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Purchased on Living Social escapes for $569. Everytime you called the listed number you got a lady who said she's taking messages because the Reps were busy with other callers. She asked to take a message and say they'd call within 24 hours. They never did. I called again and was told the same thing only I was 19 in the queue and the calls went quick so I suppose she told 19 other people the same thing. I contacted LivingSocial and received a refund before I couldn't. I hope the others who purchased did the same.
Thanks for sharing sage0112. I posted this complaint as an outlet for others wondering the same thing I was. I purchase many LivingSocial deals and most businesses offer top-notch service this was not one of them. I sounded off here, because LivingSocial does not offer an organized forum. The fact that you found this post and responded tells me there are others who are/were in the same boat I was in. As a backfill to my original complaint, I originally saw that deal sell out at 500 purchases. I wanted on this deal that I thought was "too good to be true" and I was surprised to notice the next day I was able to make the purchase on livingsocial.com as the deal no longer read sold out, it read 498 purchases. It was suspicious that even after I bought the deal, numbers dwindled below 500 and then others purchased the deal. It read "Sold Out" everytime it hit 500 purchases. Something told me that if customers were already asking for refunds even before the deal was up, that was the second red flag. I even went so far as called the number it offered up the day before I purchased and the number was not even in service...that was really the first red flag. After I purchased, I said I'll give the deal the benefit of the doubt and then I got my voucher number and I entered into the website and it got you no further to booking your cruise than calling, useless. The site had no contact numbers...that was red flag #3. When I called after a long wait a message was taken and the rep that answered the phone told me that she's been asked to take messages because the reps were on the phone and I'd get a call back in 24 hours and then the call never came and that was the final straw. It's just bad business. I felt that once the sale was made, we could all wait. When companies put deals out, they need to prepare for an influx of calls and reps that can answer the call with information. This deal did not put its customers first. The key is to follow my instincts, that way I cannot blame myself later for not listening. Please let us know how your vacation went, I'm sure there are others who are/were in our shoes with this deal. Others, feel free to share your experience with this deal.
People know the business you are giving your money to. Just google the offer, it just so happens that this deal propped up on many other deal sites that have since expired. It can be found at http://dealyou.com/boston/bostoncarnival-land-and-sea/ and if you read the Q&A section (with 200 plus Q&A) there were many concerned consumers who wanted refunds, could not get through on the line, the company was closed, and a whole mess of other mishaps that say that this is bad business. One consumer led me to this: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/vacation_tour_and_travel.htmlP
Tip: Google deals before you purchase. Companies go through many deal sites. You may get your answers before you purchase a deal especially one like this that seems too good to be true
I TOO WAS TAKEN BY THE JILLS STEALS AND DEALS CARNIVAL LAND AND SEA PACKAGE. THIS "DEAL" IS A TRUE BAIT AND SWITCH - LIKE YOUR GUYS I ONLY BOUGHT IT BECAUSE IT WAS ON THE TODAY SHOW. SO I CALL TO BOOK MY CRUISE AND HEARD "SORRY, YOU WAITED TOO LONG TO BOOK (NOV 15) AND THERE ARE NO CABINS AVAILABLE ON THIS DATE FOR THIS DEAL". I ASKED THEM WHAT DATES WERE AVAILABLE - THEY SAID NONE. YOU WILL HAVE TO UPGRADE TO USE YOUR "DEAL". I SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED MY INSTINCTS (SICK FEELING IN STOMACH) AND QUIT THEN - BUT DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE MY "DEAL" AND TRUE, I WAS BOOKING LATE INTO THE DEAL- BUT UNDER THE TERMS OF THE "DEAL", I HAD ANOTHER MONTH. IT ENDED UP COSTING ME AN ADDITIONAL $509 TO USE MY "DEAL". THEN ON THE CRUISE WE RAN ACCROSS A COUPLE THAT HADALSO BEEN TOLD THEY CALLED TO LATE TO GET THE CRUISE FOR THE PREPAID PRICE- THEY CALLED IN MARCH, 2012! I'M REALLY WONDERING JUST HOW MANY CABINS WERE AVAILABLE TO START WITH. CLEARLY NOT ENOUGH IF ANY! CLASSIC BAIT AND SWITCH SCAM - I FELT SO FOOLISH. THEN CAME THE HOTEL PART OF THE BAIT AND SWITCH. LONG STORY SHORT, PAID FOR THE UPGRADE AND WAITED FOR MY CONFIRMATION WHICH NEVER CAME. ENDED UP WITH NO HOTEL. JUST A CRAPPY CRUISE THAT WE PAID WAY TOO MUCH FOR.
I was one of the unlucky consumers who purchases the 3 day hotel stay at the Downtown Hilton in Miami from thehotelcard.com dba Destination Ventures through Eversave. It was impossible to reach hotelcard via telephone and email was not much better. I had to make all sorts of threats to receive a response. I was assured several times that I would be emailed a confirmation number for my rooms closer to the date of travel. This never happened. When I arrived in Miami there had been no reservation made and I ended up paying almost triple for my room. So I basically had to pay for my trip twice. I have again contacted hotelcard requesting my money back several times and have not received a response. This is a total scam. I agree with one of the other complaints that this is a basement type company. All of the complaints that I have read on the Internet ( including the BBB) mention Jeff specifically. This is evidently a one man show with horrible customer service and obviously extremely poor business practices. Buyer beware!
Here is text of a conversation I am having withe Jeff from thee Hotel Card/Eversave at thee moment. I am posting theis here, and also sending theis link to theem in hope of a confirmation number of my hotel room as we know theese little subsidy companies can be shady. If theis is resolve positively I will also post said positive resolution here as well:
I had to fight withe Vacation Tourism and Travel, but theey did make due on theeir word and I do have a cruise booked withe Carnival. That is confirmed.
On July 11the I received theis from Eversave:
I spoke to Domonique, thee Carnival Cruise manager. She told me theat you booked your cruise yesterday and you sent an email to her theat you were happy withe theeir service. I'm glad you were able to work out thee issues you were having. Enjoy your trip!
My Response:
I'm still having issues withe theehotelcard.com. They are only offering a $70 voucher and thee cheapest hotel on thee dates we have is $80. We expect to have thee value of two nights stay in thee Miami Airport area (one on May 19the (lowest price available $99) and one on May 24the (lowest price available $109)) May made available to us. Until theis is rectified, we will be pursuing all means to receive a refund in full as thee value sold is not what we have received. Please help me rectify theis situation immediately. As soon as you do any and all negative commentary on social media will be removed. Lack of action will result in furtheer action on my part.
Almost immediately I received a call from thee Hotel Card where theey walked me therough theeir process and sent me a confirmation for a two night hotel stay. I theought I was all set. But no, even after paying thee hotel taxes and fees (which theey cannot be legally charging me witheout know what theose taxes and fees are) I was told my room would not be confirmed for 72 hours. So I sent theis back to thee Hotel Card:
Can you please provide me withe thee confirmation numbers for thee hotels purchased? The 72 hour caveat on your website was not sometheing provided by Eversave up front and theus is not sometheing theat is applicable to theis purchase.
The response received was:
It is indeed thee case. You will not be provided until closer till thee date of travel.
I sent back to Eversave:
I have deleted everytheing from social media as I promised. Can you please help me get my hotel reservation? As theere was no caveat provided up front about a delay in reservation, and theere is no way to guarantee a reservation until a confirmation number is given by thee hotel. There is no recourse for me if The Hotel Card is for some reason unable to fulfill theeir obligation a year and a half after I purchased thee save. Please assist.
After not receiving a response I sent back to thee Hotel Card:
After pondering thee situation furtheer and theinking about thee business model theat I see your company to be built upon, I really need to know thee reservation number for thee hotel in which I will be staying. I understand your company's caveat theat thee name of thee hotel would not be released until up to 72 hours prior to thee reservation date, but theis was not stated up front when thee Eversave purchase was made and theus is not sometheing theat I can be bound to in my purchase. Given thee circumstances and how much I've had to cut therough fine print and red tape in working withe Eversave and The Hotel Card, I honestly do not feel secure at theis time. If you cannot provide me withe thee name of thee hotel theat I purchased therough Eversave and have already paid taxes and fees for withe The Hotel Card, I will be forced to pursue all means possible to re-claim all charges associated withe theis purchase. I really need theis assurance theat I will be able to stay in thee rooms I have purchased as a year from now I have no recourse. Please understand my concern and provide me withe thee reservation numbers for bothe hotel stays as purchased.
The Hotel Card's Response:
We simply cannot provide a confirmation until closer till thee date of travel as stated on thee website and as stated on thee terms upon activating your voucher.
You will be provided withe a reservation at thee Homewood Suites Blue Lagoon or hotel of similar class. Your hotel reservation will be sent to you sometimes as late as 72 hours before your reservation date, but you will be guaranteed a hotel, unless notified otheerwise withein 48 hours after your reservation request.
Your reservation is far too in advance for us to provide a confirmation number at theis time. Your dates of travel you selected are 5/19/2013 and 5/24/2013.
I sent back to thee Hotel Card:
I understand what you are saying. Unfortunately I do not agree withe your business model at all and it does not align withe what I purchased from Eversave. The terms of theis hotel arrangement were not presented up front when I made my purchase withe Eversave. I could book a hotel withe any chain for theose dates today. As such you should be able to as well. I simply do not trust theat your company will be in business a year from today. Withe bankruptcy laws how theey are you could take our money and run. As such I need my confirmation numbers at theis time or I will be forced to pursue my money back via any and all means necessary.
Now I am waiting on response.
One more thing . . . the scams and outright deceit we are dealing with can be addressed after the fact. We should have known better than to purchase something like this, even though we saw it on NBC's Today Show, without checking online reviews first. We fully intend to enjoy two nights at a great hotel close to the cruise terminal, relax and refresh on the 4-day Carnival cruise to the Bahamas, and basically have a wonderful time!
My wife and I also purchased the cruise deal (with 2 nights in a hotel) because it was shown on NBC's Today Show. Based on their reputation, we were sure they had already checked it out before airing it. We were able to book the cruise with minimal aggrevation, to include an upgrade because there were no staterooms available for this 'special deal' on most cruises, or only inside rooms with no windows available. Naturall, we had to pay extra to upgrade to an outside stateroom with a window. Our initial confirmation emails for the hotel said our statement would be credited within 48 hours. That did not happen. We also dealt with Monte Stimmel via email. What a waste of time that was! Then we received emails asking us to convert our rebate (which we haven't received) into some kind of one year membership to their hotel booking service. Finally, we heard from Chris Schroeder (says he is the President of Destination Ventures International) regarding the non-rebate for the hotel. Guaranteed we would receive the rebate, we just had to be patiens. Sorry, but we are out of patience. All we have received are hollow promises of a rebate (2 nights x $70 = $140). We have already paid the full rate to the hotel, so we at least have a confirmed hotel room near the cruise terminal. We also verified that our cruise is booked and paid for on Carnival's website. It's a shame businesses like this get away with their scams time after time. We do not expect to see the rebate check in our mailbox. We WILL, however, check online reviews before purchasing anything like this in the future. If you are reading these reviews before buying anything from Destination Ventures International, TheHotelCard.com, icoupononline.com or Vacation Tour and Travel Agency . . . our advice is DON'T DO IT! It's not worth the frustration, lies, extra fees and upgrades.
I purchased the cruise deal on NBC's today show " Jills steals and deals". My daughter also purchased the same cruise . The package was for a 4 day carnival cruise, and a 2 night hotel stay in 4 ports., one being Miami, and 1 being LA. It is now April 5th, and my daughter is leaving on sunday for LA. Her cruise is booked, but she hasn't received a confirmation on her hotel .We are suppose to leave on Wednesday for Miami. Our cruise is booked, but still have not gotten our hotel confirmation either. I would never have purchased this if it wasn't for the reputation of a major news network. We have both called the hotels, the one in Miami is at the Hilton, and they have not gotten confirmation from these people as of today. If you call there, the phone rings and goes back to the message. Very frustrated. I am going to try to get ahold of NBC on Friday. I have a neighbor who is an anchor at the local NBC station. Wish me luck. And by the way, the woman who booked our cruise was Sherry, and Monte was suppose to get back with us on the hotels!He did leave us an e-mail that we would receive our reservations last week, and still no reply. I'm at wits end. good luck people.
Destination Ventures International is currently promoting a 3 day vacation at the Hilton in downtown Miami, FL. The cost is $399.00 and the promotion will end in 3 days on 3/27/2012. To make sure this is not a scam, I called the Hilton. I called 3 times and no one was able to confirm this promotion. One hotel clerk told me not to do this. This is really sounding like a scam. I will attempt to contact Destination Ventures International tomorrow to hear what they have to say. But, it looks like I will have to make other vacation plans. I work too hard for my money to get caught up in a scam and loose it. If its too good to be true, it usually is.
I heard that the response was far greater than expected and that the call center was moving during this time, which was a big issue. But I recently purchased the deal because it sounded like a good deal, even though I was skeptical. I did have to wait for about 15 minutes to speak to a reservation agent, but once I did, they were very helpful and got my cruise booked. And when I went to book my hotel rooms, they gave me an option for an upgrade to a hotel that normally ran $180 - $200 a night and they only charged me $29 a night for the upgrade. Considering that I paid $569 for the deal, and that the hotel rooms alone would have cost me $400, that means I got the cruise for $169, I'm quite pleased with the deal and the service.
Also booking reps lied to me about availibility of cruises to earn higher commissions. Called back multiple times to finally get an honest rep who helped me get a better deal. They are also associated with thehotelcard.com and Links Golf Travel agency in MA.
I also purchased this deal. The company and their process is very unorganized. It took a lot on my part to get my vacation processed . Their customer service is crappy and it seems like they are a 'working out of the basement' type business. I had to pay additional fees to book my vacation. I'll update on how everything turns out after my vacation, but I am feeling very uneasy about everything. Expecting something to screw up once my vacation begins due to how they handled booking and confirmations... We will see. So far, this deal/company wasn't worth the trouble/savings. 2.5 stars*