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Paradise Blue

Paradise Blue review: not a SCAM 61

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3:11 pm EST
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My husband & I signed up for the Paradise Blue vacation club after attended their presentation. We found a lot of compains about this company on the internet after we left Hawaii. We cancelled it because we don't feel comfortable to deal with this company.
Actally, they are so very friendly & easy going. We got our refund check one week after our cancellation & they didn't give us any hard time at all. I don't understand why other people had many troubles with them. One of the article said it has 160+ cases complain toward this company, we went to BBC web site to find out that wasn't true.

Anyway, we log in their web site to check on the prices. It 's not a big saving on hotel & cruise (about 10% off), but it is a huge saving on condo. I think I will join this vacation club again when I go back to Hawaii next time.

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61 comments
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roberta ursel
Penticton, CA
Jan 19, 2010 9:44 pm EST

I want to cancel mine how did you get your money back

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roberta ursel
Penticton, CA
Jan 19, 2010 9:43 pm EST

I want to know how to get my money back as this doesn't work for me

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bbboahu
Honolulu, US
Dec 09, 2009 9:58 pm EST

Paradise Blue
BBB Rating
Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of F on a scale from A+ to F.
Reasons for this rating include:
•168 complaints filed against business
•Failure to respond to 112 complaints filed against business.
•112 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
•BBB Accreditation was revoked because business failed to comply with agreed BBB standards.
•Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints.

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dupedinMA
Boston, US
Dec 08, 2009 9:56 am EST

My wife and I bought into this for 7k last Jan. Ittook 8 months but we got our money back. Whatever card you used contact them and ask for legalservices. They will file a non payment claim and begin to checking on this.This company has a long record of scams. I contacted the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii a Lisa Nakao consumer fraud investigation branch 33 Merchant St.Suite 213 Honolulu, HI 96813 Tel [protected].

It took a while but we did get the money put back on the card. We have a chase bank Marriot Hotel card. They were terrific about this.

I highly suggest you call the card card company you have and change the number or they will do autoatic withdrawls on it.

Do not deal directly with Destination Paradise. They will threaten fyou with legal fees etc. Contact the fraud division and they will help you do the right things to get the money back.

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traveltheworld
Tampa, US
Dec 07, 2009 11:23 pm EST

We were approached in the International Food Court in Waikiki, a friendly nice old man named "Jery" had a few tours listed with unbeatable prices e.g. "2-day rental car $20, Polynesian Culture Center $10..." it's too bad, I didn't take any pictures, I'm kicking myself now. Anyways my friend and I were thinking of renting scooters so we approached him and asked if he could get us a deal on two scooters. He replied with, "well we can do this two ways; either you can pay $70 or you can get it for free." I said, "We'll take it for free." "Well wait a minute, I have to explain how! Do you know what Timeshare is?" "Not really." "Ok - well we're NOT Timeshare! [blablabla sales pitch] All we ask you to do is sit through a 90-min presentation and then stay for an hour after that in case you're interested."
Then we had to "qualify" - we had to be above 25 (check) living together (certainly not), homeowners (no way), making over $75000 a year (we are both unemployed) and he didn't really like the fact that my friend had a Hawaiian address. So we understood that this was targeted to a specific market and played along, he even coaxed us and said "well - they will ask you if you are homeowners - you won't have to prove it with any papers or anything - i'm just gonna put a check here that i've told you you have to be homeowners to qualify, then what you do is up to you...!" Then the very nice man actually walked with us and showed us the way to the presentation that we had booked the next day.

We showed up punctually at 8am, gave more answers they were looking for to a secretary and soon the presentation began. The woman was straight from Telesales, I thought I was watching the shopping network. she would say things like, "I love Costco! on Sundays I just stroll through the aisles and fill up for lunch, and why's that?" then all the agents in the room would chime in, on queue, "because you're cheap!" "That's right! I'm CHEAP! We here LOVE that word!"
We decided it was time to go so we got up and went towards the exit. When she spotted us she seemed very frazzled "Where's Fred?" and told us to go back and sit down so she could get us our gifts. Then this other woman shows up with a commercial smile, "Hi, my name's Latisha and I'm from Corporate." threw more and more deals at us even though we said we weren't interested. Here's where the pressure really mounted and the nature of the conversation turned quite conflictive. I told them that I thought they had a great product, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't sign up for it tomorrow, or the day after, because I'm somebody who contemplates these things by nature and I didn't like to feel the pressure. They argued and argued but finally gave up and threw a piece of paper at us with directions on where to go to pick up our gift.
They're great actors, every one playing their part smoothly. I even wonder, in retrospect, if the two couples who signed up after 10 minutes, causing their agents to stand up and say, "Everyone, I would like to welcome Bill and Jane to our family!" followed with a round of applause... were staged. They couldn't all have been - at least 4 of 10 couples signed up in our group. They didn't even let us keep the piece of paper they had scribbled all the deals on (this made no sense to me at all. and I'm really pissed off I didn't take a picture of it.) I'm really glad I found this website which vindicates my feeling it was too good to be true. But I empathize with those who get so excited they fall for it in those few crucial minutes, it must be incredibly frustrating and humiliating, and i wish them all the best of luck in their legal battles.
I'm glad we got our free gift - but I remain convinced businesses like this, built on fraud and deceit, and basically taking advantage of desperate people, can't possibly last, even though the travel guy told me they'd been there for 20 years.

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tripster69
Prattville, US
Dec 07, 2009 12:32 am EST

I just got back from Waikiki and went to one of their presentations. At the beginning the guy joked about having mic's in the waiting area saying how everyone says "no matter what they have we aren't buying". We thought he was joking. After the presentation they reduced there price making it affordable for everyone, we were just there for the free gifts. The big Hawiian guy that took over after the scrawny guy from Minnesota couldn't close the deal, he reduced the price even further. Then said he would give us a minute to talk it over, about five minutes later he came in and was all pissed off saying "I'll get you guys out of here with your free gifts then". He looked like he wanted to kick my ###. Afterwords we figured that they probably do have mic's at the tables so they know what angle to press when they come back again. Good thing we were both addimant about not buying into this scam and saying it to eachother while we were sitting there.

Don't get sucked into this "Deal", what rational person would be willing to spend $2, 500 - $8, 000 on a product you have never heard anything about before they give there own presentation.

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justlookingtoo
Atlanta, US
Dec 07, 2009 12:26 am EST

I went to this presentation and boy did I pizz them off when I mentioned what I had researched on the internet. Not sure if this is a scam or not, but we did not get involved with this. Waste of valuable vacation time. It seems the streets of Honolulu are populated with these "discount offers", which when taken advantage of, require you to listen to this presentation. 90 minutes, and then about 30 minutes to tell them you are not interested. Price went from $9995 to $250. I think there were some people there that actually bought this for the full price. From what I gather you are buying access rights to a website. On the website you can book your travel plans. According to Paradise Blue they book timeshares, hotels, that are currently not occupied at a discount. Sounds like a great idea, but I think you can do the same thing on Expedia.

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justlookingtoo
Atlanta, US
Dec 07, 2009 12:24 am EST

My wife and I had the same exact problem. the company this time has morphed into Paradise-Blue(.net). we got the same deal as everyone above but at least we had access to a computer within 24 hours after we gave them our credit card and signed the papers (for "only" $6995...) - chilly surprise when we got to see who they are... we looked for a fax number to fax them our cancellation notice. guess what - no fax number anywhere. Of course not since a fax cannot be contested in the court of law! ok then we needed to do something else then:

1. The next day (a Saturday - they work on Saturdays) we went to the same site where we had that presentation by them and we asked for a fax number so we can "fax some documents to complete the deal" - at first the receptioniste was reluctant to give us one but then she called the "manager" which gave us the fax number (we will see soon if this number is fake or not...). We will fax the cancellation notice as well - just in case - but read further below...

2. Next step was to contact the local Hawaii Waikiki police and got a police officer as witness to our cancellation process/event, just in case the things are going out of hand and just to make sure we have an official witness to our cancellation. And guess what, they (Paradise-Blue)where very pissed and offended by the fact we came with such a witness but unfortunately for them, while we were signing the cacellation papers in front of the police officer, another cuple showed up yelling about the deal being a scam(!). imagine what a coincidence! They had no choice and accepted the cancellation notice in front of the police officer.

3. We asked the credit card company (AMEX) to cancel the transaction and we explained them everything we've gone trough with Paradise-Blue. AMEX got the entire picture so they won't be surprised next time somebody else will do the same.

I'm not sure we are out of this yet but as a personal thought: I don't think anyone can prosecute this kind of business... I think they have enough cover-up to get themselfs over law suites for the scams. The fact that their service sucks is not a legal matter... we have all signed for this - sorry but look again through the papers we all signed...

I believe the only way to kill this type of business is to make more popular their practices.

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just lookin
Litchfield, US
Dec 06, 2009 7:01 pm EST

Well my encounter with Paradise Blue was very relaxed, and, though they tried hard for my business, I did not join. I did receive the $100 cash they promised me ($120 if you include the refunded $20 deposit). It took about 1/2 an hour longer than they had said, but that was all. From talking to three couples who were in there with me, their "strong arm tactics" were actually quite mild compared to the several other condo associations they had sat through meetings with. the price for the product is relatively low when you think about condos in the 20ks and up with maintenance fees of 1-2k per year (many of my family have condos and that is where i get my condo info). If someone who knows a couple that intentionally (or very near that) signed up, please relay how they like the company. Otherwise, everyone complaining so far is just a blow hard. Those that didn't seem to honestly be looking for answers. please help us find some real answers to the usefulness of this company.

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onvacationinhi
Riverside, US
Dec 05, 2009 3:50 pm EST

How come non of the complaints come from people who are actually using the product? Does that mean that they are happy with it? It looks to me like the only people who are complaining are just trying to get out of what they signed up for. I want some real testimonials from people who are using it and either like it or dislike it. I don't want to read about people trying to get out of paying for it. This was no help to me, no evidence on here of how good the company and services are, that is what i want to know, as an interested buyer.

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PacificDreamsSCAMED
Honolulu, US
Dec 02, 2009 8:34 pm EST

With the cost of travel skyrocketing, consumers are increasingly susceptible to fraudulent offers for special deals on vacations, and Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning vacationers to be wary of joining 'travel clubs.' Complaints to BBB show that many travel clubs promise huge discounts on condos, hotels, airfare, and cruises but fail to deliver for members despite the high cost of joining.

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Mari1969
Bronx, US
Dec 01, 2009 8:58 pm EST

EXCUSE THE CAPS AS I AM NOT SCREAMING...JUST TYPING WITH ONE FINGER RIGHT NOW...

FOR THOSE WHO QUESTION WHY SOME PEOPLE FEEL DESTINATION PARADISE IS A SCAM AND WANT PROOF AND SCENARIOS OF SUCH AND ACCUSE AN EMPLOYEE OF POSTING SUCH INFORMATION, PLEASE ANSWER ME THESE QUESTIONS...

WHY WOULD A COMPANY WHO FEELS ITS PRODUCT IS SO GREAT CHANGE THEIR NAME FROM VALUED GUESTS LLC TO DESTINATION PARADISE TO PARADISE BLUE?

WHY WOULD YOU OFFER A PRODUCT THAT YOU CANNOT VIEW UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY GET YOUR PASSWORD TWO WEEKS LATER AND BASICALLY 12 DAYS AFTER YOUR CANCELLATION PERIOD HAS EXPIRED?

WHY GIVE CUSTOMERS A HARD TIME IF THEY DON'T WANT TO SIGN UP AND CHANGE THE PRICE FROM AS HIGH AS $9995 TO JUST THE ANNUAL FEE OF $189?

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DID BUY INTO IT, DID YOU LOOK AT THE BINDER YOU RECEIVED AND HOW GENERIC IT IS? DID YOU NOTICE THAT DESTINATION PARADISE IS NOT MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN THE LAMINATED PAGES JUST ON THE BINDER ITSELF?

I BOUGHT INTO DESTINATION PARADISE IN 2008 AND THERE WAS NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY ON THE INTERNET. THE ONLY WEBSITE THAT EXISTED WAS THE ONE YOU WOULD LOG INTO TO VIEW THEIR SO-CALLED DISCOUNTS THAT WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER TRAVEL WEBSITES WERE HIGHER PRICED. DESTINATION PARADISE, VALUED GUESTS LLC, PARADISE BLUE AND THE ACTIVITY STORE ARE ALL THE SAME COMPANY. THE ACTIVITY STORE SUPPLIES THE "FREE" TOURIST ATTRACTION TICKETS THAT ARE OFFERED ON THE STREET TO ENTICE THE BUYER TO ATTEND THE PRESENTATION OF OVER TWO HOURS IF YOU DON'T BUY INTO IT RIGHT AWAY AND THE TICKETS ARE NOT FREE BECAUSE THE PERSON THAT APPROACHES YOU ON THE STREET ASKS FOR A $20 DEPOSIT.

FOR THOSE WBO HAVE USED THE SOFTWARE AND RAVE ABOOUT IT, PLEASE LIST THE NAMES OF THE HOTELS/RESORTS/CONDOS YOU STAYED IN?

SO ANNIE, EXPLAIN HOW A PERSON SAVES MONEY OVER TIME INVESTING $2K TO 10K PLUS INTEREST IF FINANCED PLUS THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE OF ALMOST $200 BOOKING 1-4 WEEK SAT A CONDO AT #700/WEEK AND IF YOU NEED TO CANCEL THE TRIP FOR WHATEVER REASON, YOU CANNOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK? WHERE'S THE SAVINGS? PLEASE EXPLAIN...OR PERHAPS YOU OR YOUR FRIEND ACTUALLY WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE?

I BOUGHT INTO THIS. I CAN PROVE IT AND I CAN ALSO TELL YOU THAT A FEW OF US THAT BOUGHT INTO THIS BETWEEN 2008 AND 2009 ACTUALLY GOT ALL OF OUR MONIES BACK BECAUSE WE BOMBARDED THE DCCA IN HAWAII AND THE BBB WITH OUR FORMAL COMPLAINTS AND EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUR CLAIMS WERE TRUTHFUL. AFTER THE INVESTIGATION, WE PREVAILED SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BOUGHT INTO PARADISE BLUE, DON'T LOSE HOPE. DON'T STOP YOUR COMPLAINTS BECAUSE MONEY IS NOT EASY TO COME BY THESE DAYS.

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grrrsaysmom
Harlingen, US
Nov 26, 2009 10:50 pm EST

We are vactioning in Hawaii and attended a Paradise Blue presentation. We signed up for this membership and uneasy about our decision we did a google search and did not feel a peace about signing up. We immediately within less than 24 hours decided to cancel. Upon requesting cancellation, the Paradise Blue representative gave us a difficult time about cancelling and started getting hostile and very upset. We asked them to cancel the transaction. He signed the cancellation form but still proceeded to charge our credit card for this enormous amount. We contacted our credit card company and have disputed the charge/transaction. Will let you know later how this turns out. I don't know if the feedback on this website is true. I will know once this issue gets resolved. The Paradise Blue representative's hostile behavior is enough however for us not to do business with this company.

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AnniePark1973
, US
Nov 21, 2009 3:10 am EST

It's not a scam. One of my best friends went to the Paradise Blue presentation in Waikiki when he came to visit and became a member. He got two free Paradise Cove luau tickets for going (and we used his member discount to buy our tickets at a nice discount). He's using the Paradise Blue website to set up his family and friends with condos on Kauai in March when a bunch of people from all over the country are coming out for his wedding. With the condo deals, our group of friends going to his wedding are going to be paying $23 per couple per night to stay in an ocean-front condo resort.

The only people that seem to be saying it's a scam are those people that didn't become members and were upset that sales people tried to sell them something. In our experience, it's been great so far...

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newbuyer
City of Industry, US
Nov 17, 2009 5:58 pm EST

why is it a scam, besides to hostage 2 hour preso?

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Paradise,Blue,Scam
Jackson, US
Nov 02, 2009 4:22 pm EST

Anybody who signed up for the Dstination Paradise Hawaii(aka Paradise Blue)scam there is a way out, if the contract was signed before June of 2009.The cancellaton policy (3 days) was buried on the last page of the "terms and acknowledgement".They had to add a seperate page to acknowledge the 3 day cancel policy.Any contracts signed before June 2009 are "null and void".Good Luck

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christopher19987
, US
Oct 27, 2009 5:37 pm EDT

Paradise Blue, My experience. I checked out their discount tickets to Hawaii Events. After a 20 dollar deposit they (being PB) set a time and date for their "Presentation" as they call it. I was told 20 minutes is all it would take. Needless to say, they went on for over two and half hours. After I told them I was not intrested in their product. They made me wait as long as they could and tried to piss me off to the point where I would leave the "presentation" with out the tickets they promised me for watching said presentation. When asked why I was not intrested in paying 10k for a time share type deal. I explained that I don't invest in a company with out seeing the company's income statments and other public documents that any company would provide to investors. You don't want to know the verbal abuse they reaked on me. I stood strong and after 3 hours they held to thier agreement with me. However, 8 of the 10 groups were strong armed into perchases. Paradise Blue has no intentions of playing fare and every intention of ripping you off. Paradise Blue is preditory. period the end...

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bnthrdonethat
honolulu, US
Oct 27, 2009 12:20 am EDT

If you are going to make strong statements against a company such as that, the least you could do is validate it with solid, evidence, case scenarios, or examples of why you feel that it is a scam. As it stands, your complaint is very suspicious, looks like it is posted from a disgruntled ex employee or a rival company. Waikiki is super competitive in the vacation industries and some people will stoop very low to gain the upper hand.

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lmhock45
De Pere, US
Oct 16, 2009 5:22 pm EDT

I just vacationed in Oahu and had the same thing happen to me. Cancellation form was signed by company and am awaiting $250 refund

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paradise.blue.scam
Hollywood, US
Sep 10, 2009 3:41 am EDT

Paradise Blue Hawaii SCAM !
Beware!
Changed their name from Destination Paradise Hawaii Scam!