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I got a call one day after filling out a contest ballot, that I had won a 'free vacation', all I had to do was attend a 'small' presentation, where dinner would be provided. They made it sound like it was a banquet for the Vacation winners where they would present us with our free vacations.
Turns out the Free Chinese 'Buffet was a few takeout tins of fried rice and chicken balls. It was gross- but also turned out this was a TimeShare presentation, so I new I would be there for a while and so I ate it with relish.
Every time I tried to elave, a new person would intercept me at the door- and each guy was more intimidating than the next. I swear this thing is run by the Mob- they all had these pinky rinks and spoke like a Soprano.
They'd try to give us another reason why we should get the time share. And when I said no, they'd keep asking why as if I must be stupid or crazy to say no to this 'Wonderful Opportunity'. So you're not only being bullied into buying this thing, but your being shamed into it! There are laws against strong arm sales tactics, but these guys slip under the wire of culpability so beware.
No kidding, it was 6 hours later before we were able to leave. and guess what folks... I bought a time share!
To make matters worse- there were all sorts of undisclosed details like 'maintenance fees', and 'user fee's . Turns out that not only are you paying for 'vacation weeks', in advance at a "low low rate", but when you try to use them, you are charged a user fee of $300.00 so it comes out to the same thing as if you bought a regular vacation- EXCEPT- the whole fee doesn't include airfare- only hotel. So in fact you are paying double because it's cheaper to buy a package than to pay separate airfair and hotel.
Insult to injury, at the end of the year, you have to pay $100 to renew your membership- so if you bought 5 weeks and only used 1 or 2 per year, you have no choice to renew or you won't be able to use those weeks you already paid for.
So in actuality you're paying only for hotel- a luxury hotel mind you, but who stays at the Ritz?! Regular people go to Hilton, Holiday Inn, Sheraton ect. I tried to exercise the 14 day refund policy- guess what they do? They don't answer your calls or emails for 14 days, and by the time you do finally get in touch with someone- ohh too bad, the trial period is over. I went to court- lost- the contract is impermeable.
Bottom line, do not attend the presentation- do not buy 'Vacation Weeks', that you will not ever use. This is not a scam- but it is a cleverly disguised 'pay for your vacation in advance' program that is not a good deal unless you are the type of person who normally would stay at the Ritz when you travel.
But for average Joes? This is not for you.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I got that email I have already given up on my initial money and am not giving them another dime! To add insult to injury I just got a phone call telling me I was selected for a prize, but the name was different (Canadian Value Solutions) when I googled the name it is the same address and they even have a picture of the building. They need your $149 to fund more scam telemarketing. These people are evil.
We all know that this is a scam now!
What we need is representation or a way out!
Can anyone represent us - this plea is going out to any law firm that is will to take this case. I am sure that you will get a large number of poor souls that were scamed by "The Vacatuib Store".
Please reply with some information on how to fight these guys and hopefully get our money back!
Another Scamed Customer :-(
Unfortunately, it happened to us as well. Three years ago we “lost” 10, 000 dollars in this scheme, and now we are being charged 149 dollars to cover some bad business decisions they made last year. Has anybody else being charged? Is there a way out?
Carlos
This happened to us too, I only wish we had read this first.
It is the old saying...Buyer beware!
If it looks too good to be true...it usually is!
I attended a presentation last nignt because I was told over the phone:
1. That I would receive a minimum prize of $500.00 for attending.
2. That my wife and I would receive a dinner on the town
I did not buy and received a $500.00 travel voucher good for 2 years. Problem is the voucher states in the small print that the terms and conditions can be changed by Bonivista Travel at any time. Also the food voucher was worth about $5.00 at best as we would never eat there.
What a waste of time.
Gary
Thanks for all of this. I got a call tonight from someone who didn't speak too well of english and told me that I had won a draw. He got me to confirm my name and address but the funny thing is that I told him that the address was wrong and that I had moved but he didn't even take down my new address. Well thanks to reading all of this stuff I will not be attending so when this SHAWN STEVEN calls me in the morning to confirm that I will be attending tomorrow I will be sure to give him an ear full!
Tommi
Feb. 12, 2010.
Everything in the above mentioned emails is true, the phone calls, the presentation site, trophies, latina ladies, shady presenters, posters, websites, food, cubicles, etc.
To make a long story short: my sister+hubby bought into their 5-year trial membership @ 1, 500.00 in 2008, and got their member's folder, which actually is titled :Resort Villa Vacations, located at 690 Rowntree Dairy rd, suite 201 Woodbridge, ON L4L 5T7. The 216 Chrislea address seems to only be their presentation location.
The vacation "prizes" they then received where all so very restricted that they never made it to Cancun, Las Vegas nor Orlando, cause you could only book tue-thursdays, not incl. holidays, and the administration fees were like around $600.00, only to make the "not guaranteed" reservations. Furthermore, the prizes were only 6 months valid!
When my sister signed up for the travel membership, she was told verbally by those gangsters that she would receive a membership confirmation from them by mail within a week, so that they could still cancel the membership within the 10 days cancellation period.
Needless to say, that the "confirmation letter arrived 14 days later and no one had the decensy to answer any calls/emails/fax during the mentioned time.
Finally a couple of days later, after numerous frantic calls. someone picked up the phone at the "reservation" extension and gave her the cell phone to a lady named Roula.
That Roula-witch then told her that they've surpassed the 10 days cancellation period and were thus bound to their membership agreement. My sister yelled at that woman and said that she would go and stand in front of their presentation site and warn everyone from this scam, but Roula told her that she would sue my sister for blackmailing and trespassing private property. My sister swallowed the humilliation and violation of her dignity, and is now just paying the dues and waiting for the 5 years bond with those money-monkeys to be over and never to be associated with TVS, eresortvillas.com, Resort Villa Vacations Club Inc., Bona Vista, nor Triad International ever again.
My sister also mentioned that an other couple had bought into the points programm early into their "cubicle session', which was then 'celebrated', however, she now came to the conclusion, that that couple was probably one of the scammers themselves, a tactic to make the whole deal look more 'attractive' and less harmful.
My sister+hubby fell for those gangsters after feeling absolutely mentally exhausted after the 4 hours presentation ordeal, and thinking that the 1, 500.00 won't tumble them into financial distress anyway, which it didn't, but the violation to their dignity was the hardest to swallow.
They as well as myself have since been to a couple of other shady time share/vacation club presentations, just to slam a big fat NO to those shameless scammers after initially enthusiastically giving the scammers some hope of a jackpot sale and wasting all their skills & efforts in the process.
Btw, according to our researches, eresortvillas.com just expanded their "business" with zipartist.com, so beware!
http://www.who.is/whois/zipartist.com/
Also check out:
anthony@eresortvillas.com in
http://www.dialing4deadbeats.net/deadbeatlist.htm
AND LAST BUT NOT least, please also check the Better Business Bureau website, cause the company "Resort Villas Management Inc." aka www.eresortvillas.com, located at 201 - 690 Rowntree Dairy Rd, Woodbridge, ON L4L 5T7; currently does not have ANY rating at all, see it for yourselves at:
http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/travel-clubs/resort-villas-management-in-woodbridge-on-12103#
Carol
Beware of Bona Vista Travel, Resort Villas & The Vacation Store (as well as Triad International) Scam Alert: Resort Villas (eresortvillas), The Vacation Store, Bona Vista Travel & Triad International
Hopefully this will help some other innocent people out there.
My family members were recently scammed by an unethical, although not illegal, group of companies, including THE RESORT VILLA, THE VACATION STORE, BONA VISTA TRAVEL and TRIAD INTERNATIONAL.
If you are dealing with these companies, pleae beware. A telemarketer contacts an innocent person by phone telling them they've won a trip and to bring their wife and credit card to an event in Woodbridge, Ontario. When they arrive, there is vacation music playing and smooth talking sales people doing a presentation. There's cheap food available for attendees as an incentive. Essentially, they pressure you into signing on-the-spot deals for a time-share-like scheme, but using what they call "points." These points are supposed to go toward discounted 5-star hotel stays world-wide, but with all the user fees, maintenance fees, incidentals and restrictions, you end up paying much more than you would have, had you booked a luxury package deal online or through a travel agent.
The presenters convince the audience of their authenticity by throwing in familiar names like "Bona Vista Travel" - note: this is NOT the reputable Bonavista Travel, rather a similarly named travel agency based in Woodbridge, Ontario. They also say it is certified by the Ontario government (as are most travel agencies).
While Resort Villas, The Vacation Store, Bona Vista Travel and Triad International (their associated financing company) are supposedly unrelated, they actually all reside and work out of the Woodbridge area. They have been in operation for over a decade because their contract is airtight and everything they do is legal. While participants think they will stay at hotels like the Ritz Carlton or other big name hotels, these are only advertised verbally in the presentation, but aren't in the actual contract you end up signing.
Also, while the contract does refer vaguely to "Article 25" on a pdf document on their website, it doesn't explicitly inform those who do end up signing that they have a 10-day period to cancel the contract according to Ontario law. IF YOU READ THIS BEFORE YOUR 10 DAYS ARE OVER (counting each day after the contract is signed), CANCEL IMMEDIATELY. We have spoken to a lawyer, and there is no other way out. They will go to court and win, and they will continue to do business, because they can. File a complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency in Ontario and let all your family and friends know, especially the elderly, so they too, are not innocently scammed.
While the salespeople offer 49, 000 points, for instance, for about $17, 000 dollars, I have read other stories from people scammed saying that when they first refused, the salespeople lowered the price for the same 49, 000 points to a mere $4900--still not worthwhile, but so much less than the original offer.
If you do attend something like this, ask for identification, business cards, catalogues or host hotels in the agreement. Also ask about the cancellation policy. And please, don't sign. If you decide to sign it or any other contract, please be sure to read the fine print. With words like "coersion" and "no cancellation" in their contract, please heed the red flags and get out of there.
This scam has been happening for years now, and also entices people from the United States and parts of Ontario. Please spread the word and protect yourself and those you love.