to one of these things, do NOT talk to them about your lifestyle situations. The sales rep kept referencing the fact that my fiancee and I could take a honeymoon for "a great deal". This may be true, but other than that, we would not take 4 weeks of vacation in a year. This program is ideal for people that have unlimited amounts of money, and who do not work. The whole process there was pretty uncomfortable. I dont understand how a company can expect you to commit to something that is about the same as a car payment without letting you read terms and conditions and providing such little information. Any normal couple we probably need a private ALONE time to discuss spending that kind of money (ex: car, house, wedding). I kept expressing to the sales rep that something like this is not in our budget, or ideal. She then had the manager come over, who was a male and condescending and irogant. Of course he eventually offered plans that were $5990, then to $1990. He explained a payment man that involved signing for credit through a bank (with interest). He stated the payments would be anywhere from $20-$77 a month. I told him that we are not in a financial situation to be spending any money right now. And his response was "You can't afford $20 a month"?...At that point I was extremely irritated. It seemed like he was referencing me to be some kind of ###. I then reminded him that $20 a month is nothing for us, but then you still had the additional $389 annual fee, and to pay for your hotel/cruise/airfare at a discounted price. He then said "Well it can't be free". My fiancee had then said "Well you know what, we just are not interested". And the manager said "Fine, good luck on the wedding", and walked away. I asked the sales rep if we could have more information regarding the packages, and she said "No, according the Florida Law you have declined this package, so you can no longer be offered it"...GREAT BUSINESS PRACTICES PREMIUM DESTINATIONS. I just cannot justifying that kind of money at a place that will not even provide you with information, and wants you to drop 9-12 grand from a 45 minute presentation. Our "free gifts" when we left was a $50 dining card, which you have to register online. Sort of like a resturaunts.com type of card, which is okay. And the other is a two night voucher that you have to mail in a $30 refundable deposit, then stay at the hotel (pay taxes), and then submit a form with your reciept from the hotel in order to recieve your $30 deposit. Needless to say, I told my fiancee we will NEVER use/do one of these "freebie" travel coupons. I completely understand that this company needs to make money, and everything isn't "free", but we didn't ask to go to this "travel club tour", and if we knew about it prior to booking our "free" hotel stay I would have simply declined the whole thing.

Premium Destinations will be at 800 South Main St Mansfield Mass 90 min presentation Nov 30th 5:45 and 8:00 pm, Thurs same times, Fri *pm, come and join me!

AntiPremium,
We had essentially the same experience you did last night.
A week or two back I received a card in the mail from Premium Destinations offering me a free Android tablet (and a 7-night condo stay) in exchange for a "no obligation" 90-minute presentation. Personally I've always found these things to be B.S. but I wanted to have a look at Android (not that I'd ever pay for it!) and I figured "why not"? So, the wife and I went last night to listen to their presentation.
As I expected, the amount of information given could have been revealed in 10 minutes but they spent 90 minutes in their baloney "dream session" and telling us how much "integrity" they have and what a GREAT deal this was. Only $9990! Such a deal!
After we returned to the table with our "counselor" I sat and patiently listened to him for another few minutes then told him "no". Not only "no" but "absolutely no". He got up to call over the "heavy hitter" (which I expected him to do) who came over to try and pitch the lower price. I looked the guy in the eyes and told him I was not interested no matter what the price. He then got a sour look on his face and told me "Well then ... you don't DESERVE this program!". It was pretty hilarious, actually.
They did give me the Android, though. Probably worth $25 as a toy. It runs, but not very well. A piece of junk really. This I expected too.
The whole thing reminds me of the con that Henry Gandorf (sp?) pulled in the Sting - except this "mark" didn't bite!

OK, so my wife and I live in Orlando; on Wednesday, 9/14/2011 I got a postcard in the mail offering a FREE Android tablet and $100 discount dinner voucher in exchange for 90 minutes of our time to listen to a presentation for membership to a vacation club. Although we have lived in Florida for over 20 years we have passed the exit to Ormond Beach but have never gone; this was a great opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone… see Ormond Beach and listen to the presentation and collect the tablet as a bonus. To be honest, we never intended to buy anything especially knowing that these companies always… always have overpriced products and services. We got to Ormond Beach early drove around a bit had a snack and checked in at 100 East Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach. We signed in, showed our FL drivers licenses and a major credit card (not a debit card that will not do) and waited for our consultant (sales person). She took us into the presentation, made small talk, and proceeded to try to sell us a lifetime club membership for $9, 990.00 plus $389.00 annual user fees. The program sounds good but we thought a bit expensive. After much ado with the sales person/consultant, she called in a heavy hitter dressed in a nicely laundered shirt with tie and a lovely sun tan. I was immediately reminded of a new car dealership where they bring over the manager to ask you where you want to be. I though t we did pretty good in that we got this heavy hitter down to $5, 990 after allowing him to cry “uncle” several times. We still did not budge off of our $1, 000 offer for membership. When Mr. Sun Tan left, our consultant left and came back with our Android in a box, two $50.00 gift cards and a big smile. We also got a visit from this person from corporate who certainly did not dress the part and sucking on a mint. To me, he appeared like the person from “break-a-knee” dept although he said he was from quality assurance/control and he was in no way attached to the sale department. After the usual “did they treat you right”; “were they courteous”: “did they answer all your questions and concerns” questions, Mr. Quality Assurance brought out his covered paper to offer a $2, 990 or $1, 990.00 package of course at a lesser membership level. I must say that Mr. QA was more aggressive from the others especially since he was from corporate. My wife and I were the last couple to walk out of the building, as guest, at 5:00PM – 3 hours after the appointed time.
Driving back to Orlando my wife attempted to turn on the tablet but we assumed the battery was too dead to function. At home, we plugged it in and left it overnight.
I am not sure if I am surprised or disappointed that up to now it does not work.
My conclusion, they have a pile of these iPad wanna bees, some that work, others that do not. For people who buy their overpriced membership package, they get a good $85.00 Android and for people, like us who do not purchased their fluff, they get the ones that don’t.
Be careful, there are still ravenous sharks out there.

We also were invited to premium destination and our " gift " was $100 in free gas a free google net book. we live local so we went. What a sure scam. We own a time share so we already new the lines they pull to sell you. After the presentaion we declined the offer and then had the " Manager" try to close us on a even worse scam. when we reuturned home to cash in our free gift vouchers you end up paying more than they are worth. The net book is not google it can be whatever they want to send you. You have to sign up on ht einternet, send the voucher to Canada and they request you send registered so that's $11.00 then they will send you a coupon that you have so many days to send back with a certified check for $29.95 and will cost you another $11.00 to send and you may get A netbook in 4-6 weeks if they say you followed proper proceedures. What a joke, skip it and enjoy your weekend!

My husband and I also got sucked in by their advertisement for "FREE" 7 day cruise. What a joke. That FREE cruise turned out to be $99 deposit and then $502 per person. ($99 booking surcharge (that they don't tell you about); $159 port fees and $85 taxes - ok, we knew that; $60 new ship surcharge - this we knew also; but then they also hit you with a $99 room upgrade fee because the entry level rooms were not available - this is crap - I went online to the Carnival website and there are most definitely entry level room available). These fees are all per person. When is told VIP Travel Reservations about this misrepresentation - they said the certificate does not state that it is for a FREE cruise, and if the agency that issued it misrepresented it, then she could not help that. How do these places stay in business? Why don't they just tell you it's discounted? So we declined the "FREE" cruise and booked one on our own and we're spending less money. Father God, forgive them.

Thanx for all the info on the Ormond beach, Florida practices, , , they keep calling me. we wont be GOING ON ANYTHING FREE...THANX FOR SAVING US EVERYONE... FELINECHAR

Buyer beware! Premium Destinations does a very good job of selling for Global Discovery Vacations. Unless you do a lot of traveling to resort areas, don't buy into Global through Premium Destinations. In Florida you only have 3 days to cancel your membership. Interestingly though, you don't get a membership number so you can access their services on the Internet for 10 days to 2 weeks. Guess what? By the time you're able to log on and discover what Global Discovery Vacations offers, you're stuck with a lifetime membership. Global is probably a good vacation company for those who travel to Europe and other worldly places, but the scam by Premium Destinations is unbelievable. We got roped in and now we can't get out and will spend the next 2 or 3 years paying for our 'lifetime' membership. And the freebies Premium offers aren't really free. We were offered 2 free round trip airline tickets anywhere in the US. It cost us $100 to send in the application form and now we find out it'll cost us $398 for "fees, services, etc." There's nothing free about free.

Our current marketing offer at Premium Destinations (all locations) includes a free laptop netbook computer. If you received an invitation in the mail you are pre-qualified to receive one and you are under no obligation to purchase anything in order to receive this gift.
I will not comment on the person who started this thread other than to point out that Best Buy will sell a computer to anyone and there is no license or competency test required to purchase internet service.

David Nopanen
Director of Marketing
Premium Destinations

My dad got a Happy Birthday Card in the mail and it says get your complimentary net book microsoft and 300 dollar food certificate and a 4 day cruise ALL of them for just listening to their spill. I called it and my dad didn't qualify because you have to be between 25 and 72 ( i think that is what he said) But the gentlemen asked me my age and said I qualified and between my husband and I we had to make at least 40.000 and have a valid drivers license and credit card. We have an appt. for Sunday, for a 90 minute presentation. Is this a waste of my time, never got any thing free in my life and it is hard to believe that there is no purchase necessary. hmmmm should I go or not! This is a promotion from Premium Destination and they are in Ormond Beach, FL telephone # [protected] or [protected]

thanks for the input as we have a invite and questioned their credibility. I won't waste my time and frustrations.